While lack of bus services is cited as the reason behind the boom in share auto-rickshaws in the city, experts feel that the government can increase the number of transit points and feeder services to solve the problem.
For Umapathy, a resident of Sathyamurthy Nagar, share auto-rickshaws are a lifeline. “Without these vehicles, North Chennai will have poor connectivity,” he said. Residents from other parts of the city share a similar sentiment. In Anna Nagar, residents said that share auto-rickshaws provide last-mile connectivity to the Metro. “They are of great help, but the frequency needs to be increased,” said S. Ankush, a resident of Anna Nagar.
Experts feel that when the government fails to provide last-mile connectivity, such informal public transport services come into the market.
“One of the main reasons why people prefer the share auto-rickshaw is that there are plenty of vehicles on the road and commuters can alight wherever they want. You can hop onto one easily on ECR or OMR,” said a former Transport Department official.
Nashwa Naushad, senior associate, urban development, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, said that one good alternative to share auto-rickshaws would be the small buses that could provide feeder connections.
“Beyond augmenting feeder services, accessibility to transit points such as bus stops should be improved by locating them within a distance of 500 metres of each other, to facilitate and encourage better usage of public transport services,” she said. Another pressing need is to improve the pavements so that people feel comfortable walking to the transit station.
“Pavements on all bus route roads should be redone and made pedestrian-friendly. Besides, cycle-sharing facilities should also be improved,” she added.