Erratic small bus service irks suburban residents

While the officials claim that they have given the schedule for all small buses, but till now people are not aware of the timings, which makes most of them to go in search of auto rickshaws as they are clueless on when the buses will arrive. Besides, due to the erratic timings, the crowd has become very less now, when compared to the beginning.

“We were really happy when they introduced small bus facility to our area, but now we have stopped using the small bus and forced to travel through auto, as the small bus does not have a time schedule and we have to wait for hours for the bus to arrive,” said Raja, owner of a shop in Tambaram.

Another commuter Hanna from Mudichur said that even the bus conductor does not give proper response. “We don’t know what time the bus will come, and at what time will it start, then how can we travel on it? Even if we asked the conductor, there will be no proper response from him” said Hanna.

Small bus facility was started in the year 2013 by the former Chief Minister Jayalalitha, to make the travel easier for the people living in the suburbs and interior, by providing them a connectivity to the nearby railway stations and bus stops in the city. There are 200 mini buses functioning across the city, for the time period of 5.30AM to 10PM, there are minimum two and maximum six buses functioning at an area and each bus will make 22 to 24 trips a day. The bus has been scheduled for every half an hour once.

Transport department officials claim that they had handed over the bus schedule but town panchayat officials, when contacted claimed that they have not been updated of the same. “I am not aware of receiving small bus schedule,” said a Peerkankaranai town panchayat official.

When contacted, managing director of MTC, Krishnamoorthy, he said, “We have already prepared a time schedule for the mini buses and issued it to the town panchayats, now it is their duty to make the timing posted to the public.”