More than four and a half years after a failed attempt to stop operation of “seating service” buses in Dhaka city, bus owners have decided to give a crack at it again.

A shortage of ferries on the Paturia-Daulatdia route has disrupted service for the last two weeks.

The work of pitch casting has started today on the 6.15km Padma Bridge road.

Bus owners have decided to abolish seating and gate-lock services from the local buses operating in Dhaka city within the next three days -- to stop overcharging passengers.

Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association today claimed that only 3.26 percent of buses on the road run on CNG.

The government will conduct joint drives in Dhaka city from tomorrow onwards to stop bus operators from overcharging passengers.

No three-wheelers or easy-bikes would be allowed on the national and regional highways. Such vehicles must have route permit, registration and fitness clearance for operating on the dedicated routes. And their drivers have to obtain licences.

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) conducted mobile courts at various streets in Dhaka today, following allegations of overcharging passengers on buses.

The government is set to launch a joint drive in Dhaka from Thursday to stop bus and minibus operators from overcharging passengers.

Amid allegations of overcharging against many bus operators, two associations of bus owners today directed their members to stop charging more than the government-set rate.

Activities at Chittagong Port and 19 private inland container depots (ICDs) started returning to normalcy yesterday following the postponement of the countrywide strike enforced by the goods-carrying transport owners and workers.

The government’s move to hike the bus fares appears to have spawned a free-for-all: many operators were charging as much as 50 percent higher fares, while the CNG-run buses were also collecting fares at the new rate that does not apply to them.

The Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh yesterday demanded that the government make life easier for the people by revoking the hike in the prices of diesel and kerosene.

Though the strike involving public transport was withdrawn on Sunday evening, the owners and workers of vehicles engaged in transporting goods continued to enforce their countrywide protest as of yesterday evening, taking a toll on export, import and trade.

Leaders of the goods-carrying vehicles owners-workers association have agreed to postpone their ongoing strike following a meeting with Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal at the secretariat tonight.

The railway work on the Padma Bridge will not start until the authorities concerned give a go-ahead, Railway Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan said today.

Ferry services on Shimulia-Banglabazar route on the Padma river resumed today after a month of suspension.

Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity today alleged that the government has increased bus and launch fares to give the transport owners a chance to make hefty profits.

Bangladesh Railway (BR) today introduced its first automatic washing plant for locomotives.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan will hold a meeting this evening with leaders of goods-carrying vehicle owners' and workers' associations, who have been enforcing a strike since last Friday.