The Punjab government is seriously contemplating charging fare from the passengers instead of providing them free travelling facilities in the first four weeks on metro buses due to large crowds of rowdy people thronging to get a joyride on the newly-launched service.
According to sources in various governmental institutions, agencies and security officials, the buses have been jam packed at the starting point on both sides of the route and passengers at bus stops had to face difficulty to board the already packed buses.
There were a number of people who travelled with their families just for recreation purposes and instead of coming down at any stop, made it a “round trip”. Those who had to travel on a need basis were, therefore, left stranded at terminals. A number of buses were also damaged the other day due to which the public circles are also demanding that the government take steps for ensuring that only passengers travelling per need benefited from the metro bus service and efforts be made to protect the national asset. Some circles have also expressed the apprehension that if the government did not start charging fare for metro bus service, the citizens would not avail the facility in the real sense.
