Two reasons why MTC ran less buses in Chennai on polling day

CHENNAI: Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) bus services were affected in Chennai on polling day. Autorickshaws and cabs exploited situation by demanding exorbitant fares from passengers.

According to official data, MTC operates 3,100 odd buses in and around Chennai. Only 70%-80% of these buses are operated on public holidays. On Thursday, even these could not be operated completely because of two reasons.

First, over 200 MTC buses were diverted to mofussil routes as demand for travel to other towns like Villupuram, Vellore and Thiruvannamalai shot up on Wednesday night.

Secondly, many MTC employees stayed away from work on Thursday morning to cast their votes in their respective polling booths.

Consequently, public were forced to wait for a longer time at bus stops for MTC buses.

D Imran, a passenger waiting at Pallavaram, said, "Usually, I get a bus every ten minutes to Iyyanpanthangal. But not a single bus (route No 166) has come for more than 25 minutes".

Passengers were largely dependent on autos, cabs, share autos and local trains.

Since many cab drivers had also gone on leave, there was shortage in cab availability in city's suburbs, particularly in the south where traffic conditions were worse until 10am. Auto drivers demanded almost twice the amount usually demanded, complained passengers.