I have been trying myself to answer this question in the last days since when I found out that also privately owned public vehicles are part of jam reduction plan devised for the SAARC summit.
As I heard it, it seemed to me obviously stupid. While I believe it is a great idea to introduce the alternate numbers system, I can’t really figure out why this measure should also include all public vehicles.
With a much higher number of people forced not to use their cars, why aren’t we thinking about stepping up the public transportation service instead of literally trimming it down when the citizens need it most?
The easiest “short cut” to offset the problem was to declare two days public holidays. I hope instead people will reject this brilliant idea and go to work.
Including public transportation in the alternate cars system does not really make sense to me. Maybe one reason is that no one has really a clear picture of how many privately held public vehicles, mostly micros and tempos, are reading the streets on every single day.
My colleague Kusum had to wait for more than half an hour yesterday after 5pm on the Ring Road, certainly not a pleasant experience especially when you are a woman and it is dark and cold. Plus she had to change twice the micros ( it means paying the double) while normally she can reach her final destination in one go.
I feel like most of the decisions are taken without a proper reading and understanding of the circumstances effecting average people. Should we call it improvisation?
If the situation is already challenging, what about the rights to free movement of persons living with disabilities? Forget about them, it is like they do not exist. After all on any usual day, the public transportation system ignores them, so why bothering in such special circumstances?
On other side, it is ironic that despite the numerous highways in the valley, it is still the same bottleneck moving from Patan to Kathmandu.
How stupid is not diverting the vehicles from Patan going towards New Baneshor along the Bagmati, side by side the UN Park. Instead incredibly you need to reach Maitighar first and then you have an 8 line highway till New Baneshor.
The alternate plates system is a great idea to be used in future to control the air pollution and keep a lid on traffic. I would love to see its use more often but only with a proper “alternative” plan in place otherwise people will hate it and with some good reasons.
Ultimately we need to win over the hearts of cars’ owners though an effective pubic transportation strategy. Why is no one talking any more about the grand plan of having a subway system in the Valley? There was a plan; millions on rupees were spent on it. Now it is totally disappeared from the news.
Politicians need to take ownership of these ambitious projects rather than letting just be managed by civil servants.
For example we need a stronger Sajha Yatayat, we need more similar cooperatives or public interest companies in the public transportation sector. We need to get organized and destroy the current anarchic transportation system of the Valley. We need a system in place that can also meet the special needs of persons living with disabilities. After all, the valley and its streets belongs to them too.
Till we reach that level of resolution, please keep enjoying the no sense!
Ps
It is true that agreeing to host and hold a SAARC meeting is unique itself but possibly all SAARC leaders should learn from business as usual, low profile gatherings of European Council, the conclave of EU leaders. We are still far from that but EU way of holding its frequent summits but this could be a new benchmark in terms of logistic and event management and practical and no formalities driven way of doing business.
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