Gurugram must study Delhi’s free public transport scheme for women to make transportation affordable for all
Gurgaman’s route 111B is my preferred way of accessing the HUDA City Centre metro station. As a frequent user of Gurugram’s bus service, I have observed some interesting conversation amongst passengers and the crew. However, what happened last Friday made me think a little more about pricing public transport.
It was barely five minutes since the bus left the metro station that a lady, probably travelling with her grandchild, asked the bus conductor to give her a pink slip. The conductor looked a little puzzled. The lady went on to explain that it’s a ticket that she got without any payment. Now, the conductor was even more puzzled. Luckily, the co-passengers came to his rescue and told the lady that pink slips are for Delhi only. The scheme is not there in Gurugram. I could see the disappointment on her face.
A pink ticket is a part of ‘free public transport for women’ scheme in Delhi that was launched on October 29. Women passengers are given pink slips for the amount of their ticket, except that they need not make any payment for the trip. In June, the Delhi government announced to make public transport free for women. The announcement has got mixed opinions from politicians, experts, civil society, and the public at large. So, what can free public transport for women do to a city? Let’s look at it a little more, minus the politics.
Improving mobility
Only one-third of public transport users in Delhi are women, even though they are half the population in the city. The prime reason for this low number is our workforce participation rate, which is nothing but the number of women in the workforce as compared to men. In India, women above the age of 15 form 27% of the workforce. One might think this number will be higher in a city like Delhi, which has malls, offices, shopping centres, etc. But the number is only 12% in Delhi. One of the reasons for this low number is lack of mobility. Men usually get this first right to private vehicles in the family, which means women have to either walk or use expensive public transport. Therefore, rationalizing public transport fares would surely get more ridership in government-run buses, and if the new users are women, even better.
Impact on safety
A WRI India research on women safety in public transport found three phases of safety issues in transit. The first phase is access to public transport. Waiting for the service is the second phase. The third is travelling in transit. Therefore, making public transport free for women will not solve women’s safety entirely, but it will surely have a positive impact. Let me elaborate. As per the estimates, only 15% women in India, and about 30% in Delhi, use bus transport. These are average numbers, which means that there will be a time when among 60-70 men, there will be only a couple of female passengers. Therefore, the perception of safety will be different then when there is a higher number of women passengers. Thus, free transport for women will get more female passengers, which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on safety, at least when they are in transit.
Reduction in emission
A day after the scheme was launched, around 25 lakh tickets were issued in DTC as well as cluster buses. Pink tickets were around eight lakh. A week later, the number of tickets issued was about 31 lakh, and the number of pink tickets also went up to 12 lakh. Yes, there was an increase in ridership due to the odd-even scheme in Delhi, but the growth in women riders are primarily on account of the free travel scheme. If these additional riders had used cars or two-wheelers, the emission would have only gone up. Therefore, reducing public transport fares can also an emission reduction strategy.
The benefits are enormous, but what can a city like Gurugram learn from such a scheme? Especially when it is going to cost ₹140 crore annually. Gurugram may soon get a ladies’ special bus service. So, is this an alternative? I don’t think so. That’s because women-only service usually has a low frequency. Women will not wait for hours to get a special bus but would instead prefer (rightly) to reach their destination on time. Hence, these services don’t work. Affordability of public transport is another significant issue in Gurugram. One of the reasons why Rapid Metro has such low ridership is due to the high ticket prices.
Therefore, public transport fares should be rationalized in Gurugram. It can be done by taxing private transport through parking, registration, congestion charging, etc. Delhi is currently experimenting with free transport for women, Gurugram can attempt affordable transportation for all.
@amitbhatt4u
(Amit Bhatt is the director- integrated transport, WRI India)
