Better lane management

The Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA)'s disagreement with the cabinet decision on creation of a separate lane for the VIPs (very important persons) comes as a great relief to ordinary commuters in the capital. Instead, the DTCA is in favour of improved lane management. Now the authority wants to strengthen the traffic management committee through better coordination among the agencies concerned. There is no doubt that the road space in the city gets narrowed on account of encroachment by perked vehicles, mobile food vans, hawkers, heaps of construction materials and last but not least -- occasional digging by different agencies. Proper lane management calls for earmarking those for slow, medium and high-speed vehicles. Not all roads have three separate lanes and road users comprise rickshaw-pullers, pushcart drivers on the one hand and public buses on the other. Then there are speedy motorcycles and sophisticated cars -- all negotiating through the traffic nightmare.

So far as the idea of better lane management is concerned, it is good. But what is so uninspiring is the authority's surrender to the situation. Now that the cabinet has asked for a privilege, the DTCA cannot help responding to the situation. Lane management in a better way can surely improve traffic movement on Dhaka roads. But is the authority aware of the challenges before it? To manage lanes of the road well, footpaths and sidewalks have to be freed from illegal occupation. Every inch of the main thoroughfares will have to be used for vehicular movement. Even then there are bottlenecks where roads are too narrow to facilitate movement of traffic according to speed of the vehicles concerned. On that score, misgivings cannot be ruled out that under the pretext of lane management, the authority is actually meeting the unreasonable demand for a VIP lane.

As things now stand, long before -from half an hour to an hour -the VIPs and their entourage start moving, roads are closed to movement of any kind of traffic. Even at times people intending to walk on are restricted, as argued, for security reasons. Also, there are signals where the crossing turns out to be a constant source of ordeal for the public because the roads used by the more equal than the normal are kept open for indefinite period. At times those sides of the roads are given the go-ahead three or four times without ever allowing the god-forsaken ones to avail of any such chance.

If this concept is imported to the lane management, the wretched ordinary public will be doomed to further travail. Hopefully, the DTCA will take the job seriously in order to clear the road mess. If all vehicles are encouraged or compelled to move in a disciplined manner, there will be no chaotic tailbacks. At least, it will leave opportunities for vehicles to pass without being obstructed by those from other routes. Then it has to be ensured that no route will be blocked for more than a few minutes. Doing away with traffic signal was unwise, now its reintroduction will depend on how the coordination between different agencies goes ahead.