Dhaka transport plan seeks $64b investment

Dhaka will require around US$64 billion in transport investment over the next two decades to tackle worsening traffic congestion, improve mobility and support sustainable urban growth, according to the updated Strategic Transport Plan unveiled on Tuesday.
The plan proposes the development of eight metro rail lines, five monorail routes and a network of bus corridors as feeder services, alongside expressways, tunnels, transit-oriented development (TOD) projects and pedestrian skywalks.
The final report, titled "Updating the Revised Strategic Transport Plan (URSTP)", also recommends a major shift from small passenger vehicles to bus-based public transport, including Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) services, and the introduction of road pricing, particularly along mass-transit corridors across the Dhaka Metropolitan Area (DMA).
According to the report, the proposed investments could generate around US$10 billion in revenue over the period through road pricing, betterment levies and value-capture financing mechanisms.
The proposals were presented at a dissemination seminar on the Mid-Term Review and Updating of the RSTP project held at a city hotel, with Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) Executive Director Mohammad Mashiur Rahman in the chair.
Project Director Mohammad Rabiul Alam and project team leader Tomokazu Wachi presented the key findings at the seminar organised by the DTCA.
Among those attending were Bridge Division Secretary Mohammad Abdur Rouf, Managing Director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited Md Shaugatul Alam and Additional Secretary Mohammad Anisur Rahman.
The project director said the URSTP final report, prepared through work carried out since 2022, incorporated commitments outlined in government election manifestos, including proposals for monorails, bicycle lanes, women-only buses and road pricing.
He said consultations were held with more than 27 agencies and organisations under 11 ministries before finalising the report, following the evaluation of 11 transport-related surveys.
The surveys included household interviews, activity diary surveys covering 52,000 households, traffic count surveys, vehicle occupancy surveys, travel speed surveys and pedestrian flow surveys.
Mr Alam said the updated plan also proposes improvements to the road network, development of expressways, expansion of pedestrian footpaths, bus-priority corridors, traffic management measures, travel demand management, commuter rail planning, road safety initiatives, institutional reforms, BusNet services, inland water transport, freight facilities, and TOD and multimodal hubs.
Presenting the findings, Mr Wachi highlighted the Dhaka Metropolitan Region's extremely low arterial road density of just 0.8 per cent and an average travel speed of around 8 km per hour.
These constraints, he said, contribute to annual economic losses estimated at US$2.43 billion due to traffic congestion.
Responding to a question, Mr Wachi clarified that the estimated economic losses were based on transport operating costs and travel time losses recorded during surveys conducted in 2023.
"It is the latest survey," he said.
The report estimates that around US$46.6 billion could be financed within existing transport-sector investment capacities based on current expenditure trends in Dhaka and the wider metropolitan region.
It suggests that an investment requirement of US$48.2 billion under a road-intensive development scenario could be accommodated within existing budgetary resources.
However, a public transport-intensive scenario would require US$57.4 billion, creating a substantial financing gap.
"If road pricing is introduced and the resulting congestion-charge revenues are allocated to infrastructure development, the investment requirement for the public transport-intensive scenario could potentially be met," Mr Wachi said.
He added that achieving the plan's maximum development scenario, requiring investment of US$63.9 billion, would be challenging due to the large funding shortfall.
According to the URSTP, two additional Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines, MRT Line 3 and MRT Line 8, have been proposed in addition to the six existing MRT lines already planned. The strategy also includes five monorail routes.
The report further recommends strengthening the DTCA by transforming it into a Dhaka Urban Transport Authority operating under the Prime Minister's Office in coordination with the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha.
Survey findings show that trips of up to 400 metres are the most common and are mainly undertaken on foot, while rickshaws dominate journeys of up to four kilometres.
Walking remains the most widely used mode of transport, accounting for 37 per cent of all trips, followed by rickshaws at 25.8 per cent. CNG-run auto-rickshaws and motorcycles account for 11.4 per cent and 10.8 per cent respectively.
The share of bus travel has fallen sharply to 7 per cent from more than 21 per cent in 2014, while bicycles account for only 0.8 per cent of total trips.
Bus usage has been declining steadily over the years, falling from 28.5 per cent in 2009 to 21.2 per cent in 2014 and continuing to decline thereafter, underscoring the need for significant investment in mass transit and public transport services.

smunima@yahoo.com