Articulated bus to reduce traffic jam in city soon

The government has decided to introduce articulated buses with higher passenger capacity in a bid to reduce the traffic jam in the city.

Some 50 articulated buses will be imported from India to join the BRTC fleet under the one billion dollar Indian line of credit.

According to sources in BRTC, the government is introducing the articulated bus services under a pilot project to ease the nagging traffic congestion in the city. In fact, introduction of articulated buses was decided by the government a year ago.

The new buses will be pressed into service on Gabtali-Asadgate-Farmgate-Shahbagh-Gulistan route.

The prime minister has recently said government would not take into consideration the loss and profit of the state-owned BRTC as it is for providing services to the people.

At present, the BRTC has 1,031 buses in its fleet. The government has procured 275 buses from China and 255 from Korea.

Another 295 double-decker buses, 100 air-conditioned buses and 50 articulated buses will be procured from India to add to the BRTC fleet. These buses will be purchased under the one billion dollar Indian line of credit.

According to the Dhaka Transport Coordination Board (DTCB), there is no alternative to introduction of articulated bus service in Dhaka city, as traffic congestion is getting worse day by day.

Some 4,000 minibuses are now plying in the city and those need to be phased out to ease the traffic jam.

The DTCB also viewed for making the city roads free from rickshaws before introducing the articulated bus services.

Articulated buses (either motorbuses or trolleybuses), also known as tandem buses, bendy buses, banana buses, slinky buses, caterpillar buses or accordion buses (and not to be confused with flexible buses), are the type with an high passenger capacity.

Source : The Daily Star