Transport Chaos Threatens Commuters

Etsegenet Gutema, 45, a mother of three daughters, lives in Bishoftu, 45km from Addis Abeba, where she commutes to for work. She has made the long trip almost daily for the past 15 years, during which she has been working in various government offices.

Until recent months, the journey posed no problems. She left home at 6:00am and made it into work for around 9:00am. After work she had time to do some shopping, or visit friends in Addis Abeba, before hopping on a bus for her return trip.

“There were no transportation problems until last April,” Etsegenet told Fortune.

Like Etsegenet, there are many who live in some of the neighbouring towns around Addis Abeba and while working in Addis Abeba itself. Commuting was not much of a problem, until two months ago, when the Federal Road Transport Authority (FRTA) issued a directive banning the mini and midi buses from travelling after 7:00pm, for destinations within a 100kms, and after 6:00pm for more distant destinations.

Commuters not using the Anbessa City Bus have to go to the Kaliti terminal, in order to get transport.

Etsegenent now complains that she has to stand in a long line to get transport, but the last of the buses often leaves before her turn comes. Doing shopping and visiting friends are now luxuries she can ill afford.

It has become  characteristic of the terminals to see long lines for both Bishoftu and Adama.

Etsegenet’s worry is doubled as she has with a daughter who attends evening classes atAddisAbebaUniversityand leaves when it is almost 8:00pm. Her daughter either needs to rent a house in Addis Abeba the buses are issued a signed and sealed permit from the terminal allowing them to be on the road. For Asrat Zenebe, a mini bus driver, that permit was no protection.

The administrator expressed knowledge of only two such cases where people were stopped by transport controllers and suffered the huge fines. Despite Asrtat’s and Demisew’s assertion to the contrary, Fortune has met several drivers who showed tickets, fining them 2,000 Br to 4,000 Br, despite the permits.

“If there is a specific time when we should not drive, why do they give us the pass or why do the controllers punish us? It is confusing,” questions Asrat.

At Bishoftu, however, the terminal gives its service for the passengers only up until 7:00pm after which the passengers should look for other means of transportation, according to Alemu Bayesa, dispatch head at the Bishoftu terminal.

“We are not allowed to work after that,” he said.

According to him, when people come to Bishoftu’s lakes for the weekends, the terminal becomes difficult to manage. People come in groups, but have no idea about the law.

“It is very disappointing to see the passengers suffering here every day after 7:00pm,” he told Fortune. “It is just 45 km away and could have been considered as a taxi destination,” he says.

The problem is compounded by traffic congestion, because of which minibuses can still be are found on the road past the deadline, augmenting their risk of a 2,000 Br fine, according to some drivers.

Both the Federal and Oromia transport officials admit there is a  problem, but at the Federal level, at least according to Demisew, they want the Oromia officials to relax the control until eight or 9:00pm, despite the directive.

“We have to answer for the question of the mass and we cannot go home leaving the people behind,” said Demisew, who would later accuse this writer of being biased in favoured by what the Oromia officials were telling him.

The Oromia officials insist that the change has to come from the issuer of the directive itself, and in writing, as the original directive did.

“The directive clearly states that there should be no transportation service after 7:00pm to the towns within 100km. They should not verbally tell us to extend the time;  they should give us a written letter to do so,” said Mebrate.

While the two trade words, and the directive still stands firm, people’s chances of getting home has become a queer impossibility.

“Why should the people pay the cost for their [the officials’] failure to address the problem,” asked an expert who preferred anonymity.

If regulations are challenged during application, he said, they should be corrected, particularly in a sector that affects a large number of people.

The expert associated the problem with increasing public transportation service demand and suggested that more creative options are necessary.

“It is becoming difficult to identify the neighboring towns from Addis Abeba, since there is a huge number of people moving  in and out every day,” he says. “It is not just work; these people do also have the right to spend their spare time in the city and go back to their home. You cannot put a curfew on them.”

Integrating regional transport systems with the federal also needs a more defined and focused strategy, as well as commitment to work in collaboration, the expert opined.

“The failure to do so is ignoring the public’s needs,” he added.

Etsegenet feels like she is being brushed aside as collateral damage in the frta’s attempt to curb road accidents.

“They were supposed to improve the service,” she said, “not ban it altogether after 7pm. If they could have studied the day-to-day activity of the people, they could have done it differently.”


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