(Wass sa boun, khas Autuvas) Alight from the bus and board an auto —— This is an expression which most of us would be familiar with. For the unversed, this is the age old tantrum that a passenger bus driver would throw at the poor passenger who would dare to tell him to move. Shocked and in a state of disbelief, the passenger considers himself a touch unlucky as just before him a good number of passengers would have pleaded for the same but that did not evoke a response from the driver. Getting a response from the bus driver in itself is a tedious task as most of the times your supplications fall flat and you are made to believe that there is a problem with the driver’s auditory control mechanism.
The violent outburst against that one poor passenger is actually the sum total of all the latent anger that all of a sudden manifests in terms of unpalatable tantrums from the uncouth fellow. The driver’s blatant counterattack not only acts as a deterrent for other passengers to raise a voice but allows him to proceed merrily during the journey. Unflustered by the repeated honking of the vehicles following him, the driver keeps moving at a snail’s pace. His chock a block bus does not prompt him to take the less dense right lane instead he keeps slipping his vehicle in the busy left lane behind other passenger vehicles in order to squeeze in more passengers. Being the master of his own universe, he calls it a day much ahead of dusk leaving the passengers in lurch.
The woeful public transportation system in Srinagar and other areas was giving people a tough time. Mini-buses plying in the city and its peripheries would go off the roads in late afternoon much to the annoyance of the commuters. Employees, business class and students were the worst hit. The situation would turn even grimmer with the onset of winter. People were expecting relief from the administration and the relief did come in the form of Smart City buses. The high tech e-buses, equipped with latest technology, are currently plying on as many as 15 routes covering the city areas and also operating between some towns and districts. The AC buses have several features like surveillance system, lift system for wheel-chair bound passengers, ladies reserved seats and voice info mechanism.
The fleet of e-buses starts to operate from early morning and continue to ply till late in the evening. These state-of-the-art, environmentally sustainable and emission free buses have received an overwhelming response from the commuters. The introduction of these buses would serve to decongest the city from traffic. At the start of this month, I had some important work in Lal Chowk Srinagar. I decided to park my car near Railway station Budgam and boarded the smart city bus. The bus took me to my destination in super quick time. When I was done with my work I again boarded the e-bus and reached the place where I had parked my car. This indeed proved to be a good bargain. I not only managed to save a good 2 litres of petrol but also saved on the parking charges which I otherwise would have to pay.
What was more satisfying was that I contributed my bit in saving the environment from the harm caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Since then I am a regular in the Srinagar Smart City buses. The ergonomically designed buses have some seats reserved for ladies passengers. The driver of the bus issues pre-recorded voice commands urging the male passengers to vacate the seats reserved for female passengers. The most striking feature of the smart buses is their live tracking through the “CHALO” app. The app offers an interface wherein we can track the movement of the bus and determine when a bus would be arriving at a particular stop. The user friendly interface of the app also allows us to pay online for a ticket.
Effective public transport networks contribute to the local economy and make cities safe, pleasant and sustainable. With the introduction of e-buses, people associated with different trades in and around the city have expressed happiness. Shops and other business establishments remain open till late in the evening as people avail the services of e-buses to reach back to their homes in the evening. The bus service will also ensure a good footfall of local visitors to Mughal Gardens, Dal Lake, Tulip Garden Badamwari and other places thereby boosting tourism.
Community ownership is a concept which needs to be inculcated in generations. People must understand that the e-buses are their possessions and the people employed in these are their own people. Some people engage in heated arguments with the conductors of the e-buses on different issues particularly the fare. The fare chart of e-buses issued by SSCL is different from the fare chart issued by RTO for the same routes. The e-buses charge slightly higher than what a mini-bus would charge. Given the facilities provided by e-buses being operated by SSCL, the fare is justifiable.
People should insist for tickets as soon as they board the bus and after completing the journey destroy the tickets. On many occasions, I have seen the conductors of the buses not giving tickets to passengers or giving tickets to some and leaving others despite taking the fare. Once, I was handed over a ticket by the conductor which he did not issue from the machine but was already lying in his pocket. My source bus stop was Khumani Chowk and my destination bus stop was Bemina Byepass. Ironically, the ticket that he handed over to me mentioned the source Bus stop as Budgam Bus Stand and the destination bus stop as Budgam Hospital. That is why it is all the more important to destroy the ticket after completing the journey.
The launch of smart city e-buses have boosted public transport and received a positive response from the people. However, there is a scope of improvement in their operation. Quite often most of the buses designated on a particular route follow each other in the same direction and no bus is available on the opposite direction. This has become a norm on route No 8 on which I live. Most of the time during peak hours, the buses ply one after other towards the same destination. Time management is something which needs to be taken care of. The buses should follow a proper time schedule and remain available both to and fro. The interface of Chalo app should be upgraded and the time of departure of each bus should be mentioned correctly.
Although the app allows commuters to find the real time of arrival of a bus at a particular point but the time table given in the app is not being followed. It must be ensured that buses remain available on their respective routes in both directions particularly during peak hours. Currently, the buses keep stopping wherever they spot a passenger. E-buses are big vehicles and when these stop frequently, they trigger traffic jams. This practice should be discontinued and the buses should only stop at the designated bus stops. The option of paying the fare from the app itself is very convenient but the conductors should accept the e-ticket. Lately, reports flouted that conductors are not accepting the e-tickets. Owing to the overwhelming reception of these feature rich buses by the commuters, the buses get over loaded particularly during peak hours. Authorities must add more buses on the already designated routes and add more routes to the network. The number of charging stations should be increased. There should be a monthly pass system particularly for students.
If regulated properly, Smart city e-buses could prove to be a game changer in the effective traffic management. Similar services should be launched in all the major towns and villages of the union territory for the convenience of general populace.
(The author is a freelance writer and can be mailed at [email protected])
