Now is the time to resolve Dhaka's traffic congestion

Chief advisor of the interim government Dr Muhammad Yunus has issued directives to find a quick and effective way to resolve traffic congestion in the capital city Dhaka. He issued these directives during a meeting held on 16 September with senior officials of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP)'s traffic department and two traffic management experts of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

During the meeting, the police were asked to adopt certain pilot projects where, in order to reduce traffic jams, buses would stop for less than two minutes at the bus stops initially along two or three important roads of the city and later this would apply to other roads too. Also, the BUET experts were asked to come up with their own solution to the problem through at least one "traffic corridor". There was also talk on refurbishing the traffic signal system with the help of local experts. (Samakal, 16 September 2024)

In order to resolve the traffic jams, it is undoubtedly important to fix the time and place for bus stoppage on Dhaka's roads and also to refurbish the traffic signal system. But it is most essential to bring about changes to the system of transporting passengers by means of buses. The road space taken by a bus carrying 40 to 50 passengers is the same as the space taken by two cars carrying around 4 to 5 passengers. That is why changes have to be brought about to Dhaka's public transport system so that people will feel at ease travelling by bus rather than personal cars or small vehicles.

In order to free Dhaka of traffic congestion, the past government spent billions of taka on overbridges, flyovers, metro rail (MRT), Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and other projects. But that did not resolve Dhaka's traffic jam problems. Quite to the contrary, the speed of vehicles which was 21kmh in 2007, dropped to 4.8kmh (5 April 2022, Prothom Alo). The reason behind this is instead of focusing in improving the public transport system, emphasis was placed on the development of such infrastructure that would increase the use of private vehicles.

The Revised Strategic Transport Plan (RSTP) stated that just as buses are presently the main mode of public transport, this will remain so in future too. Even after seven MRT-BRTs were launched, these will not be able to carry more than 20 per cent of the passengers. That is why RSTP calls for a revision of the bus transport system and for running the buses by means of five companies.

RSTP highlights the importance of a feeder service by means of buses as a precondition to the success of MRT and BRT. It said that unless there are buses for passengers to travel to and from the MRT and BRT stations then the MRT and BRT system will not succeed. (The Project on the Revision and Updating of the Strategic Transport Plan for Dhaka, November 2016)

A metro rail has been set up and is running. Work is on for a BRT. However, there is no certainty when the rest will start and finish. In the meantime there has been no progress on revising Dhaka's bus-based transport system. After much debate and discussion, a bus franchise 'Dhaka Nagar Paribahan' was started up on a pilot basis with one route in December 2021 and two routes in October 2022, with 50 buses each. But as the buses of other private companies continued on the same route, the unhealthy competition continued. The buses of one company competed with the other, passengers were picked up at random spots. The objective of the pilot franchise transport system failed.

All-in-all, the manner in which buses move along Dhaka's streets can hardly be defined as a public transport system. From the approval of buses operating in Dhaka to the method of operations, the entire system is riddled with problems.

Political power has been the main criteria to determine the bus routes. Using their political clout, the influential persons provide approval to bus owners for different bus routes in exchange of money. The bus owners then hand over the buses to the transport workers on a contract basis. At the end of the day, after paying the deposit to the bus owner, the fuel costs, toll, extortion money and bribes, the drivers and their helpers divide up whatever is left among themselves. In order to make this money, the drivers pay no heed to any rules or regulations. They carry more passengers than the number of seats, they stop intermittently to pick up passengers, they haggle over collecting fare and drive recklessly at high speed. As a result, traffic jams have increased and passenger service has plummeted. Also, deaths and injuries in accidents have risen.

Most of the buses and minibuses commuting on Dhaka streets are in a dilapidated condition. They mostly have no tail lights or indicator lights and no rearview mirrors. The seats are so closely placed that there is hardly any leg space. Passengers also have to stand, packed together for long stretches. They are drenched in sweat in the summer and in rain during the monsoons. Even after being ready to tolerate these intolerable conditions, there is no guarantee of catching a bus in time, or reaching one's destination in time. It is a horrific experience particularly for women, children and elderly persons. Given such conditions, if anyone can manage to buy a private car for safe commute of himself and his family, why won't he? And that is exactly what is happening.

According to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), every day on average 40 more private cars are taking to the streets. Till 2010 the number of private cars in Dhaka stood at 160,000. In 2023 this went up to 336,000. In this manner, the flyovers and expresses constructed at the cost of billions of taka are teeming with private vehicles, slowing down Dhaka city. For example, almost 100 per cent of the vehicles commuting over the Dhaka elevated expressway are privately owned. These cars speedily move along the expressway from the northern parts of Dhaka and come down at Farmgate, and so now Farmgate has become a new traffic congestion hub.

According to a study of JICA, around 60 per cent of Dhaka's commuters use public transport to go to work and 67 per cent of them use buses and minibuses. (Traffic disorder brings Dhaka city to a halt, Prothom Alo 5 April 2022)

If Dhaka's public transport system is to be fixed, first of all the movement of buses and minibuses must be addressed. In the Indian capital city Delhi, even after having 12 metro lines, 288 stations and massive a 393km metro rail system, the public buses carry far more passengers than the metro. (Metro city's lifeline, but buses still carry bulk Delhiites, 16 January 2021, The Indian Express)

In Delhi too there had been traffic jams and accidents caused by the intense competition among the private buses running on contract basis. Then around 2011 these private buses were withdrawn and a cluster bus service was introduced. According to the cluster service scheme, 657 of Delhi's bus routes were divided into 17 clusters where public DTC buses and public-private partnership PPP buses operated on a 50:50 ratio. Which company would operate on which cluster was decided by means of competitive tender.

There is no scope for these companies to charge random fares from the customers because another public-private partnership company, the Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System or DIMTC, collects fares and compensates the owners based on time and distance. (Public Transport in Delhi: A Bus System Tries to Transit from Old to New, Business Standard, 28 February 2014)

These measures have led to a sharp fall in Delhi's road accidents as well as rendered public transport people-friendly. Delhi's bus commute system at present is completely under the state-owned Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). Buses operate there under two types of ownership -- the red and green buses completely under DTC ownership and the orange cluster buses under public-private partnership mechanism. (DTC Buses: Red, Green and Orange, What do they stand for? India Today, 6 May 2019) Unlike BRTC buses in Bangladesh, the Delhi DTC buses do not make just a display of operating. In Delhi, DTC carries the majority of passengers.
Public transport under one company

If Dhaka's traffic congestion is to be resolved, the system of passenger buses must be modified and the buses must operate under one company. In the recent meeting with the chief advisor, BUET's professors Moazzem Hossain and Md Hadiuzzaman placed emphasis on this matter. The government must form a company for this purpose. No bus outside of this company will be able to commute in Dhaka. The owners of the privately-owned buses that operate in Dhaka now will either handover these buses to this company and become partners, or will sell their buses to the company. In this manner Dhaka city will be divided into 40 to 50 routes for buses to commute under one company.

These bus routes will be able to carry seven times more passengers on these routes than three metro rails.

It is important to pay attention to the recommendation for the government to form a company in this manner to operate all buses in Dhaka city. Rather than the privately-owned dilapidated buses with peeling paint, this company's buses will be of good standard and air conditioned. The state-owned BRTC must also be a partner of this company so that no private company can establish a monopoly.

If such comfortable good buses can be launched, people will gradually move away from private cars and be encouraged to use public transport. Then the roads will no longer be jammed with private cars and small vehicles. If buses operate under one company and not run under contract with the drivers, then the unhealthy competition among the buses, halting the buses diagonally across the streets to pick up passengers, etc, will stop and traffic congestion will lessen. Even if this system can't be implemented all over Dhaka city, it can be introduced in at least a few routes so that this can be a model for the next government to follow in resolving the traffic jam problem.

However, now is the chance to free Dhaka from the stigma of being a "city of traffic jams". If the interim government is strict and attentive regarding this problem, Dhaka's public transportation system can be refurbished like that of Delhi. Under any political government, the manner in which transport owners become all powerful, it will not be at all easy to break their syndicate comprising political leaders and the police.

* Kallol Mustafa is a writer and researcher
* This column appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir