In a bid to bring order to the chaotic roads of Dhaka, 21 companies are set to launch a new pink bus service on the Abdullahpur route.
The new ticket counter-based bus operation will be officially inaugurated on Thursday.
Md Saiful Alam, general secretary of the Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association, made this announcement during a press conference held at the association’s office on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue on Tuesday.
According to Saiful Alam, approximately 2,610 pink buses will operate on this route.
"No one will be allowed to board these buses without a ticket," he said.
Random boarding and alighting of passengers will also be strictly prohibited to reduce traffic jams and road chaos.
For the past 16 years, buses and minibuses in Dhaka have been running under contract without adherence to proper rules, resulting in unequal competition and road accidents.
On December 19, a meeting chaired by the adviser to the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges focused on strengthening discipline in the road transport sector, reducing traffic congestion, and controlling air pollution in Dhaka.
It was decided that vehicle owners should contract drivers on a fortnightly or monthly basis instead of trip-based contracts.
Beginning Thursday, bus drivers will initially operate buses from Gazipur to various destinations in Dhaka on a ticket counter basis, with the inauguration taking place in Abdullahpur at 10:30am.
Buses servicing Mirpur, Gabtoli, and Mohammadpur will also transition to ticket counter operations within the current month.
Bus drivers and assistants are currently being trained to operate vehicles on a ticket-counter basis.
Saiful Alam mentioned that these training sessions aim to ensure that transport workers treat passengers well.
"Transport workers must show proper behavior towards passengers," he added.
