On Thursday, Shalupa Khanal, 20, had just entered Kathmandu via Koteshwar after completing her recent trip to Sindhuli. She was greeted by Kathmandu’s usual chaotic crowd of commuters, all desperately fighting to secure their seats in a jam-packed four-wheeler.

She hurriedly climbed on the first bus in sight, asking the conductor if that bus would take her home to Chabahil. “I remember asking the same question three times, to which I received a ‘yes’ in return each and every time,” said Khanal, who is a law student.

After a while, she realised she was heading in the wrong direction and asked the conductor to stop the bus. To her surprise, the conductor ignored her persistent requests.

“When I confronted the conductor for deceiving me, he pulled me outside and aggressively shoved me, shouting foul words and threats at me,” Khanal said.

She was shocked and stranded in the middle of the road. “On top of the already uncivil and violent nature of the bus staff, bystanders witnessed everything and yet did nothing,” she said.

For a long time, commuters have been complaining about Kathmandu’s poor public transport system. Public vehicles are usually crowded and, like Khanal, commuters are often subjected to harassment and indecent behaviour from fellow commuters and even the vehicles’ staff members. Despite this, the due accountability and justice seem elusive.

It’s not only the young, even the elderly commuters, who enjoy seat reservations at public vehicles, complain of being mistreated by vehicle staff. Take, for instance, Ram Bhandari, 78, a retired corporate officer who often boards the supposedly more orderly Sajha Yatayat buses.

Bhandari shares multiple incidents of mistreatment of elderly people. Sajha’s free-ride provision for the elderly and the people with disabilities is “a double-edged sword,” Bhandari said, recounting several incidents when conductors badgered him for money and remarked that someone with the inability to pay should not be boarding a bus.

“Yes, we can get free rides around the city but we are also subject to mistreatment for using the same benefits,” he said.

Bhandari recalled calling Sajha Yatayat’s office once to file a complaint against such uncouth behaviour. He got no response. “I have been using public vehicles my whole life,” Bhandari said with quiet resignation. “I guess some practices never change.”

If even the Sajha Yatayat is not foolproof, microbuses are worse, as Kopila Tamang, 23, can attest. “Overcrowding is a big issue in microbuses as it encourages molesters,” Tamang said, adding that boarding micros without company is never an option for her and her friends.

Meanwhile, students report of public vehicles’ inconsistency “messing up” with their school timings. “The buses arrive at inconsistent intervals and Sajha’s GPS trackers are also inaccurate,” said Rishav Maharjan, 17, a high-school student who commutes to his Jawalakhel school and back home on a public bus every day. With school timings coinciding with the office hours, Maharjan finds boarding overcrowded public vehicles extremely challenging.

At the root of Kathmandu’s public transport problem is the existence of numerous uncoordinated private operators, Ashish Gajurel, an expert in traffic engineering, said. “Handing over such a critical responsibility to profit-driven private operators without standard regulations creates a big mess,” he said.

Gajurel said tackling current problems in public transport requires greater investment on behalf of the government and proper monitoring mechanisms. “Ideally, public transport should be overseen by the government with an accurate estimation of demand, efficient supply, integrated ticket systems, proper route allocations,and coordination,” Gajurel said.

Gajurel also points out the state’s negligence in monitoring the poor condition of Kathmandu’s public vehicles which not only inconveniences commuters but also contributes to the hundreds of road accidents in the city every year.

For sustainable urban development, proper management of the public transportation system is a must, said Arjun Koirala, vice-president of the Regional and Urban Planners Society of Nepal (RUPSON), a non-profit. “Today, pedestrianisation and the integration of bicycle lanes have become significant elements to consider in Kathmandu's urban planning,” Koirala said.

Koirala calls attention to the government’s usual pattern of formulating urban plans but never efficiently implementing them. However, he believes shifting all the blame on the government is wrong. “It is also our civic responsibility to believe in and support plans for urban development designed by the government,” he said.

Transformation of Kathmandu's public transport system has always been a hot topic for politicians during elections. However, our policymakers have rarely walked the talk, experts say.

Ishwori Paneru, information officer at the Department of Transport Management, acknowledged the existence of problems in the public transportation sector. “There are certain logistical problems but implementation is never perfect, especially when we give bus operators the right to run independently,” Paneru said.

Citing the Motor Vehicle and Transport Management Act of 1993, Paneru talks about the provisions of punishments to keep drivers, conductors and passengers disciplined. This included fines ranging from Rs1,000 to Rs5,000 for the acts of mistreatment, sexual harassment, pick-pocketing and assault.

On accountability, Sajha Yatayat Office acknowledged that they were having trouble connecting certain buses to their GPS tracking system and that the problems would be fixed by late April.

Asked about the mistreatment of elderly on Sajha buses, the staff at Sajha Yatayat said that new employees were often unaware of provisions like the one provided to elderly people. “We do receive complaints about our staff behaviour and we also suspend or fire some of them,” a Sajha Yatayat official told the Post over phone on Thursday. “Passengers should note the number of the bus when filing a complaint so we can identify the employee and take appropriate action.”

On the part of law enforcement, Superintendent of Police Bishwa Raj Khadka at Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office reassured the Post that the traffic police department had never been as vigilant as they are now. With more personnel active, public vehicles that cram people face legal consequences, Khadka claimed.

“In cases of violent assault, sexual harassment or pickpocketing on the vehicle, passengers can dial 103 or directly lodge a complaint to traffic control at the number 9851295100,” Khadka said.

On cases of mistreatment, Khadka said the number of complaints against drivers and conductors is decreasing.

He also informed of passenger awareness campaigns being conducted by traffic police, like the one happening at all of Kathmandu Valley’s major crossways on Sunday.

“Our staff including senior officers listen to the troubles of the general public, address them and spread awareness about crucial traffic safety rules,” Khadka said. “Awareness and civil obedience are vital in maintaining proper traffic decorum.”