Our Transportation : Fact

Brunei : Cool-Nation

Obviously you have not been anywhere outside of Brunei... Because if you have, you know how far behind our transportation system is. Busses are the cheapest mode of public transportation, if the cheapest our country cannot manage at all, what more the bigger modes- I havent even mentioned trains and subways. It reflects on Brunei's poor transportation system. To tourists, the increase in our country's car population and wider roads would mean nothing to them. Why would it when it does very little to help them get around? Our FOCUS is on this country's PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION:1) Having been visited a lot of other countries, I depend heavily on their public transportation. Yes, immediately outside the airport, I use the CAB to get to the hotel (normally one-off expensive payment), but after, I look for the nearest subway station or a bus outlet (especially while studying or going for courses).2)Not just our bus stops look cheap (I'm sure they dont cost more than the items I just mentioned (pipes, cement, zinc, cheap tiles) also maybe manhours for say 2 construction workers/per location. Inda ja?2) Bus Stops in Brunei do not function properly. No labels, NO timetables. First timers to Brunei, those who do not travel with tourguides, will heavily depend on Busses as a cheaper mode to Taxis or walking. Not all backpackers have the luxury of spending $20 everytime trying to get from point A to point B in Brunei. Most European tourists as we have noticed are quite senior. And in Brunei trust me, nobody can walk the distance from the Mall to say Sheraton Hotel or all the way back to the Holiday Lodge, thats only one journey...3) To say Bus stops have no fixed time table itself is unacceptable. Our Bus stops look like they are deserted most of the time. do we know if any bus has ever stopped there? On one occasion, a group of colleagues from OMAN came to Brunei for a local course, they wanted to see "Bandar Seri Begawan", so they tried to get from Seria to BSB without informing any of us. They ended up getting there and back by TAXI, costing them somewhere near $150 for the day. Taxi took them to Yayasan. Even then, they didnt know where they were and what to do with no proper maps as guides. We as Bruneians, were embarassed on behalf of the transportation ministry.4) Bus drivers also stop everywhere where they see people waving at them, not necessarily at their designated stops. They also drop people in the same manner. This is obviously dangerous, but do these Bus Drivers themselves know its dangerous? have they been trained properly???5) So I ask you what is the purpose of having those "newly refurbished" bus stops? Seriously, they still dont function properly and to add more salt to injury, they look HIDEOUS. Either you just wasted all that money on something that does not work. Or you just didnt spend enough to make it work. Either way you lose. And the whole country is paying for it. and for how long?