Need to discipline city transport system

Shahiduzzaman Khan

The traffic congestion in Dhaka city continues to cost the country billions of dollars and thousands of man-hours. It eats up 3.2 million work-hours per day. Such a situation is hardly witnessed anywhere in the world.

In the last 10 years, average traffic speed in Dhaka has dropped from 21 kilometres per hour (kmph) to 7.0kmph, which is slightly above the average walking speed, according to a World Bank (WB) analysis. And by 2035, the speed might drop to 4.0kmph, slower than walking speed, it said.

What is worrying is that the city's urban development has not kept up with its rapid growth, resulting in a messy and uneven urbanisation process. Lack of adequate planning has led to poor liveability and vulnerability to disasters like floods and earthquakes.

Traffic congestion eats up 7% of GDP

Another study says traffic congestion in Dhaka costs the country $11.4 billion every year, which is seven per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). About one quarter of working hours are lost in congestion as about 1.5 million citizens use vehicles for travelling across the city every day, it said.

The congestion may be reduced by 40 per cent by just improving the management of traffic as 98 per cent of the people very often break the laws on the road. Besides, there are problems like illegal occupation of road, haphazard parking, and an uncontrolled rise in the number of private vehicles.

Apart from the economic impact, the congestion is also harmful for the travellers' health, their society and environment. Around three quarters of travellers face both physical and psychological health impacts, the study says.

What’s to be done

Mention may be made that the people of Dhaka and its suburbs 

generate 30 million trips every day and buses are used for 47 per cent of these trips. When five Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and two Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) projects will be implemented by 2035, these might reduce 17 per cent demand but the rest of the demand has to be mitigated by buses.

The Bus Network Study-2016, which was carried out under a project financed by the WB, recommended a separate government company to monitor bus companies in the capital. Cities like New Delhi, Singapore and Seoul have such companies.

The recent move to form a government company appears to be a 'good initiative' for bringing discipline in this sector. At present, after taking route permits from regional transport committees, the buses go to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) just only once a year for fitness certificates. There is no single authority to look into the sector.

• Courtesy: The Financial express/Jan 18, 2018