Gazipur-Dhaka Route: DMP's new bus plan risks undermining BRT corridor

A proposed bus service by Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), involving 2,000 buses on the Gazipur-Dhaka route, has sparked concern among stakeholders for potentially threatening the long-awaited Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor project.

The government's plan to launch a dedicated corridor with modern buses is now facing uncertainty just as the procurement process nears approval, according to sources.

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD), which is financing the BRT-3 corridor from Gazipur to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), has already expressed concern over the DMP's parallel initiative.

The French development agency recently sought detailed clarification from the Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit Company Limited (DBRTCL), as parts of the proposed DMP route overlap with the BRT-3 corridor.

Sources said the overlap could contradict both the Strategic Transport Plan (STP) and the government's investment strategy. The Road Transport and Highways Division is investing around Tk 25 billion in the 20-kilometre corridor, making any alternative transport plan on the same route a potential threat to that investment.

DBRTCL Managing Director Mohammad Nurul Amin Khan said, "Actually, we do not know anything about the new route to reply to the query by AFD."

He added that the company had sent a formal letter to the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) last week seeking clarification, as DTCA is the official body authorised to approve new transport routes.

"The bidding process to procure 137 buses under the BRT project's first phase has already been completed, and any conflicting route poses a real concern for us," he added.

In a letter dated July 8, DBRTCL asked DTCA to provide details of the DMP's proposed route, including its financing source, planning methodology, and potential operational impact on the BRT system. The request was made to help DBRTCL respond to the AFD's queries.

The BRT-3 corridor, designed under the 2015 STP, was planned to carry up to 20,000 passengers per hour via a dedicated bus lane. The DMP's recent proposal, meanwhile, includes extending the previously failed "pink bus" initiative from Abdullahpur in different directions starting from Gazipur.

That earlier attempt, introduced in February, failed due to a lack of engineering analysis, traffic data, and an organised company structure. The DMP, working alongside bus owners' associations, struggled to enforce route discipline or integrate competing operators under a unified system.

Experts note that the new DMP initiative directly contradicts the government's bus route franchise (BRF) model under the broader Bus Route Rationalisation (BRR) effort, which aims to reduce 385 overlapping city routes into 42 organised ones.

The DTCA, despite acting as secretariat for the reform, remains hamstrung by weak capacity and limited support from key stakeholders, including the police and bus owners.

Further criticism has come from transport experts who view the DMP proposal as misaligned with the government's updated STP, which was revised this year to support a comprehensive "BusNet" model. That model has also been overlooked in the current planning.

Meanwhile, DBRTCL has completed the bidding process to procure over 180 buses -- including 50 electric units -- with final approval pending from the company's board. The board is expected to meet after receiving clearance for a budget extension and tenure renewal of the BRT project.

smunima@yahoo.com