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Watchdog cracks down on overloaded buses
By Dong Zhen |
January 21, 2009, Wednesday
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Online Edition
Online Edition
SHANGHAI"S transport watchdog will temporarily allow overloaded buses to return to service quickly and defer the penalty process to deal with increased travel demand for the Spring Festival.
Nearly 200,000 people are departing the city every day on licensed buses as they head for their hometowns to celebrate Chinese New Year. The actual turnover could be much bigger as the transport watchdog has found some buses, both licensed and unlicensed, carrying more passengers than capacity allows.
As bus operators ignored safety warnings in order to earn more money, many passengers were refusing to disembark after overloaded vehicles were caught by the watchdog.
``Some passengers complained loudly when we stopped the overloaded buses," said Wu Runyuan, a spokesman for the Shanghai Traffic Law Enforcement Team. "These riders must get off to wait for other buses. They blamed us for delaying their trips and were sometimes unwilling to cooperate.''
Hundreds of the watchdog's agents are now focusing on major toll stations to watch out for overloaded and unlicensed buses. They have inspected more than 2,000 vehicles on provincial-level highways since the transport rush began on January 11. They have caught 291 buses for various violations including charging exorbitant prices and overloading.
On Monday, agents found a minibus with a capacity of six packed with 16 passengers. The vehicle is unlicensed and the driver charged each person 30 yuan to go from Shanghai Railway Station to Kunshan in neighboring Jiangsu Province. The driver was put in police custody for serious violations.
A bus with capacity for 55 was found carrying 75 people as it headed for Huoqiu in Anhui on Friday. The bus was so crowded its door couldn't open when agents asked to check the vehicle.
The Anhui-registered bus was licensed. As a temporary measure during the peak travel season, the bus was allowed to continue to Huoqiu after the excess passengers were removed. Another vehicle was provided to take these people to Huoqiu.
``The bus owner must pay the bill for transporting the extra riders," Wu said. "We also confiscated the bus' business license. The owner must come to our office and pay the penalty in order to get the license back.''
Wu said it was a temporary measure to ensure people were able to get to their intended destinations in time for the Spring Festival.
Nearly 200,000 people are departing the city every day on licensed buses as they head for their hometowns to celebrate Chinese New Year. The actual turnover could be much bigger as the transport watchdog has found some buses, both licensed and unlicensed, carrying more passengers than capacity allows.
As bus operators ignored safety warnings in order to earn more money, many passengers were refusing to disembark after overloaded vehicles were caught by the watchdog.
``Some passengers complained loudly when we stopped the overloaded buses," said Wu Runyuan, a spokesman for the Shanghai Traffic Law Enforcement Team. "These riders must get off to wait for other buses. They blamed us for delaying their trips and were sometimes unwilling to cooperate.''
Hundreds of the watchdog's agents are now focusing on major toll stations to watch out for overloaded and unlicensed buses. They have inspected more than 2,000 vehicles on provincial-level highways since the transport rush began on January 11. They have caught 291 buses for various violations including charging exorbitant prices and overloading.
On Monday, agents found a minibus with a capacity of six packed with 16 passengers. The vehicle is unlicensed and the driver charged each person 30 yuan to go from Shanghai Railway Station to Kunshan in neighboring Jiangsu Province. The driver was put in police custody for serious violations.
A bus with capacity for 55 was found carrying 75 people as it headed for Huoqiu in Anhui on Friday. The bus was so crowded its door couldn't open when agents asked to check the vehicle.
The Anhui-registered bus was licensed. As a temporary measure during the peak travel season, the bus was allowed to continue to Huoqiu after the excess passengers were removed. Another vehicle was provided to take these people to Huoqiu.
``The bus owner must pay the bill for transporting the extra riders," Wu said. "We also confiscated the bus' business license. The owner must come to our office and pay the penalty in order to get the license back.''
Wu said it was a temporary measure to ensure people were able to get to their intended destinations in time for the Spring Festival.
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