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Long-haul bus operators still in a tight corner

Lack of passengers and security preventing night trips
JAGARAN CHAKMA
Although long-haul bus services in Bangladesh resumed five days ago, the number of passengers is still low as people are avoiding travel due to security concerns, according to industry insiders.
Aside from the Dhaka-Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar route, bus operators have yet to resume night trips in absence of adequate security.
This is because although police have returned to the streets, they are yet to come out in full force.
“But we run all routes during daytime despite the low passenger turnout,” said Kafil Uddin, owner of Hanif Enterprise.
Hanif, one of the largest long-haul bus operators in the country, resumed services two days after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government on August 5.
Kafil believes the number of passengers will gradually increase as the overall situation nears normality.
Md Faruk Talukder Shohel, managing director of Shohagh Group, an air-conditioned bus operator, said they are struggling to cover their operational expenses due to a lack of customers.
“The number of passengers will not rise until the law and order situation returns to normal,” he added.
Informing that they run around 100 buses on six routes, Shohel said they require at least 65 percent occupancy to offset operational costs.
However, just 30 to 35 percent of seats are being booked on their 30-passenger buses.
“Still, we are running operations in hopes that the situation will improve. If we do not continue operations, the business will collapse,” Shohel added.
SM Nadiruzzaman, managing director of Dola Paribahan, which operates buses on the Dhaka-Khulna and Dhaka-Pirojpur routes, said their services are now available four days a week.
“But we are getting 70 percent of our passenger capacity on morning trips while the number declines in the afternoon,” he added.
Citing that they are yet to resume night trips as passengers are afraid to travel, Nadiruzzaman said it is really tough to say when normalcy will return to the transport sector.
“The transport sector will not function properly until law enforcement returns fully,” he added.
Khandker Enayet Ullah, secretary general of the Bangladesh Road Transport Owner’s Association, recently said around 30,000 buses under roughly 200 companies used to ply inter-district routes daily.
Bangladesh has more than 83,000 registered buses, with private investment in the business growing in line with the expansion of national and regional highways.
Buses carry roughly 70 percent of the country’s travellers followed by inland waterways, rail and air.
On the other hand, a partner of Bengal Paribahan, which operates on the Dhaka-Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar route, said they were providing services on a limited scale due to the lack of passengers.
He added that they get just 10-12 passengers for each bus as passengers are yet to feel comfortable enough to travel.
On condition of anonymity, the owner of an air-conditioned bus service provider, said they resumed operations on a limited scale across all routes despite having insufficient passengers.
“As we do not have any alternative, we have started operations even though we face financial losses. As our passengers are high-end, they are not ready to travel,” he added.