The place where I live and the place where I work are two of the most populated parts of the city. Naturally, one would assume they are well connected by public transport. I used to believe that too until I decided to test it myself.
It had been a long time since I last traveled by public bus. One day, out of curiosity (and maybe optimism), I left my vehicle at home and decided to commute the “proper” way. The two locations are connected by one of the best roads in the city and are barely 7 km apart. In my head, this should have been a 25–30 minute journey. Still, to be safe, I planned to leave an hour earlier than my office time.
The bus on this route is a typical 30-seater mini-bus. As expected, it was already jam-packed. No seats, no standing space, not even an inch of breathing room. Yet, like everyone else, I pushed myself inside and somehow managed to wedge my body between other human bodies. Comfort was not even a distant concept.
What surprised me more was not the crowd, but the pace. The bus remained stationary for at least two minutes at almost every stop, and at three major stops, it didn’t move for nearly ten minutes each. Conductors kept shouting, waiting, squeezing in more passengers, regardless of how full the bus already was. The result? A 7 km journey on one of the city’s best roads took more than 90 minutes.
By the end of it, I wasn’t just tired, I was angry. Angry at those people who are very vocal about “using public transportation” but never actually use it themselves. They have no idea about the ground reality. They advocate public transport because it sounds progressive and cool, not because it works. If they had to depend on it daily, their opinions would change fast.
Let’s be honest: there is hardly any public bus system run by the government. The entire setup is controlled by the private sector, driven purely by profit. There is zero incentive to take passengers to their destination on time. The goal is simple. Pick up as many people as possible and move as slowly as needed to pick up even more.
What’s most frustrating is that the condition of public transportation hasn’t improved even by an inch in the last two decades. In fact, it has probably worsened since my student days. The city has changed dramatically. Roads, buildings, population, everything has exploded, but the bus system is stuck in time, or maybe even going backwards.
So, here’s my blunt advice to people in their early career: don’t blindly listen to those so-called experts. If you can afford it, buy your own vehicle. Old or new doesn’t matter. Just have your own means of transportation. All that talk about environment, congestion, and social responsibility sounds noble, but on the ground, it’s mostly bullshit.
In the early phase of your career, time is your most valuable asset. You should be investing it in learning new skills, improving at your job, and building networks. If you are wasting three hours every day just commuting, you will fall behind. Yes, as a student, you are compelled to use public transport because you don’t have an income. That’s understandable. But once you start earning, don’t waste your productivity fighting for space in a broken system.
You are an asset to this country. Don’t lose your energy, time, and mental peace in overcrowded buses that take you slowly.