The recommendation of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) to increase the bus fares by 80% has sparked netizens to outcry for policy support and subsidy on fuel for the transport sector to keep the fare within reasonable range.
Earlier in the day, BRTA recommended increasing the fares of all buses by 80% as the vehicles are allowed to carry half passengers of the total seats to maintain social distancing amid Covid-19 outbreak.
People lost source of income as they were out of work for last two months due to the shutdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. But now they will have to pay more to use public transports.
In a Facebook post, Istiak Haider Choudhury said, "Bus seats will never remain vacant if those ply on the streets. And many people can merely afford the increased fare as they earned very little during the lockdown in last two months. The hiked fare will increase altercations among bus workers and passengers only."
"It is impossible to fight the menace of money hungry transport 'masters' with logical reasoning... you have to get in the mud to fight with them," said Ibrahim M N Karim in a Facebook comment.
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