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Metropolitan Transport Corporation (Chennai)

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Metropolitan Transport Corporation (Chennai) Limited
ParentTamil Nadu State Transport Corporation
Founded1947
HeadquartersPallavan House, Anna Salai, Chennai
LocaleChennai
Service areaChennai Metropolitan Area
Service typeNormal, Express, Deluxe and Volvo
Fleet3,421[1]
OperatorGovernment of Tamil Nadu
Websitewww.mtcbus.org
Heatmap of the coverage of public transportation in Chennai City

The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (formerly known as Pallavan Transport Corporation) sometimes known as the MTC, is the agency that operates the public transport bus service in Chennai, India. It operates in an area of 3,929 square kilometre.[2]

History

Metropolitan Transport Corporation (Chennai - Dn.I) Ltd was established on 1 January 1972 with a fleet strength of 1,029 buses. The operational jurisdiction is the Chennai Metropolitan area. It served 176 routes and had 8 depots, including those at T. Nagar, Adyar, and Vadapalani. Depots at Anna Nagar and K. K. Nagar were established in 1973.[3] The Pallavan Transport Corporation was split into two and a new Corporation, namely, Dr. Ambedkar Transport Corporation Ltd. started functioning from 19 January 1994 for this split Poonamallee Depot were splited buses covers Broadway via Koyambedu, Ambathur, and Redhills are comes under Dr. Ambedkar Transport Corporation Ltd and south-bounded bus broadway via Guindy, Tambaram, and T. Nagar are comes under Pallavan Transport Corporation. Pallavan Transport Corporation was renamed as Metropolitan Transport Corporation (Chennai Division –1) Limited, Dr. Ambedkar Transport Corporation was renamed as Metropolitan Transport Corporation (Chennai Division-II) Ltd., on 1 July 1997.

In order to make the Corporations viable, and for better administrative control, Metropolitan Transport Corporation (Chennai Division II) was amalgamated with Metropolitan Transport Corporation (Chennai Division I) Ltd in 10 January 2001. The fleet strength of the Corporation at 1 March 2009 was 3,260 with 25 depots, a body building unit at Chromepet, a ticket printing press at K.K.Nagar and Reconditioning Unit at Patullos Road. During the year 2002-2003, 117 buses have been purchased for replacement. After 2007, thousands of number of buses are purchased for new services as well as replacement for old buses.

As of 2012, the corporation operates 42,961 services daily in 800 routes.[4] The driver strength at MTC is 5,000 as against a required driver strength of 5,800. The time schedule that the MTC currently follows was decided in 1965.[5]

Increase Over the Years[3]
1972 2013
Depots 8 25
Fleet 1,029 3,637
Route 176 771
Employees 12,178 23,519
Passenger/day 1.2 million 4.967 million
Occupancy ratio NA 75.83%
Revenue/day ₹ 200,000 ₹ 28,356,000

Fleet

Per RTO rules, an MTC bus could accommodate a maximum of 73 passengers, including 48 sitting and 25 standing. However, buses typically carry over 150 passengers, especially during peak hours, with many travelling on the footboard of the bus resulting in several accidents. The Fleet of MTC,Chennai is very less compared to other Indian Metropolitan Transport Corporation(s) like the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation which serves Bangalore.The BMTC has around 6,100 buses against MTc which has only 3000 and odd.

Deluxe bus from Ashok Leyland
An ordinary fare (white board) bus
MTC's Tata Marcopolo Bus
New vestibule bus with LED display
An MTC AC Volvo Service
A MTC AC Volvo Service
Another AC Volvo service
A MTC SLF plying route 21G

Single-deckers All the buses in the MTC are from either Ashok Leyland or Tata Motors, with the former having a vast majority. These buses were launched since 1990s and even today many of those old-fashioned buses continue to receive overwhelming response. Most of the buses are BS-III compliant while the newly ordered Ashok Leyland Viking SLFs are BS-IV Compliant.

Semi-Low floor buses The corporation has also introduced huge number of semi low floored and deluxe buses with improved passenger amenities like improved lighting, plastic moulded seats and driver operated pneumatic, doors into its fleet from February 2007. These buses are from Ashok Leyland, with the body built by various body building shops which Ashok Leyland has partnered with - Prakash Coach (SM Kannappa Automobiles, Bangalore), Veera Vahana Udyog Ltd, Irizar-TVS, G.S.Body works etc. and account for the majority of the buses. The newer range of these semi-low floor buses supplied under JnNURM feature BS-III engines and LED display and majority are from Ashok Leyland, with a few TATA Marcopolo buses also in service, while the older buses are Ashok Leyland BS-II compliant. The total number of buses in this segment is over 1800. The new lot of 150 BS-IV buses are in operation now, they are from Ashok Leyland.

Vestibule services Apart from the regular and low-floor buses, MTC also runs articulated buses from Ashok Leyland to traverse the most-congested routes. The fares are similar to those of ordinary and express services. These buses have 2 conductors, plastic moulded seats and LED boards (Some of these buses still continue to have regular boards). However these buses do not have pneumatic doors nor feature the chassis of the semi-low floor buses.

Air-conditioned buses MTC has launched the Volvo AC Bus services in Chennai on selected routes. It is expected that the number of AC buses running in the city is likely to increase many folds in the upcoming years. These B7RLEs have high-tech features such as ABS, Retarders, Kneeling, etc. and relatively better interiors. There about 100 of these buses running on select routes at regular intervals. All the busses are Euro V compliant. These buses are so popular that a 30 of them have been transferred to Villupuram Division the of TNSTC, and make trips to Pondicherry, Vellore, Villupuram and Hosur.

Advertising facilities are available on these buses, which can be availed at reasonable costs. Advertisements are mainly print visuals that can be arrayed in the interiors and the exteriors.

MTC Fleet Over the Years[6]
Year No. of buses on road No. of buses off road Total
2007-2008 2,344 287 2,631
2008-2009 2,792 370 3,162
2009-2010 2,958 327 3,285
2010-2011 3,007 355 3,362
2011-2012 3,034 374 3,408
2012-2013 3,027 356 3,383

Depots

The Metropolitan Transport Corporation has 25 depots, each with an average parking capacity of 100 buses. In 2012, the corporation started building 16 more depots at Maraimalainagar, Thiruverkadu, Padiyanallur, Thaiyur, Kannaginagar, Besant Nagar, Perumbakkam, Periyapalayam, Semmencherry, Kundrathur, Velachery, Kovalam, Mullai Nagar, Arumanthai, Kallikuppam and Chromepet.[4][7]

The 25 depots of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (as of 2013) are listed below:

MTC Depots
S. No. Depot Depot code Old code Region Fleet strength Scheduled services
1 Adyar AD B Adyar 210 195
2 Alandur AL K Chromepet 138 128
3 Ambathur AM E Ayanavaram 177 165
4 Anna Nagar AN H Ayanavaram 214 197
5 Avadi AV X Ayanavaram 148 136
6 Ayanavaram AY C Ayanavaram 168 154
7 Basin Bridge BB NIL Tondiarpet 45 41
8 Central Depot CD NIL Adyar 178 165
9 Chrompet CR W Chromepet 149 138
10 Ennore EN K Tondiarpet 63 59
11 Iyyappanthangal IY Y Chromepet 159 147
12 K.K.Nagar KN G Chromepet 185 169
13 Madhavaram MV F Tondiarpet 140 130
14 Mandaveli MN J Adyar 85 79
15 Perambur PB S Ayanavaram 161 149
16 Poonamallee PM V, Z Ayanavaram 179 164
17 Saidapet SP M Adyar 130 121
18 Tambaram TA O Chromepet 222 204
19 T.Nagar TN L Adyar 96 90
20 Thiruvanmiyur TR R Adyar 149 141
21 Thiruvottriyur TV N Tondairpet 106 98
22 Tondiarpet – 1 TD A Tondiarpet 140 130
23 Tondiarpet - 2 TW S Tondiarpet 76 71
24 Vadapalani VP D Chromepet 189 175
25 Vyasarpadi VY P Tondiarpet 130 119
Total 3,637 3,365

Revenue

As of 2012, MTC's advertisement revenue per month is ₹ 86 lakhs.[8] About 2,000 of the MTC's 3,400 buses have been maintained by companies that advertise on the buses since December 2011, but the advertisement space was open for all to bid. In 2012, MTC decided to allow only those companies that take up the cleaning assignment. Still they will have to pay the market rate for the space, while they will get paid for the cleaning. As of 2012, the corporation pays ₹ 18 per bus per cleaner every day.[9]

Criticism

Overcrowding

Chennai's MTC buses are one of the most crowded in the country. The MTC buses have an occupancy ratio (average number of passengers to total seating capacity in a bus) of 84.35%, whereas the ideal occupancy ration should be 55%. But this being daily average, it means during peak hours the buses carry much more passengers than it can. Each MTC bus can carry 72 people, including 24 standing passengers. The occupancy ratio in Chennai is among the highest for the 38 transport corporations in the country. Chennai, which currently has about 3,600 MTC buses, requires at least 5,000 buses. Around 50 lakh people use the city's MTC buses every day. MTC buses also carry the most number of passengers in a day, compared to any other city in the country. An MTC bus carries 1,567 people a day, second only to Himachal Road Transport Corporation where the number stands at more than 5,000 per bus per day. [10] The total capacity of a bus is 72 passengers, but during peak hours a bus can have 120 people on board. MTC does not have enough buses in its fleet and needs at least 1,500 more vehicles to ensure that passengers travel comfortably. [11]

Lack of Integration with other modes of transport

Passenger Unfriendly - Staff have barbarian attitude

The MTC buses are not friendly to passengers. This is attributed to several reasons. MTC bus staff are rude to passengers, and the Transport corporation itself has admitted this fact.[12] Rash driving, not halting at scheduled stops, breaking traffic rules and misbehaving with passengers are among the various types of misconduct by MTC staff, about which vexed members of the public filed more than 2,000 complaints over past six years. According to the reply to an RTI application filed by The Times of India, MTC officials admitted that the corporation has received at least 2,079 complaints from the public since 2007. The officials also acknowledged that they have not booked any employee for driving under the influence of alcohol despite several petitions about drivers being drunk on duty. The 2,079 complaints moved MTC to take disciplinary action against only 46 employees. The transport utility let off more than 1,400 employees after warning them and refused to take action against 639 employees due to lack of evidence. Regular commuters say a majority of drivers and conductors are ill-behaved and often yell without any reason.[12] The MTC has 19175 drivers and conductors. Out of 2079 complaints received, action has been taken only in 46 cases, while re-training has be given in 78 cases. 1406 cases which form the major chunck, have been let off with just a warning.[12] Drivers and conductors take protective shield under the cover of unions and get away from serious violations and breach of law [13].

Skipping and bypassing bus stops deliberately

The word "bus-stop" is an oxymoron[14] for MTC bus drivers.This phenomenon of MTC buses frequently skipping bus stops has been the theme for many a parody on various platforms - Internet, Social Media or SMS jokes, memes and has been repeatedly lampooned even in Tamil movies [14] -- but hard as it may sound, MTC buses not stopping at the earmarked spots, which are also known as "bus stops"[14], is more of a way of life for citizens of the city. The staff have barbarian attitude and tend to skip schedlued bus stops often causing inconvenience to passengers. Commuters say drivers and conductors are not afraid of being pulled up as MTC does not have a system to monitor the behavior of its employees.[12]. Whenever the crowds tend to be large at the bus stops, the probability of the drivers skipping the stop is more [14]. Ironically, a better frequency of buses on some routes doesn't translate into quicker and comfortable commuting, as better frequency means more buses ‘skipping’ stops, in the belief that the next bus would accommodate them [12].

Tiff over change while buying a ticket

Others who travel by bus regularly say conductors frequently argue with them over change to pay for the ticket. Several bus conductors yell at passengers for not having change[12].

Discomfort to senior citizens and physically handicapped

The entrances to MTC buses are high and most buses have at least two steps. This poses risk and difficulty for passengers to alight or board the buses, as the crew is not supportive. Some of the passengers need to take pain killers or visit doctors for the aches and pains sustained while commuting. The MTC Joint Managing Director V Varadharajan has no idea to make buses elderly-friendly. MTC has no lowfloor buses. Of its 3,652 buses, only 1,774 are ‘semi low-floor buses’. [11]

Crew rude to school students

It's a common sight in the city to see school students shouldering unreasonably big bags and waiting for the bus. To avoid getting scolded, many students travel dangerously on the footboard or precariously hang from the windows of the bus. Those students who enter the bus have to bear the brunt of getting abused by the crew. [15].

Accidents and Rash Driving; Breach of traffic rules

Chennai's MTC operates far fewer buses than transport operators in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai but its vehicles are involved in many more mishaps than buses in any of these cities. [16]. State-run bus undertakings across the country are infamous and notorious for fatal accidents, but statistics indicate that MTC is the worst of the lot.[16] MTC drivers are often criticised for their notorious attitude towards driving. In 2011, 112 people died in accidents involving MTC buses.[17]Vehicles of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), which has over 5,700 buses, were involved in mishaps that left 83 people dead the same year. Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has 6,500 buses and its vehicles were responsible for 69 road deaths last year.[16] In 2012, there were 103 fatal accidents killing 105 persons, in addition to 351 non-fatal accidents injuring 381 persons chiefly because of rash and negligent driving. Overall, the MTC fatalities accounted for about 10 percent of the total road accident fatalities caused by government buses that resulted for 1,280 deaths across the state.[18]

MTC bus drivers don't follow the laws and rules, they are known to skip, evade, bypass, elude and summarily ignore traffic signals without caring about safety of passengers and other road users.[16]. When the traffic cops catch hold of them for violating the traffic rules, it ends up in quarrels, but in the end MTC drivers get away with the active support of their colleagues, who flock together in a show of solidarity, which the cops cannot muster. [13] Traffic policemen voice out that Jumping signals is the major violation that MTC drivers make on a regular basis. They do not stop at the signals even during peak hours. This turns out to be the major cause for accidents on city roads. Although, some errant drivers are penalised for those violations, they continue to commit the same mistake and the act of Imposing penalties goes in vain [13]. If an MTC driver is arrested for breach of traffic laws, MTC crew not only in the vicinity, but elsewhere, stop the buses midway through and resort to protest[13]. Flash strikes over such incidents in the past make traffic cops think twice before proceeding against an MTC crew member and thus the traffic cops have to suffer this ignominy[13]. A senior official blamed the unions and ‘comradeship’ among the drivers as the sole reason for such violations, including jumping signals, continuing unabated. [13]

Accidents over the years[18]
Year Fatal Non-fatal
2009 109 384
2010 106 351
2011 112 436
2012 103 351
2013 (up to 25 July) 62 215

To mitigate the no. of accidentsm, officials of the corporation and the traffic police conduct refresher courses and yoga classes for MTC drivers, but in vain, as the drivers are clearly not learning much.[16]

The drivers blame most of their red-light-jumping, rule-breaking and rash driving on stress. They say existing policies within the MTC on staff welfare, collections, maintenance of time, promotions, recruitment and extended work hours all contribute to the stress they face on a daily basis.[19]

Revenue collection takes higher priority over Passenger Safety and Comfort

It is apparent that the MTC is more interested in making revenue rather than providing safety and comfort to the passengers [15]. MTC collects more revenue when fewer buses operate on the roads, but this takes a toll on passenger safety and comfort because buses run outrageously crowded..When there is a shortage of buses,people make shorter trips,which translate to higher revenue for the corporation, according M Muthuchezhayan,a retired driver and vice-president of Tamil Nadu State Transport Employees Union.Data also shows that MTC uses its buses imprudently,failing to strike a balance between demand and supply[20] [16]

Staff Shortage and Resulting Stress on Existing Manpower

There is an acute shortage of staff in the MTC organisation. A chronic lack of manpower,on certain days MTC has used fewer than 2,400 buses. [16] MTC drivers have a long list of grouses, the biggest of which is the stress they are under. [19] The drivers say that they jump signals, break rules and drive rashly because of work stress. MTC has not formulated policies to mitigate the stress of the drivers.

MTC bus drivers work without weekly off and leave for long periods, thanks to the acute staff shortage and this results in compounding their stress levels [19].

Unionists working with the transport sector say labour shortage is not a problem that has cropped up all of sudden. They claim it has gradually gotten worse over the past decade, with no solution in sight. Transport is very much a labour-oriented industry. Until 2003, MTC had two shifts. In those days, there were 7.5 workers per vehicle. This included drivers, conductors, technicians, supervisors and administrative persons. In 2003, the number of workers per vehicle was brought down to 6.5 persons per vehicle. This created a labour shortage, which in turn led to a denial of leave for the employees, which in turn increased the stress.[19]

Teh labour shortage of the corporation is getting worse each year, with vacancies caused by retirements not being filled up. Each vacancy means the employees who continue on the job have to stretch themselves to meet the constantly increasing workflow requirements. Drivers too end up losing their leave days in this way.[19]

Another major complaint of MTC employees is that they are not being paid their overtime wages properly. They say the increased number of shifts has not been accompanied by a corresponding rise in the disbursement of overtime wages.

Even If a bus breaks down, the driver is expected to complete his shift, which ends only when he gets the vehicle back to the depot. It doesn’t matter if he has clocked in the number of hours he was actually expected to do. The disillusionment of not being paid their overtime wages properly leads to lack of interest in the job which results in accidents, according to a top official of the corporation[19].

A change in the mindset of MTC officials is also to blame for the ever-increasing pressure on MTC drivers, say the unionists. They say there is constant pressure on the staff to increase the total distance covered on a route[19]. This means more extended services. ‘11A’ bus route for instance, which runs from T Nagar to Broadway. Employees say there is pressure on them from the management to extend the run up to Vallalar Nagar to increase fare collections[19].

This not only leads to pressure in terms of longer routes and work hours, but also rising pressure to ensure higher fare collections to offset rising diesel prices. Further, there is also the question of fines, which drivers say are deducted from their salaries if they do not reach a specified spot by the designated time. These deductions, claim drivers, do not take traffic congestion into account.[19]

Another issue that is causing heartburn among the drivers is the fact that the MTC has changed the way it decides on the kind of services to run. Till about 15 years back, senior drivers and conductors were promoted as traffic managers[19]. It would be their responsibility to use their practical experience to reduce congestion during peak hours by arranging cut services and preparing route charts. But this job is now being done by engineers who have no experience or understanding of the running of bus services, says a unionist. MTC employees have a long list of other grouses. Some of them are the non-functioning of grievance committees in depots, which means their problems remain unattended. Little wonder then, they claim, that drivers would be stressed out.[19]

Overall, the corporation is rotting to the worst, by all means.


Poor Maintenance of buses

See also

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ "About Us". Metropolitan Transport Corporation. Retrieved 2012-11-05.
  3. ^ a b Hemalatha, Karthikeyan (5 July 2013). "City Needs More Wheels". The Times of India. Chennai: The Times Group. Retrieved 6-Jul-2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ a b "சென்னையில் கூடுதலாக 16 புதிய பணிமனைகள்: அமைச்சர் செந்தில் பாலாஜி நேரில் ஆய்வு". Maalai Malar (in Tamil). Chennai: Maalai Malar. 11 July 2012. Retrieved 11-Jul-2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ Narayanan, Vivek (14 July 2012). "Beware, bus drivers on the edge". The Hindu. Chennai: The Hindu. Retrieved 14-Jul-2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ Philip, Christin Mathew (16 November 2012). "Buses disemboweled, Left to Rust". The Times of India (e-paper). Chennai: The Times Group. Retrieved 16-Nov-2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ Narayanan, Vivek (24 July 2012). "City, suburbs to get 16 new bus depots". The Hindu. Chennai: The Hindu. Retrieved 28-Jul-2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ "MTC buses to get LCD monitors". The Hindu. Chennai: The Hindu. 10 August 2012. Retrieved 12-Aug-2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ Hemalatha, Karthikeyan (6 November 2012). "MTC plans to barter ad space for cleaning buses". The Times of India. Chennai: The Times Group. Retrieved 9-Nov-2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ Karthikeyan Hemalatha (23 February 2013). "Chennai buses burst at seams". The Times of India, Chennai. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  11. ^ a b Karthikeyan Hemalatha (16 October 2013). "HARD RIDE FOR AGED IN CITY". The Times of India, Chennai. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Christin Mathew Philip (18 Oct 2013). "Drivers rude, MTC officials admit after 2,000 complaints". The Times of India, Chennai. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  13. ^ a b c d e f MTC drivers: a law unto themselves? (30 July 2013). "MTC drivers: a law unto themselves?". The New Indian Express, Chennai. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  14. ^ a b c d Rajagopalan Venkataraman (31 July 2013). "Bus-stop, an oxymoron for MTC drivers?". The New Indian Express, Chennai. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  15. ^ a b M Ramya & Karthikeyan Hemalatha (12 Dec 2012). "THE HANGING DANGER". The Times of India, Chennai. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g Karthikeyan Hemalatha (2 July 2012). "Despite fewer buses, MTC's death rate overtakes other fleets". The Times of India, Chennai. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  17. ^ "Driver of bus that fell off Anna flyover dismissed by MTC". The Times of India. Chennai: The Times Group. 25 October 2012. Retrieved 25-Oct-2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  18. ^ a b Jebakumar, R. Prince (29 July 2013). "MTC buses kill over a 100 every year". The New Indian Express. Chennai: Express Publications. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k N Vinoth Kumar (1 August 2013). "Stressed into breaking the rules, say MTC drivers". The New Indian Express, Chennai. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  20. ^ Karthikeyan Hemalatha (12 December 2012). "Crowded buses kill as MTC uses few in fleet". The Times of India, Chennai. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
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