The Tamil Nadu government is planning to ply 100 mini bus in 26 select routes to connect interior parts of Chennai.
This was disclosed to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on urban development, which visited the city on June 9. To a query by the parliamentary panel, the State Government said that it had issued a purchase order for 100 buses. Twenty-five of the mini buses are ready for operation, while 75 more mini buses are expected to be received soon.
The State Government had said that the buses would be operated on 26 select routes to connect certain interior parts of Chennai with the main parts of the city, so that people can change-over buses to reach their destinations.
Three to five buses are expected to be operated in each route, depending upon the traffic needs, at a frequency of 20 to 25 minutes, the State government said to a query by the Parliamentary panel.
The State government also highlighted the need for additional buses as it felt that the overcrowding in MTC buses is as high as 150 per cent. It stated that the demand far outstrips supply, leading to lot of inconvenience during travel. This is attributed to the inadequate fleet strength and poor frequency. Currently, MTC has a fleet size of 3,637 buses, which is operating in 71 routes. The panel was also informed that the State has procured 1,000 buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) scheme out of which 900 were semi-low floor buses and 100 were air-conditioned Volvo buses. Also highlighted was the government’s inability to provide free mini bus link services from residential areas to the nearest bus stop due to limited buses and financial constraints.