On The Safety Buzz: Hype Or Hope?

Women’s safety is suddenly the buzzword for every agency. The heightened awareness does make more stakeholders involved, but token gestures and small measures have no impact. The numerous women’s safety audits conducted over the past eight years in the city have clearly pointed to street and urban planning aspects that can impact accessibility and safety

On The Solutions

All surveys point out a clear need for wellmanaged and safe forms of public transport. In the Jagori survey in 2010, 54% respondents pointed out that crowded buses and bus stops were a major factor in feeling unsafe, poor lighting (25%), lack of public toilets (44%)

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On Changes On The Ground

The low floor DTC buses are an improvement, but the design of bus stops do not address the last mile. For these, we still depend on autos, rickshaws, RTVs, phatphati etc, which are still run in an unorganised manner. It’s not enough that I can reach the Metro station or the bus stop safely, I need to reach my doorstep safely.

On Making The Last Mile Safe

For safety on the last mile, firstly, the concept of “between stops” can be adopted, where a woman travelling by bus alone after dark could be allowed to request for the bus to halt closer to her destination. It’s been tried in Canada and other countries and has worked. Further, there needs to be better lighting and vendors or shops around bus stops and other waiting places to ensure there is activity in the area. Sometimes small changes can have an impact.