The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : For travelling public, an ordeal by bus

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 27, 2007
ePaper

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

For travelling public, an ordeal by bus

Swahilya

RISKY TRAVEL: Not a double-decker bus, this, but students don't seem to know. — Photo: K. Pichumani

CHENNAI : On 11-A, plying in the morning rush hour from Vallalar Nagar to T. Nagar, the commuters are packed like sardines.

The journey is almost pure vaudeville. While commuters hang on for dear life from the footboards, college youths bring the roof down from atop the bus in a cacophony of drumbeats, lewd film songs and whistles in chorus. Inside, pickpockets go about their daily business, and eve-teasers target school and college girls. This is true not only of buses on the 11-A route; it's true of a majority of the city bus services, especially during the peak hours between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. With a massive population to cater to and not enough buses to match the needs, commuters have resigned themselves to putting up with their lot, and feel gratified if they just get a bus to get to office or home in time.

During the non-peak hours, commuters waiting for buses for over half an hour at some bus stops, decide that enough is enough and wave down passing auto rickshaws or share autos.

There is also a lesson in human cooperation in these crowded buses that takes the form of passing on of cash and tickets from commuters to conductor and vice versa.

The conductor is so busy issuing tickets that he has no time to announce the halts. To add to the woes, commuters often have to run behind buses that do not stop at the scheduled stops.

Solutions? Former managing director of Metropolitan Transport Corporation Swaran Singh says public transport has to be strengthened and linkages should be provided with the MRTS and suburban railway stations. School timings can be staggered to avoid the combined rush of children sharing the buses with office goers during peak hours.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu