Fare set initially at Tk 3.12 per km

The fare for buses plying the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route from Gazipur to Dhaka airport has primarily been set at Tk 3.12 per kilometre, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL) officials told The Business Post.

Seventy-five buses will initially ply this route. The implantation of this project is underway, and is scheduled to be completed by 2023. However, the fare will be revised later to adjust for the change in fuel prices. A committee will work to determine the new fare, said insiders.

The BRT however cannot set fares more than 25 per cent higher than Dhaka city bus fares. The bus fare to Gazipur is now Tk 63, which may go up to Tk 80.

The minimum fare for BRT buses plying the Gazipur-Airport route has been set at Tk 5, which may also increase.

BRT Managing Director Shafiqul Islam said, “The project was approved by ECNEC in 2012, but the actual implementation started from 2017.

“During this period, there were delays in starting the implementation due to various reasons such as planning, hiring consultants, evaluation, preparation of designs and hiring contractors. However, the project is scheduled to be finished within the next year.” Through this rapid transit, 20,000 passengers will be able to travel from Gazipur to the airport in Dhaka every hour.

Under this project, a 20.5 km corridor will be built from Gazipur to the airport with a 4 km runway, 6 fly-overs, and 25 BRT stations. There will be 2 BRT lanes, 4 mixed traffic lanes, 2 non-mechanised lanes, pedestrian underpasses and 65 connecting roads on both sides of the road.

The BRT lane traffic signals, ticket sales and other areas including software creation, management and monitoring work will be handed over to private firms. After the launch of the BRT route, there is a plan to stop eight bus routes that run regularly from Dhaka to Gazipur.

In that case, city buses will be able to ply from Dhaka to Abdullahpur. However, 10 bus routes plying from Gazipur to Abdullahpur will continue as before. City buses will be allowed to run on both sides of the BRT lane.

Under the 20-year Strategic Transport Plan (STP) formulated for Dhaka in 2005, an initiative was taken to construct a separate bus lane on the 20 km road from the airport to Gazipur.

The project was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on December 1, 2012. The total cost of the project is Tk 4,268 crore. However, BRT is still not sure whether the cost will increase or not.