42 lakh bikes jam Chennai, 1 in 2 people has one

 

There has been a virtual explosion of two wheelers in Tamil Nadu, mainly Chennai, which is struggling to cope with the 42 lakh Bikes on its roads.

The city now has the third largest number of bikes in the country after New Delhi (67 lakh in March 2017) and Bengaluru (50 lakh in January 2018)

From 18 lakh in 2009, the bike population in Chennai — which is home to 85 lakh people — had jumped threefold in nine years.

Across Tamil Nadu, there has been a 25 % hike in the sales of two-wheelers this January compared to the same time period last year, show government records accessed by TOI. The registration of motorcycles, mopeds and scooters in regional transport offices (RTOs) across Tamil Nadu rose from 1.18 lakh in January 2017 to 1.5 lakh in January 2018, says data.


This figure is expected to increase further later this week as the Amma twowheeler subsidy scheme, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 24, gains ground. Nearly 9,500 bikes are set to be registered this week, say sources in the transport department.


While the increase in government bus fares, and the hike received by government employees under the Seventh Pay Commission are cited as reasons for the recent jump is two-wheeler sales, the subsidy scheme is thought to be the big attraction.

Increments raised sales of 2-wheeler


Under the scheme, the government provides 50 % of the the vehicle cost or ?25,000 for working women. Thousands of women who applied for the scheme booked vehicles in the hope that they might be among the lucky ones, said a senior transport department official.


Besides, many regular users of government buses, particularly those residing in Chennai’s suburbs, have shifted to bikes, seeing them as a more affordable mode of transport, said K Anbazhgan of Nethaji transport Union.


Ambattur resident R Swapna who made the switchover said that after the recent bus fare hike it cost at least100 everyday for her husband and herself to travel to their offices located in the city via MTC buses and get back home. “The travel cost comes down by as much as 40%-50 % when we use a twowheeler,” she said

The state government in January 2018 increased MTC fares by up to 67% and reduced services along key routes following to cut losses faced by the transport corporation

The exponential increase in thesalesof two-wheelers is also attributed to the rise in salaries of state government employees after the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations. Retired staff received a lump sum in arrears