Small vehicles occupy 27pc of road space in Ctg city

Domination of small passenger vehicles has been identified as one of the major causes for growing traffic congestion in Chittagong city, a study has revealed.
According to the study, 71 per cent of 5.9 million trips generated per day in the port city use minibuses, human haulers or tempos in absence of the mass transport system and these transports are mostly used for short trip from two kilometres to slightly more.
The study conducted as part of the Chittagong Strategic Urban Transport Master Plan with support of the World Bank has found that private transport/cars account for six per cent of the total trips but take 29 per cent of city's road space.
Small vehicles like rickshaws and CNG-run auto-rickshaws occupy 27 per cent of the road space but these also carry six per cent commuters. Some 23 per cent of trips are made by walking.
Trip generation is counted to forecast travel demand within an area following its distribution choice of mode and route selection.
Per day trip generation in Chittagong city, a commercial hub of the country, is five times lower than the trips generated in Dhaka.
A study conducted by Japan International Cooperation Agency in 2015 found that 30 million trips were generated every day in the capital city. The trip was 19.6 per cent in 2010.
The port city that has already developed four flyovers over its inadequate roads could not make a significant headway in reducing traffic congestion.
According to the study, public transport is most popular for mid-range trips with covering 1-2 kilometre distance by 45 per cent. Only 25 public transport trips cover less than 1.0 km. Only two per cent trips are above 5 km.
Being the commercial centre, work dominates 65 per cent of the trips by men and 39 per
cent by women. But in the case of social connection, women made higher trips than men with 35 per cent and 22 per cent respectively. Choice of commuter service is also dependent on the purpose of trips as bus is used for work and education but CNG-run auto-rickshaws and rickshaws for shopping purposes.
There are hardly any big public buses in the city.
Due to such a situation, the speed of different vehicles including cars, lorries, motorbikes and buses are found low from 15 km to 20 km during off peak hour and from 10 km to highest 15 km during peak hours. Bus speed is found lowest among all public transports.
The speed of cars which is found 18.3 km per hour during off peak time get lower to 10.7 km during peak time. Bus could run 10 km per hour during peak time which is up by 14 km/h during off peak time.
Household expenditure for transport is found average eight per cent of their income which the WB study considers low. The average daily income for a household in Chittagong was reported to be Tk 1,700.
smunima@yahoo.com