Dhaka Nagar Paribahan bus service was launched two years ago to bring order to public transport in the capital, reduce the competition to pick up passengers and relieve city dwellers of unhealthy competition.
There were promises that Nagar Paribahan buses would not stop everywhere, no one would board without a ticket, and passengers would have to be picked up from specific counters.
But now the situation is different. The buses stop anywhere on the road, wherever passengers want to board. Most bus ticket counters have vanished, and buses compete with private bus services.
Ruhul Kuddis, a businessman, said, “Initially, the quality of service was very good. Passengers were not picked up without tickets. However, after a few months, I saw that the Nagar Paribahan buses picked up passengers without tickets.”
With the hope of restoring order in the capital’s public transport, Nagar Paribahan was launched from Ghatarchar in Keraniganj to Kachpur in December 2021.
The Nagar Paribahan service was started with 150 buses in two phases. Later, 128 private company buses were withdrawn from this service. Now, only the state-owned Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) provides the service on routes 21, 22 and 26, which is running poorly.
Passengers are not getting effective service due to a bus shortage. They complain that there is an acute shortage of Dhaka Nagar Paribahan buses. They have to wait for hours to board the bus and are forced to use other means of transportation.
The Bus Route Rationalisation Committee committed to preventing buses of other companies from running on the routes where the Nagar Paribahan service had been launched.
However, according to BRTC bus drivers, at least 400 buses of different companies operate on the three routes used by the Dhaka Nagar Paribahan service.
As a consequence, the private companies who had joined the initiative could not make profits.
The bus company suffered a loss by dropping the bus in Nagar Paribahan, so it withdrew from this service. Now, BRTC buses are run with subsidies only by government decisions.
Nurul Alam travels frequently from Motijheel to Mohammadpur for business purposes. He said, “After coming to the counter, it takes a long time to stand and board the Nagar Paribahan bus. Even if I get a bus, I have to stand. When the time is short, I have to take other buses. Passengers are also picked up from the road.”
Other private transport buses are plying the same route simultaneously, so the competition to pull passengers has not stopped. Therefore, passengers are seen boarding private company buses before the arrival of Nagar Paribahan buses. As a result, the order was not returned to the city transport service.
BRTC chairman Md Tajul Islam said that the government has taken this initiative to restore order in the transport sector in the capital. Even if the private transport is stopped, BRTC will continue the passenger service as per the government’s decision. BRTC is for serving people.
In February last year, the Bus Route Rationalisation Committee vowed to launch new buses on two other routes within the following five months. But, a year after that, it has yet to become a reality.
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Professor Md Hadiuzzaman considers the bus owners’ syndicate a significant obstacle in the development of Dhaka Nagar Paribahan. Breaking this syndicate is the main challenge in making Dhaka Nagar Paribahan successful because many people’s interests and money are involved here.
“The government can do such big things and not bring order to Dhaka’s public transport; it can’t happen. The question is whether the government wants it or not,” he added.