[sustran] Bus fare hike sets off a chain of protests across T.N

[Vinay Baindur]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/bus-fare-hike-sets-off-a-chain-of-protests-across-tn/article22483462.ece


Bus fare hike sets off a chain of protests across T.N.
<http://www.thehindu.com/profile/author/R-Srikanth-972/>R Srikanth
<http://www.thehindu.com/profile/author/R-Srikanth-972/>
CHENNAI, JANUARY 21, 2018 00:02 IST
UPDATED: JANUARY 21, 2018 00:02 IST



People take to the streets in many cities; any comparison with other States
unfair given the poor condition of the buses, say commuters

The bus fare hike announced by the Transport Department on Friday night
seems to have provoked anger among people across the State. Even before the
announcement could sink in, commuters in Chennai had a further shock in
store on Saturday with the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) coming
out with a detailed fare card for the different types of services operated
by them. While officials of the State Transport Corporations (STCs) claim
the ticket fare hike was a pending for long, commuters say the sudden,
unannounced hike will force them to pay through the nose for public
transport.

In several parts of the State, including Coimbatore, Tiruchi, and Tiruvarur
districts, commuters took to the streets in protest. While residents
organised a road roko in Shoolagiri town in Coimbatore district, members of
the Students’ Federation of India carried out a demonstration in Tiruvarur
district. A large number of people staged a road roko in front of the bus
stand in Shoolagiri demanding that the State government take back the price
hike.

There were scenes of passengers, who had booked tickets online before the
fare revision, arguing with bus crew members at the Central Bus Stand in
Tiruchi when they were asked to pay the difference.

S. Subban, who travels to Namakkal from Erode regularly, said he earned
₹250 a day and hereafter, he would have to spend ₹100 for bus tickets
daily, which meant spending 40% of his earnings on travel.

Severe hardship

Joseph, a resident of Nettukuppam in Ennore, said the hike is bound to
cause severe hardship to daily wage earners, who depend on buses to commute
to their workplace.

He said that in several routes, the fare had been increased by 100%.

He referred to the 56N bus route operated from Ennore to High Court where
the charge before the hike was ₹8.

Now, the fare has been fixed at ₹16. The MTC, having more than 3,500 buses
in its fleet, operates only 50% of the buses under the ordinary service,
with the remaining operated under Express and Deluxe categories.

Poorly maintained

While discussing the theory of government officials comparing the ticket
fares prevailing in other southern States, commuters questioned the
deficiencies in the public buses being run here.

Poor maintenance, leaking roofs during rain, irregular schedule, cramped
and broken seats, and, above all, abusive bus crew who harass the commuters
by not returning change were some of the issues listed.

Commuters were also angry that MTC buses operated as Express or Deluxe
services do not differ in any way from the ordinary bus services except for
the colour on the name board, thus not justifying differential fares.

Social activists from the city and nearby districts like Tiruvallur and
Kancheepuram pointed out the hike is bound to put more pressure on the
suburban train services, which are the only transport facility operated on
an economic scale.

A senior official of the State Transport Department said the fare hike was
the first step towards making public transport in the State financially
sustainable.

He said a lot of research was undertaken into the situation in neighbouring
States before going for the ticket hike across the board.

He said that while in Tamil Nadu, fares had been hiked only twice since
2001, in Karnataka the ticket fares have been hiked 16 times.

In a State where 50% of the routes are socially obligatory routes and the
eight transport corporations were sustaining ₹9 crore of losses per day,
there was no other go but hike the ticket fares, he added.

The official also cited the thousands of crores in losses accumulated over
a period of 15 years and the present situation where the transport
corporations have been able to meet the basic needs of keeping pace with
the price of diesel, operational expenditures and payment of salary.

Stagnant fleet strength

While new buses were purchased thanks to Central government funding through
the JNNURM, the State has not been able to increase its fleet as the
Central government has completely withdrawn from funding of transport
departments.

The Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled
& Caregivers, in a letter to the Chief Minister, has requested the
government to extend the concessional fare of 75% in all the State
Transport Corporation buses.

*(With inputs from T. Madhavan, C. Jaisankar, Syed Muthahar Saqaf, S.P.
Saravanan, and R. Arivanantham)*