Ananthakrishnan is a journalist based in Chennai. He was a senior editor at The Hindu, writing for the opinion pages. He held news management positions at the newspaper. His interests are in the intersection of urban affairs, welfare, the environment and development, and explores this from policy, governance and public engagement perspectives.
Buses in Chennai provide poor access to persons with disabilities, with very few low-floor vehicles and exclusionary designs, and MTC’s recent promises do not inspire much hope either.
The MTC’s small bus service could have provided the much needed last mile connectivity for rail, metro and bus interchanges and yet it proved to be a failure, with the authorities withdrawing them from quite a few routes. Why?
Chennai Metro looks all set to offer a faster, modern commute alternative across its full length of 45.1 km in Phase I. But it can never achieve its full potential until certain grave policy mistakes are corrected.
Several Chennai Metro stations wear a deserted look even at peak hours because they cannot be accessed easily. When will the government address the critical issue of last mile connectivity from Metro stations?
These are among the several ways to reach the city once you’ve arrived at the Chennai airport. But thanks to obscure signage, they may not be easy to locate for the first-time traveller. Here’s a quick guide.
Chennai Metro continues to have poor traffic numbers, thanks to absolutely no effort from MTC to integrate its small buses services to the train network and provide last mile connectivity from the stations. MTC is also losing heavily to the illegal share autos, but doing nothing about it!
Confusing route information on the official website of the Chennai Metropolitan Transport Corporation and the failure to provide real time information or adequate signage reeks of a lack of focus on the commuter, writes this citizen blogger.
