THERE are certain locations in the Nation’s capital that need proper bus stops for passengers to catch buses to travel to their desired locations in the city. These locations also need wider spaces for PMV buses to drop off and pick up passengers.
Acting National Capital District Metropolitan Superintendent Mazuc Rubiang stated that some of the traffic jams in the city are caused by the buses queuing on the road blocking off other vehicles to pick up passengers that had caused traffic jam.
He said there are two locations that he had observed, that are obvious: the Waigani traffic light and the bus Maggi Highway bus stop at Four Mile. He said the Waigani bus stop is there but is too small to gather for all the buses using routes nine and seven.
He said this had caused the buses to stop on one lane of the road to pick up and drop off the passengers.
He said the other thing is the bus stops are far from each other, especially when passengers travelling from one location to another need to change routes to get to their desired destination.
“I had observed that passengers who get off from buses coming from Morata don’t want to risk their lives to travel up to the Bus Nine and Seven bus stop to wait for the bus there. Instead, they wait at the traffic light for buses to go and stop and pick them up there, which is not right. When they stop there and are booked by the police for stopping at an unauthorized bus stop, the drivers pay the fines while the passengers go free. We police are doing our job and want the public to do things right too,” Supt Rbiang added.
He said the other bus stop at Four Mile, Boroko is the same the bus stop is small and the bus stop for the passengers to transit is also far from the bus stop dropped off.
Some passengers don’t feel safe walking from where TST was to the main bus stop at Four Mile, so they stop buses near them to get on the bus, which now becomes another problem with traffic jams. He said it had been an ongoing issue in which some females and even males had been victims of bag snatching, stabbing, and even traffic accidents.
“I want to call on the responsible authorities to help address this issue, to help the police, the bus drivers and owners, and, most importantly, our citizens. If we don’t address this, the public will want the police to stand and control the traffic, the police will arrest the drivers, and the public will become victims of crimes when they want to move to the nearest bus stop, Supt Rubiang added.
