Pink public transit in Mexico city: Evaluating women-only transportation as a feminist movement

At the turn of the 21st Century, a woman in Mexico City could not board a public bus, subway, or taxi without fearing that she would be sexually violated or even raped before reaching her destination. In a moment of desperation policy makers did what dozens of cities around the world had already done and they established a line of women-only public transportation.  Since then, feminist groups in Mexico have campaigned to double the number of women-only transit on the road, and have successfully persuaded the local government to issue a special fleet of bubblegum-pink buses and taxis named Athena, after the Greek goddess of war, courage, and strength.  This paper uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to examine, analyse, and evaluate the benefits vs. consequences of using women-only transportation as a solution to gender inequality.  Combining theories from the sociology of space and feminist geographers, results show that women-only transportation spatially empowers women by increasing their confidence and power when navigating the city.