Of 42 specially trained drivers, 24 have already quit the BRTS; 10 of them have joined Nano plant service.
Neha Hassija, a regular commuter, saw the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) as a blessing when it commenced services last year. A smooth and comfortable means of intra city transport, the BRTS had polite drivers as well. Of late though, Neha and her friends have been noticing a shift in the demeanour of the drivers.
This was evident when recently, on the RTO-IIM route, the driver
suddenly applied the brakes at a busy cross road, leaving Neha almost tumbling on the bus floor.
The observation is not Neha's alone. Several regular BRTS commuters have been sensing a steady deterioration in the system and its efficiency. Drivers' skills, punctuality of the buses, the information system in the buses going off after 8:00 pm and sensor failure due to bad roads, all seem to be ailing the city's latest and much-loved means of public transport.
The biggest issue though, is quite clearly the statistics of BRTS drivers. After the Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited (AJL) contractor spent hefty amounts on training the drivers in yoga, special driving skills, public etiquette and behaviour, many of those trained are leaving the BRTS. AJL officials say they initially trained 42 drivers, with help from experts who specially came down from Delhi for the job. "Of the 42, however, only 18 remain with us. The other 24, we hear, have either shifted to the AMTS or have joined the Tata Nano plant", said a senior AJL official.
The AJL officials said that they usually do not bother with the amounts the contractor pays to train drivers, because as per a clause in the contract, the contractor has to bear such expenses, to maintain the desired quality of driving.
It seems the AJL had earlier called a meeting to understand the drivers' grievances, when some of them started moving out of the BRTS. "We then realised that they were not happy with the Rs5400 given to them for making around 3-4 trips in their duty period of six hours a day. But the contractor was not happy with the AJL officials' interference, and we were asked to stay out of this," added the official.
It could be negligence towards maintaining high standards, or quite simply the inability to keep up the promise of comfortable commuting, that the city was promised earlier. But one thing is for sure - if the quality of driving dips further, and accidents keep happening the way they are right now, the BRTS does stand to lose some of the goodwill it has generated over the last few months.
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