Students travel on the roofs of passenger buses in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi due to unavailability of any proper transport arrangement for them. A large number of students coming from suburbs of the twin cities to their respective schools and colleges have to face jostling in packed public transport, besides misbaviour of drivers and conductors.
Rayan Asif, a student, said, “The school and college buses ply only on specific routes and I always use local transport to reach my college. This is one of the major problems for all those who come from far-off areas.”
Raza Qasim, another student, complained that majority of the local transporters do not stop their vans when they see students waiting. Majority of the institutions have not enough buses to provide pick-and-drop facility to all the students enrolled in the morning and evening classes. Due to absence of proper transport system, the local transporters always overload vans while students are not allowed to travel or they are forced to travel on rooftops.
Parents said, “We can’t afford pick-and-drop service, so our kids travel on local transport to reach their schools and colleges.” Students waiting for bus on Islamabad Highway said that transporters do not pick them from stops.
They said there is no option for them except to travel on rooftops of vehicles, which is also very risky.
Local transporters said that the students do not pay fares, so they are not responsible for their transportation and their parents and schools should arrange transport for them. They said that it is difficult for them to facilitate a large number of students, so they only allow them to travel on rooftops.
An employee, Arshad Khan, said that transport problems are not only faced by students but the general public is also facing hardships due to absence of proper transport system.
