70 special buses for women infrequent, fail to attract commuters, incur losses

During the 1960s, Ladies Special buses were introduced in the state. But now, the buses hardly have any takers and a few of the services have also been cancelled because of the losses the corporation have been incurring.

The Treasurer of Labour Progressive Federation, K Natarajan, said, “Around 70 Ladies Special buses ply for the benefit of working women across the city. But they do not bring in any profits. A couple of the services were curtailed because of the low patronage.”  

Members of the Transport Union claim that the corporation does not have any substitutes in case a bus breaks down or runs behind its schedule.  “In case a special bus departs from the terminus at 8 am and gets stuck in a traffic jam, the commuters waiting at the subsequent stops will not be provided with an alternative bus to make up for the lost time,” said Natarajan.

A driver of a Ladies Special that plies on DMS bus route said that on several days, the bus hardly sees any passengers. “On several days, we have run a vacant bus. Women passengers, especially college students, seem reluctant to avail the service,” said the driver not wanting to be named.

Meanwhile, commuters blamed the shortage of special buses and their skeletal frequency for the low passenger count. A resident of Kodambakkam and assistant professor of Woman’s Christian College, Parama Gupta, said, “The buses are so infrequent that I had to look for other options.” 

“Public transport is heavily crowded during the peak hours and even finding a space inside share autorickshaws is a herculean task. I finally found a solution by arranging a private van operator who charges nominal rates," she added.

A senior MTC official, however, refuted claims of infrequent service and said, “We operate 250 buses along 120 routes in the mornings and evenings. We never received any complaints from the public to increase the number of buses.” 

Then there are some that oppose such special services. Bhargava, a regular bus commuter said, “Normal buses have seats reserved for women. Then they are also  provided with dedicated buses. If women demand equality then they should uphold it in all spheres.” 

“The lack of personal security, or the inability to use public transport without the fear of being victimised whether on public transport, walking to or from a transit facility or stop, or waiting at a bus, transit stop, or station platform can substantially decrease the attractiveness and thus the use of public transit,” notes the Global Mobility Report, 2017. It was published by the World Bank-led partnership SuM4All (Sustainable Mobility For All), the report is the first major assessment of the global transport sector. The report is an assessment of the efficiency, safety, green credentials and accessibility of all forms of transport. It concludes that all the four areas need significant improvement.