BENGALURU: Following the launch of Shakti scheme, the number of women taking BMTC buses soared manifold. The scheme is advantageous for women as it offers free travel, but according to urban mobility experts, the overall ridership too has increased, including men who have to pay for their commute.
The experts felt that there might be two kinds of shifts after the launch of Shakti scheme -- one is women, who were using other modes of transport like private buses and autos, shifted to BMTC due to the fare advantage and the second is that those who were either walking to their destinations, or not commuting, have opted to use the public transport. One more reason they attribute to the high ridership is the euphoria around the launch of any free government scheme.
While the average daily ridership of BMTC is 27.34 lakh, the data shared by the transport utility shows that the total ridership was 34.94 lakh (17.57 lakh women passengers) on June 12; 40.17 lakh (20.57 lakh women) on June 13; 33.44 lakh (16.85 lakh) on June 14, and 33.28 lakh (17.67 lakh) on June 15, indicating that the number of men passengers has gone up.
Shaheen Shasa of Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike said, “The jump in the number of women passengers in BMTC is significant with 17 lakh on June 12 and 20 lakh on June 13. On June 14, it might have dropped to 16.85 lakh, but it is close to the numbers recorded on June 12. We will have to wait and see where things settle in around 10 days.”
“Commuters who were using other modes of transport are shifting to BMTC due to fare advantage and those who were walking have also started using buses,” she said.
Mobility expert Shreya Gadepalli attributed the sudden jump in the ridership of BMTC due to the euphoria around the launch of any scheme, and said, “We should look at the data once things settle down.”
“I think we should allow a few months’ data to come in before doing any assessment and making any judgements,” Gadepalli said.
A BMTC official said all these years they did not have any gender-wise data and added that it is too early to predict any trends as the Shakti scheme has just been rolled out.