Private vehicles allowed for Eid holiday commute

LAHORE: The Transport Department has decided to permit private vehicles to be operated for inter-city public transport in a bid to overcome the shortage of transport facilities ahead of Eid.

The District Regional Transport Authority (DRTA), Lahore, has started accepting applications after a notification to this effect was issued on Thursday by Malik Muneer Joiya, the DRTA secretary.

A DRTA official said that vehicles belonging to commercial organisations and educational institutions would be used for the purpose from September 6 up to September 14.

“The shortage of inter-city transport facilities to cope with the demand on Eid has been a longstanding complaint,” the official said. “The move will ensure that everyone gets accommodated.”

The DRTA notification stated that the route permit fee has been set at a nominal Rs100. Applicants who apply for more than one routes would have to pay separate fee for each. The vehicles selected would operate from the General Bus Stand (GBS) in Badami Bagh and the CDGL bus stand in Sikandriya Colony, Bund Road. In other cities, they would use government-owned terminals.

In a bid to stop transporters from overcharging, the DRTA has constituted two squads that would be deployed at the GBS in Badami Bagh and the CDGL-owned bus stand in Sikandriya Colony. They would monitor the fares charged by the transporters.

The squad in charge of the GBS would also monitor Bhati Ahmed Travels at Bund Road and Mian Travels at Shahdara Chowk. It includes two motor vehicle examiners, Muhammad Iqbal Akram and Muhammad Azam, and two men from the district officer’s (Passenger & Freight Transit Terminals) office.

The other squad comprises Muhammad Iqbal and two officials from the district officer’s (Passenger & Freight Transit Terminals) team.

These squads have been authorised to take action against those involved in overcharging. They will submit daily reports to the DRTA.

Talking about the problems faced by passengers, a Lahore Transport Authority (LTA) official admitted that the inter-city transport facilities were not adequate.  He said that the passengers had to face a lot of hardship before Eids and other holidays. He added that fares charged on these occasions were frequently way higher than those prescribed by the administration.

Jamshaid Faiz, a passenger at the GBS, said that ahead of Eid, transporters started charging for even hand luggage. “Those who refuse to pay are asked to get off the bus,” he added. Faiz complained that no transporter ever displayed official fare-tariff. “They cannot overcharge without the consent of the stand managers and union leaders.”

More than 4,000 passenger buses operate from the General Bus Stand in Badami Bagh every day, Sajjad Ahmed, an official at the GBS, says.

On work days these buses fill up in an average of 45 minutes, he said; ahead of Eid they don’t require more than 10 minutes.

An official at the Sikandriya Colony said that the stand could accommodate 90 buses. There was ample space to operate 3,000 buses from the terminal everyday, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2010.