BAD SERVICES * WORLDWIDE

* Bulgaria - Report: Bulgarian school buses risky

Sofia,Bulgaria -UPI -March. 31, 2010: -- Many of Bulgaria's 2,000 registered school buses aren't mechanically sound, are overcrowded and driven by unqualified drivers, the government said... On the first day of an Interior Ministry investigation reported on Bulgarian National Television Tuesday, officials recounted one incident in Sofia highlighting the safety problem... When police tried to pull over a school bus carrying children, the driver sped away, but was apprehended soon after. He told officers he had wanted to stop for breakfast and didn't have time to speak with them, the report said... The driver didn't have the required license to drive a school bus, and was also carrying 18 children in a bus that was rated to carry eight, the report said... The bus also had mechanical flaws, investigators said... Cases of that magnitude can carry fines as high as $4,000, the Sofia Echo said...Buses carry children to 1,181 schools in Bulgaria, BTV said...


* Burma - Bus company told to 'stop caning' drivers

Rangoon,Burma -AFP/The Bangkok Post -29 March 2010: -- A bus company in military-ruled Burma has been told to stop caning drivers and conductors for letting too many passengers on buses... According to the Burma Times, Bandoola Transport brought in the punishment on two routes in the commercial hub of Rangoon in late February "because fining drivers and conductors was not improving discipline"... Retired Colonel Myo Myint said, the caning was brought in because drivers and conductors were flaunting a rule that bus lines were only to allow the same number of passengers as seats onboard, and this was bad for the company?s image... Bandoola Transport is owned by the army-run Union of Burma Economic Holdings Ltd, the paper said. Burma has been military-ruled since 1962... (Photo: People queuing up to board a bus in downtown Rangoon. A bus company in military-ruled Burma has been told to stop caning drivers and conductors for letting too many passengers on buses, a local newspaper reported Monday)


* Africa / Cote d’Ivoire - "The Most Miserable Bus in the World"

Abidjan,Cote d’Ivoire -Journey without maps -(originally published) 7 Nov 2009: ... This post isn’t about any of those things, this post is about the most miserable bus in the world. It runs from Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire to Bamako, Mali. Miserably... Why did we decide to take a bus from Abidjan to Bamako? There are two reasons. First, Gunna possesses a ridiculous, unwarranted fear of flying. Second, we thought it would be interesting to travel overland from Abidjan on the coast and eventually make our way to Timbuktu in the desert. How often can you watch the landscape change from tropical jungle to desert from the window? The answer, if you’ve taken the most miserable bus in the world, is ‘once’... The bus would depart at 8am and we were asked to arrive at 7am for check-in...


(Picture: The bus in its natural state: immobile)

We arrived at the bus station at 7am and no one was there. I could ramble here, but let’s just say that the bus left the station at 11:30am. Miserably delayed... The bus was loaded to the top and a gremlin had messed with the counterbalances and suspension or whatever keeps a bus from tilting over as it rounds corners. The slightest bend in the road would send the bus titling at an angle that defied gravity. While the rest of the bus remained nonchalant, Gunna and I would reach for something to hold on to. There was no sleeping on the bus. Occasionally, we came across a horrific accident and the bus would slow to a crawl, everyone would shake their heads and bemoan crazy drivers like the driver of the wreck who drove too fast, then the bus driver would hit the gas and we would careen around the next corner at an alarming speed... After Yamoussoukro the bus stopped anywhere and everywhere for no apparent reason. People would buy fruit from the window and the bus driver would hop out and walk around. At no one point was the bus mobile for more than thirty minutes straight. It was miserable... The trip was scheduled to take 24 hours, but at around midnight we consulted a map and performed accurate measurements with our fingers to work out that we were pretty close to Abidjan and not so close to Bamako. My legs cramped up, so I took advantage of every stop to stumble outside in a daze and stretch. At one point I realized how tired I was. This thought was immediately followed by the realization that after 18 hours on the bus, we had the same bus driver… Who was probably very tired as well... Then it started raining and we noticed that the bus was actually speeding up, taking corners like an F-1 race car on a chicane. Was the driver trying to kill us? Gunna was alarmed... At 5am we came to the Malian border and Gunna and I were escorted off the bus to immigration. We woke up the officials, who fumbled through our passports...


(Photo: The bus station in Sikasso)

At 9am we crawled into Sikasso and everyone was ordered off of the bus. Our direct bus was not so direct. We waited in the station for four hours until our new direct bus was ready. Now that we were used to random thirty minute stops every thirty minutes, this new bus ride was largely uneventful... At 7pm we arrived in Bamako and promptly checked into the nicest hotel we could find, which happened to be hosting a gala event for the diplomatic community. I thought that the 35 hour bus journey was worth it. Then I came to my senses...


* India - The public transport system: does it serve or frustrate?

Mumbai,India -Chilli Breeze, by Neha Malude -29 March 2010: -- Crowded buses tilting to one side of the road under the weight of scores of people, buses so dilapidated, one wonders if it is the grime that holds it together rather than the nuts and bolts; humans packed like sardines, with a few brave ones dangling at the doorway for the lack of space inside and profanities being hurled by passengers at each other – Welcome to the world of Indian public transport!... Does public transport serve or frustrate? Well, in my opinion, it frustrates! Given a choice, I would avoid public transport anytime I can... Public transport in India is synonymous with buses. Majority of the population in Indian cities, towns and villages depend on buses for conveyance; the simple reason being that they are cheap and easily accessible... But there is a huge disparity between the number of buses and the people travelling on them. One sees people travelling on top of the buses too! Add to the congestion inside the bus, the traffic jams and potholes outside, and you get a frustrated passenger and an even more aggravated bus driver, who is ready to pull his hair out any minute. The biggest advantage of a bus though, is that it covers routes that a train doesn’t, and which an auto would take more money for... (Photo from 4.bp.blogspot: Crowded Bus India)