Over the years the chaotic traffic management system of Dhaka city has gone from bad to worse, and its dwellers have yet to hear any good news about bringing some order to the city roads.听听听
With the number of both road users and vehicles multiplied against a very slim growth in the city鈥檚 road network, traffic mismanagement becomes bleaker each day.听
Most recently, the change of political regime on August 5 seems to have a worsening effect on the already terribly chaotic city roads as road users are showing deeper disregard for traffic rules amid lax monitoring.
To establish order on the Dhaka streets, experts once again put emphasis on the rigorous implementation of the existing laws and directives, coordination among the authorities concerned, behaviour change among road users, and proper planning.
They decry the unchanging scenario of buses, a major mode of public transport connecting the entire capital and connecting it with its adjacent cities and peri-urban areas. The buses in the city are plying, as usual, flouting numerous traffic rules鈥攐ften they do not possess fitness certificates, drivers engage in mindless competition with other buses while on the road risking fatal accidents, they pick passengers from anywhere without stopping at the designated stoppages, the bus staff force passengers to get down without stopping the vehicle, companies run terribly decrepit buses and so on.听
In violation of the Road Transport Act 2018 and High Court directives, many bus drivers do not have licences or the appropriate licences. Allegations are also widespread that many city bus drivers work while under the influence of drugs.
Almost habitual disregard for traffic rules among pedestrians is yet another headache of the city鈥檚 chaotic traffic management system. 听Whatever meagre numbers of footpaths, zebra crossings, footbridges and other walking facilities are there in the city, pedestrians hardly use them. Even on the most busy roads and crossings people jaywalk, flagrantly ignoring running vehicles.
The Road Safety Foundation said that in 2023, of 6,524 deaths in road crashes in the country 1,452 or 22.2 per cent were pedestrians.
Illegal parking by cars, CNG-run auto-rickshaws, rickshaws, motorcycles, buses and even goods-laden trucks on the roads and even on the footpaths everywhere is another major reason for traffic gridlock. Inter-district buses being parked on the roads in the Mohakhali, Saidabad and Gabtoli bus terminal areas also cause traffic congestions.
Traffic signal system till now is manned by the traffic police in the capital as all automations drives, including the launch of timer countdowns, digital display boards, solar panels, remote control systems, and intelligent traffic system, undertaken spending crores of taka have failed.听
All campaigns for freeing footpaths from illegal occupants have so far brought little outcome and till now much of the space of the footpaths, already small in number, remain occupied by hawkers, floating vendors and construction materials, and in many areas motorbikes and even cars are also parked there.听
Wrong lane driving is also common across the city roads in which particularly cars, CNG-run autos, motorcycles and rickshaws can be seen plying on wrong lanes causing huge traffic gridlock. Frequent changing of lanes also causes frequent road crashes and traffic jam in the city.
Violation of traffic rules by motorcycles has increased again in recent times. Motorcycle riders and pillions alike without helmets became a rare sight in the city thanks to a rigorous campaign particularly by the police department over the past several years. But in the recent days more riders and pillions are seen on the road without wearing helmets amid lax monitoring.听
The habit of talking over phone while driving and crossing road on foot still remains high among Dhaka commuters.听
Many unauthorised rickshaws are running on Dhaka streets with the backing of a powerful nexus comprising police, politicians, and city corporation officials, according to rickshaw pullers, garage owners, and workshop owners. Flouting a Dhaka Metropolitan Police ban, locally made battery-run three-wheelers and other slow-moving vehicles are plying the city roads in an increasing number.
In September 2018, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police announced directives that declared city roads off-limits to human haulers; fixed designated stoppages for city buses; asked city buses to keep doors shut while running; display bus staff鈥檚 photos and mobile number in the buses; and carry updated documents; and asked owners to hire drivers and assistants based on salary.
Accident Research Institute director professor Md Shamsul Hoque observed that following the August 5 regime change indiscipline intensified on the roads.
He said that while in the past 15 years the police were being used politically, many engaged in handling the city traffic system lacked experience.
鈥楾here is also a tendency to flout laws after August 5,鈥� he said and added that allowing the battery-run rickshaws on roads was a great mistake of the immediate past government.
He urged the interim government to ban battery-run rickshaws from the main roads. Or else, traffic management would descend into a deeper chaos, he warned.
The police should become stricter in implementing the laws, he added.
Admitting the overall indiscipline in the traffic system, the interim government鈥檚 road transport and bridges adviser, Muhammad Fauzul Kabir Khan, said on Thursday that they would meet the home affairs ministry officials soon for fixing action plans as solutions.
鈥楥urrently the main problem in Dhaka city traffic management is a lack of implementation of laws,鈥� he said and added that coordinated attempts of these two ministries were necessary for improving the situation.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police additional commissioner for traffic Khandaker Nazmul Hasan also admitted the chaotic situation.
鈥業n this country every person thinks that all but he or she will follow laws,鈥� he said, 鈥榠t seems nowadays everyone is free to do anything they want to do on the road.鈥�
Despite realising substantial fines daily for traffic rule violation, it would take time to establish order on roads, the officer said.听
A Centre for Policy Dialogue study revealed in September 2023 that the Dhaka city people waste about 276 hours a year sitting in traffic congestions.
According to a 2022 study by the Accident and Research Institute of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, the financial value of the working hours lost every day due to traffic congestion is about Tk 140 crore.
In 2022, more than 80 lakh working hours were lost on Dhaka roads every day, compared with 50 lakh working hours a day in 2017, it added.
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