During summer in Chennai, travelling by MTC’s air-conditioned buses take on a new sheen.
MTC launched 10 air-conditioned Volvo buses in 2008 on a trial basis on four routes covering south Chennai.
With the air-conditioned buses receiving a good response, MTC increased the fleet gradually over the years.
MTC, which started operating on various routes covering the city, has over the years been able to permanently fix the routes, particularly through the information technology (IT) corridor, based on revenue collections.
The MTC official said the AC bus routes have been scheduled to cover the Rajiv Gandhi Salai to ensure maximum revenue collections.
The official said that at present the transport corporation has a fleet of 100 buses of which 92 buses are operated every day.
Almost 70 per cent of the 92 buses are plying on the IT corridor, he added.
The official said during summer months of March, April, May and June, the average collection per AC bus per day is around Rs. 18,000, whereas the average collection during other months is around Rs. 15,000.
The base fare for AC buses is Rs. 15.
Some of the popular routes of AC buses are: Route no. 570 from Kelambakkam to CMBT, route no. 102 – Broadway to Kelambakkam, route no. 114 – Red Hill to Vandalur and route no. 576 – T. Nagar to Kancheepuram.
K. Mugundhan, who is a resident of Pattabhiram, wants MTC to operate buses from Avadi to help a large number of those working in IT companies to benefit from the AC bus services.
He said at present the lack of any AC buses from Avadi has forced them to go to Guindy to board the AC bus to Kelambakkam.
