The cabinet has approved in principle the draft of the “Bus Rapid Transit Act 2016” aiming to make easy and smooth journey between Gazipur city and capital city of Dhaka in 20 minutes.
The approval was given at the weekly cabinet meeting held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair on Monday.
While briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Shafiul Alam said: “The law will regulate the BRT system designed to reduce traffic jam in Dhaka and Gazipur.”
“Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) means a dedicated lane for bus which is to be constructed from Gazipur to Dhaka into the existing six-lane,” said the cabinet secretary.
The project on dedicated bus lane has been started on November 31, 2012 with the capacity to transport 40,000 passengers per hour on the Gazipur-Airport-Jhilmil route.
The February 2015 deadline for completing detailed design of the bus lanes from Airport to Gazipur has not been met. However, the project authority has floated a tender for the BRT Gazipur depot recently.
Cabinet secretary said: “The BRT act 2016 proposed provision of Tk50,00,000 fine and 10 years imprisonment for illegal operation of the BRT or illegal handover of operating license.”
“The law also proposed 10 years of imprisonment or Tk50,000,00 fines for selling tickets without approval by the authority, however the staff of BRT will be awarded two years of imprisonment and Tk50,000 fine for the violation of rules," he added.
“The law also proposed the formation of a seven-member committee for fixing the fares from time to time with the direction of the government,” the cabinet secretary said.
He said: “The license holders will ensure compulsory insurance for the passengers and provide compensation for death or injury by any accidents.”
