Public Bus Transportation In China (1)
By Artemeis
@artemeis (4189)
China
January 27, 2016 1:00am CST
Let me begin this post by asking a few questions:
1. Does your country's public bus service has any established safety regulations which dictate what is allowed and not allowed to be brought on board the bus?
2. Do you think a skooter or foldable bicycle should be disallowed on board?
Recently, there was an unpleasant incident involving a girl bus passenger who boarded the public bus with her electrical skooter on the grounds that it was very late at night and being too unsafe to ride it back home. The bus driver tried to reject her after discovering what she had brought with her on board the bus. When he failed the bus driver refused to operate and terminated the bus service prematurely. The passenger refused to get off the bus on the following grounds:
1. There is no law against her or any passengers from bringing such an item on board.
2. She felt that it is her right to bring whatever on board.
3. The bus driver had refused her after the fact that she had already paid the fare.
This incident resulted the passengers on board had to debus and take another bus to continue their journey, at the same time caused a 3 hour traffic jam.
The news was reported by an eye witness and published online. Surprisingly, the majority of the readers supported the passenger for standing up against the bus driver whom majority felt was insensitive, unreasonable and unruly,
I felt that the passenger was wrong in this incident when she should realized that the skooter would be an undue hazard during an accident, emergency evacuation or obstruction to normal operation which will impede movement in the bus. Besides, she could opt for a cab to take her back which would be more appropriate and safer here.
Who do you think is in the wrong the bus driver or the girl passenger in this case?
What do you think about bulky heavy items on board public bus transport?
Image courtesy of John Kasawa by FreeDigitalPhotos.net
5 people like this
5 responses
@SIMPLYD (90717)
• Philippines
27 Jan 16
Here , there is a compartment on buses by its sides underneath the chairs area where you can place those bulky baggages .
But in that case wherein there is a scooter , perhaps the passenger was allowed to ride with it on board , on the condition that she will take the back side so it cannot obstruct the way of the alighting passengers .
1 person likes this
@artemeis (4189)
• China
28 Jan 16
In China, these skooters are electrically motorized ones which are of heavier and sturdier built ones which includes the batteries and engine. It is unlike the children type which are smaller and lighter - more portable.
Also our buses are not well designed like yours.
1 person likes this
@artemeis (4189)
• China
27 Jan 16
Please note that the skooter we have here is a electric motorized one which is more bulky and heavier than the one pictured here. The material used are stainless steel and it weighs quite a bit here.
Of late we have had public bursting into flames causing quite a number of passengers who failed to escape being burnt alive.
With these considerations, do you still think it is still acceptable to bring on board a public bus?
@artemeis (4189)
• China
28 Jan 16
@Shavkat
Unfortunately, there is no such amendments nor implementations since time and I don't know the reason or reasons for it. However, I expected every one of us to be civic minded and safety conscious enough to know that such an item should never be considered on board public buses and subways even, since they are basically of an obstructive by construction in terms of size and weight. Consequently, they are regarded to be dangerous to both the owner and other passengers on board when there is an accident or emergency incident.
Anyway, the aim of this post is to bring about some awareness, civic mindedness, discussion and draw some perspectives. It is not about asking for some jury decisions from any one or you, so no one will hold on your point of view here.
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
14 Mar 16
It is not whether the passenger or the bus driver is right or wrong.
The issue is about the bus company.
What will happen to the bus driver if she allows the girl to take the skooter on board?
If the bus company is going to give her a warning letter or deduct her allowance or anything, then she obviously wants to protect her job and income.
1 person likes this
@artemeis (4189)
• China
14 Mar 16
Like I mentioned to another member here that this is not asking who is right or wrong but to draw some perspectives and insights.
It is really a no brainer as far as such apparatus is concern where it could be considered as hazardous by built and obstructing during an emergency. These skooters are considerable in weight and in some cases modified to go the distance. I felt that the girl should use her common sense and be more civic minded. As for the driver, he should be more alert and tactful like preventing her from paying the fare during boarding or refund her after she had paid for the fare. Encourage her to take the taxi instead since she's with her friends whom I am sure would be willing to share the fare.
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
28 Jan 16
The bus system where I live has a place on the front of the bus for bicycles. I don't think a skooter would fit as it's much smaller. All passengers here know the bus regulations, and I've never seen an altercation between a passenger and the driver while I was riding the bus, but haven't done so for many years now as I've had my own vehicle.
As for the passenger in your country - I favor the young woman and this is why:
The driver would have seen the skooter when she boarded and didn't say anything but waited until after she paid her fare before saying anything, at which time he would have gained a fare for the city, and the passenger if she agreed would have been out a ride.
Clearly the time was late as to the reason why she was taking the bus instead of riding her skooter, so safety was an issue for her and the bus would have been safer. As for the cab, since the driver was not giving back her fare, what would she have paid the cab with. I'm also going to assume she didn't have enough for cab fare and the bus would have been more reasonably priced for her and just as safe.
The driver in my opinion was clearly in the wrong by not stating in the first place she could not board the bus with the skooter and taking her money. Therefore, he should have been a responsible driver and gotten her and all the other passengers he stranded to her destination.
It was his fault there was a three hour traffic jam, not the girl's.
1 person likes this
@artemeis (4189)
• China
6 Feb 16
Thank you for an elaborate answer and I can understand why you side the passenger here.
However, there were more to it which I failed to bring up and for that I'm sorry but I just found out after reading other reports. On that night, the girl had 3 friends for company for the bus ride as they were having a gathering earlier. After their gathering, they felt that it was too late for her to go home alone on her skooter. So they decided to take the bus instead together.
Now, the skooter is pretty heavy and while she was lugging it on board her friend in front of her paid the fare for her. When she was sighted later, the driver simply told her that she could not bring her skooter on board out of safety concerns. Then, started all the altercations and the consequent incidents.
I don't know if you've had any experience riding our public buses and I can tell you that they are not as well designed as what you have in your country or any other developed countries. I can briefly tell you that the buses fail miserably as far as ergonomics and spaciousness is concern, Also, during emergencies evacuation is considerably difficult and many deaths had resulted during accidents and fire breakout cases.
The skooter as I've mentioned earlier is a mechanized one and due to its construction weighs considerably heavy. Albeit that it's foldable the weight is at least 9.5 kgs and could easily break a bone when it falls or hit a person.
I felt that the responsibility on the girl to be heavier and as such is more accountable here.
