Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) has launched a programme, introducing uniforms for the auto and charger rickshaw drivers and same-colour charger rickshaw.
No driver will be allowed to run easy bikes and auto-rickshaws without uniform from February 1 next as the uniform has been mandatory for the drivers. RCC authority revealed this in a meeting of its easy bike and auto- rickshaw controlling committee held at the city bhaban conference hall on Thursday.
The meeting also asked the owners and drivers to renew their respective vehicles for 2020-2021 financial year within the January 31 next.
Panel Mayor Shariful Islam, Councilors Towhidul Haque and Abdul Momin, Chief Revenue Officer Abu Saleh Sayeed and other committee members joined the meeting. Earlier on November 14 last, Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman formally launched the programme through distributing uniforms among 45 drivers under RCC's smart auto-rickshaw management system.
The city corporation had launched a smart auto-rickshaw management system for the first time in the country to reduce traffic congestion in the city area on July 1, 2019. It had also distributed smart cards among owners and drivers of auto-rickshaw and charger rickshaw subsequently.
Speaking on the occasion, Shariful Islam said the system will bring discipline to the city's public transport system and lessen public sufferings. Besides, it will ensure security for the auto-rickshaw drivers. The panel mayor urged the auto-rickshaw drivers to abide by the traffic rules to ensure public safety. Under the system, the auto-rickshaws marked with two separate colours are now playing on the roads in two shifts - one from morning to afternoon and another from afternoon to early night - by rotation. This effort has started reducing the overall traffic jam in the city streets.
