Supporting Parents: Policies for Family Friendly Transit Agencies

Click here to watch a recording of the webinar

Transit systems should provide good mobility for parents, kids, and caregivers. So why do so many people who travel with children feel excluded by the transit experience? On this panel, we’ll explore public-facing policies that make transit work better for parents, and internal policies to attract and retain parents in the transit workforce, where their perspective is too often in short supply.

These issues are firmly on the agenda in Los Angeles, where LADOT’s recent “Changing Lanes” report chronicled barriers that women and mothers face as they travel in LA County, from safety to poor pedestrian conditions, and pledged to address them. Advocates in LA with the “Moms & Mobility” campaign, a joint effort between South Central LAMP and Investing in Place, are calling for transit policies that are a high priority for mothers with low incomes, such as better bus infrastructure and more frequent all-day service.

Internally, transit agencies (and the public sector more broadly) need to be competitive with the private sector on paid parental leave. Staff retention and recruitment is a challenge for transit agencies in the best of times. And it’s become increasingly difficult during the pandemic. Generous leave policies not only help staff maintain a healthy work-life balance, they help agencies retain staff. And by retaining more parents in the workforce, transit agencies will be more inclined to produce parent-friendly policy.

Join TransitCenter for this two-part discussion of how transportation agencies can meet the needs of parents with dignity and empathy — both on board and within the workplace.

Part 1:

Maryann Aguirre, Project Director, People for Mobility Justice

Clare Eberle, Acting Supervising Transportation Planner, LADOT

Jessica Meaney, Executive Director, Investing in Place

Part 2:

Chris Van Eyken, Senior Program Associate, TransitCenter

Jeff Casem, Leave and Disability Services Manager, King County Metro Transit Employee Services Division

Introductory Remarks:

Jessica Cruz, Senior Advocacy Associate, TransitCenter

Photo credit: Outfront/JCDecaux