Our dear transportation system

One day, I had to go to the US Embassy. I left home planning to wait for the bus that would take me to the Remera bus park. As I reached the main road, I saw a bus coming and I was elated. I knew I would have to rush so that I could catch it. The bus passed by me towards the bus stop. I decided to run to increase my chances of reaching the bus before it drove off. Despite all the efforts I put in, and the sacrifices I made; the bus drove off without me. I was boiling with anger. How could they leave me! I was just a few steps away. I had gone against my principles and run after a bus, which is kind of a shame. I knew that the next bus would come after close to an hour, even though going there on foot takes a little more than a half hour. I had three other options. One is to take a bike, it is a little bit more expensive than taking the bus, but also more accident prone. The other one was taking a bicycle, but I have a dark fear of bicycles. The only option worth considering was walking on foot, something I got good at in the past years. So I adorned my sunglasses and put on headsets and started walking.

Our public transportation system went from bad, to worse to worst. There has always been a car deficiency in my locality. A few years ago, they used mini-buses. People had to fight for spots in the buses, but at least they were many. One knew they wouldn’t wait for more than ten minutes for the next bus. Later on we upgraded to prepaid transportation. There was a fixed fare no matter where you were going. At first people did not understand or accept this, but over time, they relaxed. The next development was to bring in ultra-big buses. These were supposed to solve the problem of car deficiency. Instead of doing that, they increased travel discomfort. They packed people as if they were stacking potato bags in an enclosed space. Many people stopped using the buses and travelled by foot or took motorbikes. In addition, buses took long to reach bus stops, for you could wait for hours. To add insult to injury, a trip that normally took thirty minutes, started taking two to four hours.

The big buses posed multiple hindrances to the passengers. One was travelling while standing. I once fell off when we had just passed the traffic lights and the bus started moving unexpectedly. My sister and I used to buy snacks using transport money, because we thought it was a waste paying to travel in such conditions. Years passed, and we got used to the buses. My sister commutes daily in them, and travels while standing a majority of the time. However, getting used to it does not excuse the multiple assaults we face while travelling. The mild ones are having people step on me or gluing themselves upon me. Some are very inappropriate and offending. I have had people ogling my cleavage or touching me in inappropriate ways. Their sole excuse being that we are in enclosed spaces.

I could rant for hours, but I will stop by here. Our transportation system is not all crap though. The government and transport companies are putting in the effort to solve some of the problems. However, there is still a long way to go. They promised us that we will not wait for a bus for more than five minutes, but I have waited for more than an hour multiple times. They said they will not exceed the limit of people, but the driver cannot leave people on the road. I believe there should be more competition among transport companies, so as to increase the quality of services offered. I will stop by here knowing that tomorrow I will wait for more than an hour at the bus stop.