Noida, Greater Noida get autos only for women

As a start up, the department has come up with 40 GPS-enabled autos in which drivers have been empanelled only after verification from police and transport departments in order to instil the sense of security and confidence among working women in the city.

The scheme will also be helpful for women commuters during the odd-even scheme days from January 1-15 in Delhi and NCR. Initially, these autos will ply at night and will be available from two locations — Botanical Garden and City Centre Metro stations — but there are plans to extend round-the-clock service.

As per the plan, after the initial introduction of 40 autos, there are plans to start another 200 autos only for women. The department, in order to ensure the last-mile connectivity, will run these autos from the Metro stations in order to connect the twin cities of Noida and Greater Noida.

“The first fleet consists of a total of 40 autos and in the second fleet it will be nearly 100. In the later phases, a similar number of autos will be dedicated for this purpose. If things go well, the department will provide a dedicated auto service for the women travelling in and around these cities,” said a senior official of transport department.

The official informed that in the first phase, 20 autos have been stationed at the Botanical Garden Metro station and the remaining at the City Centre Metro station.

“The last-mile connectivity has always been a major problem for women commuters and the move has been aimed to address this to a certain extent. The autos will ferry only women passengers,” added the official.

As the drivers of these dedicated autos are men, the department has appointed them only after proper verification of their track records. The autos will have a separate colour and a dress code has also been fixed for the drivers. The autos will be available between 7 pm and 12 am and if the number of autos goes up, there will be separate stands for them. Notably, the women commuters always face difficulties while commuting in these parts of the city. Women rue lack of public transport facility which poses a threat to their security.