City Police Commissioner T.R. Suresh on Wednesday cautioned the crew of private city buses to mend their ways lest the business gets perished gradually.
Speaking after inaugurating a two-day training programme for the city bus crew organised by D.K. Bus Owners Association here, Mr. Suresh said they should not ‘compel’ the police to ‘teach’ lessons; instead they learn lessons for themselves.
The Commissioner said there was no dispute that the crew have been rendering good public service; yet there are several shortcomings which are often voiced by the travelling public. The principal among public grievances, as personally learnt by him through regular phone-in programmes, is skipping trips, particularly during the off-peak hours.
“You terminate the trip midway and force passengers to board another bus; sometimes you skip the entire trip,” he said cautioning the crew they should not indulge in such practices. “You are not rendering any free service; you are being paid by the public,” he pointed out.
Mr. Suresh said the reported practice of ‘leasing’ out buses to the crew by bus owners could be behind the irresponsible behaviour of some of the crew. “This cannot be tolerated; we along with the Transport Department would examine the legal implications of leasing out buses and initiate stern action,” the Commissioner said.
He urged the crew to be brand ambassadors of the region and be courteous to passengers, who are their real masters.
Ample time given
Speaking on the occasion, in-charge Senior Regional Transport Officer G.S. Hegde noted that the general public was thrilled on hearing about the training programme for the bus crew; because people want the crew to be more disciplined and accountable.
The department is concerned about increasing number of accidents, which occur mainly due to rash and negligent driving. There is no reason for the city bus crew to zip through the roads as every bus is given 3 minutes to cover 1 km distance; means, it is enough if they maintain average speed of 30 kmph. However, the crew have the habit of waiting at halts for a long time and then speed up to make up for the lost time, he said.
Association President Aziz Parthipady and others were present.
