Gulam Rabbani :
The city residents are facing a terrible crisis of urban transports. Long waiting for buses in the morning is a common scenario in Dhaka city. They have to struggle hard and face harassment to get into a bus during the office hours. It seems that harassment is their constant companion.
Female passengers face tougher situation and discomfort. When they get into the buses and alight, some of the bus staff and male passengers try to abuse them in words and physically. Any protest meets further insult.
As there is no alternative, passengers have to travel by buses. They have to face a number of problems like long waiting, traffic jam, increased amount of fare, overpacked, unavailability of seats, rude behaviour of the bus staff, delayed arrival, discomfort inside the bus, transport inadequacy during peak hours and many more.
Aleya Begum, a regular passenger who travels from Azimpur to Basundhara city everyday for office, said that she had to face various troubles regularly. Bus conductors often refused to allow her. She also said that most of the time reserved seats for women were occupied by male passengers.
If any female passenger protests many male passengers make quarrel.
M Badiuzzaman, also a regular passenger and a private service holder, shared his bitter experience with Aleya. He travels from Mirpur to High Court area everyday for his office work. He said, waiting for a bus in everyday morning has become his regular practice. Sometimes he has to wait a long. It is easy for a passenger to get into a bus from the starting point. But it is harder if any one tries to do it from any middle point stoppage, said he.
Besides all these factors, standing and hanging on the door, unexpected breakdown for fitness problems, unavailability of information of bus services, lack of facilities in stoppage areas add more troubles to the passengers.
Bangladesh Transport Owners Association Secretary General Khandker Enayet Ullah said that a city should have 25 percent of its area for roads. But there is only eight to nine pc in Dhaka. This is why launching of new buses in the city is very tough.
He also said that there is no barrier for the government to launch new buses. Bus owners launched more than three thousands new buses in last three years. But population also are increasing day by day. As a result, problem is remaining.
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) Chairman Md Nazrul Islam said, ‘We don’t have sufficient roads as well as we don’t have sufficient transports in Dhaka city. Government is taking various initiatives to solve this problem. BRTC is launching new buses, especially double-decker buses in the city. Private entrepreneurs are also being encouraged to invest in this sector.’
When asked, Md Nazrul Islam said that BRTA has no study as to how many public buses are needed considering the population of the city. He also said, license were given for around six thousands buses to transport members of the public in the city.
The city residents are facing a terrible crisis of urban transports. Long waiting for buses in the morning is a common scenario in Dhaka city. They have to struggle hard and face harassment to get into a bus during the office hours. It seems that harassment is their constant companion.
Female passengers face tougher situation and discomfort. When they get into the buses and alight, some of the bus staff and male passengers try to abuse them in words and physically. Any protest meets further insult.
As there is no alternative, passengers have to travel by buses. They have to face a number of problems like long waiting, traffic jam, increased amount of fare, overpacked, unavailability of seats, rude behaviour of the bus staff, delayed arrival, discomfort inside the bus, transport inadequacy during peak hours and many more.
Aleya Begum, a regular passenger who travels from Azimpur to Basundhara city everyday for office, said that she had to face various troubles regularly. Bus conductors often refused to allow her. She also said that most of the time reserved seats for women were occupied by male passengers.
If any female passenger protests many male passengers make quarrel.
M Badiuzzaman, also a regular passenger and a private service holder, shared his bitter experience with Aleya. He travels from Mirpur to High Court area everyday for his office work. He said, waiting for a bus in everyday morning has become his regular practice. Sometimes he has to wait a long. It is easy for a passenger to get into a bus from the starting point. But it is harder if any one tries to do it from any middle point stoppage, said he.
Besides all these factors, standing and hanging on the door, unexpected breakdown for fitness problems, unavailability of information of bus services, lack of facilities in stoppage areas add more troubles to the passengers.
Bangladesh Transport Owners Association Secretary General Khandker Enayet Ullah said that a city should have 25 percent of its area for roads. But there is only eight to nine pc in Dhaka. This is why launching of new buses in the city is very tough.
He also said that there is no barrier for the government to launch new buses. Bus owners launched more than three thousands new buses in last three years. But population also are increasing day by day. As a result, problem is remaining.
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) Chairman Md Nazrul Islam said, ‘We don’t have sufficient roads as well as we don’t have sufficient transports in Dhaka city. Government is taking various initiatives to solve this problem. BRTC is launching new buses, especially double-decker buses in the city. Private entrepreneurs are also being encouraged to invest in this sector.’
When asked, Md Nazrul Islam said that BRTA has no study as to how many public buses are needed considering the population of the city. He also said, license were given for around six thousands buses to transport members of the public in the city.
