ACWS advocates for accessible rural transportation for violence survivors following new report

A new report from the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters (ACWS) recommends establishing accessible and affordable transportation in rural Alberta and providing transportation funding for shelters, so survivors have pathways to escape domestic and gender-based violence.

Published March 17, the report makes four key recommendations to all levels of government to improve transportation access for survivors:

1. Establish accessible and affordable public transportation in rural Alberta.
2. Provide long-term and flexible transportation funding for shelters.
3. Introduce token systems for local taxi services and/or public transportation.
4. Implement mandatory gender-based violence training for employees of taxi companies, transportation services and other ride-hailing services.

The report says a lack of public transportation in rural communities can prevent survivors from getting to work, getting children to school, moving closer to family and support networks or going to medical appointments, leaving no choice but to remain in abusive relationships.

While domestic violence and elder abuse shelters play a critical role in helping survivors get to safety, the ACWS says they lack the funding to provide essential transportation to the services survivors need or get them to the shelter. Some shelters do have a dedicated transport vehicle, but the cost of gas, maintenance and insurance still adds up. It is also often necessary to have two shelter workers accompany the survivor for longer trips as an additional safety measure, which increases staffing costs.

To address this need and inform the report, the organization recently carried out the ACWS Transportation Project, which supported 22 rural, remote or northern shelters in providing accessible transportation to survivors. Over 14 months, the project distributed $113,900 to 3,430 survivors, including 2,087 adults and 1,343 children.

Two ACWS shelters also partnered with Driverseat to provide chartered taxi services to survivors. Through discounted services, the company reportedly contributed $10,850 to the effort. An anonymous shelter representative said the partnership was “a huge game changer,” notably expanding the transportation needs the shelter could fill.

The report says the most common use of the transportation grant was to connect survivors with essential services in their community (62 per cent) and outside their community (23 per cent). Those essential services were most commonly groceries, medical care and mental wellness supports.

The third- and fourth-most common uses of the grant funding were to ensure survivors arrived safely at shelters in their community (6.9 per cent) or at another shelter (2.6 per cent). Survivors are more likely to experience increased violence or be killed by their abusive partners after leaving the partnership, making safe and reliable transportation essential, the report notes.

In crises, shelters may also help relocate survivors closer to support systems and farther from abusers to help them escape danger.

“We got her out of a situation where she could have been killed,” an anonymous shelter reported. “We couldn’t have done it without the transportation grant.”

Demographic data collected during the project indicated that 40 per cent of the survivors supported by the grant identified as First Nations, Métis, Inuk/Inuit or as a newcomer.

The ACWS says 61 per cent of Indigenous women report experiencing partner violence in their lifetime, and that the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls found a lack of safe transportation to be a safety risk for that community.

Additionally, shelters report that newcomers are more likely to experience language barriers and discrimination when using transportation services. According to the report, trauma-informed taxi services have been “a great help” in trying to address this challenge.

Taxis and other private or chartered vehicles were primarily used to transport survivors in rural, remote or northern Alberta towns during the project, while those in cities in the same regions primarily used public transit. Shelters report that in rural communities, walking or taking a taxi are the only options.

For residents of rural, remote and northern communities who want to support survivors, the ACWS has five recommendations:

1. Advocate to the municipal and provincial government for transportation needs to be addressed and for increased funding to shelters in rural, remote and northern communities.
2. Volunteer as a community driver for your local shelter.
3. Participate in gender-based and domestic violence awareness training.
4. Donate to your local shelter.
5. Support businesses like Driverseat and WomenFirst, which provide safe transportation to services and shelters.