Govt targets Jan 1 trial launch

The government is planning to launch a company-managed city bus service system in a small corridor of the city on a pilot basis.
Initially, five companies of 50 owners of buses and minibuses will be merged to operate the service.
Sources said Dhaka Transport Cooperation Authority (DTCA) has finalised a 12.5-kilometre route from Ghatarchar to Motijheel via Bosila, Mohammadpur, Elephant Road, Shahbagh and Paltan crossing.

Some 165 buses and minibuses are now operating on the route.
They said the government's special committee on Bus Route Rationalisation (BRR) also held a discussion on the route in its last meeting on Wednesday and directed the authorities to launch it on the day of New Year (January 1, 2021).
"This is a part of the green cluster which would be extended up to Narayanganj," said an official engaged in the planning.
He said discussions with all the bus owners on the merger initiative already started.
The DTCA, under which the government formed the BRR committee with Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh as its head, is planning to hold meetings with all the stakeholders next week to discuss elaborately on the launching programme.
However, sources said, there are still various challenges in launching the Bus Route Franchise (BRF). They said the DTCA has not yet actual information on the total number of fit vehicles or categories of buses to plan accordingly.
They also said that though the bus depot site at Ghatara has been selected, it is hard to find another one at Motijheel which is necessary to start buses from both sides to maintain schedule of timely operation.
The DTCA in a revised study on BRR proposed the committee to launch six-colour buses - pink, blue, maroon, orange, green and violet - under 22 bus companies on 42 routes, dividing the city in nine clusters.
The BRR is expected to initiate the BRF system by forming either one or two companies to run buses on each route.
The 42 routes have been designed studying 366 routes approved by the Regional Technical Committee (RTC) of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority. Of the approved routes, 291 routes are now active with registered 9,027 buses.
When asked about the challenges, BRR consultant Dr Salauddin admitted that lots of works are still pending. But he said discussion on the issues like workers and ticket sharing was continuing with the bus owners.
Refusing to share the financial model of the ticket sales, the member of the BRR committee said that it might not be possible to provide all kinds of standard services in the pilot route from the day one. But the problems would be resolved gradually, he added.
According to the planning, comparatively good condition buses would be selected from the existing buses to operate on the pilot route and necessary changes in seat arrangement would be made to provide service to all kinds of passengers.
Sources said 60 per cent of the 165 buses on the pilot route are unfit for running. Besides, maintaining schedule due to having a mix of the buses of the pilot route would be difficult as the green buses would have longer route to cover with other routes from Mirpur road to Motijheel.
Though the DTCA has made good progress in introducing e-ticketing through lunching Rapid Pass, necessary infrastructure including sales and top-up counters are to be set up before launching the pilot services.
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