Buses could not care less
Drivers break traffic laws at will, pick and drop passengers anywhere they want
Two minibuses give an auto-rickshaw the squeeze, not caring for the damage to the vehicles, the CNG-run three-wheeler or possible injury to the people inside it. Photo: Anisur Rahman
Probably nowhere else in the world bus drivers enjoy such unbridled freedom to pick up and drop off passengers, as they do in Bangladesh -- especially in Dhaka city.
Amid total apathy of the police, the buses do not just pick up passengers while still moving -- they even cause their passengers to literally drop dead on the streets on occasions that are becoming more frequent by the day.
For example, on January 24 while getting off a bus at the GPO crossing in the city, a banker of Pubali Bank named Syed Shafiqul Ahmed fell from the running board and died on the spot as the vehicle suddenly started moving without giving him a chance to get off safely.
In December last year, in a similar incident on Airport Road near Nikunja, an African national wanting to get off a bus was pushed out through the door by the bus helper while it was still moving. That person also died on the spot.
These are no rare incidents. Everyday quite a few people are being injured -- some seriously and some not so seriously -- while getting off buses. Bus drivers do not bring their vehicles to a complete stop at designated bus stops, and when they get back into traffic, they usually swerve in suddenly, risking the lives of passengers as well as pushing passing vehicles into risks of accidents.
The most common scenario in the city is that a bus would invariably slow down and pick up or drop off passengers at busy intersections right in front of traffic police. The bus drivers do so even while crossing intersections, not only worsening nagging traffic jams, but also causing buses to hit each other, occasionally leaving people injured.
Another common scenario is that a bus would stop right in the middle of a road blocking the way for the rest of vehicles around it, till it has finished picking up and dropping off passengers.
Any passer-by may stop a bus having a space even for half a person, anywhere in the city. For such illegal stops, the bus drivers usually swerve suddenly to the left towards the curb, triggering equally sudden surge of blood pressure in drivers behind them.
The city buses accept passengers' requests to drop them off anywhere. For instance, buses regularly stop opposite the BGMEA building on Tongi Diversion Road where traffic jam is a regular feature.
The bus drivers have also created an "evening stop" near some garment factories on Airport Road just past Mohakhali flyover towards Uttara. They also make casual stops on the ramps of the flyover.
There are a dozen such examples of bus drivers regularly doing whatever they feel like to maximise earnings.
The free reigning bus drivers also invent their own shortcuts by going out of their permitted routes. They invade narrower roads of residential areas and blow their cacophonous horns whenever they feel like. The menace already has affected residential areas like Gulshan, Dhanmondi, Uttara, Khilgaon and many others.
Last week, when demonstrating garment factory workers in Tongi put up a road block stopping traffic flow on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, all public transports poured onto the alleys of Uttara residential area for shortcuts. The whole area remained clogged till 4:00pm since morning.
As the police are quite blasé about the invasion of buses, residents of Gulshan and Khilgaon installed height restrictive gates at some entry points of the areas.
That has reduced the flow of buses taking shortcuts through those neighbourhoods, but the problem has not yet been addressed properly by the authorities concerned.
Two minibuses give an auto-rickshaw the squeeze, not caring for the damage to the vehicles, the CNG-run three-wheeler or possible injury to the people inside it. Photo: Anisur Rahman
Probably nowhere else in the world bus drivers enjoy such unbridled freedom to pick up and drop off passengers, as they do in Bangladesh -- especially in Dhaka city.
Amid total apathy of the police, the buses do not just pick up passengers while still moving -- they even cause their passengers to literally drop dead on the streets on occasions that are becoming more frequent by the day.
For example, on January 24 while getting off a bus at the GPO crossing in the city, a banker of Pubali Bank named Syed Shafiqul Ahmed fell from the running board and died on the spot as the vehicle suddenly started moving without giving him a chance to get off safely.
In December last year, in a similar incident on Airport Road near Nikunja, an African national wanting to get off a bus was pushed out through the door by the bus helper while it was still moving. That person also died on the spot.
These are no rare incidents. Everyday quite a few people are being injured -- some seriously and some not so seriously -- while getting off buses. Bus drivers do not bring their vehicles to a complete stop at designated bus stops, and when they get back into traffic, they usually swerve in suddenly, risking the lives of passengers as well as pushing passing vehicles into risks of accidents.
The most common scenario in the city is that a bus would invariably slow down and pick up or drop off passengers at busy intersections right in front of traffic police. The bus drivers do so even while crossing intersections, not only worsening nagging traffic jams, but also causing buses to hit each other, occasionally leaving people injured.
Another common scenario is that a bus would stop right in the middle of a road blocking the way for the rest of vehicles around it, till it has finished picking up and dropping off passengers.
Any passer-by may stop a bus having a space even for half a person, anywhere in the city. For such illegal stops, the bus drivers usually swerve suddenly to the left towards the curb, triggering equally sudden surge of blood pressure in drivers behind them.
The city buses accept passengers' requests to drop them off anywhere. For instance, buses regularly stop opposite the BGMEA building on Tongi Diversion Road where traffic jam is a regular feature.
The bus drivers have also created an "evening stop" near some garment factories on Airport Road just past Mohakhali flyover towards Uttara. They also make casual stops on the ramps of the flyover.
There are a dozen such examples of bus drivers regularly doing whatever they feel like to maximise earnings.
The free reigning bus drivers also invent their own shortcuts by going out of their permitted routes. They invade narrower roads of residential areas and blow their cacophonous horns whenever they feel like. The menace already has affected residential areas like Gulshan, Dhanmondi, Uttara, Khilgaon and many others.
Last week, when demonstrating garment factory workers in Tongi put up a road block stopping traffic flow on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, all public transports poured onto the alleys of Uttara residential area for shortcuts. The whole area remained clogged till 4:00pm since morning.
As the police are quite blasé about the invasion of buses, residents of Gulshan and Khilgaon installed height restrictive gates at some entry points of the areas.
That has reduced the flow of buses taking shortcuts through those neighbourhoods, but the problem has not yet been addressed properly by the authorities concerned.