In the national capital, 100 crore Pink bus tickets for women have been distributed as of Friday, according to an official announcement.
According to the announcement, "In 2022, free travel for women via Pink tickets contributed to roughly 32% of the total number of passengers travelling in a month."
The number of passengers using Delhi buses (DTC and DIMTS combined) is gradually reverting to its pre-COVID levels.
"About 160 crore passengers rode Delhi buses in 2019–20. It decreased to 71 crores in 2020–2021 as a result of COVID, only marginally recovering to 93 crores in 2021–2022. Over 75% of the pre-Covid numbers have been attained since April 2022 to today, according to the announcement.
According to the statement, "during these years, since the introduction of free travel for women in Oct 2019, the pink ticket ridership has climbed from 25% in 2020–21 and 28% in 2021–22 to about 33% in 2022–23 to date.
Under Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi has demonstrated how free transit can empower women in the city, according to a statement from Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot.
"The increase in female bus riders over time demonstrates the effect it has had and how much they have benefited from this programme. The Pink passes issued over the years have cost the Delhi government one billion rupees, he claimed.
The Minister stated that all Delhi government-operated buses gave free transit to women to boost women's mobility and referred to the participation of women in the workforce as a "key driver of societal growth."
Because there weren't enough chances to support women's mobility in the city, he said, the involvement of women in the labour force has historically been below average.
