SUCCESSIVE governments have failed to bring some order to the road regime plagued with corruption and irregularities, largely because of the undue sway that transport owners and workers’ associations wield over the government. The interim government, too, appears facing with a similar situation in taking rickety vehicles off the road. More than 80,000 registered buses and trucks ply the road despite having passed their economic life. Official records show that 39,169 buses and minibuses are older than 20 years and 41,140 trucks, covered vans and tankers are older than 25 years. After assuming office, the interim government in October 2024 asked the owners to replace such vehicles on Dhaka roads with environmentally friendly vehicles in six months. In December 2024, the adviser for road transport announced that such vehicles would be taken off the road by May 2025. Amid strong opposition of the transport associations, the deadline was then extended to July 1 and yet, it is now uncertain when the decision will be enforced.
The Greater Chattogram Public and Goods Transport Owners’ Federation have called a strike for July 20 in the division, demanding the suspension of the government notification on the ‘economic life’ of vehicles and amendments to the provisions in the Road Transport Act 2018 that they think go against their interests. The strike coincides with the day the transport adviser is scheduled to meet leaders of the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners’ Association. The government, however, insists that the reconsideration of the decision to take rickety vehicles off the road is not on the meeting agenda. Similarly, when the deposed Awami League was in office, the decision to take the rickety vehicles off the streets was stalled. In May 2023, the road transport ministry put the same definition of economic life for buses and goods vehicles but backtracked the order in three months and put the order on hold amid pressure from the transport associations. The interim government’s plan to launch a bus route franchise system also fell flat because of the transport owners’ interference and lack of cooperation. The road transport law also remains largely unenforced because of the resistance from profit-seeking owners’ association.
The failure to take rickety buses off the road is not isolated from systemic issues that left the road transport sector as one of the corrupt sectors. While it is important to take the vehicles beyond economic life off the roads, it is equally important for the government to address the politicisation of the sector and break the undue control of the owners’ federation on the sector.
