Pride and Public Transport

Every June several parts of the world celebrate Pride – a month long celebration of the LGBT community, supporting their culture and rights. This is also an opportunity to raise political and general awareness of current issues facing the community while spotlighting the great achievement in coming this far.

Public transport is proud to provide services for all, no matter what race, orientation, gender, or religious belief. It is meant to be an inclusive service. However, several marginalised groups may find themselves being discriminated against while using our services. The public transport community recognises this and is taking steps to make commuters and the general public more aware.

UITP is pleased to feature several initiatives recently taken by stakeholders of the sector from around the world to embrace our differences and make everyone feel comfortable.

If you know of other initiatives, feel free to tweet us, or send us an email.

That is why they launched the campaign “The only way to understand is to know”, aiming to raise awareness and to encourage mutual respect for employees, passengers, citizens, and the entire community. Correct information is fundamental to generate respect, and they have created a dedicated webpage “How much do you know about this?” where it is possible to find the main answers to questions connected to gender identity and sexual orientation.

Moreover, a brand-new rainbow tram will be running in Milan.

The campaign was launched on 20 June.

Take a look at the website here.

To ensure that the transgender passengers travelling by the Delhi Metro get unhindered access to toilets at it stations, Delhi Metro has made the provision of allowing them access to separate toilets at its stations. At present Delhi Metro has 347 such separate dedicated toilets (in addition to the regular toilets for other passengers) at its Metro stations spread across the network.

DMRC is perhaps the first organisation in India to designate and notify the dedicated toilets for the transgender persons for the benefit of the community at such a scale in a public place.

In addition, DMRC is proactively working out the possibilities of designating a complaint officer under the Transgender Act to deal with complaints relating to violations.

As part of the plans for the prevention of harassment and against LGTBI-phobia in TMB’s transport networks, the “Agents Violeta” initiative (Purple Agents’s initiative) has been launched. This is a pioneering action in the sector, aimed at guaranteeing equal opportunity and non-discrimination in public transport networks.

This initiative is the result of a collaboration agreement with the City Council of Santa Coloma de Gramenet, a municipality bordering the city of Barcelona, which already has a network of care and help in its area. The Violet Agents aim to promote zero tolerance for any manifestation of sexist or LGTBI-phobic violence, strengthen information and care for victims of harassment and create equitable public spaces and respectful coexistence. They receive specific training to be able to deal with cases of harassment, becoming the first point of help to support people who suffer.

In addition, as part of this initiative, it is planned to strengthen the metro service with the installation of fixed and/or itinerant violet dots on the occasion of public holidays that involve a greater influx of passengers.

As part of the pilot test there were 48 Violet Agents who provide priority service to the 7 stations located in this municipality. In June, this was increased by 20 more people and the entire metro staff that is related to the users will be progressively trained.

Read more about this initiative here.

Customers saw a collection of specially curated and designed Pride-themed photos and posters appearing in the London Underground, London Overground, DLR, Elizabeth line and bus stations during the week before the Pride in London celebrations.

The Pride-themed posters carried stories from a wide range of LGBT+ communities and businesses and shone a spotlight on the role, legacy and support they provide for their peers. Through these stories, TfL hopes to highlight the diverse communities in London it serves daily and how public transport connects LGBT+ communities.

Read more about this here.

Transdev considers that diversity and inclusion represents a journey and a destination. It is a journey which lies at the core of our daily actions to promote the building of a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture.

Therefore, once again this year as they did last year, they wanted to take their most visible brand symbol and apply the rainbow colors to highlight and celebrate all the differences each of us are bringing to our company as human beings.

The Rainbow Star Figure logo will be used during all of Pride month, and in conjunction with any LGBTQ+ activities, actions, initiatives.

Read more about this initiative here.

Using #WeRideWithPride, Wiener Linien adopted the rainbow colors as a sign of solidarity with the LGBTI community. Wiener Linien has been supporting Vienna Pride for many years as a cooperation partner and active participant. With rainbow flags on around 1,500 colorful advertising spaces in the vehicles and stations, Wiener Linien is a sign of diversity and respect. The social media channels of the public transport company shine in rainbow colors for several weeks, a heart stands for the colorful interaction between the carpool and employees.

What applies to Wiener Linien 365 days a year is clearly visible in the Pride month of June thanks to the display of the rainbow colors: discrimination has no place at Wiener Linien, the public transport service stands for diversity, respect and tolerance.

But these aren’t the only initiatives. Read more about #WeWorkWithPride, #WeTalkWithPride and #WeDanceWithPride here.

Thanks to our members for sharing their initiatives!