Four weeks after it began, Tamil Nadu’s Vettri Payanam free bus scheme has raised daily trips by women and transgender passengers from 72.64 lakh to 89.99 lakh — up 23.88%. Bus services are running normally.
Four weeks after it began, Tamil Nadu’s Vettri Payanam free bus scheme has raised daily trips by women and transgender passengers from 72.64 lakh to 89.99 lakh — up 23.88%. Bus services are running normally.
Four weeks after it was launched on 2 October 2026, the Vettri Payanam free bus travel scheme for women and transgender persons is drawing far more riders. The average number of women and transgender passengers travelling every day has risen from 72.64 lakh to 89.99 lakh — 17.35 lakh more people (23.88%) every day.
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Government transport corporations | 8 |
| Total buses | 21,333 |
| Scheduled services run daily | 19,413 |
| Buses under Vettri Payanam | 12,695 |
| Women & transgender riders a day — before | 72.64 lakh |
| Women & transgender riders a day — now | 89.99 lakh |
| All passengers a day (incl. students, concession and fare-paying) | about 2.17 crore |
Responding to posts on social media, the government said that bus services are running without any disruption. Because of the extra riders, the subsidy paid by the government to the transport corporations has also gone up. Money for diesel is paid to the oil companies in advance through the Tamil Nadu Transport Development Finance Corporation (TDFC), and every month the government pays the corporations for the women’s travel scheme, the diesel subsidy, the loss on student and other concession fares, and the viability gap. Salaries, pensions and spare parts are being paid, and buses are being maintained well.
Nearly 90 lakh trips a day means lakhs of women — workers, students, homemakers and elderly women — are saving on travel every month. The jump in four weeks shows how much the scheme was needed.