Regional Bus Passenger Awareness: Roles of SCCC, Passenger Rights and Obligations

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a study assessing regional bus passengers’ awareness of the existence of the Sumatra Consumer Consultative Council (SCCC) and its roles. It aimed to increase bus passengers’ awareness and encourage a clear sense of their rights and obligations. It involved the SCCC and police officers, bus passengers, bus operators and other road users in the city of Mbeya. An intensive literature survey, questionnaires and interviews were used to collect the data, which were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 17. The key roles of the SCCC are to educate bus passengers regarding their rights and obligations, to represent bus passengers in the regulation of laws for transport services and to protect the interests of bus passengers. The rights to information, safety, redress and compensation, among others, are the formal rights for bus passengers that SCCC promotes. The awareness of and attitudes towards SCCC, its roles and the rights of regional bus passengers showed remarkable growth trends compared with the SCCC study conducted in 2011. The findings are robust and could be used when reviewing strategies regarding the rights and obligations of bus passengers.

Keywords: Regional Bus, Bus Passenger, Bus Operator, Compensation, Safety, Redness