The state government, headed by the Aam Aadmi Party, has proposed free rides for women commuters in buses and on the Delhi Metro. Subsidizing some forms of public transport for women would cost the exchequer a sum of around Rs 1,200 crore annually. Incidentally, a decade after Hasselt, a Belgian city, made public transport free, rising operational costs forced the administration to shelve the project. It is inadvisable to single out a single group — women in this instance — for favourable treatment no matter what the compulsion. It must be mentioned that experiments with public transportation around the world are usually undertaken to decongest the network and not as sops.

Source: The Telegraph June 10, 2019 03:45 UTC