Number of light vehicles should be reduced
Life in Dhaka city is becoming more and more distressful due to a number of problems, the most complicated among them being traffic congestion. It has been the burning question for many years and we heard of various initiatives from time to time, but nothing bore any fruit. Rather, the situation is worsening with every passing day.
The media has been reporting for several years that Dhaka’s traffic congestion has gone beyond control. The latest news is that Dhaka has been named as the city with the world's worst traffic situation this year, according to a survey carried out by a global database named Numbeo. In the previous two years, Dhaka was in second place, and third in 2016.
Big cities in the rich and developed countries also face traffic congestion, but that of Dhaka city has grown to be the worst. And that did not happen in a day. It is the consequence of a problem getting worse yet going unaddressed.
But this is not the end. In the future, worse is to come. When we will see an end to this we do not know as there are no effective plans and steps to address the problem.
We have doubts whether the government agencies care about solving the problem at all. The city’s traffic congestion is not only caused by wanton driving and inefficient traffic control. There are several other big reasons. Firstly, the number of vehicles on the roadis unusual for a metropolitan city of about 20 million people.
New vehicles are being registered in numbers without the authorities thinking how many the roads can afford.
According to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), the number of registered vehicles in Dhaka till August last year is over 1.1 million.
Half of them are motorcycles while there are over 250,000 private cars and 39, 782 buses.
In the last five months, the numbers have vastly increased. Because, there are about 1,500 private vehiclesbeing registered every month alone. The number ofnew motorcycles are much higher.
The registration the vehicles is also being done in the worst possible manner. There is no reliable information on how many vehicles are running without being registered or with fake documents.
If we want to eliminate traffic jams, we have to go to the root of the problem. First of all, it has to be determined how many vehicles will be allowed in Dhaka city. Old vehicles need to be taken off the road and new ones should replace them.
Secondly, the number of private cars has to be reduced while the number of buses is to be increased, something the experts have been saying all along.
About half of vehicles plying on Dhaka streets are private cars, but they carry only 12 percent of the commuters. Whereas if the percentage of the big buses was 50, they would have been able to carry 88 percent of the commuters.
So what we need to do is very clear. Experts say introducing high quality franchise-based bus services should be our topmost priority. Besides, the footpaths need to be freed and parking on the roadside needs to stop.
Number of light vehicles should be reduced
Life in Dhaka city is becoming more and more distressful due to a number of problems, the most complicated among them being traffic congestion. It has been the burning question for many years and we heard of various initiatives from time to time, but nothing bore any fruit. Rather, the situation is worsening with every passing day.
The media has been reporting for several years that Dhaka’s traffic congestion has gone beyond control. The latest news is that Dhaka has been named as the city with the world's worst traffic situation this year, according to a survey carried out by a global database named Numbeo. In the previous two years, Dhaka was in second place, and third in 2016.
Big cities in the rich and developed countries also face traffic congestion, but that of Dhaka city has grown to be the worst. And that did not happen in a day. It is the consequence of a problem getting worse yet going unaddressed.
But this is not the end. In the future, worse is to come. When we will see an end to this we do not know as there are no effective plans and steps to address the problem.
We have doubts whether the government agencies care about solving the problem at all. The city’s traffic congestion is not only caused by wanton driving and inefficient traffic control. There are several other big reasons. Firstly, the number of vehicles on the roadis unusual for a metropolitan city of about 20 million people.
New vehicles are being registered in numbers without the authorities thinking how many the roads can afford.
According to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), the number of registered vehicles in Dhaka till August last year is over 1.1 million.
Half of them are motorcycles while there are over 250,000 private cars and 39, 782 buses.
In the last five months, the numbers have vastly increased. Because, there are about 1,500 private vehiclesbeing registered every month alone. The number ofnew motorcycles are much higher.
The registration the vehicles is also being done in the worst possible manner. There is no reliable information on how many vehicles are running without being registered or with fake documents.
If we want to eliminate traffic jams, we have to go to the root of the problem. First of all, it has to be determined how many vehicles will be allowed in Dhaka city. Old vehicles need to be taken off the road and new ones should replace them.
Secondly, the number of private cars has to be reduced while the number of buses is to be increased, something the experts have been saying all along.
About half of vehicles plying on Dhaka streets are private cars, but they carry only 12 percent of the commuters. Whereas if the percentage of the big buses was 50, they would have been able to carry 88 percent of the commuters.
So what we need to do is very clear. Experts say introducing high quality franchise-based bus services should be our topmost priority. Besides, the footpaths need to be freed and parking on the roadside needs to stop.