BENGALURU: Commuting is a challenge for women who work in tech companies on the city’s outskirts. The distance, infrequency of buses and lack of designated bus stops affect the safety of techies from across Bengaluru.
Arundhati Pal (23), a systems engineer at Infosys, has to switch between two buses to get from Banaswadi to Electronics City. She travels in share autos as regular autorickshaws around her office charge a minimum of `150 even for short distances.
“I am not sure when the safe time to take a bus is. From 7 am to 11 am and 4 pm to 9 pm — when I commute to and from work — it is difficult to get seats. Male passengers stand too close and it becomes very uncomfortable. Sometimes it is hard to even get a bus,” she says.
Frequency of buses is not a problem for Varsha C V, who works at Ceshna Business Tech Park in Kadubeesanahalli. She takes a Volvo bus every day from Sarjapur Road to Banashankari (a distance of nearly 14 km).
“As a woman, I feel threatened when I’m standing alone on the road. There is no designated bus stop near my workplace. The buses stop anywhere they please, sometimes even on the flyover. Crossing the road in heavy traffic is risky too. There are open gutters on both sides of the road, making it difficult to walk as well,” she says.
Krithi Eshan, who works at Embassy Tech Village in Bellandur, travels from Chandra Layout every day. Her coping mechanism is to ride till Banashankari and taking a bus from there.
“There are no direct buses from Chandra Layout. Buses that go halfway too are infrequent and I am often left fending for myself on lonely roads. If there was a shuttle service, it would make my life much easier,” she says.
For Manisha, a placement officer at New Horizon College in Marathahalli, the traffic is a major inconvenience.
“I get stuck at the Silk Board junction every day. If there was a multi-level parking lot around there, I could park my vehicle safely and take a bus,” she says.