Some pictures of buses in Chennai

As a transport enthusiast, I keep shooting pictures of buses, trains, trams and metros everywhere. Here's a selection taken with a Nokia 3500c in Chennai.

Chennai traveller infomation: How to buy travel passes for MTC buses
I had recently put together a brief presentation on this subject, and here it is.

Free transport to fight climate change



One of the fundamental ideals of any Green is the promotion of universal access to the basic necessities of life. Mobility is one of these, and so it is natural to advocate universal access to free or near-free public transport, paid for by taxes.

Although this would appear to be an extremist viewpoint, one that would win little support from the majority of people, there are indeed many who support it around the world. The latest vote in favour of free public transport comes from the people of Australia, who have participated in a poll on the issue, in the context of climate change.

Lowering greenhouse gases requires reduction in the use of personal vehicles. We need more trains, buses, trams and bicycles. The Greens Party Senator in Australia, Kerry Nettle reports that the majority of Australians are indeed in favour of free public transport funded by tax monies.

London is already using taxes to pay for augmented public transport (if not free) and the Mayor of New York has come to the same realisation. When will our politicians wake up to the reality that improving public transport will improve the climate, reduce road accidents that kill and maim helpless people and lead to a better quality of life for all?

We in India need a carbon tax on private vehicles TODAY!

Expect Ford to step on the gas in India

Ford, the iconic American car company that symbolised consumer utopia by mass manufacturing vehicles for the common man early in the 20th century has hit another massive speed breaker with a fourth quarter loss of 5.8 billion dollars and an annual loss of 12.7 billion dollars for 2006 (reports Reuters).

This is, according to the agency, the worst year in the 103-year history of the company. Last year, heavy job cuts sounded the alarm that Ford is running out of fuel (as the auto industry generally is bound to be in the developed world).

The question that should interest us Indians is the response from loss-ridden international automakers to the emerging scenario of global warming, costlier fuel and supply lines that are linked to the vagaries of geopolitics and the general unsustainability of motorisation in the developing world, of which China and India are the prime examples.

It is fairly certain that the losing carmakers will compete more aggressively in the developing markets; price cuts, cheaper (and unsafe) models, petrol/diesel guzzlers, higher emission engines and a tacit campaign against public transport are all being witnessed even today; we will see more of it.

The positive feature is that the frenzy of car sales has a GLOBAL climate impact, which is likely to send more Katrinas hammering the US coastline, as much as the typhoons in South East Asia and the seemingly unending monsoon downpour in Mumbai, all of these being very lethal weather phenomena.

If Indians are concerned about the future of the planet, and, that of their children, they should persuade the Manmohan-Chidambaram-Ahluwalia caucus against encouraging fuel-guzzlers from hitting Indian roads, whether they are from loss-ridden Ford, Chevrolet, Skoda, Hyundai, Suzuki, Toyota, Mercedes, Tata...

We need cheaper, modern buses that are rolled out on Indian roads by the tens of thousands each month. Why, if cars can be imported and sold (to supplement domestic manufacture), why not buses? And trains? and trams?

If the automakers are going to try to press the pedal further, we may have nowhere to run for cover.

Let us remember what Andre Gorz said long ago. It is simply impossible for everyone to want to buy a part of the beach, because that would give each person a few inches of beachfront; that cannot be used by the owner in any practical way. Ditto for the car. If all of us had a car each, none of us would be able to use them!

So many crores for everyone except the poor Chennai pedestrian

Today's newspapers carry the story of the Tamil Nadu Government cutting sharply the money that cinema theatres can collect from patrons all over the State, from January 1, 2007.

The day's stories also include a major plan to revamp urban infrastructure in the Chennai suburbs and Madurai region, involving astronomical sums of money.

Sometime ago, Minister K N Nehru had stated to the media that the State had sought a huge sum to improve transport infrastructure in Chennai -- Rs.1,300 crores to be exact, under the JNNURM.

In all of these announcements, the poor pedestrian of the city gets next to nothing. Take the United Progressive Alliance government's Common Minimum Programme, JNNURM or National Urban Transport Policy and one finds a great deal of discussion on pedestrian facilities. But when it comes to forking out the big bucks, the man (and woman and child) on the street is nowhere!

London is the place to be on New Year's eve!

Here's what London is offering everyone in the city on New Year's eve. Can our shortsighted politicians and bureaucrats imagine a situation like this in Chennai? If you get my point, I am talking about the distance yet to be travelled to have a decent transport service in Chennai that was Madras, India.



"Passengers throughout the Capital will be able to travel for free on these services during the prime festive hours, for journeys starting between 11.45pm and 4.30am.

In addition, the Mayor is funding free travel on selected National Rail services between midnight and 5am, particularly in areas with fewer Tube connections."

As you can see, the idea is that you don't have to drink and drive. Don't kill yourself and don't kill others.