<p>Bengaluru: The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s daily ridership is seeing a steady rise for the first time since 2015, driven by the Shakti Scheme, said its Managing Director Ramachandran R at a sustainable transport conference on Thursday.</p>.<p>The transport company’s daily ridership jumped from 38 lakh to 45.5 lakh on June 18 — its highest since 2015. The last peak was 52 lakh in 2014.</p>.<p>“It is a historic moment as more people return to public transport. Making it safer and more accessible for women through policies like the Shakti Scheme has made this possible,” he said.</p>.BMTC’s ‘Divya Darshana’ tour now daily.<p>Of the 45.5 lakh passengers, 23 lakh were women and 22 lakh men.</p>.<p>A panel discussion addressed gender mainstreaming in mobility, barriers to female employment in transport, and the absence of gender-sensitive infrastructure.</p>.<p>On improving female representation in the corporation, Ramachandran said, “Only 28% of decision makers in my organisation are female. Of nine chiefs, four are women. At the ground level, too, we are bridging this gap. In 2025, we hired 1,500 woman conductors and have 600 female mechanics.”</p>.<p>Highlighting safety and accessibility measures, he said, “We have installed five cameras in each bus. All electric buses procured over the past 18 months have ultra-low floors for easier access to women, senior citizens, and children. Awareness about panic buttons and Sarathi vehicles is being ramped up.”</p>.<p>He also stressed the need to improve the BMTC’s grievance redressal system, with plans to launch a WhatsApp chatbot in the near future.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s daily ridership is seeing a steady rise for the first time since 2015, driven by the Shakti Scheme, said its Managing Director Ramachandran R at a sustainable transport conference on Thursday.</p>.<p>The transport company’s daily ridership jumped from 38 lakh to 45.5 lakh on June 18 — its highest since 2015. The last peak was 52 lakh in 2014.</p>.<p>“It is a historic moment as more people return to public transport. Making it safer and more accessible for women through policies like the Shakti Scheme has made this possible,” he said.</p>.BMTC’s ‘Divya Darshana’ tour now daily.<p>Of the 45.5 lakh passengers, 23 lakh were women and 22 lakh men.</p>.<p>A panel discussion addressed gender mainstreaming in mobility, barriers to female employment in transport, and the absence of gender-sensitive infrastructure.</p>.<p>On improving female representation in the corporation, Ramachandran said, “Only 28% of decision makers in my organisation are female. Of nine chiefs, four are women. At the ground level, too, we are bridging this gap. In 2025, we hired 1,500 woman conductors and have 600 female mechanics.”</p>.<p>Highlighting safety and accessibility measures, he said, “We have installed five cameras in each bus. All electric buses procured over the past 18 months have ultra-low floors for easier access to women, senior citizens, and children. Awareness about panic buttons and Sarathi vehicles is being ramped up.”</p>.<p>He also stressed the need to improve the BMTC’s grievance redressal system, with plans to launch a WhatsApp chatbot in the near future.</p>