There are not enough buses in Dhaka city

The city of Dhaka is experiencing a severe shortage of buses and minibuses, the main modes of public transport in the capital, causing daily hardship for commuters.

The allowable number of buses and minibuses on the city’s 110 operating routes is 7,043. This number is based on the needs and capacity of the route recommended by a government committee.

However, according to an analysis of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) data, only about 4,500 vehicles are currently operating on these routes — about two-thirds of the required number.

As a result, many commuters are forced to use smaller vehicles such as private cars, auto-rickshaws and rickshaws, exacerbating the capital’s chronic traffic jams.

Sohel Mahmood, who works in a private firm, spoke of the problems he now faces when he uses public buses to reach his residence in Old Dhaka from his Farmgate office.

“Even a year ago there was a (route #3) bus to Farmgate at about 9pm every 10 minutes. Now I often have to wait much longer — sometimes even half an hour,” he told this correspondent recently.

“And the service has also deteriorated,” he said, noting overcrowded and untidy seats, as well as careless driving.

Experts and officials attribute the current situation mainly to a long pause in the issuance of permits for new bus routes and the influence of a powerful syndicate of transport chiefs who reportedly determine the allocation of these permits.

They also pointed out that the launch of the metro coupled with the ongoing traffic chaos and indiscipline is discouraging businesses from investing in the sector.

According to them, among other reasons for the deterioration of the road traffic situation is the failure of the authorities to rationalize the unsystematically drawn bus routes and launch the bus franchising system.

During the last decade, the system of transferring all buses to one or more specific companies has been much discussed, but initiatives to launch it have failed.

According to the 2022 population and housing census, more than 10.2 million people live in the city. However, the current population is believed to be much larger.

There are 386 approved routes in the city and surrounding areas, but only 110 of them are operational now as the authorities had already synchronized many of these routes about a decade ago, BRTA data shows.

5,594 buses have received route permits from the Dhaka Metro Passenger and Freight Committee, a government body headed by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

A BRTA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a government committee had recommended granting route permits to 7,043 buses and minibuses on 110 routes based on capacity and necessity.

But another committee headed by the then mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation, Syed Haakon, decided in March 2019 not to grant route permits to the new buses. They decided to rationalize routes and launch a pilot project, the official said.

Route permits for 1,150 buses and minibuses have already been canceled after crossing 20 years of economical operation. Thus, currently 4,444 buses have permission to operate in the city and nearby areas, the BRTA representative said.

“The pause in issuing route permits for more than five years is the main reason for the decrease in the number of buses in the city,” he said.

Mohammad Shahidullah, member-secretary of the government committee responsible for issuing route permits, said: “We are currently working on reorganizing the committee and will resume the process after approval from the relevant authorities.”

Against this backdrop, the government on October 24 gave six months to remove outdated vehicles from the streets across the country, given the shortage of buses.

SYNDICATE

Entrepreneurs have lost interest in operating buses because no one can get permission for a route without paying a hefty sum to a powerful syndicate of transport owners, said a transport executive who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A vicious circle is perpetuating anarchy and indiscipline in the sector to profit from the situation, he said.

The launch of the Uttara-Motijheel Metro last year is another reason for the fall in the number of buses on this particular route, the transport leader said.

A BRTA official said most bus owners in the city rent out their vehicles to drivers on daily contracts.

In this system, known as “ride-based service,” drivers pay the owner a fixed amount based on daily trips. To maximize profits, they drive recklessly to make as many trips as possible in a day, creating a serious safety risk.

This system also did not give prosperity to the capital’s bus service, the official noted.

Transport expert Prof Moazzem Hossain said high-investment projects such as metro instead of bus services were given priority during the tenure of the Awami League government.

He said the bus services will serve four to five times more passengers than Dhaka’s three metro lines, including the two under construction, when the lines are launched.

According to him, the construction of metro lines requires approximately 1.5 lakh crores, the development of bus services like in London requires only 8000 crores.

But the bus service was not prioritized and it was a “political crime” by the previous government, he told The Daily Star on October 26.

INCREASE OF LOW-COST TRANSPORT, ZORI

If the registration of buses and minibuses is decreasing, the number of private cars and motorcycles is increasing.

According to BRTA, 893 buses and minibuses were registered in Dhaka city in the first nine months of this year, compared to 1,887 in 2023 and 2,233 in 2022.

On the other hand, 58,634 motorcycles and 7,384 private cars were registered in the city in the first nine months of this year, while the figures were 90,403 and 9,687 respectively last year, BRTA data showed.

In addition, the number of rickshaws, especially battery rickshaws, has increased dramatically in the city.

Prof Moazzem, a former director of the Accident Research Institute in Bueta, blamed the shortage of buses on the increase in the number of small vehicles, which he said was the main cause of worsening congestion.

“Improving bus service is very necessary to reduce congestion,” he said.

To bring discipline to the bus service, experts suggested rationalizing bus routes and introducing a franchise system.

These methods were discussed at length and gained momentum during the tenure of the late Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Annisul Huq. The initiative lost momentum after his death in November 2017.

In June 2019, the Supreme Court ordered the relevant authorities to transfer bus transportation in all capital cities under the franchise system.

A pilot bus franchise project on the Ghatarchar-Kanchpur route was launched in Dhaka in December 2021. Later, two more routes were added to the project.

The failure to fully launch the system after about three years is a clear indication that the bus service was not a priority of the previous government, Professor Moazzem said.