Bus is a common vehicle in cities all around the world and Dhaka City is not an exception.

In our present
days people of Dhaka city has become so dependent on bus that if there is no bus in the roads they will
face great trouble to reach their destinations. However travelling by bus in Dhaka city has become a
hazard itself.

Buses are creating hazards not only in the roads but also there are hazards inside buses. As a result both
groups of people, inside and outside of bus, have to suffer gravely.

Bus is no doubt a necessary vehicle for any cities. People of all occupations are in some ways dependent
on bus but now a day’s bus is creating more hazards than the usefulness it possesses. We can divide
these hazards in two parts. One is hazards creating by bus in the roads and other is hazards that we face
inside the bus.
The large number of bus is for the benefit of people but because of some reason it has become the
opposite. Even though there are a lot of buses available and the duration of the arrival of one bus to
another for a certain destination is about five minute or less, the counter man won’t let the bus leave
the station as long as other bus don’t show up.

These resulting in partial road block narrowing the road as a lot of buses of different companies wait
together in the bus stand. Main reason for this is to get more passengers in one bus for more profit. A
lot of passengers have complained about this situation but they won’t listen. They do not sign the way-
bill till the bus is fully loaded and sometimes overloaded! The Counter men of different bus service also
create major sound pollution in the bus stand. They keep shouting the name of the bus and the
locations the bus will cover to attract the passengers as loud as they can. Making a lot of bus stand in
the footpath without plan narrow down the foot path making it hazardous for normal public to pass by
and with no other choice these public use the road instead of the foot path which often causes road
accidents. The traffic police allocated in those areas are not that serious of this issue and unless there is
a sergeant the counter men and the bus drivers ignore the traffic police resulting in a permanent hazard
in that area. In the way as the buses do not maintain a single line, often the roads get blocked. The
massive size of these buses makes it impossible for other vehicles to pass. It is also noticeable that
sometimes the bus drivers compete with each other to take turns or to get better space to stand which
ultimately results in accidents. All these were hazards created by either counter men or bus drivers
however the passengers create hazards too. Sometimes instead of forming a line to get into the bus
they rush towards the bus when it arrives at the bus station. They even do not listen to the conductor if
he says the bus is loaded and there is no sit available. They argue with the bus driver and conductor and
force their way into the bus. Funny thing is the person who was arguing with the driver or conductor to
let him get into the bus, now argues not to let anyone else get inside and leave the station. They even
use slang words and sometimes threaten the bus driver so that he leave the station quickly. But not
every bus driver is about to tolerate this and ultimately gets engaged in fight with that passenger.
Hazard once again!

Speaking of women passenger, every bus now has nine seats reserved for the women, children and
disabled. This is a good attempt to lower the sufferings of the women, children and disabled in a bus but
the harsh truth is this is also creating hazards in bus. Sometimes male passengers sit on the reserved
seats even though there are other empty seats in the bus. They promise to leave the reserved seat as
soon as women passenger gets in but once a woman passenger gets in the bus they request her to fill
the other reserved seats first. This sometimes causes quarrel between them. Sometimes the women in
the bus get teased by the male passengers for this. The opposite happens too when male passengers sit
in the reserved seat they are called as “Half Ladies”. Sometimes the passengers even forget that the
nine seats are not only for women but also for children and disabled passengers. As a result the children
and disabled passengers often suffer the most

So as conclusion we can say that the hazards we face every day in bus is not only the creation of the
counterman, conductor or bus driver but also the creation of the passengers themselves. We all need to
obey the rules and discipline when we are travelling by bus. We also need to be respectful towards
other passengers in bus. The government and the traffic police need to be strict about bus control and
placement .The bus service providers and the passengers need to co-operate with each other. Only then
we can break the chain of these hazards and get enjoyable bus journey.