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The public transport system, particularly in Dhaka city, has descended into greater turmoil, as the interim government could establish little order in the virtually lawless sector it inherited from the autocratic Awami League regime. 

In part, an overwhelming number of ‘paratransit’ in the form of battery-run rickshaws and similar vehicles, mostly unauthorised, plays a major role behind the chaos in city roads.

These vehicles escalate all kinds of suffering—increase the risk of accident, keep the roads and lanes congested, deepen chaos on the roads, cause greater upsurge in traffic rule violations—say city residents, commuters and experts.

Experts observe that at one end, there are buses which, besides the metro rail, remain as the most popular means of public transport, and at the other end, there are the paratransit, including motorcycles, CNG-run auto-rickshaws, and battery-run rickshaws, that are exposed to fatal accident risks much higher than buses.

But, they deplore that the authorities have miserably failed to establish order in the operation of buses as a means of affordable but effective and comfortable public transport.

For many years now, as a means of public transport bus operation remains deeply fraught with many problems, including reckless driving, mindless competition among running buses often leading to fatal accidents, random picking and dropping of passengers anywhere, lack of decent wages and facilities for transport workers.

To increase road safety, in January 2024 the road transport and bridges ministry, during the Awami League regime, formed a committee to prepare the draft road safety act which has yet not finished till now.

Also, little progress has occurred in implementing the company-based bus operations in the capital under the bus route rationalisation project, a plan initiated back in 1997.

The disorder in public transport system grew even worse following the political changeover brought through by the July uprising as the AL regime was overthrown and the interim government was formed with Professor Muhammad Yunus at the helm.

Following the changeover, the ownership of buses went from those associated with Awami League to those associated mostly with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Apart from that nothing has changed, and the chaos goes on as usual.

Meanwhile, more motorcycles and battery-run rickshaws keep hitting the roads of Dhaka city, increasing fatal road crashes and the risks of such accidents manifold. 

A High Court order, asking the authorities on November 19 to stop battery-run rickshaws from plying in Dhaka city within three days, remains absolutely disregarded as several lakh of these vehicles swarm the roads and alleys every day.

‘These smaller vehicles play a big role in the total disorder of the sector,’ said Professor Md Shamsul Hoque, director of the Accident Research Institute under the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

These improvised smaller vehicles, not made by authorised manufacturers, are increasing the degree of exposure and casualties, he says.

According to the Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh, in 2024, the highest number of road accidents in the country involved motorcycles at 27.48 per cent, followed by 23.33 per cent trucks, pickups and covered vans, 16.56 per cent battery-powered rickshaws and ‘easy bikes’, 13.45 per cent buses, 7.37 per cent improvised three-wheeler nasimon and karimon, Mahindra (tractors), and human haulers known as laguna, 6.21 per cent cars-jeep-microbuses, and 5.57 per cent CNG-powered auto-rickshaws.

BUET urban and regional planning department Professor Md Musleh Uddin Hasan alleged that for the Mass Rapid Transit and Bus Rapid Transit facilities there were separate authorities but not for the public buses.

‘As the private bus owners are controlling the sector, so there are no changes and big investments in this sector,’ he said.

The Professor added that as the number of buses was decreasing, users were shifting to pedal rickshaws, battery-run rickshaws, auto-rickshaws and mostly motorcycles, with Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority officials estimating the number of buses now in service in Dhaka city at 3,500–4,000.

A recent survey, conducted under a project for updating the ‘Strategic Transport Plan for Dhaka’ for the period of 2025–2045, revealed this year that the share of buses covering daily trips generated in the greater Dhaka area fell drastically in the past 14 years.

The survey showed that walking covered the highest 38.3 per cent trips followed by 25.8 per cent covered by rickshaws, 11.4 per cent by CNG-run auto-rickshaws, 10.8 per cent by motorcycles, 9.3 per cent by transit which include buses, legunas and tempos, and 4.4 per cent by cars in 2023.

As per the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority website, till May this year, among the registered transport in Dhaka, the highest around 55 per cent were motorcycles followed by around 17 per cent cars and taxicabs, around 14 per cent were microbuses, pick-up vans and jeeps, around 4 per cent trucks, around 2 per cent buses and minibuses, around 1 per cent were auto-rickshaws and around 7 per cent were other vehicles.

There is no official data for the total number of battery-run rickshaws in the country.   

Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, the adviser to the interim government for road transport and bridges ministry, said that they had recently met the private bus owners where a decision was taken to introduce a pilot-basis cluster-based bus service on the Joydebpur-Old Town route with some branch routes, including Natun Bazar and Mohakhali, soon.

There would be a ticketing system to maintain order, he mentioned.

The adviser also said that from July 1, buses older than 20 years would be withdrawn from the roads.

‘These bus owners will be provided with loans under low interest rates,’ he added.  

Regarding the bus route rationalisation project, he remarked, ‘If we want to proceed with everything at the same time, nothing will progress.’

Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association president MA Baten said that 300–400 buses could be older than 20 years. The owners of these buses would get loans for putting new buses on roads.