Citing revenue loss, MTC reduces A/C bus services

The reason? MTC officials were reportedly not happy with the revenue generated. 

In a bid to earn good income, MTC has shifted many buses from air-condtioned fleet to long-distance routes. Commuters however want MTC to operate more A/C buses on main routes within the city. “MTC is eyeing long routes like Central to Thiruvanmaiyur and Kelambakkam, Besant Nagar to Perambur and Foreshore Estate and Vadapalani. Also, it operates more buses in the IT corridor to earn more revenue,” said an official, speaking on condition of anonymity. He also added that due to lack of robust income and poor patronage by commuters, MTC was compelled to withdraw more buses from the city. 

“I used to take 11H from Iyyappanthangal depot to Broadway. However, after three years, the bus stopped suddenly. The staff said there were only a few takers and MTC could not afford to run it in such a situation,” says T Ganapathy, a retired bank employee. 

Commuters also flay the poor condition of the vehicles. “I prefer air-conditioned buses. But, sometimes, they break down or the air-conditioners do not work properly,” says K Vijay Ganesh, a techie. Officials concede the numbers have gone down. “MTC operated 100 A/C Volvo buses. However, half of them were unfit prompting us to suspend the services. As far as routes are concerned, we have reduced half of the services, as commuters did not prefer such buses in the city,” said an official. 

Activists say that there was a good response in the beginning, when these buses were launched. “Going by the present scenario, 60 percent of the a/c buses are plying on OMR roads, as demand is high there and commuters on these routes do not want traffic jam like in the city,” says Daniel Robinson, Programme Manager, Chennai City Connect, who made a study of MTC buses.