It is likely that the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) will make commercial utilization of bus termini at select locations in the city.
MTC is currently facing very high financial crunch and they dont receive a lot of commuters, especially post price hike. Hence, MTC is eyeing on ways to increase their revenue.
An MTC official said that buses only need ground floor for their functioning and hence there is a lot of space that is being wasted. The terminus can be exploited commercially. When the premises is optimally used, we can generate more revenue.
A few bus termini are selected to start with a pilot project for utilizing the bus terminus. There is soon going to be smart city project in T.Nagar and hence it is of prominent importance. There are pedestrian plaza and multi-level car parking to be constructed on Thyagaraya Road. This terminus is included in the smart city project as there will be likely more foot falls.
For both commercial and residential purposes, the bus terminus will be used, said an MTC official.
For this commercialization drive, the MTC bus services will get shifted to other depots. The bus terminal functioning will continue though. One of the senior officials said a lot of buses that had Saidapet as the terminal are now functioned till T.Nagar so as to meet customers. In such cases, the bus services will be likely to be shifted.