Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: Together for Panaji Association has written to Transport Minister requesting him to regulate the private buses, which could solve Panaji’s congestion issues.
“The existing private buses plying in the city wait at most bus stops for more passengers. They also tend to drive slowly so that they get more passengers along the way. This strategy is proving counterproductive and severely affects the city,” said Together for Panaji in a press note.
Further, it said that a bus typically takes about 45 minutes from Dona Paula to the KTC bus stand, a distance that should ideally be covered within 15 minutes.
“At this speed, citizens find it totally inconvenient to use the buses and prefer to use personal vehicles. This has led to a massive increase in the number of vehicles entering the city and the congestion caused as a result. Such a poor public transport experience is not a good characteristic of the capital city of a tourist state,” the association said.
Together for Panaji further says that the state and city administrations need to make every effort to promote public transport and make it more and more convenient for citizens.
“A strict mandate has to be issued to the bus operators to follow a no-wait policy. The bus should pick up the passengers waiting at the stop and move immediately. The bus operator will not lose any business in this process as the mandate will be uniform for all operators. On the contrary, more people will start using public transport, resulting in increased business for the private buses,” it says.
Technology can be applied to enforce this mandate. GPS devices should be fitted on the vehicles to track their movement and take disciplinary action for non-compliance, the association says.
Meanwhile, the government should deploy RTO personnel to enforce the discipline. Our organization would be willing to assist in this effort if necessary.
“This letter will soon be followed by an RTI requesting the steps taken by the Government authorities,” it said.
