Bus conductors: Route masters or ‘rude’ masters?

Bus conductors and drivers are considered as the route masters. As regular bus travelers we come across many people. Be it a driver, conductor or a passenger, everybody has their own works to be done. So far we have heard many complaints and cases against the crew of private bus on various issues in and around Mangalore. Different incidents exemplify the fact that the behavior of the conductors is not good with the passengers of the bus.

The instances keep increasing every time. An average of 30 to 40 complaints will be raised every month against alleged rude behaviour of bus conductors. In many instances, people took up cudgels against the bus crew, which exposed their insensitivity to commuters’ feelings. We cannot tag all the crew of the bus as “rude and misbehaving people” but sometimes their irresponsibility and carelessness creates a bad impression among the passengers.

Many passengers say that though they travel daily in the same bus, conductors keep irritating them over tickets and the things they carry in the bus like heavy bags. Sometimes the conductors even forget to give back the change and when the passengers ask for it they back answer them and grumble on them. At times, they misbehave with them and if someone speaks about it they will get into squabbles.

Ms. Seema Shekar, a regular traveler says “I have the experience of being treated badly by a bus conductor. Usually I travel with concession rate fare (CR) but sometimes I am asked to pay more than what I usually pay. Though I had filed a case against the conductor in a nearby station, it did not have much impact. I now travel by my own vehicle”, she reveals.

Traveling in buses has become a headache for many. The moment children climb the crowded bus with their heavy school bags they have to bare all the taunts and comments from the conductors. To get rid of this, few parents go for school buses and vans and some others go for autorickshaws. Many of them travel in their own personal vehicles to avoid the confrontations with bus conductors. Their main complaint is the conductors are impolite and rude with them.

“Travelling in bus is a big headache. I am asked to pass my bags with others while in bus and if I don’t do that, the bus conductor would keep yelling at me until I get down. Sometimes they make fun of me in the local language as I cannot understand it. I do understand that even they have to manage the whole bus but they should behave politely with the travelers. If they repeat the same behaviour nobody will travel again in bus” says Ms. Keziha, a college student.

But can the conductors be blamed entirely? It is their work pressure and situation that makes them behave in a way that gets passengers irritated. They work for nearly 12 hours a day and throughout the day they have to face all kinds of people. At the end of the day they are the answerable persons to the owners. They come across all kind of situations. We also have examples where some conductors have proved themselves to be the good guides and kind hearted route masters. Some of them are generous and always ready to help.

“A person can be stressed but when it exceeds the limit no one can control him or her. The same kind of stress is faced by the conductors. Throughout the day, they face situations which make them overreact and resort to rash behaviour” says Mr. Ronald, Psychologist.

To avoid the unnecessary confrontations and complaints on the bus conductors, Dakshina Kannada Bus Operators’ Association organised a training programme for the crew members of city buses focusing on how to behave with people. It was held at Mangalore from January 31 to February 7. Hope at least these kinds of workshops and seminars change the mentality and behaviour of the bus conductors.

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