Rationalise bus fare
In Bangladesh hardly anything is in order. We are living in a highly disorderly situation. But there are areas where order can be restored by putting in small efforts. And the gain will be fabulous, as it will solve the problem of a larger section of people and that too for a considerable period of time. One such disorderly area is discriminatory "bus fare" charged by the bus operators in some routes. One such route is "AzimpurBanani /beyond route". On this route several bus companies operate under different names. The prominent ones are--"VIP 27/A (mini-bus/coaster)", "Anik","Suchana" and Suchana-A/C".
The VIP 27/A is also called “sitting bus" where normally limited number of passengers are allowed according to its seating capacity. But this rule is very often violated and over loading is common. This in one sense can be ignored considering the inconvenience of the common commuters, whose number is large while the number of buses plying on the route is inadequate. This bus normally charges Taka 10/-(ten) as fare from Azimpur to Banani and vice-versa.
"Anik" is another bus which charges Taka 12/-(twelve) for almost the same distance in the same route. Unlike the bus VIP 27/A, officially it is not bound to take limited number of passengers. It can overload as far as it can while charging the higher fare of Tk 12/- i.e. Tk 2/ more than the VIP bus above.
Suchana is yet another bus which charges a still higher fare of Tk 16/-(sixteen) without giving any extra facilities. It overloads and covers almost the same distance as Anik does.
There is a sister bus of Suchana. This is an A/C bus. But this charges highest arbitrary fare of Taka 20(twenty) for the same distance. There could be an argument that since it is an A/C bus, it can charge a higher fare. Agreed. It can charge a little higher fare but not so high, also subject to condition that it ensures better service like it does not overload, its A/C works so that people paying more have the minimum comfort and feel that the extra money is worth paying. But the ground reality is different. It charges the highest fare of Tk. 20/-even when it is overloaded to the brim and even when the A/C does not work. This needs to be looked into.
From the discussion above it may be clear that in the above route four different kinds of buses charge different amounts of arbitrary fares viz--Tk.10/-, 12/-, 16/- and Tk 20/-respectively. Such a discriminatory fare is highly illogical and unacceptable, and hence cannot be justified. It is therefore necessary that the authorities concerned take immediate steps to rationalise the fare and bring an end to the sufferings of the helpless commuters.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments