Stakeholders explore feasibility of underpricing public transport

A global strategy: Free public transport will help ease traffic congestion and reduce air pollution. The scope of the Third Master Plan helps Chennai evolve an appropriate transport strategy operable in the next 20 years, says an expert.
| Photo Credit: B. VELANKANNI RAJ

Civic agencies, urban planners, and residents have launched consultations to explore the feasibility of underpricing public transport in the Chennai Metropolitan Area, following the global practice to curb air pollution. If free public transport is found feasible in the Chennai Metropolitan Area, the government is expected to decide on a shift in the policy during the next few months of stakeholders’ consultations on the Third Master Plan.

K.P. Subramanian, former professor of Urban Engineering, Anna University, says free public transport is the most appreciated concept, particularly the bus transport in the Chennai Metropolitan Area. “However, it may not have the desirable effect with the present operational status of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation, which has an awfully inadequate fleet to meet the needs of 1.3 crore people, extremely low frequency with long headway of 10-20 minutes, frequent bunching, irrational routes fixed in the 1990s, and bus stops without correlation to the contemporary developments, and the rude behaviour of the crew. Therefore, before permitting free public transport, it is expedient to make good the deficiencies,” he says. Pointing to Tamil Nadu’s success in implementing a free bus travel scheme for women, N. Mathavan, a former Chennai Corporation official who prepared a disaster resilience index for the city, says the free public transport is expected to improve the city’s climate resilience.

‘Find alternatives’

Velachery resident S. Kumararaja says free public transport will help to ease traffic congestion and reduce pollution. “All modes of public transport must be free. If the free public transport is not feasible in Chennai, the State government and the Union government should at least find alternatives to underpricing public transport,” he says.

Residents and urban planners, who have taken part at the stakeholders’ consultations for the preparation of the Third Master Plan, are stressing the need for free public transport to mitigate the impact of increasing air pollution. They have pointed to Delhi, considered the world’s most polluted city with extremely hazardous air quality. They have stressed the need for concentrating on policy decision as well as urban planning for transport infrastructure because “the city planners have enough room to keep our house clean through the Third Master Plan”. The Third Master Plan is expected to come into force in 2026 after consultations in 2025.

The stakeholders have also highlighted that in 2023, Delhi was ranked the most polluted capital city globally by IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitoring group. Recent measurements have shown shocking pollution levels in Delhi, with the air quality index soaring above 1,700, over and above the safe limits. The economic impact of air pollution in Delhi is staggering. A study by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) put the annual cost of illnesses caused by air pollution at ₹7,694 crore in Delhi. Urban planners have called for a similar study in Chennai and for initiatives such as underpricing of public transport or free public transport before Chennai faces a similar crisis.

The economic cost

The profound economic impact goes beyond direct healthcare cost, affecting productivity, tourism, and overall economic growth. On a broader scale, air pollution has an estimated global economic cost of $2.9 trillion, about 3.3% of the world GDP. For India, the economic loss from air pollution is equivalent to 1.36% of its GDP. Several global cities have implemented free public transport to combat air pollution. Over 100 cities worldwide offer some form of free public transport. Notable examples are Luxembourg, the first country to make all public transport free nationwide in 2020. Paris made public transport free for children under 18 in 2020; and in 2025, the city is introducing simplified ticketing with flat-rate tickets (€2.50 for metro/RER and €2 for bus/tram). Tallinn, Estonia, has been providing free transport to the registered residents since 2013. Dunkirk, France, has a free bus network since 2018. Cluj-Napoca, Romania, has introduced free public transport every Friday. Aubagne, France, has the first fare-free tram system.

Policy framework

Former CMDA Chief Planner K. Kumar says a pro-public transport policy can help to mitigate the explosive situation as every major city is engulfed by vehicular emissions. “Chennai will meet its Waterloo during the Bhogi festival. Stung by the need to ban or control the growth and use of cars and other private modes to cope with air pollution and foster sustainable mobility, most global cities have embraced and are embracing the car-free city concept. Aspiring to join this exclusive club in the long term, developing cities, especially Indian cities, must strive to keep in check the vehicular emissions in the immediate term. The scope of the Third Master Plan helps Chennai evolve an appropriate transport strategy operable in the next 20 years. Keeping in the backdrop the turmoil Delhi is going through on the one hand and the global best practices to grapple with vehicular emissions on the other, Chennai and tier-2 cities in Tamil Nadu can hammer out a policy framework to mitigate air pollution,” he says.

“A pertinent and crucial issue is commissioning a comprehensive transport study co-terminus with the preparation of the Third Master Plan. The appropriate agency is the CMDA. It is feared that the responsibility might fall between two stools if the CMDA believes that it is CUMTA’s baby. Our priorities need to be rejigged so that the larger public good is not lost sight of. While making public transport fully or partially free would undermine the efficiency and efficacy of the system, doing it for a more compelling reason — say, to combat the adverse effects of air pollution — makes more planning, economic and environmental sense,” says Mr. Kumar.

“The motivation for the cities to adopt free transport is to reduce vehicular emissions, decrease air pollution, improve mobility for low-income groups, and encourage sustainable urban transport. The proposed transport strategy for Chennai and tier-2 cities must therefore be tempered with the changing priorities and help them become cities with net-zero emissions earlier than 2070,” he says.