Women Take the Wheel: Breaking Barriers to Mobility in Samoa

Story written by Mathilde Casper, Gender Specialist at UNDP Samoa

December 10, 2025

Photograph of two men in a car; driver holds steering wheel, passenger beside him smiling. — Samoan women testing out an electric vehicle.

Photo: MP Studio

Under the shade of a Samoan fale, a group of students quietly focus on a road safety test. They have just completed the theory training delivered by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), Samoa’s only driving licensing institution. At first glance, it looks like any other class - except that every student in the room is a woman.

And there is an important reason for it.

A recent national statistic revealed a stark gender gap in driving licenses: over the past 20 years, only about 25% of driving licenses issued in Samoa have gone to women. In a country where daily mobility depends heavily on cars, this inequality has far-reaching consequences.

As Faaeteete Lene, Principal Licensing Officer at the LTA, explains: “By limiting women’s access to transport, you’re limiting their freedom of mobility. You’re limiting their access to work, to community opportunities, and to supporting their families.”

Group of people seated at a long conference table with papers and notebooks. — Trainees attending the driving theory course.

Photo: MP Studio

A survey conducted with participants on the women’s driving programme found that 89% felt that not having a license had restricted their opportunities, from attending university to earning income, fulfilling community duties, or even leaving unsafe situations in the public space or at home. When asked why they had never enrolled before, women cited high costs, a lack of time, and lack of self-confidence.

Combining women’s empowerment and electric mobility

To bridge this gap, LTA, in partnership with UNDP, is offering a free driving course for 200 women, together with training about electric vehicles (EVs). The initiative is supported by the Climate Action Pathways for Island Transport (CAP-IT) Project, part of the regional Pacific Green Transformation Project, funded by the Government of Japan and implemented by UNDP. The projects support Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu in their decarbonization journeys, with Samoa focusing on its largest source of greenhouse gases: transport.

Beyond investments in infrastructure - such as solar-powered charging station, electric cars and boats - the project also aims to bring about behaviour change. Car ownership in Samoa has surged in recent decades. And while small island states contribute minimally to global emissions, Samoa is committed to cleaner, more affordable mobility solutions. Yet, cost concerns and misconceptions about EV reliability and safety remain major barriers.

To address this, an Electric Vehicle Awareness Course has now been integrated into LTA’s driver training. The goal is to demystify EV technology and raise awareness of environmental, health, and long-term financial benefits. A 2024 CAP-IT survey showed that up to 60% of Samoans are interested in purchasing an EV, with higher interest among men.

Yet women are central to this transition. As key household decision-makers, workers and community leaders, women are powerful agents of change who can influence the uptake of clean energy. Ensuring they understand and access sustainable transport is crucial for a just and inclusive green transition.

Group photograph of people posing in front of a booth at an outdoor event. — Launch event of the Women’s Driving License Programme.

Photo: MP Studio

This aligns with Samoa’s newly adopted Sustainable Land Use and Mobility Plan, which aims to make public transport cleaner and more inclusive - for example by introducing electric public buses, improving accessibility with wheelchair ramps, and training drivers to respond to harassment when it occurs in their buses.

For the first time, students' automotive studies across three vocational schools in Samoa will receive technical training in EV maintenance, building local expertise and opening pathways for women’s participation in a field traditionally dominated by men, including for the small but growing number of female students enrolled in these courses.

High demand meets everyday barriers

When the LTA issued a call for applications for the free training, the response was overwhelming: over 500 women applied within three days. A public draw selected 200 of them from both Upolu and Savai’i. The demand highlights how essential and overdue such initiatives are.

“As women, as mothers, we juggle everything in our daily lives,” says Angel Mala, Senior Promotion and Training Officer at the LTA. “Many shared that they are struggling financially, and this is a way to help them move freely and support their daily lives.”

One trainee noted: “Learning how to drive will make it easier for me to travel to school, church, and anywhere I need to go.” On EV training, she added: “I learnt that EVs can be more convenient than petrol cars - the electricity is cheaper, and they’re better for the environment.”

Still, sustaining participation has been a challenge. Many women balance paid work, caregiving and household duties, making it difficult to attend repeated tests. The LTA has responded with flexible scheduling and opportunities to re-sit assessments, an important reminder that gender-responsive programming must account for women’s time burdens. Some participants also lacked access to a vehicle for the practical test, which highlighted the need for LTA to have its own practice car to ensure equitable access.

As the programme concludes, for successful trainees, this will be more than a license, it will be a gateway to new opportunities. Empowering women behind the wheel is not only a matter of equality, but also a powerful step toward a more equitable transport future for Samoa.