Pink buses in Dhaka: Another attempt to foil bus route franchising?

Last week, when a fleet of pink-painted buses began operating from the capital's Abdullahpur route, many commuters assumed it was part of the long-awaited bus route franchising plan—an initiative the government has been working on for over a decade.

Authorities have been struggling to bring order to Dhaka's chaotic and ageing bus services. The goal is to consolidate operations under a few companies, reducing the reckless competition that often leads to accidents and worsens traffic congestion. Under the bus route rationalisation (BRR) plan, buses would be assigned specific colours based on their routes.

However, confusion arose when commuters noticed that the pink buses were still operating under different company names instead of a single franchise.

It was later revealed that the pink buses had no connection to the BRR project, and the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) was not even involved in the inauguration. Instead, the service was launched by Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Sheikh Md Sazzad Ali.

While DTCA officials are trying to keep hope ‍afloat in formal conversations despite the visible lack of coordination, their disappointments manifest elsewhere. 

Experts and people close to the transport sector are saying that transport association leaders and police do not want bus route rationalisation as it will stop or drastically reduce the flow of illegal money and other benefits stemming from extortion, bribery and power practices. Above all, they see the pink buses as a distraction from the original plan, poised to foil the bus route rationalisation efforts.

Bypassing DTCA

Dhrubo Alam, deputy transport planner at DTCA confirmed that the pink buses are not a part of the bus route rationalisation plan.

"We, especially I, don't really know about these three routes, which companies will operate them, who are the bus owners, whether their buses have fitness, registration, route permit or not, how many bus stops are there and where are they and how much is the fare," Alam revealed in a Facebook post following requests from journalists and commuters.

He said he first learned about the plan to launch 2,610 pink buses on three routes from the newspaper. DTCA had requested detailed information from the owners' and workers' associations, but no response has been received.

Back in 2020, DTCA proposed a plan to operate city buses under nine clusters, 42 routes, and 22 companies, which was approved. For three years, a company called Dhaka Nagar Paribahan ran franchised buses on three routes. However, the initiative eventually failed because it had to compete with non-franchised buses operating outside the system.

Unlike franchised buses, the pink buses are not operating under a single company—they are run by 21 separate companies, competing with other buses that are not part of the pink initiative.

Just a day after their launch, pink buses were seen picking up passengers from anywhere on the street instead of following the planned counter-based system. Most recently, transport workers blocked roads in Sayedabad, protesting against the counter-based service.

This is yet another example of why simply painting buses a single colour is not enough—they also need to be brought under a unified company operating on designated routes. It also highlights that bypassing DTCA in an attempt to bring order to the streets is unlikely to succeed.

A transport planner revealed that transport owner association leaders are avoiding DTCA meetings and even encouraging others to do the same.

After the ouster of the AL regime, DTCA became active again in implementing BRR and held a discussion meeting with the bus owners on 25 August 2024. Getting positive feedback, DTCA sought applications from those interested in running buses on different routes.

More than 250 companies with over 3,000 buses have applied to take part in BRR by 30 November last year, the last day of application. 

"The Scrutiny Committee held its first meeting on the applications on 9 December and started preparing a brief report. At that meeting, a representative of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police presented a plan of 27 new routes and 18 circular routes, about which neither the DTCA nor the committee was previously aware," Dhrubo Alam said.

The adviser to the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges gave instructions to implement the green cluster of the BRR in February. Most of the green cluster infrastructures (passenger canopies, bus stops/bays etc) have already been constructed, according to Dhrubo.

He added that no one has been left out in the process, nor is there any plan to stop the current operators from running the buses. "Our principle is that those who are currently operating buses on the route will get priority, but they will have to follow our rules, remove extra seats from buses, fix some things in the buses, operate on a counter basis and start rapid pass (we will take the initiative, we are already ready) etc."

"But on 15 January, the representatives of bus owner-worker organisations were absent in the review meeting regarding the applications with the bus operators interested in operating on Green Cluster routes. We tried to contact the concerned representatives over the phone and they could not be reached. At one point, some owners privately reported that bus owner-worker organisations asked them not to attend the meetings," Dhrubo said.

When asked why the association leaders skipped meetings, Dhaka Transport Owners' Association General Secretary Saiful Alam told TBS, "They invite a hundred agencies (meaning many) to the meetings. What do they have to do with planning? They have to sit with us exclusively, we are the main stakeholders."

Regarding the pink bus service, Dr Md Shamsul Hoque, a professor at Accident Research Institute (ARI) in Buet said, "Painting the buses with a single colour does not mean anything; the owners have to come under one umbrella. I think the pink bus initiative is a distraction. The government wants to bring discipline to the transport sector. But the beneficiaries of the indiscipline do not like the idea."

"When thousands of owners will be unified in five ownerships, there will be no owners' association elections. The benefits retrieved from holding the leadership positions will be no more," the expert explained.

The professor said the government has to handle the situation strictly. "If the police are involved in this distraction, they also need to be held accountable. If BRTA is responsible, they need to be dealt with as well," he said.

Professor Shamsul Hoque pointed out that a lot of effort has been put into bus route franchising, and stressed that every party should cooperate to implement the initiative.

When asked to comment on the pink bus initiative, Neelima Akhter, executive director of DTCA said she appreciates the move. However, in Dhrubo Alam's post, she commented: "It would be better if we could do it together.  DTCA had some preparations, and we intended to discuss them with the owners and transparently take decisions.