1m motorbikes in Dhaka, with more new bikes taking to the roads than in the US

The number of motorbikes in the capital city has increased to around 1 million after a guideline for ride sharing was passed in 2017. The number of bikes plying on Dhaka's streets between 2017 and 2022 is higher than that of the entire United States.

The Accident Research Institute (ARI) of Bangladesh Engineering and Technology University (BUET) came up with these statistics on Sunday in an event titled 'Social Science Research Techniques for Transportation Planning and Safety 2022'.

ARI claimed quoting the World Health Organisation (WHO) that road accidents claim the lives of an average 25,000 people per year in the country. The number of road accidents is increasing in the country. For instance, the proportion of bike accidents was 22.5 per cent in 2020, which rose to 23.4 in 2021.

On the other hand, the share of pedestrian deaths stood at 29.9 per cent in 2020 while the rate jumped to 30.6 per cent next year. Overall, the percentage of road accidents was increased by 5 per cent in 2021 than that of previous year, they added.

ARI director professor Md Hadiuzzaman said public transportation was given priority in strategic transportation planning in 2015. The trend of road accidents dropped significantly in the following year. But a guideline for ride sharing was formulated in 2017. After that, the number of bikes stood at around 1 million in Dhaka in the last five years. So many new motorbikes do not take to the roads even in the entire United States, he said.

Hadiuzzaman said "There are nearly 3.2 million registered motorbikes in the country. Despite the shortcomings in infrastructure, we are taking some policies instantaneously that are becoming suicidal for us."