Bus rationalisation finally coming to reality
- 50 buses will initially run on route
- In next 2 months, 100 buses to ply Ghatarchar-Kanchpur
- Bus fare set at Tk 2.15 per sq km
- Buses to pick up, drop passengers at designated points
- DTCA prepared draft guideline to run the buses
- Buses to run under management committee comprising bus owners
- 40 passenger stoppages, 16 bus-bays to be installed on route
The government is finally going to inaugurate the bus service from Ghatarchar-Kanchpur under one authority from December 26, after missing three earlier deadlines.
The service "Dhaka Nagar Paribahan" will start its journey with 50 buses -- 20 brand-new and 30 old BRTC double-decker buses, all coloured green -- as part of the government's bus route rationalisation initiative, said Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh yesterday.
After the rationalisation committee's 20th meeting, Taposh said they are going to inaugurate the service with 50 buses, but in the next two months, a total of 100 buses will run on the route, of which 10 will be BRTC buses.
Bus fare from Ghatarchar to Kanchpur via Motijheel and Signboard has been fixed at Tk 2.15 per square kilometre, and e-ticketing system will facilitate the service, said Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Md Atiqul Islam.
No bus will be allowed to pick up or drop passengers anywhere aside from designated places, he said.
"We will not allow any other buses on the route. There is a list of 1,646 unregistered buses running in the city, and we will resume our joint drive against them from tomorrow," said Taposh.
He said those buses will be dumped in DSCC's Matuail dumping site.
Earlier, the committee decided to run
120 brand new, green-coloured buses on the route under a single authority on a pilot basis from December 1.
But the initiative could not materialise due to the unwillingness of bus owners to provide new buses.
The owners submitted a list of 104 buses, but only six of them had complied with the criteria set by the rationalisation committee.
The committee later decided to invite applications for new buses, and eight companies and individuals showed interest to run 157 new buses on the route. The committee initially approved 90 of them.
Among the approved buses, Trans Silva will provide 20, HR Transport five, Jahan Enterprise 60 and Mostafa Helal Kabir five. Ten buses will be provided by BRTC, said the DSCC mayor.
Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) has already prepared a draft guideline to run the buses. It has also prepared a draft of the joint venture contract for agreement among bus owners.
All the buses will run under a management committee comprising bus owners, and it will be responsible for the whole operation, said a DSCC official.
He said the committee will report to DTCA.
Around 40 passenger stoppages and 16 bus-bays will be installed on the route. But work for bus-bays will start after inauguration, the DSCC official said.
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