Current spells of political strikes unfold an unusual street view due to less traffic, but Dhaka's typical daily chaos provides little respite for city commuters, despite some major infrastructure developments.
The recent infrastructure developments have contributed somewhat to easing Dhaka's road traffic congestion, but private vehicle users still show little inclination to use these new facilities. Therefore, Dhaka's roads continue to experience heavy traffic pressure.
The sorry state of city traffic is evident in the fact that Dhaka's roads carry 4-5 times more vehicles than they can handle.
Exhausted from the unbearable traffic jams, many people are turning to private vehicles, such as cars and motorcycles, which ultimately worsen the situation and contribute to the traffic gridlock.
Till July this year, there are 2.03 million registered vehicles in Dhaka. Of these, 1.06 million are motorcycles, according to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).
The number of motorcycles in Dhaka in 2010 was 210,879. There were 160,170 private cars in Dhaka in 2010, which soared to 302,993 by February 2021.
Consequently, Dhaka recently ranked as the slowest city in terms of traffic movement in the world, according to a recent study by the US-based National Bureau of Economic Research.
Road traffic experts have long been advocating for more focus on public transportation.
In his recent study, transport expert and Professor at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Prof Md Hadiuzzaman found that only 4.51 per cent of passengers on the partially operational metro rail were private car users.
And, almost 60 per cent of passengers were public bus users.
"This facility should be used by people who own private vehicles. If we can shift 20-25 per cent of private car users to the metro rail, we could benefit from it," he added.
Currently, public buses carry 40 per cent of the city's travellers. However, for proper traffic management, we need to increase this share to 55-60 per cent, said Prof Hadiuzzaman.
The study was conducted from July 17 to September 14 this year.
"In the past 20 years, there has been a growing number of infrastructure developments, such as flyovers, expressways and the metro rail. But, most of these projects were undertaken without prior studies to determine their necessity or potential impact on reducing city traffic congestion," he added.
These visible investments and auto-biased solutions encourage the use of small vehicles, such as cars, on the streets, Prof Hadiuzzaman pointed out.
There are some 3,000 kilometres of road network and recent developments like flyovers account for only 30 kilometres, which has had little effect on enhancing road transport capacity.
Experts interviewed by The Financial Express also suggested reclaiming footpaths, installing a proper traffic system and controlling non-motorised vehicles on main roads.
Furthermore, the non-functional and damaged drainage system is a major cause of traffic jams, especially during the rainy season.
"Rainfall reduces the capacity of unfit vehicles by 15 per cent, causing severe traffic tailbacks," Prof Hadiuzzaman said.
Mohammad Fazle Reza Sumon, president of the Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), observed that a fully functioning metro rail would ease traffic and bring relief.
"For expressways and the metro rail, immediate communication to and from pick-up and drop-off stations is necessary. If people don't have immediate transport to and from the stations, it will not encourage them to use these facilities," he told the FE.
He suggested ensuring the traffic lane policy is maintained and monitored, determining which lane is designed for which vehicles. Traffic jams could be significantly reduced if the traffic management system is functioning properly. "All types of vehicles, such as buses, CNG auto-rickshaws, motorbikes and non-motorised vehicles, operating on the same road are a complete mess," he added, echoing that such a poor traffic system is pushing people to opt for private vehicles.
Both experts emphasised policies that can improve the traffic situation in Dhaka.
Md Mahbub-E-Rabbani, director (Road Safety) of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), told the FE that there is no problem with the road transport policy.
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