Shutting down bus services in Alberton affects commuters negatively
Busses operating in Alberton to transport individuals from home to work and vice versa shut down from December 1, and locals are already struggling to adjust to other modes of transport.
Putco, GWIT, and other bus services stopped rendering their services to residents of Alberton as of December 1, leaving hundreds of passengers to find alternative transportation.
Following the signing of a new contract between the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport (GDRT) and the busses operating in the province, this conclusion was reached.
One stipulation in the contract states each bus must employ weekly or monthly season fares to carry an average of at least 35 people on every trip.
According to Putco’s media liaison manager Lindokuhle Xulu, some shifts in their calendar were noted in the notification from GDRT and judged to be financially impractical because they did not meet the previously indicated requirement.
Consequently, continuous use of these shifts was not authorised.
The Alberton Record asked Xulu about the bus commuters who had already purchased a monthly ticket for the bus services.
He said commuters were notified on time about the shutting down of these services and they were advised a long time ago to at least purchase tickets at the bus store rather than using cash for fares because this would result in the current decision.
“Commuters must remember statistics are conducted using data and in this case, most users were using cash instead of a daily, weekly or monthly bus ticket. We have been in communication with the GDRT and buses will resume in some areas. However, Alberton is not one of them at the moment,” Xulu explained.
Xulu stated that Putco’s assumption of this obligation was more practical, given the ongoing need for dependable public transit and the operational difficulties that forced the municipality to terminate its operations.
“Putco has complied with contractual duties by informing passengers of modifications at least two weeks before the implementation date.
“We sympathise with all impacted travellers and recognise the difficulties they might have in locating alternate transportation,” Xulu empathised with travellers.
The statistics collected by the provincial level authorities about the transport users were shared with all relevant stakeholders, including local councillors, to make them aware of this decision.
