Thursday
A wonderful snippet from a BBC radio reporter (Ed Stourton) in Afghanistan for the Today programme: A new bus-stop has been built in Lashikar Gah as part of the 'reconstruction' effort.
The report does not say whether it is a replacement for a pre-war bus-stop. Somehow I doubt it. It is very well-equipped, having its own mosque and a pharmacy, as waiting times "can be rather long".
An odd approach. In most of the world a bus-stop is a place where buses happen to stop. Of course bus-stops, like ports and railway stations all round the world provide opportunities for traders, places of worship, bars and cafes and so forth, but they seldom have them built in. Bus companies and their passengers are primarily interested in selling and buying travel. The pause at the roadside to move from foot to wheel, wheel to foot, refuel, refresh, is just procedural necessity.
Even in the first world, where there are some fabulous bus stations and garages, mostly this is an utilitarian afterthought, contingently well-designed. Everywhere (I thought) the buses are the transport network, not the stops. You have a shed for the buses at the end of the route, and signs to show where the buses are supposed to stop. Many places they do without the shed, not least because the buses are always on the move maximising their passenger-, luggage- and livestock- miles.
But a government bus-stop is built to different, higher, standards. A throwaway line at the end of the report reveals just how long those waiting times are: "There are no buses yet."
It's fairly common in provincial Russia to see bus stops with a shop, pharmacy, or sometimes even a slot-machine hall attached.
Posted by Tim Newman at January 17, 2008 08:39 AM
Come to Northampton one day. It's like a bus stop with an entire town attached. We wait a long time for the buses here too.
Posted by Ian B at January 17, 2008 08:46 AM
Not actually that uncommon - remember this is an undeveloped mountainous country where, for the vast majority of the population, buses will be the normal form of transport for long distances.
I wouldn't imagine (based on personal experience of the region) that it would be uncommon to have to wait 4-6 hours for a bus ride that'll take 14-20 hours.
To bring it into context, think of Victoria Coach Station. It's a bus stop. It has an attached shopping mall and hotel.
Posted by Lascaille at January 17, 2008 09:44 AM
Hotels, shops and other amenities are all good and well, but there are no actual buses to go with the bus station, which is what I think is the point of a bus station.
Perhaps they watched Field of Dreams one too many times "Build it and they will come".
Posted by Brendan Halfweeg at January 17, 2008 11:03 AM
Yes; but I bet all those places had buses to wait for before they had specialised facilities for waiting for buses:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/modesoftransport/4852.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nottingham_City_Transport
Posted by guy herbert at January 17, 2008 11:08 AM
"There are no buses yet."
...........but never jam today.
Posted by permanentexpat at January 17, 2008 12:38 PM
There was a time when UK railway companies were building towns to go with their railway stations.
Posted by Rob Fisher at January 17, 2008 12:57 PM
"There are no buses yet."
Actually this is part of the policy being helpfully offered by western NGOs in order to reduce Afghanistan's carbon footprint.
Posted by Perry de Havilland at January 17, 2008 01:34 PM
Rob,
Metro-Land was a private initiative, not a state initiative. The Metropolitan Line was nationalised 1933.
It is one thing to risk investor's money, it is another to involuntarily tax people and then risk their money.
Posted by Brendan Halfweeg at January 17, 2008 01:54 PM
Brendan: quite right. The idea that the transport would be built simultaneously with destination, perhaps by the same people, makes so much sense that it would probably be the normal situation absent nationalisation of transport and planning regulations.
I'm not sure what to make of the Afghanistan bus stop. Is it possible the buses -- private ones -- *will* come, now that there's a bus stop?
Posted by Rob Fisher at January 17, 2008 02:44 PM
Rob,
Funny, I don't think the demand for commuter housing will follow somehow though in Afghanistan.
"If you lived here, you'd be blown up by now"
Posted by Brendan Halfweeg at January 17, 2008 03:22 PM
I'm not sure what to make of the Afghanistan bus stop. Is it possible the buses -- private ones -- *will* come, now that there's a bus stop?
I know no government would ever think to ask, but is there anything there, apart from the bus stop, that people might want to visit by bus?
Posted by MarkE at January 17, 2008 04:20 PM
