manoj

Delhi’s killer buses have not changed their colour after getting a new name. Going by Traffic Police statistics, almost every Blueline in the city has been challaned at least 20 times this year for offences like rash driving and overspeeding. But the high rate of prosecution has failed to check these drivers from mending their ways. Who will rein in these speed devils?


Rude and reckless: Figures tell you what you’ve always known

• Private buses comprise 70% of city’s public transport.
• The exact no. is 4000.
• No. of times Blueline buses have challaned in 2006 1.05.
• Lakh No. of accidents in 2005 131.

Now, there are figures to support what you have known all along — that Blueline drivers are rude, reckless, and travelling in these buses is a living nightmare.

According to a sample survey conducted by the Auto Association of Upper India (AAUI), almost 30% of Blueline buses in the Capital flout traffic rules, are irregular, and careless. The figure for government-run DTC buses, in the same categories, is much less at 5-7%. The survey, conducted over a year, covered more than 10,000 respondents, and the report was submitted in March. AAUI divided Delhi into nine zones, as per the Delhi Traffic Police criteria. The categories under which the buses were evaluated included regularity, behaviour, driver’s skills, punctuality, and compliance with traffic rules.

Blueline buses were found lacking in all the categories, and most acutely, in driver’s behaviour. ‘‘What we found in the survey is not surprising at all. Most of the violations were observed in buses not controlled directly by the DTC. The root cause of all violations is gross indiscipline among the drivers. They display no sympathy for passengers or respect for the law. What matters most to them is packing in the maximum number of passengers,’’ said T K Malhotra, president, AAUI.

The most common violations were jumping red lights, overtaking from the wrong side, not halting at all bus stops, or conversely wasting time at one stop. The survey found a very high level of competition among the drivers. ‘‘As these drivers work on a daily-wage basis, they are always under pressure to get maximum passengers. That’s why, they are always trying to outdo each other. On the other hand, the DTC drivers are relaxed as they are full-time employees,’’ added Malhotra.

It is now mandatory for drivers to undergo a refresher’s course at AAUI or Institute of Driving Training Research (IDTR) for their licenses to be renewed. ‘‘We don’t emphasise on their driving skills, but rather on their reflexes in controlling the vehicle and improving their behaviour. We check their reflexes in response to heavy traffic, fog and rainy conditions. Our main aim is to make them realise that they are responsible for the commuters, as well as pedestrians,’’ said Malhotra. According to him, the short-staffed traffic police force also contributes to the dismal public transport scene. ‘‘On an average, four vehicles are added to Delhi’s streets daily, but there has hardly been any expansion of the traffic force. And expecting them to tackle the ever-growing traffic chaos is just asking too much. By blaming them for the recklessness of drivers, we are shying away from putting the onus on the real culprits.’’

The survey suggests stringent fines and challans to tackle the chaos. ‘‘A heavier fine will induce fear in these drivers and they’ll abstain from flouting the rules,’’ states the survey.

Author : Swati Sharma
Source : TNN (http://epaper.timesofindia.com) Delhi Edition
Date Of Publish : 03-Nov-06

__________________
Nothing is fool-proof to a talented fool.

manoj

It’s a thin Blueline between life and death for most commuters who risk boarding one of the killer buses everyday. The fleet has become synonymous with reckless driving, screeching halts and overtaking.


Claiming that he utters a simple prayer everytime he boards a Blueline, Rajiv Sharma of Karol Bagh said: ‘‘I never feel safe in a Blueline bus. They follow no rules and stop anywhere to pick up passengers. They also never drive in their lanes. What is the point of having bus stops and bus lanes? No wonder they end up taking so many lives.’’

And this is only one part of the problem. Blueline buses are known to overspeed and race with other buses on the same route, endangering the lives of pedestrians and other motorists in the process. Said Shivani Satija, a resident of GK: ‘‘The Blueline drivers drive blindly, not paying attention to anyone else. I can recall many instances where I could have almost been killed by one of these buses had I not swerved at the right moment to avert a collision.’’ Commuters on two-wheelers remain the most vulnerable. Said Siddharth Gautam, a college student on a bike: ‘‘We need to be extra careful. Blueline drivers just turn without giving any advance notice and I just keep running for cover on my bike.’’

Added Devendra Sharma, another two-wheeler driver: ‘‘These buses suddenly stop anywhere to take passengers. This causes the entire traffic behind the bus to come to a sudden halt. They almost always overtake from the wrong side. I was once hit by a bus, but luckily I sustained only minor injuries.’’

Commuters also seem fed up of travelling in private buses. They complained that these buses followed no schedule and often changed routes without prior information. Said Vidur Sehegal, a student of Delhi University: ‘‘These buses sometimes stop for over 15 minutes at bus stops, waiting for passengers to fill up the bus. This is very inconvenient and frustrating for those already on board.’’

Moreover, these buses are often stopped and passengers asked to swap buses. ‘‘It is so irritating to be asked to get off and then board another bus,’’ said Divya Bharadwaj, a student. Women commuters are a particularly harrowed lot. Said Prerna Tripathi, ‘‘Often buses don’t halt at scheduled stops if there are no passengers to be picked up, without paying any attention to those who have to get off at that stop.’’

‘‘The concept of lane and sane driving has long been forgotten. The constables can be seen standing by the side while these buses break laws,’’ said Rashmi Narang. ‘‘Driving between them to take a left turn is a task in itself as they hardly consider the puny cars on road as traffic,” she added

ROUGH RIDE


Women passengers are often harassed in the bus and the conductor is never of any help. The reserved seats for ladies are always occupied by men.


Bluelines never halt at the bus stop or drive in their lane, but there is ‘nobody to check them. Many accidents are caused due to rash and negligent driving.


These buses overspeed and race with each other. They don’t stop at designated bus stops and put others on the road at great risk too.

Courtesy
Author : Kamayani Singh
Source : TNN (http://epaper.timesofindia.com) Delhi Edition
Date Of Publish : 03-Nov-06

__________________
Nothing is fool-proof to a talented fool.

manoj

For years, they have been known as Delhi’s killer buses, and they have hardly changed colour even after getting a new name. The reckless drivers of Redline buses were responsible for so many accidents that the killer Redline (often dubbed Bloodline by the media) was rechristened Blueline — without any noticeable improvement in the mishap rate though. It was just two days back that a Blueline was set on fire by the staff of another Blueline at Hathiwala Point on Vikas Marg. Both the buses, on route 85, were going from Panjabi Bagh to Anand Vihar, and had collided while trying to overtake each other. As private buses comprise 70% of the public transport fleet in the city, more than two-third of the commuters are forced to travel in these buses, and those on the road are also at the mercy of reckless Blueline drivers.


HIGH PROSECUTION, LOW RESULTS According to the data provided by Delhi Traffic Police, almost every Blueline in the city has been challaned at least 20 times this year for offences like rash driving and overspeeding. Over 4,000 buses plying in the city have been prosecuted 1,05,000 times in 2006. But the high rate of prosecution has hardly made these drivers mend their ways.

Says JCP (traffic) Qamar Ahmed: ‘‘The number of challans is high, though the accident figures have come down. Most of these offences like rash driving and speeding attract fines upto Rs 1,000. Accident is a bailable offence. But in case of fatal accidents, action is taken at two levels. It leads to suspension of state permit, and the proposal is referred for revocation to the transport authority, so that the driver’s license is suspended.’’

ACCIDENT RATE The Delhi Traffic Police claims that the number of accidents caused by Blueline buses has gone down over the past two-three years. ‘‘In 2005, there were 131 accidents, while in 2006 there have been 82 accidents so far,’’ Ahmed said. However, commuters claim that this decline in accident rate hardly means that Blueline drivers have learnt to behave. They still flout simple rules like ‘lane driving’ that was enforced by the Supreme Court some two years ago, say passengers.

DRIVING RECKLESSLY So why are Blueline staff only concerned about filling the bus. The reasons are many, says Harish Sabharwal of Joint Action Committee of Private Buses. As most of these drivers and helpers earn on a daily basis, their target is to pack the bus, in total disregard of safety norms. ‘‘When the buses used to run under the kilometre scheme of DTC, they had an assured income. After this scheme was withdrawn and CNG buses launched, Blueline staff had to incurr the cost of fitting these kits and earn per journey. The government has also denied a fare hike.

The only option left for them now is to pick up maximum number of passengers, for which they do not mind engaging in reckless driving to compete with each other.’’ So what’s the way out? ‘‘We can revert to the old kilometre scheme again to improve the public transport system,’’ said Sabharwal.

DRIVERSPEAK ‘‘We pay Rs 200-300 per signal every month to police constables so that we are not troubled for petty things like installing speed governors, exceeding capacity, speeding and honking. Once a bus is caught by the police, it means losing business for over a month,’’ said Kamlesh, who drives on route 73. Claims another: ‘‘It is the done thing, not that we have an option as Rs 6,000-8,000 goes in keeping the police happy. And we have to take the risk to get more passengers.

The inspectors can be fooled by showing a box as speed governor, and if we have the requisite papers, it is not a problem. But it is better to pay them as we have calculated minutes to complete a trip and to avoid delay and losing passengers. Otherwise, they catch us unnecessarily at times to meet their quota of challans.’’ While they count speeding a necessary evil, it’s the passengers, other vehicles and people on the road who pay the price for their recklessness.

Courtesy
Author : Neha
Source : TNN (http://epaper.timesofindia.com) Delhi Edition
Date Of Publish : 03-Nov-06

__________________
Nothing is fool-proof to a talented fool.

manoj

He came from Assam with big dreams of bagging a management degree in the city, but ended up in a comatose state in VIMHANS — all because he and his friends dared to pick up a fight with some Blueline staff over the fare. They were beaten up and thrown out of the moving bus.


That was on September 21. Now, Amit Kumar Mall (23) is undergoing treatment at Sonebhat district in Uttar Pradesh. Doctors say he will take at least a year to recover fully. His father has already lost his job, as his company in Assam could not grant him any more leave.

Mall, a first-year MBA student of Cosmic Business School in Mathura Road, spent over a month in coma at VIMHANS after the Blueline incident. He was discharged on October 10, after which his family took him to Sonebhat, near Varanasi, where his paternal uncle lives, as they could no longer afford to bear the cost of Amit’s treatment in Delhi.

Said Amit’s father Vijay Shankar Mall over the from UP, ‘‘We had a lot of dreams for Amit when we sent him to Delhi to do an MBA. We are not financially well-off but Amit was a very bright student and was adamant on studying further.’’

He further said that the family would now have to sell off some of their ancestral land in UP and dig into their savings to meet Amit’s medical expenses. ‘‘Cosmic helped a lot initially, but now the financial burden is totally upon us. We have to go to Delhi every two months for Amit’s check-up.’’

After this painful episode, Mall is hesitant to send his other kids — a 21-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter — to Delhi for further studies.

Amit’s father, who worked in a private firm in Assam, lost his job because he was not granted an extended leave to be with his ailing son. He has three brothers — two of whom are also unemployed.

Amit’s mother Urmila said her son, who was once full of life, is totally dependent on others now. ‘‘He has lost his memory and even fails to recognize his family at times. His movement has also become very limited, and his right side is totally paralyzed,’’ she said. ‘‘How will any parent send their children to the Capital for studies if such incidents happen?’’ she asked.

The family had more bad news in store. The academic committee of Cosmic Business School after assesing Amit’s condition decided in a recent meeting that he was not medically fit to continue his MBA degree. ‘‘However, if doctors say Amit can pursue his MBA after a year or so, we will consider waiving his entire course fee,’’ said Prof A Basu of Cosmic Business School.

Courtesy
Author : Richi Verma
Source : TNN (http://epaper.timesofindia.com) Delhi Edition
Date Of Publish : 03-Nov-06

__________________
Nothing is fool-proof to a talented fool.

manoj

A city that boasts the Metro strangely tolerates a fleet of killer buses. So, what’s ailing the Blueline system? And is there a way out of this mess before the Games?


It is strange that a city, which is all set to host Commonwealth Games in four years, tolerates a bus system that is not only unsafe for commuters but also for pedestrians. Delhi, which boasts a hitech Metro system, has still not been able to edge out the killer Blueline fleet. The government or police do not bat an eyelid when rivalry between bus operators leads to torching of a bus on busy Vikas Marg or when a Blueline cuts short a life in Dwarka. Is the mess too difficult to clear? Or the government couldn’t care less? Times City finds out what ails the Blueline system.

Single bus ownership According to a study conducted by the state transport department, 66.67% of the private bus operators own a single Blueline bus, and 50% of the bus operators depend fully on earnings from the buses for their livelihood.

Simply put, a majority of bus operators in Delhi are dependent on a single Blueline for their bread. As Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training convenor S P Singh explains: ‘‘Most of the time, the operators sub-contract these Blueline buses to the driver. So, a driver earns for himself and the owner from a single bus. There is too much financial pressure on him. This leads to rash driving, as he wants to pack in as many trips and passengers as possible. They speed, violate traffic rules, and try to outdo each other.’’

Inexperience of bus crew A paper written by former Delhi transport commissioner Kiran Dhingra shows that a majority of the Blueline bus crew is inexperienced — 70.59% of the conductors have less than one year of experience, and the remaining have one-two years of experience. Says Dr Geetam Tiwari of IIT Delhi’s Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme (TRIPP): ‘‘There is no quality control in the present Blueline system. There are no performance standards or minimum targets set for operators. So, we have an inferior system which is unsafe.’’

No time-table For a reliable bus system, a uniform time-table, integrating DTC bus timings with Bluelines, is essential. However, Delhi has not been able to do this. While DTC buses follow a time-table, the private buses compete with DTC buses and try to outdo each other to get more passengers on board.

No uniform code of facility There’s no uniformity in the seating capacity or facilities provided by a Blueline. How many seats should be there? How should the seats be placed? How high should be the stairs to climb into a bus? There’s no rulebook for this. While DTC buses have a uniform pattern, there is no code of conduct for the Bluelines. Says S P Singh: ‘‘The private buses are supposed to use a certain type of tyre, which is mentioned in their registration certificate. But they use truck tyres, which are a notch higher. They retread and use them. This makes the buses at least 6-10 inches higher. This means that the first step of the stairs is much higher, which could be dangerous.’’

Reluctance to adopt a new system It is not that the private bus operators cannot change. In 1994, the operators had gone on a long strike demanding a fare hike. The government had agreed to increase fares only after the operators gave them a 10-point commitment of better service. This included better bus seats, polite bus staff, regular fitness checks at designated depots. Needless to say the private operators never stuck to their promise.

A government committee has now been appointed to increase fares for buses and develop a system by which fares would be automatically revised annually or if there is an increase in CNG prices. Are you prepared to pay more to travel in the killer Bluelines?

Police look the other way as Bluelines compete for passengers, stop in the middle of the road, and overspeed.

Courtesy
Author : Nidhi Sharma
Source : TNN (http://epaper.timesofindia.com) Delhi Edition
Date Of Publish : 04-Nov-06

__________________
Nothing is fool-proof to a talented fool.

manoj

Can Delhi set its house in order? Transport experts feel that so far Delhi government has only made halfhearted attempts to improve the public transport system and some drastic steps are required. There are three options before Delhi government — involving corporates in the system, forming cooperatives, or evolving a middle-path which would amalgamate the best of the first two options. Here’s a look at the three models:

Corporatisation
This would end the single bus operator system. Big corporates would be brought in to run their buses. They will employ bus drivers under a strict policy of no accidents and adherence to rules. The government would remove itself completely from bus operations. It will however frame a regulatory structure for the corporates — on fare, performance criteria, etc. The profit will be shared in a ratio, to be decided by the government and corporates. Says Dr Geetam Tiwari of TRIPP: ‘‘There has to be a regulatory body of the government. The government cannot remove itself completely and has to exert pressure on corporates for better performance and facilities.’’ Involving corporates, however, may leave the private operators dissatisfied.

Cooperative system
The government could invite operators to organise themselves in cooperatives, which would be responsible for maintenance and operation of buses. The members would share the profits. This would help reduce accident rates as drivers would then not indulge in reckless driving to outrun each other for more passengers. The problem here is the government may find it difficult to organise the operators. To overcome this, Dr Tiwari says, ‘‘There have to be incentives in the form of financial schemes for the operators.’’

Mix and match policy
The government could combine the best features of both the systems. It could create an umbrella organisation, which would oversee the operation of DTC and private buses. The private operators would get a share in the profit. This set-up would need the introduction of hi-tech intelligent transport
tracking system.

The biggest problem is lack of political will. The government had made a beginning in 1997 — a policy was introduced by which all bus routes were ‘‘nationalised’’. This meant that only government or government-aided organisation could operate its buses in Delhi. This policy, however, was challenged in Delhi High Court and the transporters won the case. Despite repeated requests from State Transport Authority, the government refused to approach the Supreme Court, as the 1998 Assembly polls were near. IFTRT convenor S P Singh says, ‘‘Every country has its formula. Delhi would have to find its own. But something needs to be done because we cannot ignore the mess.’’

Courtesy
Author : Nidhi Sharma
Source : TNN (http://epaper.timesofindia.com) Delhi Edition
Date Of Publish : 04-Nov-06

__________________
Nothing is fool-proof to a talented fool.

manoj

Delhi transport minister Haroon Yusuf tells Times City what ails our bus system and what the government is doing about it.


Q:Is the government planning to do something to change the Blueline system?

A:The system obviously needs to be changed. But the change cannot be done in a drastic manner, with a sweep of a hand. It has to be in a phased manner, taking the bus operators along. We have to give them some incentives to switch over.

Q:Do you have any immediate plans?

A:In the next four years, the Blueline system would have to be changed. The city, which is hosting an international sporting event, cannot afford to have an unsafe public transport system.

Q:How will you change it?

A:We are trying to persuade them (Blueline operators) to organise themselves in cooperatives. At present, there are multiple operators, and most of them own a single bus. So, it becomes very difficult to deal with them, or bring about a change. We would try to make cooperatives so that their business interests are better guarded and the city has a safe mode of transport.

Courtesy
Source : TNN (http://epaper.timesofindia.com) Delhi Edition
Date Of Publish : 04-Nov-06

__________________
Nothing is fool-proof to a talented fool.