Buses to run under few companies

Buses plying in the capital will be brought under five to seven companies, each to be provided permits to keep to respective routes for proper public transport management and minimising gridlocks, said Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Annisul Huq yesterday.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Passengers' Welfare Association submitted a memorandum at the Prime Minister's Office demanding further scrutiny, including through public consultations and discussions with stakeholders, of the draft Bangladesh Road Transport Authority Act-2015 before it was passed in parliament.

The cabinet approved the draft on September 21 to make the organisation legally stronger.

Addressing the inauguration of a programme to clean water bodies near the capital's Karail slum, Annisul also viewed that it would be better for traffic management if all the buses could be run under a single company.

"We have elaborately discussed it with the bus owners' association. They have agreed," he said without mentioning when the system would be introduced.

Talking to The Daily Star, Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association Khandaker Enayet Ullah said they agreed to the mayor's proposals and that if the new system could be introduced, new buses would be added while decrepit ones removed.

The number of buses in the capital, around 4,000 of some 130 companies, is inadequate to meet the demand as hundreds of passengers can be seen waiting for hours at bus stops every day.