CRUT has laid the foundation of making the vision of gender inclusivity in public transport a reality by employing women Guides (conductors) in Mo Bus (city bus service) and has been successfully able to have 100% of its Mo E-Ride (E-Rickshaw) ‘Sarathis’ (Drivers) who are women, transgender and HIV positive people. CRUT is the first public transport Authority in India to have disaggregated the ticketing system. The Integrated Transport Management System enabled Automatic Fare Collection System and is equipped with collection of data on the type of commuter using Mo Bus and Mo E-Ride services. Data on age, gender and physical ability are collected based on which CRUT is able to take managerial decisions on transportation planning that are backed by data. Through the disaggregated ticketing, the organization has been able to plan and execute better to make its Mo Bus and Mo E-Ride services truly inclusive and universally accessible.

CRUT envisioned for a modernised public transport system for the capital region of Odisha, and has been committed to creating diverse and adaptable public transport services providing intracity connectivity in Bhubaneswar and intercity connectivity to its adjoining areas of Cuttack, Khordha, Pipili, Puri and Konark. Serving more than 1.7 lakh people per day even after the pandemic, CRUT’s Mo Bus (city bus) has been able to create a sustainable mobility ecosystem with its fleet of 265 buses spread across 35 routes. Committed towards transforming the urban mobility experience, CRUT’s effective integrated planning, design and monitoring systems have been instrumental in strengthening the citizen’s confidence in the Mo Bus service. With the recent inclusion of Mo E-Ride (E-Rickshaws), CRUT has been able to start providing first and last mile connectivity services. This holistic model was much required to ensure efficient functioning of highly inclusive transit oriented development.

When the Mo E-Ride service was conceptualised, CRUT partnered with a renowned NGO and officers from top management visited slums where the beneficiaries comprising women, transgender and HIV positive people live; to directly interact with them and spread awareness about CRUT's initiative to provide them with lucrative livelihood opportunities. Even while engaging women Guides for Mo Bus, CRUT highly invested in outreach campaigns. Partnerships and participatory process played important roles.

CRUT’s Mo Bus and Mo E-Ride services ensure that the people of the Capital Region of Odisha have access hassle-free public transport facilities. The hallmark of the initiative lie in its integration of reforms for both its commuters as well as its staff. With Responsive Governance being a core value of CRUT, prompt grievance redressal and frequent surveys are conducted and accordingly immediate action on the feedback received is taken to improve the quality of service provided.

• 98% of elderly Mo Bus users rated ease of boarding and alighting as very good
• 95% of Mo Bus users rated availability of priority seats as very good
• 93% of women commuters rated Mo Bus as the safest mode of public transport
• 91% of Mo Bus users rated behaviour of on-board staff as very good
• 90% of Mo Bus users rated the bus service to be punctual
• 57% of passengers have shifted from other modes of transport to Mo Bus
• 40% of female guides in the crew make the female commuters feel safer

The major challenge encountered is retaining the transgender community as members of the crew in the system. However, CRUT is still involved in outreach programmes and aims to have them in its system by advertising that it can at least provide them with both technical and hands-on training for driving LMVs and in the process facilitate them to be a part of the mainstream economy along with empowering them.

Through its policies on reservation, infrastructural design (separate washrooms for crew in depots and major bus terminals, well-lit Bus Queue Shelters and interiors of Mo Bus along with having provision for emergency panic buttons and CCTV surveillance inside Mo Bus), data management (disaggregated ticketing and Mo Bus app for live tracking and availing other online services) and training and capacity building programmes for crew and staff; CRUT has been able to create a public transport ecosystem that is inclusive, sustainable, smart, safe and accessible to all.

As an organisation, CRUT has also gone a step further to promote gender sensitive and gender inclusive public transport by active usage of its social media handles to spread awareness on the issue. In the contemporary digital age, it is important to go beyond policy decisions and reach out to the wider public through the commonly used social media platforms and outreach campaigns.

Mo Bus has expanded its coverage over the years – starting from Bhubaneswar to providing connectivity in the entire Capital Region of Odisha comprising Cuttack, Khordha, Pipil, Konark and Puri. Mo Bus services expanded even in the form of intra-city services in Cuttack and Puri based on the demand from the commuters. The Mo E-Ride services are spread across Bhubaneswar providing feeder services to Mo Bus. CRUT aims to expand its network further this year based on the requests and feedback received form the commuters. There are plans for procurement of more e-rickshaws and midi and mini buses along with E-Buses to increase the frequency as well as expand the service area of Mo Buses. The high demand for the transit services of CRUT is a clear indication that the transit services of CRUT can be replicated to bring about to make public transport system sustainable and pave way for holistic urban development.

The unwavering support of the State Government of Odisha has played a crucial role in the growth and development of the transit services and successful implementation of the initiatives of CRUT. When Mo Bus was launched, there were very few women Guides (conductors) but today, 40% of our Guides are women. Similarly, it was initially challenging to get women and transgender people on-board for Mo E-Ride driving training programme. But today, we have been able to create a pool of professionally trained Sarathis (drivers of E-Rickshaws) who drive the streets of the city with equal confidence and self esteem as any of their male counterparts. As a public transport providing Authority, CRUT has always strived to go beyond providing just transit services to becoming an agent of change regarding the notion of male dominance in the transport sector by making it gender and socially inclusive.