Surat, November 20. The streets of Surat are set to witness a significant development as Pink Buses driven by women will now run alongside the existing Pink Autos. Starting Thursday, the Pink Bus service dedicated to women on the BRTS route will be operated by a female driver.
The bus is scheduled to ply on the route from Sarthana Nature Park to ONGC. The Surat Municipal Corporation succeeded in finding a suitable candidate after a long search spanning twenty months. As per agency report, the selected driver possesses four years of experience in driving heavy vehicles.
More than two and a half lakh passengers travel daily via the municipal corporation's public transport service. The Pink Auto service launched earlier for women had received an excellent response. Following this success, a demand for a bus service for women was raised during a general meeting, leading the municipal corporation to initiate a pilot project for the Pink Bus. Although the pilot bus was started, the service could not be regularized earlier due to the unavailability of a female driver.
After a long wait, the female driver will now regularly operate the Pink Bus on the ONGC to Sarthana Nature Park route. Transport Committee Chairman Somnath Marathe is scheduled to flag off the bus on Thursday morning at 11 am. Hailing from Indore, she will become the first female bus driver in Surat, setting a new example for women's safety and self-reliance. The Surat Municipal Corporation and Surat Citylink Limited have stated that they are working on providing more opportunities to women in the public transport sector in the near future.
