Commuters decry public bus violations

AMMAN —  “There are always extra passengers on the bus,” Furat Odat, a student at the University of Jordan, told The Jordan Times after getting off a public transport bus at Sweileh circle.

Two weeks ago, Amen FM, one of the Public Security Directorate (PSD)radio station, reported that the Highway Patrol Department seized a public transport bus on the Irbid-Amman road for carrying 48 passengers, exceeding the legal limit. 

In a recent interview with The Jordan Times, an official from the directorate said that overloading passengers is a “very common” violation committed by public transport bus drivers. 

The Jordan Public Transport Diagnostic and Recommendations report, issued by the World Bank in February 2022, described public transport services in Jordan as “unreliable, with no timetables, little information for users and low frequencies”.

Drivers usually try to load only girls so that they can “stuff” three passengers to every pair of seats, Odat told The Jordan Times. 

She also noted that sometimes, when parked drivers see passengers coming their way, they start fighting over them. 

“It’s kind of a daily scene. They start swearing at each other; I just pretend that I can’t hear them and get on any bus while they continue to argue,” the 20-year-old student said.

Alaa Mufleh, who also noted her frustration with bus operators, told The Jordan Times: “I can’t say no when the bus driver asks me to make room for an extra passenger, because he will simply force me to get off the bus.”

Aside from the “dangerous” crowding on buses, Mufleh also complained of the often blasting music, which is accompanied by the smoking, cursing and reckless driving of operators. 

Tuqa Islam, another frequent user of public transport buses who leaves her house at 6:30am to get to her 8am job, also spoke with the Jordan Times about her experience.

“Sometimes I get on the bus even though it’s full so I am not late for work because there’s no telling when the next one will come and it’s likely to be full too,” she said.

According to the aforementioned report, “women feel the current public transport system … does not meet their needs. In addition, personal security is a concern as vehicles are often overcrowded, unclean and unsafe, and 62.6 per cent of women have been subjected to some form of harassment while accessing public transport”.

Ahmad Gharib, a third-year student at Al Balqa Applied University who uses the public buses along the Sweileh-Salt route, noted that they’re as “frustrating and uncomfortable” for men as they are for women.

“I rarely get a seat on the bus because it’s so crowded. Even at times, when I catch it early, before it’s full, I am forced to give up my seat so the bus driver can load more passengers by seatinggroups of girls next to each other,” he told The Jordan Times. 

Muath, a public transport bus driver in Amman who preferred to go by his first name only, admitted that he doesn’t abide by the legal limit of passengers he’s allowed to load, which is capped at 24. 

“The bus tariff, which is 40 piasters per passenger, hasn’t changed in years, while operating costs, including gasoline, insurance, the license renewal and spare parts, among other, continue to rise. I can’t cover these costs without a few extra passengers,” he told the Jordan Times. 

Muath added that his driving licence was once seized and he was fined JD 30 due to overloading passengers.

In a statement sent to The Jordan Times, the Highway Patrol Department noted that overloading passengers on any means of transport is a punishable violation of the applicable traffic law. 

If this violation is committed, after securing passengers on another bus, authorities issue a fine to the offender and refer him to the governor, the statement said, noting that sometimes the vehicle is detained until the operator sorts his situation. 

Moreover, it pointed out“the necessity of taking into consideration the ethical responsibility towards passengers and avoiding such transgressions due to the absence of the minimum safety requirements in case of an accident”.

The departmentalso invited citizens to report any dangerous violations they witness through WhatsApp, using the number 0770999030, as complaints will be dealt with “confidentially”.