Sitting down with friends who are bus drivers, over a basin of grog, they highlighted an issue which they felt they needed to know who was accountable for a lapse in control.

Students are issued free tickets, however, until what time is the free ticket valid of the day? Students roam around town and go home on buses during labour trips after 4.30pm which:

* affects a driver’s contract income;

* raises concern on students’ responsibility to go home on school buses provided;

* authorities not monitoring students roaming in town; and

* drivers being victimised when they refuse to take students on labour trips whereas it’s the student’s responsibility to be on the school bus home.

I believe the owners of the buses are not concerned with the above issues as they focus more on daily income to ensure sustainability for their companies. I believe they do not want to understand that a driver makes it his responsibility to ensure safe delivery of their passengers to their home.

Drivers often tend to pay from their own pockets to cover shortfalls. So the issue is, are the free student fares being utilised in the correct manner or are the drivers made scapegoats by companies to balance income?

I believe a solution is very straightforward. Students should be on their school buses going home and not roaming around town and taking up the space and fare of other passengers. Free bus passes have been a very welcome initiative by our Government but I believe it’s being abused so much that drivers are crying out against the inconsistencies but no one is listening.

I hope someone takes time to look into this as drivers sacrifice their weekend and start early and work late to provide a much needed service to us and it is our duty to ensure that we utilise these services the right way.