To Bilkent News,
I have written about the incompetence of the transportation services to the Bilkent News once before. The reply was a hypocritical demand for a detailed report of what had happened. I, along with a few others, were left stranded at the Bahçeli stop by Bilkent school buses, more than once. I still cannot see what part of this the Bilkent News people could fail to understand. Whatever...
Another incident recently took place. I, along with ten or so, people, were left at the Bahçeli stop, on February 10, 2002, at 4 p.m., as no bus to Main Campus stopped at the Bahçeli stop, neither the one from Tunus, nor the one from Sıhhiye.
I understand that these are hard times, when it is not economical to put into service an extra bus, in case more than the expected number of riders may show up. I know that there is a fine for carrying people unseated. But, those are the problems the management of the transportation services should solve. I came up with several possible solutions to such problems while waiting at the Bahçeli stop. I don’t know what they are doing, but they obviously are not doing their job. The whole transportation business looks like it is being managed unprofessionally, and irresponsibly, from logistical aspects, to the latest ’Get off from the back of the bus!’ policy. These people, by not supplying the service asked for are wasting the resources they have.
Rahmi İlkılıç (ECON)
Dear Rahmi İlkılıç
The TSM sends extra buses when we are informed of exceptionally large numbers of passengers at the stops. The buses are strictly supervised by our department, and the ones which do not follow the schedules are penalized.
Also, the buses are instructed to carry unseated passengers when necessary. The fines for unseated passengers are paid by our department.
We believe that our management is using its budget efficiently but, there is always room for improvement. We randomly check the bus stops to determine the peak hours so that we can arrange new schedules and add busses as the need arises.
We are sorry that none of your suggestions have reached us in the past, however, please let us know how we can improve our services in the future at TSM.
The ‘Get off from the back door of the bus’ signs was the decision of the Traffic Commission of Bilkent not ours. Thank you for letting us know of your concerns.
The Transportation Unit
