“I will take three trips as per my contract to the bus owner. So, I take more passengers and try to arrive in destination as soon as possible,” bus driver Nazmul Hasan told Bangla Tribune.
Hasan, who has been driving bus in the capital for 14 years, said “My target is to make between Tk 300 and Tk 350 per trip.”
Most of the buses in capital are operated on a ‘trip-basis’, which means drivers make more on more trips, said Rakibul Hasan, who drives a bus of Supravat Paribahan on Sadarghat-Chandra route.
According to this driver, loading extra passengers, overtaking, and tiredness caused by over driving are the reasons to road accidents.
At present, public transport in capital and its neighboring area are operated on the basis of three methods – daily wage, monthly wage and daily deposit, which is referred as trip-basis.
Drivers earn a certain amount per day under daily wage while drivers are salaried under monthly wage with some facilities and a day off.
Drivers pay a certain amount to the owner under daily deposit and keep the rest they earn from their trips.
Drivers target to earn between Tk 6,000 and Tk 7,000 per day to meet all needs including extortion. They have to pay Tk 700 daily to a ‘workers welfare fund’.
Besides, owners pay no attention to reckless driving as most of the buses are old. Owners only care about timely payment, several drivers alleged.
Analyst Nazmul Hossain said, “Uneven competition between drivers and owners causes road accidents.”
Blaming drivers for wanting more money, Hossain said, “They themselves compete to take more passengers and overtake others, leading to reckless driving.”
Citing 50 percent of public transport in capital operated under daily deposit, Bangladesh Road Transport Owners’s Association Secretary General Khandaker Enayet Ullah said, “Owners provide vehicles to drivers with terms. Owner-driver contract and extortion lead to reckless driving.”
Citing shortage of drivers, Enayet Ullah said, “Drivers leave their job if owners take a hard stance.”
According to him, 50 percent of drivers are use drug addicts, which he says is one of key reasons behind accidents
More money is the motive behind reckless driving, with boarding and dropping off passengers any where and often lock into scuffle over fare, according to passengers.
Bangladesh Passengers' Welfare Association Secretary General Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury told Bangla Tribune, “Owners hand over the vehicles to drivers on contact because they earn more profit from trips.”
Citing majority of the drivers have no permanent job, Chowdhury said “Drivers runs the vehicle at the will of their owners.”

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