Delhi buses popular but inadequate
Millions live and work in this country’s metropolises, hamstrung by their slowly decaying public transport networks. takes stock of how people commute in four of the country’s mega cities. Today, a New Delhi resident narrates her troubles because of the C
NEW DELHI: It is 9.20am and Samprity Biswas, a researcher in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), sets out from her in-campus hostel to the nearest bus stop. Thursdays being her “reading session” day, her destination is the American Centre Library at Kasturba Gandhi Marg in the heart of the Capital.
Biswas takes seven minutes to reach the bus stand on foot and it is from here that her ordeal begins, she says. She waits for 20 minutes but there is still no sight of the bus number 615 which drops her near Scindia House in Connaught Place.
Bored, she watches a dog crossing her and settling on the bench of the deserted bus stop. “The condition of bus stands not just in JNU, but across Delhi is so pathetic that people prefer to wait outside the shelter on the roads. At some spots either the bench is broken or the roof is missing,” Biswas said.
Delhi government data indicates at least 700 bus queue shelters are in need for immediate renovation. Besides, the city has only 1,864 shelters against the need of around 4,000.
After waiting for about 30 minutes, which she claimed “is usual”, the 25-year old MPhil student boards the bus. “The service is still better here as this is the campus area. I myself have had to wait for up to an hour in areas like Jhandewalan and Karol Bagh for a bus. It becomes a big safety issue, especially when it gets dark. Imagine the plight of other women in the city,” she said.
When asked why she opts for buses despite the uncertainty of their arrival or departure, Biswas said because it is the cheapest mode of transport in the city.
It is also the most popular, despite the Delhi Metro expanding its network.
Rates of bus tickets in Delhi start from ₹5 and go up to ₹25, whereas, metro fares range from ₹10 to ₹60.
But, it is only when she has ample time that she opts for a bus. “Buses in Delhi are not for those who are tight on schedule as there is no fixed time table and frequency is too low,” she said after managing to get a seat.
The bus journey took her an hour or so, and from the end stop her library was a five-minute walk.
Like Biswas, millions of people in the Capital have to endlessly wait for a bus. This is because despite the Delhi high court directing that there should be a fleet of 11,000 buses, the city has only 5,426 of them.
Delhi’s vehicular population is more than 10 million at least 1,500 new vehicles are being registered every day. Two wheelers are around 6.7 million in the city, followed by cars at more than 2.3 million.
Most bus commuters Hindustan Times spoke to said it was rare for them to use the same medium on both legs of the journey. Biswas too fell under the same category.
“It has never been that I have used a bus to get back to campus. I use it only from JNU as the bus number, route and stops are known to me,” she said.
On Thursday too, she took the metro to return to her campus as it is quicker against finding the correct bus, a bus stop and then waiting for it.
She admitted she felt most unsafe in buses. “Men constantly stare and I feel powerless. Safety wise I am more comfortable travelling in a metro,” she said.
Even as she lauded the reliability, frequency and the 217 kilometre-long network of the Delhi Metro, Biswas said the problem in taking the train was that of last-mile connectivity.
“If I have to take an auto-rickshaw between campus and Hauz Khas, our nearest metro station, auto drivers ask as much as ₹80-100, while the fare by metre is only ₹50,” she said.
Now with app-based cab aggregators offering a plethora of deals, Biswas and her friends often take a shared taxi ride to or from the metro which costs them ₹35-37 per person only.
“In fact, after the metro fare hike, We have also stopped taking metro for short distances that fall in the radius of 5-kms as cabs turn out to be cheaper,” Biswas said.
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The service is still better here as this is the campus area. I myself have had to wait for up to an hour in areas like Jhandewalan and Karol Bagh for a bus. It becomes a big safety issue, especially when it gets dark. Imagine the plight of other women in the city.
SAMPRITY BISWAS, New Delhi resident