Passengers safety in public buses at stake

Al Mamun Harun Ur Rashid :
Passengers safety in the public buses has become questionable in the recent time as many passengers allege that they are being harassed or humiliated or even killed in the hands of the drivers and conductors over various issues especially relating to bus fare.
They say that the government was not defending the fundamental rights of the passengers to ensure improved services which include just fare and good behavior from the drivers and conductors.
Experts said that passengers have become the hostages in the hands of the government and the transport owners, creating a chaotic situation in the transport sector.
The nexus is so deep rooted that the interest of the bus owners are always favoured without any question, whereas passengers’ interests are ignored, they observed.
“When the government and the transport owners tie, it ultimately affects the sector and the services deteriorate. Ultimately the transport sector becomes a place of anarchy,” Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity Secretary General Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury told the New Nation on Sunday.
“It is the responsibility of the government to guard the interest of the people. But we see that the interests of the transport owners are greeted. Passengers are being deprived and victims of harassment and even physical assaults,” he added.
Saturday’s incident of downing a passenger from a running bus by the conductor in the city’s Jatrabari area had killed the man of 35-year-old Abu Sayem Murad, who protested against the overcharging fare.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Road Transport and Highways Division
ABM Amin Ullah Nuri told The New Nation on Sunday, “A three-member probe committee was formed about the Jatrabari accident to submit report within three days.”
In the public domain, the incident has raised questions of passengers’ safety in the public buses.
According to Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, about 14 such killing accidents by way of throwing passengers from buses took place in the last two years.
The squabble over the bus fare between conductors and passengers has become a daily phenomenon as most of the times the conductors charge additional fare defying the government’s recent chart.
Though the ‘unlawful’ practice of charging bus fare in the name of ‘way bill’ has been declared closed, it is still in practice. The checkers, and the conductors are charging more fare, which lead to heated arguments and clash.
The practice of over-charging bus fare is going on in almost all buses, but there seems to be no one to complain to get redress. Thus the passengers are being harassed in their hands.
“When passengers are killed in the hands of drivers and conductors, it attacks my safety,” Rakib Uddin, an employee of a private bank, said.
“We want to pay bus fare as per the government chart. But the conductors are always ignoring the chart,” he added.
“Even I have no second option other than complaining against the anomalies. I am the victim of this evil system, he added.
Though some buses have started e-ticketing, the passengers allege that this is another way of extorting them as the fare has not been calculated as per the mileage system.
“When any passenger protests against the overcharging fare, he/she is harassed and intimidated to get off the bus. There is no accountability system. It cannot be a public service, when passengers are harassed and when the government and the owners stand against the passengers,” Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury said.
He also said that Bangladesh has been heading to the level of developed countries, but the bus services do not reflect it.
He has also raised questions regarding the mobile court and its ‘faulty’ system of conducting drives as the owners are alerted earlier when and where the drives will be conducted.
“We have questions about the mobile courts. We told them to inform the nation about their performance on a single route where the fare extortion has been stopped. But they could not,” he said.
“If the mobile courts cannot garner any benefit spending people’s money, it raises questions of accountability and transparency,” he added.
Regarding mobile court, ABM Amin Ullah Nuri said, “The mobile court will be strengthened to curb the irregularities.”
About the possible remedy, he said that the passengers have to be united and have to raise voices against the faulty system through concerted efforts.
“We are talking of the digital system but still we did not enjoy its benefits in the transport system. Card punching system can be introduced, where passengers will pay according to mileage. E-ticketing has raised questions,” he added.
“The government assures the people that they want to bring discipline in the transport system, but in reality such assurances have proven futile against roaring of the transport owners,” he said.
Mentioning the transport sector as highly profitable, he said, “We are setting up many foreign examples here in Bangladesh. But still the government could not introduce available transports in the streets to keep the monopoly of the private sector under control.”
Expressing helplessness, Mozammel Hoque said, “When I talk about the interests of the passengers, I receive threats from different quarters to remain silence.”