Public transit is critical in contemporary urban infrastructure, significantly impacting daily life. The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Ltd (TNSTC) is a government-owned public transport bus operator in Tamil Nadu, India. The Zero-Ticket Bus Travel Scheme for women was launched in 2021. This is one of the social welfare schemes that encourage women to participate more actively in work and reduce their dependency on private mobility. In Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore city is a recently developing city and employment-generating hub, that provides various job opportunities and higher education platform. This study has investigated women passengers' socio-economic condition and economic benefits through the Zero Ticket Bus Travel Scheme. In Coimbatore District, rural and urban free bus users were selected, and the Snowball sampling techniques were used for selected sample passengers. This study used descriptive statistics, mean, and one-way ANOVA for the analysis. This study found that the ZTBTS scheme increases employment opportunities through women's mobility. More than 90 per cent of the passengers were working women. The women using this free bus regularly were saving almost Rs. 253 in a month and they spent that money on other purposes (i.e., Food, Cosmetics, travel). Women using this free bus have suggested improving the quality of the free bus, increasing the benefits for women's empowerment.
Zero-Ticket Bus Travel Scheme, Women's Empowerment, Economic Benefits, Social Welfare, Higher Education Platform
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