AIR CONDITIONING: The VIP buses are air conditioned while the regular buses aren't. Sometimes due to the age of the regular buses some windows may not even open. Interesting to note that some passengers are happy to sit near the window and NOT open it to allow for minimal air circulation!
SEATS: The seats in the REGULAR buses are altered to take more passengers, thereby rendering them less comfortable. A bus that would normally carry about 50 passengers in the VIP type is altered to take about 70 passengers. This way one section has three seats while the other has 2. Initially the buses come with two seats per side of the isle. The seats in the VIP buses are reclinable. The buses typically have the same size but for the fact that while one is modified to carry more passengers, the other maintains its original form.
SAFETY BELT: There are no seat belts in the regular buses. The seats on VIP buses are fitted with safety belts.
STATE OF BODY WORK: The body works of the regular buses are usually not as good as the VIP buses. I am tempted to think that when new buses arrive, they initially serve the VIP section. Then when they are getting old they are modified to serve the regular section. Just an impression.
SNACKS: I was pleasantly surprised to realize that snacks were served as part of the package in the VIP buses. A sandwich/cake/croissant with a bottled soft drink. These same items are available on the regular service but you are charged a fee.
DEPARTURE TIMES: Departure times for VIP services are specific; it could be every two hours or hourly depending on the travel agency. Departures in regular services take place when the bus gets full.
MULTIMEDIA: You can watch movies on the VIP bus service, its mostly locally produced comedies. You wouldn't normally find a TV screen on the regular service. However depending on which bus you are travelling on, you just might have music onboard.
SAFETY RECORD: I honestly can't say if the drivers of VIP bus services may not go beyond a certain speed limit, but I have heard very countable reports of accidents on these bus services.
COST: Travelling VIP is definitely twice as expensive as travelling regular. Let me know if you have additional differences not mentioned here. Use the comments section. Don’t forget to include your name.
6 comments:
Curious how bus service owners would deliberately put people's lives at risk (no seat belts, 3 in a row instead of two, stuffed in a cubicle without ventilation ripe enough to spread H1N1) all in a bid to differentiate class.
If you have the money - you can ride with the good things of life. If you don't - well...
Funny when I put this situation into context from a historical perpective.
You know, when these inter-city coaches (buses) first appeared on the market in Cameroon, they were all like what you described as VIP. There was no VIP then. They left at a particular time (half-empty or full) and there were snacks hostesses, as well as air-conditioning. The top names at the time were Lydie Voyages (really cooool), Soko Voyage and Le Bien est Bien!
Shortly after and in the heat of the economic and political crises of the 1990s they all became what you described as REGULAR. We had to wait for buses to be full before departure, stools appeared between the rows to accommodate for overloaded passengers picked up by corrupt drivers, and the seats changed from two to three. Air-conditioning evaporated..
All three services that I mentioned above crumbled (the buses went into disrepair,etc). The king of the Road became a company spelled Guarantee or Gauranti because it had the biggest fleet and so its coaches could leave every hour at times every 30 minutes.
To beat that powerful company - one of the competitors - Centrale Voyage, ordered new vehicles and insisted that they departed at fixed times and included some comfort.
Further down the road, a company appeared in 2005 or so (I can't remember if it was called Gene...what) that took the Centrale idea to another level - Pay 10 0r 12 thousand and travel VIP. Take off at Hilton in Yaounde and arrival at Sawa Hotel in Douala. Classy, right!
Seeing their prestige on the low, the others decided to go the comfort way. They cut the prices to 8000, 7000 and even 6000 offering - VIP or Regular services.
What we should really have is "GOOD SERVICE" in any coach we take. Just as it was in the beginning... But I am sure the demarcation between VIP and REGULAR is a depiction of the current Cameroon society. One in which some are incredibly fine and others are in unbelievable hell.
If any of PNTs readers could pop-in with statistics as to which of these services (VIP or REGULAR) has more accidents - it would also be smart.
Peace
Sometimes the regular buses would stop on the way to pick up more passengers who most often are ready to do the journey while standing.
Mabs
Thanks Gef and Mabs, for your contributions, Gef really traced the history of interurban travel in Cameroon, thanks. And yes, I remember Express Le Bien...and yes also, chickens still rub shoulders with passengers in buses in pays, talk of H1N1, bird flu and all that! We survive by God's GRACE!
Patience,
This is awesome,keep some of us informed on what is going on.
Since Co forwarded me one of your blogs, l have been hooked. I wait for one each week with so much anticipation. Right now, l am actually fretting because its been close to a week and nothing...Anyways, simply put, l just wanted to say l love your blog.
Anto
Anto, I do just about two articles per month. Many thanks for being a keen reader!
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