Student woes: The costly low-cost bus service

University of Karachi bus service has increased its fares by Rs12 since 2010

KARACHI:

The University of Karachi (KU) provides a 'university points' bus service for students, which is meant to operate at cheap rates but, in the last three years, KU has increased the fares by up to 200 per cent.

The university's transport department has increased the fares for the 2016 academic year and students now have to pay Rs15 for the bus, while the shuttle service still remains free.

Trouble for KU evening students

Until December 2010, the service charged Rs3 from any point in the city and Rs2 from KU till Nipa and vice-versa. In 2013, the fare was increased and students had to pay a fare of Rs8 for city points and Rs5 for the Nipa point. The last increase in the bus fare was seen in 2014, when students had to pay Rs10 for the service around the city, while the shuttle service from the Silver Jubilee and Maskan gates were still free.

After continuous loss and worsened conditions of KU's transport department, the decision has been taken to increase the fare by Rs5 this year; students have to pay Rs15, regardless of the distance covered, while the Nipa point fare will be Rs10.

A total of 28 university buses are functional and provide services to more than 8,000 students every day. The university provides Rs174,000 thrice every 60 days, which is mainly used in maintenance of the buses, said transport convener at KU, Professor Dr Mudasiruddin. He said most of the buses are very old and need constant maintenance; there are only four new buses which were donated to them.

Giving an example how expensive it is to maintain a bus, he explained that a single tyre costs them Rs60,000 and despite requesting the university administration for 40, they only received 10 new tyres.



"The daily collection goes up to Rs45,000 in the beginning of the week but can be as low as Rs8,000 on Fridays," Mudassiruddin told The Express Tribune. The fuel consumption of the university buses costs approximately Rs1.3 million for 15 days, which also includes around 22 other vehicles used for other purposes at the university.

The fares were increased after receiving student input and weighing the needs of the department. "We reached a conclusion after the [student] survey that every student will only get a burden of Rs200 after the increase," he said, justifying this by saying the same students spend hundreds of rupees at canteens.

One of the drivers at KU's bus depot was of the view that Rs15 is still cheap for the service they provide. "A student travels to Gulshan-e-Maymar and reaches home safely in the university bus for just Rs15, while if she travels by public bus she has to pay at least Rs45, with no assurance of safety," he explained. They provide a sense of security to the female students who are the majority of their commuters, he claimed.

The main reason of the increment in fares is to lessen the burden of fuel and maintenance on the administration and the transport convener assured The Express Tribune that if the Sindh government gives them a subsidy the increased fare will be withdrawn.

The bus fare might not seem like much but the majority of students who travel on the university buses cannot afford the increase. "I feel secure when I travel in the [bus], whereas it always costs me more than Rs40 when the [bus doesn't stop at a particular] point," said Shumaila Khan who travels using the KU points bus daily. Another student was of the view that increase in the fares will not affect the majority but some students are poor and cannot afford an increase of Rs10 per day.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2016.