BCTA to lift passenger buses requiring more than 8 hours of continuous driving

BCTA to lift passenger buses requiring more than 8 hours of continuous driving

The directive has irked those who are in the passenger bus operating business

The Bhutan Construction and Transport Authority (BCTA) issued a notification which literally removes passenger buses requiring more than 8 hours of continuous driving from the fray. The directive, which is to come into effect from October 1 has not gone down well and has left bus drivers, passengers and bus operators in a quagmire.

The notification/directive dated August 1, 2024, which was addressed to the bus operators read, “As informed during the meeting held on 19th July 2024, the Bhutan Construction and Transport Authority would like to notify that passenger bus routes requiring more than 8 hours of continuous driving shall be lifted with effect from 1st October, 2024.”

It goes on to state that the decision has been made ‘after careful consideration’ of some critical factors.

“Drivers tend to drive over speed to cover long distances within a day. Further, extended driving hours leads to driver fatigue and increases the risk of accidents which is a serious safety concern for both drivers and passengers,” the directive states.

Although the Road Safety and Transport Regulations 2021 permits bus routes exceeding 8 hours of continuous driving with change in drivers mid-way, the BCTA states that it is challenging to monitor the change in drivers mid-way due to the absence of BCTA offices and officials along the highway.

The other reason cited by the Authority is shortage of human resources (officials). It states that allowing operation of bus services on routes exceeding 8 hours of continuous driving in a day requires a journey to start early in the morning and reach the destinations late into the night. This requires the operation of base offices for more than 18 hours at a stretch in a day since it is mandatory to conduct pre-departure and post-arrival inspections at origin and destination points. “Given our limited staff, this imposes an unreasonable burden and increases the risk of compromised safety inspections,” the notification reads.

Citing Section 161 of the Regulations on Working Conditions 2022 which states that standard working hours must not exceed 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, the Department of Labour (DoL) highlighted concerns on drivers having to work for more than the permissible number of hours per day.

However, the notification also mentions that all passenger buses operating on a route exceeding 8 hours of continuous journey shall be required to halt a night at a location where there is a BCTA base office.

“I am not sure if this will benefit the public. To me, it looks like an additional harassment, extra expense on food and lodging. There is no use of halt since bus drivers will form groups and play card all night long, and then end up driving the vehicle in a sleepy mode,” a commuter, Wangdi Gyeltshen said.

Another regular commuter said that while the entire world is moving forward, the scenario is different in Bhutan. “Instead of advancement towards 24 hours service, even the existing ones are now going to be barred from serving,” a frustrated passenger lamented. “How about passenger convenience; Did BCTA calculate extra expenses the passengers needs to bear with such illogical orders? It’s like robbing thousands of bus passengers for the comfort of few BCTA officials.”

Bus drivers said that while this rule might have been brought for certain benefits, the negative effects too should not be ignored by the concerned agencies. “We also have a family and a home to return in the evening. Who would love to be on the road continuously for the majority part of the day,” a bus driver between Thimphu to Bumthang opined. “This new rule means we either have to drive too fast to reach our destination before 8 hours, or else enlarge our pockets for extra expenses.”

Similarly, a bus operator, who has been in the business for more than a decade, laughed off with the new rule exclaiming that she does not see any logic whatsoever in it. “The rule talks no sense at all other than dictating us to spend more unnecessarily.”

Going by the notification, buses plying from Thimphu to Bumthang or even Thimphu to Gelephu might fall under the category. Mathematically, all buses plying on routes which are more than 160kms might have to be lifted, which comes to more than 50% of the buses currently in operation approximately.

The notification, dated August 1, 2024 was issued to around 70 bus operators by the BCTA.

By Tashi Namgyal, Thimphu