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Transportation in Dhaka City

Faulty, Problematic System Needs Early Solution

by Mahmudul Haman
TRANSPORTATION plays a signtliiunt rote tn urban development of any region. In Dhaka City, different modes of transportation significantly influenced the city's growth and development pattern in different periods From the beginning of the 80th century, motorized Vehicles started plying on the roads of Dhaka But these vehicles were very few In number then. After the parti tion of India tn 1947. Dhaka was made the capital of the then East Pakistan, and a rapid change began In its transportation pattern. With the increase of population and area of Dhaka city, public buses, trucks and rickshaws started appearing in the roads of
In 1956. Dhaka Improvement Trust (DIT) was established and in 1961 a Master Plan for Dhaka was completed. The DIT Master Plan proposed new residential and commercial areas and new transportation routes. These projects were gradually Implemented. New roads were build according to DIT Master Plan. The railway station at Fulbaria was shifted to Its present site at Kamlapur
After the liberation of Bangladesh In 1971. Dhaka became the capita) of an Independent state and Its rote and importance were greatly enhanced Dhaka's population started growing rapidly and the city's physical expansion was also very fast. Many new roads, link roads were built after 1971 Pragmatic Saranl. Bljoy Saranl. Pant ha Path and Rokeya Saranl were build recently The Airport at Tejgaon was shifted to Kurmllola and II paved the way for good communication between Dhaka and Tongl. The main interdistrict bus stand at Fulbaria was re moved to three new site* at Gabtall. Scyedabad and Ma hakah. As a result of this, the congestion at Fulbaria was. however, reduced. The old train track connecting Fulbaria and Tejgaon was transformed
into a metalled road Bui with much more motor vehicles plytng tn Dhaka, overcrowding and congestion have not yel reduced. Due to reckless driving of motorized vehicles, the lives of the pedestrians appear to be at stake. Moreover, the noxious exhaust from motor ized vehicles is making the city's environment polluted
Prewent Transportation Modes
Present transportation modes of Dhaka city can be divided Into two broad groups: 1) Slow moving vehicles (nonpowered). 2) Fast moving motorized vehicles
Slow moving vehicles In elude rickshaws, bicycles, push carts, etc. Of these rickshaw is the most prominent. There are about 1.50.000 rickshaws In Dhaka which amount to about 60% of the total vehicles in the city. Rickshaws carry 35% of the total passengers of Dhaka city. The use of bicycles as a mode of transport has not however, become popular like that in many other cities of the world. It Is probably due to congestion, traffic jam and high rate of road accidents. Pull and push cart Is used for house to house transportation of light goods.
Of the different types of motorized vehicles In Dhaka city. bus. minibus, truck, auto-rickshwas. motor-cycle and car are the most Important modes. As a means of mass transportation bus and minibus come first. Buses and minibuses of Dhaka together carry 34% of the total passengers. Trucks carry goods within the city and beyond. Now Increasing number of cars used by the elite, high officials and businessmen and the rich of the city. Auto rickshaw, baby taxy and auto tempo are also being Increasingly used. These are costlier than public bus but cheaper than taxi cab. and that la perhaps the reason why use of taxi cab did not assume a proportion. However, a good number of people of Dhaka city use motor cycle. Motorized
vehicles ol Dhaka arnium for about 36% of the lota) vehuks of the city and about 45% pas sengers of Dhaka city depend upon them.
Road Network f¥ohiem
There are problems in road network pattern of Dhaka which are also the reasons for traffic problem In the city. Some of these road network problems ol Dhaka are discussed below:
There Is considerable deficiency In road network system of Dhaka. Many of the roads which were proposed in Government plans have not yet been implemented Moreover, in many areas, there is lack of any access road. Many roads do not have proper alignment and lack in adequate road width.
Lack of adequate road width is a major problem in road network system of Dhaka city This problem is severe in the old parts of Dhaka. Moreover, many roads in the unplanned parts of New Dhaka have remained very narrow. Road condition In many parts of Dhaka is pitiable Many roads go under water during rainy season or after even a shower. Some roads are kutcha and many others are yet semi-pucca.
For a balanced transportation network, arterial roads of a city should occupy eight to 10 per cent of the total millage. In Dhaka arterial roads account for less than five per cent of total millage. In this regards Dhaka's road network suffers from Inadequate arterial roads and streets. Every major city In the world usually has a by-pass route to divert the external traffic. Such bypass road is absent in Dhaka.
Existing Traffic Problem
Present traffic problem of Dhaka city is the outcome of network deficiency, un-con-trolled traffic movement and non-Implementation of traffic rules and regulations. It Is also fulled by the reckless driving of motorized vehicles and neg-
llgcruc illiteracy of rickshaw pullers
CONFUSION In Dhaka city there Is always a confusion in movement of motorized and non-motorized vehicles. Seg gregatlon of tracks for pow cred and non powered vehicles is practically absent tn almost all the roads. Due to this rickshwaa. push carts, bullock carts, buses, trucks and cars all ply tn the same track II makes a great chaos and causes congestion and traffic jam
PEDESTRIANS: In Dhaka city, pedestrians account for about 25% of generated traffic, but very bltle care is taken for them Most of the foot paths are occupied by peddlers, hawkers and beggars. Many roads of Dhaka have no footpath at al) and pedestrians, rickshwas and motorized vehicles crowd on the same path. There are very few over-bridges and zebra-crossings for the pedestrians on major roads.
INSUFFICIENT TRANSPORTS — OVERCROWDING: Public transport in Dhaka city is very much insufficient. Public buses constitute only 2.13% of total vehicles of the city while they carry about 33% of the total passengers. This insufficiency is a great Inconvenience for the travellers. Besides this, most of the public buses run with passengers double their carrying capacity. This Is apparently due either to an unfair collusion between bus owners and the law enforcing authority or sheer callousness and carelessness. The bus owners allegedly, also prevent new entrepreneurs from entering into transport business.
ON THE ROAD PARKING: Public parking facility is very limited in Dhaka city. Moreover. many commercial buildings do not have adequate parking space. As a result of this, it has become a common practice to park vehicles on the road which causes an artificial congestion.
HUS STOP In Dhaka there Is ni separate space for bus stops along most of the major roads As a result public buses stand on the road, even where there Is a demarcated space It hinders normal traffic movement very much
PUBLIC MEETINGS. It has become a tradition tn Dhaka city to hold public meetings tn major roads. These public meetings by the political parties in major streets make great hindrance to the city's traffic. Moreover public processions In major roads during pick traffic hour makes traffic movement difficult.
NO BY-PASS ROUTE: IN Dhaka city there is no by-pass route for the inter district traffic. So all trucks and lorries carrying goods from southern districts to northern districts and vise versa pass through the city. This causes a great trouble for Dhaka's internal traffic.
RECKLESS DRIVING: The drivers of public bus and trucks of Dhaka do not abide by traffic rules and regulations. On the other hand, the rickshwapullers are also very much unaware of traffic rules, maybe because of their illiteracy. But all these cause traffic problem as well as pose hazard to both pedestrians and passengers.
Some Suggestions
It is not an easy task to solve he traffic problems of Dhaka city within a short period. It needs combined efforts of city dwellers, development authorities, vehicle owners and drivers. Moreover, huge amount of money is needed to Improve the network and other related problems. However, here some suggestions are made for improving the transportation system of Dhaka city:
Roads proposed in Government plans but yet not constructed, should be implemented as soon as possible.
Widening of the narrow roads should be done gradually.
Scggrcgatlon of pedestri-
ans. slow and first moving vehicles should be done in major roads by providing separate tracks for each.
Construction of a by-pass route for Dhaka should be undertaken on priority basis.
At each bus stop provision should be kept for an extra parallel lane where buses will be able to stand without interfering the road traffic
Public procession should be restricted during peak traffic hours. Moreover, public meeting in any road should be completely prohibited. For holding of public meetings open fields or open spaces should be earmarked
Vehicles without any fitness certificate must be prohibited from moving on the road.
On-the-road parking must be stopped. For this. Government may make provision for parking tots in different commercial areas and owners of commercial buildings should be compelled to set aside a portion of their premise as parking space (preferably basement or ground floor).
For increasing the number of public buses in Dhaka, appropriate measures like reduction of duty, vat. tax on import of bus, mini-bus and spares should be Implemented.
To facilitate pedestrian movement, existing foot-paths should be cleared of hawkers. Moreover adequate number of foot-paths, over-bridges and zebra-crossings should be constructed on priority basis.
Law enforcing authorities should make sure that traffic laws are properly followed. Stringent measure must be taken against over-taking and over-loading.
Co-ordination among different road transportation administering authorities I. e. Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). Road A Road Transport Division (RRT). Metropolitan Police. Regional Transport Authority (RTA) should be improved.
The writer is a town planner with RAJUK. Dhaka.