CHENNAI: At first glance, it may appear trivial that the automatic doors in several Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses aren’t quite working. But it does ‘open the door’ for the gravest of evils that city buses have battled - footboard travel. Complained T Ravi Kumar, President, All India Train and Bus Passengers Association, “It is almost as if the MTC is encouraging commuters to travel by footboard.”
Automatic doors were introduced in the public carrier, about five years ago with the aim to prevent passengers from travelling on footboard. The semi-low floor buses purchased under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) project enhanced the safety of the passengers to a large extent. A whopping 1,774 buses are equipped with automatic doors. Ravi Kumar added, “The worst affected are women and elders when they attempt to enter the bus by holding the handles of the automatic doors. As they are tied with ropes to the seats for balance, these tiny ropes snap some times, pushing them to the surface,” he claimed. “Of late, we are unable to stop passengers from footboard travel with the automatic doors hanging uselessly,” a MTC driver at Thyagaraya Nagar Bus Terminus said.
When contacted, official sources with the MTC stressed that automatic doors were not functional in just 175 buses. “At the same time, no accidents pertaining to footboard travel have been reported in the recent past,” the sources added.
Touted as the most comfortable service in the MTC after the air conditioned Volvo buses, the semi-low floor buses are found lacking by regular travellers. “The sponge seats are torn and are a horrible experience on the move,” a frequent traveller said. “Plastic seats also poke us, making travel worse. It clearly reflects on the poor maintenance,” he added.
However, trade unionists are attributing poor maintenance to paucity of skilled labourers. Claiming that an employee has to take care of 40 buses when in the depots at night, M Chandran, President, State Transport Employees Union affiliated with CITU said, “In such a scenario, the employees can concentrate only on whether a bus is ready for operations the following day and will not take notice of the interiors.”
It is high time that the authorities increase the strength of skilled workforce, he added.