chennai every friday santhapriyan kamaraj heads to salem from madurai and every monday he wakes up at the crack of dawn so that he can leave home and reach his workplace in madurai on time its a routine the mechanical engineer has been following for the past two years and part of that strict routine is his journey in a government busprivate buses are heavily promoted but no effort is made to encourage people to use government buses though they are comfortable and the government keeps introducing new ones earlier i used to travel by a nonac express bus but now i commute in an ac bus says kamaraj 26 who founded the facebook group tnstc enthusiasts in august 2017 today it has more than 26000 membersyou may not spot them when you hop onto a city bus but every time the government launches a new bus they are there taking photos making videos and enlightening the general public about the newer models and amenities through their online reviews this group mostly young men has a passion for government buses and they are determined to encourage other people to opt for this form of public transporttnstc buses have the most connectivity you have buses that go even to interior villages they are also very regular and if you miss one you can always rest assured you will get another soon says arun bharat a member of the groupthe 19yearold from salem an engineering student at sastra university in thanjavur also swears by the cost factor i travel by bus from my campus to my home and it costs me only rs 150 an omni bus would cost me rs 400 says bharat who has been crazy about tnstc buses since his childhood even now when i sit by the window i feel like i am in heaven says bharat the groups meme creator but i only create positive memes with no political contentthe group also has a youtube channel by the same name i started it on the first anniversary of the group it has nearly 20000 subscribers and over 2 million views says kamaraj who does reviews whenever he travels and also when new buses are launched we are in touch with officials in the transport department and whenever they launch a new bus we come to chennai and review iteach review is comprehensive and takes a look at the amenities offered we check leg room seating capacity whether its ac or not if fire extinguishers are in place emergency exits etc says kamaraj adding that they have reviewed about 100 buses so far and we also ask passengers for feedback laterwhile many people may find the drivers too rash it was the thrill of the ride that got vijay narayanan 20 a mechanical engineering student and coadmin of the group hooked to bus travel i began taking buses from class 9 and was very impressed by the drivers says narayanan who still prefers to sit in