Special bus service shatters hope of commuters
Buses of city special service stop at the middle of the road to take or drop passengers violating the traffic rules and ignoring the safety. Photo was taken from the New Market area on Monday.Photo: STAR
The city bus service launched about two months ago to provide special services has shattered hope of the commuters as it failed to keep its promises. The commuters are being cheated in the name of Metro Special City Service inaugurated on November 21 last year. Defiance of rules set for the vehicles under the service, harassment of commuters and realisation of excess fare have become a routine picture due to the indifference of the authorities concerned. Chittagong Transport Owners Forum launched the seat-capacity special service in October in 2007 from Karnaphuli Shah Amanat Bridge to Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport route and set some rules in this regard on October 22 to make the service workable, useful and comfortable for the commuters in the port city with a population of around 40 lakh. As per rules, 40 buses of Navana and Tata brand were given permission to operate in the city having maximum capacity of 40 seats. The rules also prohibit the drivers to pick up or drop passengers from anywhere at their whims. Besides, passengers were asked to collect their tickets from the designated counters before boarding the bus. But these instructions are hardly obeyed by the reckless drivers. Apart from defying the set rules to run the vehicles under the service, the drivers and their helpers also charge much higher fare, Tk 3 for first kilometre and Tk 1 for next each kilometre, from the passengers instead of 90 paisa per kilometre. This used to prompt regular altercation and scuffle between the two parties. “We were excited when the special bus service was introduced in our city and we immediately seize the facility for a comfortable journey. It was good initially but now anarchy has overshadowed the service almost completely,” said Md Ashraful Haque, a banker who travels to Agrabad office from his residence at Muradpur. Shamsul Huda Mintu, a small trader at Reazuddin Bazar, said incident of quarrels takes place everyday over charging of additional fare but there seems no remedy to this from the authorities. Forum General Secretary Golam Rasul said they have received many allegations regarding irregularities and defiance of rules by the drivers and their helpers. He said they will take measures to stop such happenings for the sake of the passengers and the service. Rasul said the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) should allow at least 10 more buses to cope with the increased demand. Traffic Department of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) said they can't take action against the drivers, assistants or the owners without any formal complaint.
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