Even as the Union government thinks over introducing a
bus services exclusively for women in major cities, a sole ladies’ only
service being operated by the KSRTC has become a liability to it.
The
Union Ministry for Urban Development has sent letters to State
governments seeking to explore the possibility of operating women’s only
services using buses to be made available under the Jawaharlal Nehru
National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
KSRTC
introduced a ladies’ only service from the Ernakulam depot in the
Aroor-Kakkanad route back during the fag end of the previous Left
Democratic Front government and close on the heels of the launch of the
Thiru-Kochi services.
The services are being operated
on all days except Sundays and public holidays, as it targets mainly
women working in the district collectorate. The bus reaches Kakkanad at
9.50 a.m. and departs for Aroor at 5 p.m.
KSRTC sources told that the corporation is seriously considering restricting
the service to Kakkanad-Ernakulam route due to lack of patronage.
“Initially,
there was good response. But it started to wane. Now it operates often
with vacant seats. In the return service from Kakkanad to Aroor, the bus
turns almost empty after Kaloor. So, we are thinking of operating it as
a ladies’ only service up to Kaloor and to operate it as a general
service after that point,” a KSRTC official said.
He
said lack of awareness about the service can hardly be a reason as KSRTC
has been operating it regularly for about two years now. “We don’t know
the exact reason. May be women passengers like to take the first bus
that comes their way rather than wait for the service,” the official
said.
He said under present circumstances KSRTC
cannot afford to divert more buses for ladies’ only services. The
corporation neither has enough buses nor financial muscle to carry on
losses. He said unless the State government gave a specific direction,
ladies’ only services were unlikely even if more buses were made
available under JNNURM.
M.B. Sathyan, president,
Kerala Private Bus Operators Federation, said unless the government
extended some kind of subsidy, private operators will not even consider
such a service having burnt their hands with a similar initiative more
than a decade ago.
At the instance of the then
collector, two private bus operators took a four-month permit for
operating a trip each for ladies in the Aluva-Ernakulam and
Ernakulam-Aluva route in the peak morning and evening hours.
“But
for the good part of the service, both the 43-seater buses operated
with more than half the seats vacant. The services were wrapped up after
20-odd days when the operators failed to recover even the fuel cost,”
Mr. Sathyan said.
D. Dhanuraj, chairman, Centre for
Public Policy Research, said while the concept of ladies’ only services
had universal acceptance, it was the failure in addressing last-mile
issues that often prove the downfall. He said the transport department
was yet averse to integrating technology and other support systems like
transit point facilities to the operation of their services. For such a
service to be successful, the department should have an exhaustive
database of the commuting public. “They should be able to analyze the
percentage of women commuters, the professional and economic background
of the majority of the targeted commuters, the timing and the routes of
their travel.”
For instance, in a city like Kochi the
sales girls in textile shops hailing from lower middle class families
are more likely to avail of the service. Night shopping can be promoted
by operating services matching the timing of these sales girls and it
will entail larger socio-economic benefits, Mr. Dhanuraj said.
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