Living with the whims of the owners and operators of public transports
Monday, 8 November 2010
Shamsul Huq Zahid
The government has taken a decision that would compound the sufferings of the commuters in two major cities of the country, Dhaka and Chittagong. There is nothing to be surprised about it. In the past also the communication ministry and the government agencies concerned had taken measures to protect the interests of the passenger transport owners rather than easing the sufferings faced by the people as regards the availability of adequate number of passenger-vehicles and their fares.
The latest decision of the communication ministry to hike fares of CNG auto-rickshaws from January 01 next, according to most Dhakaites, is inconsiderate. The ministry has surrendered to the whims of the CNG vehicle owners and drivers.
The ministry in a meeting with the owners of auto-rickshaws and representatives of the CNG drivers' union last Thursday decided to raise the first two-kilometre fare from Tk. 18 to Tk. 25 and subsequent per-km fare from Tk. 5.0 to Tk. 7.0 and waiting charge to Tk 1.25 from Tk.1.0 per minute. It also decided to hike the rental income of auto rickshaw owners for each vehicle from the existing official rate of Tk 400 to Tk. 600. However, no owner accepts the current official rental income and since long they have been charging Tk 600 or even more for each vehicle.
Actually, the passengers in Dhaka city in particular are hostage to the whims of cab and CNG auto-rickshaw drivers who have stopped using metres and are charging more than twice of the actual fares. What is more annoying is that, in most cases, they flatly refuse to go to destinations of passengers' choice. The situation has turned worse following the official decision to keep the operations of the CNG filling stations suspended for six hours everyday. The CNG drivers are now charging more than before to recoup the financial losses they suffer due to time lost in long queues at the filling stations.
Now let us see what would happen when the new CNG fares would take effect. If a passenger takes an auto-rickshaw from Mirpur 11 to reach the business district of Motijheel during peak hours, he or she would have to count a fare of Tk. 130 to cover a distance of 15 kilometres, provided the journey remains as smooth as silk. But under the existing conditions, at least an extra time of one hour is lost because of traffic gridlock, and the journey would cost more than Tk. 200. The amount is equivalent to what the CNGs are charging now. So, the authorities have just given the official seal of approval to the unreasonable fares imposed by the CNG drivers on helpless passengers.
Possibly, nowhere in the world are the passengers as helpless as they are in Bangladesh, particularly in Dhaka city. In a near-anarchic situation, the transport owners and drivers always call the shot and the passengers have to submit to their whims as the authorities concerned, quite consciously, remain oblivious of their duties and responsibilities towards the passengers.
When the new CNG fares would come into force from January 01 next, the passengers would face more troubles. The drivers would in all likelihood continue to ignore the use of the fare metres and they would charge even more than the present unofficial fares.
What has prompted the communication ministry to hike the auto-rickshaw fares remains a mystery. Neither the owners nor the drivers had announced any kind of action programmes, demanding a raise in the fares and rents.
If the government is so prompt in meeting the demands of the vehicle owners and drivers, why should it be so indifferent to the plights of millions of passengers? The government has utterly failed to compel the auto-rickshaw drivers to use fare-metres and go to places of the passengers' choices at official fare rates. Actually, it has never made any serious attempt to enforce traffic- and fare-related rules on the streets.
It has been a practice among the official circles that after demonstrating opposition for some days, they succumb to the undue demands of the transport owners and workers, bothering least about the interests of the passengers.
Unfortunately, the passengers who use buses, auto-rickshaws, cabs etc., are not organized under any banner so that they can give representation to the government highlighting their own causes. The so-called people's representatives remain busy in ensuring their own rights to duty-free vehicles and other privileges than that of their electorates.
It is the media that speak for the poor commuters. But that hardly makes any change in the situation on the ground. Under the circumstances, the passengers are left with no option other than living with the whims of the owners and operators of public transports of all types.
Zahidmar10@gmail.com
The government has taken a decision that would compound the sufferings of the commuters in two major cities of the country, Dhaka and Chittagong. There is nothing to be surprised about it. In the past also the communication ministry and the government agencies concerned had taken measures to protect the interests of the passenger transport owners rather than easing the sufferings faced by the people as regards the availability of adequate number of passenger-vehicles and their fares.
The latest decision of the communication ministry to hike fares of CNG auto-rickshaws from January 01 next, according to most Dhakaites, is inconsiderate. The ministry has surrendered to the whims of the CNG vehicle owners and drivers.
The ministry in a meeting with the owners of auto-rickshaws and representatives of the CNG drivers' union last Thursday decided to raise the first two-kilometre fare from Tk. 18 to Tk. 25 and subsequent per-km fare from Tk. 5.0 to Tk. 7.0 and waiting charge to Tk 1.25 from Tk.1.0 per minute. It also decided to hike the rental income of auto rickshaw owners for each vehicle from the existing official rate of Tk 400 to Tk. 600. However, no owner accepts the current official rental income and since long they have been charging Tk 600 or even more for each vehicle.
Actually, the passengers in Dhaka city in particular are hostage to the whims of cab and CNG auto-rickshaw drivers who have stopped using metres and are charging more than twice of the actual fares. What is more annoying is that, in most cases, they flatly refuse to go to destinations of passengers' choice. The situation has turned worse following the official decision to keep the operations of the CNG filling stations suspended for six hours everyday. The CNG drivers are now charging more than before to recoup the financial losses they suffer due to time lost in long queues at the filling stations.
Now let us see what would happen when the new CNG fares would take effect. If a passenger takes an auto-rickshaw from Mirpur 11 to reach the business district of Motijheel during peak hours, he or she would have to count a fare of Tk. 130 to cover a distance of 15 kilometres, provided the journey remains as smooth as silk. But under the existing conditions, at least an extra time of one hour is lost because of traffic gridlock, and the journey would cost more than Tk. 200. The amount is equivalent to what the CNGs are charging now. So, the authorities have just given the official seal of approval to the unreasonable fares imposed by the CNG drivers on helpless passengers.
Possibly, nowhere in the world are the passengers as helpless as they are in Bangladesh, particularly in Dhaka city. In a near-anarchic situation, the transport owners and drivers always call the shot and the passengers have to submit to their whims as the authorities concerned, quite consciously, remain oblivious of their duties and responsibilities towards the passengers.
When the new CNG fares would come into force from January 01 next, the passengers would face more troubles. The drivers would in all likelihood continue to ignore the use of the fare metres and they would charge even more than the present unofficial fares.
What has prompted the communication ministry to hike the auto-rickshaw fares remains a mystery. Neither the owners nor the drivers had announced any kind of action programmes, demanding a raise in the fares and rents.
If the government is so prompt in meeting the demands of the vehicle owners and drivers, why should it be so indifferent to the plights of millions of passengers? The government has utterly failed to compel the auto-rickshaw drivers to use fare-metres and go to places of the passengers' choices at official fare rates. Actually, it has never made any serious attempt to enforce traffic- and fare-related rules on the streets.
It has been a practice among the official circles that after demonstrating opposition for some days, they succumb to the undue demands of the transport owners and workers, bothering least about the interests of the passengers.
Unfortunately, the passengers who use buses, auto-rickshaws, cabs etc., are not organized under any banner so that they can give representation to the government highlighting their own causes. The so-called people's representatives remain busy in ensuring their own rights to duty-free vehicles and other privileges than that of their electorates.
It is the media that speak for the poor commuters. But that hardly makes any change in the situation on the ground. Under the circumstances, the passengers are left with no option other than living with the whims of the owners and operators of public transports of all types.
Zahidmar10@gmail.com