12 Kolkata: It's not just an adrenaline rush but a constant pressure to complete four 21km trips — Salt Lake Sector V to Howrah station — in a day and earn a minimum of Rs 8,000 in ticket sales that prompts a driver to press on the accelerator and race past other buses on the same route, even at the risk of leading to an accident.
A day after the accident involving two racing buses of route 215A, TOI took a ride on a bus of the route, which is deemed notorious by cops and passengers for rash driving. "People only see us race but they don't see why we are always in a hurry. There are 67 buses on routes 215A and 215A/1. The sheer number of buses makes it difficult for us to complete four trips a day and earn the target net income of Rs 8,000 a day. If we don't rush and if we don't outrun our own competitors on the same route, we can never complete the target," said Swapan Sil, an elderly bus driver.
"This route is profitable because of the high passenger points at Karunamoyee, Ultadanga, Hatibagan, Shovabazar, and Howrah. So there are more buses on this route. It forces us to leave the depot within 10 minutes of the bus prior to us. If we manage to get past it, we can get more passengers," Sil said.
The conductor, Ashok Mondal, explained that on average, each bus gets to earn around Rs 6,500 to Rs 7,000 per day in four trips. Of it, Rs 4,700 goes into 50 litres of diesel while the driver and conductor get to keep 14% and 9%, respectively. The owner often gets something between Rs 500 to Rs 700. In case the bus pays a traffic penalty, it goes from the owner's share.
"But if we manage to meet the Rs 8,000 target, the driver gets to keep more than Rs 1,000, and the owner can also take home Rs 1500 a day," said Mondal.
Tapan Bandyopadhyay, general secretary of the Joint Council of Bus Syndicate, agreed that the drivers do race to earn extra money but blamed it on the transport system that forces them to do so. "Why can't the govt do away with the commission system? That can end all this racing. Also, why did the RTA allow so many buses on one route?" he asked.