Free Bus Travel Has Given Women More Mobility, Pg7

Key Highlights:

• Four Indian states – Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Telangana – introduced free bus travel for women between 2021 and 2024.
• A National Statistics Office (NSO) survey comparing 2019 and 2024 data showed a 6.6 percentage point increase in women's mobility in these states.
• In free-bus states, women's travel for care, social, religious, and leisure purposes significantly increased.
• Telangana's Mahalakshmi scheme, launched in December 2023, led to a substantial rise in women's travel to 54.6% by 2024.

Free Bus Travel.jpg

Detailed Insights:

• The National Statistics Office (NSO) conducted two Time Use Surveys in 2019 and 2024, involving 4.5 lakh individuals each round.
• In the four states with free bus travel, the share of women aged 15-59 making at least one trip rose from 38.7% in 2019 to 45.3% in 2024.
• This increase in women's travel in free-bus states was notably higher than the 3.7 percentage point increase observed for men in the same states.
• In contrast, 12 other large states saw women's travel increase by 4.4 points, while men's travel increased by 7.6 points.
• The survey indicated a significant rise in women's travel during non-office hours (late morning and afternoon) in free-bus states, suggesting increased engagement in care and household activities.
• While mobility increased, the rise in women's participation in paid work in free-bus states (30.5% to 34.4%) was slightly less than in other states (18.4% to 22.9%), implying other factors influence employment.
• Andhra Pradesh's Stree Shakti scheme, introduced after the 2024 survey, provides a comparative context for future analysis.

Key Concepts Involved:

• National Statistics Office (NSO): India's central agency for collecting, compiling, and disseminating statistical information.
• Time Use Survey: A statistical survey that measures how individuals spend their time over a specific period.
• Mahalakshmi scheme: A welfare scheme in Telangana providing free bus travel for women.