Great news regarding MTC buses ridership in Chennai?
Posted on: 19/Apr/2022 9:31:27 AM
More than 2 years have gone since the Coronavirus infection pandemic broke out!!
The latest superb news is that the ridership or number of passengers travelling by MTC buses per day in Chennai has touched pre-pandemic levels. It is noteworthy that in 2018 MTC hiked the bus fares and this led to several issues among the passengers. Lockdowns due to Coronavirus pandemic too has contributed to reduced patronage in MTC buses in the last 2 years.
In May 2021, the CM of Tamil Nadu made many heads turn when he announced free travel for women in MTC buses and this led to huge rise in the ridership. Details of passenger data for the financial years from 2019-20 to 2021-22 has been shared by a senior officer belonging to MTC. The data has confirmed that the average passengers carried per day touched 29lakhs against 33.5lakhs prevailing before the lockdown was announced in March 2020.
The occupancy rate in MTC buses in Chennai reached bottom in 2020-21 due to a series of lockdowns between April and August 2020 for controlling Covid-19 spread. The number of passengers carried by MTC buses per day was reduced to 15lakhs as against 30 lakhs carried by MTC buses per day during pre-pandemic days. From January 2021 onwards, Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted in Chennai and inspite of this the ridership in MTC buses was poor as many preferred their own vehicles. In May 2021, the occupancy touched the lowest at 6.76lakhs.
The occupancy in MTC buses slowly started to increase after the chief minister announced free travel for women and about 30percent of passengers accounted for zero value tickets. It was confirmed by the officer belonging to MTC that zero value tickets (students and women) had witnessed a steady increase in the average number of passengers per day from 5lakhs in July 2021 to 8lakhs in March 2022.
