Log on to MTC’s revamped site for live info on buses

Log on to MTC’s revamped site for live info on buses

Passengers To Get Details On Fares As Well

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 20.01.2021 

After a four-year delay, Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has launched its revamped website with live info on bus routes, fares and timings. The site which resembles the one maintained by Bengaluru Transport Corporation, aims at assisting regular commuters and those who are new to the city.

Earlier, if someone wished to travel from Guindy to Kandanchavadi on Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) and was not familiar with the bus route numbers, he or she had no other option but to seek help from other passengers waiting at the bus stop. Language barriers made such commuting even more difficult.

The new website helps passengers avoid all this. All one needs to know is the source and destination. On entering these details in the drop-down menu, the site will display the list of direct bus options available between these two points. Once the route number is displayed, a separate tab is provided to check the fares and timings (updated on a real-time basis).

“By this, we hope the commuting experience becomes hassle-free. At present, stagewise information is made available and soon bus stop-wise will be uploaded,” said an MTC official. A bus stage is a major transit point, which is located between five to seven bus stops.

Besides this, a separate link has been provided to assist passengers from other cities who wish to travel to tourist destinations, hospitals, religious and educational institutions. On selecting a particular place, list of all MTC buses crossing through that point are displayed.

Efforts are underway to introduce live bus tracking option in this page. This feature will be available in the ‘Locate and Access My Bus’ (LAMB) mobile app as well. Following a successful trial run, the app is getting ready for launch. Currently, final phase of testing is in progress, the MTC official added.

However, MTC is yet to introduce online services for applying students/senior citizen bus passes and seasonal passes, said R Rengachari, a transportation activist. “Till date , public have to wait in queues at bus depots to buy Travel As You Please (TAYP) monthly tickets and renew concession passes,” he said.