Redbus responds after thousands sign Bengaluru woman’s petition for safer bus travel

In April this year, Rashmi Bachani filed a petition on change.org, urging for safer bus travel for women after she was molested by the driver on a bus from Goa to Bangalore.

Now, after two months, the petition has 1.4 lakh supporters and redBus CEO Prakash Sangam has responded saying that the company will work towards putting together a “comprehensive system for resolution of problems associated with safety of women travellers.”

Before starting the petition, Rashmi had apparently tried to get in touch with redBus multiple times to address the issue. However, she was met with a generic response. Now however, Sangam applauded Rashmi’s efforts.

“We applaud Rashmi for courageously bringing the issue of women safety to the forefront. redBus fully supports this cause. redBus is an online platform through which millions of travellers book bus tickets on thousands of bus operators. While redBus does not own or operate buses, we have undertaken several measures within our control to help improve passenger safety, especially for women travelers,” he said.

Rashmi, while elated with the response, also expressed that she did not expect the petition to garner the overwhelming support it has received.

“When I started my petition on Change.org, I didn’t expect it to become a movement supported by over 1.4 lakh people. I am very happy that redBus acknowledged the issue and responded in such a positive manner. I look forward to to them implementing the safety measures in the coming months,” she said.

The suggested safety measures were:

• Convince all bus operators to have GPS tracker-enabled buses
• Advise bus operators to instal CCTVs, Show CCTV installed buses as a special amenity
• Influence bus operators to continuously verify drivers’ background
• Display ratings of Rest-Stop on parameters of hygiene and safety
• Urge all bus operators send details of the bus staff to passengers
• Encourage bus operators to prominently display emergency contact numbers
• Send SMSes with emergency contact information to women travellers