A planned city bus route yet a dilemma
20 January 2021
THE planned company-based
bus service on the Bosila-Motijheel route is going to be like that of
the traditional trip-based services for not following the procedures of a
joint venture company. Sources said the company is neither formed under
the office of the joint stock companies nor it has shareholders and
capital investment.
Dhaka Bus Owners Association (DBOA), assigned to
form the company has merged three companies having around 100 owners
with 200 buses. It is found that the names of the companies operating
buses on the Bosila-Motijheel route, the number of owners and buses were
totally different from those on the lists prepared by Dhaka Transport
Coordination Authority (DTCA) and DBOA.
A special committee has
announced the launch of company-based bus service. Under the leadership
of the mayors of two Dhaka City Corporations, the committee was formed
to work on bus route rationalisation (BRR) during its 13th and 14th
meetings. The DTCA as a member secretary has been taking necessary steps
to develop route facilities including bus bays, depot and bus
terminals. It will also provide necessary support to all stakeholders
with the help of Dhaka South and Dhaka North City Corporations — DSCC
and DNCC.
The pilot project has been planned to be launched without
following all necessary procedures. As the transport sector is grappling
with multiple problems including political influence and corruption,
the pilot route has been prepared to give a start or sensitise the
people. But the new pilot project would not be successful unless the
government provides necessary financial support to bus owners. The
government is yet to fix the fares of buses, bus bays, stations with
passenger sheds and terminals.
It seems unlikely that the routes
fixed would be fairly allocated — surely political nepotism would play a
big role in the getting of major routes. On top of that if the
government has to subsidize the owners and set up passenger sheds and
other necessary accoutrements it will be subsidizing an already decrepit
sector. It would be much more financially viable to increase road width
and employ more MRTs and set up underground trains as well. Buses are
only going to clog up roads even more — considering that Dhaka city has
only 7 per cent of its area as roads it would not make sense to increase
the buses of all routes.