The Hindu Business Line : De-congesting traffic, the simple way

The other day, the driver of the auto that we hired demanded a tariff which was twice the “normal fare”. His justification for extortion was that the traffic was heavy. In one way, extortionist auto-drivers like him may be the reason for the traffic congestion in Chennai city. How?

All of us prefer to have somebody drive us around. If you have a car, you may want to employ a driver or take the auto or taxi. If you ride a motor-bike, you may prefer to take an auto, provided the driver asks for an honest fare.

Ferrying at ‘normal’ fare

So, picture this. All autos in Chennai ply on “normal” metre. You and I will, hence, prefer to take the auto instead of driving a car or riding a bike. That would also mean that the traffic may not be as congested as it is now, for there will be considerable reduction of cars and bikes on the road.

But the very assumption of “normal” meter begs for a question. Why should auto drivers ply on meter when they can get away with extortion? If all of us journey by auto, the demand for hiring autos will be high. That means an auto driver can earn more money by ferrying people at “normal” fare.

Working out the arithmetic

It is simple arithmetic. If an auto-driver transports 20 people every day for an average of Rs 100 per person in a high-fare regime, he earns Rs 2,000 per day. What if we have a “normal” fare regime? Perhaps, he may able to ferry 50 people at an average of Rs 50 per person. That would be Rs 2,500 per day.

You may argue that transporting 50 people instead of 20 would be tedious. It need not be. The reason? If lesser cars and more public transport ply on the road, the traffic may be less heavy and, perhaps, more orderly. And that may considerably reduce the strain on the auto-drivers. But who will convince them that it is their own interest to charge “normal” fares and not demand extortion from their customers?

(The author is a Chennai-based financial analyst.)

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