Road Transport and Railways State Minister Habibur Rashid has said initiatives are underway to quickly relocate the capital’s four bus terminals — Gabtoli, Mohakhali, Sayedabad and Gulistan — to ease traffic congestion, along with using existing depots instead.
He said, alongside this, decisions have been made to expand an alternative terminal to replace Gabtoli Terminal, remove illegal structures in Narayanganj and Gazipur, and develop city-corporation-run terminals.
He made the remarks Sunday after a meeting of the National Committee formed to ease congestion in Greater Dhaka, held at the Road Transport and Highways Division’s conference room at the Secretariat.
The state minister said the meeting mainly discussed in detail how far implementation has progressed on the policies and action plans adopted to ease the capital’s traffic congestion, and which tasks need to be implemented quickly.
He said emphasis was placed on coordinated work among relevant agencies to implement the decisions taken to ease congestion on schedule.
The road state minister said one major cause of the capital’s traffic congestion is the excessive pressure of buses and public transport inside the city. To reduce this pressure, plans have been made to reduce reliance on existing terminals and use terminals and depots at alternative locations instead.
He said, “To ease congestion, we are taking initiatives to use some of our depots for a portion of what our terminals currently handle. We are looking at using locations such as Kanchpur and, after that, Purbachal.”
The state minister said further expansion of Gabtoli bus terminal was also discussed at the meeting. Discussions were held with relevant parties on how the new areas adjacent to Gabtoli could be quickly put to use. Emphasis is being placed on quickly implementing these alternative infrastructure options to reduce the pressure of public transport at the capital’s entry points.
Habibur Rashid Habib said illegal structures on roads in various areas around Dhaka, including Narayanganj and Gazipur, are also one of the main causes of congestion. The meeting discussed removing these illegal structures to make the roads suitable for traffic.
He said congestion inside the capital alone cannot be addressed in isolation — the connectivity between Greater Dhaka and the capital must also be prioritized. To that end, he said, necessary steps will be taken to remove obstructions on important roads and highways around Dhaka, remove illegal structures, and ensure orderly movement of public transport.
The state minister said the meeting mainly discussed the four bus terminals in detail, including their current management, the possibility of relocation to alternative sites, the option of using depots, and the role of the relevant city corporations.
He said initiatives will also be taken to upgrade the terminals under city corporation management. Discussions covered setting up counters for bus operations at these terminals, ensuring necessary facilities for passengers, and making transport management more effective.
The meeting also discussed allowing air-conditioned buses to use designated terminals specifically. Discussions were held on coordinating with the relevant city corporations and transport authorities on where and how bus counters and other necessary facilities would be provided.
The state minister said widening roads or building new roads alone will not solve the capital’s congestion problem. Public transport terminal management, bus movement, parking, counter management, and the pressure of vehicles at the capital’s entry and exit points must all be considered in a coordinated way.
Alongside reviewing actual progress on the decisions taken at the meeting, emphasis was placed on speeding up work in areas where progress has been slow.
Discussions were also held on increasing coordination among the relevant agencies to complete the work within the set timeframe.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner, administrators of various city corporations, and secretaries and senior officials from the road ministry and other ministries were present at the meeting.