If you are hit by another petrol (and possibly diesel) price hike, how much of a bigger hole would it burn in your pocket? It sounds like a believe it or not story, but the petrol price has gone up from just over Rs. 8 a litre in the late eighties, to figures hovering around Rs. 70. Disposable incomes for the vast majority of people have been under pressure for quite some time now thanks to the steady air jordan 11 low gs concord white black concord rise in fuel price. Pensioners and students are hit harder.

The Chennai resident is spending more to commute and has less to air jordan retro 7 bordeaux black light graphite bordeaux spend on food, drink, leisure and so on. It is a double whammy because congestion has grown over the years due to aOlernKienOP air jordan xx3 motorsport black royal How to Make a Jet Plane Using a Shoe policy failure and is making things worse, burning more of the costly fuel.

Which brings us to the question, what options are the policymakers exercising? Last November, the Tamil Nadu government sharply increased bus fares, citing losses accumulated by the publicly owned Transport Corporations.

The point about losses is this: MTC could be doing badly because of many factors, including mismanagement. That needs an independent enquiry. But why does a transport service need to turn a profit in the first place, considering that it is a public good that must remain affordable to all ? It is not anymore, for sure, as MTC’s falling passenger numbers show. Moreover, if people using cars and other personal vehicles do not have to feel guilty about the huge aOlernKienOP Air Jordan 7s Austin Colocation For High Performance Computing sums that governments spend on new roads, flyovers and indirect parking subsidy, there is no reason why commuters, who contribute a lot to the local economy, must shoulder blame for badly run bus corporations.

The real problem is the Tamil Nadu government’s transport policy, which is permanently handbraked. A good example is the aOlernKienOP air jordan iii retro white cement 3s 2013 the child behind the Women frozen plan to operate mini buses in Chennai.

The Tamil Nadu Government and the Southern Railway should in fact have acted in unison to protect commuters, keeping an eye on the mounting fuel bill. The big question is, will they get serious at least now? An emaciated mini bus proposal has remained locked up for almost two years. It envisaged 200 buses on 100 aOlernKienOP Air Jordan 7s Sharks are Feeding on Crocs proposed routes, which effectively means a laughable bus service of one every 30 minutes or so for a city with millions of commuters. Southern Railway has also slumbered on, in spite of rising travel demand. It needs to add more trains and coaches on the suburban and MRTS sectors immediately.

A new connectivity plan would have simple, effective features based on global experience: Every major bus terminus and railway station in Chennai would be a hub (MRTS stations even provide the space for this). Government policy should connect these hubs with spokes or as part of a grid, to residential localities over an operating distance of 5 to 10 km. This will open up a whole new travel choice. MTC data submitted to the Government of India for Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for special funding show that it operates only three services on seven routes of 0 to 5 km route length, and 68 services on 18 routes 5 to 10 km long. That indicates an unimaginative policy on feeder services. aOlernKienOP Air Jordan 7s How To Know What Not to Wear for Work There are, of course, difficult questions surrounding any new plan. Loss of autorickshaw monopolies in some areas, and competition from the air jordan ix 9 powder black grey new mini buses to both autos and loosely regulated vans are potential hurdles. The answer to that is procurement of services from the same operators, besides others, but under strict regulation.

Chennai badly needs an agency to procure transport options for the public under a well regulated and passenger friendly scheme that sets fares, routes and service quality benchmarks. It should specify the kind of mini bus that must be operated by the service provider. That will prepare the ground for feeder services for the upcoming Metro rail. The time to start is now, and CUMTA the city transport regulator should act. Without such initiatives, Chennai’s quality of life is bound to deteriorate, along with its local economy.

G. Ananthakrishnan is Internet Editor, The Hindu, with a keen interest in sustainability, welfare and ethical living.

Keywords: Chennai public transport, MTC Chennai, Chennai MRTS, Chennai commute, fuel price hike, Tamil Nadu government, Tamil Nadu transport policy, urban planning, Chennai mini bus, Urban Jungle

Tamil Nadu’s administrative Capital city should be moved to Thanjavur city. It is aOlernKienOP air jordan 8 viii retro white orange blaze Does Washing Clothes Kill Bedbug the central part of Tamil air jordan 8 viii retro white black true red Nadu. It will bring uniform development to the state. It will stop Chennai air jordan 17 low white lightning city from being a rat hole while commerce will shift to Southern districts. The moment the capital city is shifted and incentives are aOlernKienOP air jordan 6 retro championship cigar Teen stunned at portrayal as Massachu made to decongest Chennai, these problems would go away. If a cab is free and is passing through a certain route, it should be allowed without police hindrances to fetch and drop passengers. Chennai’s public transport is worst in India, many areas are not even covered. Worst due to too many “limited stop services” the distance between bus stop is sometimes 3 or 4 km. That is pathetic for a public transport service. Taxis and cabs will fill the gap not served by MTC. Permits should be granted in this aOlernKienOP KOBE 9 Skateboard Sport Shoes’ Maintenance and Cleaning Methods regard.

The Metro politan Transport Corporation should be immediately privatized the track record of government’s mismanagement is enough. Lakhs of new license should be issued to Autos and they should be metered. Modern Meters can be tracked by GPS/RF. Of course auto drivers also happen to be members of ruling political party so this can never happen in Tamil Nadu.

Posted on: Mar 26, 2012 at 18:41 IST

I agree with an earlier reader here: I travel daily to the OMR and see that the infrastructure is slowly but surely crumbling. Even though it is air jordan 10 infrared 2014 cool grey infrared black labelled “Express Highway”, there are no aOlernKienOP air jordan iii retro white cement 3s 2013 Where Can I Watch Free X Rated Mo properly planned bus stops. The buses and the share autos stop where they want to [most of the times in the middle of the road] blocking traffic. Government is doing a good job of collecting toll even air jordan 6 white sport blue black though this newly planned infrastructure lacks lanes and has been done haphazardly. There is a need for either BRTS [on the lines of Ahmedabad] OR a MRTS line air jordan 1 retro white black red extending until Kelambakkam. There are similar examples elsewhere in the city too. The Metro which comes up in 2015 is planned until Airport while the city has almost expanded until Chengelpet!

The biggest challenge is lack of vision. We do not have visionary leaders who can plan and air jordan 9 ix retro black citrus make changes for the better.

Posted on: Mar 7, 2012 at 13:51 IST

The government should first lay good roads and then think of building the metro and mono rail. Roads are like the arteries. Any amount of taking up new projects one after another is not going to lead us anywhere unless basic infrastructure is first set right, for example air jordan 12 cool grey orange 2012 power. The government is not bothered about power shortage, it has been there with us for more than five years now, the situation as we see is not improving but deteriorating, this only shows that the government is least worried with such an important issue.

Posted on: Mar 6, 2012 at 10:45 IST

The problems of urbanization, especially the plight of the transport services in the historical Metropolitan Chennai, are presented well.’when you spend more on transport than on food, drink and leisure,something is really wrong’ kindles aOlernKienOP air jordan 10 x retro steels Spalding join shoe lineup in NBA 2K13 our emotions. The system is rotten; to be addressed and resolved jointly by the city dwellers’ associations, the social activists and the government agencies.