Public transport in the hands of syndicates.
DTCA Executive Director (Additional Secretary) Neelima Akhtar said that bringing discipline to public transport is the need of the hour and DTCA is determined to introduce disciplined transport in Dhaka city.
Transport related people said that there are many bus owners in the capital who take loans and rent buses to an existing company. Due to multiple ownership systems, there is competition and rivalry to pick up passengers. If buses were run under a few big companies, this competition would not have happened.
In addition, bus drivers, helpers or conductors mostly work on a contract basis. They do not even have an appointment letter. There is no monthly salary. This is also another reason for chaos.
According to TIB, a collection of Tk 1,590 crore is collected annually from privately owned buses and minibuses in the country. The share of the bribe is shared by individuals or groups with party affiliations, traffic and highway police, BRTA officials and employees, owner-worker organizations and representatives of municipalities or city corporations.
The study revealed that politicians are involved in the management of about 92 percent of the country’s large bus companies. Of these, 80 percent are associated with the ruling party. Meanwhile, 60.5 percent of passengers have complained about excessive fares.
It is known that fish and vegetable traders have to pay a bribe before buying products from the warehouse and transporting them. Covered van, pickup, CNG-powered auto-rickshaw drivers have to pay a bribe regularly at the ghat. In addition, they have to pay a bribe at various Laguna stands. Extortion is also prevalent in Kalyanpur, Rajarbagh, Sayedabad, Mohakhali, Pallabi, Gulistan, Yatrabari, Gabtoli areas. The main obstacle in bringing new buses and minibuses across the country, including Dhaka, is extortion by owner associations. Before the bus is launched, a subscription of two to two lakh taka is required to be paid to the owner’s association. This is one of the reasons why buses and minibuses are not launched in the normal process. Labor unions also support this subscription. According to the owners, the owner’s association charges five to eight lakh taka for launching new buses. And the owner’s associations are controlled by the ruling party.
In metropolitan cities, the transport committee headed by the police commissioner issues the route permit for bus movement. In districts, the committee is headed by the police superintendent. The BRTA headquarters approves the movement of inter-district transport. All committees have representatives of the owner and workers. The BRTA representative committee member secretary and the organization maintain the documents. Transport leaders can use this opportunity to extort. The study shows that according to 40.9 percent of bus workers and workers, one or more of the companies concerned lack some kind of certificate, including the registration of one or more buses.
DTCA and BRTA sources say that the metro rail is not the only solution for public transport. Metro will not run on all routes or to all destinations. Officials are busy making projects showing that MRT, BRT or flyover construction is the only solution. They have not been seen taking any steps to increase the city’s roads. However, compared to the size of the capital, there should be 25 percent roads. There are only 9 percent.
Bureaucrats perform the duties of the transport sector regulatory agencies in various government offices. If they go against the will, the transport leaders remove the concerned officials. There are 4,448 route permits for private buses on active routes in the capital. Of these, 4,391 are buses and 57 are minibuses. However, 6,955 have permits.
Analyzing the route permit report, it has been found that 391 long-distance routes are allowed under the BRTA headquarters office. Of these, 106 are in Dhaka, 17 in Chittagong Metropolitan City, 34 in Dhaka Divisional Office, 30 in Chittagong, 8 in Rajshahi, 9 in Khulna, 9 in Barisal and 5 in Rangpur Divisional Office and 690 routes from all districts. Due to the weakness of public transport, private cars are increasingly being used. Every day, 1,409 new motorcycles, 50 private cars and 10 buses are being used on the country’s roads. The abundance of private cars is one of the reasons for traffic congestion on Dhaka’s roads.
Experts say that the limitations and volume of roads should be considered when registering private cars. The 20-year transport plan for Dhaka in 2004 suggested the introduction of ‘bus route rationalization’ or ‘bus route franchise’. The main goal of this special system was to remove dilapidated buses from Dhaka’s roads. New buses would be introduced on easy-to-use loans. The buses would be operated by five to six companies. The owners would receive dividends according to the investment rate. Private bus owners had proposed to buy their buses. It did not happen due to political obstacles. Later, the initiative collapsed.
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