On 29 September, 2021, at about 3:30 p.m. a passenger bus №103 and a KAMAZ truck collided at one of the intersection in Ashgabat.
It transpired that the bus driver was held accountable for the road traffic accident.
Correspondents of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan” report that accidents involving public transport frequently happen in Ashgabat.
For instance, about a month ago a passenger bus collided with a passenger car at Gerogly avenue near Syyahat hotel. The bus driver was also responsible.
Bus drivers say that the reasons behind road traffic accidents is drivers’ attempt to execute the sales plan coupled with inexperience of colleagues due to a high staff turnover.
With a low fare of 0.50 manats, the executives of motor transport enterprise сonstantly increase the sales plan per shift. A driver’s salary depends on the plan execution.
Some bus stops put a bus schedule which is not observed. In order to collect the required amount of money, bus drivers try to make as many runs as possible during their shift.
Passengers often complain about reckless driving of many bus drivers who try to finish the run as quickly as possible.
Sometimes drivers do not stop at some stops if there are only a couple of passengers wait there because it is not profitable.
Severe working conditions for public transport drivers result in high staff turnover.
Apart from the plan execution, drivers need to make sure they have coins to pay change to passengers paying in cash.Banks usually charge a fee to change banknotes to coins.
For instance, a driver has to pay a fee of 20 manats to exchange 100 manats.These expenses are not reimbursed by the motor transport enterprise.
In December 2020 it was reported that drivers were obliged to purchase disinfecting liquid at their own expense if they ran out of 5 liters a day allocated to them.
When the bus stop was transferred to the northern outskirts of the city in the district of Choganly, the drivers had to get there by taxi.
Due to the shortage of personnel, Turkmen media outlets occasionally publish job ads for the position of bus drivers.
A correspondent Soltan Achilova told the editorial board of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan” that on 29 April, 2021 she submitted a written application to the administration of Ashgabat motor transport enterprise with a request to address the problems, which had been partially been mentioned above.
Her complaint was ignored.The post In an attempt to execute the plan drivers of public buses are often responsible for road traffic accidents first appeared on Chronicles of Turkmenistan.