Archita Baroi
Private bus companies which provide 98 percent of the city's bus services want to increase the bus fares though many city commuters do not think that the companies even now serve their basic needs.
Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Samity secretary general and Dhaka Sarak Paribahan Samity general secretary Khandaker Enayet Ullah told New Age that they have applied to the communication ministry for permission to raise the fares of privately owned buses and threatened if the permission is not given, they would stop their services.
They say that at the current fare the commuters pay the bus owners do not earn any profit and that, as a result, investors have lost interest in the sector.
Enayet Ullah said that the government has fixed the rate at Tk 1.2 per km. 'But this is not profitable for bus owners', he said.
He, however, did not say how much an increase in the fares they were seeking from the ministry.
Commuters however told New Age about the difficulties they suffer while using the city's bus service.
Atiqul Islam, a regular commuter who travels on Razarbag to Farmgate on 'Shakalpa Parbahan' and 'Labbayek Paribahan', told New Age that while he spent Tk10 to go from Razarbag to Farmgate, a distance of about 6 km, he had to spend the same on the route from from Razarbag to Malibagh, which was only a length of about 1 km.
Mirpur residents complained that on the Mirpur route there were not enough 'ticket' buses with most of the 'sitting' buses failing to provide a quality service.
Mirpur resident Sanzida Hossain said that female commuters do not get seats in buses from Mirpur because there are no reserved seats for women in the 'sitting' buses like the 'Bikalpa' bus. The only two ticket service buses in Mirupur are a BRTC bus and a 'Shakalpa Paribahan' bus.
Another commuter, Safiq Arman, said the number of buses are much too few taking into account the number of passengers.
Mithun Rahman said, 'If the bus companies had competition then they might provide much better services. The government should also take initiatives to improve the situation'.
Dhaka metropolitan city area is served by around 4,000 buses and mini-buses. But the bus owners claim that due to mismanagement in the city's transport system in some parts of the city there are far too few buses, while in other places there are too many buses with the vehicles travelling with very few passengers.
Enayet Ullah said that about 150 private bus owners were running bus services in Dhaka city at present.
He claimed that in the last two years around 40 bus owners have stopped their services with only two new owners coming into the sector during the period.
'The price increase in CNG fuel and the level of traffic congestion are the reasons for the losses in this business', Enayet Ullah claimed.
'Previously, every day a bus could run seven or eight round trips, but now this has dropped by half,' Enayet said.
Other reasons he gave for lower profitability in the sector, and fewer buses, is that buses are sometimes requisitioned by the government agencies, strikes by opposition political parties and a tendency of students not to pay their fares.
State-owned Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation also provides bus services on ten routes in the city although this comprises only two percent of total bus operation in Dhaka.
General Manager of BRTC Quazi Shafique Uddin told New Age they would provide more buses in Dhaka city soon and have a target of operating 50 percent of buses in Dhaka in the near future.
Source: New Age
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