Bus fare may go down

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) wants to reduce fare by 3 paisa per kilometre for long-haul buses following the recent fuel price cut.

Bus owners, however, want that the fare be reduced by 2 paisa.

Both the parties came up with the proposals at a meeting at the BRTA office yesterday, said Nurul Islam, director (engineering) of the BRTA.

“We will send both the proposals to the ministry. The ministry will make a final decision in this regard,” he told The Daily Star.

The government on April 25 cut fuel prices by Tk 3 to Tk 10. The price of diesel and kerosene has been reduced to Tk 65 from Tk 68 a litre, octane to Tk 89 from Tk 99 and petrol to Tk 86 from Tk 96.

Currently, a passenger has to pay Tk 1.45 for travelling each kilometre on inter-district routes.

Following the fuel price cut, demands for reducing bus fares got louder from passengers, as almost all the buses on inter-district routes are run on diesel.

However, fares of buses in Dhaka and Chittagong metropolitan areas will remain unchanged as almost all the buses in the two cities are run on CNG.

Each passenger pays Tk 1.70 (bus) and Tk 1.60 (minibus) for travelling a kilometre in Dhaka and Chittagong.