Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is now thinking of reintroducing "Pink buses" to Bengaluru since Karnataka's Shakti Scheme is proving to be quite successful and has resulted in a rise in the number of female bus users.
The pink buses, which were first introduced in 2006–07 and were only available to women, were cancelled due to low customer demand. BMTC thereafter thought about reinstating them several times, but the plans fell through for a variety of reasons.
The amount of free bus trips that women have taken advantage of the Shakti Scheme is shown by the nearly 150 crore "zero tickets" that the RTCs have distributed since the scheme's commencement on June 11, 2023, till February 10, 2024. The total amount of tickets that have been issued is ₹3,599.63 crore.
