Bakwaas on buses

Sat, Jul 5 01:05 AM

Oh no, not another DTC bus story! Of course not. This one's different.

It's about ALL the buses - Bluelines, Whitelines, chartered, unchartered, low-floored, lopsided, red, green, and the killer ones. As the state transport goes for one of the biggest overhauls in its history, here are some suggestions from those who have suffered public transport for years.

Advertise! Put big glossy posters on buses, make insane amounts of revenue and buy more buses ASAP. Once you have those new buses, put on a limit on the number of people allowed onto a bus. O challan-happy policeman, fine the buses that look pregnant with their multitudes and hanger-ons.

Here's another thing that can be done this very second. You know how people run after the buses, screaming, shoving, pushing, rushing to get into a bus that never really stops.

STOP. First, stop the bus properly, and then, if there are a lot of people, (and there is space on your bus) then wait a little longer. Stop racing with the other buses on your route - statistics show that there are more than enough passengers for everyone.

Is this a country with a billion-plus population or what? By the way, all you passengers out there, do you know that in Mumbai people get into buses in a queue? In a queue! Can we at least attempt at something civilised? Another thing that would have really helped me as a fuccha many centuries ago is a schedules of buses expected at every stop. So that you know that you don't HAVE to get into the over-crowded Blueline coz a nicer, emptier DTC will be there in 10 minutes.

This is really the simplest and most cost-effective thing to do. You don't even have to wait till those GPRS systems (that the government promised) reach the buses in 2010.

Simply take printouts and stick them up. And just in case the genius planners mess it up, here's a shot that will win them many elections: let commuters make DTC bus passes online.

It will save many people from contemplating suicide!.

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