In a smart move, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation has shifted the busy District Court bus stop – the one where city and moffussil buses bound for Mattuthavani and onwards – stop. Now buses stop 100 metres away, beyond the entrance of the court complex, on a trial basis.
TNSTC men were at hand to whisk passengers away from the comfortable and plentiful bus shelters to the new place even while asking bus drivers to move on, with help from a lone police constable on regular duty.
TNSTC’s flying squad stood at a distance with its SUV and studied the impact of the new arrangement.
It is learnt that following a request from the court authorities to the Collector, a meeting of officers of Madurai Corporation, TNSTC and the Collectorate took place and it was decided to move the bus stop to facilitate easy movement of vehicles going into and out of the court complex.
There was a bit of confusion in the minds of bus drivers and passengers, who reluctantly moved to the new place, on a manic Monday morning. Shifting bus stops in accordance with the needs and traffic flow is not new to Madurai. In recent times, it happened near railway junction where a bus bay was created near the taxi stand, much to the relief of not only passengers but also other road-users as the move freed carriage space on West Veli Street.
In an initiative similar to the court bus stop shift, Setupathi Higher Secondary School stop (towards Simmakkal) was moved very farther ahead, past the traffic signal, to prevent piling up of vehicles once before the signal as well. Though it is early days to gauge the success of the court bus stop move, it is reassuring to know that the authorities are doing something to address a problem. It will make sense if the automatic traffic signal is also put to test, instead of blinking aimlessly day and night. Besides, there is a big speed breaker just before the new bus stop.
According to a TNSTC official, the Madurai Corporation was supposed to erect a flex board announcement at the old bus shelter about the shift. In one or two days, passengers and bus drivers would get used to the new arrangement and need not be prompted to move ahead, he said.