'Discriminated' Indian, Black passengers less likely to get free rides in Oz buses than whites, study says
Melbourne, Mar 20 : A study has found that black and Indian passengers are less likely than white people to receive free rides on Brisbane buses.
According to a study from the University of Queensland which had recorded 1,552 encounters between test subjects and bus drivers in Brisbane, black and Indian people were a discriminated group on buses in the city, the Courier Mail reports.
The researchers Professor Paul Frijters and PhD student Redzo Mujcic said that in 72 per cent of encounters on Brisbane buses, white Caucasian test subjects were given a free ride, versus 36 per cent of black subjects, adding that they had chosen four groups of students with a faulty Go Card for the research.
Frijters said that the group having Indians travelled free 51 percent of the time in comparison to the white-skinned Asians who rode free 73 percent of the time, adding that Indians, along with the blacks, are more likely to be treated as an 'out group' and less worthy of help compared to white Caucasians and white Asians.
According to the researchers, who had used subjects dressed in business suits and with briefcases to assess the importance of appearance, 75 per cent of the black and Indian test subjects were let on versus 93 per cent of white test subjects.
Frijters further said bus drivers were more reluctant to give black and Asian participants a free ride because they did not personally relate to them.