Buses manned by women begin service

All-women crew of a Kudumbasree bus that began operating in the cityon Saturday.

Two buses manned by women and named ‘Kochi Queen,’ began service on Saturday.

They are owned and operated by the Kudumbasree Mission with financial support from the Kochi Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL). Each of the buses is manned by five women, one of whom steers the vehicle. The service was inaugurated by Mayor Tony Chammany.

“Each of the women invested Rs.1 lakh in the initiative, while the Corporation and BPCL gave Rs.24 lakh each. The women crew have to set apart revenue from tickets to repay approximately Rs.40,000 a month a bus for the loan taken from banks,” said Sunitha Dixon, Vyttila ward councillor of the Corporation and the working group chairperson of Kudumbasree.

Routes

She thanked Ernakulam RTO K.A. Shaji for speeding up paper work for commencing the service. Both buses operate through the NH Bypass, commencing and ending trips at Vyttila Mobility Hub. One bus will operate along the Vyttila-High Court- Edapally- Paravur- Vyttila route while the second will operate in Vyttila- Kakkanad- Kalamassery- Pathalam- Edayar- Panayikkulam- Koonammavu- Vyttila route. “In between, they will operate three trips in Vyttila- Edapally/LULU Mall sector where there is high demand,” Ms Dixon said.

A third bus, to be operated by a five-member team from Kudumbasree’s west division will shortly take to the road.