It seems that short, frequent road trips are now the norm, with many people choosing to go out of town for weekend spots close to the city.
When P. Pradeep and his family decided to go out of town during the weekend, they realised that they did not have any reservations or train tickets to make the trip. “I was not sure if I would be working over the weekend, so the decision to travel was made only on Wednesday. We decided to make a road trip to Puducherry,” he said, adding that they decided if they did not get a hotel to stay, they would return the same day and do a series of road trips to closer locations.
According to online travel aggregators, with an increasing interest in people travelling by road, they are now offering a number of deals from basic to luxury transport. “With many of the festivals in 2015 falling around long and extended weekends, bus travel has seen a surge,” a spokesperson for redBus said.
“We see an increase in the number of travellers to various destinations by a significant number over the weekends, and there has been an increase of 10 per cent in travellers who are travelling by bus,” he said.
Even taxi operators say they see more people asking for long distance travel. “We find more people exploring lesser known destinations nearby over the weekends. Sometimes, we go out for two days, but often it is only a single-day trip,” T. Ravi, a tourist cab operator said.
More small buses sought in suburbs
When the government first launched small buses, it said the idea was to link every corner of the locality with neighbouring railway stations. Though the number of services introduced in two instalments has certainly complemented the existing public and private transport systems, more can be done.
Z. Elizabeth of Ramakrishnapuram says she never dreamt of a mini bus operating near her house as bigger vehicles never plied around the area. Now, with the introduction of bus services on Tambaram West - Hasthinapuram, residents have been depending on them to reach their work spots and educational institutions.
Commuters say the rail-bus connectivity in Tambaram Sanatorium is deficient. Demands are pouring in from residents of north and west Chennai for small buses in more routes in their localities. MTC now operates close to 100 small buses in 45 routes mainly covering southern suburbs and some parts in the west too. Residents in areas that are poorly connected want small buses to fill in the gaps. A study team is working on routes that can be profitable and also serve large sections of people at the same time. Once new vehicles are added to the fleet, operating small buses on new routes to serve uncovered areas will not be a problem, says an MTC official.
(Reporting by T. Madhavan and Kavitha Kishore)
