The mega city of Dhaka lacks air-conditioned (AC) bus service for its vast middle class people in absence of government support to encourage private operators for making profit in the traffic jam-prone city, experts and sector insiders said.
Private bus operators said running AC buses in the city wouldn't be profitable as the vehicles would have to stay for longer time on the streets due to chronic traffic gridlock which might increase their operational cost.
The bus operators, who once ran AC buses in the city, also brought allegation against the government that they were not provided with support in this connection, saying that allowing too many buses on their routes forced them to suspend the service.
They also blamed drivers of other bus services for their reckless driving and attacking the sophisticated AC buses which forced them to close the service permanently.
"As investment in the AC bus service is high, its return from the street must be ensured which we could not get from this kind of behaviour," said Mohammad Abdul Hamid Sharif who used to run an AC bus service between Uttara and Motijheel under the brand Roadstar.
Also president of Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) Mr Hamid said since Roadstar was launched, 10 to 15 new bus services were allowed to run on the same route and drivers of these buses used to push those to damage the expensive German and Japanese buses within a short time.
At present, only Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC), the state-controlled bus operator, runs AC buses on two routes and claims to have been making profit amid the traffic gridlock.
Officials said BRTC earns on an average Tk 60 for running one km of distance from each bus under the AC bus service running between Abdullahpur and Motijheel, and Gulistan and Narayanganj and spends some Tk 45 for fuel and other costs.
The state-owned corporation runs a total of 50 gas-run buses on these routes.
Some operators, however, expressed doubt about the profit earning of the BRTC AC bus services as it keeps aggregate data on the operational cost of all bus services and does not have exclusive AC bus related data to assess accurate earning.
But sector analysts said in absence of the government policy for the AC bus, it is now hard to guide the private bus operators on finding routes, fixing per kilometre fare and maintaining standard of the bus service with quality buses.
"We have to customise the AC bus service with our culture and infrastructure facilities; otherwise, whatever high investment is made for the AC bus service would not last," said a BRTC official involved with operation.
He argued that if a Mercedes bus is imported, its lifetime will not be maintained with the country's context as the city roads are not compatible with one-third of its ability. Â
The city had once three AC bus services used to run between Uttara and Motijheel and Motijheel-Narayanganj end of 1990s and early 2000s which were operated with Indian and Japanese buses. These bus services - Premium, Nirapad and Roadstar-stopped within three to four years of launching.
The owners said they have to scrap these buses before the economic lifetime ended due to the damage of these vehicles.
However, the BRTC initially faced hardship to launch its AC bus service due to opposition by the other private operators.
Matlub Ahmad, owner of Premium AC bus service, said as the transport sector lacks discipline, any sophisticated bus service must face consequences of it. He said launching new AC bus service needs concerted decision.
But the sector analysts who belong to the group of former BRTC officials and ministry officials said a reform on entire route selection system, fixing per kilometre fare within the government mechanism and running bus under a company on specific routes are to be taken into account in the bus service policy.
Sources said the BRTC bus fares were fixed based on the recommendation of a committee formed in this connection which counted per km fuel cost, overhead cost, fix cost etc during assessment of the fares.
At present, route of AC buses are also determined by the BRTC.
Though the government has now adopted a policy to import buses of different capacities, those already purchased are manufactured in India, China and some other Southeast Asian countries. The investors, however, alleged that these Asian buses don't suit to city's street condition. In most cases, these buses become unfit within a short time.
BRTC's Daewoo and Ashok Leyland buses also need frequent overhauling due to poor road condition and alleged pilferage by bus operators.
   smunima@yahoo.com
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Capital lacks AC bus service in absence of govt support
Munima Sultana | Published: July 12, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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