Bangladesh, Nov. 12 -- The authorities are struggling to bring discipline in Dhaka's bus services under the bus-route-franchise (BRF) system, even as they plan to expand the initiative to more routes.

Advertisement Since the launch of BRF on six routes on November 1, none of the six franchisee companies has met the system's minimum operational requirements, including maintaining schedules, using designated stoppages and following traffic discipline.

The authorities are now preparing to launch the next phase on at least 10 routes to meet the prime minister's deadline for rationalising the city's bus network into 32 routes under the franchise system by April 15, 2027.

The Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), in cooperation wit...