MTC trims ordinary fleet in city, allege commuters

After coming under criticisms from the public, especially after the bus fare hike, for the lack of adequate number of ordinary services (white board), the officials had claimed that more such services would be operated. Even though many ordinary services were started, the numbers were cut down soon, much to the chagrin of the commuters. According to regular users, some routes do not even have the service. “Following the bus fare hike, the Vadapalani depot had received a few number of ordinary buses, which were operated from Vadapalani to Broadway (15F). However, such services are not visible now, and all the buses are Express category,” said K Manikandan, a regular commuter. The department has increased the number of Express service to increase revenue, he charged, demanding more ordinary services to cater to the common man. 

Similarly, a sizable number of routes like Poonamallee— Broadway (101) and Avadi—Broadway (71E) have no ordinary buses. “The Poonamallee depot had around three to five ordinary services to reach Broadway till two weeks ago. However, there is not even a single such bus in the depot now,” said a time-keeper, requesting anonymity. 

“After the fare hike, we converted more buses into ordinary services. Further, the transport department is gearing up to buy new buses in May, after which more buses will be operated as ordinary service,” a senior official told DT Next. He also assured that they would operate ordinary buses for long routes for the convenience of commuters.