" The Trouble of taking the Bus "

" The Trouble of taking the Bus "

= Poe Aung =

Though he wakes up at 5:30 in the morning, he really has very little time to spend with the family. Tin Maung, 45 as soon as he gets up says prayers and then cooks for his children and his wife who has already gone for a hawking. After a while he is ready to go to work. His house unfortunately is far from the downtown at the outskirt; it takes about two hour bus ride. So he has to be at the bus-stop by 7:00 am.

Normally, from HlingTharYar where he lives to downtown is two hours drive but sometimes it takes more than two and a half hours as many problems lay in wait for passengers on choking buses rolling slowly all along the congested roads. It also is the traffic to be blamed.

“Days run out by just preparing for the bus ride and it also takes time on the bus too,” said Tin Maung, a construction worker. “If I’m late for work, the employer is not happy with me and he cuts a certain amount of money from my salary,’’ he added.

Though ministries have permitted to import vehicles in place of old ones, importers are giving priority to personal car business so it can be seen that ordinary workers and majority of the people have to still count on the existing commuting buses.

U Soe Tint, a bus driver from Shwe Eathe said “It takes normally one and a half hour from the fi rst stop to the last stop (HlingTharYar to Yangon- downtown). But now, since after old vehicles have changed with new ones it takes about 2 and a half.” “This is because of some drivers driving with no traffic rules and because of some hawkers and pedestrians,” he added disappointedly.

As buses running in the city still have weak points more extended bus lines have been introduced for the convenience of the city dwellers. Unfortunately most of the extended lines are A-htoo or the special buses which charge more, but crowded as usual, said Tin Maung.

“These special buses are not different with those that have to pay only 100 kyats. At first, they said to take off only when the air-con is cold enough, no passenger to stand and ride and will not pick passengers at all stops. But now they are taking a lot more passengers as ordinary buses,” said Tin Maung.

We read in the local papers and state run papers that actions will be taken against buses that let stand passengers ride but in reality rule enforcing seems week.

Along with these rules, bus fares were systematically set by the authorities but sometimes conductors are playing by their own rules, charging as they like and speeding at will, sometimes pulling in-coming passengers onto the bus and pushing outgoing passengers out of the vehicle, a practice that is awful for everyone. Frequently, bus riding is a breathtaking adventure for people.

The complaints from passengers have been rising, and the number of complaints surpassed 1,400 in 2014, up from 400 in 2013. Most complaints revolve around overcharging and rude behaviour by conductors.

Usual problems on these cramming buses involve male molesters and pickpockets taking advantage over their victims and quarrels and brawls resulting from accidental knocks or thumb against one another.

“I understand that our bodies may be touching one another on a crowded place or bus, but what I mean here is some people taking advantage of this situation to harass women like us”, said a 23-year-old company staff. 

Before, there was a social association that protects women from being taken advantage gave out whistles and pasted papers on the buses encouraging to blow the whistle if anything happen. But later these actions fade away.

Currently, roundabout 350 bus lines are running on 17 routes in Yangon region, with roughly 4,000 vehicles, according to official statistics. The spokeperson from Bandola Transportation, U Myo Myint Nyein said “We need to increase the number of busses to meet the demand. We’ll do it gradually.” There are over seven million people in Yangon Region, of whom over 3 million are daily city travelers, and 85 percent of them use public transport.

Apparently these people are travelling each day. “I need to get up before the day break and I get home very late at night. I have no time to stay with my family,” said Tin Maung.

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