Begin typing your search...
Reporter's Diary: More students take MTC buses, but no impact on revenue
With the revenue earned from MTC buses continuing to remain low despite efforts to make the service more consumer friendly, most conductors are disappointed as their commission depends on the tickets they sell.
Chennai
The reopening of schools and colleges seem to have further irked them as though the number of commuters has increased, it does not help the conductors as the school students take advantage of the free bus pass initiative while college goers make the best out of their concessional passes for college goers.
Recently, when this scribe was travelling in a crowded MTC bus passing through a handful of city colleges, he noticed the bus conductor grunting about students’ behavior.
When asked why he was so unhappy with the students, the conductor said, “They hang in footboard, damage the window panes and mess up the bus but do not add to our revenue. Since the passes are free, they hop from one bus to another at will irking other passengers.”
He added that despite all this, neither he nor his colleague get anything in return from the students. The MTC which used to earn Rs 4.2 crore daily now makes only Rs 2.9 crore. Meanwhile, the number of students using free bus passes has increased 25 lakh last year to 28 lakh this year.
— R Lenin, Chennai
Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!
Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!
Click here for iOS
Click here for Android
Next Story