Subhashini, a regular commuter from Rajajinagar to Shivajinagar in Bengaluru, was surprised to see her bus more crowded than earlier. “After the government launched the Shakti scheme, the bus was packed tight. “Usually, the bus will not be so crowded since I use the non-peak hour buses but even around 1 p.m. my bus was crowded,” she added.
A day after the Shakti scheme, which offers women free travel in non-premium services offered by State-run road transport corporations (RTCs), was launched, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses were crowded on Monday, leading to a demand for increasing the bus fleet.
The shortage of buses were seen in the city as many were seen standing on footboards making the ride uncomfortable.
Shalini Nayak, a commuter from Vijayanagar, said: “Many women have started using the public transport, which is good. However the government should have increased the number of buses. If the bus is crowded many will stop using the service, which will render the scheme useless”.
Many garment workers were seen waiting for BMTC buses at the Muthuraya Nagar Cross bus stop on Mysuru Road and they complained that the frequency of buses on this route had decreased.
Footfall in AC buses drop
Meanwhile, the AC premium buses on Monday saw very few passengers. Most of the BMTC Vajra buses was plying with less passengers.
Saroja R., a passenger in a Vajra bus, said: “It was surprising to board a Volvo bus towards Bannerghatta Road from Majestic bus stand today (Monday) morning and notice that I was the only woman in the bus. These days, even Volvos used to be decently crowded but today, there were men as usual, but no women”.
A conductor from a Vajra bus said that he had also observed that women were very less on the day compared to other days.
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Photocopies of ID cards to be accepted
After many women showed copies of identity cards, leading to confusion, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) announced on Monday that the photocopies of ID cards or DigiLocker can also be shown to conductors.
