BMTC to run more buses exclusively for women
City has around 2.5 lakh women working in the garment sector
Bengaluru: BMTC may not re-launch pink buses, but the transport corporation is identifying different places in the city from where exclusive buses for women could be run.
Kumar Pushkar, Director (IT), BMTC, told Deccan Chronicle, “Pink buses will not be reintroduced, but we are taking up a survey to allocate buses exclusively for women, especially from areas where a large number of women work, from near garment factories. We have been informed that many women employees are forced to take autorickshaws and taxis because most of the buses that run on their route are full. To provide them good connectivity and safer travel options, we have decided to run the already existing BMTC buses to specific areas. The display boards will specifically mention that they are women-only buses.”
The city has approximately 2.5 lakh women working in the garment sector. Transport Department officials have held meetings with their counterparts from the Labour Department and worked out the details of such bus services.
BMTC already has a few buses dedicated for women that run to Vidhana Soudha.
They make 30 trips a day from JP Nagar, Chandra Layout, Nandini layout, Yehlankha 5th Phase, Padmanabhanagar, Vijaynagar, Kumaraswamy layout, Uttarahalli, KHB Colony, Malleswaram bus stand,
Srinagar, Vidyananyapura, Banashankari 3rd Stage, Koramangala, Jayanagar bus stand, Hosakerahalli, Kuvempu Nagar, Jivana Bima Nagar, Nagarbhavi 2nd Stage and Basaveshwara Nagar.
The BMTC first introduced pink buses in 2007, but had to withdraw them because of poor response.