All city buses to operate under Dhaka Nagar Paribahan
Bus companies that want to operate in Dhaka will be able to apply to come under Dhaka Nagar Paribahan until 30 November
Buses of all companies across Dhaka city will very soon have to operate under a single company -- Dhaka Nagar Paribahan, an initiative that has long been aiming to bring discipline to the capital's notorious mass transport system.
Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator and Bus Route Rationalisation Committee President Nazrul Islam announced the decision at a press briefing today (11 November).
"If a company wants to operate buses on a route, they will have to do it under Dhaka Nagar Paribahan," said Nazrul after the committee's 29th meeting at the city corporation office.
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The meeting was held in a bid to expedite the Dhaka Nagar Paribahan initiative, which was first taken up by former Dhaka North mayor Annisul Huq in 2016.
"We had instructed those who want to operate public transport in the capital to apply to come under the Dhaka Nagar Paribahan. Till today, 80 bus companies have applied. Companies will be able to apply until 30 November," Nazrul said.
He further said they have decided to form a small committee of 10-12 people, which will outline the business model and how the buses will operate. "We will sit again on 11 December."
Buses will operate on 42 routes in Dhaka under the name of Dhaka Nagar Paribahan. In this case, the companies will be given approval considering various qualifications, he added.
"We hope bus owners will cooperate with the initiative to establish a comfortable transportation system," said the Dhaka South administrator.
Since the initiative came to being, the two city corporations of the capital have faced enormous challenges due to little to no enthusiasm from bus owners.
Under the initiative, the city's 291 routes were merged into 42 and they were supposed to be grouped into six clusters, each having different colours of buses, green, blue, pink, etc.
However, the initiative lost momentum with mayor Anisul's death in 2017.
The issue resurfaced once again following the road safety movement waged by students in 2018.
That year, a 10-member committee was formed with representatives of government bodies, police, transport owners, workers and experts.
The then Dhaka South mayor Sayeed Khokon was the convener of the committee which also failed to make any progress.
Then came the concept of bus route rationalisation and then Dhaka South mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh took the lead this time, adding another route in December 2021 under the plan to run all city buses under Dhaka Nagar Paribahan.
The net gain until now was two specified routes, a committee and more than two dozen meetings with promises to better the city's bus service.
After deploying 30 wide-bodied buses from the state-owned BRTC, 70 more buses were expected from private bus operators to build a 100-strong fleet. But only six companies joined the move with just a few buses.
The plan was big, running city buses under a joint venture with Dhaka Nagar Paribahan gradually on all 42 routes engaging other companies. Private bus companies, entrepreneurs and franchisees were invited to join the move. But the performance and response of private bus operators were lacklustre.
