Bengaluru, 6 Nov 

A study by Azim Premji University has found that Karnataka’s Shakti scheme, offering free bus travel for women, has significantly reshaped mobility patterns in Bengaluru, leading to a structural shift in access to public transport.

The report, Gender, Welfare, and Mobility: Impact of Shakti Scheme on BMTC Transport Transformation, authored by economists Tamoghna Halder and Arjun Jayadev, notes that the scheme has altered “gendered patterns of access to the city.” The scheme, launched on June 11, 2023 and implemented soon after the Congress government took office, allows women to travel free across Karnataka in non-luxury state-run buses.

An analysis of 2.89 crore trips on Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses between January 2023 and January 2025 showed that women’s ridership rose 2.5 times after the scheme’s introduction. Women now outnumber men on average by 60:40 on many busy routes, including those passing through the Central Business District.

The study observes that the subsidy marginally exceeds fare revenue from non-beneficiaries but says the gap is narrow given the scale of the programme. Uptake has been strongest in northern, western and central Bengaluru, while eastern peripheries and migrant-dominated neighbourhoods lag, partly due to weaker BMTC services and the exclusion of migrant women from the scheme.

Women’s ridership has also sharply increased along Metro feeder routes. Although some bus-to-Metro shifts were recorded after the Purple Line extension, Shakti beneficiaries continue to prefer buses due to zero fares.

The researchers found no significant difference in uptake between wards with high and low SC-ST populations, suggesting caste does not influence access. Affordable bus travel, they noted, has expanded women’s mobility to areas offering better economic opportunities.