The Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (BJKS), a group working for passenger welfare, has called upon political parties to include a pledge in their election manifesto to ensure safe roads and a smart public transportation system in the country.
The association made the demand at a press conference in the capital on Thursday.
Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury, the association's general secretary, said the ruling Awami League pledged to ensure road safety in its 2018 election manifesto, but not many efforts were visible during its tenure.
He said there is no smart public transportation system to ease public movement in the capital and elsewhere in the country. As a result, people are being forced to ride unclean and unsafe public transport.
He said the people are losing their precious working hours to traffic jams. Moreover, the passengers are being harassed in various ways, including through charging extra fares. City dwellers are suffering from severe air and dust pollution.
Given the long-standing demands of passengers and civil society, bus services have been introduced on some routes under the initiative of the Dhaka South City Corporation under the bus route rationalization project called “Dhaka Nagar Paribahan”. The water bus service was started from Sadarghat to Aminbazar in Gabtoli, but it is not operational now. In this situation, the capital's commuters are now hostage to the whims of the bus owners, he read out from a written statement.
Mozammel said people cannot travel in these transports with dignity and respect. He alleged that the government prioritizes the interests of bus owners and workers. All public transport decision-making forums include owners' associations and trade unions, but passenger representatives are not included.
As a result, transport owners and workers have become reckless today, he said, adding that the election manifesto of every political party participating in the January 7 election should clearly state their steps.
Currently, the bus network across the country has broken down, and easy bikes, locally made vehicles and motorcycles have become the primary modes of transport. He claimed that, alongside increasing road risks, these alternative modes of transport also contradict the government’s pledge to build a smart Bangladesh.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a total of 24,954 people are killed in road accidents every year in the country, and according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), another 350,000 lakh people are injured in road crashes every year. As per data, nearly 80,000 people are becoming disabled every year.
He added that decentralizing administrative activities is necessary to free the capital from heavy traffic congestion.
