Who decides, who pays: Evaluating equity in financial decision making in Bengaluru’s public bus system

Bus systems in Indian cities operate under chronic financial constraints while simultaneously contending with demands for network expansion, service enhancement, and fare affordability. This article examines how financial decisions in bus service delivery are negotiated in Indian cities, with a focus on equity, using the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) as the primary case. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with sector experts, supplemented and triangulated with secondary data, the study analyses how fiscal constraints, institutional barriers, political dynamics, and top-down decision-making with limited public participation shape financial governance and influence service provision and equity. The study applies a justice-based framework encompassing distributive, procedural, and recognition dimensions. The findings show that operational funding is structurally under-supported, with public investment disproportionately favouring capital-intensive infrastructure. Fare-setting is driven largely by political expediency rather than affordability or long-term sustainability, while planning decisions prioritise revenue generation over inclusive access, reinforcing spatial inequities and marginalising low-income and peripheral communities. Equity measures, where present, are implemented through politically contingent schemes rather than embedded in systemic financial governance. The paper calls for reframing public transport finance as essential social infrastructure, anchored in stable funding, diversified revenue sources, and participatory decision-making to advance inclusive and accessible urban mobility.