Though public transport in Dhaka depends almost entirely on the bus, the service is inefficient and costly, making room for wider para-transits and increasing traffic congestion. To make the service efficient, a recommendation was made two decades ago to rationalise the bus routes by introducing the 'bus route franchise' system. The recommendation stayed on paper for more than 10 years. In 2015, the then-mayor of the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), late, Annisul Huq, initiated a move to run buses under route-based companies. As no progress had been made, in 2018, the government formed a bus route rationalisation committee. The committee also failed to make any progress.
Finally, in 2021, Dhaka Nagar Paribahan Service was launched on a single route and extended to two more routes the next year. Despite a good response from the commuters initially, the service could not achieve an optimal outcome due to a lack of cooperation from different agencies and stakeholders. The chaotic traffic due to persistent indiscipline on the roads also became an obstacle to the smooth operation of the buses. The service was finally suspended four months ago.
Now, DNCC has decided to revive the initiative by reducing the existing 386 routes to 42 and operating all buses on these routes under Dhaka Nagar Paribahan. This new plan, with its potential to streamline the service and reduce congestion, brings hope for a better public transport system in Dhaka. The bus operating companies will operate under a profit-sharing or revenue-sharing model on these routes. Existing and new bus companies have been requested to submit applications by the end of this month.
There is no doubt that disciplining the public bus service is one of the critical moves to reduce traffic congestion and improve the mobility of millions of daily commuters in Dhaka. Despite repeated attempts, the authorities have failed to do so in the last five decades. Instead, the operation of public bus service has become criminalised due to political backing, especially in the previous decade. The Hasina regime sponsored the rent seekers in the sector, as in many other sectors, to plunder resources.
So, the problem with public bus service is deep-rooted and complex. Various stakeholders like leaders and activists of bus owners and workers' unions as well as law enforcement agency staff are there who used to line their pockets illegally only at the cost of commuters, ordinary bus owners, and workers. Rent seekers will try to revamp the sector as they did in the past. Thus, the big challenge is to restrict the activities of rent seekers effectively.
The ambitious plan of route rationalisation includes the introduction of colour-coded buses on different routes. It is a modern concept, and some countries already applied the model to make the service efficient. Under the concept, all buses will be the same in model, which means the size, sitting arrangements and doors all have to be the same and only the colour will be different. This means that a single bus manufacturer will supply all the buses. As the move may create a monopoly for a supplier, it is important to make it a monopolistic competition so that various numbers of manufacturers can produce or assemble the buses, as specified, at a competitive price.
As the conditions of the current buses in Dhaka are terrible, largely unfit and unfriendly to commuters, these have to be replaced with new buses gradually. When pressing for the new buses to be in service, the priority should be low-floor, wide-gate buses to provide access for children, women and elderly people. Many more tasks are also needed to make the challenging mission a success.
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