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BEST - Well the BEST is doing a fine job, no doubt. They carry out their task well. But their drivers and conductors just need better training for road manners and for interacting with customers. This sector can be untouched. I think there is a limit for the number of buses in the city and the BEST doesn't just keep dumping buses on to the road. Moreover, if a BEST breaks down, there is quick and reliable service for it.


Autorickshaws - The Autorickshaws are the worst ever. No safety. No manners, including road manners. RUBBISH RICKSHAWS!!!! They make the same sound as a RX100 with Proton silencer. They are much better than BEST's for cutting lanes, breaking traffic rules, moving like a worm in traffic jams eventually making the situation worse. And to top it all, rickshaw production just continues and everyday there are soooo many rickshaws dumped on the road ONLY to add up to the traffic. Wait for a rickshaw strike and you'll understand why we need to limit their numbers.
Reason - Bajaj Monopoly!!!

Railways - I rarely travel by them. They badly need to be privatised. This is the most dangerous transport in India (maybe the world too). The trains are outdated. There is no safety measures for passengers. You'll see a lot of people hanging out of the train or even sitting above it. Some people die crossing the tracks too, and BLAME the train for hitting them!! Among these, you can also get pickpocketed, raped, robbed or even killed inside a train. There is absolutely no comfort. There is no meaning of the 1st class compartment except for soft seats for your buttocks and lesser crowd. We need better trains!! Sector should be privatised.

Pics Courtesy
BEST and Rickshaws - Me, myself.
Railways - SearchIndia.com

Forgot to mention. One advantage of a rickshaw is that it can get you from point A to point B in a considerably less time. And another good thing is that they are all converted to CNG, a much cleaner fuel. But its also a wierd thing, even though they use CNG they keep increasing their rates. Like fuel prices, rickshaw prices just keep rocketing. But its still cheaper than a taxi.

Didn't mention taxis. Someone please do the honours.

Nice description there Gordon.

I think the BEST in India is one of the best public transport systems in the world. They could however get more of those Star Buses on the road they look much better and seem more comfortable and disabled people friendly.

Coming to the taxis, no offence but I think its high time the Fiats need to be replaced with better cars. I think the Esteem is a good choice for a taxi. The current Fiats have become wrecks and are very badly kept. I think privatization is required in this dept.

Rickshaws well, they do get us quickly from point A to point B but I think they should also come under the privatization thingy for the simple reason the rickshaw drivers need to be given a course in ethics of driving. And the law too has to get firm on them. Cutting through lanes and bad driving is a no no. I dont like rickshaws personally but if the above happens it would be a pleasure to share the road with them

I dont think privatisation will take place so early and the different unions are not helping the cause either. I remember sometime back there was a talk about taxis, scrapping the Fiats and getting new ones, straight away union people came and started with their "gareeb" talks etc etc. With unions such as these prevailing i dont think it will hit the indian shore so quickly.
Coming to trains they are damn old should have scraped them 15 years back but still they are running them. Central Railway trains are the worst maintained compared to Western Railways. A new 9 coach train costs them whopping 14 crs.

Recently I read an article in newspaper saying that, Indian Railways has given a contract to a UK firm to clean toilets at Churchgate station as they stink a lot. Its been more then a month but I dont see anything movements out there. So you can judge the pace at which they are working.

There is a saying "Beginning of all things are small"
I hope this is the beginning.

On the contrary, I think the Indigo is perfect for the job. On the other hand, its better if we use a car manufactured by an Indian company because it helps the growth of our own country.

The best part about privatisation is not only that we'll get better transport vehicles. Its also that we will get quality service. There will be strict checks on the employees performance. Any complain can directly affect the employees job.

Yes I think Public Transport should be privatised asap.

1) BEST - These guys do a good job. But I would love to see the SPECIAL LANES for the BEST buses. It will reduce travelling time and save fuel too. As for the Starbus - let them sort out the problems that the Starbus is having, everyday I see 3-4 Starbuses being towed away after they breakdown in the middle of their journey.

2) Autos - Personally if I were the Traffic Commisioner I would ban Autos. Worst offenders on the roads with absolutely no traffic sense. One thing that can be done is - allow autos only on the inside/non arterial roads, not on main highways like the EEH and the WEH. This can decongest the highways to a great extent.

3) Taxis - Like F50 said , as soon they heard of privatisation the cabbies went on a strike. When the Taxi Union leader , Mr Quadros has 50 old Fiat taxis running for him and earning for him - how can he allow privatsation, right ? Let the citizens suffer. I want a centralised taxi stand (so that there is no parking of taxis on roads) with a central server base which can locate the nearest taxi and send it across , as its done abroad. I don't know how this will work here though. Even a Zen / Alto will do. As for cabs that want to operate from the airport and railway stations - esteems / indigos are perfect.
But One thing I am against is - A CNG cab / Diesel cab / Petrol cab charge us the same - WHY ? There is a huge difference in the price of CNG and petrol, so why should we pay the same rate if we travel by a CNG cab ?

4) Railways - A Japanese delegation was brought in some years back to study the Railways and ways to improve it - after the initial survey the first words they said were " We are shocked and surprised how there hasn't been a major accident , looks like God is on your side". That sums up the state of the railways I guess.

cheers

Just a passing thought guys... If public transport is privatised does it still remain public?! Also, what do you call it then? Public private transport or Private public transport? ;)

If the experiment of Delhi and the rest of North India is taken into account, one would never recommend privatisation of public transport.

Compared to the public transport undertaking DTC, the private bus service in Delhi is ghastly. Their buses are shabby and unsafe, they are driven very rashly and the staff-members are all goondas.

Same is the case with other private bus operators in Northern India.

In Delhi, there is now a proposal to terminate the licenses of all private bus operators and to re-invite bids after altering the tender conditions so that only big and reputed parties like the BEST can apply.

Incidentally, BEST is not in public sector, contrary to what some people seem to think.

The State Transport has one of the best buses ever. It has the most rash drivers in the world. The buses are maintained sooo well that one look at it and you'd term them as "write-offs" already.

Wonder what was the reason behind the recent bus accident in Thane?! The bus was from TMT (Thane Muncipal Transport). According to eyewitnesses, the bus was speeding. "The driver seemed to be reckless.

Agreed that privatising public transport would take care of a lot of traffic problems. BUT, would it still remain affordable for the common man? And if not then won't people think long-term and buy private vehicles if they save in the long term? So then that would increase the amount of traffic on the road and we'd still retain most of the problems.

Aren't blue line buses in Delhi already private. Just look at the state of them. I think the best way would be to go the London
way where there are two big companies who are incharge of the whole bus fleet.

EDIT: directinjection i completely agree with you. small transporters are just hopeless they don't care about lives
of the passengers as well as other road users, all they seem to care about is money.

I think so far as taxis are concerned, we should ban drivers from sleeping in them. Taxis reek of the taxi drivers.... ugh. I had been to Agra and had hired an A/c car from Delhi to take us there and the stink was really quite unbearable.......

The autos and cabs are private but the fare is somehow regulated and set by the government. I'm not sure how exactly the system works. What Gordon is proposing is that all controls be removed. But, I dont see this done anywhere in the world. The taxi unions wont allow it because their profits will come down.

I'm not sure how Railways can be privatized, although Amtrack in the US is private company.

Some years back, I think Autoriders group started that Limouzine Ac Bus service it had very low response and had to sell its buses to private tour operaters.
Whereas same thing BEST launched, its working very well.
As I told earlier also everyone needs privatisation but there are many hurdles they gotto clear one more eg. I remember is of Airport privatisation.
All workers went off to strike for 3-4 days. I had been to airport in one of days and it was so horrible to see things lying here and there.
Privatisation will come but lack of support and co-operation stops it.