Temporal equity gaps in public transportation: A dynamic gender-responsive accessibility framework applied to Amman, Jordan

This study presents a novel dynamic equity assessment framework for evaluating gender-responsive public transportation accessibility in Amman, Jordan. Traditional static accessibility metrics fail to capture the complex spatiotemporal dynamics of women’s mobility patterns, particularly the pronounced disparities between peak and off-peak service levels. Through a comprehensive household travel survey of 33,000 women across Amman’s 22 Traffic Analysis Zones, this research integrates latent demand projections with gender-responsive temporal weighting to address unmet mobility needs. The methodology employs a reconceptualized Service Index incorporating geometric overlap corrections and introduces the Temporal Equity Gap (TEG) metric—quantifying absolute differences in Gini coefficients between peak and off-peak periods. Results reveal significant spatial disparities following a center-periphery gradient, with rural zones experiencing the highest temporal inequities. A targeted operational intervention simulating 30 % off-peak frequency enhancement for Auto Bus services in high-TEG zones demonstrated remarkable efficiency, reducing system-wide TEG by 44 % (from 0.09 to 0.05) and making public transport viable for an additional 12,700 women during off-peak hours. This intervention achieved over 75 % of the equity gains of hypothetical system-wide enhancements at less than 40 % of operational costs. The findings demonstrate that precise operational policy interventions, guided by dynamic equity metrics, can serve as powerful and feasible alternatives to capital-intensive infrastructure projects for achieving rapid social equity gains in public transportation systems.