690 AC buses never arrived; focus shifts to electric buses

Ariful Haque travels every day from Kallyanpur in Dhaka to his office in Purana Paltan. He runs a travel agency. Ariful Haque told Prothom Alo that it is impossible to board the buses. If he takes an Uber, the fare comes to around Tk 400. Commuting would be comfortable if there were air-conditioned buses. But there is no AC bus on the route he uses.

Like him, many people would commute by AC buses if they were available. But in Dhaka, a city of nearly 15 million people, AC buses can now be counted on one's fingers. The non-AC buses are also in poor condition—rundown, faded in colour, with faulty doors, windows and lights.

During the tenure of the interim government, approval had been given to introduce 690 new AC buses, but the companies that received approval failed to put the diesel-powered AC buses into service even after six months. The government is now focusing on electric buses.

Sources at the Ministry of Road Transport said the new government has plans to modernise the process of approving buses, the types of buses, and their management. The plan to introduce electric buses stems from that initiative.

The government's plan is that the new buses will have automatic door systems and e-ticketing facilities. To ensure an orderly bus system, services will be operated on a counter-based model rather than through contracts with drivers.

According to the plan, the buses will be clean and polished. Route numbers and company names will be clearly displayed on the buses. All buses of the same company will have identical colours. The buses will operate under franchises managed by large companies.

Mohammad Ziaul Haque, Secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Division, told Prothom Alo that the government is focusing on two issues—fuel savings and discipline in public transport. For this reason, alongside government imports of electric buses, the private sector is also being encouraged.

He further said efforts are underway from both the public and private sectors to introduce quality buses in Dhaka. Good results will be visible soon.

Officials at the Ministry of Road Transport said electric AC and non-AC buses will receive various policy benefits, including duty exemptions.

Saiful Alam, General Secretary of the Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association, told Prothom Alo that he himself, together with other transport owners, is trying to introduce 100 electric buses.

In Dhaka, route permits, determination of new routes, and supervision and regulation of transport companies are handled by the Dhaka Metro Passenger and Freight Transport Committee (Metropolitan Regional Transport Committee or Metro RTC).

At an RTC meeting on 6 November last year, approval was granted to introduce 690 AC buses on 10 routes. The 10 companies receiving approval were given six months to put the buses into operation.

However, none of the buses have been introduced. Sources at the companies said they have not yet been able to finalise the process of importing AC buses. Most companies are in talks with companies in India and China but are unable to manage the costs.

RTC sources said that Shapla Paribahan received permission to operate 200 AC buses, which were supposed to run from Chandra in Savar to Dholaikhal via Mohammadpur, Rayerbazar, Hazaribagh and Noyabazar.

Shapla Paribahan owner Golam Jilani told Prothom Alo that he is in talks with various Indian companies but has not yet reached the stage of importing buses.

Chitra Paribahan Limited received approval for 120 AC buses and Time Bird Express for 100. Chitra Paribahan was supposed to operate from Zirani in Savar to Madanpur in Narayanganj via Gabtoli, Farmgate, Moghbazar, Khilgaon and Shanir Akhra. Time Bird was supposed to operate from Savar to Kaliganj in Gazipur via Gabtoli, Mirpur and Uttara.

Selim Sardar, managing director of Chitra Paribahan, told Prothom Alo that they have also not reached the stage of introducing any buses. Attempts to procure old buses were unsuccessful.

Sprint Shuttle Private Limited was supposed to introduce 100 buses (on two separate routes), while Iqbal Enterprise and New Dhaka Paribahan were to introduce 50 buses each.

One Sprint Shuttle route was to run from Zirani in Savar to Chittagong Road, and the other from the airport's Third Terminal to Panchabati in Narayanganj.

Iqbal Enterprise was to operate from Uttara Metro Station to Keraniganj. Trust Transport Services received permission to operate 40 buses from the Cantonment to Jalsiri. Dhaka Transport Line received approval to operate 30 AC buses on the Gulistan–Narayanganj route.

Saiful Alam, General Secretary of the Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association and an RTC member, said some of the 10 companies are trying to import buses, but it is uncertain whether all of them will succeed.

Dhaka's roads are now filled with old buses. According to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) data, some 16,198 of the buses and minibuses currently operating in Dhaka have exceeded their service life.

The total number of registered buses and minibuses in Dhaka is around 54,000. In other words, 30 per cent of buses and minibuses are overaged (more than 20 years old).

AC buses now operate on only a handful of routes in Dhaka. Although AC buses used to operate between Motijheel and Savar, and on the Uttara route two decades ago, those services no longer exist.

At present, AC buses operate under the name Dhaka Chaka between Banani, Gulshan and Baridhara, but the route is very short.

The importance of buses in Dhaka's public transport system remains undiminished despite the addition of metro rail and other services, according to the Strategic Transport Plan for Dhaka conducted with an assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The revised 2015 plan stated that 80 per cent of Dhaka residents travel using public transport. Of those who use public transport, around 64 per cent travel by bus or minibus. Even by 2035, as many as 57 per cent of travel in Dhaka is expected to remain dependent on buses and minibuses.

Experts believe that mismanagement of routes must first be addressed in order to bring discipline to public transport in Dhaka.

According to the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), although 7,091 buses are registered on 128 routes in the metropolitan area, only between 3,000 and 4,500 buses actually operate on the roads.

They said many of those buses are not operating on the routes for which they obtained permits. A total of 3,427 buses operate on their designated routes, while 2,018 operate on different routes. Another 1,646 buses have no route permits at all.

Transport sources said buses currently operate under company names, but route permits are issued in the names of individual owners. As a result, discipline is lacking. If registration and route permits were issued in the names of companies, law enforcement would be easier.

In 2018, the DTCA board decided to introduce company-based bus services, or route rationalisation. Although the Dhaka Nagar Paribahan service was subsequently launched, it did not succeed.

Professor Md Hadiuzzaman of the Department of Civil Engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) told Prothom Alo that the current method of issuing route permits is not scientific.

According to him, when route permits are granted based on applications from individual companies, buses are often not introduced properly. Even when they are introduced, standards are not maintained.

For this reason, modern buses should be introduced under a franchise system managed by a small number of companies, he added.