Commuters travelling by the red and green buses of Dhaka Nagar Paribahan (DNP) since the pilot launching of the public transport company late last year have so far been happy with its disciplined services and reasonable fare.
For the passengers there is neither any hassle in buying tickets nor any arguments about fare. Passengers get on and off at designated stations. Inside, there are enough seats and they are comparatively clean. Drivers are civil and helpers are helpful.
In spite of the delivery of the services it has promised, the pilot service is being shunned by many regular commuters. The common complaint is that the buses are too slow to reach the stops resulting in long waits for the passengers.
This drives many passengers to take the otherwise rough-driving, higher fare-charging buses simply because they can carry them to their destination faster.
This has been the experience gathered by a UNB correspondent who travelled several times by DNP buses and talked to a good number of other commuters this week.
Jafar Alam, who works at a private company and commutes from Motijheel to Mohammadpur, said many are still using other buses as this new company has fewer vehicles than the demand.
He said: "It takes too much time to get the service due to insufficient buses. The wait becomes unbearable during the office time. But I still like it due to nice service."
He said he is regularly paying Tk21 for his trip while other private buses charge almost Tk40 for this same distance and route.
"If the authorities focus on the increasing the buses, it can attract more passengers," he added.
Another regular passenger, Rafsan Khan, owner of a retail shop in Gulistan, said he has no complaints about the service, save for its slowness.
"But it will get more passengers if it uses Mayor Mohammad Hanif Flyover to pass from Kajla to Gulistan.”
Many passengers avoid using these buses as they do not take the flyover and thus take more time, he said.
The route plan should be re-rationalized if its authorities want to attract passengers, according to him.
Dhaka Nagar Paribahan buses have already set a good example of charging government-fixed fares from passengers unlike many privately-run buses. The company’s buses also have fare charts placed inside the vehicles.
Yet travelling by the buses, it was found that they were not running at full capacity. People preferred other buses to this service though they are charging high.
The drivers, conductors and helpers said they are trying their best to provide the services. But people are not interested to get on these buses much.
"It is disappointing for us as people crowd other services though we are providing better services," said Karim, a conductor.
UNB found that people are travelling from Ghatarchar to Kanchpur via Motijheel and Signboard at officially-set fare at Tk2.15 per kilometre while e-ticketing system is facilitating the service.
Alongside, students are getting 50% discount upon showing their identify cards.
No bus was found to pick up or drop off passengers anywhere aside from designated places.
Regarding the service, another passenger named Shamnuuddin Bhuiyan said: “I travel to Shahbagh from Matuail counter using the service. Other buses from Matuail to Shahbag cost Tk30-35. But on this service it is Tk25.”
Most of the buses are carrying less than half of the passengers. In addition, private buses are parked at the corners of the road to pick up passengers, so the number of passengers is decreasing due to not placing counters in the right place in the city transport, said Mohammad Ali, in-charge of Kanchpur counters.
The manager of Shahbagh counter said their buses do not carry passengers without the designated place while other transports are picking up and dropping off passengers everywhere. Due to this they are getting more passengers.
"Our transport will be in crisis if other modes are not stopped on this route," he said.
When asked, Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) Executive Director Neelima Akhter said: "We are aware of the low number of passengers. This is a new system and so people still don't know it well.”
"If the campaign increases, the number of passengers will also increase. There are some challenges. We will review the issues in the next meeting," she said.
The government launched Dhaka Nagar Paribahan on December 26 under the bus route rationalization program of the two Dhaka city corporations on a trial basis, aiming to streamline the public transport sector and reduce traffic jams in the capital.
At the initial stage, 50 buses are being operated on the route which will be increased to 100 in phases while the entire city will get the service by 2023.
If the two city corporations’ bus route rationalization program under the name of Dhaka Nagar Paribahan is a success in the trial run on the 21km route from Ghatarchar in Keraniganj to Kanchpur, much is expected to be changed eventually, the authorities earlier said.
There will be more than 40 stops and 16 bus bays on this route while the drivers and helpers of these buses will have separate uniforms, they said.
While inaugurating the route Obaidul Quader, roads transport and bridges minister, said depending on its success the government will consider bringing 42 more routes under this system.
These planned routes, he said, will be under DTCA covering Narsingdi, Manikganj, Narayanganj and Gazipur.