Traffic management in disarray

Bangladesh is still at the primitive stage of traffic management for which the roads cannot be used at their optimum level creating nagging traffic congestion, experts have said.
Professor Hadiuzzaman, director of accident research institute (ARI) at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), has identified several factors behind inoperable traffic signals installed in Dhaka despite having infrastructure.
He said there is no alternative to mechanical parking in Dhaka to accommodate more vehicles. Mechanical parking will enhance the capacity three times more than that of multi-storey parking being used now, he noted.
Agreeing with the findings, urban expert architect Iqbal Habib has termed it 'a total undisciplined traffic system' existing now in Dhaka.
Mr Hadiuzzaman told the FE that the road network and other infrastructures cannot be utilized at maximum level if proper traffic management is not in place. "Metropolitan Dhaka is in ICU in terms of mobility while BRT lines are like the bypass surgery which have no effectiveness considering the corridor nature."
He said there are several prerequisites to make the signals operable-there should be no non-motorised vehicle at junctions, pedestrian local movement needs to be organized through introduction of various systems, there will be no local movement at the corners of junctions with through crossing only, and coordination among signalized junctions.
"There should be stop-line one metre before zebra-crossing for safe road-crossing by pedestrians."
The ARI director informed that there are 71 primary junctions in Dhaka. A research showed that 40 per cent pedestrians in Dhaka are victims of accidents at junctions while 60 per cent at mid-street, he added.
Mr Hadiuzzaman further said there must be proper pedestrian crossing facilities after very 80-100 metres of interval to facilitate pedestrian crossing because the tendency of pedestrians is to cross the roads by using short-cuts in every four to five minutes of walking.
Referring to the causes of traffic gridlock, he pointed out that there is no enough road space in Dhaka and 30 per cent of gridlocks are created due to street parking. The vehicles are parked in a perpendicular direction, not parallel with the curve line while parking on-street is increasing gridlock.
In an ideal city, he said, there should be 30 per cent road network. The city corporation has leased out one-third of its total city roads for parking. In the draft parking guideline, off-street parking has got more importance, he added.
Suggesting mechanical parking as the only solution for Dhaka, Mr Hadiuzzaman said the cost is lower and it will be paid back within five years.
He pointed out various flaws in the signaling system including indiscriminate and unscientific use of signal poles.
"One single pole can be used for three to four functions including pedestrian signal head, vehicular signal head and street light. In Dhaka, there are five signal poles including primary signal head for right hand driving, primary head for left turning, secondary head, tertiary head and light head which is nothing but waste of public resources."
Prof Hadiuzzaman said this type of system is being practiced because ill-planning has been continuing for Dhaka. In 80 per cent cases, wrong signaling is working. Neither the height of signal light head nor the mast arm length is constructed following the standard method. The signaling system must be demand-driven, he added.
He, however, expressed his dissatisfaction over planning to import of new articulated buses after implementing the BRT project. According to him, the roads could be made more functional with existing buses.
He also warned that intersections are not done here considering the adequate turning radius. That's why the bus companies should be careful about the size of the buses still capable to carry more passengers. In that case, double-deckers will be more feasible for Dhaka, he suggested.
Iqbal Habib, however, said the traffic system is in a mess in Dhaka as the system is installed by one authority and managed by police. Most of the zebra crossings are marked and footbridges are constructed based on political consideration. The police manually control traffic. The vehicles are allowed to move when the signal is red.
"Dhaka is in no way in the path of solving traffic problem. The prevalent indiscipline encourages people to flout traffic rules instead of abide by the laws. The traffic management system should be in one hand based on corridors which will be planned taking into consideration the pedestrian, vehicle, slow-moving, fast-moving vehicles and multimodal transport," he said.

[email protected]