It'd been several years since I had the 'opportunity' to travel by public transport - local train, bus, auto. Atleast over the last 4 years, car took me everywhere, I either drove or was driven. Over the last 2, have had the good fortune of not having to travel much to & from work in any case.
This last week has been different. (No) thanks to dad's hip surgery, I had decided to operate from Tambaram and resolved to commute to my office in Chamiers Road by public transport. Even so, at the last minute on tuesday morning, resolve deteriorated and I took a A/c call-taxi. I returned rather comfortably too, auto to T Nagar bus stand and from there, I got a seat all the way to Tambaram.
There were many opinions as to which is the fastest, most comfortable commute. One, which came from dad, was that there is 21G from Tambaram which would take me to the Park Sheraton bus stand without having to change modes of transport. This I tried on wednesday morning and it took a leisurely 90 mins and I fretted with every application of the brake as the bus negotiated traffic. I decided train would be the better bet to reach faster.
Sure enough getting to office on thursday and friday was quicker, not necessarily more comfortable. At the stations which I alighted, Mambalam and Saidapet, the eager auto drivers charged the usual premium. Unwilling to get into any argument, I promptly paid what they asked for. It was on thursday evening that I got a bit adventurous and tried an alternate route to get home. This route gave me good physical exercise, having had to walk atleast for 40 minutes in sultry weather and I took a little over 2 hours to reach home.
Today, which I presume will be the last date of such a commute for quite a while to come, I finally cracked the best route, the best timing and the most economical trip. A/c bus at 8 30 am from Tambaram, took me to office by 915 am (although there was a garrulous young lady who I would have wished to avoid if that was her usual route; the whole bus couldn't tolerate her).
Some features that have changed a great deal from my school days of travel by bus - buses have always been crowded in Chennai. Seats are definitely better; information system with an announcement is in place in some stops; crowd is more silent - mobiles being ubiquitous; traffic is horrendous, wonder how the drivers retain sanity; conductors use a hand-held ticket issuing system, are definitely more polite (still not polite enough!); passengers transport sweat and filth and leave it in the buses; buses still don't stop near bus-stands; perhaps I could add more to this. However, people don't wait endlessly in bus stops like they used to, I see people taking some mode of transport or the other - share-autos, alternate buses, hitch-hikes, whatever, but keep moving. In any case, most of them are busy with their mobile phones and can't seem to care where they are walking.
So much for travel in Chennai by public transport. Only wish people spitted less and cared more for fellow passengers. The country side along the railway tracks seem loaded with plastic waste and it will be a herculean task if and when there's a concerted movement to clean up. Perhaps that'll need a Lok-Commonsense Bill?
5 comments:
Think of public transport and you can visualise only crowded buses and trains. This makes the meter-less auto the best mode in many of the cities.
With the increase in population, the public transport has worsened and you can see and feel it. That is where I think India didnt plan ahead in any of the cities. Roads are so overcrowded that you can't reach any place without complaining about the traffic.
This post was an interesting account of the day-day happenings. Keep writing !!
Space is a constraint in a country like India. You see China, where they build 4 lane highways, city of Guangzhou has 20 Million people, but the city actually looks empty as compared to any metro in India. Its time we start investing in infrastructure and discourage people having cars by increasing the taxes, so that more people resort to Public transport and with that the government's task will be coupled with rising demand from commuters. In today's world, I can empathise with the commuters, I have more to write than whats been written by BK as I use the public transport on a daily basis and discover more faster ways of getting an auto, cab and catch the right train to reach office/ home on time :)
A very thoughtful post. The last time we went to india, we asked Murali to take us on the local trains in Chennai. It was raining and due to lack of proper covering etc the water was gushing in through the train windows. Of course I have traveled by public transport in Madurai but realized that a huge population can make so much difference to the travel experience. Of course Rachana cribbed a lot about the dirty compartments and so I really thought kids today must go through such experiences in order to understand the world. The spitting part you mention is really terrible and one needs to really cultivate tolerance to travel with such people.
A sensitive post that brought out so many issues.
Waiting for your blog on trip to TVT about using the state bus... definitely would bring forth some interesting thoughts
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