Dhaka is set to see maiden electric bus service as 130 such vehicles are being booked for the first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line, sources say.
They say Dhaka BRT Company now considers lifecycle cost of an EV bus less than that of a diesel-run bus. Initial budget to buy buses will be higher than that of the diesel vehicles.
Sources say the EV bus-purchasing plan was not incorporated into the original project design on upgrading the capital city's outmoded commuter transport.
An international tender for bus buy will be called soon as the company board approved the plan in its meeting last Saturday.
Official sources say specifications for the bus standards in the tender document have already been prepared and are now under the Asian Development Bank for its concurrence.
According to official estimation, lifecycle of per-kilometer per-diesel-run bus is estimated Tk 81 million which is Tk 76 million in the case of EV buses.
A budget of Tk 6.32 billion has been fixed for the bus purchase, including maintenance for three years.
Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has been developing the 20.5-kilometre corridor from Gazipur to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) along with Local Government Engineering Department and Bangladesh Bridges Authority since 2013.
Though the project's progress is significantly slow due to faults at various stages, including in the feasibility study and detail design, project office claims that "major hurdles to the Tk 426.83-billion project is all over".
But the monthly progress report shows the two contractors of the BRT project under RHD and BBA lagging behind the schedule of the revised plan.
Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit Company Limited (DBRTCL), also known as Dhaka BRT company, has already been formed to operate the BRT service, including monitoring.
Asked about its impact on project budget due to change of bus specifications and charging stations, Managing Director of the company Shafiqul Islam said charging facility would be developed at both ends of the corridor- Gazipur Depot and near HSIA where a terminal is also being planned now to recharge the buses.
Refuting scope of increase in the budget, he also says, "The cost gap of two types of buses is not that much higher compared to lifespan. Cost of a diesel-run modern bus is like Tk 20 million which would be over Tk 32 million to buy an EV bus."
The PD terms the present project progress good to meet the target of inauguration by December 2022.
