‘Road deaths cannot be reduced without BRTA reform’

Why do we have so many deaths and injuries from road crashes in Bangladesh every year and how can these be reduced?

Motorcycles and buses are responsible for the majority of road fatalities in Bangladesh and these casualties cannot be reduced unless the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) is reformed. For example, route permits are issued by passenger and cargo transport committees at regional and metropolitan levels. However, non-technical persons, including police, labour leaders, transport owners and general bureaucrats often dominate these committees. Since public transport is a specialised branch of transportation, it must be run by people who understand the system. If we keep allowing unqualified people to make these decisions, chaos will continue. A majority of accidents occur because buses race each other for passengers, and in recent years, this chaos has grown to a dangerous level.

Another major problem is the boom of motorcycles—a two-wheeled vehicle with an inherently high level of risk. Often, the riders are mostly young and thrill-seeking. They enjoy speed and tend to ignore the law. On the other hand, large buses, while competing for passengers, cannot even notice these small vehicles, which leads to accidents.

The unregulated route permits given to buses and the reckless behaviour of motorcycle riders together contribute to the indiscipline on our roads. The latter is difficult to control, but if the government wants, the former can be addressed. By introducing a professional system of bus route management, like the one in Hatirjheel, a non-competing, organised environment can be created. That requires planning, not necessarily heavy spending.

At present, the system is rooted in ignorance and unethical practices. If we do not change this, we can never sustainably reduce the risk of accidents. Random accidents may still occur, but what we are facing now is a man-made hazard that keeps increasing day by day.

How does the rapid rise of battery-run rickshaws and other small vehicles fit into this picture?

Yes, battery-run vehicles, such as easy bikes, are part of the problem, apart from buses and motorcycles. Although they are fewer in numbers compared to motorcycles, they are still a major source of road disorder. Most easy bike drivers do not know basic road rules. Besides, these unstable three-wheeled vehicles move at high speed, often driven by untrained people, creating risk both for themselves and others. Until recently, their numbers were under control, but they increased drastically last year.

What's more problematic is some police and special forces members are now directly involved in the transport business, according to various media reports. When law enforcers become transport owners themselves, indiscipline becomes impossible to control. For example, many CNG-run autorickshaws, owned by police officials, do not follow metre rules. Thus, others follow their example. This same theory applies to buses that run illegally. When the enforcers of the law are themselves part of the system's corruption, how will order be maintained?

BRTA is a totally incompetent organisation. It does not know how to regulate. The situation on our roads reflects BRTA's poor performance. Other countries can maintain discipline on their roads because their regulatory bodies are professional, accountable, and competent. In our country, those who have taken charge of the transport system lack capacity, professionalism, and accountability.

Let me give an example. Who allowed motorcycle numbers to multiply like this? BRTA did. They even reduced the registration fee by 40 to 50 percent, encouraging people to buy more motorcycles, even though a two-wheeler is 30 times riskier than a car. The result is that motorcycle registration is now higher than that of four-wheelers. This reflects BRTA's complete lack of professionalism and policy understanding.

You are saying the problem is structural. How did this structure become so corrupted in the first place?

Historically, BRTA was born out of a movement in the 1980s led by transport owners and labour leaders. Shahjahan Khan used to say proudly that BRTA was the fruit of that movement. But when an institution that should operate based on scientific evidence is created through a political movement, its leadership naturally serves the interests of those groups.

Today, bus owners and transport leaders are present on every committee—whether it is the National Road Safety Council, the committee that issues route permits, or accident investigation panels. The result is that the so-called "regulatory authority" has turned into a clique. When those who are supposed to be regulated become the regulators themselves, no government can fix the system unless it tackles this issue.

Many countries have done the opposite. Look at Dubai's Road and Transport Authority, for instance. They have separate professional units for public transport, signalling, and vehicle fitness. The government does not directly provide these services because it cannot keep pace with increasing demand. Instead, they outsource fitness checks and training to specialised private centres, while the government acts purely as a regulator.

What lessons can Bangladesh take from the other countries where road fatalities are low?

First, the entire value chain of vehicle maintenance and safety must be regulated. In many countries, workshops and service centres are licensed and can be held liable for faulty repairs if a vehicle involved in a crash is found to have defective components. The government's role is more supervisory; it does not issue fitness certificates itself.

In Bangladesh, BRTA tries to do everything with very limited staff and a few outlets across the country. This creates long delays, which open the door for corruption. The solution is to adopt a partnership model where private centres carry out the technical checks and BRTA acts as a regulator.

The government should be slim, not bulky. It should focus on regulation, policy, enforcement, and oversight, while letting the private sector handle services. However, those in the BRTA who enjoy the benefits of the current system will resist such reforms as they profit from the organisation's inefficiency.

If we truly want to escape this vicious cycle, we must implement structural reforms in BRTA, and ensure independent road crash investigations. In many countries, road crashes are investigated by independent bodies that examine every possible factor—the road design, maintenance, enforcement, vehicle fitness, and driver behaviour. Responsibility is shared, not dumped on the driver alone.

In Bangladesh, when an accident occurs, BRTA, the police, and Roads and Highways officials form a committee. But these are the very institutions that share the blame. So, even if they investigate a road crash a hundred times, they will end up blaming the driver. As long as this approach continues, the road crash issue will not be solved; it will only grow more complicated over time.

Finally, if you could give one clear message on National Road Safety Day, what would it be?

My message is simple: without structural reform of the BRTA, we cannot reduce road deaths. We have been independent for 54 years, yet we have not implemented any lasting structural change in the transport sector.

BRTA must become a truly professional regulatory authority, not a service provider. Until then, accidents will continue to rise, and every campaign raising road safety awareness or symptom-oriented treatment, such as improving roads, training drivers, or giving radar guns to the police, will only be a temporary patch on a deep-rooted disease.

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