The presence of public transport and other vehicles on Dhaka streets today (October 28) is relatively thin compared to other days, as tensions escalated surrounding the two big parties’ announced programs, causing immense commuting woes. People who depend on public transport for their daily commute have been hit hard due to few vehicles on the roads. Panic has gripped people over the scheduled rallies of BNP and Awami League in the capital. Most are preferring to stay home unless they have any urgent work. Thousands gather at Dhaka’s Nayapaltan for BNP’s grand rally Though the day is a government holiday, those who work in private organizations are facing severe commuting problems. The number of private cars, rickshaws and other vehicles on the streets are also few. Streets in Shanir Akhra, Kakrail, Shantinagar, Mouchak, Dholaipar, Jatrabari, Sayedabad, Gulistan, Purana Paltan, and Jatiya Press Club areas have few public transport. Many were seen waiting for buses to reach their respective destinations. Fakhrul intends peaceful grand rally, warns govt against excesses No long route buses left from Gulistan. Contacted, Joint Commissioner (Traffic-North) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Abu Saleh Md Raihan told UNB that the number of vehicles including public buses is low compared to other days. Mariful Hasan, who had to commute to his office in Mouchak from Shewrapara, said, “I boarded a bus from Shewrapara which dropped me at Bijoy Sarani. Getting no public transport at that point, I decided to walk to Farmgate. Later, I managed to board a bus to Mouchak.” Like Mariful, Rahul, who also worked for a private company, said he had to change transport twice to reach his office from Keraniganj. Kaniz Fatema said she took a CNG-run three wheeler from Narayanganj to her office in Dhaka due to the lack of public transport. Passengers suffer due to suspension of bus movement between Dhaka and Mymensingh ahead of BNP rally Police and RAB personnel were seen patrolling the roads while a number of check-posts were set up to ensure security. Thousands of law enforcers – police, RAB and other agencies – have been deployed in the capital city to prevent possible violence during the rallies. AL and the BNP got permission from Dhaka Metropolitan Police to hold their rallies at their respective venues. Jamaat, however, did not get any go-ahead from DMP for their program.

Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) launched its bus service on the Uttara-Farmgate route via Dhaka Elevated Expressway on Monday (September 18, 2023). Road Transport and Highways Division secretary ABM Amin Ullah Nuri inaugurated the bus service at Manik Mia Avenue in the capital. Chairman of BRTC Md Tajul Islam was also present. After the inauguration, the first bus left from Farmgate's Khejur Bagan Golchattar for Uttara Jasimuddin Road at 11:25 am. Read: Traffic jam at landing points as Dhaka Elevated Expressway opens Initially, a total of eight buses will carry passengers and commuters can board the buses from both ends of the expressway. The buses will run all day from 7am in the morning and will continue as long as passengers are available. On September 2, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Airport-Farmgate segment of Dhaka Elevated Expressway. Read: Elevated expressway a big step towards Smart Bangladesh: Korean Ambassador About 80,000 vehicles will be able to use Dhaka Elevated Expressway every day once it is completed, project officials said. When fully completed, the Dhaka Elevated Expressway will run from the capital’s Kawla to Kutubkhali area of Dhaka-Chattogram highway via Kuril-Banani-Mohakhali-Tejgaon-Moghbazar-Kamalapur-Sayedabad-Jatrabari, according to Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader.

The presence of public transport was relatively thin in Dhaka on Thursday amid tension and fear of violence following Wednesday’s clash between police and BNP men, causing suffering to commuters. Commuters were seen waiting on roads for long due to lack of public transport. Md Asharf, operation manager of private transport agency  ‘Alif Paribahan’, told UNB that though some 250 buses of the agency usually ply different roads in the city every day, the number was 130-135 buses since today’s morning. Read more: Traffic movement halted in front of BNP’s Nayapaltan office The number of passengers and general people on the roads was also thin compared to the normal days, he said adding that general people are not coming out of their houses unless they have any emergency work. The number of passengers was low since morning, he said.   Md Hiron, a lineman of ‘Raich Paribahan’, said they have been operating 20-25 out of 40 buses on different routes as most of buses are running with a low number of passengers. Abu Saleh Md Raihan, joint commissioner of traffic (north), said there was no traffic congestion in parts of the city today. “The number of public transports on the roads is low compared to any other day,” he said.

The High Court on Monday asked the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) to take measures to stop taking extra fares on public transport across the country. The HC bench of Justice Mamunur Rahman and Khandaker Diliruzzaman passed the order after hearing on a writ petition. It also issued a rule asking the authorities concerned to explain why the failure to enact rules regarding hike in  fares of buses, minibuses and other public transport as per Section 122 of the Road Transport Act, 2018 will not be announced illegal and against the law. The court also asked BRTA to take necessary measures to hang the list of fares in public transport and make it easily visible at each designated bus stop and display it through electronic billboards within a month. Also read: Buses to run at full capacity, says transport owners’ leader Supreme Court lawyer Md Abu Taleb, lawyer Mokhlesur Rahman and barrister Mustasim Tanjir stood for the petitioner. In the writ petition, the road transport secretary, BRTA chairman and others were made respondents. On January 4, lawyer Md Abu Taleb filed the writ petition seeking rule and directive of the High Court. Also read: Extra fares in public transports: 1408 buses fined Tk 57.3 lakh in 30 days

The government has finally launched the ‘Dhaka Nagar Paribahan’ under bus route rationalisation programme of the two Dhaka city corporations on trial basis, aiming to streamline the public transport sector and reduce traffic jams in Dhaka. Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader inaugurated the bus services on Ghatarcha-Kanchpur route virtually from the secretariat on Sunday. While inaugurating the bus service, the minister said all kinds of necessary assistance will be provided to develop a disciplined and modern public transport system for the people living in Dhaka. “I was in a hospital for 12 days and today I’ve been discharged from the hospital. Instead of going back home from the hospital, I came here considering its importance,” he said. At the initial stage, 50 buses will be operated on the route which will be elevated to 100 in phases. The entire city will get the service in 2023. READ: Bus services resume in parts of Chattogram city Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Atiqul Islam were present. In fact, Dhaka and its outskirts today account for more private vehicles than any other city in Bangladesh. The reason behind this unbridled rise in the number of private vehicles can be attributed to the lack of a robust public transport system. Also, most of the buses that ply in Dhaka are "unfit".

A writ petition has been filed before the High Court seeking its directions to allow students to travel by half-fare on bus, train and launch across the country. Supreme Court lawyer Md Yunus Ali Akand filed the writ petition citing public interest on Wednesday. Read: Demo for half fare: Protesters attacked, one ‘picked up’ In the petition, Yunus said that the income of the students' guardians has decreased due to Covid pandemic. The ongoing movement of students demanding half-fare travel is logical as the parents are struggling to pay education fees. The writ said the government’s inaction half fare issue is a violation of fundamental rights of the student as per the Constitution. Instead of ensuring education, the government is violating the constitution by forcing students to protest on the streets. Read: Demo for half bus fare: Students give 48-hour ultimatum The secretaries of the home ministry, shipping ministry, railways ministry and ministry of road transport and bridges and the Inspector General of Police have been named as defendants in the petition. Earlier on November 22, the lawyer had given a legal notice to the authorities concerned. Writ was filed after failing to get any reply to the notice. The HC may hold hearing on this petition on Sunday, the petitioner said.

Metro rail will be added to Dhaka's public transport later this year. This project will actively work on changing the transport system of Dhaka city. How will the metro rail be? What are the benefits? How safe will it be? There is no shortage of interest and questions of the people about the dream project! Metro rail will bring a lot of benefits for city dwellers. For example, with the Metrorail, it will take about 38 minutes to reach Motijheel from Uttara. Dhaka Metro Rail: The Prospective Benefits and Advantages We have listed the benefits we will enjoy from the metro rail in the next few years. Read on to know them. Get rid of traffic 'Traffic jam' and 'Dhaka' have become synonymous. The reality of traffic congestion in the capital has reached such a level that you will know the journey time for sure, but you will not know not the arrival time. It is difficult to calculate how many measures have been taken to bring traffic congestion to a tolerable level, including widening of flyovers, lanes, and roads. But there is no relief from traffic jams and misery. The situation is deteriorating day by day. When the people of Dhaka city are in a state of frustration in this deterioration, metro rail seems to come as a remedy for Dhaka's traffic. Read Bangladesh Braces to Finish Dhaka Metro Rail Project If Metrorail is launched, it will save transportation time and reduce traffic jams at the same time. The metro rail will run at 100 mph and will reach Motijheel from Uttara in 38 minutes. The train will leave every four minutes. 60,000 passengers per hour will be able to travel from both directions. Therefore, people's valuable time will be saved and traffic jams will be less as the citizens will sue the rail service. So, the pressure on the road will be reduced. Job opportunities Metrorail operation and maintenance costs are comparatively much higher. Therefore, the authorities want to make way for income by constructing hub stations as an additional benefit to reduce losses. Metrorail has bought 26 acres of land for the construction of the hub station. Metro rail authorities want to have a total of six hub stations, one at the beginning of six lines under Mass Rapid Transit. Read One step closer to completing historic Metro Rail project in Bangladesh: Japan Authorities are planning to set up a hub across the capital around the metro rail. To make the project profitable, a metro hub station will be constructed for the passengers with state-of-the-art facilities like amusement parks, daily commodity markets, and shopping malls.  Initially, an initiative has been taken to build this hub station near Station-2 in Uttara. So, building the hub station will create new job opportunities. Further, manpower will also be needed for maintenance, so it will create new jobs too. Read Metro Rail Job Opening 2021: The time for submission of application in Metrorail has been extended The population will be reduced from Dhaka city  If Metro Rail is launched, it will be a big advantage for the general people. They don't have to rent a house in Dhaka city and pay a huge amount of rent. Instead, people can live outside of the main city and travel easily to their workplaces. That way, you don't have to rent with that much money in Moghbazar, Motijheel. If you want, you can rent a house in Gazipur for less money and come to Motijheel comfortably. Hence this will be life-changing. Financial benefit Metro rail will save 200 billion takas or $2.4 billion a year, which is equivalent to 17% of the total tax revenue of Bangladesh or 1.5% of GDP. Due to the traffic jam, the country faces colossal economic loss, and Dhaka is on the top in terms of loss. Annually, Dhaka city faces a loss of $4.4 billion due to traffic congestion. So, the launch of the metro rail will save that money. According to the Accident Research Institute director, "Bangladesh could have saved $2.6 billion if it had reduced 60% of traffic congestion in Dhaka." Read Padma Bridge, Metro Rail opening to public within June 2022: Quader Reduction on pollution At present, air pollution has become severe in Dhaka and other major cities. Dust, black smoke, etc., released from unfit vehicles, are widely responsible for air pollution in Dhaka. Expired cars mainly emit a significant amount of black smoke that has been identified as one of the prime causes of air pollution.  Metro rail will surely reduce the number of public vehicles on the road. Therefore, the potential air pollution will be reduced. A well-planned metro rail with the improved bus service may force to reduce the number of private cars on the road. So, if the private cars and public transport are reduced the overall pollution in Dhaka city will be reduced significantly. Everything in the stations Each station will have Ticket counters, lounges, automated food stalls, prayer places, waste management plants, operation and maintenance rooms, automatic monitoring system in case of non-ticket or extra tickets, firefighting system, climbing stairs, escalators (stationary escalator), lifts, and more. So, there would be immense possibilities of creating employment opportunities and sources of income for many people. Read ‘Mockup’ Metro Rail coach arrives in city A brief of the metro rail project Dhaka’s first-ever metro rail is MRT-6, which will start from Uttara and finished at Kamalapur via Mirpur, Farmgate, and Motijheel. Metrorail project's 11.29 km length area, spanning from Uttara to Agargaon was supposed to be done by December 2021. Metro railroad from Agargaon to Kamalapur, covering 11km length, was targeted to be completed by 2023. Work is underway to bring it forward.  Apart from this, Dhaka metro rail has five more projects, which will be developed gradually. Each of the compartments of the train has seating for 54 people. During peak hours, a total of 2,308 people can sit and stand on a train. Furthermore, one thousand 736 people will be able to travel in normal time. Each train will have a special compartment for women. There will also be a wheelchair for the disabled next to the door of each compartment. Read Special police unit to ensure metro rail security: PM Final words Metro rail is no less than a dream for Dhaka city which is burdened with multifarious problems in the road communication sector like narrow roads, traffic jams, lack of enough public transport, high cost of private vehicles, etc. And the dream comes true as the Dhaka Metro Rail project is about to finish and be visible. Moreover, the experimental operation of metro rail has been started. So, we are very close to witnessing a milestone for Bangladesh.

After nearly six hours, bus and launch services in Barishal resumed on Thursday noon following the intervention of the local administration. The bus services in Barishal and other parts of the country had remained suspended since morning as transport workers blocked the Dhaka-Barishal highway in protest against Wednesday's clash that left over 30 injured. Meanwhile, police arrested as many as 13 activists of the ruling Awami League and  Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) from different parts of the city in connection with the attack on the residence of the Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO). Read:Barishal: Bus services suspended as clash leaves 30 injured Joint general secretary of Barishal Metropolitan unit of the Awami League, Hasan Mahmud Babu, and vice-president of the city unit of BCL Oliullah Oli were among the arrestees, said officer-in-charge of Kotwali Model Police Station, Nurul Islam. The clash broke out between the supporters of the Awami League, BCL and members of Ansar when the former tried to attack the residence of the UNO at Sadar Upazila Complex in Barishal on Wednesday night. Of the injured, five people suffered bullet wounds during the clash. The transport workers, including the supporters of Barishal City Corporation Mayor Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah, activists of Chhatra League and Jubo League, blocked the Dhaka-Barishal highway by placing buses in Rupatoli and Nathullabad Bus Terminal areas in the small hours of Wednesday. Besides, launch services in Barishal also remained suspended as the supporters of the mayor did not allow any passenger vessel to leave the terminal, causing immense sufferings to the commuters. According to eye-witnesses, the Nagar Bhaban staffers went to the residence of Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Munibur Rahman to lower a banner hanging over the area. Read: Barishal City Corporation dismisses 12 officials over corruption At one stage, the UNO came out and asked the reason, leading to an altercation between him and Swapan Kumar Das, a staffer of the city corporation. During the altercation, some 25-30 people entered the complex and a scuffle broke out between the Ansar members and the so-called mob over the issue, triggering a clash. At one stage, the Ansar members opened fire on them, leaving five injured. On information, police rushed to the spot and charged batons to disperse them. Some 25 people were injured in the clash with the cops. Shahabuddin Khan, police commissioner of Barishal, said, "A police team rushed to the spot and the attackers threw brick chips targeting the cops, forcing them to retaliate. Three policemen and two Ansar members were injured during the incident.” They also vandalised a bus in the area in the night. Read:Student protest causes traffic disruption in Barishal Three people who sustained bullet injuries—Shahrier Babu, Harun-or-Rashid and Tanvir-- were taken to Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College and Hospital. Of them, Tanvir was shifted to Dhaka for better treatment. UNO Munibur Rahman said, “Some 15-20 people identifying themselves as Chattra League members entered the house. Later, some 60-70 people also entered the complex and went up to the first floor of the upazila complex building. They also tried to attack me but the Ansar members saved me." Barishal City Corporation Mayor Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah told the media, "The city corporation staffers went there to perform their duties but the Ansar members attacked them.” He has demanded a probe into the clash. 

Amid growing calls for stronger measures to stop the spread of Delta variant, the government has imposed a nationwide lockdown and extended it several times. But the question is whether there is any lockdown in capital Dhaka as everything looks normal? “This lockdown seems to be pointless when people are allowed to move as they wish.  What we really need are clear rules about the lockdown and its genuine enforcement,” said a retired engineer wishing anonymity.       Read:Lockdown breaches: 342 arrested in Dhaka on day 16 The movement of people and vehicles increased significantly on the 15th day of lockdown on Sunday as many people are coming out of their houses for various reasons. Some people are going outside for vaccination as mass vaccination programme began in the country on Saturday while many more for other reasons as export-oriented factories were opened on August 1. It is only the shopping malls and eateries that remained closed and public transport stayed off roads as per lockdown rules. During visits to different areas of the city, the UNB correspondent saw roads were filled with private vehicles and rickshaws as usual.     In some cases, traffic police were seen handling the pressure of vehicles on roads. Besides, the pressure of vehicles was largely seen in Mohakhali, Tejgaon, Satrasta, Uttara, New Market, Mirpur, Asad Gate, Banani, Gabtoli and Technical points. The searching and checking of people and vehicles at different points of the capital also continued, though loosely. Read:Bustling Dhaka finally feels ‘lockdown silence’ Traffic Inspector Asaduzzaman (Mohakhali), said, “The number of vehicles is higher than the previous days and we’re handling traffic manually at Mohakhali and Amtola point.”

The government has extended the current lockdown till August 10 amid a surge in the Delta variant of Covid-19 across the country. Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque disclosed the decision of the government while talking to reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting on Tuesday. Read: Lockdown in Dhaka: Surging infections, soaring chaos He said shops, factories and offices will be reopened from August 11 while public transport will be allowed to ply roads by rotation on a limited scale once the lockdown is over.  Health Minister Zahid Maleque, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam were present at the virtual meeting along with other ministers and state ministers. Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque said: “Today’s decision is a provisional one as we’ll take another decision considering the situation.” The government is set to launch a mass vaccination drive at the village level from 14,000 vaccine centres from August 7 as one crore people will be vaccinated in the next one week, he said. The minister said the vaccine campaign will be launched simultaneously with a focus on senior people as they face a greater risk of fatalities. He urged workers and helpers of bus drivers to get their Covid jabs as no one will be allowed to join work without vaccinations. “Once vaccinated, the certificates will be available on the website,” he said. Regarding cross-checking, he said it will be possible to check whether one took the jab or not, and it can be scrutinised on 7-9 August. Read:Lockdown: Thousands returning to Dhaka as factories going to reopen Sunday