Why not small buses?
Note: This was written in early 2014, in the context of KSRTC issues in Kerala's capital city Thiruvananthapuram. One is extremely disturbed - to say the least - to read about the woes of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), and the woes caused to other road users by KSRTC buses. The organization is the lifeline for ordinary citizens. Unfortunately though, it is not a thriving venture at present; and it seems that its buses are culpable in a tragically large number of road accidents. In this “blessed” state of India, where villages seamlessly transition to towns, most roads other than national highways and a few stretches of bypasses, are too narrow to accommodate heavy vehicles. One is often bemused and amused to watch C segment cars, luxury sedans and enormous SUVs flow out of palatial premises to occupy unfair amounts of road space. Most streets and alleys seem to have been designed with only processions of the political kind in mind. After all, ...