Tamil Nadu - Chennai

MTC in top gear, yet it has a long way to go City puLse

— Photo: S. S. Kumar

More comfort: The new MTC buses with more features cruising along Anna Salai.

CHENNAI: The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) may have recently launched 36 new routes and a host of special services, it seems to have a long way to go, if views of commuters are any indication.

While welcoming the new services and routes, commuters emphasised the need for better supervision.

Conductors not moving from their seats to issue tickets, unauthorised deviations and “bunching” of buses (buses on the same route coming one behind another at the same time) prompting drivers to go past without halting at scheduled stops are some of the problems that commuters highlight.

“Even as commuters wait inside the Egmore Railway Station terminus and the one opposite the Saidapet arch, drivers skip the stop. There is no supervision of services at major places such as Central, Vallalar Nagar, Tondiarpet, LIC, Shanthi, Teynampet, Egmore, Saidapet, Vallalar Nagar, Anna Nagar, Villivakkam, Ambattur or Red Hills,” a Villivakkam resident points out.

A research scholar on urban transport in Anna University and former Managing Director of various transport corporations, K.Narayanan, wonders whether the existing roads are adequate for plying additional buses. He feels congestion causes difficulty in completing allotted trips within the specified time-limit. If extra services should bring in the expected relief to commuters, exclusive bus lanes should be created.

MTC General Manager (Operations), C. Paramasivam, says most of the areas in the city have been covered by the Corporation’s services. If need be, new routes will be launched. Introduction of buses to long distances and additional services is need-based and followed requests.

However, the retired Managing Director of a transport corporation says that it is not advisable for MTC to operate long-distance buses. Further, it need not encroach upon the jurisdiction of other transport undertakings each of which has been allotted separate districts.

Office-goers in the southern suburbs welcome the introduction of luxury bus services. The newly-introduced route number 583-Express (Tambaram-Sriperumbudur) which covers many small villages such Vaipur, Vallam, Pondhur is also a hit.

M. Ethiraj, who regularly travels from Padappai to Saidapet, says the introduction of luxury buses between Padappai and High Court (Route No. 579) is a boon to office-goers as they do not have to change buses at Tambaram.

N. Sasikala, a commuter from Serapanancheri, says good patronage will be assured even if more services are launched since these pockets are under-served. Similarly, Vandalur residents want more trips on the 170L-route (Kallikuppam-Vandalur). Commuters from Padappai want more buses on route number M79 (Padappai-T.Nagar).

Though the new bus services introduced to Ambattur and Avadi have better patronage now, those living in the areas near Ambattur OT complain that the bus terminus serves as the origin of only a few buses. Ram Nagar resident G.Natarajan says several bus routes, including those between (41 D) Ambattur OT to Mandaveli and to Broadway (15 L) were shifted to the Avadi bus terminus as extension services eight months ago. “Commuters have been put to hardship as the buses from Avadi get crowded by the time they reach Ambattur OT terminus.”

All India Bus and Rail Passengers’ Welfare Association president T. Ravikumar says while the MTC has introduced new routes, a number of old services have been cut. The argument put forward by the officials is that the routes have been merged since the buses now ply longer distances. But residents who depend on these services have been left out. About 85 per cent of the services currently are special services in which the fares are higher. “The M services are operated like share autos. They stop wherever a commuter wants them to. The Corporation has also introduced A and F to these services. We don’t know what it means. The fare in M and L board services is higher,” he adds. A number of services have been withdrawn, suspended or cancelled, residents in the suburbs point out. Though there has been a significant increase in the number of services from Vijay Nagar, Velachery, it has mattered little to the residents of western Velachery localities such as AGS Staff Colony as they rely on only route, 9M.

Valasarawakkam resident P.S. Srinivasan says ordinary services such as 18M, 25G, 49A and 17M, are now rare. “The extra fare also means you have to walk a few stops to board these buses. When the government hikes the diesel price, the bus fares will also go up,” he says.

(With inputs from K. T. Sangameswaran, R. Sujatha, T. Madhavan, K. Lakshmi and Meera Srinivasan)

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