Public transport comprising mass transit system and organised quality bus service is the answer to traffic mess in the capital, said transport experts at a discussion yesterday.

Dhaka Transport Coordination Board (DTCB) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) organised the public consultation on Dhaka Urban Transport Network Development Study (DHUTS) at Brae Centre Inn in the city.

Rail-based mass rapid transit system (metro rail) along with efficient bus service can resolve the high transport demand in the capital, said Dr M Rahmatullah, a former director of UN-ESCAP.

Discussants in the audience, however, recommended that the study must look into how to make the mass transit system affordable for the mass people.

They also demanded provision for pedestrian facilities and bicycle lane in the transport plan, relocation of factories and industrial units from the city heart, control over use of private cars, feasibility of mass transit system and integration of circular waterway in the urban transport system.

In a keynote presentation, Additional DTCB Executive Director SM Salehuddin said that over 6,000 buses operate on 150 routes in the capital city in a disorganised manner.

Dhaka is a city of nearly 1.5 crore population without a mass transit system, he said, adding that lack of coordination of actions by different agencies is responsible to a great extent for traffic disarray in the capital.

A total of 23 million trips take place in the city everyday by rickshaws, buses, walking, autorickshaws, private cars and others, said Salehuddin.

Of the trips, 38 percent are made by rickshaws, 20 percent by walking, 19 percent by public buses and 5 percent by private cars, he said. Technical study for Moghbazar Flyover starts in a month or two.

Total number of vehicles plying the city streets was 4,72,159 as found in the Strategic Transport Plan in 2004 while DHUTS found it at 4,81,408 in 2009.

The number of buses increased to 72,037 in 2009 from 61,751 in 2004 while the number of private cars increased to l,24,134froml,04,923.

DHUTS team leader Toshio Kimura said they would come up with a plan on Dhaka's urban transport infrastructure for metropolitan area surrounded by rivers Buriganga, Turag and Balu by March next year.

DTCB Executive Director Md Moshiur Rahman was also present at the discussion.