Govt to develop four transport hubs in city

The government is planning to develop four multimodal transport hubs (MMTHs) in different areas of the city, aimed at facilitating passengers with transports towards their desired destinations from a single point.
Two of the hubs would be under the mass rapid transit (MRT) lines and two others under the bus rapid transit (BRT) lines, according to sources.
The existing facilities of Gabtoli and Mohakhali bus terminals and Kamalapur Railway Station would be used and transformed into the hubs while the Airport railway station will be completely upgraded into it.
The government had earlier planned to transform the airport station into a hub under public-private partnership (PPP) initiative to facilitate the BRT passengers coming from Gazipur, but no progress was made in this regard so far as the plan did not integrate it with the BRT North, sources said.
However, officials said Asian Development Bank (ADB) already pledged to finance the feasibility studies on airport and Kamalapur stations.
Officials at the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) said there would be no dearth of funds at the planning stage of the proposed project while the World Bank already hinted about providing technical support to transform the Mohakhali Bus Terminal under the BRT 3 South project.
Besides, Japanese consultants have already started studying the possibilities of establishing a hub at Gabtoli bus terminal to facilitate the passengers of the MRT 5 (North).
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is providing support to conduct the feasibility study on MRT 5 (North), under which the MMTH was being examined.
The authorities have not, however, taken initiatives yet to hold talks about the hubs with the agencies concerned.
Officials stressed the need for coordination among the relevant government agencies to be involved in operations of the proposed hubs, MRTs and BRTs as well as different development partners.
The government has planned to set up five MRTs and two BRTs in the city's different corridors for easing traffic congestion and ensuring uninterrupted movement of the commuters. Of the transit lines, MRT 6 remains at its construction stage while feasibility studies on MRT 1 and 5 are progressing now.
The Dhaka BRT is planned to be developed from Gazipur to Keraniganj under the two government agencies - Roads and Highways Department (RHD) and DTCA. The tender process of the RHD's part has almost been completed while DTCA's part of BRT just completed the detailed designing works.

smunima@yahoo.com