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| Sunday, 16 October 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Off peak bussing Consumer Ombudsman by the Consumer Watch The escalating costs of petrol means that many people who own a motor vehicle cannot afford to do the daily running that the Sri Lankan consumer had been so accustomed to, at the drop of a hat. So what alternative is there for such a middle class consumer? The BUS. Returns to the Sri Lanka shores from those of the Caribbean about a year or so ago has given some wonderful insights to this Pearl of the Indian Ocean. The Caribbean prepares one for the slowness of the pace of getting things done, but not so much however for the volume of traffic. In Trinidad and Tobago, public transport is provided by the State in the form of buses, which run a fast infrequent services on special routes for the working populace to get to and back from work daily from long distance. In an island roughly 60 x40 miles with excellent highways, this is not tortuous. However these buses only stop at a few selected points. Their alternative is the very prevalent private system called "Route Taxies". These too are very cheap for a petroleum producing country and are run on several ordinary roads and pick up and stop wherever the passenger chooses. The fares are set on the basis of the 'long drop' of the particular route, which is the full journey or something a little short of. But for stops of less than a kilometre the fare is considerably less. If you live on a hill, which one frequently does as the island is full of this, then for an extra couple of dollars and subject to the agreement of the other passengers, the taxi cars will take you to your doorstep on the hill. Neither the taxis nor the buses are allowed standing or overloading in anyway. In London one travels by London Transport as the distances to work are great, parking difficult and fuel expensive. During the 1960- 1980's transport by bus was the more direct route to my place of work and was about one hour ride away. However the wait for the bus would sometimes be at least one hour in the freezing London cold. London bus transport system is nothing short of great. No more than a five minute wait for a bus in any direction in London. Ken Livingston achieved this by the congestion charge for every vehicle visiting London. His reasons were numerous, some among them was that parking in the city was impossible but more importantly the county could not afford the high costs of fuel. Properties now developed within Greater London are not encouraged to have parking facilities so as to encourage the use of the transport system. Wonderful On a visit to Mexico in July for the second time and having got a taste of their buses on a previous visit, I again used their bus services. It was wonderful. There are several classes of buses Super Luxury, Luxury, Second class and Third Class. The Super Luxury generally stopped only at the final destination or if the journey was long, at an intermediate destination of approximately 2-2 1/2 hours to give the driver a toilet break. The bus was indeed super luxury air-con with wonderful fully reclining seats, bottled water, a packet of nuts and of course one or two movies (depending on the distance) as part of the service and used regularly not only by the middle class but also by the pampered wealthy. This services was either once or twice a day. The luxury and second class buses were short of these standards such as not having bottled water, but were just as comfortable as the Super Luxury, as they were super luxury vehicles, which had been passed out of service after a few short years. They however had more frequent stops. The third class bus was for distances of no more than 1 hour and stopped at all the local stops carried the general populace on short hops including their luggage, which could be chickens. The fare was ridiculously cheap. The Super Luxury bus for a journey of some six hours, with a fixed speed limit of 50Kph (with severe fines for transgressions) cost a mere Rs.400. Wonderful. The luxury and second class fares were about half the price. So on my return to Sri Lanka, I decided I would invest in a bus for travelling out of Colombo on holiday sprees to the jungle or off road, etc and located myself in Bambalapitiya close to lots of bus routes so I could use this wonderful mode of transport, which to my delight has improved tremendously from my stay in Sri Lanka in 1998. There is always a bus within 5 minutes of arriving at a stop. The intercity only stops at major junctions so apart from the air-con, is much faster and is generally driven by someone with a better degree of control of the vehicle without the constant jamming of the footbrake. The fares even in the intercity are well within the means of bus travellers. Prudent Many of my friends are shocked at my use of these buses. The usual query is aren't you frightened it will take off while you are trying to get on and is your purse safe. I assure them on both. Much has been written about the difficulties or bus travel at peak hours and of safe driving. Out of peak hours, one can generally get a seat, whether on an intercity or other bus. In the interests of saving the consumption of expensive fuel by Sri Lanka would it not be prudent to encourage bus travel by requesting private bus companies to put in service at least two new (not second hand clapped out) buses on each of their respective routes EVERY YEAR on the renewal of the licences and have the intercity buses upgraded to a better class of bus as the general populace gets more accustomed to working in clean air-con offices. The lovely air-con red buses driven in the UK and Hong Kong with only a driver and security cameras (so cheaper to operate), would be of such benefit to the consumer in Sri Lanka. At least the new SLTB could introduce two per year on each route. These red buses are so much easier to drive with short automated gear sticks. Certainly with the rising cost of fuel, most of the middle class will be happy to travel in comfort and safety in these buses. When the air-con intercity buses were introduced in Sri Lanka there was much furore about the cost of the fare, which was almost double and whether consumers would use them. Pampered Regular trips on the buses show that people from all walks of life, other than the super pampered wealthy, use this form of transport and they would readily pay the additional cost of travelling in grater comfort. Additionally in Mexico the Super Luxury/Luxury buses ran from one depot and the second and third class from another depot. This facilitate good arrangements for these long distance bus travellers, whilst you waited for the arrival of the bus and provided services such as luggage check-in. Some highways only permitted use by the Super Luxury/Luxury vehicles, which meant better travel conditions for all road users. The introductions of bus/taxi only lanes for peak times in London have also made traffic flow much easier. Other vehicles are not permitted on the bus lane at peak times nor the buses permitted on other lanes! One other thing, to help the consumer why not have bus stops properly marked with the bus numbers. Of course having a clearly marked bus halt would also help, although this is now becoming rarer. Consumer Watch Recommended Do and Don't Do not try to get on a moving bus; there is always another one just behind. Secure your handbag/ wallet safely Do travel off peak-i.e. 9 a.m. to 12 noon The National Consumer Watch of Sri Lanka can be reached at 143 A, Vajira Road,Colombo 4. (Contributed by a member of the legal profession) |
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