The country鈥檚 first-ever bus rapid transit line project, undertaken nearly 13 years ago and cost about Tk聽2,800 crore to connect Gazipur and the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital Dhaka through a dedicated bus service corridor, is likely to end without meeting its original objectives.
Under the project, the dedicated bus lanes are now and will remain open to all vehicles while not a single bus has been purchased so far by the company formed to implement the project.
The interim government has planned to keep the project as the way it is now and complete it by December 2026 without increasing its cost by another Tk 2,329 crore as proposed by the project office.
Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit PLC, the implementing agency of the Bus Rapid Transit Line-3 Project, also known as the BRT Project, is now in uncertainty about the company鈥檚 future.
Road transport sector and good governance experts said that people implementing this project should be held accountable for spending such a large amount of public money without meeting the key objectives of the project.
Having begun in December 2012, the project, through a 20.5-kilometre dedicated bus corridor with its 16km stretch running 鈥榓t grade鈥� (ground level) and 4.5km stretch running at elevated levels, aims at reducing traffic congestion in the adjacent road network.
Initially, the project was scheduled for completion by December 2016 at a cost of about Tk 2,000 crore, which later doubled to Tk 4,268.32 crore.
The project was jointly funded by the Asian Development Bank, the Agence Fran莽aise de D茅veloppement and the government of Bangladesh.
In the first extension, the deadline was extended to December 2018 followed by four more extensions 鈥� till June 2020, June 2022, December 2022 and December 2024.
Now the main BRT corridor, different flyovers and connecting roads are open to the public.
An initial plan to operate electric buses on the corridor was later cancelled and accordingly a tender floated to buy such vehicles was dropped. A second tender called in April 2024 to buy 137 diesel-run air-conditioned buses. That attempt also failed.
Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit PLC managing director Muhammad Nurul Amin Khan said on November 20 that till now the project progress for the infrastructure part was about 97 per cent.
Before the last deadline in 2024, he said, a proposal was sent to the road transport and bridges ministry to extend the deadline and project cost, but the ministry made decision for a fourth revision of the detailed project proposal.
The proposal was sent to the executive committee of the National Economic Council in August this year, but the ECNEC sent it back for more evaluation, he added.
Sheik Moinuddin, special assistant to the chief adviser and attached to the road transport and bridges ministry, told 抖阴精品 that for the fourth revision, the project office proposed Tk 6,597 crore as project cost adding Tk聽2,329 crore more and the deadline till December 2029.
鈥楻ight now this government does not want to spend this amount of money on this project because the government becomes suspicious about the return of full benefits from this project,鈥� he said, mentioning that so far for this project Tk 2,810 crore had been spent.
No buses have been purchased under this project, he said.
Considering all these, Sheik Moinuddin said, the government has planned to keep the project as it now.
鈥業f the next government thinks that it will use this infrastructure as a dedicated BRT line, they will have to buy new buses and activate the stations,鈥� he said.
They are now planning to extend the project deadline till December 2026 under the fourth revision of the detailed project proposal without increasing the cost, as it is necessary to pay some dues to the contractors, the CA鈥檚 special assistant said.
鈥榃e are likely to send the draft revised DPP to the ECNEC in December this year,鈥� he said.
Replying to a question, Moinuddin said that interim government would keep the company as the way it is now.
The interim government assumed office on August 8, 2024, after the fall of the Awami League regime in the wake of a mass uprising.
鈥業f the next government activates the BRT project again, it will need that company. If not, I do not see any purpose of this company,鈥� Moinuddin added.
Professor Shamsul Hoque, who teaches civil engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said that the feasibility of this project had been done as per the original Strategic Transport Plan 鈥� 2005.
Before construction, the then government did not modify the corridor based on current situation, he said, adding that following these, the project lost its feasibility much earlier.
He also said that earlier at the corridor there was an eight-lane road, which was now a four-lane road for other vehicles with narrow footpaths.
鈥業f BRT buses start running on the dedicated corridor, that will trigger huge traffic congestion,鈥� he said.
Shamsul urged the government to hold the people involved with the design, funding and implementation of the project accountable.
Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International Bangladesh, said that Tk聽2,810 crore was huge for constructing only this small segment of the bus corridor.
鈥業t is usual to think that the additional money asked for operational reasons is illogical when the infrastructure is completed,鈥� he said.
He added that for the maximum usage and return of the money the government allowed all vehicles on this corridor, which was not illogical.
Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit PLC managing director Muhammad Nurul Amin Khan said that they got instructions to shorten the DPP by keeping some necessary items, but they did not get any clear decision from the ministry about the new deadline.
He said that the project had some dues to pay to contractors and there were some changes 鈥� for which the unused Tk聽1,458 crore from the project鈥檚 cost would be used.
Earlier, in August 2025, additional Tk聽2,329 crore was asked for some components, including Tk聽700 crore for introducing buses under the company, Nurul Amin said.
鈥楾he company will explore something new as the BRT services will not be introduced now, but we have not made any decision till now,鈥� he mentioned.
Currently the company鈥檚 18 employees are getting salaries from the company鈥檚 paid up capital of Tk聽50 crore, he added.
The project targeted to operate buses tagged 鈥楧haka Line鈥� on the corridor carrying about four lakh passengers daily, making available e-ticketing, automatic ticket counters and intelligent transport system for passengers.
The Roads and Highways Department, the Bangladesh Bridge Authority and the Local Government Engineering Department are joint implementing agencies of the project.