Though hi-tech bus shelters with high quality seats and FM streaming music have come up in road corridors developed under the City Road Improvement Project, others that have been set up by various agencies continue to inconvenience bus commuters.
Rusted railings, blown out and leaking roofs, lack of proper seats and unscientific location and reluctance of the drivers to stop buses have made commuters to skip these bus-shelters and wait on the roadside.
The monsoon has made matters worse. The bus shelter in front of the Secretariat, where hundreds alight and board from buses daily, is in a bad shape. The roof that was damaged months ago has not been repaired and commuters prefer to stand on the footpath.
Many busy junctions like Sreekariyam, Ulloor, Pattom and Vazhuthacaud are yet to have the scientifically designed bus bays and bus shelters. Bus shelters at many busy junctions set up using MLAs Asset Development Fund is also not commuter-friendly and does not give protection when it rains.
In Pattom, the commuters waiting for buses to East Fort, take refuge in the petrol pump while waiting for the bus.
A commuter, Renjith Krishnan, says “the absence of bus shelters is yet to the addressed by the civic authorities.
Many skip the buses on account of this and use their personal vehicles for commuting.” In Ayurveda College junction, the location of the bus bay close to the busy junction has made the situation worse. KSRTC and private buses do not stop at the bus bay and this has resulted in commuters spilling over to the road.
The special purpose vehicle, Pratheeksha Bus Shelter Kerala Ltd, launched by the government also could not do much to change the situation. Commuters using the CRIP corridors say the TRDCL maintains the bus shelters well.
Sangeetha Pillay A., a student, says the Corporation should take steps to maintain the bus shelters properly and the traffic police should ensure that the buses stop at the designated bus bays.
