Public transport suspension being mulled amid SOPs violations

With blatant and repeated flouting of the agreed-upon standard operating procedures (SOPs), the Sindh Transport and Mass Transit Department is once again considering the suspension of intra-city public transport in the province, just days after giving transporters the go-ahead to ply the roads. Sindh Transport and Mass Transit Minister Awais Qadir Shah said on Monday that the department had received hundreds of complaints about violations of the defined SOPs for public transport, adding that these violations posed a great risk of further spreading coronavirus. “The violators have even been penalised for the offence, but the situation remains still the same,” said the provincial minister. “The option of banning public transport is being seriously considered once again and we will take this decision if transporters do not take this warning seriously.” He also complained that the traffic police were not cooperating with the department in the implementation of SOPs, while making it clear that inter-provincial and inter-district transport had not yet been given permission to resume services yet. Following transporters’ pleas, the Sindh government had granted permission for the resumption of intra-city public transport and ride-hailing cities in the province last Wednesday, conditionals on compliance with SOPs. In line with these standard operating procedures (SOPs), the number of passengers on vehicles was limited to partial capacity while transporters had also been instructed to keep sanitizers in vehicles and only allow persons wearing face masks on board. Furthermore, buses were told only to pick and drop passengers at specific terminals, while buses, terminals and waiting areas were to be cleaned and disinfected and social distancing observed during ticketing, boarding, traveling and alighting. Though transporters had, at the time, pledged that they would comply with the guidelines, the past week has seen blatant violation of the rules, with scores of bus and coach drivers being arrested or fined for non-compliance by the traffic police.