Recent studies have shown that gender is the personal aspect that mostly affects mobility patterns and travel behaviors. It has been observed, for instance, that female perception of unsafety and insecurity when traveling using public transport forces them to make unwanted travel choices, such as avoiding traveling at certain times of day and to specific destinations. In order to improve the attractiveness of public transport services, this gender gap must not be overlooked. This paper aims at contributing to research in gendered mobility by investigating differences in safety and security perceptions in railway stations, and by identifying which policies could be effective in bridging any existing gap. The methodology includes the collection of disaggregate data through a mixed Revealed Preference/Stated Preference survey, and the estimation of fixed and random parameters behavioral models. Results from a medium-sized Italian railway station show that female travelers feel safer in the presence of other people; they prefer intermodal infrastructures close to the entrance of the station and commercial activities in the internal premises. Moreover, unlike male travelers, they do not appreciate the presence of hedges and greenery outside stations.

Introduction: The COVID-19 emergency and the cities lockdown have had a strong impact on transport and mobility. In particular, travel demand has registered an unprecedented overall contraction, dramatically dropping down with peaks of - 90%-95% passengers for public transport (PT). During the re-opening phase, demand is gradually resuming the levels before the crisis, although some structural changes are observed in travel behaviour, and containment measures to reduce the risk of contagion are still being applied, affecting transport supply. Objective: This paper aims at assessing to what extent keeping a one-meter interpersonal distancing on-board trains is sustainable for public transport companies. Method: The analysis is based on travel demand forecasting models applied to two case-studies in Italy: a suburban railway line and a High-speed Rail (HSR) line, differentiated by demand characteristics (e.g. urban vs. ex-urban) and train access system (free access vs. reservation required). Results: In the suburban case, the results show the need of new urban policies, not only limited to the transport domain, in order to manage the demand peaks at the stations and on-board vehicles. In the ex-urban case, the outputs suggest the need for public subsidies in order for the railways undertakings to cope with revenue losses and, at the same time, to maintain service quality levels.