41.34 lakh travel-free, ticket value at Rs 8 crore as part of Shakti scheme

The buses should start only after the driver ensures that the front door is closed and the conductor confirms the same for the back door.

Girl students run to board a BMTC bus in Bengaluru on Tuesday | Vinod Kumar T

BENGALURU:  On the second day of the launch of the Shakti scheme that offers free bus travel for women, 41.34 lakh took public transport across the state on Monday. The total ticket value of the women passengers in all four bus corporations -- KSRTC, BMTC, KKRTC and NWKRTC -- was Rs 8.83 crore. 

Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation recorded the highest women ridership with 17.57 lakh followed by Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation with 11.40 lakh. The next was NWKRTC with 8.31 lakh, followed by KKRTC with 4.04 lakh passengers. 

Of the total ticket value, KSRTC registered the highest at Rs 3.57 crore, followed by NWKRTC with Rs 2.10 crore, BMTC Rs 1.75 crore and KKRTC Rs 1.39 crore. Following the death of a female student after falling from a NWKRTC Haveri division bus on Tuesday, KSRTC has given guidelines that vehicles must be run only after confirming that the doors are closed.

The buses should start only after the driver ensures that the front door is closed and the conductor confirms the same for the back door. The guidelines also directed conductors to ensure that nobody travels on the footboard and that the doors are opened only after reaching the bus stop/stand.