A transport service for the people

It looks as if Minister of Transport and Highways A. H. M. Fowzie is determined to take the bull by the horns when he warns private bus operators who threaten to resort to strikes at the drop of a hat that their route permits will be revoked. The wild cat strikes by private bus owners cause much inconvenience to the general public and a massive loss to the country’s economy in terms of loss of man-hours.

Given the sorry state the public transport is in, it is in fact commendable that the minister has made this decision. But as our experience suggests there is a great distance between saying and doing especially in dealing with a powerful group like the private bus operators. Many have been the instances where the government got cold feet after making such bold statement to impress the people.

Public transport is no one’s private property. It is a misnomer to call any omnibus a private bus while on road and is required to follow rules and regulations laid down by the state. The swashbucklers who drive these metal contraptions, most of which are not road worthy and conductors who bark at commuters incessantly have to be kept reminded by the authorities that the public must not be harassed this way and the public have every right to demand from them a service worth the fare they pay.

The shoddy treatment that some ruffians running ‘private buses’ extend to the public is such that it merits a special probe by the government. People have been suffering in silence as they do not have much of a choice in the face of the fast dwindling peoplised fleet and the domination by the private sector of the field consequent to that.

We wonder if those who advocate that the state assisted bus companies be abolished for the private sector to take over should be given a head shrink. For it is not difficult to imagine the situation that would result from the abolition of these peoplised bus companies. In such an eventuality, the so-called private bus operators might even demand autonomy and go on strike at their whims and fancies holding the public to ransom. The police will then be helpless as their efforts to deal with them will be put paid to by threats to go on strike. So will be the public, as commuters will be thrown out by the bus crew at the slightest provocation.

Even the developed capitalist nations have realised the need to maintain heavily subsidised state owned transport systems and regulate those private companies who only supplement the service in most cases. Public transport in those countries is free from wild cat strikes as private operators are not allowed to flex their muscles as and when they want.

Strangely what is sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander when it comes to public transport in the developing world. They are not allowed to maintain subsidised public transport systems by the lending agencies, who insist that they be dismantled for the benefit of the private sector. As evident from Sri Lanka’s experience, the people in the developing world are choking on this bitter pill that the World Bank and the IMF have prescribed.

Competition between the state and the private sectors is something healthy in the transport sector as it is said to provide the people with a better service. But for the state to depend solely on the private sector for the mobility of the nation is, not to put too fine a point on it, suicidal.

Despite the contemptuous treatment the people received from the CTB during its heyday, there were buses on roads even after the nightfall and early in the morning. The cinemas used to thrive on the popular 9. 30 p.m. show as CTB buses operated till midnight virtually on all routes. Today one is really lucky if one does not have to hop into a trishaw to get home after 9 p. m.

One would have thought that the suffering of the public will be ameliorated at least slightly with the much publicised ban on footboard travelling. But this ban has not prevented buses being overloaded for unconscionable gains. It has not affected the bus owners adversely in that the commuters who earlier suffered on the footboard are now pushed in and made to languish inside without ventilation or space.

A way out of this situation could be sought by revitalising the peoplised bus companies and encouraging big time private companies to supplement the public transport service. So long as the majority of the private buses continue to be operated by individuals who cannot properly maintain them and face the challenges in the sector, the public transport is not likely to improve despite braggadocio of politicians.

The ways and means of improving public transport are better known to the general public than politicians and bureaucrats who travel in limousines at their expense. Therefore it might be a good idea for the Transport Ministry to organise a public hearing to enable the people to articulate their views on the matter and to act on them.