Motorcycle taxis: The ride beyond Kalma Chowk

Motorcyclists ferrying people from Metro Bus Station to destinations in Gulberg.

LAHORE:

Haji Muneer Ahmed, a 62-year-old, used to paint houses before deciding to ferry people between 8am to 7pm from the Metro Bus Station at Kalma Chowk to Gulberg for Rs20. Four other people have followed in his footsteps and now ferry people as far as Main Market.

Ahmed told The Express Tribune that he had started by standing in front of the station with a placard informing people regarding the service he was offering nearly two years ago. He said he had started doing this as opportunities for painting work were erratic. “I do not need the placard now that people know about me,” he said.

Ahmed has filled the vacuum created by the paucity of public transport. A traffic warden speaking to The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity said rickshaws dotting the station’s vicinity were not allowed to stand there as they blocked the road.

He said wardens allowed them to stand by the roadside to facilitate commuters. Another policeman deployed in the area said police had no problem with the motorcyclists as long as they did not impede the smooth flow of traffic.

Qasim Abbas, another rider, is an electrician and has been coming to the station for over two months. Unlike Ahmed who is at the station from 8am to 7pm, Abbas only comes there when he does not find work. He told The Express Tribune that he had been making good money by ferrying commuters. Abbas says he nets between Rs300 and Rs400 daily.

Zulfiqar Ghulam Ali Mustafa claims to have resorted to offering the same service after some goons destroyed his shop in Shah Alam Market last year and left him with a fractured hip bone and shoulder blade. He told The Express Tribune that he did not have the means to set up shop again. Mustafa says he derives solace from the fact that he did not need to beg for alms. But he also said that this was a dead-end job.

Shahid, a 64-year old, said that he had retired from his earlier job. He said he came to the station on and off. He said this was a good way of earning livelihood and contributing to household income.

Another rider, a man from Pindi Bhattian, spoke to The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity. He said his family was under the impression that he had a ‘respectable’ job in the city.  He hoped to get other work saying that the vocation had no future.

Despite competition in the form of rickshaws, the riders usually find customers in less than five minutes. They say this is so because rickshaw drivers charge more money and tried to fill their vehicles before ferrying passengers.

The riders said they saved Rs300 to Rs400 daily in the winter and Rs700 to Rs800 in the summer.

Ahmed, a citizen who has used the service twice, said it was inexpensive, convenient and quicker than travelling by rickshaw.

He said he could alternatively walk to Hafeez Centre but he did not mind shelling out Rs20. 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2015.