Residents of west, north Chennaidemand AC buses | Chennai News – Times of India

CHENNAI: Residents of north and west Chennai have requested the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) to divert some of the newly launched air-conditioned buses to their areas. At present, all the 48 AC buses, launched in January after services were stopped for 18 months, ply in south Chennai.
Twenty buses are operated on route 570 (Kelambakkam-CMBT) via the IT corridor on Old Mahabalipuram Road and eight others are operated along route 91 (Thiruvanmiyur-Tambaram). Ten services are operated along 21G (Tambaram-Broadway) via Mylapore and 102 (Kelambakkam-Broadway). All these routes are considered economically viable.
T Sadagopan of TN Consumer Progressive Centre said demand for AC buses in equally high in western suburbs particularly with many developing IT firms, industries and educational institutions in and around Ambattur, Avadi and Pattabiram.
“To increase ticket collection of these AC buses, MTC should choose longer routes. Why would a passenger pay Rs 15 for travelling 1km or 2km? Not many will hesitate to pay Rs 40 for a one-hour journey from their homes to Ambattur industrial estate or Porur DLF,” he said.
As far as North Chennai is concerned, residents said they were neglected when it came to luxury bus services. “Authorities blindly assume that people here will not prefer AC buses,” said Antony Clement, a resident of Thiruvottiyur. “Ambattur and Red Hills had six old AC buses in the past (route number 219A and 114 from 2010). But not a single bus plied to Ennore, Tondiarpet or Thiruvottiyur,” he said.
An MTC official said operations were planned as per demand and services will be expanded to other areas after the next fleet of AC buses is launched.
Recently, services of AC buses were reduced during weekends. While MTC said it was to keep the buses in good shape, sources said patronage was lower than what was anticipated. On an average, an AC bus collects Rs 14,000 a day, almost 15% less than deluxe buses.