Transport crisis
On Monday evening, I saw a female passenger with tears in eyes at Rafa Plaza, Dhanmandi waiting for a motor vehicle. But she was not able to alight into any bus or minibus, as each of those was locked from inside though those vehicles could accommodate a lot of standing passengers.
My destination was Shayamoli. It was 8 pm. The buses plied with the tag of ‘Gate-locked’ charging a higher fare from the starting point. Another reason, may be, they decided to avoid unruly passangers from the middle of the route.
I saw thousands of passengers at Asad Gate, College Gate, Shaymoli and Kalyanpur in wait for city transports. The members of the Traffic Police were trying to maintain discipline, but they were unable to help us to get into the transports.
Until 2010, the city bus and minibus owners associations introduced ticket system at every stoppage welcome by the resident of the city of Dhaka. Though there were traffic congregations on different roads, the female passengers could travel comfortably. Likewise, we could do. So, may we requests the bus and minibus owners association, Dhaka City Corporations, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police and the BRTA to take joint initiative to solve the transport crisis as quick as possible?
Khaled Mahmud
Dhaka
