Commuters want direct services to Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur
The respondents also demanded an increase in the frequency of the white-board (ordinary) buses to reduce crowds, better maintenance of buses, and improvement in the behaviour of crew members
women who use public transport daily to assess the impact of free bus travel on their daily life. She said most of the women were positive about the scheme which helped them save money and created a situation conducive to travel. But they also wanted the scheme to be extended to express and deluxe services, similar to senior citizens being allowed to travel in any bus.
The study categorises women using public transport: home-makers, informal workers, selfemployed, students, employees, and retired employees. The respondents also demanded an increase in the frequency of the white-board (ordinary) buses to reduce crowds, better maintenance of buses, and improvement in the behaviour of crew members.
Shortage of normal services
T. Vasanthakumari, a resident of Thiruporur who commutes to Thiruvanmiyur daily, says the service from Kelambakkam to Koyambedu (route no. 570) is the most frequent, but only deluxe buses are used, and these buses are not covered by Vidiyal Payanam. There is a shortage of whiteboard services on the Information Technology Corridor. As a result, most of the women commuters have purchased the monthly pass, she adds.
Appreciating the MTC for operating whiteboard services on several routes towards the new Kilambakkam bus terminus, transport activists say several MTC buses are operated as deluxe services and it will help if the Transport Department operates a mix of deluxe and white-board services.
A few of the routes have predominantly deluxe services, including Kelambakkam-Koyambedu
(570), Velachery-Ambattur Industrial Estate (D70), Tambaram-Broadway (A51), High CourtThiruninravur (71E), Triplicane-Pattabiram (40A), and Tambaram-Avadi through Outer Ring Road (202).
‘Allot seats in deluxe buses’
Consumer activist T. Sadagopan says that under normal circumstances, women skip the deluxe buses on certain routes where there is a good mix of white-board and deluxe buses. As these deluxe buses normally have fewer passengers and there are always some seats vacant, the government can allot a small number of seats for women to travel free in these buses.
A senior Transport Department ocial, responding to the charge of women passengers that the transport corporations operate a reduced number of white-board buses, says that more than 50% of the eet are operated as ordinary buses. For example, of the MTC’s eet of 3,300 buses, 1,560 buses are being operated as ordinary services. He says that every day, 1,350 deluxe buses, 210 women-cum-children buses, 146 small buses, and 48 air-conditioned services are operated.
The ocial says Chennai city alone will get 1,000 new buses (500 electric, 250 low-oor, and 250 standard) before the end of the year. So, the complaints about inadequate white-board buses will come down.
Lifeline to corporations
T. VASANTHAKUMARI, a Thiruporur resident who commutes to Thiruvanmiyur daily
The ocial also points out that the scheme has thrown a lifeline to the transport corporations facing huge losses and funds shortage and saved the State’s public transport system from going bust. He says the total subsidy given by the government, since the launch of the scheme in March 2021, stood at ₹6,788 crore, with the MTC’s share being ₹1,422 crore till March 2024.
Regarding the complaints about bus crews abusing the beneciaries, the ocial says stern departmental action has been initiated and the crews have been put through a programme to develop professional behaviour.
Women commuters from Chennai’s neighbouring districts of Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, and Tiruvallur have a grievance: direct MTC services, especially white-board buses, are available for free travel from Tambaram, but there are no direct buses to Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur. Even the limited number of direct services which were available in the past were stopped.
Trains are crowded
S. Kamala, a resident of Vishnu Kanchi, says hundreds of women regularly visit Chennai. Trains are available, but their timings are poor; as a result, they are crowded. It will be helpful if MTC white-board buses are directly operated to Kancheepuram, rather than Walajabad, to help women from these areas benet from the free travel scheme, she says. Women from Tiruvallur shell out a higher sum for travelling to the city in ordinary mofussil buses, which have a fare almost equal to that of a deluxe bus. They say MTC buses could be operated from Poonamallee to Tiruvallur to help commuters take other link buses to the city.
Overcharging
Regular commuters complain that mofussil buses operated by the Villupuram STC, to various destinations in Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram, are overcharging. A senior ocial of the Transport Department denies that more money is charged in mofussil buses. He says the feasibility of reintroducing direct MTC services to Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur will be studied once the model code is lifted after the Lok Sabha election.