Delhi govt free bus service boosted women’s access to job, education: Study

The research paper, ’Fare-free Bus Travel Scheme for Women: Lessons from Delhi’ by WRI India, reveals that the scheme primarily benefits women from low-income families

New Delhi: The Delhi government’s fare-free public transport (FFPT) scheme for women, introduced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in October 2019, significantly boosted women’s access to jobs, education, and healthcare, while also helping them save money as they travel farther and more frequently across the capital, an in-process research paper released on Thursday by the World Resources Institute (WRI) India said.

They (women surveyed) reported that the scheme saved up to 8% of their household income per month, says the study. (File photo)

The research paper titled ‘Fare-free Bus Travel Scheme for Women: Lessons from Delhi’ by WRI India researchers Harshita Jamba, Aravinda Devaraj, and Chaitanya Kanuri, shows that the scheme --- women passengers can choose to not pay for their travel on state-run buses, those opting for free travel issued a pink single-journey ticket --- primarily benefits women from low-income families with half of the surveyed women saving at least ₹500 per month.

The researchers, based on a survey that included 28% of respondents from economically weaker sections (EWS) with annual household incomes below ₹3,00,000, and an additional 57% from households earning under ₹6,00,000, found that the share of female ridership rose from 33% to 42% from 2019-20 to 20222-23, going by the state’s planning department data.

“They (women surveyed) reported that the scheme saved up to 8% of their household income per month. The fare waiver has also made women less dependent on male family members, enabling them to travel alone or pay transport costs for other family members,” the authors said.

Among the 2010 women bus users surveyed across 15 spatially distributed locations in Delhi, 95% were captive users who lacked access to a private vehicle and relied on buses due to economic constraints. The fare waiver has effectively made women less dependent on male family members, enabling them to travel alone or cover transport costs for other family members, the authors added.

The study highlighted that insufficient and inefficient bus services, which result in overcrowding and harassment, continue to affect women’s access to safe and reliable bus services. The survey found that 59% of women expressed concerns about safety due to hostile behaviour from staff.

While the free intra-city bus service has expanded travel opportunities, especially for students commuting to institutes of higher learning, the survey revealed that “women report a median trip length of 10.52 km, which allows them to access nearly a quarter of the city’s opportunities by bus. The scheme also eliminates the ‘pink tax’ on short trips, allowing women to save on commute costs and travel time by shifting from slower or more expensive modes to buses.”

“Given the demographic profile of our survey sample, the fare-free public transport scheme plays a crucial role in benefiting women commuters,” Kanuri, associate director of Electric Mobility at WRI India, said.

Kanuri added that the scheme also enabled women to use buses for short trips, which they might have avoided earlier due to Delhi’s telescopic fare structure, where per-kilometre costs are higher for shorter distances and lower for longer ones.

Contrary to popular opinion, the study found that the cost of running a free service for women constitutes only a minor portion of the operational costs, even as government-run public transport operators face a revenue shortfall.

According to the study, these findings are similar to the experiences in other states, such as Punjab and Karnataka, which have implemented similar schemes. “Women from all the states that have implemented FFPT schemes have faced discriminatory behaviour, such as drivers refusing to halt buses at stops with more women passengers, crews and passengers treating women rudely, and the flouting of rules reserving seats for women,” the study said.

The authors recommended that to ensure the success of the scheme, service quality should be improved by increasing the number of buses and the frequency of services, alongside sensitising bus staff. “Collecting and analysing gender-disaggregated data from the sales of regular and pink tickets (free tickets for women) is vital for understanding gendered mobility patterns. Incorporating spatial and temporal data will help transit agencies monitor demand fluctuations in real-time and adapt their services accordingly,” the study added.