On the New Company Buses Only the Stickers Changed — Still Running the Old Way, Without Tickets or Counters

'The company still hasn't given us anything. There are no tickets; if they give them, we will take passengers with tickets. We want the new system to be implemented well.' The words are from Billal Hossain, assistant to a driver of a bus of the newly formed PPB company. The bus was previously named Poristhan Paribahan. A new sticker has been pasted on it since Sunday.

The new company, PPB Paribahan, was formed by combining Projapoti, Poristhan and Bikash Paribahan to operate from Abdullahpur or Dhour in the capital to Ghatachar, for travel in the eastern part of Dhaka city. These buses are supposed to follow the new rules on one of six routes formed under the Bus Route Rationalisation (company-based bus service) initiative. But apart from the change of sticker or name, no other visible change was seen.

Visiting the area from Dhaka's Airport to Mirpur from Monday noon, several PPB Paribahan buses were seen with new stickers pasted on them. But beneath the stickers, the old names Projapoti or Poristhan could still be read. The condition of the buses remains as dilapidated as before.

Under the new rules, passengers are supposed to board and get off at designated counters or ticket sales points. The reality was different. The buses were picking up and dropping off passengers just anywhere.

Around 2:30pm, several buses were seen waiting for passengers in the Airport area. The assistant of one PPB bus was calling out 'Mirpur', 'Mirpur' to passengers. No booth or counter for bus tickets was seen in the area. Because traffic police members were present there, the buses could not wait long, however.

After the Airport, the bus picked up and dropped off passengers along the whole road through Kawla, Le Meridien, Khilkhet, Kuril, Shewra, Kurmitola and Radisson Blu. By the time it reached Khilkhet, all the bus's seats were full. Those who boarded at the Kuril signal stood. From near Radisson Blu, the bus climbed onto the flyover towards Kalshi.

After getting on the flyover, the driver's assistant came to collect fares. Asked about tickets under the new system, he said: 'What can we do if the company doesn't give them? We have nothing to do. When tickets start, we too will take passengers with tickets.'

After coming down from the Kalshi flyover, the Mirpur-bound bus stopped wherever it found passengers on the way to Pallabi, picking them up and dropping them off. No ticket counter or ticket collection booth was seen anywhere on this road. Yet under Dhaka's bus route rationalisation programme, buses are supposed to board and drop passengers at designated counters.

Yesterday afternoon, four PPB Paribahan buses in a row were seen waiting for passengers at Pallabi. Two of them had new stickers. Of the other two, one carried the name 'Projapoti' and the other 'Poristhan'.

The same picture was seen with VIP Paribahan, operating from Shivbari in Gazipur to Dhakeshwari Temple in the capital. This company's buses are also running as before. No ticket counter was spotted from the Airport through to the Farmgate area. Passengers are boarded and dropped on the main road. In the Farmgate area, passengers are dropped right after the buses come down from the elevated expressway, on the main road.

VIP Paribahan is supposed to operate 253 non-AC buses on the 26.47-kilometre route from Shivbari to Dhakeshwari Temple. The company has run buses for a long time. It is supposed to operate under the new system on the old route.

PPB City Service will operate 190 buses on this new route of about 30 kilometres from Ghatachar to Uttara. Although stickers have been changed on some Projapoti and Poristhan Paribahan buses, no Bikash Paribahan bus had joined as of yesterday.

A lineman of this route, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: 'Everything was done in a hurry. Nothing will happen right now. The new system is good. But we still haven't received anything.'

As part of the capital's bus route rationalisation programme, company-based bus services began on six routes from Sunday. Initially, there is a plan to operate 780 buses on these routes. Of these, four routes will run only non-AC buses. AC and non-AC buses will run on two routes. The initiative is being implemented by the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA). Sources at the agency said the service will start with old buses at first. The buses are being painted and put on the road. Six companies have been given the responsibility of operating them.