Sunday 17 October, 2021 | Niharika Mehra | Dehradun
Despite various steps being taken by the authorities, the major problem of improper public transportation riddled with various flaws continues to plague the people of Dehradun and fuel the problems being experienced on the roads.
This correspondent interacted with citizens using or avoiding public transport for various reasons. A university student Taranjeet Kaur said, “I would love to use public transport always but it isn’t reliable at all. I often get late for college and at times I can’t find any public transport at all due to which I have to rely on my friend’s two wheeler to reach places. The Vikram driver doesn’t even start driving until it’s full of commuters and often waits for long, something which many can’t afford.” Speaking on electric buses a government primary school teacher Manju Mehra said,”The electric buses are good but what’s the use for us if they don’t ply on the other routes barring the two they are operation on now presently. Right now I am forced to rely on my co-workers to go to school and I’m thinking of buying a vehicle for myself. It wouldn’t have been the case at all had the e-buses been regular and plying on more routes.”
College student Rishita Raghuvanshi added, “I rarely use public transport since the vehicles are overcrowded and it’s uncomfortable at times.Due to these reasons I choose to walk or use my bicycle to commute. But cycling gets difficult due to dense traffic and the pollution has increased too, making things difficult for cyclists.”
Another youngster, Aditi Aswal said, “I don’t like using my own vehicle to travel to places to where public transport is available, but I am forced to. Travelling in electric buses seems like a privilege to me owing to the limited number of buses. It’s only once that I got to travel in an e-bus and that too after waiting for half an hour. This isn’t possible on a regular basis.”
