Taking the Bus in Chennai

DeewanaMastana

Who takes the bus here? Buses in Chennai can get very full to the extent of people hanging from the doorway.

Many people on this website are not originally from Chennai. But have you braved yourself to experience Chennai that way yet?

machadinha

Hm. Just over a decade ago I found it one of the easiest Indian mega-cities to get around in by public transport, certainly compared to other places. Fellow passengers standing on stops would also be very helpful in assisting you to find your way around. Nice city really, and I think I did most of my moving around there by public transport.

I hear I'm not the only one to have found it that way. Then again I was never averse to jumping on a packed and moving bus with your pack in tow in any of the metros, so maybe this helps.

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bcpai77

Buses in Chennai ...well, having lived in Chennai since birth (now in Bangalore, though), I can say that I kinda like travelling by the city buses in Chennai. Of course, during peak office / college / school hours, the buses tend to become over-crowded and if they get caught in the traffic jams (which in the last 5 years have become gargantuan...wasnt so bad before that), you would be frustrated / exhausted enough to feel like quitting and taking an auto-rick to your destination (cant say those reach sooner and you'll most likely be ripped off, but at least you'll have your own space)
But, I would compare Chennai buses favourably with those in other South Indian cities, like Bangalore and much better than Kolkata or Jamshedpur ones (i've been in these cities for about 4 years). Esp, the lower floor (the first step, at least) and the basic design of the Ashok Leyland coaches are airy and better as compared to the Bangalore city buses (i hate those old claustrophobic red buses , but the new age coaches in Bangalore are much better than anywhere else).
But, the thing about travelling on buses in Chennai is that, unless you are travelling on a long route from end-to-end of the city, the other routes are relatively short and I would say much better than taking a auto-rickshaw. And, the college crowd in Chennai (esp the guys) favour travelling on the foot-board of the buses even if the bus is half-empty. There is a certain charm & thrill in doing that and its comparatively safe, provided you have a firm grip and know how to hang-on. The design of the bus is favourable for foot-board travel. I wont say the same of buses elsewhere.
The chennai city bus fleet has been on a modernising spree over the last few years and until the name of the corporation was changed to 'Metropolitan Transport Corp', the residents of Chennai were witnesses to amusing spectacles of the bus corporation & route names changing every 5 years with the change of state government. Old-timers still call it the PTC (Pallavan Transport Corp), which it was called for quite a long time, until JJ started the name changing thingy.
Travelling on buses in chennai is fun, but with the city traffic situation today, I would only recommend you take a bus only at leisure and not when you need to get somewhere urgently on a weekday....Enjoy

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Nick-H

I'm slightly ashamed to admit that I haven't tried travelling by bus here.

I do enjoy the MRTS railway!

By the way... a couple of kids were killed very recently, hanging on the footboard, crushed against another bus. There's no doubt they do it for kicks, preferring to hang on a full bus than get into an empty one.

Where they run on your desired route, share autos are brilliant, although they can be a crush. You pay just a few rupees and don't get ripped off like the individual autos, but, of course, they don't deliver you to your door.

I bought a car!

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machadinha

As a whitey and not speaking the language, how do you go about using the shared ricks & making it clear that's what you're doing (& where they're going) though Nick? It's an honest question, I could never master the system.

Probably helps living there and not being an obvious tourist in any case.

bcpai77

Its certainly not a recommended way to travel on the city buses . This kinda news is often seen in the newspapers. If at all you do travel on the footboard, dont lean outside the bus. Standing on the last step should be max. If the bus is crowded beyond that, just wait for the next one or take a auto / share auto. Makes no sense to risk life - for kicks or otherwise.

But, I've seen people doing all the wrong things in footboard travel. Once when I was returning from school on a bus, a guy got off a running bus backwards and promptly fell on his backside. Fortunately for him, the bus wasnt running all so fast, otherwise he would've hit his head.

I've done some footboard travel during my school days - not risky antics and only when necessary. But its way long back...come to think of it, I havent travelled on a Chennai city bus in the last 3-4 years...next time, i'm taking the bus, just for old times sake

bcpai77

As far as I've seen and experienced the shared rick system, these guys take people from point to point. There are only certain routes that they operate in, a certain type of autorickshaw that plies - about double the size of the normal rick and with modified seats to maximize number of passengers - and they take a standard fare, usually a round number like Rs 5 or 10.

The one or two times I've taken these, I've never had to speak a single word to the driver or co-passengers - probably because i knew the route and where I should get off, etc. But, if you know where you are headed to, just mentioning the name of the destination should do - the driver will indicate whether he's going there or not.
The shared rick is better than taking a normal rick in any case, where in case of the latter, most likely as not, the driver will offer to take you wherever you want to go and take you on a circuitous route and charge you 4-5 times the already inflated fare (for a white-skinned tourist) .

Nick-H

Yes, you only have to be able to say the destination.

You do have to pronounce it right. An auto driver has time to hang around trying to work out what your are saying while contemplating his fat foreigner fare; a share auto does not.

Just to mention once again the MRTS train.

This is a great way of getting around. I used to take it from Mylapore to Fort or Beach (where it terminates) for Parry's or Burma Bazaar visits. Not only is it cheap and quick, but it is also mostly elevated, so you get a good view. Out of the rush it is spacious and airy (no closed doors!) too.

Much to be recommended, even if just for the trip.

bcpai77

I agree. Between the MRTS and the suburban trains that run between Chennai Beach - Tambaram, I would prefer MRTS anyday. No crowds, good view - elevated & all and it runs across a corridor which would take you at least 3-4 times more time to go by road, taking into account the traffic signals and jams.

Yo for MRTS! Wish they would extend it on the Velachery side though...its been a long time coming.

PLaneMad

As a college student with no income, i travel only by public transport and foot in Chennai. My weekly spend on transport is only Rs 30. By auto i wiould be spending close to 600.

I made a map recently to help out my buddies get around the city. You can find it here. Hope you guys find it useful

Nick-H

That's a great map I'm adding it to my bookmarks.

Inspired by the engineer who decided to draw London's underground as if it was an electrical circuit, and thus created one of the most famous pieces of design in the world?

I hope you'll go on adding routes to it.

i don't know if there is any official bus-route map of Chennai?

Good work! Let us know when you update it.

Be nice if you could make it smaller, as it takes a while to come over the net.

crowgirl

Please pardon ignorance- is this a train map or a bus map? I have no idea as of yet how to do the city trains or where the actual stations are for boarding.

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PLaneMad

@crowgirl
The thick red dashed line are railway lines/mrts and the huge red circles are conveneint transfer points from a train to buses.

Hey thanks Nick. Yep my fascination with schematic maps originates from riding the tube 10 years back. The maps is not meant to be a guide for bus routes but public transport accessibility. Also it is not practically possible to show more than 20 routes without being confusing.

With this map you can:
1.Find out the probable route your bus will take if you know the source and destination.
2.Know the most ideal location to switch between buses or with trains
3.Find the nearest bus route road or bus terminus
4.Find the neares railway station
5.Calculate approx distances between places.
6.Learn the transport network in chennai fairly quickly due to the schematic presentation.

The map is in its initial stages and may have a lot of inaccuracies since there is no official data available for the info i need and is based mostly upon my experiences.

Theres a more recent version which you can find here that i made for my college.

More maps to knock yourself out with
My first attempt at the chennai map
Chennai suburban rail
Indian railway network

machadinha

btw Bcpai and Nick, thanks for filling in the shared rickshaw thing. Yes, I guess this just about sums up why it won't work for most tourists: Between not knowing where's this machine zipping by going, mispronunciations & general language confusion, finding a private car that annoyingly fills up with frustratingly low-paying co-passengers compared to you or conversely having everyone else thrown off the moment you get on with the corresponding and instant astronomical price increase, it just, eh... never worked for me

I liked the urban trains there btw, but from reading here that whole landscape has vastly changed, with subways and whatnot. Quiet though if I recall, or maybe I picked the right times of day for it. For a place with not too much to see or do, it was just a pleasant city to hang out in. Near-rural in parts despite its big-cityness, with people doing their thing in the gutter early morning, the occasional horseman passing by, having to wait for that early idli joint to open... <sigh smiley here>

Nick-H

Travelling by shared auto requires, I suppose, the same knowledge and pronunciation that travelling by bus requires, and, at peak times they are a squeeze --- but so are the buses.

I guess these are all experiences to be had. For a short in-town journey, the difference in cost between a Rs50 auto and a Rs.10 share is probably insignificant to most tourists. If it becomes a regular journey, then knowing the landmarks and place names ceases to be a problem anyway.