[sustran] Re: Reader's Digest Article

[Brendan Finn]

Asia is a big place, with a lot of diversity. Which part of Asia do you want to look at - India, China, Indonesia, Central Asia, the Middle East ? Also, which sort of buses - urban, rural, intercity ? I guess when I saw your request, the first thing that occurred to me was that you wanted just the bad stuff, but I presume that you actually want any experiences.  

I think it would be useful (and maybe fairer as well) to differentiate between problems with people which can also happen on the bus (maybe a crowded bus gives extra opportunities), and problems with the buses and drivers. 

I spend a lot of time in Central Asia (the 'Stans), most recently in Kazakhstan. Travel on the urban buses is generally safe, both in terms of accident risk and from unwanted attentions. Big buses are fine, and reasonably comfortable, even if a little old. There has been a proliferation on small buses (route-taxis or marshrutki) in recent years. The drivers are less well trained, the conditions more cramped, and it's herder to figure where you are or where you're going. Nonetheless, safety is reasonably good. Among other data, I collected information on the number of fatalities and serious injuries involving urban public transport in a number of Kazakh cities. They range from zero to 4 fatalities in a year. Taking into account the mileage, and calculating an overall fatalities per 10 million miles, the figures were just a little worse than Dublin, where I'm from. My experience of the transport authorities is that they make quite reasonable efforts to enforce basic safety and technical quality of the vehicles doing urban transport, although they have less control over the vehicles entering the city form outside. 

The intercity services are somewhat different, being effectively a deregulated market. Vehicles are old, and of varying quality. Safety is not at the same level as in the cities. I used a number of buses between the North-East and East cities. From the passenger's perspective, there is some discomfort, especially caused by poor ventilation. However, I never felt that any threat, hostility or risk of theft either on the buses or in the bus stations (although some were a bit scruffy, and could be intimidating to people not used to them). I have been on buses with no brakes, no windscreen, one driven by a driver clearly getting his first lesson, and so forth, but I have not witnessed reckless driving, or heard concerns among people about safety. I found the passengers friendly and chatty to each other and to me, and that there was a general 'camaraderie of the road'. 

I would make similar comments about the urban transport services in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan where I have also lived and worked, but I don't have first-hand experience or really know the intercity services in those countries. 

My limited experience of intercity, coach and urban bus services in Malaysia has all been very positive. Sometimes it's a little creaky at the seams, especially in the lower used and lower-tariff services, but I've never seen either poor quality vehicles or reckless driving. In fact, in places such as Kuching and Kota Kinabalu (Malaysian Borneo) I've been really impressed by the driving standards of the minibus drivers. 

By contrast, Sri Lanka is worrying. There are two sectors - the more-or-less state sector that are part of the former (?) Ceylon Transport Board. These are the 'peoplised' companies, and have about 6.000 buses. Generally, the vehicles are maintained OK and driven somewhere between OK and OK-ish. By contrast, the private operators - maybe 6,000+ vehicles - have no such restraint, and drive recklessly. This leads to many accidents and many fatalities. Traffic levels on Sri Lankan roads requires playing chicken to overtake, and lets just say there are lots of feathers around. When I was there in June 2002, every day in the paper there were articles and/or editorials complaining about the seriousness of the problem, and there were reports of fatalities - invariably head-ons. 

I hope this is of help for your article. 

Brendan Finn. 
etts at indigo.ie

  -----Original Message-----
  From: sustran-discuss-bounces+etts=indigo.ie at list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+etts=indigo.ie at list.jca.apc.org]On Behalf Of Ecenbarger at aol.com
  Sent: 20 November 2004 13:04
  To: sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org
  Subject: [sustran] Reader's Digest Article


   I’m writing an article on the dangers of bus travel in Asia. I am seeking expert opinions on this subject; insights and suggestions are most welcome. What is the scope and gravity of the problem of bus travel in Asia? What are the principal causes and what are some solutions?
   Also seeking statistics, documents, news articles and any other relevant information in this topic 
   I will greatly appreciate any help on this.

  --Bill Ecenbarger, Reader’s Digest
  ecenbarger at aol.com
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