Passengers on public buses, especially those connecting the city's subur-ban areas with downtown urban areas, have often experienced hair-raising speed as drivers try to make up for time lost at stops in waiting for more passengers. Things may be about to change, however, as the local traffic authority plans to launch a "card-punching" system.
The system has proved to be a success at the Nanhui Dazhong Passenger Transportation Co. in slowing down the daredevil drivers.
It will be expanded to buslines citywide, traffic and patrol police in Nanhui District said yesterday.
Dazhong established the system three years ago, in which drivers are required to punch a time card in the middle of their route.
If the bus is late by a minute in arriving at the midway stop, both the driver and the conductor are fined 20-yuan (US$2.4).
According to police, public buses usually linger at downtown stations to take in more passengers, which not only leads to traffic snarls and accidents, but wastes passengers' time.
The mishaps and traffic jams are caused as the drivers press on the accelerator, sometimes dangerously, on suburban roads to make up for the time-loss.
"In the past, the rash driving frequently bruised passengers because of excessive use of emergency brakes. More severely, we had to handle many accidents involving vehicle damage and injury," said Wang Aiguo, vice manager of Dazhong which employs some 200 drivers and conductors.
Thanks to the mid-way timecard system, the company has seen a perceptible decline in the number of accidents.
The measure has also saved costs for Dazhong because of fewer vehicle repairs and insurance compensation. Also, the satisfaction rate among passengers has jumped to 90 percent, while "in the past, it was very low," officials said.
(eastday.com December 11, 2002)
|
