Peshawar: The provincial government failed to execute the Pink Bus Service project even after 4 months in office as there is nothing to see anything like a prink bus on any road across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The project was launched in June, 2018 for only women and children to provide them safe transit in between the twin cities Mardan and Abbottabad of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The first of its kind transportation facilities aimed to decrease harassment in local transport.
Sadia Waqas, 25, is a working woman in Mardan, the second biggest city of the province. She has to daily travel in a local Tri-wheeler to reach her destination in Mardan. She said, “We have been waiting for the pink buses since it was inaugurated a few months ago by the provincial government but don’t know why is it still not functional in the city?” She was unaware of the project being delayed. She said, “The Pink Bus was an opportunity to have a breath of fresh air in the male-dominant society as I personally feel uncomfortable traveling in the local private transport.”
The project was handed over to KP Transport Department named TransPeshawar for execution of the service and monitoring in the future. However, the official documents obtained by Truth Tracker reveal that the buses will be operated by the vendor, which will be selected through a bid.
“We have invited bids for selection of a vendor twice but couldn’t succeed,” said Noman Manzoor, Communication Specialist at TransPeshawar.
He said, “The vendors who wanted the contract through bids were not up to the government terms and conditions.” He hoped for success in finding a suitable contractor in near future as the government had invited vendors for bidding for the third time recently through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (KPPRA).
He further said that the KP Transport Department would also evaluate the selected company’s services and performance.
The project was launched by PTI government in the province in collaboration with United Nation Women (UNW). However, the buses are manufactured and distributed in Pakistan by Mitsubishi Japan.
Mardan is also the city of several female universities and colleges. The female students are happy for the Pink bus initiative, expecting free and safe rides across the city.
Hudaibia Iftikhar, 21, is a daily public/private transport commuter from rural area to the university. She said that Women in the rural areas are hesitant to travel alone in local transport without a male family member because of cultural taboos. She says Pink Bus Service is a good initiative for women to travel freely if implemented early, “This service will eliminate fear of the women to travel alone across the city for jobs, studies r shopping”, Iftikhar added. She said, “It will build confidence of our parents that we can travel freely and safely in the city.”
The Pink Bus Service has been launched in the interest of the female population as the city is hosting an estimate of 1.7 million woman according to the 2017 census.
Talking about the security measurements taken for the first of its kind bus service for women and children, Wahid Mehmood, Distract Police officer (DPO) said, “Of 84 police mobile vans monitoring the metropolitans round the clock, two vans have been allocated for monitoring of Pink Buses’ routes especially.” “It will be an honour for us if the government handed over responsibility to train pink buses’ pilots because the police department will have a well-established school of driving in Mardan for facilitating people, conducting trainings on driving and traffic education,” Mehmood added.
The Bus Services will be functional 24/7 in twin cities like Mardan and Abbottabad initially and will complete three trips in a day, covering 12 bus stops in each one-way trip.
The former mayor and opposition leader of the city, Himayatullah has had a critical eye on the project. He criticized the government and said, “The Pink Buses initiative will be a failed project for Mardan because people can’t wait for buses. They want a quick service which could carry them quickly to their destinations.”
He said that the project should be launched after surveying the public psychology and culture. “In Pashtun society, women don’t travel without male companions and the number of the independent women is very low.”
He recalled, “As the Mayor, I had suggested the government to launch a pink carry van service instead of buses but government refused my request which was feasible and preferred buses”.
A pink bus has the capacity to carry a maximum 40 females while the fare will be decided by the government. However, apart from the women, Pink Bus Service will also cater children below the puberty.
“A project aims at curtailing the ratio of women harassment in public buses,” said a female social activist and working journalist, Lubna Aftab. She said that it would provide protection to women from being harassed in public/private transport as there will be no opposite gender in the pink bus. The facility is meant for every woman in the city, however, working women are likely to benefit more than housewives as the working women travel every day, Lubna added.
She said that pink buses would play a vital role in women unemployment as every woman wants to work in peaceful and safe environment.
