To drop lone women commuters in the night to the nearest bus stop

If you are a lone woman commuter in a BMTC bus late in the night and are worried about your safety, here is some good news.

The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has decided to start a unique ‘request stop service’ for lone women commuters in the last trips, and drop them till the nearest bus stop of their locality, either before or after the last stop.

Transport Minister H.M. Revanna, who made the announcement on Monday, said, “Post Nirbhaya, several safety measures have been initiated in buses in Delhi. To mark, Women’s Day, we will start this unique service here from March 8.”

Several other measures, such as ‘pink seats’, ‘Indira Sarige’ and ‘Indira passes’, have also been designed for women commuters. Indira passes will be issued to those working in the unorganised sector. This includes construction and garment factory workers, the Minister said.

But women commuters were unsure of how far the move will benefit them. “It depends on when the last bus to your route is. If the service ends at 10 p.m., I don’t see any major benefit unless they introduce more services at night,” said Varsha, who lives in Vigyan Nagar.

Some others felt that such a measure would embolden more women to take the bus, given that there is a provision especially for them. “I will feel safer if there are more women in the bus. I hope more people start taking the bus now,” said Sheela from Magadi Road.

CID probe into Marcopolo deal

The case of alleged irregularities in acquiring Marcopolo buses for various transport corporations in the State will be handed over to the CID, the Minister said.

A total of 94 buses were purchased when R. Ashok was the transport minister in the previous government. “When documents regarding the purchase of vehicles were analysed, we realised that the purchase was not done as per the norms. The case will now be probed by the CID,” he said.

On Less Traffic Day, he said that the second such day will be observed on March 11. “During the last Less Traffic Day, officials were found using their own cars rather than public transport. We will initiate disciplinary action against such officials,” he said, pointing out that even elected representatives have been urged to use public transport.