Sunday, January 27, 2013

Transport vehicle owners' syndicate

Dhaka-Khulna route is busy with numerous bus companies along with local routes, Satkhira-Benapol routes added double amount of buses few years ago. 3-4 old bus transport companies like Eagle, Sohag, Hanif exist since the beginning; their vehicle quality was good once but now below average. New companies including Talukdar, Alom brought newer models of vehicles facilitating added flexibility, better frame & quick schedule.
While passengers had to struggle to place their legs in old bus models, now they enjoy enough room to position. It’s due to new bus architecture.

But the problem is universal; all bus companies ally a nasty syndicate. You can never expect a business in Bangladesh without syndicate. If one tends to stand alone, others will give their lives to ruin it.

The bus carried me & my fellow riders were an ancient  model of Eagle bus. Its condition was so ugly & old that we never dared to expect a good journey. While changing tires, driver confessed to the passengers that he never faced such situation where people wanted to beat him. He unfolded further stating that the former driver [who should have driven the bus as per schedule] requested him to drive it saying that the bus condition is good. He claimed that if he knew the true condition of the bus, he would never agree to such stupid requests.

When the former driver drove the bus to Jessore terminal, found that the perish glasses are broken due to jerk. He soon realized & abandoned bus to our driver. On request, he took it, but soon began to repent for his decision. The bus is already expired, its validity age is over, now it’s time to recycle or demote to local area.

At this moment, I had 2 questionnaires:
1. Why don't they recycle bus as they make a lot of money from these vehicles?
2. Why BRTC allows such buses to carry passengers?

I got the replies immediately. The owners don't recycle or repair it for some reasons. First one is bus companies don't own these buses, they have less than 30% of total buses. Rest 70% buses are taken from small to mid level owners. So, they simply don't care to repair.
And these individual owners are poorly treated by the companies. They pay the owners very tiny amount compared to real income.
Let's break down the issue:
A trip from Khulna to Dhaka earns about 16,000 BDT on average. Fuel, toll & party wages cost about 7-8,000 and employee fee covers rest 2,000 BDT. Net profit is about 6,000 BDT while owner is paid only 1,000-1,500 BDT per trip. The rest is swallowed by bus company. Thus, an individual owner gets around 45,000 BDT. Its not enough for them to see any real profit after paying bank mortgages. Thus, they simply deny repairing any troubled bus.

Second reason is very clear, every single person learns it since birth. If any charge comes upon you, simply put some money in their hands and you are free from any sort charges.

That's how buses work for route transitions. A good quality bus runs for 10-15 years. After that they are used occasionally for more 5-10 years without repair. And they are sold out to local routes after expiry. Individual owners prefer to sell at low cost instead repair at high price.

Therefore, passengers had to travel often on these ugly vehicles. You can't guarantee if can get a good bus. May be you purchased a bus ticket with high price and thought that you can travel in comfort, but all on a sudden your expectations may be stubbed by an ugly bus.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

13 hours journey tasted our nurves

It took 13 hours to reach Dhaka from Jessore. The journey was delayed and cursed. I experienced 2 longer journeys earlier, 16 hours and 17 hours due to getting stuck at 'chor'. But this one was really irritating.

'Morning shows the day', the proverb is well accepted by all. But unfortunately I don't believe it, rather my trust is in 'Afternoon proves the day'; I learned it from numerous real life acts.

I chose 29th December, Saturday for my return, living only 4 days at home, shortest period of my life, in order to attend my new & last job on 1st January. I had to prepare documents as they asked for it, thus left home 2 days ago, though I never needed any document for any previous job, because IT sector is somewhat different from other fields, we focus on works rather than certificates.

Thursday was disgusting; ferry jam was common due to mid-level cold strike, all time bittering cold wind made life devastating. Jessore's situation was much worse than any other side, adjacent Chuadanga saw 6.4 degree Celsius one day ago. Ferry stopped trafficking at night due to heavy mist for 8-10 hours, all buses used to delay. However, I went for ticket on Friday morning, though didn't see sunlight till then.

Saturday, 10:30am, my bus should've left by this time. The day surprised me with glazy sunlight; it was bright, no sign of mist. All other buses arrived & left in schedule time, except my bus; you know my bus is always later than me! Bus counter was full, other series went by, but this crowd didn't move, realized that they are  same my bus riders. Counter-men told that the bus arrived at nearest terminal in time, but delayed to change glass as they're broken. The ugly bus arrived after 1 hour and left at 11:45am; on landing we realized it's old like ancient mariner cursed with fragile pattern and stupid seats.

After 1 hour we realized that the bus is moving like cow-wagon. The driver was horrible, even local buses crossed our bus. I'm not fan of fast rides, but needed quick shift towards ferry before evening. Trucks are preferred for ferry after evening & buses wait for the day. However, our bus reached 'ghat' after 3 hours, though usual time is around 2+ hours. I feared a big line, but it exceeded my thoughts; 2 parallel lines of trucks were already there, buses made 3rd row. The road got stuck, it’s impossible for any vehicle to cross this line, ferries arrived at this side, but bus can't make way. Driver made another stupid move, slided right by the melting line to cross front bus, but too narrow space pushed it to shake violently. Passengers began to shout as it was about to dive into pond.

Girls' panic began immediately. A teenage girl began to scold her somebody in loud voice, charged why he purchased ticket for this bus! When crisis strikes, women tend to loose common sense. Else, she should realize that its not driver's fault for the traffic jam, if she rides on a Pajero then the same case she had to face.

I decided to walk down the road, a fresh graduate from Chittagong varsity sat beside me, accompanied me. We walked for about 20 minutes, viewed harsh reality & concluded that its impossible for the bus to reach ferry in next 2 hours. There's just 1 road for vehicles of both ferry & lunch. And that's stuck.

It was sunny day though morning was misty. Marvel clouds in deep blue sky, big river, the annoyed crowd added some eternal flavor. I enjoyed the moments.

Finally we crossed Padma 15 minutes before evening. I was happy not to face another night waiting at ghat. But frustration embraced every passenger, even him who's highly affirmative when our bus crossed ferry & immediately stopped at a corner. Driver informed that 1 tire is gone, needs to be repaired, will cost only 1 hour. To my count, 3-4 babies were in bus, they simply began to cry as passed massive 7 hours already. I chose not to step out due to shivering cold, but had to get down after 45 minutes, watched tire operation. Another bad news kicked our hopes, one more tire is punctured, would take another 1 hour. I didn't know whom to blame.

After 2.5 hours, bus began to roll at about 8pm. But heavy fog prevented its speed, can't see anything after 10 feet. I knew it, village area sees thick fog, while Dhaka may not see at all. We traveled in slow motion, but I'm happy that it was a safe journey. Aminbazar jam is a must for all, it delayed us another 30 minutes.

After 13 hours I reached my home at 11:45pm. What a memorable journey!