Govt shifts to one route due to owners’ resistance

The government is set to relaunch Dhaka Nagar Paribahan today on a single route, deviating from its earlier plan, reportedly due to opposition from transport owners.

Road Transport and Bridges Adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan will inaugurate the service at a programme in the Asad Gate area.

The specialised bus service will initially operate on the Gabtoli-Chasara (Narayanganj) route with 35 AC buses, with 15 more to be added later.

This move follows the failure of a pilot project aimed at operating all city buses under specific companies along rationalised routes.

The long-delayed initiative gained momentum after the interim government took charge in August last year but is now being implemented allegedly without proper preparation.

Transport experts see bus route rationalisation and a franchise-based system as potential solutions to bring order to Dhaka's public transport.

A franchise system would prevent unhealthy competition among bus drivers for passengers, a major cause of accidents and congestion.

Under this system, buses in a particular zone would operate under a single company, with revenue shared among all companies.

Although discussions on bus route rationalisation have been ongoing for years, the initiative gained momentum when former Dhaka North City Mayor Annisul Huq took steps in this regard. However, it lost momentum again after his death in November 2017.

In June 2019, the High Court directed the authorities to bring all metropolitan bus services under the franchise system. Authorities initially planned for 22 companies to operate on 42 routes.

But the franchise system was not introduced until December 2021, when a pilot project was launched on the Ghatarchar-Kanchpur route under the name "Dhaka Nagar Paribahan."

The service was later expanded to two more routes but failed due to a lack of cooperation from transport owners during the previous government.

DEVIATION FROM THE PLAN

After the political shift in August, following the July uprising, leadership changes occurred in transport organisations.

In December last year, a meeting chaired by Adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan decided to launch Dhaka Nagar Paribahan on all eight routes under the Green Cluster.

The Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) is overseeing the initiative on behalf of the government.

However, the service is now being launched on a single route, which was also altered due to transport owners' demands, said sources.

The original route was Chasara-Sign Board-Gulistan-Shahbagh-Science Lab-Kalabagan-Asadgate-Mohammadpur, which is route 21 under the Green Cluster.

Instead, the route will now be directed to Gabtoli from Asadgate, bypassing Mohammadpur, which is a part of route 11 under the Red Cluster.

Under the franchise system, all buses on a route should operate under a single company. However, in this case, only four companies running AC buses will be included in the specialised service, said sources.

DTCA has signed an MoU with Borak Paribahan, one of the four companies.

This means that all other non-AC buses, operating under around 10 different companies, will run on the same route, potentially leading to unhealthy competition, sources added.

Sources further said transport association leaders oppose the franchise system as it could reduce their influence over the sector.

However, they agreed to launch the service on a single route after higher authorities engaged with owners through a top workers' leader, added the sources.

Meanwhile, despite today's launch, authorities have yet to complete the construction of all ticket counters, particularly outside the capital.