Data Story
NammaMetro: Phenomena Inspector
Get to know Bengaluru City through the lens of its metro's ridership. See how commuters and weekenders use the metro.
NammaMetro Ridership Data Analysis
Last Major Update: 2025-10-03
Author: Mahesh Shantaram <ms@thecontrarian.in>
One Day on NammaMetro
Earliest Record
Out[2]:
| Record Date | Total Smart Cards | Stored Value Card | One Day Pass | Three Day Pass | Five Day Pass | Total Tokens | Total NCMC | Group Ticket | Total QR | QR NammaMetro | QR WhatsApp | QR Paytm | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 26-10-2024 | 353460 | 352496 | 853 | 43 | 68 | 241883 | 7444 | 512 | 177279 | 49351 | 95571 | 32357 |
Latest Record
Out[3]:
| Record Date | Total Smart Cards | Stored Value Card | One Day Pass | Three Day Pass | Five Day Pass | Total Tokens | Total NCMC | Group Ticket | Total QR | QR NammaMetro | QR WhatsApp | QR Paytm | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 368 | 08-04-2026 | 441228 | 440804 | 202 | 21 | 201 | 281832 | 125426 | 38 | 48456 | 49219 | 34640 | 21726 |
Let's create two additional useful features: Day of Week and Total Riders
Missing Days
======================================== Missing Data – Last 10 Dates ========================================
| Record Date | Day of Week | Total Riders | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 506 | 2026-03-16 | Monday | <NA> |
| 512 | 2026-03-22 | Sunday | <NA> |
| 517 | 2026-03-27 | Friday | <NA> |
| 518 | 2026-03-28 | Saturday | <NA> |
| 522 | 2026-04-01 | Wednesday | <NA> |
| 523 | 2026-04-02 | Thursday | <NA> |
| 524 | 2026-04-03 | Friday | <NA> |
| 525 | 2026-04-04 | Saturday | <NA> |
| 526 | 2026-04-05 | Sunday | <NA> |
| 527 | 2026-04-06 | Monday | <NA> |
The Dataset at a Glance
“The Metro is Getting Crowded!”
Top 10 Busiest Days - The Commuters
Out[10]:
| Record Date | Day of Week | Total Riders | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2025-08-14 | Thursday | 1083788 |
| 2 | 2025-08-11 | Monday | 1048032 |
| 3 | 2025-08-12 | Tuesday | 1032687 |
| 4 | 2025-09-19 | Friday | 1027561 |
| 5 | 2025-09-18 | Thursday | 1024290 |
| 6 | 2025-09-17 | Wednesday | 1023862 |
| 7 | 2025-08-18 | Monday | 1018671 |
| 8 | 2025-09-03 | Wednesday | 1017626 |
| 9 | 2025-09-04 | Thursday | 1007660 |
| 10 | 2025-09-15 | Monday | 1004804 |
Least Busy Days so far - The Weekenders
Out[11]:
| Record Date | Day of Week | Total Riders | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 360 | 2025-03-22 | Saturday | 498494 |
| 361 | 2025-01-14 | Tuesday | 484293 |
| 362 | 2024-11-02 | Saturday | 480284 |
| 363 | 2026-02-15 | Sunday | 479886 |
| 364 | 2025-03-09 | Sunday | 473005 |
| 365 | 2025-08-27 | Wednesday | 438240 |
| 366 | 2025-10-20 | Monday | 406631 |
| 367 | 2024-11-01 | Friday | 404342 |
| 368 | 2025-03-30 | Sunday | 402795 |
| 369 | 2026-03-19 | Thursday | 398878 |
One Week on NammaMetro
Total Daily Ridership by Day of Week
Average Daily Ridership by Day of Week
Out[13]:
Day of Week Monday 57 Tuesday 52 Wednesday 57 Thursday 52 Friday 55 Saturday 51 Sunday 45 Name: count, dtype: int64
============================================= Ridership by Day of Week and Payment Method Averaged between Sep 9 2025 and Nov 7 2025 =============================================
| Smart Cards | NCMC | Tokens | QR | Group Ticket | Total Riders | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day of Week | ||||||
| Monday | 481109 | 57945 | 255710 | 148542 | 365 | 943671 |
| Tuesday | 505927 | 60225 | 231691 | 158883 | 142 | 956868 |
| Wednesday | 506715 | 62187 | 242464 | 153467 | 278 | 965111 |
| Thursday | 488800 | 60840 | 239001 | 155591 | 340 | 944572 |
| Friday | 469620 | 56263 | 268509 | 156855 | 450 | 951697 |
| Saturday | 293448 | 34728 | 320917 | 166539 | 490 | 816122 |
| Sunday | 151399 | 18955 | 291795 | 160513 | 400 | 623062 |
============================================= Standard Deviation by Day of Week and Payment Method Averaged between Sep 9 2025 and Nov 7 2025 =============================================
| Smart Cards | NCMC | Tokens | QR | Group Ticket | Total Riders | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day of Week | ||||||
| Monday | 17215 | 8111 | 13912 | 54939 | 110 | 94287 |
| Tuesday | 9233 | 11653 | 11266 | 50172 | 145 | 82469 |
| Wednesday | 13802 | 8645 | 11173 | 56154 | 205 | 89979 |
| Thursday | 27221 | 9203 | 17835 | 48485 | 155 | 102899 |
| Friday | 29430 | 6402 | 43802 | 57172 | 210 | 137016 |
| Saturday | 37407 | 5086 | 54528 | 72282 | 230 | 169533 |
| Sunday | 13341 | 2058 | 30800 | 68356 | 327 | 114882 |
Average Daily Ridership by Payment Method
Total Daily Ridership over the Last 14 reported days
Out[17]:
| Record Date | Day of Week | Total Riders | Day Average | Difference | Attention! | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 355 | 2026-03-17 | Tuesday | 887431 | 956868 | 69437 ⬇︎ | 📉 |
| 356 | 2026-03-18 | Wednesday | 950695 | 965111 | 14416 ⬇︎ | |
| 357 | 2026-03-19 | Thursday | 398878 | 944572 | 545694 ⬇︎ | 📉 |
| 358 | 2026-03-20 | Friday | 615274 | 951697 | 336423 ⬇︎ | 📉 |
| 359 | 2026-03-21 | Saturday | 567646 | 816122 | 248476 ⬇︎ | 📉 |
| 360 | 2026-03-23 | Monday | 918381 | 943671 | 25290 ⬇︎ | |
| 361 | 2026-03-24 | Tuesday | 894988 | 956868 | 61880 ⬇︎ | 📉 |
| 362 | 2026-03-25 | Wednesday | 940472 | 965111 | 24639 ⬇︎ | |
| 363 | 2026-03-26 | Thursday | 895581 | 944572 | 48991 ⬇︎ | |
| 364 | 2026-03-29 | Sunday | 567428 | 623062 | 55634 ⬇︎ | 📉 |
| 365 | 2026-03-30 | Monday | 825546 | 943671 | 118125 ⬇︎ | 📉 |
| 366 | 2026-03-31 | Tuesday | 864441 | 956868 | 92427 ⬇︎ | 📉 |
| 367 | 2026-04-07 | Tuesday | 919218 | 956868 | 37650 ⬇︎ | |
| 368 | 2026-04-08 | Wednesday | 954109 | 965111 | 11002 ⬇︎ |
Traffic Bands
| Record Date | Day of Week | Traffic Band | Smart Cards | NCMC | Commute | Tokens | QR | Group Ticket | Casual | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 2024-10-26 | Saturday | Saturday | 353460 | 7444 | 360904 | 241883 | 177279 | 512 | 419674 | 780578 |
| 1 | 2024-10-27 | Sunday | Sunday | 176278 | 4278 | 180556 | 250124 | 205910 | 458 | 456492 | 637048 |
| 2 | 2024-10-28 | Monday | Early Week | 452257 | 11076 | 463333 | 208014 | 177629 | 160 | 385803 | 849136 |
| 3 | 2024-10-29 | Tuesday | Early Week | 452299 | 10948 | 463247 | 205421 | 182210 | 407 | 388038 | 851285 |
| 4 | 2024-10-30 | Wednesday | Early Week | 425759 | 9975 | 435734 | 233366 | 201583 | 198 | 435147 | 870881 |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |
| 364 | 2026-03-29 | Sunday | Sunday | 137730 | 35635 | 173365 | 269750 | 123992 | 321 | 394063 | 567428 |
| 365 | 2026-03-30 | Monday | Early Week | 360021 | 99181 | 459202 | 241341 | 124825 | 178 | 366344 | 825546 |
| 366 | 2026-03-31 | Tuesday | Early Week | 409035 | 111984 | 521019 | 225610 | 117699 | 113 | 343422 | 864441 |
| 367 | 2026-04-07 | Tuesday | Early Week | 438794 | 123076 | 561870 | 238079 | 119172 | 97 | 357348 | 919218 |
| 368 | 2026-04-08 | Wednesday | Early Week | 441228 | 125426 | 566654 | 281832 | 105585 | 38 | 387455 | 954109 |
369 rows × 11 columns
| Day of Week | Traffic Band | Commute | Casual | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Early Week | 539,054 | 404,617 | 943,671 |
| Tuesday | Early Week | 566,152 | 390,716 | 956,868 |
| Wednesday | Early Week | 568,902 | 396,209 | 965,111 |
| Thursday | Mid Week | 549,640 | 394,932 | 944,572 |
| Friday | Mid Week | 525,883 | 425,814 | 951,697 |
| Saturday | Saturday | 328,176 | 487,946 | 816,122 |
| Sunday | Sunday | 170,354 | 452,708 | 623,062 |
One Month on NammaMetro
Remember that NammaMetro fails to report ridership numbers on some days, so the monthly ridership totals calculated from the data is going to be only an approximate. However, we can still identify trends and patterns by analysing data movement on a granular level.
Here are the official monthly ridership stats as reported by BMRCL:
| Month | Ridership |
|---|---|
| 2024 July | 23,633,166 |
| 2024 August | Unpublished |
| 2024 September | 23,072,685 |
| 2024 October | Unpublished |
| 2024 November | 23,613,895 |
| 2024 December | 24,982,906 |
| 2025 January | 24,914,736 |
| 2025 February | 20,990,894 |
| 2025 March | 22,463,620 |
| 2025 April | Unpublished |
| 2025 May | 23,457,821 |
| 2025 June | 23,691,982 |
| 2025 July | Unpublished |
| 2025 August | Unpublished |
| 2025 September | Unpublished |
Let us try to construct the monthly ridership numbers from the available data.
=================================== Total Rides Served per Month ⁺ ===================================
| Year-Month | Monthly Total (millions) | Daily Average (thousands) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 2024-11 | 23.7 | 788.8 |
| 1 | 2024-12 | 24.7 | 796.5 |
| 2 | 2025-01 | 24.2 | 807.4 |
| 3 | 2025-02 | 20.4 | 755.8 |
| 4 | 2025-03 | 22.2 | 716.6 |
| 5 | 2025-04 | 20.1 | 744.1 |
| 6 | 2025-05 | 22.6 | 752.8 |
| 7 | 2025-06 | 22.4 | 801.5 |
| 8 | 2025-07 | 24.6 | 792.4 |
| 9 | 2025-08 | 25.9 | 836.6 |
| 10 | 2025-09 | 26.3 | 938.7 |
| 11 | 2025-10 | 21.6 | 745.1 |
| 12 | 2025-11 | 20.9 | 834.6 |
| 13 | 2025-12 | 22.7 | 782.6 |
| 14 | 2026-01 | 24.4 | 786.1 |
| 15 | 2026-02 | 22.0 | 816.4 |
| 16 | 2026-03 | 23.6 | 762.6 |
⁺ Estimate includes data for missing dates based on same day-of-week averages within each month. Data as of 2026-04-08.
The Spread of Data
Ebb and Flow of Daily Passenger Traffic
| R² Range | Interpretation | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| > 0.75 | Very Strong | Highly reliable for forecasting |
| 0.50 - 0.75 | Strong | Good for general predictions |
| 0.25 - 0.50 | Moderate | Use with caution |
| 0.10 - 0.25 | Weak | Not suitable for predictions |
| ≤ 0.10 | Very Weak | Indicates random behaviour |
Phenomena Inspector
Ridership Towers – Users and Payments
Exponential Growth of NCMC
$$\LARGE\text{NCMC} = e^{9.2882 + 0.0810 \cdot \text{weeks}}$$
$$\large\text{Doubling Time} = 8.6 weeks$$
$$\large R^2\text{ on log-scale} = 0.993$$