“The Pink Tax” has emerged as a term used to describe the higher prices women pay for equivalent products and services: the classic example is that a pink “ladies’” razor costs more than a blue “men’s” one. But how pervasive is this “tax,” and how does it impact services that seem at first glance more difficult to gender, like transportation? The NYC subway charges the same fare to every adult, regardless of gender — but how do social factors, like more frequent exposure to harassment or heightened caregiving responsibilities, affect how women incur transportation costs?
Dive into a discussion on “The Pink Tax on Transportation: Women’s Challenges in Mobility,” a recent study by the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation, moderated by one of its authors, Sarah Kaufman (Associate Director at NYU Rudin). Kaufman will lead a conversation with three transit experts on the paper’s findings, its implications for equitable transit strategy and planning, and the solutions panelists have explored to minimize women’s additional transportation costs.
Meghna Khanna
Senior Director at Mobility Corridors
LA Metro
Meghna Khanna is a Senior Director with the Mobility Corridors Department at LA Metro. She manages and oversees environmental clearance and design of various Light Rail Transit Projects including West Santa Ana Branch. As a previous member of the LA Metro’s Women and Girl Governing Council, she led the Understanding How Women Travel Study- first of its kind by a transit agency in the United States – and is currently managing the Gender Action Plan.
Sarah Meyer
Chief Customer Officer
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Sarah Meyer is the Chief Customer Officer for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. She is charged with rebuilding and enhancing the customer experience for New York City’s subway, bus, and paratransit riders, and for those using MetroNorth and Long Island Rail Road services. From trip-planning, to purchasing fare media, to on-board experiences, she is responsible for the customer journey end-to-end. She is currently focused on COVID response and bringing New York City back to life, making it easier for customers to get from A to B, quickly and easily. Her team recently won a Cannes Gold Lion for their groundbreaking work on map.mta.info.Prior to her work at Transit, Sarah was a communications and business transformation consultant with 15 years of experience. She graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in art history, and she currently lives in New York City with her husband and two young daughters.
Leni Schwendinger
Urban Lighting Designer
Leni Schwendinger Light Projects
Leni Schwendinger is a published, award-winning authority on issues of city lighting, with more than 20 years of worldwide experience creating illuminated environments. Her innovative interdisciplinary practice, nighttime design urbanism, focuses on city districts’ darkened hours and includes fresh community involvement methodologies such as “NightSeeing™, Navigate Your Luminous City” program. Leni is a Visiting Research Fellow at the London School of Economics, a Design Trust for Public Space Fellow (NYC).
Sarah Kaufman
Associate Director
NYU Rudin Center for Transportation
Sarah M. Kaufman is the Associate Director of the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation, where she researches, advocates for and educates about cutting-edge technologies in transportation. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Planning, teaching Intelligent Cities and Advanced Projects in Urban Planning.
“The Pink Tax” has emerged as a term used to describe the higher prices women pay for equivalent products and services: the classic example is that a pink “ladies’” razor costs more than a blue “men’s” one. But how pervasive is this “tax,” and how does it impact services that seem at first glance more difficult to gender, like transportation? The NYC subway charges the same fare to every adult, regardless of gender — but how do social factors, like more frequent exposure to harassment or heightened caregiving responsibilities, affect how women incur transportation costs?
