To restore discipline on the country’s roads, the government has made it mandatory from Saturday, August 1, to fit and keep active a Global Positioning System (GPS) device in all public transport. From that day, proof of GPS installation and a demonstration of its functionality on a mobile app will be required for new registrations and fitness-certificate renewals.
The government says the aim is to control the movement of public transport, manage routes and restore road discipline. But analysts say technology alone will not deliver the desired results, and that effective monitoring, transparency, accountability and structural reform must also be ensured.
Disorder is a daily sight on the roads: buses racing recklessly to pick up passengers, stopping anywhere to load and unload, and blocking multiple lanes, often causing severe traffic jams and disrupting normal movement. In this context, the government decided to install and keep active GPS devices in all public transport.
Bangladesh Road Transport Owners’ Association organizing secretary Jahangir Alam Khan said final agreements to install GPS in various companies’ vehicles had already been made, but that full implementation across all vehicles from August 1 would not be possible and would need more time.
Under the government directive, no public transport will be given new registration or a fitness certificate, or have one renewed, without an active GPS device, and the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has urged owners and operators to prepare. BRTA chairman Habibur Rahman said any new vehicle brought for registration must have GPS installed, as must vehicles up for fitness renewal, and that the BRTA was building its own technical system to verify whether a vehicle’s GPS was installed and working.
Transport experts view the move positively but say the capacity and accountability of the institutions involved must also rise. Road Safety Foundation executive director Saidur Rahman said technology alone would not bring the expected benefits, and that transparency, accountability and necessary reforms were needed, with results coming only when technology is used together with good governance. Analysts said that while the GPS initiative was positive, questions remained over how much fitting GPS to old and worn-out vehicles would change, and stressed long-term reform, regular monitoring and strict oversight.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report