Cost of traffic jams

TRAFFIC congestion is a perennial problem in major cities across the country. Needless to mention that the situation in Dhaka is the worst. The distress and discomfort reach their highest level during festivals and vacations.

The Accident Research Institute (ARI), a research institute of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) recently released an excellent report that traffic jams in Dhaka city spoil around 5.0 million working hours everyday and average speed of vehicles at peak time slows down to 5.0 km an hour which is lower than the average hourly walking speed of a man. The financial cost of traffic jam is between Tk 200 billion and Tk 550 billions per year. We could easily construct one or more Padma bridges with this amount.

Traffic jam is not uncommon in most major cities of the world. But those are of a tolerable level. Sadly it has reached uncontrollable proportions in our capital city and the situation is getting from bad to worse everyday. Sometimes, it appears that our traffic control system is non-existent. The main reason behind the failure of our traffic system and resultant jams are non-compliance of traffic rules by vehicles --both public and private. Other reasons relate to driving without licence and proper training, unlawful parking beside roads, political gatherings on roads, piling up construction materials on roadside and indiscriminate digging of roads as part of maintenance works etc. Some flyovers have already been constructed and the elevated express way is under construction for minimising the costs of traffic jams. But nothing can work unless we are conscious of the situation and show respect for traffic rules. In the same way, traffic authorities should also extend a helping hand to cooperate with vehicles moving on roads to ensure peace and discipline in the transport sector.

Md. Zillur Rahaman

Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd

Lalmohan Branch, Bhola

[email protected]