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PM orders single-company bus franchise on each Dhaka route
Published : Friday, 9 October, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Observer Online Report
File Photo
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has directed authorities to implement a bus route rationalisation scheme within six months to curb traffic congestion and restore order to the public transport system in the capital.
Under the new framework, multiple competing transport operators will no longer operate along the same corridor. Instead, a single franchise company will manage each designated route.
The Prime Minister issued the directives during a meeting on Dhaka's public transport management held at the Secretariat on Thursday (October 8).
Decisions were taken during the meeting to designate fixed bus stops, repair dilapidated vehicles, and transition bus drivers to a monthly fixed-salary model over the next two months. Trial operations on select routes will begin within this period; leading up to the full rollout of franchise operations across 32 newly defined routes covering the entire city within six months. The upgraded service will incorporate counter-based ticketing, e-ticketing systems, and mandatory GPS tracking.
Separately, the Prime Minister chaired another meeting directing officials to establish playing fields across all Union Parishads nationwide, setting a target to prepare at least 1,000 sports grounds over the next two months.
Furthermore, local authorities were tasked with ensuring at least one playground for every two to three municipal wards within the Dhaka North and Dhaka South City Corporation areas.
Prior efforts to establish a bus route franchise (BRF) system date back to the 2004 Strategic Transport Plan (STP) and subsequent high-level committees formed in 2015. Although a pilot franchise project launched along Route 26 from Ghatarchar to Signboard in December 2021, the initiative dissolved after competing private bus operators failed to integrate into the framework, leaving constructed passenger shelters abandoned. Subsequent attempts under the interim administration similarly stalled due to resistance from transport owners.
The Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) has now restructured the capital's public transport map. DTCA Executive Director Mohammad Mashiur Rahman informed the meeting that while 98 of the 418 approved routes are currently operational—serviced by around 7,500 buses under 66 companies—the entire network will be consolidated into 32 rationalised corridors.
Saiful Alam, General Secretary of the Road Transport Owners' Association, confirmed that transport operators would begin restructuring work from Sunday (October 11). Existing bus companies operating along specific corridors will merge into unified corporate entities, where vehicle owners will draw profits proportional to their capital investment, while drivers and staff will receive fixed monthly salaries to eliminate reckless competition and overtaking on roads.
Road Transport Minister Sheikh Robiul Alam stated that two initial franchise routes will be selected within seven working days, expressing confidence that full franchise operations across all 32 corridors will be operational within six months.
-SA
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Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
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Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Advertisement: 41053012; 01793317829, 01550707291, E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Online: email: [email protected] 41053014; 01550707297 Advertisement: 01550707296
