Women account for 40% of premium intercity bus ridership: zingbus Maxx

According to a recent women mobility report, female bus ridership in India grew over 130% between 2019 and 2025, while women’s share of bus travellers increased from 23% to 33% during the same period. 

Women are emerging as a high-value audience in India’s premium intercity travel segment, with new data pointing to a shift not just in how often women travel, but in the kind of travel experiences they are choosing. Recent data from zingbus Maxx, zingbus’ luxury segment, reveals that women now account for 40% of total ridership, higher than their overall share in the broader bus traveller base. The data suggests that women travellers are increasingly evaluating intercity journeys not only on reliability, but also on comfort, service quality, predictability, and convenience. zingbus also reported that nearly 1 in 3 travellers is a woman. 

According to a recent women mobility report, female bus ridership in India grew over 130% between 2019 and 2025, while women’s share of bus travellers increased from 23% to 33% during the same period. 

While safety remains a key factor in intercity travel decisions, the higher female share on zingbus Maxx points to a broader shift in expectations. Women travellers are responding to services that combine safety infrastructure with comfort-led features such as onboard meals, welcome amenities, premium rest stops, and hospitality-trained crew.

This trend is especially relevant for overnight and long-distance routes, where the quality of the journey has a direct impact on overall travel comfort. As intercity travel evolves, premium bus services are increasingly being evaluated not just as a mode of transport, but as a complete travel experience.

Solo travel among women reinforces this pattern. Solo bookings by women on the zingbus platform have more than doubled over the past year, with the strongest growth seen on overnight corridors connecting metro cities to hometowns and leisure destinations. The trend is most visible among women aged 22 to 35.

Commenting on the trend, Prashant Kumar, Founder & CEO, zingbus, said, “Women are shaping the next phase of intercity travel in India. The growth we are seeing is not just in the number of women travelling, but in their preference for services that combine safety, comfort, predictability, and quality. The rising adoption of Maxx among women travellers shows that safety is no longer just a baseline expectation; it is central to how premium travel experiences are built.”

To date, zingbus has facilitated over 10 million journeys across more than 300 cities in over 20 states through partnerships with over 270 operators. The company is also expanding its electric bus fleet across high-demand corridors as part of its commitment to sustainable and customer-centric mobility solutions.