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Dhaka's traffic: Where is the jam?

Syed Saad Andaleeb
RECENTLY I was timing a car trip from Gulshan to Dhanmandi. As I reached my destination, I looked at the watch: it took exactly 11 minutes and 28 seconds. Surprised? Well, it was around 11:30 PM and the traffic was light. Not surprisingly, the social hour in some circles begins at unearthly times. Perhaps corporate executives who have much at stake will begin to reschedule their office hours in the not too distant future. Then schools, colleges and shopping malls may follow. Matching time slices with road capacity and traffic jams could become the norm one day.
Today's traffic woes are truly mind-boggling. Pretty soon walking to offices may be quicker than a car ride, the downside being that one could be asphyxiated on the way by the obnoxious fumes from thousands of idling vehicles nonchalantly belching poison into homes and communities. If there's anything positive about traffic jams, the snail's pace could result in fewer deaths from accidents!
But let's face reality: the cost of traffic jams is horrendous. If one lists the exter-
nalities (defined simply as the positive and/or negative effects of a decision --such as buying a car) the negatives jump out glaringly: pollution, disease from pollution, deteriorating hospital services from increasing numbers of sufferers, productivity losses, cost of time, inconvenience to others (missed meetings, being late to schools, etc.), physical and heat exhaustion, problems of the physically afflicted (e.g., diabetic and ambulance patients), emotional stress (witness the daily verbal assaults of one citizen on another), and so on. The list can easily be amplified ten-fold.
It is abundantly clear that there are too many vehicles on the streets that usurp every inch of road capacity. Space constraint is critical and can be addressed in several ways: i) Widen the roads to increase capacity, ii) Reduce and replace the number of vehicles on the streets or iii) Allocate street usage to certain vehicles types at certain time slices in certain locations. The best solution is to effect changes in all of the above.
The first option will require razing to the ground many boundary walls, if not
dwellings, that have encroached legally permissible space, unless people voluntarily "give up" this space. In congested areas, this may have to be mandated. In addition, an "irresponsibility tax" could be levied on those who have built edifices without making any allowance for parking and expansion of road capacity. Businesses may also have to pay a surcharge to help build multi-storied parkinglots in the crunch areas.
These ideas requi re behavior change - -to contribute -- that is often alien to many. “This contention is supported by the poverty all around that could be easier to alleviate if more people met simple basic obligations, e.g., paid taxes, gave to charity. thought of community, shared their bounties, and displayed minimal empathy for the poor. Many, unfortunately, earn a failing grade on all counts!
Non-motorised vehicles (NMVs) are the primary cause of traffic jams. They do not follow traffic rules, clog up most intersections, and slow down faster traffic by occupying valuable road space while contributing to tremendous inefficiencies -- note how much space a rickshaw takes up relatively to a bus, the number of passengers each can transport, and the speed at which they move people from point A to point B. The NMVs must be phased out.
To do so requires a simultaneous program of rehabilitation. For example, the displaced persons must be absorbed into the motorised transportation sector,
employed in road maintenance work, given other alternatives in their home districts where building and construction projects (roads, schools, hospitals, government facilities, etc.) should be planned, given loans to start up business activities, etc. Most importantly, they must be uplifted from their current state of poverty that is perpetuated by confining them to the type of manual labour they provide. The government should participate here by allocating funds to buy out the vehicles and offering loans to their owners to support other gainful activities.
The next offending class is the private car: Their huge numbers relative to available road capacity only make it more imperative that private cars be replaced by mass transportation. But, will the private car owners voluntarily give up their prized possessions? Again, perhaps not!
There are two options here: i) manage the importation of cars and ii) levy higher taxes on private cars. On the first point, it is imperative to severely limit imports by tying the number of imported cars to the number of old and polluting cars that must be retired from the streets according to their year of manufacture. Even better is to retire more old cars than the number of imports allowed. A moratorium on imports may be mandated initially until a certain proportion of old cars are retired and perhaps recycled.
On the second point, taxes should be
raised to a point where it is uneconomical to own a car. This must be dove-tailed with incentives, especially for the private sector, to invest in mass transportation facilities. There is a very real apprehension that corruption will increase amongst those who are affected by higher taxes. Others will complain about the security situation arising from using public transportation. Both issues will need to be addressed simultaneously in the complex network of causes and effects.
The third point involves managing traffic flows through a system of incentives and disincentives by considering streets as resources. Much of Dhaka city should be metered, installing a park and pay system. In addition, time slices ought to be introduced to determine which vehicles types can ply at what times and at what locations. Going into Central London today involves paying a hefty fee. Similarly, "congestion fees" should be charged of vehicles that are to be discouraged from going into certain areas at certain times or even days of the week.
The idea of odd-even license plates can also be introduced, where cars with odd-numbered license plates can ply on the streets on certain days (or locations) while those with even numbers on other days. This should halve the number of cars on the streets (or in certain locations) while encouraging car-pooling. Give Dhaka residents a three-month notice, implement, and see what happens. I am
confident people will adjust their ways.
A big piece of the traffic conundrum lies in Dhaka-centric development. The way out is to move most development activities to the districts. That means no new schools, factories, shopping rqalls, housing schemes, etc. should be permitted in already crowded areas of the city. Dhaka is "the" big magnet that draws people from all over the country. It's time to parcel out economic activities to other districts and develop them as economic zones to redistribute the pressures on Dhaka.
Most importantly, it is»the mind-sets of those in charge of policies and their implementation that must change. Many good ideas fail because of wrong people being in the wrong positions of authority. They lack knowledge, ability, good judgment, and the inner desire to change things for the better. Dhaka city -- in fact much of the nation -- today reflects the mindsets of these people who run its affairs. These mindsets are clogged with decrepit ideas and notions about what is good for the nation. Lacking in ability and intent, they are the root causes of the woes of the citizenry. In these clogged minds, I believe, is where the real traffic jam lies!
Dr Syed Saad Andaleeb is Professor at the Sam & Irene Black School of Business. The Pennsylvania State University at Erie, USA and Editor of the Journal of Bangladesh Studies.
***These mindsets are clogged with decrepit ideas and notions about what is good for the nation. Lacking in ability and intent, they are the root causes of the woes of the citizenry. In these clogged minds, I believe, is where the real traffic jam lies!***