Bhubaneswar: Since the enforcement of Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, the demand for the public transport has increased manifold. Many people nowadays prefer the ‘Mo Bus’ service while other are travelling in autos and other public modes of transport. The ‘Mo Bus’ service is availed by close to 90,000 passengers everyday in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Khurda.
However, there has been a setback for women as pink auto rickshaws have disappeared from the streets. It was launched with much fanfare in 2015 but has failed to really kick off due to the lack of proper publicity. Pink autos were meant only for women. Now with its disappearance, women who usually use public mode of transport are facing hardship. The counter for pink autos at the KIIT College Square has downed shutter. There are two counters at Master Canteen and Baramunda, but they are virtually non-functional due to the lack of pink autos.
Among the few pink autos that are still operating, very few avail of them because of the paraphernalia involved in hiring the three-wheelers. Women passengers have to fill up a form before availing the pink auto service. However, with most women refusing to do that, men are see more riding in these types of autos.
PNN