Foot board travel - neither a fashion nor a need - Prevention is possible

In every metro and emerging town we will notice one thing commonly as we commute on the roads, foot board travel by passengers in buses. Certain instances the bus would have almost touched the floor with the weight of the passengers while taking curves.

When you travel in a bus you will be hearing the conductor telling people who are hanging near the steps to come inside the bus, Generally young men who are hanging for their life, will ignore these pleas and continue to hang. This trend can be noticed in local trains also during peak hours.

While the problem of increasing the frequency of service is a need, is this alone the cause for such travel. I have witnessed plenty of times youngsters taking pride in catching a running bus, hanging on to the window panes with their feet hanging in the air etc., We do keep reading about accidental deaths of people who die after falling/slipping while traveling foot board. No doubt foot board travel is only for a brave heart, but are these brave hearts having mistaken priorities. 

Undoubtedly, with the their parents at home eagerly waiting for the safe return of their wards, is this adventure on a day in day out basis a necessity. Augmenting the service, let it be handled by the authorities, have a thought which could make some sense in this area.

How to prevent foot board travel by all under any circumstances, can technology be used to prevent it. If punishment is the intention, then, fixing cameras from the roof top near the doors and shooting all those hanging at the steps is one way, this has its own limitation of identifying people and punishing them. Being students and kids it may be little tough on them.

We can pick up the idea from how an Elevator works. When we use a lift/elevator, it will have a mention of number of passengers or total weight it can carry. If the weight exceeds, the lift refuses to move and will start beeping. It will move only if someone alights from the crowded lift to ensure the weight of passengers is within the limits prescribed. How about using this technology, if the weight on the steps is constant, then the bus will stop (steps are not meant to have passengers on them), if the solution is little more expensive to implement, then they could have a beeping noise coming once there is someone standing on the steps, automatically the driver can bring the bust to a stop and ask the passenger to either come in or get out of the bus. Having an alert mechanism should not cost much per bus and could be something which could be implemented without a hassle. There cannot be a switch which can be operated by the driver, so that he can switch it off.

Many a time prevention is better than cure, if we can ensure such an alert system, even the co-passengers will insist on these 'Foot board revelers' to either come in or get off the bus. Since there is a huge cost to a human life, it is better to have solutions.