The authorities concerned will operate 130 luxury buses in the dedicated bus corridor from Gazipur to Dhaka Airport under the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, a new transport mode in Bangladesh.
The BRT system is scheduled to be launched in December 2022.
Safiqul Islam, managing director of Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit Company Ltd, told Dhaka Tribune: “We will buy a total of 130 luxury buses to operate the country’s first BRT service. Of the buses, 80 will be CNG-run and 50 will be battery-driven electric buses.”
“Our consultant has estimated [that we will need] Tk200 crore for procuring 80 CNG-run special buses. However, the price of electric buses has not been estimated yet,” he added.
“All the buses will have a capacity of carrying 70-80 passengers as there will be space available for standing. The floors of the buses will remain at the same level as the platform of the bus stoppages. So, passengers cannot get on or get down without platforms,” he added.
An illustration of the BRT Courtesy
On Thursday, at a press conference, Safiqul Islam said It would be the first AC bus service between Dhaka and Gazipur under government initiative, which is scheduled to be opened next year.
“It will take only 35-40 minutes [for the journey] and some 20,000 passengers can move per hour,” he added.
The project’s feasibility was tested by the World Bank in 2012 and in the same year the government approved the project. However, a delay in construction work has led to immense suffering for people. After missing several deadlines, the authorities are now optimistic that operation will be started in 2022.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader recently visited the project site, where he stated that the ongoing construction work of the BRT project from Gazipur to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport was causing huge sufferings for people of Gazipur and the northern districts as well.
The project is being implemented with a Tk4,200 crore budget as one of the most expensive BRTs in the world.
Prof Dr Md Musleh Uddin Hasan, chairman of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), told Dhaka Tribune BRT was one of the low-cost traffic solutions as there was no massive infrastructure cost. However, in Bangladesh BRT has turned into a huge infrastructure development project, which is very unexpected.
