Though all the major industrial houses in the city operate their own buses to transport their workforce and educational institutions have their own buses and vans for bringing students to schools and colleges , buses running in the city overflow with passengers, mainly office-goers and students, during peak hours. The ubiquitous mini buses and share autos are teeming with passengers too.
To address this ever-growing demand, the TNSTC has taken steps to improve the fleet strength by introducing vestibule and low-platform buses. The proliferation of residential localities in the city and spurt in the number of educational institutions have led to over congestion in the city buses, feel commuters. However, there is another section that puts the blame on inadequate services during peak hours.
Though a large number of city buses are available on the Central Bus Stand-Srirangam, Chathiram-BHEL, and Chathiram-Samayapuram sections, there are equally large numbers of areas that are underserved . Ironically, higher educational institutions including the Bharathidasan University, Anna University, Tiruchi, National Law School, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College, and the newly set up TNAU Horticultural College for Girls, are all located in these underserved areas.
All the city and mofussil buses operated on the Tiruchi-Keeranur and Tiruchi-Viralimalai route are over crowded. Footboard travel by school and college students is a big headache for the transport and police authorities.
Besides over crowding, women passengers complain about harassment by youth . Complaints with the bus crew fall on deaf ear as they could do nothing much in this regard.
The uniform working hours in vogue in educational institutions is said to be one of the main reason for the congestion during peak hours. The TNSTC sources said that a total of 475 city buses are being operated by the TNSTC in Tiruchi region. The TNSTC is fully aware of the problem and the congestion is caused only during peak hours. The available fleet strength is optimally utilised to cater to the needs of the travelling public, sources said. Tiruchi has many major indudtries and is an education hub.
A large number of women depend on city buses for reaching their work place and schools. Exclusive buses for women will go a long way in providing the much needed relief to women, says V.Pushpam former CPI councillor and local leader of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW).
Besides reducing congestion, authorities should take steps to check harassment of girls in crowded buses. Special teams should be posted in buses operated on crowded routes to check this, says K. Sirajudeen, a school teacher.
