The days of waiting in queues for bus tickets seem over, as a website is enabling travellers to buy tickets online.

The website -- www.shohoz.com, which is already selling tickets of 24 long routes of 10 bus operators, will soon cover all routes.

"People often have to spend a considerable amount of time jostling with traffic and travelling to bus counters to buy tickets," said Maliha M Quadir, founding managing director of the e-travel venture.

The website now sells tickets of major routes such as Dhaka to Chittagong, Khulna, Sylhet, Barisal, Cox's Bazar, Magura and Jhenaidah.

However, travellers can also buy tickets from them by making phone calls to a designated number or via messages, Quadir said.

“We have both SMS tickets and paper tickets,” she said, adding that payments can be made by cash, mobile banking or credit cards.

The company charges Tk 21 for each ticket sold online or offline. The tickets can also be delivered to a customer's home at a service charge of Tk 50.

“We have ticketing software that is being used at bus counters and is synchronised with our website, enabling buyers to see which seats are available,” she said.

Shohoz sells tickets of bus operators such as AR Travels, Agomony Express, Hanif Enterprise, Nabil Paribahan, SI Enterprise, SR Travels, Saintmartin Paribahan, Shohagh Paribahan, and Soudia Air Con.

Quadir, who has an MBA from Harvard Business School, earlier worked for global companies such as Nokia, Vistaprint and Morgan Stanley.

She wanted to focus on "something that is used by the masses and used frequently." “Our system will also help spread internet among the masses as tickets are, in a way, a necessity,” she said.

Bus is the largest mode of transport in Bangladesh, she said, adding that digitisation has touched the transport sector very recently and created scope for improvement and efficiency.

“In just two weeks, we trained up counter managers who never used computers,” she said.

Some operators are yet to adopt the technology to sell tickets online. "A lack of consumer awareness is the biggest hurdle we face now.”

The portal has provided partner operators with an online booking system which helps them manage their inventory and prevent dubious or duplicate bookings, ultimately saving costs and improving workflow efficiencies, Quadir said.