Just 9% women feel public transport safe enough, 40% choose it for affordability: Ola report

Only 9 percent women and 11 percent men feel safe to use public transport in the country, of which 3 percent of both women and men feel that public transport is extremely unsafe, says a report. Most women cite harassment like verbal abuse, staring, groping, cat calls, whistling, and molestation among others as the reason for for their opinion. Nearly 35 percent men and women feel that public transport is safe except at night, says a report by cab aggregator by Ola released ahead of the International Women's Day on Friday.

The report, which has surveyed 9,935 women across 11 cities to assess the current state of the mobility ecosystem, finds that women are willing to use public transport with 96 percent prioritising affordability, coverage, frequency, safety and comfort. The cities covered include Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhuvaneshwar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Indore, Jammu, Kochi, Mumbai, Mysuru and New Delhi.

Nearly 40 percent cite affordability as the reason to choose public transport, with 26 percent stating convenience, while 15 percent say they have no other option. It notes that 59 percent of the surveyed women used public transport. Women constitute 38 percent of bus users, 35 percent of metro/train users and 40-45 percent of auto-rickshaws, on-demand taxis and other shared mobility modes.

The report reveals that 89 percent of women feel that the public transport information system can be better designed such that information is easily available and accessible.