Tamil Nadu examines expansion of free bus travel scheme for women

The Tamil Nadu government is exploring the possibility of extending its free bus travel scheme for women to cover additional categories of government-operated buses.

Transport department officials estimate that such an expansion could benefit nearly 28 lakh more women every day, taking the overall number of daily beneficiaries of government bus concessions to around 1.59 crore.

At present, the scheme applies mainly to ordinary government buses and serves about 70 lakh women daily. Officials are studying a model similar to Karnataka’s “Shakti” scheme, which includes a wider range of non-premium bus services while excluding air-conditioned, luxury and sleeper buses.

If implemented, the expanded programme would include thousands of mofussil buses operated by TNSTC and non-AC seater services run by SETC. Authorities are currently analysing passenger reservation data to estimate the financial impact and determine average travel costs.

Officials noted that travel patterns on long-distance services differ from those on city buses, making detailed evaluation necessary before any final decision is taken.