Chennai Auto Rickshaw drivers & Some Basic Economics lessons

In a city I like (love is always for Kochi) for its “better than peers” infrastructure and a human face, Chennai has a lot…quite a lot to explore. Apart from the food outlets, my initial face to face interactions was with the necessary evil part of our public transport system; the auto rickshaws (autos from here on), to be exact the drivers. In Chennai, they don’t use meters in autos. If you take autos, it’s based on the destinations. However close you are, it’s what the driver decides and asks. 

So, on the first day to office, I got ready a bit early and was waiting for an auto. An auto came to me. I told him the location and also asked him how much will it be. He told Rs. 70. Although I was a bit shocked to hear that, I asked him why it’s so high. He told me that it’s a one way, so has to run more distance. But, Google Maps has already informed me that this one way will increase the trip distance from 2 km to 2.5 km. I tried to argue and he came down to Rs. 50. He didn’t budge further. He moved on. Then, the next one came, he asked for Rs. 40. I was startled again (considering that the previous guy asked Rs. 70). Still, I tried to get it down. I told him that I will give Rs. 30. To my surprise again, he agreed. The real stuff was during journey.  I told him that even at Rs. 30 it is Rs. 12/km, which is high. Also, I told him the fact that there are some drivers who are even asking insane amounts as high as Rs. 70. He smiled and told me, “Sir, I know it’s high. That’s why people are ready to face any difficulties and take share autos”. He knew basic economics.

That was my introduction to share autos. To know share autos, you just have to image how school children are taken in autos and Maruti Omni vans in our cities. This is even worse. And people are ready to take such difficulties, only because of the reason which the sensible auto driver told me. So, a few times, I tried going in these share autos and found that although comfortable only when not crowded, this was damn cheap. How else would you explain the same distance, that costs minimum Rs. 30 in autos after all arguments, will make you poor only by Rs. 5 or Rs. 7 or Rs. 10? When crowded, it’s another ball game though. And a funny part, you get small plastic chairs to sit at the back of these share autos which will give a lateral view from the back of these vehicles. Once or twice, when I had ample time, I tried that too. 

So, I tried to understand what forces some auto drivers to ask this insane amount of money. Some days passed, with me successfully negotiating down to Rs. 30 almost every single day. One day I asked an auto driver how much distance he drives a day and how much of that with passengers. The answer was startling. He told me that he drives around 100 kms a day in the Chennai city and he gets people for only about 50 kms. I asked him without much thought, “Isn’t it better to take people even at low rates than driving without anyone and spending almost the same amount of fuel? (In a sense, Opportunity Cost in economics parlance)”. Even though it was without much thought, I found that it was a useful one. I used this question on every further day as well. Almost every driver pondered over it with silence and the result was that no one asked any extra money when I got down.  What surprised me was the fact that almost all of them didn’t even think how much revenue they lost by driving without passengers. One day, a driver took only Rs. 25 from me.

Then one day I got that famous reply, which we all love, from one auto driver. “One person like you can’t change the entire auto drivers”. I knew I had no convincing reply to tell him. But, I told him that I know that fact very well and I’ll still try because the ones who don’t know will at least think about it and mostly won’t repeat the same because it helps him as well as the travellers.

The arguments still continue but that question always helps. The funny part is that most of the arguments are in Tamil, a language which I know (no, partly know!) only from A R Rahman songs and mostly Tamil movies. Sometimes, I get really stuck for words. Still, I just try because I feel it’s worth than not trying at all.