Dhaka's traffic nightmares

Traffic has now become the worst nightmare of the commuters in the capital city. Technology such as Google map helps residents navigate the city to some extent but the fact is that no matter what route one takes, people will sooner or later end up in endless gridlock.
It is interesting to note that commuters and people in general love to complain against the chaotic traffic. The fact is that the city itself has grown by leaps and bounds over the decades and city planners never got the chance to implement the DAP (detailed area plan) under which it was envisaged to develop Dhaka properly. Political and business interests always got in the way of developing a city with proper public transportation. That is why this city of more than 15 million people has no modern bus service, only one out of six metro rail lines, no decent commuter rail service.
Crony capitalism had crept in and spread like a cancer over policymaking. Only now is the country coming to grips with how bad things had gotten whereby a small band of transport-owners had exerted total control over policymaking for nearly two decades. The road transport-owners' association had grown so influential that they had effectively sidelined all attempts at modernising the railway service, put a dent in fast DEMU trains connecting Dhaka with Narayanganj, delayed the implementation of the first metro rail service (north-south connectivity). When school students of Dhaka city took to the street to protest the killing of their peers waiting at a bus stop in 2018, the response of these unruly elements was overwhelming violence against children agitating for road safety. Such was the prowess of transport owners that they got the support of the government to put down what had essentially been a non-political movement by young people to bring back order on the roads.
It is in 2024 and the madness on the roads has returned. Today, things are even worse off than they were before. Although there is much hope that the interim government will do things differently, people tend to forget that as commuters, they too have responsibilities. It is the job of policymakers to enact legislation and get the laws enforced through the police. Sadly, Bangladesh has just emerged from a particularly violent chapter in its history where the police force has also suffered losses - both in terms of manpower, material and morale. It will take a while to get policing back on track and for the force to regain the trust of the people.
The traffic system is broken. For the longest time, traffic was conducted manually and the focus was to stop vehicles in the middle of the road to collect illegal toll. This system is now not there and some say that the traffic personnel are no longer 'motivated' to do their duty. If that is the case then perhaps the force needs new recruits who are untainted by such negative thoughts! Perhaps the new authorities can finally get the traffic network management system digitalised. That shouldn't be a problem anymore and this is the perfect time to get some real work done.
On the flip side of the traffic-induced chaos that has made lives of millions of people a living hell, it is impossible to ignore the fact that people have no respect for rules themselves. Since practically all drivers of vehicles (2, 3 or 4-wheel) never have to pass any driving test to get a licence, they feel no need to follow any traffic law and in many cases are not even aware of what the various signs mean. Since there is such a massive trust deficit between law-enforcers and people, why bother with any rule anyway?
This mindset has to change. Mere enactment of new rules will not do. When people see law enforcers doing their duty sincerely, they will also start responding positively. This is not a one-day affair, but mindsets will change gradually. Time has arrived for banged-up buses owned by umpteen number of companies to go away. City residents deserve a cleaner, cheaper mode of bus transportation that will be reliable and safe to travel on. The train service has been around since British times and it is time the Bangladesh Railway got partially divested. Private investment will bring in private operators offering shuttle train services that can effectively help move people from Dhaka to the suburbs. Lastly, no new data are needed to illustrate how overwhelmingly successful the metro service has been. It took a decade in the making, successive metro rail lines ought to be commissioned at a much faster pace. It can be done if the political will is there. It is time Dhaka city planners got the chance to set certain things straight to ease this nightmare of senseless traffic congestion.

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