CHENNAI: Natarajan* is on his second trip on the bus from Red Hills to Broadway. He has been working for six hours without a break — punching tickets. Unlike the old bus, the new bus, introduced in January this year, gives him ample space between seats to walk, but it does not have a seat for him to rest during his 16-hour shift.
Conductors in the city rue that the new buses rolled out by the Metropolitan Transportation Corporation (MTC) are not equipped with a conductor seat and that the management has instructed them to use the first seat on the left side of the stairs near the back door, next to ladies’ seat. This has put both conductors and female passengers in a fix.
“We work for eight to 16 hours, a day. We need to sit for at least ten minutes during a trip. Firstly, female passengers already occupy the conductor’s seat as they are not aware of what the management has instructed us. Secondly, even if it is empty, we have to sit beside a female passenger. Because there is not much gap between the seats, our hands sometimes unknowingly brush against each other, while giving tickets. It is uncomfortable for them and us,” said a conductor of 242 bus (Broadway to Red Hills).
Most conductors are left with only one safe option — to stand for 16 hours. An MTC staff on bus number 54 that plies between Poonamalle and Parrys said that he has been writing about the issue in the log book since January. “During an eight-hour shift, we have at least two to three female passengers complain about the issue. With the department not taking any action, we have to just give up the seat,” he said.
When contacted, a senior MTC official said the new buses are designed according to Automotive Research Association of India standards. “The buses come from the Centre and we don’t have a say in it. Though there is one seat beside the driver, the conductor must only be seated at the back so that he gets a view of all the commuters boarding and alighting the bus.”
Need of the hour
The conductors are required to fill a traffic register (TR) at several stages during the trip for which they need to sit. This need not be done in Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETM) as it gets updated automatically. The Corporation must first provide sufficient ETMs and then find a permanent solution to this issue, pointed out K Anbazhagan, a transport activist.
*Name changed on request