The country’s first-ever bus route franchise (BRF) with digital ticketing system is likely to be launched for the city’s Uttara-Azimpur route on April 14, the first day of Bangla calendar.
“Under the franchise system, all existing bus companies with valid permit to operate on this route will run under one company," said Abu Bakkar Md Shahjahan, executive director of the project’s supervising agency Dhaka Transport Coordination Board (DTCB).
He hoped this will bring down the street races among buses of various companies for passengers.
The route will cover around 30 kilometres from Uttara sector 12 (Khalpar) to Plassey (Azimpur) via Sobhanbag, Manik Mia Avenue, Bijoy Sarani, Mohakhali, Khilkhet, Airport and Azampur. A total of 27 up and down stoppages have been selected, he said.
Digital ticketing system replacing manual paper tickets would be introduced. A prepaid card system will soon follow, he said.
The buses will have card reader machines. With simple push of buttons, the machine will charge the cardholder for the trip from the rechargeable prepaid card. Fare will be around Tk 1.2 per kilometre.
At the initial stage, 40 air conditioned (AC) and 60 non-AC buses will operate on the route. The state-run Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) will also take part in the scheme providing 20 buses from its fleet.
The buses will start plying from 6:00am and the trips will end at 12:00 midnight or 1:00am. All the buses will have similar colours and minibuses will be removed from the route.
Association of Bus Company (ABC) will implement the plan for DTCB. A contract will be signed soon, Shahjahan said.
“The new route would be introduced on experimental basis under the Strategic Transport Plan (STP) for Dhaka city. If this pilot project succeeds then all the other 40 routes of the city will be brought under similar franchise system in phases,” the DTCB official said.
Earlier, the franchise system was suggested by the World Bank financed Dhaka Urban Transport Project (DUTP).
The first digital ticket counter was opened by BRTC in Dhaka city in January this year under a pilot project to study its feasibility.
Khandaker Rafiqul Hossain Kajal, president of ABC, said a few digital counters will be opened on April 14. Hopefully by this June, they will be able to set up all the counters, he said.
“However, installation of the digital card reader inside buses might take a few more months. It will take about Tk 1.2 lakh for each bus to install the card reader. We are searching for sponsors,” he said.
N-Wave, a company, will give technical support in this regard, informed the ABC president.
The new franchise system will help hassle-free faster service to the commuters in a disciplined way. The bus operators will also be able to check their loss caused by irregularities, he said.
“Bus companies often face financial loss as manual ticketing involves different types of errors and problems like cash handling, pilferage and other irregularities. A digital system can remove the problems and errors," Kajal said.
source: Daily Star