For Moniruzzaman Jamaddar, a resident of Damodar village in Phultala upazila, memories of student life in Khulna are inseparable from the once-vibrant bus services that connected the city with its outskirts.
The 59-year-old NGO official recalls how, in the early 1980s, he would travel nearly 23 kilometres daily to attend classes at Khulna City College and later at Khulna Commerce College.
“Buses would leave every five minutes from Phultala to Rupsha ghat and stop at more than 20 points. They were often packed with passengers,” he told The Daily Star.
For students, the fare was as low as one taka. “It was not just public transport -- it was part of our life,” he reminisced.
But all this is now a distant memory.
Khulna, a city of nearly 1.8 million people, now has no bus service. For the residents -- especially students and low- to middle-income groups -- the absence of city buses has turned daily commute into an expensive and stressful ordeal.
The gap has been filled by three-wheelers, including CNG-run and battery-powered auto-rickshaws and easy bikes. With fuel prices rising, fares have been increased by up to 20 percent in recent weeks, adding to commuters’ financial strain.
Residents say that travelling from one end of the city to the other now costs between Tk 150 and Tk 200 -- a sum many find unaffordable on a daily basis.
Dipa Banerjee, a student of Khulna Government Girls’ College, said, “The distance from Phultala to Rupsha ferry ghat via the dak bungalow is 26 kilometres. If I share an auto-rickshaw ride with someone, I have to pay Tk 70 for the journey,” she said, adding that had there been a city bus service, the fare would have been much lower.
“It is essential to introduce bus services from Phultala to Khulna city and on four to five other routes,” she said.
Akmol Hossain, a jute mill worker from Rupsha upazila, said, “The three-wheeler drivers’ union raised fares on April 5, citing fuel price hikes. I have to pay an additional Tk 10 daily to reach my workplace at Phultala from Rupsha after the fare was increased to Tk 70.”
According to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) documents, around 1,250 three-wheelers registered with BRTA operate on the Khulna-Phultala route.
WHY DID BUSES DISAPPEAR?
In the 1990s, more than 60 buses were run by private operators on various routes, including those from Rupsha to Phultala and Shahpur. Students from Jashore and even Narail used to travel via Phultala to BL College, Khulna Commerce College, and Khulna Government Girls’ College, say locals.
Many people from Fakirhat, Mollahat, Rampal, Mongla and other places in Bagerhat relied on these bus services to commute to the city.
“Back then, this was the main mode of transport for lower- and middle-income people,” said Rahmat Ali, who worked as a bus conductor for 15 years.
As recently as 2005, around 50 buses operated within the city, serving as affordable and reliable transport.
But things started changing rapidly after 2010 when CNG- and diesel-run three-wheelers hit the roads in big numbers.
By 2017, the number of city buses dropped to just five before completely going off the road in August 2018.
Meanwhile, in 2016, BRTC launched five double-deckers on city routes but took them off the road after a while in the face of opposition from three-wheeler drivers’ unions.
“It is unfortunate that a divisional city of 1.8 million people doesn’t have any public bus. How will students and low-income people move?” said Gauranga Nandy, vice-president of Sachetan Nagarik Committee (Committee of Concerned Citizens), a grassroots-level watchdog established by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB).
“We don’t want luxury. We want a transport system that is affordable for all,” he added.
Abdul Gaffer Biswas, president of Khulna District Bus Owners Association, said that key city points such as Boikali, Notun Rasta intersection, Daulatpur, Phulbari Gate, and Shiromoni have long been occupied by drivers of three-wheelers.
In the past, whenever buses attempted to pick up passengers from these points, auto-rickshaw drivers often tried to bar them, leading to confrontation and even tussle.
This persistent obstruction created an unfavourable environment for bus operators, discouraging them from continuing services. As a result, the dominance of informal modes of transport has remained largely unchallenged, undermining the prospects of a structured and reliable city bus system, said Biswas, also a former lawmaker.
Pointing to a lack of a clear government policy, he said, “The bus service could have survived if certain routes were designated only for city buses. We are still willing to relaunch the service if the authorities cooperate… During elections, we heard promises regarding city transport services, but no initiative has yet been taken.”
Seeking anonymity, a Khulna City Corporation official said that though there were discussions on many occasions about reintroducing city bus services, no steps were taken to this effect. One of the biggest obstacles was political.
Some of the local political leaders with close ties to three-wheeler drivers’ unions resisted moves to reintroduce bus services, said the official who has been working at the city corporation for over 17 years.
When contacted, Khulna City Corporation Administrator Nazrul Islam Monju said initiatives are underway to relaunch city bus services.
He said they are considering the introduction of electric buses as a viable option.
The city corporation is working on a range of measures to improve traffic management, and the relaunch of bus services is part of its phased plan, Nazrul added.
