Earlier in the trip someone asked Raj why the buses always seem to be on such a tear down the road. Seriously, they engage in some extremely risky driving maneuvers seemingly in an effort to save mere seconds on the route. Raj explained that it results from competition. Some of the buses are owned by the government and some are private. Each are given certain windows of time where they must be at specific ‘checkpoints’ — effectively passing zones. This is because many of the roads here are narrow and do not support buses passing each other at will. For this reason, bus drivers must scramble to meet their targets to stay profitable (otherwise they are left waiting for the next ‘opening’ with unhappy customers). Hmm…incentives to drive like maniacs. Great…
