‘This bus doesn’t feel like the others’: How Patna’s women-only buses are painting the town pink

“Regular buses are usually packed, mostly with men,” Anshu, who’s heading home after an exam, says. “Although nothing bad has ever happened [to me on them], this just feels safer.”

Unrolled by the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on May 16 for six Bihar cities — Patna, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Gaya, Bhagalpur and Purnea – the bus is meant to be an all-women initiative: not only women passengers but also conductors, nodal officers, and eventually, drivers too.

Announced in the Nitish government’s Budget for 2025-26, the buses launched with one aim — to enable safe travel for women.  There are currently a total of 20  such buses – eight in Patna, four in Muzaffarpur and two each in Darbhanga, Gaya, Bhagalpur and Purnea. The unveiling of the pink bus with 22 cushioned seats comes just months ahead of the Bihar assembly polls.

“It’s equipped with GPS, CCTV, emergency alarms, and panic buttons to ensure the safety of the passengers,” a BSRTC official tells The Indian Express. “We saw an average of around 750 women take the bus each day in Patna in the first month.”

To encourage women riders, the BSRTC plans to issue monthly passes of Rs 450 for girl students and Rs 500 for working women – not only for pink buses but for other BSRTC ones too. The bus fare ranges from Rs 6 and to Rs 25 for one-way.

The routes too have been carefully thought out, officials say.

“Colleges, hospitals, schools, major markets, railway stations and tourist spots – all places where women tend to frequent — were kept in mind while planning the routes,” Kumari Birbala, the nodal officer of BSRTC, says. “The frequency is currently around 15-20 minutes on the existing routes but as more and more women come to know of the initiative, we are getting enquiries on when these buses will be started on other routes.”

For women, the buses are a convenient mode of travel, especially with children.

“Bus rides used to be a headache but this bus doesn’t feel like the others,” says Asha Devi, 35, who’s taking her four-year-old son to a relative’s house at Bailey Road. Before the pink buses were rolled out, Asha would undertake this trip on a regular bus where she “would have to jostle a mixed crowd of people”.

Another woman chimes in: “Everyone knows what women deal with on public transport, the teasing, the crude remarks. My family was nervous when I got a job in Patna, and I was too, especially since I had to work late shifts. I had to skip overcrowded buses earlier. But since this bus started, I can ride it at any hour and feel safe”.

Conductor Nandani Kumari, 19, now carefully makes her way down the aisle. Dressed in a pink salwar-kameez and a dupatta – the uniform for the pink bus – she hands out a ticket to Asha.

Still in college, she joined the bus service on May 16 – when it was rolled out — to help supplement the family income. The job pays her Rs 15,000 a month, she says.

“This job is my family’s lifeline. We’re going through some financial hardship and the minimum qualification needed for this was high school. So, I took it,” she says.

The job turned out better than she expected.  “The bus feels safe to work in since all passengers are women. I get to sit next to them, talk, and sometimes even learn from their experiences. I never feel out of place,” she says.

According to IAS officer and BSRTC’s administrator Atul Kumar Verma, 80 more buses will soon be rolled out throughout Bihar, with plans of introducing some AC buses as well.

“We will also be fitting sanitary napkin vending machines in the pink buses. It will be available for just Rs 5 apiece… Sanitary napkins are still a taboo for many and women still shy away from buying them openly. But in the pink buses, they won’t have to think twice,” Verma says.

The BSRTC currently employs 16 conductors in two shifts for its eight buses. For many women, this offers an independence they never had before.

“If not for the pink bus, working as a conductor on a regular bus would have never crossed my mind. It opened more doors for us,” Anushka Kumari, 25, a conductor on another pink bus, says.

Says Mamta Kumari, assistant regional manager (operations) at BSRTC: “These conductors aren’t just punching tickets, they’re showing Bihar’s women can lift themselves and their families up”.

But it’s not only the women who find this bus better. At Danapur — the last stop — Devdutt Maurya, 27, prepares to turn the bus around. He has three more trips to make in the day but he doesn’t appear to mind.

“It feels better to drive these buses. There’s no overcrowding, no unnecessary noise. I can simply drive the bus calmly,” Maurya, who’s also dressed in a pink half-shirt, says.

Meanwhile, the BSRTC is planning to hire and train female drivers to truly make it all-women.

“We have been scouting for eligible women candidates. We will have them trained at the Institute of Driving & Traffic Research (IDTR) Aurangabad for heavy vehicle licences, and then deploy them in pink buses,” BSRTC administrator Verma says.

Back in Danapur, college student Anshu Kumari has just completed her first pink bus ride. It’s been an hour since she boarded.

“Other modes would have either taken longer, or I would have to change rickshaws, or I would be jostling people in a crowded bus. This is better,” she says.