CHENNAI: The 90 per cent rise in ticket fares has failed to make a major impact on the revenue of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) as commuters have switched over to other modes of transportation post-hike.
According to MTC official records accessed by Express, the average per day collection of buses between February 1 and 18 stood at Rs 2.90 crore, while the average ticket collection with old fares (before January 20) was Rs 2.60 crore. This means the transport corporation has registered an increase in fare collection of only Rs 30 lakh a day, which is nearly a 12 per cent hike, while it has increased ticket fares up to 90 per cent.
On January 20, MTC increased the minimum fare of deluxe buses to Rs 13 from Rs 7 and Express buses to Rs 9 from Rs 5. The minimum fares of ordinary bus have increased from Rs 3 to Rs 5.
Officials said the ticket collection revenue increased significantly between January 20 and 27. “In the first week after the fare hike, the Corporation had collected Rs 4 crore to Rs 4.20 crore a day. However, the collection trend saw a decline since January 29. From February 5 to February 20, the ticket collection saturated in the range of Rs 2.85 crore to Rs 2.90 crore a day,” said an official.
The declining trend in ticket collection is mainly attributed to two factors — migration of large number of commuters to other modes of transportation, particularly trains and share autos and increase in number of ordinary services.
Before January 20, with a fleet capacity of 3,688, the MTC catered to about 46 lakh passengers a day in Chennai city and a few parts in Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts.
“At least 13 lakh to 14 lakh commuters have migrated to other modes of transportation. Particularly, ticket collections from Tambaram, Ambattur, Chromepet, Pallavaram, Alandur, Guindy and Broadway depots have come down drastically,” said official sources.
The official railway records reveal that 5.5 lakh passengers additionally purchased season tickets in Chennai suburban section in January.
Apart from suburban trains, share autos too have attracted a large chunk of short-distance commuters. “For travelling from Purasawalkam to Perambur, it costs somewhere between Rs 13 to Rs 28 in buses, while the share autos charge only Rs 10,” said a regular commuter R Krishnan.
Before January 20, there were hardly 400 to 450 ordinary buses operated by the MTC in Chennai city for which no proper records were maintained.
“The depot managers were given a free hand to choose types of services depending upon the traffic. So commuters hardly had a chance of travelling in ordinary buses. After the fare hike, even though ordinary bus services have increased, commuters are yet to turn to buses,” explained an official.
An official note from the MTC said 1,488 ordinary buses were operated in Chennai.
“Depot managers have been strictly warned not to convert the ordinary buses into Express services until further orders,” said an officer.
The Rs 1,000 monthly pass that allows passengers to travel across Chennai city has received an overwhelming response from a section of commuters. “From February 8 to 21, nearly 85,000 commuters purchased the Rs 1,000 monthly pass, as against the previous sale of 60,000 passes in January. We expect the sale of monthly passes to peak in March as nearly 15,000 commuters have not renewed their passes in February,” added an officer.