Why ladies special trains and women-only buses don’t work

BEST’s ladies special buses, Tejaswini, were opened for men after they got no response from women. File pic

Ladies special public transport facilities and services are launched without consultation with women, making them useless - said a report on women and public transport infrastructure, presented to the state Minister for Women & Child Development Yashomati Thakur last week. The report highlighted the need to consult women commuters, not force amenities on them.

Pune-based organisation Parisar for Sustainable Urban Mobility Network (SUM Net) presented Thakur with the report which documents women's dependency on public transport, problems faced while using buses and recommendations to make bus-based public transport gender-responsive and gender-sensitive.

The report, based on secondary data and consultations with women's groups across the state, explains how women's travel needs are different from men and what challenges they face. Data shows that women depend more on public transport (and walking), travel off-peak hours more than men, travel with children, and trip-chain (combine multiple destinations in one trip).

Women wait as a local train arrives at Kandivli station in March this year. Pic/Satej Shinde

Harassment a serious issue

The consultations also revealed the universal and widespread sexual harassment faced by women. This is reflected in Workforce Participation Rates, which as per data released by MoSPI (in 2017-18), shows urban women workforce participation at 14.9 per cent - which is low compared to urban men (28.9 per cent) and rural women (53.7 per cent).

Bus services in cities across Maharashtra are very poor. Barring Mumbai (BEST) and Pune (PMPML), cities have inadequate and outdated fleets (less than five buses per lakh population), resulting in low frequency, poor reliability and crowding. Women's groups lamented that many initiatives such as women-only buses (Tejaswini) and reserved seats for women do not give desired results since they are not planned in consultation with women and often do not fulfil their needs. Parisar demanded gender-responsive public transport, endorsed by more than 80 women's organisations and Mahila Bachat Gath.

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Ranjit Gadgil, Program Director, Parisar said, "We explained how having good quality bus-based transport is essential for women's empowerment, economic well-being and safety. Women's workforce participation, in a highly urbanised state like Maharashtra, is crucial to the state's economic growth."

Thakur said, "Gender-sensitive urban transport is an important issue. We welcome the suggestions made and will support exercises and programs to develop a gender-sensitive public transport policy, which cities should adopt," she said.

The meeting was organised as part of SUM Net's state-wide campaign - Lakh ko 50 - which highlights the necessity for at least 50 buses per lakh urban population (a benchmark set by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs) for all cities. SUM Net is a coalition of individuals, voluntary organisations, and civil society networks and movements promoting sustainable urban transport solutions across India.

14.9%
Urban women's workforce participation in 2017-18 as per a govt report