Why did Dhaka metro decide to change the design for single-journey cards?
The process of this change started during the previous Awami League government and the design had been finalised and ordered for supply to dispel confusion between the two cards, said DMTCL
You might have noticed that the newly issued single-journey card you purchase to ride the metro looks different than before.
That's because the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) recently issued new cards due to a shortage of single-journey metro rail tickets. But there is another reason why these cards have a brand new design.
Previously, the design of the single-journey ticket was identical to the MRT Pass.
Now you'll notice a small black box labelled "single ticket" added to the top-right corner of the card, while the rest is pretty much the same.
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The changes have spurred many discussions on social media with many even criticising the move as it also omits four images symbolic of Bangladesh's language and independence struggles.
Regarding the design change, the DMTCL has issued a statement on its official Facebook page today (10 November), saying the process of this change started during the previous Awami League government and the design had been finalised and ordered for supply to dispel confusion between the two cards.
The tickets issued during the current government are being used for the convenience of passengers and crowd management, said the Dhaka metro, clarifying its stance.
The new cards were introduced at stations starting from 3 November with the aim to prevent passengers from carrying the card away with them.
The DMTCL stated that the MRT Line-6 project provides a total of 3.13 lakh single-journey tickets and a total of 8,25,500 MRT passes.
"The single journey ticket and MRT pass have similar designs, causing confusion among passengers. Passengers with MRT passes exit by touching the card at the gate. Whereas, passengers with single-journey tickets have to insert the ticket into the slot at the exit gate," said the Dhaka metro.
As the design of both cards is similar, a single-journey ticket holder tends to follow the MRT pass holder and touches the ticket instead of inserting it into the exit gate slot. That causes the exit gate to ring an alarm and thus becomes inoperative for a period of time. As a result, a gridlock of passengers is often seen at the exit gate, reads the statement.
According to the DMTCL, the single-journey tickets have been changed to set it apart from MRT passes and to streamline passenger management, primarily for the convenience of passengers.
"Hopefully, this will put an end to the confusion that has been purposely spread regarding the design of the MRT single-journey tickets," the DMTCL has said.
The DMTCL claims that already, more than 2 lakh single-journey tickets have been lost, as passengers tend to take those away with them when they leave the station.
Earlier 50,000 of those were changed in colour to help differentiate with MRT passes. "But there was no use," the Dhaka metro said.
Later, a decision was made to procure new tickets and change the design as the number of single journey tickets decreased. On 30 January, a letter was sent to the consulting firm to take necessary measures to collect 4 lakh tickets. Then on 28 July, the new design of the single-journey tickets was informed to the contractor.
Finally, the contracting firm supplied 20,000 single-journey tickets with a new design on 1 November.
So, first there was a colour change which didn't quite work. Later, a design change with a promise of a less chaotic. Now, we wait and watch how smooth our train journey across the city would actually become.
