The government plans to fold all of the buses and bus routes in Dhaka city into a single government-led public transportation company, in a bid to streamline the capital’s chaotic transportation services.
“We are working to form a company to reduce disorder in the capital’s transport sector,” said Kaikobad Hossain, executive director of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA).
Although the company will be formed by the government, private bus owners and operators will be included in the company’s operation committee, sources said.
The DTCA executive director said: “We have completed a survey on the transportation situation in the capital under the Revised Strategic Transport Plan (RSTP) and are now reviewing its findings.
“We are determining how many buses are currently plying Dhaka city routes and how many buses and minibuses are actually needed on each route.”
A DTCA officer, who asked not to be named, said: “When all of the bus owners are accommodated under a single company, separate liveries on buses will only be permitted to designate different routes. The objective is to reduce competitiveness among bus owners.”
Bus drivers currently break traffic rules and drive recklessly to beat their competitors in the race to take on as many passengers as possible.
“When the government limits the number of trips each bus makes each day and fixes drivers’ salaries, the mentality of overtaking will change,” the DTCA officer said.
In reply to a query, Kaikobad said: “A number of owners of private air-conditioned buses have applied to be included in the proposed company.”
But he did not specify which companies had applied.
Abul Kalam, president of the Dhaka Sarak Paribahan Malik Samity, an association of private transport vehicle operators, said: “The Road Transport and Highways Division and DTCA officials discussed the formation of the company with us.
“The DTCA said we would be permitted to hand over our buses for use in the proposed company.”
But Abul Kalam could not say how many private operators had expressed interest in working under the proposed government company.
Shamsul Haque, professor of civil engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said: “Many countries successfully operate government-run transport companies.
“If we operate all of the buses in Dhaka under a single company, we will reduce the indiscipline that currently plagues the capital’s transport sector.”
