Monday, May 30, 2011

Unmetered autowallahs

Three-wheeler drivers who offer to go by the meter are an exception. Mr K Radhakrishnan of Dignity Foundation is quoted in The Hindu as saying,"if only autorikshaw went by the fare meter, many senior citizens would find it convenient'.
Speaking of which, my wife and I who had work at ICICI Bank the other day took a bus from Mantri's to Sholinganallur, and then a three-wheeler to the bank from the bus stop, paying Rs.30 for a km ride. ICICI Bank is located midway between two bus stops at Sholinganallur.
Our AC bus driver went by the book,ignoring a request to drop us (aged 68 and 72) at the Aavin milk dairy.ICICI Bank is right across the road on OMR. On our way back home the bank manager said we could wave down an AC bus in front of Infosys. The security guard at Infosys said it was a 'request stop' for AC buses. But then our request, nay, our pleading, went unanswered by three AC buses that followed one another, all half-empty.
On another occasion we waited at the Hindustan University stop to take a bus to Kelambakkam. A couple of buses went by ignoring our request. The conductor of the third one said they usually halted in front of the university gate, instead of the designated halt some metre further down.
MTC should rename 'request stop' as 'discretion stop' (driver's).

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