Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (BJKS) has demanded that 5,000 new high-quality buses be brought under a government-managed company to replace the old ones on the capital’s roads as the first step in the commitment to build smart Bangladesh.
BJKS Secretary General Md Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury made the demand at a press conference organised at Dhaka Reporters Unity in the capital on Saturday.
The government has successively completed its 3rd term and taken over for a 4th term. Despite revolutionary changes in the construction of road infrastructure in the country, establishing good governance in the road transport sector is elusive, he said.
People have been demanding removal of rundown and old vehicles from the roads and introduce a smart, affordable and safe public transport system on the model of developed countries, he added.
He further demanded that in the new government's plan, 5,000 new buses of high quality should be brought under government management under one company or under PPP instead of small vehicles across the country, including capital Dhaka. He suggested taking a plan to develop smart bus service across the country in the same manner as well.
He complained that city dwellers have been travelling by rundown vehicles for a long time. Their crores of working hours are being wasted every day by getting stuck in traffic jam. The anarchy of extra fare collection and anarchy of seating services are going on.
In view of the longstanding demands of passengers and civil society, bus services have been introduced on some routes under the name of Dhaka Nagar Paribahan under the bus route rationalisation project initiated by the mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation, but it has failed.
Water bus service from Sadarghat to Gabtali Amin Bazar has also been stopped. Besides, e-ticketing service in city transport has been stopped. In such a situation, the commuters of the city are now hostage to the whims of the transport owners and workers. Common people cannot travel by these transports with honour and dignity, he said.
He said that currently the government has plans to spend about Tk 3 lakh crore on metro rail and elevated expressway to ease traffic congestion and passenger sufferings in the capital. According to a JICA survey, six metro rails and elevated expressways will be able to transport only 35 per cent of the passengers while 65 per cent of the passengers will be transported by existing rundown buses.
But only Tk 3,000 crore is needed to introduce 5,000 new buses. If the government wants, such bus services can be introduced under public-private partnership through which it is possible to reduce the sufferings of citizens in the capital easily, he added.
