Understanding How Women Travel

The goal of this project was to deepen understanding of women’s experiences and travel needs so Metro could enhance safety, reliability, and overall comfort for women using transit. To meet this goal, Pueblo Studio employed innovative, story-driven planning methods that centered the voices of those most impacted. Through participatory design workshops, artmaking sessions, and facilitated storytelling, Pueblo Studio engaged deeply with Metro’s core and most vulnerable riders—including women experiencing homelessness, women with disabilities, and women who are immigrants and/or undocumented.

Pueblo Studio also held conversations with riders at major transit hubs, using artistic pop-ups and creative installations to spark dialogue and invite women to share their experiences in their own terms. These narrative-based engagements opened space for women to speak candidly about safety, accessibility, dignity, and the daily realities of relying on public transit.

In keeping with Pueblo Studio’s commitment to uplifting those most affected by planning decisions, the engagement process intentionally elevated the voices of core transit riders, particularly women of color, low-income women, unhoused women, and women living in rental housing. Their stories and insights became central to understanding what truly matters for women navigating transit systems and helped shape recommendations that reflect lived experience rather than assumptions.

Through this storytelling-centered approach, Pueblo Studio ensured that the women who rely on transit most were the ones guiding the vision for a safer, more responsive, and more equitable Metro system.