Development partners of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project have urged the government to complete the long-delayed 20.5-kilometre dedicated bus corridor, highlighting its wider benefits for urban mobility and its strong economic potential.
According to official sources, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) have together disbursed about $256.7 million out of their total $305 million commitment for the project.
Despite chronic delays and rising costs, ADB maintains that the BRT scheme is integral to Dhaka's long-term transport strategy and still offers high economic returns if operational and design issues are addressed.
The ADB approved a $160 million loan in 2012 and an additional $100 million in 2022. The development partner has already disbursed the entire amount of the first tranche and $ 51.7 million of the second loan.
As a co-financier, AFD has so far disbursed $45 million for infrastructure development and pledged a further €62 million for BRT operations, they added.
Responding via email to the government's recent decision to close the project, ADB Country Director Hoe Yun Jeong said the BRT-3 initiative is not merely about introducing a bus service on a dedicated roadway.
It also involves redesigning and reconstructing 20 kilometres of the vital N3 highway, which connects Dhaka to northern Bangladesh, he said.
These are, in fact, two projects - the first of their kind in Bangladesh, he said, adding that the causes of chronic delays and cost overruns have been continuously monitored by both ADB and the government.
The Financial Express could not obtain a comment from AFD, but a source suggested the agency has been unsettled by the government's recent stance.
The BRT project, launched under the Greater Dhaka Sustainable Urban Transport Project (GDSUTP), was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in 2012 at an estimated cost of Tk 20.40 billion.
The cost later doubled to Tk 42.86 billion after a series of delays and implementation hurdles since work began in 2018.
When the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), the implementing agency, sought project revision with increased cost and time, ECNEC rejected the proposal and instead directed the government to assess the project's future through two evaluation committees, both of which recommended closure.
However, ADB's country director stressed that while there is widespread scepticism about the project's ability to deliver, the BRT-3 should not be seen in isolation.
It forms part of a broader and urgent urban mobility strategy for introducing an easily accessible, low-cost modern transport service with the potential to ease Dhaka's severe congestion, he said.
He noted that over 90 per cent of the project's investment has already been incurred, and it still promises strong economic returns through decongesting the N3 and improving passenger travel, provided the identified design and operational shortcomings are rectified.
Recalling the project's background, he said the Airport-Gazipur corridor, identified in the 2005 Strategic Transport Plan (STP) as a critical route for mass-transit development, remains one of Dhaka's most congested and strategically important arteries, carrying around 3.6 million passenger trips daily.
A 2011 feasibility study under the GDSUTP recommended a BRT system for the corridor, a proposal later reaffirmed by the 2016 Revised STP (RSTP) prepared by JICA and supported by the World Bank in 2015 as essential to sustainable mobility, he added.
The ADB official also recalled the original plan to integrate BRT-3 with MRT Line 1 and the BRT-3 South section (World Bank-funded technical assistance) at the airport intersection, as well as with MRT Line 6 at Diabari station through feeder services.
Acknowledging the sector's chronic underfunding, the ADB Country Director said that despite institutional and operational challenges, the BRT-3's original objectives could still be achieved through stronger institutional capacity, improved governance, and renewed government commitment.
If a full BRT system is not immediately feasible, a dedicated bus lane could serve as a practical interim option, alongside efforts to strengthen transport policy and coordination, he added.
smunima@yahoo.com