Women bus, cycle service, monorail, what else is coming in public transport in Dhaka
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The government is taking various initiatives to restore order in the public transport sector of the capital Dhaka. These include separate bus services for women and bicycle ride-sharing in the short term, bus route rationalization in the medium term, introduction of electric-powered buses and development of light or monorail systems alongside Metrorail.
Prime Minister Tariq Rahman held two meetings with experts and related departments in this regard after assuming office last February. Short, medium and long term issues were discussed in these meetings. In this regard, the Prime Minister’s office and the relevant ministries are also preparing action plans. Apart from this, the government has instructed each ministry and department to prepare a 180-day action plan.
বিজ্ঞাপন
As part of this, the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges has prepared a 38-page draft action plan to restore order on the roads. It mentions what needs to be done in the next six months and the next financial year. Apart from this, there are details of what initiatives will be taken in the road and transport sector in the next five years.
Secretary of Road Transport and Highways Department Mohammad Ziaul Haque told Prothom Alo, “Work is going on in combination with the advice of the experts in the meeting with the Prime Minister and the action plan of the ministry.” The main objective is to bring discipline in public transport and improve passenger service. The results will be available soon.
বিজ্ঞাপন
The government has taken a short-term plan to start ‘Nari Jatri Bus (Pink Bus)’ initially on some routes of Dhaka to ensure safe travel for women at all times. The Prime Minister has given instructions in this regard along with the experts. At the same time, the Ministry of Road Transport has also included the matter in the 180-day action plan.
According to the action plan, initially 9 buses will be launched on eight routes. Women will work as drivers and assistants in these buses. For this, women drivers will be trained and given licenses. The government feels that this will increase both the safety and participation of women passengers.
Apart from this, some incentives have been kept in the plan of the Ministry of Road Transport to increase the use of bicycles as an environment-friendly vehicle.
Among these is the initiative to launch Uttara Metrorail station-centric ride-sharing cycle service. Under this, six bicycle stands will be constructed and 150 bicycles will be provided in Uttara area. About 6 km cycle lane will be constructed. The Ministry of Roads is thinking of implementing this initiative in Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
Experiments have been going on for a long time regarding the introduction of bus route rationalization and franchise system to bring order to Dhaka’s public transport sector. However, there is no expected progress in this regard. Before the elections, the BNP in its election manifesto had promised to bring order and safety in public transport, integrated and smart management and rationalization of bus routes.
This time, it has been decided to make a law in this 180-day action plan. In this medium term plan, the existing routes 21 and 26 of the capital will be upgraded and some new routes will be launched.
Bus Route Rationalization – Consolidation of all the capital’s bus routes into a few routes. Fewer companies will operate buses of the same color. No one will try to get ahead of anyone. The bus will stop at certain places. The door will open and close automatically.
In 2018, the board meeting of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) decided that new bus route permits will be issued in Dhaka as part of bringing order to public transport and introducing company-based bus services (bus route rationalization). As part of route rationalization, buses were dropped on several routes. However, this system is no longer effective.
The government also plans to introduce electric-powered buses as part of a larger plan to reduce fuel dependency in public transport. In the first phase, it has been decided to reduce the duty on import of such school buses to zero for students. The 180-day plan also mentions duty exemption if electric-powered buses are imported as public transport.
The Ministry of Roads plans to expand the licensing system for bus conductors and supervisors to improve the quality of public transport. The target of giving this license to 5000 workers has been set by next September.
Apart from this, as a welfare initiative, policies will be formulated to introduce special fare discounts for students, disabled persons and people over 60 years of age in metro rail and long-distance transport. Besides, an initiative has been taken to provide uniforms to 2500 transport workers, which will include summer and winter clothes and shoes.
However, experts say, if bus route rationalization is implemented in full, there will be no need to plan for separate drivers.
The highest level of public transport is Metrorail. There is a metro rail line in Dhaka from Uttara to Motijheel. It is in the process of being extended to Kamalapur.
The previous Awami League government planned to build six metro rail lines in Dhaka. Besides the ongoing one, two other metro rail projects are underway. Another project has been approved. But there have been allegations of extra cost in the construction of metro rail. The present government has planned to launch Light/Monorail along with Metrorail.
A monorail is a transport that runs on a single line. Trains run on a single beam. It does not require two separate lines. In conventional railways or metrorails, trains run on two lines. To supply power to the metro rail running from Uttara to Motijheel, wires have to be pulled over huge poles. Electricity transmission system is connected with the monorail line. As a result, additional load-bearing structures are not required for poles or cables.
At present, the metro rail construction project is ongoing from Kamalapur to the airport. Under this there will be metro rail on flyover from Narda to Purbachal. The official name of this metro rail route, which is a combination of overpass and subway, is MRT Line-1. Apart from this, another project called Line-5 (North) is running from Hemayetpur in Savar to Bhatara via Gabtali, Mirpur and Gulshan. Hemayetpur to Gabtali is planned to be by air and the rest by subway.
The cost of the MRT Line-1 project has been estimated at Tk 52 thousand 561 crore. On the other hand, the estimated cost of Line-5 (North) project is Tk 41 thousand 238 crores. But after the start of the contractor recruitment process, the authorities got an idea of additional expenses. The Metrorail Authority is predicting that the cost of the two projects may rise to 184,500 crores.
Transport experts feel that not only metro rail, light rail, monorail different versions of rail-based integrated transport should be introduced.
The government has sought the opinion of experts including Professor Samchul Haque of Civil Engineering Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) on these issues.
Professor Samchul Haque told Prothom Alo that many areas of the capital are so densely populated that it is not possible to take metro rail there. There can be monorail in those places. That is to create a combination of metrorail and other public transport.
Samchul Haque said that many people live in densely populated areas of eastern Dhaka-Basabo, Gogan, Mothertek and Old Dhaka, where there is not enough bus service. Alternative rail-based or low-cost implementable measures can be taken in these areas outside of the main road-centric metro rail.
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