Commuters held hostage by bus operators

. PHOTO: STAR

Commuters in the city are held hostage by the bus operators who increases fare and change routes at will but offer poor service.

Some of the operators charge high fare in the name of providing "special" or "sitting" services but passengers allege this has been a farce.

"They are cheating us due to lack of proper monitoring," said Mahmud, a resident of Mirpur. "They increase fare whenever they want."

The fare for sitting service buses, running from Azimpur to Mirpur, has been increased from Tk 5 to Tk 7 without any reason," Mahmud said. "Now they are going to increase the fare again due to the latest fuel price hike."

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) officials said they have been informed of the fare hike and they are going to investigate the matter.

"The fare fixed for this route is Tk 5. Increasing this fare is a violation of rules," said a senior official of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority.

Passengers and BRTA officials alleged that the bus companies also violate BRTA-approved route plans to save fuel at the cost of passengers' plight.

A high official pointed out that some of these services are not following BRTA's circular route plan. "They have modified the route plan to their own advantage to save fuel cost and time," he said.

When asked, officials of Metrolink, a bus service on this route, denied the allegation. "We are following the fixed route plan," he claimed.

About the increase in fare, he put the blame on fuel price hike.

The commuters allege that most of the bus services do not maintain timetable and carry more passengers than their capacity.

"Most of the time the buses are 20 to 30 minutes late and the ticket sellers cannot provide accurate information about the bus timings," said Humayun Kabir, a regular commuter of Dhanmondi.

Ripon, a ticket seller of Duldul Paribahan said, "Buses are usually late due to traffic congestion. What can we do?"

Although the operators charge high fare in the name of providing sitting service, most buses are overcrowded during the rush hours.

"We are ready to pay extra money for the special services but we often see passengers standing inside the buses," said Kabir.

A ticket seller said, "Commuters can wait 10-15 minutes for the next bus but they usually jump into one which are already filled."

But the commuters said they board a crowded bus in order to save time. "There is no assurance that I will get seat in the next bus," said a passenger.

He said the drivers do not switch on fans or air-conditioners to cut fuel consumption. "But we have to pay more for these services," he added.

About the so-called special or sitting services, BRTA officials said these buses take regular permits for any of city's 48 routes. "Only a few operators have permission to set up ticket counters at specific places," said an official.

Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) has recently evicted many illegal tickets counters from different parts of the city.