Shobha, the mother of a daughter who needs fortnightly hospital visits for a chronic kidney ailment, is talking about how her life changed after the Karnataka government introduced free bus rides for women in June 2023.

“For me, using an auto was out of the question. Even the bus fare was expensive,” the Bengaluru-based home-maker said. “Now if I can save ₹50, I can buy some fruit for my daughter.”

Since she stopped having to buy tickets on the bus, Shobha said, she has saved ₹40,000 in the post office—money she is keeping aside for her daughter’s education.

Shobha is speaking at a conference to launch a report on the impact of free bus fares across India. The study by Sustainable Mobility Network, a coalition of 20 organisations that focus on clean, equitable and accessible transport systems, and Nikore Associates, an economics research and policy advisory think-tank, finds that subsidised bus travel schemes are a “transformative policy intervention for advancing women’s urban mobility.”

In a country where the bus is the primary mode of transport for three in four women in cities and are a “foundational element of women’s mobility” particularly in lower-income groups, the subsidies provide substantial financial relief for women, finds the report.

Hazira Leena, a beautician in Bengaluru, spoke of how earlier she would take an uber to go to clients. Now it makes sense for her to hop on the bus which costs nothing. Her savings? At least ₹7,000 a month.

Across India, in cities that have fully subsidized fares and even those that are only partly subsidized (Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur), women are saving between 32% to 53.5% of their monthly transport expenses, finds the report. This money is being ploughed into family budgets for childrens’ education, healthcare and emergency funds.

But the bus is also expanding opportunity. Rama Gera who works with women waste-pickers at Bhalsawa on the outskirts of Delhi spoke about a woman who had developed terrible allergies sorting through waste but had........

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