Beyond the loss of working hours

Dhaka City's nightmarish traffic chaos is worsening even further. According to a calculation by the World Bank, the current business hours lost daily due to tailback in the Bangladesh capital stands at 3.2 million and in terms of economic annual cost this is measured at Tk 300 billion. This amount is about Tk 250 billion less than the cost earlier studies arrived at. But this is cold comfort for daily commuters in this badly managed city.
How the city's traffic is deteriorating fast is explained by the fact that the average speed of vehicles within the city limit is only 7.0 km -a little faster than the average speed of walking. But if the situation continues like this by the year 2025, the average speed of vehicles will come down to 4.0 km -less than walking speed of 5.0 km.
Statistics, however, does not present a full picture of the travails undergone by city commuters. For example, the speed of vehicles is averaged between two end points in opposite directions. But within a certain zone of the city, vehicles get stuck for hours together. People have to get down from public buses and walk some distance, change route and even take alternative modes of transportation in order to save time. If there is rain, all hell breaks loose. The physical discomfort and mental agony are immeasurable and in terms of cost far outstrip the economic cost.
True, some roads drivers try to avoid when rain waters submerge different segments of a road. But this does not mean, the number of vehicles have suddenly doubled or trebled on particular roads. The impression, though, is that many times more than usual vehicles have suddenly started competing for road space.  
Both traffic management and indiscipline on the part of drivers are at fault. The main road crossings at Farm Gate, Shahbagh, Science Laboratory, Shapla Chattar etc; are poorly managed. There is a tendency on the part of traffic controllers to allow vehicles to cross from one side for 10-15 minutes, bringing to a total halt the movement of vehicles from all other routes. When those are signalled to cross, the time is allotted just a minute or two. Once again the privileged route is left open for 10-15 minutes to pass. During this time, it may so happen that a car or a three wheeler only passes or even there is no vehicle at all to make use of the empty crossing.
This is atrocious, to say the least. This happens mostly because on the other side of the crossing there is no space as vehicles are stuck there in a long queue. This again happens on account of not managing the flow of traffic and clearing them off as speedily as was needed. In this case, unruly drivers are responsible to a large extent for a stalemate situation causing others to suffer but when the traffic controllers turn a blind eye to violation of traffic rules, this is bound to happen. If violators were severely dealt with, traffic discipline would have automatically improved the situation to some extent.
When the number of cars is seven times higher than buses and mini-buses in the capital, competition for road space is sure to be fierce and it indeed is. Here, the policymakers have abdicated their role completely. If public transports were better managed and ran smoothly, people were not prompted to acquire private cars. Now many people have been compelled to purchase cars in order to avoid the daily ordeal.
That a city of 18 million runs on buses only is an unimaginable proposition. There has to be train service for commuters if the intention is to get over the gargantuan problem. The elevated expressway could help but its construction is lacking the urgency it needed.