Finally begins on Dec 16
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buses instead and started the process of buying 130 electric buses in July 2022.
However, the company changed its mind again and floated a tender to procure 137 diesel-run AC buses for the service last year. But the authorities cancelled the first tendering process over forgery by two foreign companies and started re-tender process earlier this year, sources said.
Md Moniruzzaman, managing director of Dhaka BRT Company, yesterday said the bidding process is now at the final stage and awaits board approval.
Once the contractor is appointed, they would supply the first lot (50 buses) within four months, said Moniruzzaman, adding that they are hopeful of launching the fully-fledged BRT service from June next year.
As the bus procurement process is taking time, the adviser directed them to start the service with BRTC buses, so that the infrastructure does not remain unused, he said.
Ehsanul Hoque, senior secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Division, also talked about introducing the service at an event in Gazipur yesterday.
BRTC, from December 1, with two buses started the test run on the BRT route and will launch the service with 10 buses from December 16, Moniruzzaman told The Daily Star yesterday.
A BRTC officer said the service will have seven stoppages at Gulistan, Shahbagh, Farmgate, Airport, College Gate, Board Bazar, Joydebpur Chowrasta, and Shibbari, and the fare would be Tk 140.
The BRTC buses will use the Dhaka Elevated Expressway, and it would take around two hours to reach Shibbari in Gazipur from Gulistan.
Responding to a question, Moniruzzaman said, “BRTC bus service will definitely not be same as the BRT service.”
He, however, said only cars and BRTC buseswould be allowed to use the BRT dedicated corridor built on the middle of Dhaka-Gazipur Road, a part of Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, and other buses will use the existing road.
Formally known as Greater Dhaka Sustainable Urban Transport Project, it was originally planned to be completed by December 2016 at a cost of Tk 2,037.9 crore.
But long delay was caused by issues relating to land acquisition, relocation of utility services, design changes, contractors running out of money, and the pandemic. Moreover, physical work was suspended twice.
As a result, the total project cost is now estimated at Tk 4,268.3 crore and the deadline is December 2024. But the authorities sought one more year to complete the work.
Once the dedicated rapid bus service comes into operation, it is supposed to allow people to reach Dhaka from Gazipur in 35-40 minutes, which now takes between 1.5 and two-three hours.
Till September this year, the project saw 97.14 progress, shows progress report. However, the project got a setback after miscreants damaged 22 escalators to be used for elevated stations on the route during July-August student movement.
Apart from installing the escalators, the authorities will have to do several other works to launch the BRT service completely, including hiring bus operator and installing intelligent transportation system (ITS) service at stoppages for automatic ticketing services and other issues.
BRT Managing Director Moniruzzaman said initially they will hire BRTC as operator, and a memorandum of understanding is getting ready in this regard.
He, however, said ITS system may not be ready even in next June and in that case, they will go for semi-automated ticketing system.
The project is being jointly implemented by the Roads and Highways Department, Bangladesh Bridge Authority, and Local Government Engineering Department, with the lion’s share of the fund coming from foreign loan.