Affordable, but not accessible: Karnataka’s rural transport paradox

Public transport is stretched thin, and private options are blocked by regulation

Karnataka has made significant strides in making public transport affordable, but affordability alone has not translated into reliable access. Accessibility refers to the ease with which people can reach their destinations, whether schools, workplaces, or markets.

The Karnataka Economic Survey 2023-2024 notes that gaps in road connectivity and public transport services remain a persistent barrier to rural development. Despite multi-year investments in the transport sector aimed at reducing transportation costs, including initiatives such as the Shakti scheme and subsidised student bus passes, accessibility, in terms of service adequacy and network coverage, remains uneven in rural Karnataka.

The situation in Melukote, in Mandya district, illustrates this broader structural issue. Limited bus services, few routes, and weak last-mile connectivity have restricted mobility, reflecting that transport supply and regulatory frameworks have not kept pace with growing demand.

In Melukote, the Shakti scheme has increased women’s patronage of the state buses, with field findings mirroring State-wide statistics that show travel among beneficiaries has increased by up to 65%. Similarly, a 2025 survey shows a broader dependence on public transport among rural students, with a survey at the Government Degree College, Pandavapura, showing that 90% of students rely on KSRTC buses. While these schemes have made mobility more affordable, they have also intensified pressure on the sole public transport system provided by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC).

Affordability ≠ Access

The dependence on public transport would be less problematic if services were frequent and flexible. However, public transport availability in the Melukote region is limited in scale and frequency, leading to peak-hour overcrowding. Many villages lack direct bus service, requiring residents to walk several kilometres to reach the nearest stop.

Limited access forces residents to organise their daily travel around bus timings. For instance, teachers at degree and pre-university colleges reveal that they routinely cut instructional hours short so students can catch the 3:30 pm bus — the last reliable service of the day, which takes students home when there is still daylight.

Requests from the community, and local leaders for services do not always get met due to KSRTC’s operational constraints. This reflects a broader reality of rural transport demand where services to remote and rural habitations run with low occupancy, making them financially difficult to sustain.

Barriers to private and shared mobility

In principle, gaps in public transport provision could be offset by private or shared mobility services. In practice, such alternatives have failed to emerge at scale due the rigid distinction between contract carriage (for hire) and stage carriages (public bus) operation in our laws.

The Melukote region previously had privately operated passenger bus lines operating along several routes. According to the Mandya Regional Transport Officer, many of these operations ceased during the pandemic due to difficulties paying taxes and maintaining vehicles, and the subsequent introduction of the Shakthi scheme, which diverted a section of fare-paying commuters towards stage carriages.

Autorickshaws and taxis are commonly available at major bus stations and town centres and often operate as shared vehicles to reduce per-passenger costs. The regulatory provisions for contract carriages under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, as currently interpreted, do not formally permit such shared operations, forcing operators either to charge higher per-trip fares or to operate informally with fear of enforcement. In the absence of a supportive legal framework, private and shared transport services are unable to complement public transport, leaving rural travellers dependent on a single overstretched provider.

Remove barriers

Affordability-driven mobility without adequate supply fails to ensure meaningful access to rural residents. Karnataka must reimagine how it plans and regulates rural transport to address the issue of limited accessibility.

Beyond introducing a few new bus services that again get shut down due to low occupancy, the State must create space for smaller shared-vehicle operators to complement public transport by removing barriers to the operations of these vehicles. The shared autorickshaw and mini-bus models in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, which are regulated differently from stage carriages, offer a useful reference point. The flexibility provided by the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019, allows States to take up creative initiatives like this to improve rural mobility and last-mile connectivity. Karnataka’s transport rules must formally recognise shared mobility as a legitimate complement to public transport.

By creating space for smaller shared-vehicle operators to complement public transport, rural mobility can be strengthened without placing additional strain on State transport undertakings.

Chaithra Ananthakrishna Navada is Associate, Research (Urban), and Nissy Solomon is Trustee (Research & Programs), Centre for Public Policy and Research, Kochi.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.)