Buses will run under one company per route in Dhaka: Road transport minister

Road Transport Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam has said that a company will be formed with the bus owners of each public transport route in Dhaka. 

He said specific buses will operate with the same colour, specific quality of fitness and facilities. 

“Public transport will be operated on each route through one company. We are working on this,” the minister stated.

He made the remarks at the BSRF dialogue organised by the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF) at the media centre at the Secretariat on Thursday.

The minister added that in this regard the government is encouraging electric vehicles and this work has come a long way. They are also working on which route the owners will operate which company. 

“We want to bring discipline in bus management and movement. The second is the route. The third is that traffic signals or specific terminals will stop and get off from specific terminals – this management,” he explained.

Sheikh Rabiul Alam noted that various types of vehicles operate in Dhaka, which does not work in a city. There are railways, metrorails and buses – these are the basics – and there are also private cars. 

“We have already taken steps. Buses of two, four, ten owners will not run separately on the same route under private ownership. Which is competition, no one stops at the terminal, the terminal is not specified, people stop wherever they raise their hands. We will not run buses in this manner anymore,” he said.

Stating that the bus counters that have been set up everywhere in Dhaka were closed one to one-and-a-half months before Eid, the minister said that later he sat with the owners’ association, labour organisation, City Corporation, Metropolitan Police, Ministry of Communications and BRTA in the Road Ministry. 

“We set a time for three months. Before Eid or at this moment, no matter how you say it, if the counters that are on this side of the road are suddenly closed, the passengers will suffer. Because the passengers go there, they are used to this process,” he added.

The Road Transport Minister said, “We have seen that buses are at the bus terminals all day. There is a workshop there. A bus has been painting there for eight to ten days, denting it, shutting down the engine and resetting it – it is going on like this. It will not work there. We have planned to build a depot, one at 300 feet. Another one is in Kanchpur. The depot we are building in Kanchpur will become the terminal. The Sayedabad terminal will gradually move to Kanchpur. The Fulbaria terminal will move to Keraniganj, right opposite the jail. The Gabtoli one will move to Hemayetpur.”

He continued, “The terminal will shift like this, but it is not happening right now. Now it will be used as a depot there. And the cars will leave from here. The time for the cars to leave will come before that. They will come and the cars will leave from here. Gabtoli, Mohakhali, Sayedabad and Fulbaria will be used as terminals, it will not be used as a bus depot. We will move the bus terminals there in stages, in a total of two to two and a half years, by making separate depots. Gabtoli is in Hemayetpur, Mohakhali is in Uttara, and we are already acquiring 50 bighas of land near Abdullahpur. Until then, the depot will be 300 feet. Sayedabad Terminal will move to Kanchpur. Fulbaria will move to Keraniganj. That is, taking into account the shift in this way.”

Rabiul Alam said that they need to be given time. Secondly, the bus terminals so far do not have good quality buses, AC buses or where several facilities are ensured, a passenger feels comfortable, but the terminals do not have the appropriate structure and management to release the buses from the terminal. Passengers do not feel comfortable going to Sayedabad, Mohakhali and Gabtoli. One reason is environmental, the other is what is called the facility world.

He said, “We have decided that the City Corporation will ensure these facilities at the bus terminals. Toilets, fans that work, large rooms for waiting – these facilities will be ensured. They will also need some time. Once this is done, they will go there after three months. Its preview meeting was held just two-three days ago.”

The minister added that there has been a message to extend this period by another month. “The people of the bus owners’ association have said that if they get that environment, if they get a place, they will build the infrastructure of the bus terminal there themselves. They have agreed to this. I have got their cooperation here. The City Corporation has wanted to develop it; the Metropolitan Police has taken the responsibility and they will ensure the environment – so that people are safe, there are adequate lights on the roads, there are CCTV cameras, and people are encouraged to go there.”

General Secretary Ubaidullah Badal moderated the dialogue under the chairmanship of BSRF President Masudul Haque.