The phenomenal response to the free travel scheme is no surprise, given that public transport is the primary mode of transport for a large section of society. As the numbers indicate, this is manna from heaven for many women from marginalized sections, whose access to their options for livelihood and education was till now constrained by travel expenses. While trying to take advantage of the guarantees in the next election battle as well, the government should not hold back in finding a viable solution to bail out corporations that have been losing revenue.
On the day of the rollout, an official statement estimated the number of daily beneficiaries of the scheme at 41.2 lakh, with 41.3 lakh women using the services on the second day (12 June), after which the number has exceeded 50. lakh consecutively with 16th June reporting the highest daily figure of 55 lakh. However, one may have to wait to see if the numbers stabilize after the initial euphoria to get a more accurate analysis of the situation.
The overall footfall has also increased as a result of good response from women. As per the available data, six of the eight days had at least one crore or more daily commuters, while the daily ridership stood at 82 lakh, of which 12 million were on June 16. An increase of about 25% to 45% has been registered in the total ridership.
Given that the scheme was officially launched on Sunday afternoon, the response on the first day was around 5.2 lakh, but the ridership increased exponentially from the second day – 21-33% higher than estimated.
The ticket value of the beneficiaries for the first eight days was around Rs 84.3 crore. The number of passengers increased tenfold in the next two days as compared to the first day. BMTC registered a 35% increase in overall ridership, according to its Chief Traffic Manager Vishwanath Kotagal.
Will take 15-20 days to understand ridership pattern: BMTC official
Kotagal said: “During and post-Covid-19, the public transport corporations were facing many challenges and the ridership had reduced. The scheme helped to put public transport at the center of public life Is.”
While the modalities of how and when the government will pay the RTC for all these free tickets are yet to be worked out, the data for the last seven days shows that even on days when the number of beneficiaries is less than 1% – 2%, the number of total value void tickets issued still saw an increase.
According to Kotagal, the RTC will take 15-20 days to understand the ridership pattern as the numbers will stabilize in a month. “The initial enthusiasm may lead to rush now, but once the numbers stabilise, the authorities will be able to plan or re-plan trips and schedules according to ridership demand,” he added.