Transport companies can apply to operate under Nagar Paribahan, an initiative aimed at bringing discipline to Dhaka鈥檚 mass transport system, until November 30.
At a press briefing held at Nagar Bhaban on Monday, Dhaka South City Corporation administrator and Bus Route Rationalisation Committee president Nazrul Islam said that buses will operate under the name Nagar Paribahan but will remain under company ownership.
鈥楨ach company will have designated routes. We will shift to a Rapid Pass and online payment system to eliminate unfair fare practices,鈥� said the DSCC administrator.
Buses will operate on 42 routes across Dhaka.
鈥楽o far, 80 applications have been submitted. Companies currently operating buses on specific routes will be given priority to continue serving those same routes,鈥� said Neelema Akhter, executive officer of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority.聽聽
She further said the committee has decided to form another small committee of 10-12 people, which will outline the business model and how the buses will operate.聽
The next meeting of the Bus Route Rationalisation Committee will be on 11 December.聽聽聽
Transport expert Saleh Uddin, emphasizing the importance of freeing footpaths to reduce traffic congestion in the capital, said that if footpaths are freed from encroachment, 60 percent of people will walk for their commute.聽
The bus route rationalisation committee was formed through a notification to bring all transport companies operating in Dhaka under 鈥榦ne umbrella鈥� in September 2018 with the DSCC mayor as its convener.
Under the initiative, the city;s 291 routes were marged into 42 and they were supposed to grouped into nine clusters name after colours, including green, blue and pink.聽
The Nagar Paribahan service was launched on three routes in 2021, which was supposed to gradually expand its operation, but operations of buses are now stopped in the routes.