CHENNAI: The Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) is planning to review bus services and routes to improve last-mile connectivity, according to CUMTA special officer I Jayakumar. He said the agency is seeking a consultant to undertake a comprehensive bus transport and last mile connectivity improvement plan to develop a route network hierarchy, which will cover 5,904 sqkm.
“We are also looking at selecting the routes, which should be put on priority for 1,000 e-buses which were procured recently. We will also be mapping out the areas where feeder services are required. We will also study the operation of share autos and mini-vans and bring some regulation changes if anything is required,” Jayakumar told TNIE.
He added that the objective of the study is to carry out a review of all bus service operations, intermediate public transport (IPT) services, routes and the route network operating in the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) and suggest phase-wise improvements in services.
This will ensure that they also become a part of the urban mobility and feeder for metro or railways. The tender will be finalised by September and the study period is nine months, Jayakumar said.
The data will highlight how many share autos and mini-vans are plying on city roads. The transportation department has provided only 200 permits to share autos, but hundreds of them are running and there is no data about it, he added.
The idea is to streamline IPT services and identify strategies to improve paratransit services and enhance livelihood of operators, encompassing regulatory reforms, infrastructure and various benefits, he said.
Chennai has a bus route network length of approximately 2,424 km which is covered through roughly 600 designated bus routes within 1,189 sq km, while private buses cover the area beyond it and within 5,904 sq km of CMA.