Problems in Public Transport

Safe and fast travel is what the commuters expect from our public transport system. It is supposed to be the cheapest and best option. But for the students of Kristu Jayanti College and the other neighbouring colleges, that is not the case. The number of BMTC buses operating from Hennur main road to Kothanur is found to be highly insufficient during the morning peak hours. The students commuting in this route find it very difficult to reach their college safely in the right time. They are of the opinion that the bus services in the morning are irregular and lack punctuality.
“Most of the colleges begin their classes at 9 AM. And every student would obviously want to reach in time.” says Mejo, a 1st semester BCA student of Kristu Jayanti College. “Because there is very less bus service in the morning, we have no choice but to rush into heavily crowded buses. This is very tiring and sometimes dangerous.”
The lack of buses and irregularity in their arrival increases the number of students waiting. They are then left with no choice but to travel footboard or hanging out of the bus which is extremely dangerous. There is a high chance of them falling off the bus. Hence, the students experience a very frustrating and perilous journey every morning.
“It is not just the college students that go through this kind of hardship. People on their way to work and children on their way to school are also part of the crowd. We are all crushed together in the bus. Finding foot space in the bus itself is a tricky task.” says Puneeth, a 1st semester BA student of Kristu Jayanti College. “The actual problem is that all the institutions begin their daily schedule almost at the same time. So there tends to be a need for everyone to reach their destination in time. If there is no adequate amount of buses, they choose to step into the first bus they find and this leads to the crowding up of the bus.”
As the public transport is highly unreliable, the students who use the BMTC bus passes are sometimes forced to use the private buses. This leads to unnecessary expenditure of money. Leveraging the lack of frequency of buses, a number of auto-rickshaws at the Hennur Junction ferry passengers on a shared basis. They charge the passengers much more than the meter fare. These are the problems that the students have to face every day.
National Service Scheme (NSS) operating in Kristu Jayanti College have found that much of the students of the college use public transportation and that they find it very problematic to commute in the morning.NSS has decided to raise this issue to the respective authorities and strive to find an appropriate solution. –Akshay Balan, 1st Semester BA JPEng.