Passengers 'rush to be in my bus'
October 6, 2015 12:12 AM Subscribe
Vankadarath Saritha, Delhi's first female bus driver - "Women have been to space so why can't we drive a bus?"
The same seemingly applies to taxis and trucks. For whatever reason, professional drivers are just overwhelmingly men, pretty much wherever you go.
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:28 AM on October 6, 2015
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:28 AM on October 6, 2015
Lovely story!
It makes me think of the time when I was riding my motorbike around the Saharah with Mr. Previous. He would ride in front (because he had more experience, so he could pick the best route through the terrain) and people would cheer when they saw him, like ' Yay! Motorcycle!' But then they'd see me, and somehow the women could always tell I was a woman even with my bike gear on, and often, they'd start grinning, jumping up and down, waving their arms and shouting ' Yaaaaa you're a woman!' They were always so happy to see me, and seemed impressed, while I was just blown away by their physical strength, the things I saw them carry around... but no, an African woman could never do what I did, because they'd need to be really strong, they said.
Bullshit! I say. Women can drive and ride vehicles of many kinds, and if they want to, they should. It's fun. It's also freeing and empowering in a pretty literal sense.
Women can drive buses. This is just one of the things we take for granted here. Thanks for posting.
posted by Too-Ticky at 5:38 AM on October 6, 2015 [5 favorites]
It makes me think of the time when I was riding my motorbike around the Saharah with Mr. Previous. He would ride in front (because he had more experience, so he could pick the best route through the terrain) and people would cheer when they saw him, like ' Yay! Motorcycle!' But then they'd see me, and somehow the women could always tell I was a woman even with my bike gear on, and often, they'd start grinning, jumping up and down, waving their arms and shouting ' Yaaaaa you're a woman!' They were always so happy to see me, and seemed impressed, while I was just blown away by their physical strength, the things I saw them carry around... but no, an African woman could never do what I did, because they'd need to be really strong, they said.
Bullshit! I say. Women can drive and ride vehicles of many kinds, and if they want to, they should. It's fun. It's also freeing and empowering in a pretty literal sense.
Women can drive buses. This is just one of the things we take for granted here. Thanks for posting.
posted by Too-Ticky at 5:38 AM on October 6, 2015 [5 favorites]
I love this woman. I didn't watch the video but at least in the article it was heartening to see she had the support of her male colleagues and that she hadn't been harassed by passengers.
posted by biggreenplant at 5:41 AM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by biggreenplant at 5:41 AM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
In the last couple of years I've started to see more women driving over-the-road trucks here in the US, but that is something I've never seen in another country. Ditto bus and taxi drivers. Good for her, and I hope she opens the door to more women.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:55 AM on October 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Dip Flash at 5:55 AM on October 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
The same seemingly applies to taxis and trucks. For whatever reason, professional drivers are just overwhelmingly men, pretty much wherever you go.
I did a double-take the other day when I saw a taxi drive that was a woman. I can't remember that last time I've seen that. I'm not sure I've ever been in a taxi driven by a woman. On the other hand, a significant percentage of the public transit is driven by women. (location: Southern Ontario).
posted by el io at 1:02 PM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
I did a double-take the other day when I saw a taxi drive that was a woman. I can't remember that last time I've seen that. I'm not sure I've ever been in a taxi driven by a woman. On the other hand, a significant percentage of the public transit is driven by women. (location: Southern Ontario).
posted by el io at 1:02 PM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
I did a double-take the other day when I saw a taxi drive that was a woman. I can't remember that last time I've seen that. I'm not sure I've ever been in a taxi driven by a woman.
It is extremely rare, and i have the same reaction honestly. Plenty of bits have been hewn on the subject, and it was even featured in an FPP once. And that article included the line "Wow, I've never gotten a woman driver before!".
Ostensibly, there's the same safety concerns from the position of a driver with passengers as there are as a passenger getting harassed by drivers(more than a bit of a power dynamic shift, but still)
Whereas as a transit driver, there's not only all the other passengers but transit security and police who at least here not only show up quickly, but straight up shoot people. I've heard of very few bus drivers being assaulted, but driving a taxi/uber always seemed much more dangerous. How statistically true that is, who knows(and one of the first articles i linked tried to dissuade that a bit)... But the perception is widely there.
posted by emptythought at 2:38 PM on October 6, 2015
It is extremely rare, and i have the same reaction honestly. Plenty of bits have been hewn on the subject, and it was even featured in an FPP once. And that article included the line "Wow, I've never gotten a woman driver before!".
Ostensibly, there's the same safety concerns from the position of a driver with passengers as there are as a passenger getting harassed by drivers(more than a bit of a power dynamic shift, but still)
Whereas as a transit driver, there's not only all the other passengers but transit security and police who at least here not only show up quickly, but straight up shoot people. I've heard of very few bus drivers being assaulted, but driving a taxi/uber always seemed much more dangerous. How statistically true that is, who knows(and one of the first articles i linked tried to dissuade that a bit)... But the perception is widely there.
posted by emptythought at 2:38 PM on October 6, 2015
I'm not sure I've ever been in a taxi driven by a woman.
I have, and that's not surprising, because more than one third of Dutch taxi drivers are female.
posted by Too-Ticky at 12:56 AM on October 7, 2015
I have, and that's not surprising, because more than one third of Dutch taxi drivers are female.
posted by Too-Ticky at 12:56 AM on October 7, 2015
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posted by SPrintF at 1:25 AM on October 6, 2015