September 27, 2024 – Greenpeace India has launched its newest report “ Fare Free Future: Girls’s Perspective on the Public Bus Transport in Mumbai” calling for fare-free, accessible, and environment friendly public bus providers. The report highlights the necessity for improved amenities resembling bus shelters, higher frequency of buses, public restrooms and advocates for gender delicate insurance policies to make sure safer transport for girls in Maharashtra.
Public buses have been important to mobility in Mumbai, with a good portion of the town’s inhabitants—significantly ladies—counting on public transportation. This highlights the pressing want to enhance the general infrastructure of the bus system. In line with the report, a placing 94% respondents agree that the political events ought to make fare free, dependable and secure bus transport as the important thing agenda merchandise of their manifesto. 40% of the ladies respondents registered robust assist for the political occasion promising free fare bus coverage. The Robust assist from Girls highlights the importance of fare-free public buses as an important welfare coverage.
Towards the backdrop of Mumbai’s overcrowded buses with ladies touring to workplaces throughout each formal and casual sectors, 46% of respondents use public buses day by day indicating the pressing want to extend the bus fleet dimension. Together with being spacious the general public buses also needs to be secure as 20% respondents reported Sexual harassment as main concern inside public buses.
The fare free bus scheme has already been profitable in states like Delhi, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. But, ladies in Maharashtra proceed to attend for a similar transformative change; fare-free and secure public bus journey.
Campaigner at Greenpeace India Aakiz Farooq mentioned, “Fare free public bus transport coverage for girls can considerably improve ladies’s entry to employment alternatives, enhance financial savings, assist them in accessing public areas and enhance ladies’s proper to mobility. In states the place this scheme is at present carried out, it has proven promising outcomes like elevated ridership, enhance in financial savings and earnings ,higher employment alternatives for girls and many others. Political events in Maharashtra have a chance to indicate their dedication for gender equality and sustainable transportation by introducing a fare free bus scheme for girls within the state as many ladies indicated it might affect their voting selections.”
Girls from low earnings teams discover public buses as probably the most value efficient choice for day by day frequent commute —- 57% of the whole ladies respondents earn lower than 10,000 rupees a month with 1 in 5 respondents discovering public bus fares to be costly. Thus the expensive fares restrict their mobility and scale back financial participation and entry to alternatives in public areas.
“Mumbai has a big share of working ladies particularly these belonging to the casual labour sector like home employees, road distributors and many others and these ladies rely on bus transportation to commute to their workplaces day by day. Introduction of the fare free public bus scheme in Maharashtra will assist such ladies to commute longer distances for work by decreasing the monetary burden”. – Mentioned Poonam Kanojiya, Maharashtra Co-ordinator NAPM
Together with dissolving the associated fee burden it additionally crucial to make these public buses secure, dependable and gender delicate as respondents cited —-Overcrowding (92%) and security concern(48%), Discrimination and Harassment (20%), Lack of public bathrooms ( 57%) have been recognized as probably the most important issues face by ladies whereas utilizing public buses particularly throughout peak hours in dimly lit areas.
The report suggests a number of coverage suggestions to make public bus transport of Maharashtra fare free, accommodative & secure for working ladies, college students and transgender. Corresponding to— Fare free bus service with seats reserved for girls and transgender individuals. Enhance the quantity and frequency (particularly through the peak hours) of ladies solely buses within the cities and enlargement of the bus fleet. It additionally emphasizes bus stops with depots together with shelters, bathrooms and safety programs. Lastly it additionally suggests unique bus lanes and a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority for coordinated transport administration.
Annexure-I
Key Highlights-
- Public transport in Mumbai, particularly buses, performs an important function in ladies’s day by day lives, however security issues, overcrowding, and lack of affordability restrict their use, significantly for low-income ladies.
- Implementing a fare-free bus scheme for girls, as seen in Delhi, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, has considerably elevated feminine ridership, enhancing entry to schooling, employment, and important providers.
- The survey collected views from Mumbai ladies on a proposed fare-free bus scheme, exploring points resembling security, overcrowding, prices, and the situation of bus shelters.
- Most girls in lower-income teams depend on buses for day by day commutes however face challenges resembling lengthy ready instances and overcrowding, highlighting the necessity for inexpensive, safer transportation.
- Overcrowding (92%) and security issues (48%) have been recognized as probably the most important issues, making public buses much less interesting for girls, particularly throughout peak hours and in poorly lit areas.
- Lengthy ready instances (84%) and lack of unpolluted public bathrooms (57%) at bus stops have been recognized as key limitations, disproportionately affecting ladies and making bus journey uncomfortable and unsafe.
- Discrimination and harassment, significantly in opposition to ladies, have been reported by 20% of respondents, underscoring the necessity for gender-sensitive insurance policies in public transport.
- Whereas buses are a cheap choice, 22% of ladies within the lowest earnings group nonetheless discovered fares costly, pointing to the financial pressure they face and the potential advantages of a fare-free scheme.
- Many ladies who prevented buses cited choice for taxis or auto-rickshaws because of the unreliability, overcrowding, and issues of safety of bus providers.
- The survey highlights the potential affect of fare-free public transport as a political subject, with many respondents indicating it might have an effect on their voting selections in upcoming election.
Annexure II
About Greenpeace India:
Greenpeace India is a non-profit, environmental marketing campaign organisation devoted to selling local weather change mitigation, adaptation, and simply transition. By means of non-violent inventive actions and campaigns, we intention to construct programs which might be inexperienced, inclusive, and sustainable. We’re an unbiased organisation, absolutely funded by Indian particular person donors, who’re devoted to the reason for local weather justice.
