CHENNAI: With mercury levels on the rise, commuters demand more air-conditioned buses for the city.
According to official data, Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) operates only 48 AC buses, which is less than one-tenth of what the city needs.
Most metro cities in the south like Bengaluru are trying to increase the composition of AC and non-AC buses to 20:80. Going by this trend, Chennai should have at least 600 or more AC buses.
"It is high time, MTC plans to procure more air-conditioned buses as it is going at least a few years for Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) to complete works along key stretches in the city. If they are facing financial issues, they can buy 50 buses each month instead of waiting years together to procure them in bulk. If they are going to delay it further, commuters will be forced to pay more for cabs, " said Rama Rao from Traffic and Transportation Forum, Chennai.
Transportation activist K Anbalagan said that even among the 48 AC buses, only half of them are operated during weekends. The rest, which are operated along the IT corridor on Old Mahabalipuram Road during weekdays, are parked idle at depots. Instead, they can be diverted to tourist sites like Marina Beach or Vandalur Zoo, where footfall has increased now, he suggested. A senior transport department official in response said that they tried diverting A/C buses along such routes but response from the public was not very encouraging. The occupancy rate is less than 50% during the weekends, similar to what suburban trains record.
"Even during weekdays, an AC bus on an average collects 14.000 per day and this is 10-15% less compared to deluxe buses. But MTC has continued to bear the losses and operate them keeping people's welfare in mind," the official said.
