Taxicab service too hot to handle

So the capital has got a taxi service, after a long gap. The inhabitants of the capital who are not fortunate enough to own a car, eagerly waited for the luxury taxicabs in the hope that they would be able to take a taxi ride in emergency or at times when they deserved the cosy comfort these vehicles offer. But cold water has literally been poured on their enthusiasm. Middle and lower middle class people who were supposed to avail of the service will think twice before hiring it. So costly has proved the service that unless one boasts a large purse, it would be foolhardy on one's part to look for a taxicab ride. The original plan was to fix Tk 100 for the first two kilometres but the prime minister's insistence has lowered the amount to Tk 85.
However, the picture that emerges is quite frightening. A passenger is not supposed to avail of a taxi anywhere and at anytime. Because only 47 taxicabs are now in operation in the city, there is hardly any possibility of finding one waiting for passengers. Instead, on-call service is the last resort for a passenger. If a call is made, one has to be on the waiting list. When a taxi has dropped a passenger, it is ready to pick up another. But there is a catch 22 here. If the nearest taxicab available at that moment is two kilometres away from the caller, the countdown for taxi fare starts from the moment it starts to proceed towards the caller. This means a passenger has to pay two kilometres' fare without even boarding it. What if a caller at the last moment cancels his/her taxi ride on the ground that it was too late by that time. In Dhaka city it is quite natural that traffic jam can detain the taxi for long and by that time one's appointment is cancelled.
Then this is not all. A passenger is penalised for traffic jam or for any delay in the shape of extra charge on the time delayed. How much a passenger will have to pay in case there is a delay of an hour or more on a route where a 20-minute journey would have been ideal? A two-kilometre taxi ride might cost one to the tune of Tk 200-300. How outrageous! A passenger has to take responsibility for traffic jam and the authorities feel at ease shifting the buck on to the poor passengers.
That such costly taxi service is no answer to the daily commuting by urban citizens is quite clear. Instead, mass transport is an answer to the problem. If mass transportation is smooth and hazard-free, even people opting for personal transports will prefer the former. The urban transportation scene in Mumbai has undergone radical transformation thanks to the introduction of monorail train in that city. More are to come there in order to change the map of transport network there.
Dhaka does not have even a dependable train service for its commuters. The monorail project has been delayed by years and it is too early to say that it will see the light of the day by a year or two. In such a situation, there was certainly the need for an affordable taxi service. Instead, the inhabitants here have got one too luxurious for them. Taxi service is a luxury to many no doubt but it should not be as much luxurious as the majority cannot afford.