Travails of travelling
by Rohan Mathes
The travails of public transport, both road and rail has come to stay in
Sri Lanka, despite the bureaucratic and political euphoria of successive
governments for decades, on the upliftment of standards. Albeit as a matter
of great concern to the whole society, the general commuter has been
harassed to a level where he is virtually immunised to the hazards of public
transport and considers the syndrome as part of life in this part of the
globe.
A series of fatal road accidents in which the culprits were the private
buses, proved beyond doubt that the private bus drivers were greatly
indifferent to the 'rules of the road'. The recent Yangalmodera Railway
Crossing accident, in which the murderous driver had callously disregarded
the closed rail gate, and tried to creep through with the impending train in
sight, portrayed the magnitude and the gravity of reckless driving.
Pedestrians, mainly schoolchildren have been ruthlessly knocked down on
the yellow lines of the pedestrian crossings itself, and have succumbed to
their injuries on the spot. The most vulnerable victims of reckless driving
have been the poorest of the poor pedestrians, cyclists and motor cyclists.
Non-issuance of a ticket, plunges the commuter to multiple complications.
In the case of a minor or fatal accident, the commuter-victim or his next of
kin may get embroiled in a legal battle due to a lack of tangible evidence
for a solid claim of indemnity from the bus owner or his insurer.
The private bus operators frequently antagonise their customers by unduly
delaying their journey. The bus operator is least concerned about his
client's urgency to reach his destination. The driver in consensus with his
conductor, keeps his bus halted at locations, at his own discretion, in
order to collect his target passengers. This target sometimes exceeds the
capacity of the vehicle itself. Adding insult to injury, the driver then
moves the bus at comparatively low speeds.
Night-time bus services in the outstations as well as within the city
limits, have deteriorated to such a degree that commuters have little or no
option but to abandon their late-evening shift or overtime work, night
movie, musical fiesta or get-together.
If alternative private transport is not arranged by them they are bound
to get stranded on the streets, sans transport. Profit-oriented bus
operators, due to commercial considerations, are least concerned of the
plight of these night travellers who may be even willing to pay an enhanced
fare for safe transport back home or elsewhere. Various mechanisms suggested
by the authoroties to the bus operators have proved futile.
The trendy 'Intercity' or AC buses, a glorified version of the normal
private buses also rob the commuters in a subtle way. Albeit a considerable
number does provide a satisfactory and idealised service, but many operators
violate the stipulated conditions of service, by overloading and
overcharging. Some of these so-called AC buses are packed to capacity, even
more than their inferior counterparts. They have little or no AC. Commuters
are charged the full fare or arbitrary fares, even when they travel a part
of the prescribed journey.
The noise pollution suffered by the passengers due to the 'full blast'
'wedding house type' music heard within the buses, is yet another issue to
reckon with, nowadays. The passengers have little option but to tolerate the
insidious sounds which evolve from the loud speakers of the bus, drowning
even the catchy ringing tones of the mobile phones carried by them, in order
to be contactable. Except for a minority who may be birds of the same
feather and have the same taste, the majority of the commuters are deemed to
be disgusted of this menace.
Gone are the days, when the school-going children and the office staff of
both the state and mercantile sectors enjoyed special 'season tickets' at
concessionary rates. These subsidised 'season tickets' were most welcome and
appreciated by society, especially by the parents who had many school-going
children. This scheme helped to ease the pressure brought about by the
escalating costs in other spheres. The school girls and boys of today have
also been deprived of the simple joys of travelling in their own segregated
school buses.
Statistics to-date reveal that around 19,000 to 20,000 permits have been
issued to private buses, out of which around 3800 are long distance buses.
The largest amount, around 7500 operate in the Western, and the lowest about
1000, in the Uva Province. The SLTB operated Cluster Bus Companies to which
the Treasury pumps about Rs.400 million per month, operates around 4000 from
a fleet of about 8000 buses.
At a time when there is growing concern and a clarion call to
re-establish the SLTB, from all quarters of the society, the National
Transport Commission (NTC) officials however point out that re-establishing
the SLTB per se, is not the panacea for all the ills in the transport
sector.
They argue that although private buses have invariably been a burden to
society, they have not been a financial burden to the country as a whole.
They contribute immensely to the country's economy by way of taxes, when
their rival SLTB virtually has transformed into an 'Economic Monster', to
the Treasury, as publicly expressed by our Finance Minister Dr. Sarath
Amunugama.
The NTC opines that with the introduction of the open economy to Sri
Lanka in 1978, the concept and mechanism of introducing private buses was
sans proper planning and was itself flawed. It was in 1983 that the Private
OmniBus Transport (POT) Department was established under an Act of
Parliament. Later in 1987, under the 13th Amendment and devolution of powers
to the Provincial Councils, the POT Act was repealed. Thereafter, the
National Transport Commission (NTC) was established by an Act of Parliament
in 1991.
The NTC however seems to have a vision and a mission to refurbish the
existing private transport sector by introducing more control and regulation
to the system soon. The issuance of ID cards and the registration of a pool
of bus operating crew, the provision of a toll-free, 24 hour Hotline (TEL
2595555) to execute immediate action on complaints of commuters, a fitness
confirmation test every six months for buses over three years of age, the
provision of a school service for which they have already called for tenders
but received little response to date, are just a few in the pipeline.
Referring to the series of fatal road disasters in which the private
buses were involved, the NTC Deputy Director (Policy) Vipula Hewawalimuni
points out however that according to a joint survey by the NTC, Moratuwa
University and the Police Traffic Head Quarters Unit, the Cluster Bus
Company buses in comparison, have had almost the same number of road
accidents as those of the Private buses, when the number of operating buses
are taken into account. "Therefore, blaming only the private bus operators
for reckless driving and road accidents, is unfair and naive", Hewawalimuni
told the Sunday Observer.
On the contrary, the private bus operators too have their woes and
grievances. They too have to operate under severe and uncontrollable
constraints and factors which the government, the transport authorities and
the commuting public has overlooked and taken for granted.
Private Bus Operators' Association President Gemunu Wijeratne is of the
view that the transport sector could never be improved under the prevalent,
highly politicised system, where route permits are issued by the National
Transport Commission (NTC) and the Provincial Councils coming under the
Transport Authority. The private buses which resumed operations in 1978, are
yet running sans a 'National Policy' and 'Timetables'.
"The Cluster Bus Companies of the SLTB operate a mere 2800 odd buses with
a workforce of around 41,000 employees. They do not maintain proper Bus
Terminals. They are opposing the running of buses within a 'Joint Timetable'
mechanism, proposed by us. The authorities have not solved our problem of
losing revenue by way of "Kappam", around Rs.700 million a year", he said.
Gemunu Wijeratne strongly opposes the handling of the transport services
by semi-government institutions on the premise that they will fail to
develop and implement national policies. He reiterates that a 'National
Policy' on transport should be formulated and implemented by the Provincial
Councils as well.
He opines that fuel and other subsidies could be given to the private
buses not on an individual basis, but via a 'Franchising and Grouping'
mechanism. "Road accidents could be eliminated or minimised by running the
buses on 'Timetables'.
This would inculcate a culture of good 'road discipline' and wild and
unhealthy competition among the bus crew", Wijeratne added.
Now, lets not be complacent and await the next tragedy. All Sri Lankans
should rally round our Transport Minister Felix Perera and help him in all
his endeavours in making an improved private bus service for all.
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