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Strengthening Rural Mobility in Karnataka

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Rural Mobility in Karnataka

Rural mobility in Karnataka remains unreliable despite significant investments into road connectivity and affordability interventions such as the Shakti Scheme. Increased ridership has not been matched by expanded supply, resulting in chronic overcrowding, limited route coverage, and service gaps that restrict access to education, healthcare, and markets. This Issue Brief summarises the findings of a study in the Melukote Constituency, in Mandya District of Karnataka.

In public-transport dependent rural communities, low frequencies and poor coverage force residents to wait longer, to walk up to 2 kms to their nearest bus stop, schools and colleges shorten instructional hours to align with the bus schedules, and residents face inconvenience when travelling for various purposes outside of the bus schedule. Public transport providers struggle to provide adequate service and maintain profitability due to the characteristics of rural demand, while private transport services and intermediate public transport services are unable to cover the gaps due to restrictions in regulations. Such structural gaps in rural mobility provision result in affordability without accessibility.

To better align rural public transport service ecosystem with the rural demand, state requires three sets of policy interventions, each achievable within the existing legal framework: (a) formalising shared IPT through permit reform which can bridge last-mile gaps, (b) introducing services more suitable for rural demand such as mini buses on unserved/low-demand routes and incorporating private operators to reduce burden on state transport services, and (c) piloting community-based models for specific needs like student transport alignined with financial support and existing incentives. Together, they offer Karnataka a practical path from affordability to genuine accessibility.

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