Chennai transport: Why does MuD still fund the TN Government?

The media is often excited by such diversionary tactics. No newspaper seems to focus on the basic questions: Why does MTC in Chennai (now getting JNNURM funds and having monopoly control of bus operations) carry on with the 1960s model of fare collection only on-board bus, not sell passes for daily, weekly and monthly use just like mobile phone recharge cards, not invest in buses (as opposed to buying truck chassis turned into buses), not inte…grate fares with trains… Also, why not explore a second bus operator for Chennai, on the lines of multiple Public Sector banks operating in India? At least a comparision will then become possible. What happened to Chennai’s transport regulator which the MuD wants in place? Should we hear about Chennai transport policy from a highways engineer? Should the Ministry of Urban Development continue to fund the Tamil Nadu government when it violates the tenets of the NUTP and JNNURM? Read this story illustrating the point about media naivete: http://bit.ly/73zmhk

Money for the Marina but not for MTC?

The DMK Government recently pumped in heavy funds to “beautify” the marina (conservatively, Rs. 25 crores or Rs. 250 million). However, it has not done the same for the MTC fleet. Why are not the ageing buses, rickety, banged-up and rusty, being replaced with a similar infusion of funds?
By informed accounts, MTC is making Rs. 1.8 to Rs. 2 crores (or about Rs. 20 million) a day in earnings. Most of its new buses introduced using JNNURM funds are of the high-fare “deluxe” type.

Despite such earnings, the Corporation managed directly by the DMK Government is not investing massively in fleet expansion, integration with rail and modernised ticketing. It is not even serving the MRTS and suburban railway lines with linking services, although the State is a partner now with the Railways.

Why is the UPA Government giving funds to MTC, when the Tamil Nadu Government is flouting the National Urban Transport Policy and the JNNURM norms?

Copping out at Copenhagen: Transport and Climate Change

This week takes the question of transport alternatives and sustainability prominently onto the world stage, as leaders gathered in Copenhagen discussed ways to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels. They did not take giant strides at this summit, but they will inevitably have to address the issue.

As we know, transport is a leading cause of carbon emissions in many parts of the world, and is a rapidly growing source in China and India due to fast-paced motorisation. We should be telling the leaders and policymakers that cutting down vehicle use can help reduce carbon emissions — and provide people low-cost, safe and comfortable alternatives.

A policy with the goal that everyone must be able to use personal vehicles, on the ground that it will make everyone equal, is patently dishonest. It only helps the automotive and fossil fuel lobbies. The marginal efficiency of the car is rapidly declining, and it will go down even faster as more vehicles hit the roads. The only true choice is to have public alternatives that are affordable, comfortable, safe, punctual and widely accessible. Governments must be compelled to invest more in these public alternatives.

We have to make our voices heard on the question now, and in the future, before the leaders gather again. To track transport-related developments closely, we are now on Twitter at http://twitter.com/straphanger_in

Is your city doing anything significant to improve walking, bicycling, and public transport? Do your roads have crossing points for pedestrians that are safe and adequate? We invite you to share your experiences. Write on the wall of the cause.

There’s no time to lose. Let us build the pressure from the ground up!

Straphangers United Sidewiki on MTC is “entry of the day”

Entry of the Day: @straphanger_in “MTC behind the times” http://bit.ly/4oraxV Reporting on Chennai India’s bus monopoly

We thank googlesidewiki for taking note of our modest beginning. Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/straphanger_in

MTC Chennai feedback form does not work

I tried posting the following comment on the website of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation today, but apparently, it does not work. I am left with no choice but to post it here.

Dear MTC,
You will be happy to know that it is now possible to publish comments about your bus service on the Internet, right on your website. This is a facility offered by Google. Hence, I have given my comments on your website, using the Sidewiki facility. You can install Sidewiki on your Google toolbar and read the comment.
The link is http://www.google.com/sidewiki/entry/113190966822124469237/id/ZQqSEWakspHDJLagZ8nsbVT5wOk
Please improve, modernise your services and get good feedback. Believe me, the days of old-style monopoly bus operations are well and truly over, and today modern buses are expected by commuters along with integrated ticketing, professional and trained crews and higher service levels. Incidentally, why did you withdraw route 11 D (KK Nagar – Parrys) completely, and cut down route 12C frequency? Restore 11D and ensure that it has minimum 10 minute frequency. Same for 12C.

Airport-City bus links: What Bangalore can teach Chennai

Reaching the major rail or air terminal in a city in India is a challenge – so is the task of getting home from these transport hubs. But in Bangalore, the BMTC has laid the foundation for a bus service from various parts of the city to Bangalore International Airport.

It is not difficult to spot these airport buses for some very basic reasons: They are air-conditioned Volvos, painted bright red and featuring electronic sign boards with route information – those that are exclusive to the airport have a “Vayu Vajra” tag and have the picture of an airplane on the sides.

It is a short walk from the bus bays to the airport terminal. Of course, there are some touts waiting to get the unwary passenger close to the terminal...

If you were to compare Bangalore and Chennai, what sets the service in the two cities apart is the weak quality of services offered by Chennai’s Metropolitan Transport Corporation. It is limited both in  scope and plan.

In Chennai, the MTC operates just one route from Chennai Central to Tiruvanmiyur, the A1, both in the lower-tariff deluxe mode and the more expensive air-conditioned service.  We used to read about another service from Central station to the Chennai airport. That now appears to be missing, since the information on this route is not available on the MTC website.

The A1 is a rudimentary service. What is more, the MTC has ensured that not much is not known about its availability to the arriving passengers at Chennai Central.

Contrast this kind of service with that of the BMTC in Bangalore. There is a frequency of 20 minutes, and I tried this out on October 18 on the Electronic City – BIAL route. It worked well. There are bus services from the airport to several other areas too in Bangalore, involving a tariff of Rs. 125 to Rs. 150, depending upon where you want to go (and the ride is one hour-plus at high speed, indicating the distance involved).  It is also fairly frequent, at one every 20 minutes. You can board the bus at the major regular BMTC stops en route.

From the bus bay to the entrance to the terminals is a short walk, via this canopy.

It may be argued that the Chennai service is far cheaper with an advertised fare of Rs. 25, but that alone does not make it successful. For one thing,  passengers are not told about the buses being available right outside the Chennai Central concourse, and the frequency is poor. The crew is unhelpful when it comes to obtaining information about the service.

But things could be a lot different, if Chennai learned from Bangalore. Look at the map of the city, and you immediately notice the thick life-giving arterial roads in deep yellow, that radiate from the ‘heart’ of the city, the traditional Georgetown. There are Anna Salai, Poonamallee High Road, Thiruvanmiyur road along the beach, and growing in importance, the Old Mahabalipuram Road (IT corridor) and State Highway connecting Mount and Poonamallee (SH 113) which is a direct link from the airport. Of course there is also the Jawaharlal Nehru (Inner Ring) Road, which touches many residential localities, and forms a wide arc from North to South Chennai.

Note the road alignments in thick yellow, which are the arteries

It is obvious that if good quality modern bus services could be operated along these arteries, they would cover the bulk of the distance from the airport to the inner city, and to the Central/Egmore railway stations (which are in close proximity); the services will also provide valuable choice to the city commuter en route. The demand for such service is strong, but MTC apparently has other priorities. It is interested only in high-demand routes with disproportionate density of demand, rather than normal service provision.

Is this because there is a tacit understanding to create a bottleneck in the inner city? With its high density, it gives the autorickshaws and call-taxis a straight advantage. The lack of expansion of the service in Chennai Central and the Airport certainly indicate this kind of design.

The DMK Government has been trying to use its clout within the UPA for JNNURM funds to augment metropolitan bus services, but in implementing its transport schemes, it has been displaying the worst pre-modern era arrogance. The attitude of the MTC seems to confirm what many believe – that the bus service is only to be used as a tool to maintain a hold on urban life and mobility of the masses, and as a weapon — through labour protests — whenever it suits the Government politically.

The Government of India should STOP funding the MTC until it reverses course and takes up fundamental reform of the Chennai bus system.

MRTS, Chennai suburban rail problems highlighted on The Hindu website

The Hindu carries a slideshow on the many problems afflicting the MRTS and the Chennai suburban rail system here. It covers the gamut of issues such as overcrowding, lack of ticketing modernisation, official indifference and failure to improve infrastructure, such as stations and information systems.

Unlike the print edition of the newspaper, which carries a maximum of a dozen letters on all city issues combined per week, the slideshows allow visitors to continually offer comments and raise concerns. So if you would like to push for reform in public transport in Chennai, do use the forum.

Straphanger Updates on Chennai transit coming back, in a big way!

I realise that this blog has not been updated in a while. That’s partly because of attention devoted to the Lok Sabha elections and some other preoccupations. There is every reason to start writing aggressively on public transport and straphanger concerns, because of the non-performance of both the UPA at the Centre and the DMK Government in Tamil Nadu in this area. The Karunanidhi government has shamelessly been talking about the new Metro for Chennai being completed in six years, when the city’s existing rail lines and bus service are in tatters. More on that soon.

Digital information boards: MTC move for GPS is dumb

This picture of a digital information board at the P.Orr and Sons stop on Chennai’s Anna Salai indicates that the Metropolitan Transport Corporation is preparing to try out its GPS-equipped buses.

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The Information Board put up by MTC at P.Orr and Sons bus stop, on Chennai's Anna Salai

To us, this is a false display of modernisation by MTC, a notorious laggard in terms of provision of good quality bus service in Tamil Nadu’s capital. For one, there has been no significant augmentation of buses. This is the primary requisite for the city, and not such meaningless boards. It is futile to put up these boards at some isolated bus stops, because what the people need is frequency of service. This is a city of 6 million people, and if a modal shift from car to bus/rail has to be achieved, the place to start is the actual expansion of services.

Another long-pending need is off-bus fare collection. We have said several times, and the DMK government has pretended not to notice, that the collection of fares on board is difficult for a number of reasons.

The answer is to make available travel cards/passes off-bus widely. People are willing to buy it, but the MTC has been unable to convince its trade unions that this is the way to go. Even if they add five rupees to a travel card to compensate for loss of the “bag incentive” (a percentage of on-bus collection given to the crew as an incentive to stop at the bus stops and not speed away), the public would not grudge it.

But the MTC management has been wooden, obdurate, and some would say indifferent.

So we say to the MTC : Don’t put the cart before the horse. Put in the buses first, at least 5,000 of them on Chennai roads before resorting to gimmicks like the GPS systems and pointless information boards at isolated bus stops. Provide employment by augmenting the services and also achieve a modal shift from car and two-wheeler to bus. Make the buses less-crowded and comfortable. Act sensibly.

As travellers, we need to compel Mr. Karunanidhi’s government and the MTC to do this. On pain of losing votes and thus being rendered irrelevant.

MTC and corruption: Why the sudden concern?

The daily newspapers and other media in Tamil Nadu recently carried the sensational report that the Managing Director of Chennai’s monopoly bus operator, Metropolitan Transport Corporation was found by police to possess a large amount of cash that he could not account for.

Going around with a large amount in cash is nothing new in “Kazhagam” land. One MLA belonging to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam from Mylapore was killed in a car crash several years ago in a neighbouring town, and a few million rupees were strewn around the accident site (the money had been stuffed into a suitcase for election expenditure). The police, quite unusually, returned the money intact. Perhaps such exemplary behaviour was encouraged by the fact that the cash had come from the top rungs of the party.

But the sluice gates of corruption have always been wide open in Dravidian land (by which I refer to the regimes of the two major Kazhagams).

So why did Mr. Ramasubramaniam, the low-profile MD of a bus company become the quarry for the anti-corruption police? That will remain a moot question.

The media has not found the question worth pursuing, and has stuck to a pale press statement issued by the Government. No one wants to be on the wrong side of politicians.

It is helpful to remember that although the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam swears by nationalised transport (with which I have no quarrel), it has in parallel resorted to backdoor privatisation. The MTC buses now have bodies built in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu by private builders, with crude doors and a plasticky trim.

More recently, the transport monopoly also decided to go in for some strange modernisation – putting in GPS systems in buses which don’t have working speedometers or even brake lights. Further public-private partnership projects were outlined ( a euphemism for private sector entry) in the form of 500 modernised bus shelters with cash vending machines, a public telephone and so on.

Quite obviously, the gravy has been flowing thick and steady in the corridors of the MTC for a long time now.  Vigilance action against a particular decision-maker usually follows (especially in a third world country like India) the failure to “share” the kickback as promised.

Typically, contractors pass on bribes in Dravidianland as elsewhere, under the head of “birthday” expenses or “gift” for some wedding coming up. In this case, the money seized only from the official’s car and office totalled Rs. 619,000. The police decided to spare the gentleman of “ignominy” by avoiding a raid on his house, as there was an upcoming wedding (never mind that the same police released a statement to all newspapers about finding unaccounted cash, virtually taking the official’s pants off!).  Anyway, that’s perhaps part of Dravidian self-respect protocols!

The point of it all is that there has always been something very rotten at MTC. The Unions have gone along with it, although they knew what was going on. The mandarins in Fort St.George knew it, and tacitly sanctioned it.

The people who were paying usurious fares for deluxe and Volvo services are those who have been cheated. Inferior buses have been put on the road, true modernisation of the MTC has been resisted, and there is no commuter representation in decision-making.

This shameful state of affairs must change. The MTC administration should be removed from its concrete hideouts and put under the spotlight, with an external audit to determine who was behind the rampant corruption in the purchase of spares, the diversion of funds and the kickbacks.

Such a strong audit is vital because tax funds have been forked out by the millions  by Manmohan Singh’s UPA government under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) to Tamil Nadu, partly for bus services. This money belongs to us, and we demand to know how it was used.

It is outrageous that when commuters have had their pockets cleaned out by MTC checking inspectors who overload buses all the time, the officials have been siphoning out money for mandarins and political masters.