Transport owners call for subsidies or fare hikes for route rationalisation

Transport owners have called for government subsidies or a hike in fares to sustain the bus route rationalisation system, designed to bring discipline and optimise public transportation, as they have been suffering financially to operate on these routes. 

Two years have passed since the bus routes were rationalised, but the system has been struggling to gain traction or achieve success, said Advocate Mahbubur Rahman, vice-president of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners' Association, in a public hearing at the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority in the capital yesterday.

Giving an example, he said that route-21 was initially launched with Transilva buses, but their income was very low, and eventually, they stopped operating due to financial losses.

He further said route rationalisation must enable the bus owners to get a return on their investments as their operation is at risk without profitability. 

He also criticised the rules that prohibit the existing buses from operating on the rationalised routes, as the transport owners have already made investments there. Different measures, like conducting drives and imposing fines, have failed to prevent those buses from operating on the rationalised routes. 

So the authorities should allow those buses to renovate and operate on the rationalised routes under the franchise system, he added. 

Seeking support from the owners, and urging them to take part in the tender for the franchise system, Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority Executive Director Shabiha Pervin said, "We will do everything possible to ensure comfortable public transport with the best services. 

"People already have accepted the improved service of bus route rationalisation and now we have to make it successful at any cost."  

She also urged the bus owners to sit together and put forward their demands in a written format.