It’s raining bus shelters at TTK Road. Can’t believe it? Then, count for yourself the number of bus shelters that have come up between Crowne Plaza and the Music Academy junction.
On this 2.2 kilometre stretch, there are ten bus shelters. Now, the irony is that the stretch has only a handful of buses plying on the route.
At the Adyar Gate and Narada Gana Sabha stops, there are striking cases of redundancy. Two modern shelters have been set up just 100 metres apart.
It is basic wisdom that when a modern shelter is installed, the old one should go.
But such wisdom has not found any application at the Eldams Road bus stop, where a stainless steel and a brick-and-mortar co-exist.
Some residents say these shelters are a waste of space and money as TTK Road is usually chocked with traffic. On some stretches, shelters rob pedestrians of whatever little space they have for walking. If anyone seems to be benefiting from these underutilised bus stops, it is vagabonds. Some have turned these bus shelters into night shelters. There are others who have made these, their homes. Four wheelers and autorickshaws can also be seen parked here. On the pavement opposite Ethiraj Kalyana Mandapam, a family weaving vetiveri curtains can often be seen keeping their wares in the bus stop. Or, sitting under the roof of the stainless steel shelter and weaving a blind.
Poor service
Many old timers say the number of services on this stretch has reduced over the years.
“Over 10 years ago, there were many more services, including 23, 5 and 12A, that were operated in this stretch. They provided connectivity to many important sections of the city. Now, I don’t see that many buses and the shelters never fill up with people. Many residents of the neighbourhood use private transport,” says Chandrasekaran M, a resident of Janaki Avenue, St Mary’s Road. Though these shelters are identified with a name and carry a board listing out the numbers of the buses that stop there, most of the buses that function on this route fall under the medium frequency service category (buses with limited number of services). Some of them are 41D, 5C, 12C, 45A, 12B and 12 G.
“It is a common misconception that only elite families reside in the neighbourhood,” says Gauri Ramnarayan, a resident of North Sriram Nagar for the last 10 years.
“There are many who commute to TTK Road for work, like domestic help, watchmen and people who run small shops. They use MTC buses.” Hemalatha M., who depends solely on public transport, finds it difficult to commute after she relocated to TTK Road five months ago. “It is ironic to see the number of bus stops lined one after the other on TTK Road, only for a limited bus services,” she says.
