Before you start

An International Driving Permit obtained in your home country before departure
Your valid national licence, which the IDP only translates
A local address, for a BRTA licence if you settle long term
An honest look at whether you need a vehicle in a city this size

Step-by-step

1
Get the International Driving Permit before you leave home
This is the step people miss and it is national. The BRTA does not issue IDPs and you cannot apply for one from inside Bangladesh — the Automobile Association of Bangladesh issues them, and its process is designed around BRTA licence holders travelling abroad. Arriving without an IDP means arriving unable to drive legally.
In personWho: YouBefore departure
2
Try living without a car for the first month
Rajshahi is compact, flat and comprehensively covered by battery auto-rickshaws at BDT 20–80 a trip. The city was paved and greened as part of the programme that cut its particulate levels, and the result is a place that is genuinely pleasant to move around by rickshaw and on foot. The in-city case for a private vehicle is weak.
In personWho: YouMonth 1
3
Cycle, which is realistic here in a way it is not in Dhaka
Rajshahi laid out one of Bangladesh's first urban cycle lanes as part of its air quality programme, and the flat terrain and lower traffic volumes make cycling a genuine option rather than an act of bravery. It is the single most Rajshahi-specific transport fact and worth trying before you assume the national picture applies.
In personWho: You
4
Plan long-distance travel around rail and the Dhaka road
Rajshahi is roughly 250 kilometres from Dhaka. Intercity rail is the comfortable option; the road is long and shared with freight. Shah Makhdum Airport offers limited domestic connections, so check current schedules rather than assuming a daily flight.
In personWho: YouAs needed
5
Take the pre-monsoon heat seriously when planning field travel
The northwest records the country's highest temperatures, and April and May field days on the Barind are genuinely dangerous in the middle of the day. Local practice is to work early and stop; adopting that pattern rather than a nine-to-five is the difference between a productive season and heat illness.
In personWho: YouApril–May
6
Consider a driver only if your work is regional
For city life a driver is unnecessary here. If your work takes you across the Barind districts — Chapai Nawabganj, Naogaon, Natore — then a vehicle and driver earn their keep, and that is the honest place to spend a transport allowance.
Via employerWho: You

Documents you’ll need

National driving licence
International Driving Permit, obtained before arrival
Passport with valid visa
Proof of Rajshahi address, for a BRTA licence

Things most newcomers don’t know

You cannot obtain an International Driving Permit once you are in Bangladesh.

The BRTA does not issue IDPs; the Automobile Association of Bangladesh does, and its process asks for a valid BRTA licence and a national identity card, which an incoming foreign national does not have. The permit must be obtained in your home country before you travel. It is a national rule with no local workaround.

Source: Automobile Association of Bangladesh; BRTA

Rajshahi is the one Bangladeshi city where cycling and walking are ordinary rather than heroic.

The programme that cut the city's airborne particulates further than anywhere in the world on 2016 WHO data was not one measure but several: tree planting, paving streets and footpaths, better waste collection and transport, a shift to battery-electric rickshaws, and one of the country's first urban cycle lanes. The physical legacy of that is a small, flat, paved city with lower traffic volumes than any comparable place in Bangladesh. Whatever has happened to the air since, the streets are still the ones that programme built.

Source: WHO ambient air quality data; Rajshahi city air quality reporting

Do not budget for a car you will not use.

In Dhaka and Chattogram a driver is close to a professional necessity. In Rajshahi it is not: battery autos cover the city end to end for a few taka and the traffic does not warrant one. People arriving with a Dhaka-shaped expectation negotiate a car allowance they barely use. If your work is regional rather than urban, spend it on a vehicle and driver for Barind field travel, where it genuinely matters.

Source: community-reported

The heat, not the rain, is what constrains the working day here.

Most Bangladesh advice is written around the monsoon, because most of Bangladesh is a wet delta. The Barind is the country's driest region, at around 1,625 mm of annual rainfall against a national average near 2,550 mm, and the northwest regularly records the highest temperatures in Bangladesh. The season that reorganises the working day here is April and May, not July, and local practice — start early, stop at midday — is the adaptation to it.

Source: Barind Multipurpose Development Authority; Barind Tract rainfall data

Common mistakes to avoid

Arriving without an IDP and discovering you cannot obtain one here.
Negotiating a car allowance for a city that battery rickshaws cover completely.
Assuming Bangladesh-wide advice about cycling being impossible applies here.
Doing midday field work on the Barind in April or May.
Assuming a daily flight to Dhaka rather than checking Shah Makhdum's current schedule.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.