Private Mini Bus Scheme in TN - Vans to be operated as mini buses now!!
In the future, if you come across vans or small maxi cabs etc operating as mini buses in Chennai and across TN, then don`t get surprised!!
To bring in more operators for the private mini bus scheme, the Tamil Nadu government has now allowed 12 to 16 seater vans to operate as mini buses. It must be taken into note that passengers would not be allowed to stand in these vans.
The mandatory minimum height requirement of 185cm for all public buses has been removed now by the TN government. Important piece of information is that the public buses that permit the passengers to stand would have to be 200cm and those with just sitting passengers can be from 150cm to 200cm.
According to Transport and Road Safety Commissioner Gajalakshmi, this relaxation in the rule would allow 12 to 16 seater vehicles like maxi cabs etc to enter the minibuses scheme. It is now expected that by the end of September about 2000 van operators would be joining the minibus scheme. She spoke about how due to low headroom these minibuses would not allow passengers to travel standing.
In June, when this minibus scheme was introduced only 1000 operators enrolled against the demand of 5000 to cover a distance of 250000 kms or route length. It must be recalled that chief secretary of TN Mr. Muruganandham orders the district collectors and RTOs to review the minibus scheme and to submit a report by the end of the month on busy routes, needs of the hilly regions etc. He wanted them to find out the demand for these buses
It was later explained by Gajaklakshmi, Transport & Road Safety Commissioner that TN has about 90000 private contract carriage permits and atleast 34436 of them are vans. Point is that the relaxation in the rules would allow manufacturers to build more buses. In a few months, there will be about 5000 mini buses operating. The Cityrides and Maxi Cabs that are used to transport school students and tourists etc would enter the minibus scheme.
