It is heartening to learn that, as per the announcement of Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association, there will be e-ticketing services for an additional 947 buses under 13 companies from today.
Bangladesh's urban regions -- and especially the capital city of Dhaka -- have long battled not only traffic -- which is stifling and costs the nation an incredible sum of money and labour hours each day- but also a poor public transportation system that has long needed an upgrade.
In particular, our buses have long been the model of inefficiency, a fact acknowledged by Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association Secretary General Khandkar Enayet Ullah who mentioned that these e-ticketing initiatives are an effort to “restore order in the roads to improve service effectively.”
Passengers are often unaware of the fares for their rides, and in crowded buses, the hassle of paying for tickets can and must simply be done away with -- citizens of Dhaka suffer enough from traffic woes already to also be subjected to an additional layer of misery in the form of haggling with bus conductors.
With the metro rail providing much needed respite on that front, it must be remembered that the majority of commuters in cities continue to rely on buses as their principal choice of transportation -- it is therefore imperative that these changes being proposed to fixing our bus services are given the priority they warrant.
Ultimately though, this should just be the first step of what must be a complete overhaul of our public transportation system. If we are indeed on the path to Smart Bangladesh, then we must have smart public transportation to show for it as well.
