The researchers analyzed 2.89 million bus trips operated by the BMTC between January 2023 and January 2025. | Photo credit: KR DEEPAK
Metro lines connecting the industrial and residential areas of northwest Bengaluru have seen a surge in ridership following the launch of the Shakti scheme, which provides free bus rides to women in Karnataka, a study by Azim Premji University has found.
Based on two years of BMTC trip-level data, the study “Gender, Welfare and Mobility: Impact of the Shakti Scheme on the Transformation of BMTC Transport” by Tamoghna Halder and Arjun Jayadev of the Center for the Study of the Indian Economy (CSIE), Azim Premji University, shows that routes around Jalahalli and the majority of passengers in the forming boat have now seen a shift of one majority of the passengers in the forming boat. in many buses connected to the metro.
The researchers analyzed 2.89 million bus trips operated by the BMTC between January 2023 and January 2025. Since the Shakti scheme came into effect on June 11, 2023, the data allowed them to compare the six months of bus service before implementation with the 18 months after.
The study examined metro routes that connect districts like Jalahalli, Peenya, Nagasandra, Laggere and Chikka Banavara to nearby metro stations and industrial clusters. These corridors include factories, garment units and public sector workplaces employing large numbers of women.
Jalahalli-Peenya Corridor
The study focuses on BMTC metro services and analyzes the routes with the highest ridership density. Among them, Jalahalli Cross was consistently ranked in the top 30 metro routes across Bengaluru from 2023 to 2025.
A closer look at these routes revealed that most of the feeders around Jalahalli are short-distance loops connecting inner residential areas to the highway where key bus stops and metro stations are located. The researchers note that this pattern is significant given Jalahalli’s position in Bengaluru’s urban geography – the area, along with Peenya and Nagasandra, is a long-established industrial zone surrounded by dense residential development.
The region’s identity is defined by large employers such as Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) along with clusters of garment units and several pre-university schools. Jalahalli, Peenya and Nagasandra metro stations lie along the national highway towards Tumakuru, while adjacent corridors connect to Rajajinagar and Hebbal, making it a key labor market hub that is also heavily residential, the study said.
On feeder metro routes covering Jalahalli and nearby areas such as Peenya 2nd Stage, Laggere and Chikka Banavara, Shakti’s average ridership increased by approximately 78% in 2024 over 2023. During the same period, the average fare-paying ridership decreased by 29.5%.
The expansion of the metro did not displace female riders
The study also examined the KR Puram–Whitefield corridor after the opening of the Purple Line metro extension in March 2023. The data shows that bus ridership on this stretch dropped by 25.6% after the metro service began, suggesting that some passengers switched modes. However, the decrease was mainly due to non-shakti or non-fare paying passengers.
Women commuters under the Shakti scheme continued to use BMTC buses even after the metro was introduced, with ridership remaining stable on routes connecting residential and suburban areas such as Chikka Tirupathi, Kalkunte Agrahara, Dodda Dunnasandra Cross, Dinnur and Arehalli.
The study notes that routes terminating at KR Market, Majestic and Tin Factory, which are major business and employment hubs, also continued to be heavily used by travelers in Shakti.
The study points to this as a sign that women are prioritizing affordability and flexible access over speed, as the bus network extends to neighborhoods outside metro coverage and continues to be free.
Published – 05 Nov 2025 21:02 IST
