Free ride for women in DTC, cluster buses.

Women in Delhi can now travel for free on Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses, courtesy the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. The scheme allowing free travel to women in DTC and its cluster buses came into effect on October 29, 2019 on the occasion of 'Bhai Dooj' festival.

Women are issued pink tickets with the face value of Rs 10 which are then reimbursed by Delhi state government to DTC. The government has kept aside Rs 140 crore for implementation of this scheme.

Around 30 lakh travellers use DTC buses everyday and around 12 lakh people use cluster buses. Approximately, a third of these passengers are women. 

So far a total of 1.5 crore pink tickets have been printed. These tickets also bear social messages on women empowerment.

"The free ride will not only empower women financially and logistically, but also help them reclaim public spaces," claims Raghav Chaddha, AAP government spokesperson.

He added that the scheme encourages and incentivises women to use more and more public transport which, in turn, will make public spaces safer for women.

Women from low income group are super excited as they can now travel in even air conditioned buses which they could not afford earlier. Ridership in AC buses will be very high in summers as Delhi is very hot then.

College student Anuradha Mandal says, “I have to travel a lot. It is not easy to shell out Rs 20 each day on bus travel, so this scheme is very beneficial for me. This scheme is a boon for jobless people.”

Housemaker Sheetal Joshi is happy that she can use the money that she earlier spent on bus tickets for her children’s education.

“Women who drop their kids to tuition classes by bus can now save the money and use the same in other productive manner”, Joshi said.

Data from DTC indicates rise of women in DTC buses from thirty per cent earlier to forty per cent now. The number will go much higher as more and more people become aware of the scheme.

According to DTC bus driver Bharat Lal, the number of women in the bus he drives has risen dramatically. The total number of passengers in his bus has risen from roughly 60 per cent to 90 per cent.

There are around 5,600 DTC and cluster buses in which women can avail free ride. As many as 13000 marshals, along with 6000 civil defence personnel, Home Guards and ex-servicemen have been trained and deployed in buses to ensure safety of women. 

Consultant from Urban Catalyst Sonal Shah talks about ensuring safety of women in buses. 

"We need major emphasis on gender sensitisation training for transport service provider. In peak hours when buses are badly crowded, a woman may or may not raise alarm even if she feels sexually harassed or groped. Having marshals in bus alone won’t solve the problem. Women should feel comfortable approaching a marshal who is a male. There should be more women in transport sector because women feel safer complaining to women, instead of men,” says Shah.

She suggests a provision where women and men board and alight the bus from two different gates so that there is no or less scope of sexual harassment.

Measures such as ample street lighting at night and effective patrolling along public transport corridor are key to women safety.

Shah extols the benefits of the Delhi government's scheme to allow free travel in DTC buses.

“Women will be immensely benefitted by this scheme. It is the first time that a state government has taken such a bold step. It is indeed commendable”, she adds.

Yours truly travelling in DTC bus.