Mostly office goers, students and a section middle income class of society, and not the people in general are getting benefits from the growing number of ride sharing services in Dhaka. However, there are mountains of allegations against riders and concerned companies.
Ride sharing service apps frequently have technical glitches often leading to physical fights between passengers and riders. Several transport experts while talking to this correspondent, expressed grave concern regarding the ride sharing service quality, and its contribution to the whole transport system in Dhaka city.
Transport expert and urban planning specialist, Imran Hossain talking to Bangladesh Post stressed, these ridesharing services are contemporary solution to ease city’s current erratic traffic problems, but not permanent.Transports, which are focused on mass people like buses, are the solution.
Mentioning the security reasons and facilities he said, 50 to 60 people can travel from one place to another at a time by bus. On the contrary, in a ride sharing (bike) service, only one person can move. A large number of riders are unprofessional and they don't care about passenger safety; riders are provided a so-called helmet made of plastic
Professor of Civil Engineering and a transport specialist of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Shamsul Haque said, although the use of motorcycle commercially in Bangladesh started earlier, the ride sharing service spread very quickly. The number of motorcycles has increased four to fivefold in the last two to three years. Commercial service of ridesharing is unplanned and it has become a curse for the people of Dhaka.
Users of these ridesharing services are either job holders or students. Common people don't use this ridesharing services only because of security and safety reasons; fares are also higher than rickshaw and bus. App based transport is not a solution for mass people, he added. Although, the number of new motorcycles is constantly increasing in the capital, those who share ride services claim the the quality of services is gradually decreasing with the rising numbers of new motorcycles, according to users.
As per the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) motorcycle registration has increased more than ever, around 3 lakh 25 thousand new motorcycles were registered across the country in 2017. The sudden rise of motorcycles in the city has a negative impact on the city traffic and lifestyle.
Riders, often due to lack of knowledge of the road and the transport system, create chaos in Dhaka. In addition to disruptions in traffic movement, riders also fall into various accidents. And pedestrians are also being injured.