Commuters demand new bus service

Sohail Rashid

ISLAMABAD, October 2, 2010: Commuters are facing a multitude of problems due to the behaviour of wagon drivers.

Talking to INFN here on Saturday, they stressed on the need for a bus service in which they could travel with dignity.

According to commuters, wagon drivers, in a bid to earn more money, do not complete their designated routes and avoid picking up those commuters who have to travel long distances.

In a survey conducted by INFN, people came out with different sorts of complaints against transporters.

Mukhtar Ahmad, a commuter, said: “I have to travel daily between Rawat and Islamabad District Courts in Markaz F-8 for performing my duty. I have to change two wagons in the morning when I go to Markaz F-8. I have to follow the same ritual for going back home every day. The reason behind it is that wagon drivers do not complete their designated route and drop passengers half way through despite a strong protest by them”. He further said that wagon drivers do not complete their routes. “If any passenger dares to ask them for completing their route, they start abusing him”, he added.

Anwar-ul-Haq, another commuter, said that he has to travel daily on route number 1-c between Chungi-22 and Peshawar Morr. According to him, he has to face an odd behaviour from conductors because he is a long distance commuter and is not as beneficial for transporters as a short distance passenger. “There should be a proper bus service in which long distance passengers could travel easily and with dignity”, he added.

“A new bus service is direly needed to break the monopoly of these illiterate transporters who do not even know how to talk with commuters”, said Waqas Abbasi, a passenger who just had a quarrel with a conductor on route number 11. He said that the conductor was not allowing him to ride in the wagon by saying that they would not go Rawat, which is actually their last stop.

“Islamabad is perhaps the only capital in the world in which there is no proper bus service for commuters”, said Raees Raja, a resident of Islamabad. “The government should start a new bus service for commuters in which they could travel comfortably”, he demanded.