Commuters hassled by space crunch, unruly share autos
CHENNAI: Space crunch and speeding share autos crisscrossing the bus bays makes life tough for commuters waiting at the Guindy industrial estate bus stop.
On an average, 300 Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses run from Guindy and the area teems with commuters through the day. However, the area is cramped with narrow bus bays; and share autos make it worse.
B Harikrishnan says he travels from the industrial estate to his college in Thoraipakkam daily and it is becoming difficult to board a bus because of share autos which harass people to use them. He said during peak hours, the buses come packed and MTC drivers skip the stop as share autos park their vehicles in the bay.
“Buses operating out of Guindy estate take different routes towards Anna Salai, Thiruvanmiyur and Velachery. The bays are congested and don’t have seats for the public. Autos speed through the bays at times, causing minor accidents,” said a sugarcane juice vendor at Guindy industrial estate.
Commuters want traffic cops to limit the share autos entering the bus stand and the corporation should take steps to expand the area.
When contacted, an official of J3 police station’s traffic wing said, “Traffic police can only regulate the traffic, but controlling share autos is the RTO’s responsibility.”In response, an MTC official said it did not own the land where the bus stand was. The industrial estate authorities allotted the land. So the MTC could not expand the bus stand. “Public can petition the CM’s cell or transport grievance cell explaining their problems and seek a remedy,” the official said.