Decision on Bus Fare Wednesday

To prevent the new type of coronavirus Omicron, government restrictions require public transport to carry half the passengers.  In the meantime, it has been decided to transport half the passengers without increasing the train fare. However, it has not been decided what will happen to passenger transport in buses and launches.

The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) is going to hold a meeting with the bus owners on Wednesday. In this meeting, the owners will raise the issue of increasing bus fare, making driver's and assistant's Covid-19 vaccine certificates compulsory. The meeting will be held at the BRTA office in Banani on Wednesday at 2.30 pm.

A notification was issued by the Cabinet Division on Monday (January 10) imposing restrictions on the movement of people from January 13. In the case of public transport, trains, buses and launches can carry half the capacity of passengers. The concerned authorities will issue specific instructions in this regard along with the date of implementation. Drivers and their assistants of all types of vehicles must be certified of Covid-19 vaccine.

Khandaker Enayetullah, president of the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, said the circular did not say anything about fares. But with the same manpower and bus we will carry 50 percent passengers, if we will not be able to take extra fare that will be our loss. Owners should not ply their buses with subsidy.

He said that the offices, the mills-factories are all running with full throttle and how to keep the bus running with half capacity. This may not be a problem for long-distance passengers, but in city transport, passengers will not be able to travel during office hours. Then blame the owners.

Asked about the fare hike, Khandaker Enayetullah said that last time the fare was 60 per cent higher at the time of the restrictions, as the fare had gone up due to the recent rise in fuel prices.

Regarding the display of vaccination certificates of drivers and assistants during the journey, Khandaker Enayetullah said that the government has promised to give 35 percent vaccination. 75 percent was not given. So how is this possible? Arrange vaccines by registering the spot at the bus terminal.