Chaos in Dhaka city bus services continues with extreme competition among buses running on the same routes while plan to rationalise the bus routes by bringing all public buses under six companies did not meet with success even though decades have elapsed.

The plan was initiated back in 1997 under Dhaka Urban Transport Project while since 2015 late Dhaka North City Corporation mayor Annisul Huq had been setting strategies to implement the plan by the government in cooperation with other stakeholders including Dhaka South City Corporation and Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority.

The proposed initiative to bring all private buses under six companies and ensure quality services on 22 major routes remained stalled since the death of Annisul Huq.

Experts feel that to bring order to the chaotic city transport sector, there are no alternatives but to implement the plan.

Recently the road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader expressed his dissatisfaction over no progress of rationalisation and revamping of bus routes.

Dhaka South City Corporation mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh told New Age that the two city corporations of Dhaka would be able to play an effective role if they are given the responsibility to implement the initiative.

‘We could not take any significant initiative to ease traffic gridlock yet and we will be able to understand at the end of this year regarding what we should do,’ he said.

Currently, the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority is coordinating the initiative under road transport ministry.

Experts said that initiative would take off only if it was looked after by a specialised authority and it also received political patronisation.

The delay, on the other hand, is making the situation more complex while the commuters are witnessing a decline services involving public buses and minibuses on city roads.

Additionally, their number has also has gone down over the years.

Meanwhile transport owners said that the initiative was still seemed more theoretical than practical.

But the delay in bus route rationalisation is only multiplying the woes of the commuters who are witnesses to unhealthy completion between buses, often leading reckless driving on the ever busy Dhaka city roads.

Competition is even seen between buses belonging to the same company to reach the next stoppage at the earliest to get as much passengers as possible, commuters complained.

Experts are of the opinion that due to the fragmentation of ownerships and routes extreme competition exists on road.

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology professor Md Shamsul Haque told New Age on Friday that the planning for rationalisation of bus routes was initiated back in 1997 under the Dhaka Urban Transport Project.

Later the idea was given priority in the Strategic Transport Plan formed in 2005, a plan which was not fund-intensive but considered a very effective approach towards easeing traffic congestions, he observed.  Since 2015, the late DNCC mayor Annisul Huq was leading the initiative as per a directive from prime minister Sheikh Hasina, said transport leaders and consultants.

Following his death, then DSCC mayor Sayeed Khokon was made the chairman of the committee for the rationalisation of bus routes which entailed bringing all the buses in the capital under six companies.

On September 27, 2018, at the first meeting of the committee he said that he would make roads safer and free from congestion and air pollution in two years.

Against this backdrop, on September 1 of the current year road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader, at an opinion sharing meeting, said, ‘For a long time DTCA was working on rationalisation of bus routes, and after the death of mayor Annisul Huq the responsibility was given to mayor Sayeed Khokon.’

The citizens were yet to see any progress, he said.

‘We are yet to materialise our plan,’ said DSCC current mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh while talking to New Age.

He said that at present he was holding the responsibility of the committee due to his position.

The mayor mentioned that till now this year they could not hold any meeting on the issue while he was hoping to hold a meeting next month.

The mayor also said that the committee’s decisions would be implemented by the authorities under the road transport ministry while the initiative would not be effective unless they have a good coordination.

‘As per my experience, if we — both DSCC and DNCC — are trusted with the responsibility then we will be able to play an effective role in implementing this initiative,’ he added.

The DTCA executive director Khandakar Rakibur Rahman told New Age that they were working on the initiative.