Women and children-friendly bus
It’s an old typical BRTC (Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation) bus, but redesigned into a special one, friendly especially for women and children. Men can get on this bus, too.
There is a door and 15 seats reserved for women, children and disabled people. To give space for wheelchair ramp and foldable seats, number of regular seats has been decreased to 47 from 52. It also equips special chairs and curtains for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Strip lights and mobile phone charging points have been set up.
Architect Kaneez Fatema has designed the bus under a programme of her business enterprise, Children's Amusing Ride Environment (CARE), on the funds of Netherlands based Barnard van Leer Foundation. After the renovations being finished in August, the bus is now ready for an inauguration.
Kaniz Fatema is a site planner of International Organization of Migration (IOM). Architects Rubait ur Rahman, also Kaneez's husband, and Adhora Protiti assisted in the work.
It was not a costly initiative to turn the old BRTC bus into a women and children friendly transport, Kaneez says.
Kaneez has a social enterprise called Deshojo which was launched in 2016. How did the idea of working on such a project come into her mind?
"A child was sexually harassed and the incident was much discussed on social media. The child rode on a bus with her mother. As she did not get any seat, a man took her on his lap and sexually assaulted her. Such incidents are very common."
Kaneez came to know about an Urban95 challenge by Bernard van Leer Foundation at the end of 2016. The topic of the competition was how cities are experienced from a 95-centimetre height, average height of a three year old. It asked what the required changes were for planning a city when it is viewed from the perspective of a child. Kaneez started assessment on the day to day transportation crisis and its impact on the mental and physical health of children.
"I talked with several people for being prepared for the competition and learnt that many had stopped riding buses for bitter experiences," she said. "They would opt for CNG-run autorickshaws or limit their outdoor trips."
"I realised that dedicated bus for women and children was not an actual solution for such a daily crisis," she said. The then chairman of BRTC, Farid Ahmed Bhuiyan, undertook the project at the time.
Zakiul Islam, Tariq Bin Yousuf, Riaz Ahmed and others joined at different phases of the development, Kaneez said. She mentioned her strong family support as well as the role of BRTC, and Apollo Engineers.
"I've worked on an old bus this time. If the project is successful, I'll improvise it further," she added.
*This piece, originally appeared in Prothom Alo's print edition, has been rewritten here in English by Nusrat Nowrin.