Ho Chi Minh City residents associate their buses with a notorious reputation for being the main suspects behind numerous traffic jams and accidents occurring in the city over the past few years.
But the anonymous faces ferrying them from work to school to home each day also grapple with their own struggles in coping with heavy traffic, social prejudice, low wages and mounting work pressure.
Nguyen Van Nho, a bus driver working for the Saigon Passenger Transport Co., Ltd, started his day at 3:30 a.m.
After spending several minutes checking the engine, the 50-year-old driver made a long trip to downtown Ben Thanh Market to pick up his first passengers of the day.
Each bus often includes a driver and one or two assistant drivers who work as inspectors, collecting ticket fares from passengers and clearing traffic when needed.
Nho, who has 29 years under his belt, said one of his wishes was to spend one solitary day without having to listen to people yelling and swearing, to be rounded off with a good night’s sleep.
His first trip often starts at 4:30a.m. on the route connecting Ben Thanh Market and the city’s Eastern Bus Station, the gateway for people from rural and suburban areas to enter the inner city.
One of Nho’s first encounters of the day was two old ladies from rural areas who insisted on boarding his bus only to found out later they had taken the wrong route.
After yelling at Nho and his assistant drivers for “tricking” them, the two passengers threw some money on a nearby seat and stomped out of the bus.
“The job requires us to please everyone, anyone can yell or swear at us,” the assistant driver said.
“We all take the blame for things like traffic jams, late arrivals at the checkpoints, passengers smoking or throwing up on the bus,” Nho said.
Traffic congestion and passenger complaints are among the biggest fears of those behind the giant vehicles.
Bus drivers who receive an average monthly income of about VND5 million (US$280) are often subjected to fines of up to VND500,000 ($28) for any reason that causes them to arrive at checkpoints late, receiving complaints from the customers or being involved in an accident.
Nho who usually gets home after 10p.m. every day describes himself and his colleagues as “fish on the chopping block”.
“The tricky part of this job is how to make everyone happy,” Thanh, a local bus driver said. “Some want air conditioners on, some don’t. Some want to open the window to smoke or bargain for lower fares.”
Thanh also talked about his experience of being fined VND500, 000 ($28) for taking a day off to deal with a customer’s complaint or missing a stop due to traffic congestion.
Maneuvering giant vehicles through HCMC’s cramped streets, packed with vehicles of all types ensures a greater number of accidents.
Thanh recalled the story of one of his fellow drivers who was involved in an accident with a drunk motorcyclist.
“The motorcyclist had a brain injury so my friend lost more than VND35 million ($1,962) for his treatment and he was banned from driving for the whole month,” he said.
For whatever reason, bus drivers are fined VND500,000 ($28) for each day they leave the steering wheel; even when they are sick, their loved ones have passed away or the vehicles don’t operate properly.
Fearing the fines, some drivers end up driving broken or damaged vehicles.
Not only bus drivers but their employers are also subjected to financial loss.
Local bus companies have been receiving subsidies from the government in a bid to encourage the use of public transportation.
But bus operators said subsidiaries have remained unchanged for the past two years despite soaring fuel prices and operation costs, which result in further losses for their business.
“For each trip, a bus owner would receive VND99,000 ($5.55) from the government as subsidy and if they would earn about VND190,000 ($10.65) from selling 30 tickets on the trip,” Phan Ngoc Kiet, a bus driver said.
“The owner has to pay about VND45,000 ($2.52) for the cooperative and about VND150,000 ($8.40) for gas, so he would lose about VND5,000 (28 cents) on each trip,” Kiet said. “Not to mention the payment for the driver and bus inspector.”
Local bus drivers admitted a number of them were responsible for the notorious reputation of HCMC’s buses.
“I have seen some of the fellow drivers drive through red lights, drive on the wrong lanes and sometimes take the space of other bus,” bus driver Nguyen Minh Son said. “Even in small numbers, those careless bus drivers are causing people to lose their faith in us. None of us want to cause accidents; sometimes unwanted things happen when we are stressed or lacking sleep.”
“I hope people will understand our situation, after all, we also work to support our family like other people out there,” he said.
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