A little over a year ago, Nidia Cely spotted a bright green public bus driving through the streets of Bogota, Colombia. At the time, Cely had just lost her husband of 17 years to COVID-19 and was grieving for her two teenage daughters. Delivery driver.
But on the bus, he saw hope. That’s because it passed through a woman, a rare place in Colombia. Cely would be informed that the vehicle was operated through La Rolita, a public transport company in Bogotá whose entire fleet is electric.
About 18 months later, Cely landed a driver’s seat on one of those shiny buses, his first steady job.
“I’m very happy to be in a great company where I feel supported and safe,” she said recently. “I am grateful to be able to provide a better future for my daughters. “
Nearly 480 female drivers work for La Rolita, which operates a fleet of 195 electric buses in Bogota, Colombia. Photo: La Rolita/Xiomi Garzón
Cely is one of 479 bus drivers who work for La Rolita, which has a fleet of 195 buses. The company is a pioneer for two reasons: it is one of only a few hundred public electricity shipping companies in the world and it has made the recruitment of women a priority. Just over 50 percent of La Rolita’s workforce and 60 percent of its drivers are women.
La Rolita is, in many respects, a corporate-style in a global fight against rising greenhouse gas emissions and gender inequality, observers say.
“Strengthening women’s participation and leadership in e-mobility will be key to ensuring a healthy, immensely rich and just transition to sustainable mobility and white energy,” says Rob De Jong, Head of the Sustainable Mobility Unit at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
He is leading a task in Colombia to make the public mailing formula more inclusive.
An industry with high emissions
The global maritime sector is responsible for 15 percent of emissions of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse fuel that causes climate change. Emissions from the industry, totaling 8. 1 gigatonnes per year, are growing faster than those of any other sector and are expected to rise. double by 2050, largely due to increases in the Global South.
Controlling those emissions is seen as key to tackling climate change. Switching to electric vehicles, promoting wider use of public transport, and better designing cities to require fewer trips, among other policies, can reduce all transport-related emissions by more than 50%.
In Latin America, an increasing number of cities are adopting electric transportation. The region has 5,084 electric buses, or about 6% of its bus fleet, according to E-Bus Radar, an online platform that tracks electric bus usage. In Colombia, 11% of buses are electric. The country’s capital, Bogota, is home to 1,485 electric buses, says Maria Fernanda Ortiz, director of TransMillenio, the immediate-transit bus formula that serves Bogota and nearby Soacha.
In Latin America, a growing number of cities are adopting electric transportation. The region has 5,084 electric buses, or about 6% of its bus fleet. Photo: La Rolita/Xiomi Garzón
In 2023, Colombia joined a cutting-edge task presented through UNEP and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The initiative, which covers six countries, aims at an inclusive transition to electric shipping, creating jobs for women and ensuring that public shipping meets their needs.
La Rolita’s hiring of women replaced Jessica Mosqueira’s life. She left home as a teenager, became a young mother, and struggled for more than a decade to make ends meet. That changed when he joined La Rolita and started driving one of the company’s buses. In September 2023, she earned a certification for her driving skills, a popularity she celebrated with her two daughters and extended family, with whom she is beginning to reunite.
“I’m in a dark situation,” says Mosqueira, who nearly lost custody of her daughters at one point. “[But] now I can give my kids a bigger future and show them that there are moments of opportunity in life. “
María Eugenia Silva, a former waitress, joined La Rolita in 2022. She says she’s found an ideal work-life balance thanks to the flexible hours the company provides to its employees.
Silva says passengers are also pleased with the company’s gender diversity strategy: “People like to see us driving the buses. They say we greet them with a smile. “
Driving Gender Equality
Globally, women hold less than 20 per cent of jobs in the maritime sector; Colombia has made progress in this area.
“Gender equality is advancing the environmental dimension of sustainable progress,” says Juan Bello, UNEP Country Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Sustainable progress can only be achieved when everyone has a voice and the opportunity to contribute fully to a greener and fairer world. “
A key component of the UNEP-supported Gender Diversity Project is to collect data on women’s accessibility to public shipping, their perceptions of safety, and the good fortune of gender-related maritime policies.
“This knowledge is very important for the early identification and rectification of inequalities,” said Melissa Valencia Duque, a researcher at the Technological University of Pereira in Colombia, involved in the project. “By focusing on access and labor rights, we can foster an industry that thrives without traditional gender gaps. “
For many women, driving a bus to La Rolita is their first solid job. Photo: La Rolita/Xiomi Garzón
The initiative is part of the UNEP-led Global E-Mobility Programme, which supports 60 low- and middle-income countries in their transition to electric public transport. The program has provided more than $130 million in grants and other loans domestically, regionally and globally as part of an effort to jumpstart the transition to fossil fuels. This shift is significant in Latin America and the Caribbean, where 40 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions come from the maritime sector.
“The large-scale advent of e-mobility will lead to systemic adjustments in the way maritime transport systems are planned, operated and used, and will provide an opportunity to integrate gender inclusion aspects,” says UNEP’s De Jong. “This will provide an opportunity to take advantage of the transition to cities from car- and people-centric delivery systems to available zero-emission delivery systems. “
From March 18 to 21, Bogota, Colombia, hosted an event aimed at accelerating the adoption of electric mobility in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Latin American Forum on Electric Mobility 2024 is a collaborative effort between the SOLUTIONSplus mission and UNEP/Global Environment Facility. LAC Regional Platform for Support and Investment in Electric Mobility. The occasion brought together around one hundred players in the electric mobility price chain, including those from Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Saint Lucia and Uruguay. The forum included on-site educational sessions, case analysis presentations, and a review of regional reports and achievements in e-mobility.