Although long-haul bus services remained suspended since early last month, it had very little impact on the number of vehicles which travelled between Dhaka and the north-western districts via Bangabandhu Bridge last month.
Around 5.72 lakh vehicles crossed the country s largest bridge in April, down from 6.14 lakh the previous month, according to the monthly traffic report released by Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA).
Some 3.10 lakh vehicles used the bridge in April last year amid suspension of public transport services, shows the report.
The number of cars and motorcycles using Bangabandhu Bridge saw a sharp rise during the lockdown as these light vehicles apparently replaced buses as modes of transport, sources said.
Allow public transport right away
Owners urge govt, demand Tk 5,000cr as special incentive
Photo: collected Staff Correspondent Staff Correspondent
Transport owners yesterday urged the government to allow them to resume operations of public transport from today considering the plight of thousands of people involved in the sector.
They also demanded allocation of Tk 5,000 crore as special incentive at a low interest rate for the sector so that they could give salary and bonus to their staffers ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr and repair vehicles. We want to resume operations of public transport from tomorrow [today]. We are ready to follow all types of health safety guidelines, Romesh Chandra Ghosh, chairman of Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners Association, said at a press conference.
The New Year brings good news for Bangladeshi travellers.
People can go to Siliguri in India directly by bus as the neighbouring countries have agreed to open a new Dhaka-Siliguri-Dhaka bus route, officials said.
Officials concerned are now working on the protocol and the agreement to be signed by the countries, and hope to start bus services soon after land connectivity between Bangladesh and India resumes.
Once the operation starts, it will be the sixth direct bus route between the countries. We have received Indian proposal in this regard recently and are now scrutinising all necessary aspects, said Sultana Yasmin, a deputy secretary of Road Transport and Highway Division, which looks after connectivity issues.