Owners want to run buses at full capacity

Bus owners now want to operate their vehicles at full capacity despite the fact that the numbers of new infections and deaths from Covid-19 are still on the rise in the country.

They claim that the coronavirus situation is getting back to normal gradually.

In a letter sent to the road transport and bridges ministry on Sunday, Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association (BRTOA) said they will start charging passengers previous fares if they are allowed to run buses at full capacity.

BRTOA Secretary General Khandaker Enayet Ullah said, "All other modes of transport are carrying passengers at full capacity as the coronavirus situation is returning to normal gradually. We have written to the ministry to allow us to operate buses at full capacity."

If allowed, bus operators would start charging passengers previous fares, he told The Daily Star.

The demand comes at a time when allegations of charging extra fares have been made.

Under such a situation, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) will sit in a meeting with the transport sector stakeholders at its Banani office in the capital today to discuss enforcement of health safety rules in public transport services.

But health experts expressed a fear that allowing "full-scale" movement of public transport would increase the transmission of the deadly virus.

Infectious disease specialist Prof Dr Ridwanur Rahman said although the number of new Covid-19 cases is not increasing now in red zones like Dhaka and Narayanganj, it has been on the rise at the district and upazila levels.

"In this situation, allowing full-scale movement of public transport will definitely increase the transmission of novel coronavirus."

He said it seems there are no visible government activities to curb the spread of the virus.

The government apparently wants to show that the situation is becoming normal, Ridwanur said, adding that the government may be doing this to achieve herd immunity.

"Achieving herd immunity looks easy in theory, but practically it is very difficult. If the government wants to adopt the strategy, the outcome would be very bad," he warned.

Services of public transport, including buses and minibuses, resumed on June 1 after more than two months. The government had suspended the services on March 26 to contain the spread of the virus.

Following demands by transport leaders, the government hiked bus fares by 60 percent from June 1 on the condition that buses would carry passengers at half capacity and follow other health safety guidelines.

But complaints on breaching the conditions kept pouring in.

Between July 22 and August 12, BRTA mobile courts filed 787 cases against more than 100 bus operators, mainly for violating health safety guidelines and charging passengers extra fares, said BRTA officials.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on several occasions had asked the authorities concerned to take action for charging passengers extra fares. His ministry in June directed the BRTA to cancel registrations and route permits of those vehicles who violated health guidelines.

But the situation did not improve much. Rather, it became worse since the Eid-ul-Azha holidays and the passengers are bearing the brunt of the situation.

Sabur Islam is one of such passengers who was charged double the regular fare for three tickets of a Purbasha Paribahan bus for a trip to Dhaka from Magura.

Before the 60 percent hike in ticket fares, the price of each ticket was Tk 400. Yesterday, he was asked to pay Tk 800.

"I was ready to pay, but they [the bus operator] did not want to keep vacant each of two seats as per the government's decision," he told this correspondent over phone.

Instead, the operator said since three passengers are from the same family, they would issue three tickets to him against two seats in a row and one separately. The operator asked Sabur to pay Tk 700 each for two tickets and Tk 800 for one.

"I had to buy the three tickets for Tk 2,200 as I need to go to Dhaka tomorrow [today]," said Sabur, a private tour operator.

Asked, Khandaker Enayet claimed bus operators followed the government's guideline properly before Eid-ul-Azha. But the situation changed when more passengers hit the roads ahead of the Eid.

"We've held many meetings and asked the bus operators to follow the health guidelines. Is it possible to make the passengers follow the guidelines by deploying guards? So, we want to go back to the pre-coronavirus system," he said.

Contacted, BRTA Chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder admitted receiving complaints of violation of health safety guidelines and charging extra fares.

"We have written to all the stakeholders, including police, transport owners and workers' leaders, to follow the health guidelines. Besides, our mobile courts are conducting drives against irregularities," he said.

Mentioning that 787 cases were filed, the chairman said, "We have called a meeting of all the stakeholders tomorrow [today] to discuss how to implement the guidelines fully."