Low frequency almost runs over free travel scheme for women

CHENNAI: It has been a year since the State government announced free travel in MTC buses for women. As opposed to encouraging women to be independent wage earners, the well-intentioned move by the State government has made life more challenging for women.

To begin with, free travel for women is applicable in whiteboard buses only. And unfortunately, the frequency of whiteboard buses in the city, especially in North Chennai, is woefully inadequate.

Women and children continue to face hardships in terms of waiting period. Due to the lesser number of whiteboard buses, they have to wait for longer periods at the stop. This leaves them with no other option than to take autos and share-autos. Additionally, women are often insulted and disrespected by the bus staff and fellow male passengers.

A regular passenger of MTC bus, M Illakiya of Wimco Nagar, is no stranger to this. “Whiteboard MTC buses are scheduled every 15-20 minutes. But for the past year, it takes 45 minutes to an hour for the bus to arrive even during peak hours. Sometimes, 3-4 buses arrive together, and nothing for an hour after that,” she laments. Illakiya accuses the bus staff of being lethargic and inefficient in maintaining schedules ever since the government’s announcement last year. “Almost every day, I wait for over an hour, and this makes me late to my workplace. I tried taking autos but they charge Rs 40 from Tiruvottiyur to Tondiarpet,” she explains.

Her daily wage is 200-250/day, and at times spends Rs 80-Rs 100/day on commuting alone when she doesn’t find a whiteboard bus.

The frequency of whiteboard buses, especially from Ennore-Vallalar Nagar (56A), Tiruvottiyur-Broadway (56C), Tiruvottiyur/Ennore-Egmore Railway Station (28, 28B), and Tiruvottiyur-CMBT Thiruverkadu (159), has decreased drastically. Other MTC buses like express and deluxe operate as per schedule.

“Recently, a MTC bus arrived after waiting for 45 minutes but they stopped far away from the bus stand. We had to run to catch that bus; else we’d have to wait for 45-60 minutes in this scorching heat. When we asked the bus conductor/driver for a reason, they were rude and used abusive language to us. None of the fellow passengers spoke for us,” said R Sajini, a resident of Old Washermenpet.

Additionally, if the bus is crowded, conductors distribute 5-10 tickets at a time and ask women to take it. If there is any remaining tickets, conductors don’t take it back.

Whiteboard buses from Ennore-Vallalar Nagar (56A), Tiruvottiyur Broadway (56C), Tiruvottiyur/EnnoreEgmore Railway Station (28, 28B), and TiruvottiyurCMBT Thiruverkadu (159), have decreased in number

Women in several areas wait for a long time for whiteboard buses.