How long will it take to streamline traffic management?

The horrendous traffic jams in the capital city have crossed all limits. Rated as one of the most unliveable cities in the world, Dhaka has just become unfit for commuting. The lack of discipline in commuting has reached an extreme point.
Those who were caught in the worst-ever traffic gridlocks early this week did fail to find out the reasons in the first place. Afterwards they realised that the digital timer signalling system, launched on experimental basis for the second time, was responsible for the bizarre gridlocks.
During the last 11 years, the government spent an amount of Tk 370 million on the traffic signal system in the capital. The money did apparently go down the drain as the system became ineffective within days. And traffic police had to start controlling again vehicular movement with hand signals at all intersections in the capital.
The government initiated a new project in 2013 for installing countdown timers alongside the set of lights at intersections. Trials of the timers were reportedly done twice at two points. But the move ended up in failure.
The congestion got otherwise worsened, prompting both the city corporation authorities to delay implementation of the new system.
When the digital timer was launched this time early this week, it had also an option for manually overriding the timing for the lights in case of increase in traffic volume at an intersection. Instant Power Supply (IPS) was furthermore installed to keep the system operational in case of power cuts. But nothing has worked. Operation of the new system has thus been abandoned again, nobody knowing at this point when the problem will be fixed.
 Of late, manual traffic signal system has resumed, calming down the situation to some extent.
Countdown digital timers, as transport analysts say, were not necessary for a city like Dhaka. It is required when the general traffic signal mechanisms become successful. It is just a supplementary mechanism of traffic signal system, not an alternative. Neither signal lights nor timers will be effective in a city where motorists and drivers are least bothered about the signals.
After the previous failure of the system, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and the city corporations started accusing each other for the lapses of the system. Without synchronising each and every traffic light, it remained unexplained as to what had prompted them to go for such a 'dubious' launch so suddenly.
In a synchronised signal system, a commuter who gets a green signal at, for example, Shahbagh point, will pass through green lights at subsequent intersections, including those at Sheraton, Sonargaon, Farmgate etc. But this did not happen. As a result, lack of synchronisation caused traffic to come to a complete halt during rush hours at every inter-section.
On the contrary, such automated signalling system is not the whole answer to Dhaka's insurmountable traffic woes. Tangible improvements can be made if authorities establish proper system for traffic and parking management and ensure some small-scale improvements to help minimise the existing problems.
Besides, public perception about traffic police is also hindering the city's traffic management. Traffic police are frequently blamed for failing to enforce lane markings and the illegal occupation of vacant space.
For the new system to work, people have to be made aware through widespread media campaign. The violators of the traffic rules need to be penalised. Unfortunately, the city does not possess an adequate number of close circuit cameras to spot the violators.
If all the drivers and vehicle users have national identity (ID) cards, it should not be difficult to spot them if close circuit cameras at traffic lights work and the central control process each case meticulously. There is no way that anyone breaching any traffic law can escape.
First of all, an effective traffic management has to be put in place. Then, a realistic integrated project can be taken up and implemented in a step-by-step way. If not, Dhaka will be a city completely unfit for commuting.
Without mass transit systems such as the metro rail, elevated expressway and mass rapid transit, no significant change in the capital city's traffic situation is likely to occur. Certain infrastructural inadequacies need to be effectively addressed if the city is to overcome the crippling problem of traffic congestion.
Such a strategy is still missing; the government has rather been, what seems to be, moving from one experiment to another in its bid to ease the traffic situation. This, as many believe, has aggravated the situation.
Traffic management needs to be streamlined in order to deal with the endless traffic snarls. The authorities also have to appreciate that the enforcement of rules is a prime requisite for bringing order in traffic management and thus ensuring safety of passengers and pedestrians alike.
If the law is applied and an effective traffic management system is in place, some improvements, at least to a tolerable level, can be expected. In the bigger cities of the world, traffic laws are strictly enforced and the situation is controlled by adopting realistic planning. Why can this not be done in Dhaka? This is a long-persisting baffling question for the city people who are yet to find an answer, in their daily life, to it.
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