Meet Duggamma, first woman electric bus driver who is set to hit the road

BENGALURU: Duggamma, who hails from Pavagada in Tumakuru district, may come across as just any another staffer of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC0, but has the unique distinction of being the first woman driver of an electric bus. Once she completes her training, she will perhaps be the country’s first woman driver of an electric bus. She is now in her first phase of training.

Switch Mobility, which has partnered with BMTC to run electric buses in the city, has hired her as a bus driver. In 2019, she received free training from BMTC under the Nirbhaya scheme and got a driver’s licence for light motor vehicles. Two years later, she got her Heavy Passenger Vehicles licence after undergoing training at the  BMTC Centre at Vaddarahalli near Magadi. Now she is ready to get on the road as the first female driver of an electric bus.

Duggamma with the driving training team.

Currently, Duggamma is being trained how to operate the bus, understanding traffic signs besides, skills required to drive the bus. She is also being taught what measures to take in case of an emergency and undergo a road test next week in the presence of RTO officials. After that, she is likely to be assigned a route from February 1.

Duggamma said, “I have the confidence that I can drive smoothly, without any hesitation. I will put in my best efforts and I am being trained by experts. It is likely that I will be assigned a route by next month with passengers. I am very proud to be the first woman driver of an electric bus. My native place is Pavagada and we’re now settled in Bengaluru for the last five years”. Duggamma is currently training under trainer Parameshi.

Instructor Ashok Uttappa said he has confidence in Duggamma’s driving skills.

Instructor Ashok Uthappa, an ex-army man, said, “We have a one-month training period for drivers before taking the bus on the road. We are training Duggamma to be ready to take the vehicle with passengers from February 1. I am confident that she can do it.  Normally, men can confidently operate heavy vehicle, but women need training and need to be given the confidence that they can do it. One of the advantages of having a woman driver in the BMTC is that other drivers will learn discipline from her”.