The Hindu : Front Page : Announcement service in MTC buses soon

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Friday, Sep 12, 2008
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Announcement service in MTC buses soon

Staff Reporter

— PHOTO: V.GANESAN

MILESTONE: A spanking new MTC bus on 21G route with speakers and a route map.

CHENNAI: A pleasant voice will soon greet passengers boarding Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses across the city.

The MTC has introduced the announcement service on a trial basis in deluxe services on 21G route and it would be extended to other buses in phases.

The recorded announcements, to be made on speakers fitted in the buses, would inform the passengers of the coming stops and their names when the bus halts. The service would be backed by Global Positioning System (GPS) technology.

The vehicles would also have the respective route maps displayed.

The MTC has a fleet strength of nearly 3,200 buses and the services would initially be introduced in the 500 deluxe buses.

“No longer would people forget to alight at their stop, as the announcement would remind them well in advance,”

MTC Managing Director M. Ramasubramanian told presspersons here on Thursday.

In a lighter vein, he said the announcement service would benefit those who are in the habit of falling asleep in buses.

Tamil only

The announcements would be made only in Tamil. To queries on whether the announcement would be available in English too considering the cosmopolitan nature of the city, Mr.Ramasubramanian said, “We will be introducing the service only in Tamil.”

The service is also likely to announce bus stops using their local names such as ‘Parry Munai’ for Parrys Corner and ‘Kannagi Silai’ for Kannagi Statue.

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