SHILLONG: The Public Transport system in the capital city of Shillong is still far from satisfactory despite the presence of hundreds of SPTS buses, thousands of local taxis and other modes of transportation. Many citizens in the city say that the government must look to ways and means of developing a better public transport system which is fast, effeicent and reliable Citizens also lamented that many of the taxi drivers here are still in the habit of looking only for passengers who can reserve the entire vehicle and tend to ignore passengers when asked if they are going to Police Bazar or Laitumkhrah.
Apart from taxis, the government owned SPTS buses are providing service in the city but even in these buses, there are plenty of problems for the people. SPTS buses are usually filled up to their maximum seating capacities and people are left with hardly an inch of space while travelling in the buses.
The worst sufferers of such jam packed rides are school students who are squeezed in the over packed buses. Initially when the buses were launched, the government had talked about making the services a life time experience for people with state of the art facilities but things have changed and now these buses stop at junctions until conductors manage to get enough passengers.
Cleanliness is also a major concern when it comes to the SPTS buses. Recently, a private company Rapido had launched a two wheeler service in the city but the two wheeler service has been affected as well due to the fact that they have been asked to get necessary permission before operating in the city. In the absence of better and efficient public transport, services like Ola and Uber, it seems that walking is currently the best option for the public.
