Chennai to become more public transport friendly

The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), Chennai is planning to make the city more public transport friendly. Chennai needs between 80 lakh and 160 lakh trips a day. Public transport, – including MTC, MRTS and suburban trains, provide only about 61 lakh of these trips, with the MTC with its 3,500 buses contributing 50 lakh of these trips. MTC has initiated several projects and incentives on the anvil to get more commuters to use public transport buses – smart cards, SMS-based passenger information and ITS applications. The MTC has also proposed restricting auto rickshaws inside Chennai city, setting up a transport infrastructure fund, adding a cess to fuel price and setting aside a portion of road taxes for development of infrastructure.