Seminar on Research and Methodology

Title: Utilization of Share Autos in TPK

Date:26/4/2011 1st Year MBA

Submitted by Aravind V Bagavathy murugan ET Goverthanan K Karthik R Visakan K Vivekanandan K

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT In this project we have collected data from more than 90 respondents about Utilization of Share Autos in TPK. We have done some analysis and presented our findings in this report. We thank our Director Prof. N. Venkiteswaran, Principal Dr. Matapalli Nagaraju and our Faculty Mrs. Vidhya Suresh for providing us with this opportunity to study various research methodologies and apply our learnings in this project.

CONTENTS

1. Executive summary 2. Introduction 3. Analysis 3. Findings 4. Conclusion 5. References 6. Appendices 14

4 5 8

15 15 17

SUMMARY

When you walk past the prominent bus stands or bus stops, one thing easily noticeable by everybody is the share auto. Share auto is one of the new modes of transport in the various towns and cities of Tamilnadu. Share auto-rickshaw drivers, besides taking an overload of passengers, drove in a rash manner, causing panic to other motorists. Frequent accidents had been reported at Tallakulam, Goripalayam, B.B. Kulam, New Natham Road and other parts of the city. Further, the survival of auto-rickshaw drivers had become bleak as the share autorickshaw drivers collected fares of their choice. Apart from mini buses, there were about 8,000 auto-rickshaws and 2,000 share auto-rickshaws plying in the city and its peripheries.

INTRODUCTION

Whether one likes them or not, `share auto rickshaws' is an integral part of the city's public transport system today. They come in handy particularly for those who reside in the suburbs, because the transport requirements of the residents here have not been adequately addressed by the State-run transport system. A share auto is authorized to carry five passengers, but this rule is honored more in the breach. Share auto operators adopt two or three tariff slabs, "fixed by market forces" and are in multiples of Rs. 5.

Given the acceptance level of the idea of share auto rickshaws, even operators of the conventional autos convert their vehicles, particularly in the night, into share autos. This means that more than three passengers are allowed in every vehicle and charges collected from each of them. While the conventional auto rickshaws more or less serve the function of a private transport mode as the passengers get picked up or dropped at home, the share auto rickshaws play the role of a supplementary service to the State-run transport system. But, in respect of the share autos, complaints of fleecing are negligible. There, however, is criticism regarding the style of functioning of the share auto drivers. Some of them, for instance, park their vehicles haphazardly on the road causing hardship to senior citizens, women and children who find it difficult to alight or board buses.

Methodology Sampling and Research Design

A sample is a finite part of a statistical population whose properties are studied to gain information about the whole population. When dealing with people, it can be defined as a set of respondents (people) selected from a larger population for the purpose of a survey. Sampling design is done through Clustered/Area sampling. A cluster sampling is carried out by selecting clusters from the population where a certain social issue is the focus All the respondents to this survey are above the age of 20.The samples are not biased under any criteria for this study.

Data Collection Data collection is done through direct sample survey. Ours is a team of 6 members pursuing MBA at Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai. The data were collected between April 17, 2011 and April 24, 2011. Our data is primary in nature. Primary data is the direct data from the field respondents. The Respondents responses are recorded in the questionnaire prepared by us and the places of our survey included Pamban Swamy Nagar, Avaniyapuram and Tiruparankundram. The Survey involved the participation of ninety nine people and their responses were noted down. Each and every respondent was asked to fill the questionnaire and their comments, suggestions and proposals were taken into consideration for our study. Data Analysis We did Chi Square Test and Cross tabulation on the data collected using SPSS, Excel. The primary data that were taken into analysis include Age, Place, Educational Background, ANALYSIS

We conducted our research in and around Thiruparankundram. Information on Share autos No of share autos in TPK: 75 No of trips per auto/per day 12 Routes: TPK Avaniyapuram - 20 TPK Thenpalanji - 25 TKP Nilayur, Thirunagar, others 30 Govt permit up to carry 4 passengers per auto As demand is increasing total number of share autos will increase to 100 from 75 in 2 months. Price: Rs 5 Rs 10 per person Idea of introducing mini bus has been dropped.

Our sample consists of the people from following area

Residing area Aviniapuram Keelatheru Meatu thearu Nilayur Pamban swamy nagar Tce Thiruparamkundram

13 1 1 16 21 1 46

Most of the people prefer share auto for its availability

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Mode of Transportation Bus Own vehicle Share auto

5 10 84

Preference of share auto Affordability Availability Comfort Others

24 47 26 2

10

Since the fare is comparatively less (Rs 5 or 10) it doesnt affect the people concerned

Auto fare Yes No

79 20

11

Generally the people are satisfied with the performance of the share autos Overall Rating of share autos Average Below average Excellent Good Poor

27 11 12 46 3

But when it comes to the safety people are worried that thede share autod are of not much safe, because these autos usually carry more people than what they are permitted to.
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Safety Agree disagree neutral strongly agree Strongly disagree

33 26 18 6 16

So the people prefer mini buses when it comes to safety

13

Switch to Mini BUS Yes No

43 56

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KEY FINDINGS

Frequency is not affected by the residing area Affordability is not a major concern Most of them felt that safety is the major concern Mini bus is preferred when it comes to safety But the idea of introducing the mini bus has been postponed as that will not make enough profit as like share auto No share auto is following the permit limit to carry 4(3+1) number of passengers.

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CONCLUSION Even though people prefer share auto for their affordability and availability, safety is a major concern for people in share autos. Due to the increased number of share autos, people believe that there is traffic congestion and noise pollution. For this reason around 45 percentage of people are expecting mini busses in place of share autos.

REFERENCE 1) Field Work Data 2) Website of Madurai Corporation

APPENDICES

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Questionnaire on utilization of Share autos in Thiruparankundram Name: Occupation: Age: Residing area: ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

1. What mode of transportation do you prefer in Thiruparankundram? a. Bus b. Share auto c. Own vehicle 2. Why do you prefer a share auto for other means of transportation? a. Comfort b. Availability c. Affordability d. Others 3. How do you find the availability of share autos? a. Most frequent b. Less frequent 4. In which season you find difficulty to catch a share auto? a. Auspicious days b. Temple festivals c. Others
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5. Do you find the auto fare affordable? a. Yes b. No 6. Do you agree that travelling in share auto is safer than other transportation modes? a. Strongly agree b. Agree c. Neutral d. Disagree e. Strongly disagree 7. Does share auto cause traffic congestion in the locality? a. Yes b. No 8. Will you switch to mini buses if government permits mini buses? a. Yes b. No If yes, reason __________________ 9. Are you satisfied with drivers response towards your requirements? a. Yes b. No 10. How do you rate the features of share autos on the whole? a. Excellent b. Good c. Average d. Below average
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e. Poor

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