Over the last 15-year of rule of the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, the road transport sector was one of the most undisciplined sectors in the country. From route permits to fair fares of public transports, at every step, people had to suffer.
The newly formed interim government should take steps to bring discipline in the country’s transport sector especially in Dhaka.
Bus route rationalisation
In terms of vehicular speed, Dhaka is one of the slowest cities in the world. The average speed of vehicles in Dhaka city has come down to 4.8km per hour in 2022 from 21km per hour in 2007.
Additionally, the tendency of bus drivers to overtake in order to pick up passengers results in accidents and casualties in the city.
The Revised Strategic Transport Master Plan, a 20-year plan for the urban transport system, recommended operating city buses under multiple companies and designated routes to reduce competition on city roads. However, the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) has been unable to implement it. Although a pilot project is underway on several routes, it remains unclear when the full bus route rationalisation will finally be launched.
Transport experts said there is no need to run a pilot project to see whether the bus route rationalisation works. One company bus has already been operating in the Hatirjheel area in the city for a long time. The service is quite good.
Transport experts believe that the main barrier to launch the bus route rationalisation across the city is the political obstacle.
Existing bus service
The condition of city buses is so poor that commuters use them simply because there are no better options available. Most city buses are dilapidated: their exteriors are dented and discolored, and some buses are in such bad shape that parts are missing. The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, the regulatory body for road transport, took a half-hearted approach to compelling bus owners to improve service quality, let alone address the unfit buses.
The transport authorities have long been asking the government to take initiative so that only buses with fitness certificates and those in good condition are allowed to operate on city streets.
CNG-Run auto rickshaw
The CNG-run auto rickshaws are supposed to take fare on the basis of kilometer of travel. But the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority(BRTA) failed to enforce the system in the last 15 years.
Manual Traffic Management System
The traffic management system is one of the major issues of concern in Dhaka city. The former governments took different measures to launch an automatic traffic management system so that the city vehicles can stop at different traffic signals by seeing the green, yellow and red signals. But those initiatives have never been implemented.
City Footpath
Dhaka's footpaths could help reduce traffic congestion if they can be recovered from encroachers. The footpaths have been occupied by various groups, such as rickshaw owners who use them for garages and tea shops. In the past, two city corporations promised to create walkable footpaths, but they have not yet fulfilled this promise.
Illegal Rickshaw
No one knows actually how many rickshaws ply Dhaka city streets. The number of rickshaws is increasing day by day and there is no regulation to discipline these rickshaws. The government should take measures to bring discipline to the city streets.
