A roundup of transportation apps for women
If you’re a female living in Dhaka, where catcalling is the norm and reaching home safe without someone’s questionable gaze etched into your mind the exception, travelling issues don’t just end at traffic for you. Here are some apps that could solve your commuting troubles:
Shuttle
Providing air-conditioned microbuses only for females with set routes – Shuttle mainly targets university students who live near Dhanmondi/Mohammadpur area and study at BRAC/NSU/IUB. Seats are pre-booked through the app or the hotline service, with reasonably cheap fares. Each ride costs about BDT 100-130. This is where the golden rule of “you only get what you pay for” is applied. The timings shown on the app are rough guidelines rather than fixed deadlines. However, they have designated Trip Managers in every ride who make sure to call passengers beforehand about when they should be at the pickup point. There is also an issue of overbooking, due to the demand of seats and lack of buses.
Shuttle is cheap, cramped and convenient. It’s a great option to reach distant locations for a quick buck, especially for university students.
OBHAI
The app is called OBHAI but they do provide an OBON service for women. It’s a scooter bike ride where the riders are female, so there’s no worry about ill-intentioned touches and girls can feel comfortable during the ride. The fares are a bit high - the base fare is 100tk and every kilometer costs 20tk. There are some routes they do not cover, therefore, the destinations must be checked with the app. The riders show up about 10-15 minutes after confirmation, so you can be on your way in no time. You can also share your location with emergency contacts to ensure further safety and bring peace of mind to your loved ones.
OBON is the only service where the driver is female, so while the prices could be a bit high, it can be deemed a bit safer.
UBER
While they don’t provide services for females specifically, it is a well-known app for commuting, while being relatively safe. The bike rides are reasonably priced, but the catch is that they’re driven by male riders. The car rides could be bank-breaking for a single person but are cost-effective for multiple passengers. It’s a great choice for girls travelling in groups. An added perk is the option for ride scheduling in car bookings. Location sharing is the main safety net Uber provides for the passengers. It’s integrated smoothly on the app and tracks your movements on a map, sharing live location to your specified contacts. This essentially assures someone always knows where you are, as long as you have internet access and your phone, which prevents drivers from derailing from the route. Uber also tells you the license plate number, the colour and model of the car as soon as a driver is selected. You can then view a driver’s profile and ratings. Thus, if you get a driver with an abundance of five stars, you can rest easy.
Uber is by far the most convenient for travelling with friends. Especially with the driver profiles and location sharing services, you have the all information you need to travel safely.
Shohoz
Shohoz does not provide services for women exclusively either, but what makes it unique and useful is that, along with the regular bike rides, users have the option to buy bus and launch tickets within the app. The tickets are delivered at home and payment can be done through credit card, mobile banking or cash on delivery. They offer tickets from numerous launch and bus service providers; to see available ones simply input the locations to and from and the desired date. The standard ride fares fall in the high mid-range category. They charge a base fare of BDT 25 and 12 per km, with an added partial fare of BDT 3 per 1/4th km. The in-app map isn’t as accurate as it could be however and there seems to be a lack of riders, so passengers have to wait a little while for their ride.
While there are better and safer options for bike rides, Shohoz comes in handy for booking bus and launch rides.
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