Now digital bus stops!

Now is the turn for digital bus stops with passenger sheds full of facilities. Most people are likely to be ignorant of what really makes bus stops digital, particularly when the ones built decades ago have long fallen to disuse. Many bus stops with passenger sheds in the capital still announce their presence but some of those are in disrepair and others are used for purposes other than the one for which they were built. Quite a few of those were built so close by that one gets confused about the purpose of doing so. Was there an intention to make public buses on different routes to stop at different such stops? If it was so, the purpose was good. But when a cluster of such passenger sheds are found close to each other within a very short distance but there is none at a busy and important spot, the intention becomes suspect. There are four passenger sheds between the Shishu Mela and College Gate segment of the road but none at Shyamoli.  

This time the plan is to construct 20 bus stops-cum-passenger sheds where WiFi will be available for waiting passengers free of cost. Sounds mouth-watering, no doubt. But where will those be set up or how? If the construction plan follows the earlier pattern, how useful they will be is doubtful no matter how well they are equipped to ensure comfort for waiting passengers. Those are likely to draw youths for the benefit of WiFi facilities. What could be a better prospect than this for young people who will soon discover in those a popular hangout? But who will guarantee that the bus stops will truly safeguard the interests of passengers? The passenger sheds, it is claimed, will be made women-friendly. After dusk, security will be provided for women passengers. This extra sensitivity to women's need at bus stops before availing of one public bus is appreciated. But how this will be ensured is not quite clear. There will be drinking water available free of cost. Fast food outlet and newsstands will complete the facilities. Then there will be lighting backed by special technology in order to draw attention of passengers. Why not add modest toilet facilities as well?   

It is good to know that display boards will show fair charts and timing of arrival and departure of buses of different companies along with the distances. But how the buses will maintain schedules in a chaotic and traffic jam-plagued city is not clear enough. If order can be enforced in the city's traffic system, only then can such schedules be maintained. The city has been counting enormous costs on account of tailbacks created mainly by traffic anarchy and inept regulation of the system by its regulators who at the field level do it manually.

Where the 20 new bus stops with sheds will be constructed is likely to decide how widely and properly they will be used. Passenger sheds still in existence had newspaper outlets on one side. At some spots those are still used for newspaper and magazine stalls. But others started to be occupied by people for various other commercial purposes. At least one such passenger shed near the College Gate now in a ramshackle state and used for a medicine store displays a High Court order against eviction. It is clear what has happened. Even the city corporations will find it difficult to evict such occupants if they try to build newer ones on old spots by removing the ones in total disrepair.

More importantly, though, the need is to bring about a change in the manner of stopping buses anywhere at any time. Buses must stop at the designated bus stops only to pick up and drop passengers. Then the bus stops have to be constructed a little inside with the provision of a separate lane so that any bus, during its halt, does not obstruct the movement of any vehicle on the main road. This was once the feature of Dhaka City's roads. Now the streets and roads have been straightened even at bus stops and this has encouraged drivers to pick up and drop passengers anywhere. If this small remedial measure can be enforced, the city's traffic system will improve significantly.