Bangladesh has made major gains in girls’ and women’s education. Girls’ enrolment now matches or exceeds boys’ enrolment at primary and secondary levels, while women’s literacy has risen substantially. Yet these gains have not translated fully into economic participation. Women remain far less likely than men to be in the labour force, and many who do work are concentrated in informal or low-paid employment.
The ready-made garment sector remains the country’s largest formal employer of women, employing an estimated 3.5 million. But women are still underrepresented in management and in higher-value sectors. The contrast is stark: Bangladesh has expanded women’s access to education, but it has not yet created equally broad and secure pathways through which women can turn education into economic power.
One of the most immediate barriers lies between home and work.
For women who depend on public transport, a commute is not simply a question of time or convenience. It can determine which jobs they apply for, whether they remain in employment and, in some cases, whether they enter paid work at all. A vacancy and a qualified applicant are not enough if reaching the workplace entails harassment, uncertainty and excessive travel time.
This is the hidden economic cost of unsafe transport. It does not only exclude women from individual journeys; it narrows the careers they can pursue. A graduate who accepts a lower-paying job close to home because the better opportunity requires an unsafe commute is rarely counted as a casualty of transport failure. Nor is the employee who leaves a promising career because travelling after dark has become too stressful. Yet the losses are real: households lose income, employers lose skilled staff and the economy fails to benefit fully from the investment made in women’s education.
Women’s employment choices are shaped by several forces, including unpaid care work, discrimination, social expectations and limited childcare. But transport deserves greater attention because it often determines whether opportunities are practically accessible. Research cited in this article indicates that safety concerns reduce women’s likelihood of joining the labour force, while surveys in Dhaka have found very high levels of harassment on public transport. These figures should be treated not only as a gender-safety concern, but also as an economic warning.
The problem is especially visible in Dhaka. Severe congestion can turn a journey of a few kilometres into an exhausting ordeal. Crowded buses and stops heighten women’s exposure to harassment and make travel less predictable. For women without private cars or the means to use ride-hailing services regularly, the alternatives are limited.
This is why the Pink Bus initiative matters.
The women-only service, operated by women and reserved for women passengers, recognises that women’s mobility is a public-policy issue. Even at a small scale, it can offer commuters greater confidence and can help normalise the idea that transport systems must respond to the safety, dignity and working lives of women.
But nine buses cannot carry the weight of systemic change. In a city with millions of daily public-transport users, a limited service across a small number of routes is necessarily a pilot, not a solution. Unless it is expanded, integrated with wider transport networks and supported by safer infrastructure, accountable operators and effective enforcement, the initiative risks becoming a symbol rather than a turning point.
Other cities offer useful, if imperfect, lessons. Women-only coaches on Delhi’s metro system, workplace shuttle arrangements in parts of Manila, and community-led safer-route initiatives elsewhere show that targeted interventions can reduce risk and widen access. Bangladesh need not copy any one model. But it should recognise the larger principle: safety is not an optional amenity in a transport system. It is a condition of equal access to work, education and public life.
That requires a different way of planning transport. Every major transport project should include a gender-safety assessment from the outset. Success should not be measured only by passenger volume, road capacity or reduced congestion. It should also be measured by whether women can reach workplaces, schools and public spaces safely, affordably and reliably.
The practical agenda is not mysterious. It includes better lighting at stops and stations; reliable schedules and shorter waiting times; safe footpaths and crossings; trained drivers, conductors and station staff; accessible complaint mechanisms; data on harassment and women’s travel patterns; and credible enforcement against abuse. It also requires more women across the transport workforce—from drivers and conductors to supervisors, planners and regulators
Infrastructure alone, however, will not be enough. Bangladesh must also reject the idea that harassment in public space is an unavoidable inconvenience that women must simply endure. It is not merely a personal burden; it is an economic barrier. When women avoid certain jobs, reduce their working hours or leave the labour force because commuting feels unsafe, the cost reaches far beyond one household. Employers lose talent. The economy loses productivity. Skills built through years of education are underused.
Bangladesh is entering a phase in which economic diversification and a more skilled workforce will matter more than ever. Women’s participation will be central to that transition. The challenge is not persuading women to dream bigger. Many already do. The challenge is ensuring that the journey between ambition and opportunity is not blocked by fear.
Bangladesh does not lack educated women or talented workers. It lacks a transport system that consistently enables women to convert their education and ability into economic power. The road to work is not a side issue. It is where inclusion begins—or where it quietly ends.
Anika Tahsina is an LL.M. candidate at the University of Dhaka. She is the founder of She Leads Nation Building, a civil society women’s network advancing the economic, social, and cultural rights of women in Bangladesh.