Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Tuesday flagged off 500 new buses from the secretariat in the presence of transport minister M. R. Vijayabhaskar.
With this induction, about 2,316 new buses have been added to the fleet of eight state transport corporations, from July 2018.
The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), which caters to the transportation needs in Chennai, has received eight buses. The 500 buses valued at '132.87 crore, will be used in the STC divisions of Chennai, Salem, Villupuram and Kumbakonam, an official release here stated. To mark the rollout of new vehicles, the Chief Minister flagged off seven buses on Tues- day.
The new buses have been built as per the AIS 052 code, uniform standard code for building new buses introduced by Automotive Research Association Of India (ARAI).
The code has specifications for building a bus with additional safety features for commuters. With the fleet capacity of 21,678 buses, the eight transport corporations in the state caters to about 1.74 crore commuters a day.
Mr Palaniswami also laid the foundation stone for 48 projects in the highways and minor ports sector to the tune of '1,558 crore. Various projects including 42 road works would be implemented across the state at an estimated '1558.36 crore, the release added.
