TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2024
We cannot underestimate the role played by Public Transport in the growth of the city, ease of leaving for people, controlling climate and so on. Whether school-going children, senior citizens, working-class, or housewives, everyone needs to go from one place to another. An efficient public transport system will certainly reduce the need for a personal vehicle, thereby reducing traffic density as well as the emanation of polluting gases to the environment.
Goa may be a State but its size and need for connectivity demand that for the purpose of transportation need for public, it may be considered a city, and a city thrives only if it has a robust public transport system. Goa is mainly a tourist destination, so far. There are signs that soon the ‘most favoured’ label for Goa may change in favour of other destinations. For domestic tourists, public transport is the first need.
Present problems: If you analyse carefully, everything is wrong in all public transport modes in Goa. For example, one may need Rs 1000/1500 to come by train from say 800–100 km but may need the same amount, if not more to go to 40 Km from railway station to hotel. Public buses are there but only from terminus to terminus and thus a college student may need to change 3 buses from home to college. Taxis are there, but available only at hotels, railway or bus stations, or airports, not for people who just want to go to nearby places. Auto rickshaws are there but you cannot get the same when and where you need them, you have to go to the stand.
Besides tourists, the local public also depends on the public transport to go to work, school, etc, any need, but is anything is available say at 6 a.m or 10 p.m. For emergency is there any public taxi stand in Goa? What are public facilities available to go to the railway station or Airport?
We may consider public transport facilities in other towns before coming to Goa. Metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru have Rapid Mass Transit systems like Metro and local trains, besides regular buses, taxis, auto-rickshaws, etc. In all cities in India, there is a timetable for public buses which is followed scrupulously.
Suggestions for improvements: Goa does not need yet Rapid Mass Transit system but certainly needs major reforms in all prevailing public transport systems. Every mode of public transport in Goa is engulfed with many historical antecedents. There are political and other connections, there are doubts and apprehensions in operators, like though OLA and UBER apps are prevailing in all major cities of India and for that matter across the world, but not in Goa and therefore one needs to find a solution without touching those aspects. The followings are some suggestions that can be implemented, without affecting major prevailing systems.
Public Bus transport: Ironically, in Goa, the public bus system is in hands of both, public and private operators. Be that so! Let their tribe increase! How does one improve that? If there are more buses on the road, more facilities to the public and more employment generated.
Let’s analyse the present system and how buses operate in Goa. There are few major towns where there are bus terminals and buses are operated from one terminal to another, for example from Panjim to Margao or Ponda or Mapusa. These are trunk routes. Then there are intra-city/town routes say Dona Paula to Panjim bus stand, etc. The buses start operating not before 6 or 06.30 a.m and not after 08.30/09.30 p.m. This system is in prevalent for the last 50 years or more. Does this not need to change with the change in time? Why does a student from Dona Paula/Caranzalem going to Mapusa to study need to change bus at the Panjim bus stand? Cannot a bus from Dona Paula go directly to Mapusa/Margao/Ponda/Thivim Railway Station/Vasco via Dabolim airport and so on?
It’s funny to note that bus to Taleigao from Panjim Bus stand travels via Miramar, then goes to St Ines and then to Taleigao, but will then proceed back to Panjim bus stand via Caranzalem and Miramar. And why buses cannot start by 5.30 a.m. if not 5 a.m. and in the night till say 11 p.m?
Taxi services: Coming to taxis, let us not talk about Ola or Uber for obvious reasons. A simple solution can be that all public taxis should be connected through a system like 108 ambulance services. A designated number say XYZ is given to call taxis by the public. When someone needs a taxi s/he can call XYZ and give his location and destination. A central server will immediately pass on the request to the nearest public taxi through SMS. The taxi drivers may have the option to say no and the request may be passed on to the next one and so on. In such case, a driver may get passengers from Margao to Calangute and may be to the airport and so on. He may switch off/on as per his needs and fare may be reasonable for passengers and the daily take-home amount may be much more. As trains and planes are operating for nearly 24 hrs, reasonable customers are assured of taxis. This may be a win-win situation for all without much fuss.
For auto-rickshaws, very little change may be required. They may be asked to charge a single fare for popular destinations and 1.2 or 1.5 times for interior places but allowed to wait at any junction, corner, below a tree, etc, without obstructing the traffic as is the case in most of the cities/towns.
Change is constant and change is needed. All changes are always opposed due to many reasons but mostly apprehensions. In all such solutions mentioned above, there may be doubts for all concerned, but unless we begin after careful consideration, we will not succeed. We can learn from reactions after implementations and go on improvising to make it better. Of course, the will to change lies with the authority concerned.
(The author has been a resident of Goa for 45 years.)
