To streamline public transportation and ease traffic congestion, buses from 21 companies operating on various routes from Abdullahpur to Dhaka city will switch to a counter-based ticketing system starting Thursday.
Md Saiful Alam, general secretary of the Dhaka Road Transport Owners’ Association, made the announcement during a press conference at the organisation’s office in Dhaka’s Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue on Tuesday.
The new system will include approximately 2,610 buses on the routes. All buses will be of the same colour (pink), and passengers will be required to purchase tickets before boarding. Boarding or disembarking from buses at random locations will no longer be allowed, said Alam.
He said for the past 16 years, buses and minibuses have been operating in Dhaka city under informal agreements, without following any proper regulations. This lack of discipline has created unfair competition among vehicles, resulting in traffic congestion, chaos, and an increase in accidents due to passengers boarding or alighting indiscriminately.
A meeting was held on December 19 under the chairmanship of the adviser to the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, where it was decided that bus owners should avoid trip-based agreements with drivers. Instead, contracts should be made on a biweekly or monthly basis.
As per this decision, drivers will now operate buses based on a ticket counter system. This system will first be implemented on buses travelling from Gazipur to various destinations in Dhaka starting Thursday, with the service officially launching at 10:30am from Abdullahpur.
Saiful Alam added that by the end of this month, buses operating in areas like Mirpur, Gabtoli, and Mohammadpur will also transition to the ticket counter-based system. From now on, passengers will have to collect tickets from designated counters before boarding, and buses will only stop at specified points to pick up passengers.
The move is aimed at reducing traffic chaos, improving road safety, and enhancing the overall travel experience for commuters.
Regarding technical assistance to bus drivers, Saiful Alam stated that bus drivers and their assistants are being trained to operate vehicles under a ticketing system. Additionally, bus staff have been instructed to treat passengers politely.
Translated & edited by Fariha Nowshin Chinika
