Rs. 50 may not mean much to a commuter taking a one-time joy ride on the Metro from Koyambedu to Chennai airport. But it adds up when the trip is a daily affair. Many commuters say they have mixed feelings about the rates. It does not help that the Metro is not integrated well with other modes of transport.
On its inauguration, the first stretch of Chennai's Metro Rail with fares between Rs. 10 and Rs. 40 was the most expensive in the country. Owing to the fares, limited connectivity and poor feeder services, it didn’t have much patronage. The rates for the second stretch too have discouraged commuters, who say they may not travel regularly unless there is a travel pass at a subsidised price.
Nirmala Ramanathan, a resident of Maduravoyal who travels to Pallavaram for work, says, "I first have to walk half a km and take a bus to Koyambedu Metro station. This mode can save me a lot of time. However, I have to pay Rs. 100 every day and hence, Rs. 2,500 a month. I will also have to take an auto from the airport station to my office. So, a bus seems a better option.”
Experts say mass rapid transit should not be expensive. Authorities should efficiently use the space in stations for commercial exploitation. “Property development can very profitable. MRTS is a classic example of how mass rapid transit failed primarily due to lack of commercial exploitation of space in stations. If they had rented out the space in stations to eateries or food stalls, they could have made a lot of money,” says an expert.
Some others, calculating that a journey from Koyambedu to the airport would now cost only Rs. 50, as against other modes such as cabs and autos, say the Metro would be ideal.
N.S. Srinivasan, former director of National Transportation Planning and Research Centre, says that even those commuters who can afford the system would struggle due to lack of enough integration with other modes of transport. “The system has to be linked to other modes like buses, railway stations and more importantly, commuters should be able to walk from mode to another without much effort,” he says.
Clearly, there are no two views about ensuring that new forms of transportation have intermodal connectivity.
