Who Decides Women's Mobility? Political Drivers of Free Bus Travel Schemes in India

Abstract

Over the past decade, several Indian state governments have introduced fare-free public bus travel schemes for women. These schemes have attracted considerable scholarly and public debate, with critics dismissing them as electoral populism and proponents arguing for their transformative social consequences. This article examines the emergence and design of these policies, analyzing the interplay of electoral politics, welfare state logic, and gender-sensitive governance that drives their adoption. While political competition often acts as the immediate catalyst for these schemes, the central argument advanced here is that their significance lies in their capacity to transform women's everyday mobility, economic participation, and access to public life. Drawing on comparative state-level analysis and existing empirical literature on gender and mobility, transport equity, welfare politics, and electoral behavior in India, the article demonstrates that free bus travel schemes, however politically motivated, constitute meaningful interventions in the gendered geography of public space. Their long-term effectiveness depends on fiscal sustainability, infrastructural improvements, and a political commitment that extends beyond the electoral cycle.

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