Many initiatives have been taken to return the discipline and smooth the road transportation system in the capital city of Dhaka.
In the last decade and a half, the road transport system has become hostage to the influential gang where unsatisfactory passenger service and chaos has reached its peak.
To overcome this situation, it is the time to restore discipline in the transport sector first.
Experts are blaming the culture of not caring for the rules of transport related to this. One of the reasons for traffic congestion in the capital is the stopping of buses everywhere. The traffic department has fixed a total of 120 bus stoppages in the two cities. Still, passengers and transport workers are only complaining about the reason for not stopping the bus at the designated place.
Traffic signal lights are also installed in structures around different intersections of the capital, but no one knows whether these lights are active or inactive. In many places, it was seen that the car runs even if the red light is on.
In the past, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) tried to habituate with the traffic signal lights but people felt free to manual traffic system by the traffic personnel.
The drivers of the vehicles moving in the capital have also become accustomed to moving with the hand gesture of traffic. They don't think about traffic signals on the road anymore. Due to lack of coordination and errors in the process, the automated traffic system of crores in the capital is not working.
At present, several times more cars are running on the roads of Dhaka than the normal capacity. The traffic system has collapsed. It takes one and a half to two hours to go half an hour road. Millions of vehicles ply in the city. There are also pedal-driven rickshaws. The traffic department of DMP is struggling to control these vehicles. There is new problem arise with Autorickshaws.
However, it is a matter of hope that after the fall of the Awami League (AL) government in the face of student movement, the wind of change is blowing in the public transport sector like others sector. Previously, the sector was held hostage by several road transport owners and labor leaders holding party posts. After they went into hiding, there was a change in leadership.
The new leadership of Dhaka Road Transport Owners' Association wants to move forward with an 'action plan'. As part of this, 'Motivational Counseling' activities are being taken initially this month to stop chaos, criminalization, extortion and irregularities in the transport sector and to make the roads safe and bring good order.
On August 24, a 35-member convening committee was formed under the leadership of Md Saiful Alam, convener of Dhaka Road Transport Owners' Association.
Saiful Alam said, "We can breathe a sigh of relief in the independent country by calling the revolution of the students and people or the mass uprising. As part of building the country, the Dhaka Road Transport Owners' Association is initially going to an action plan with what we need to do to remove chaos, criminalization, extortion, irregularities in the transport sector and to reduce traffic congestion and a disciplined transport system."
But some allegations are arising with the Saiful Islam of Tejgaon and another Saiful of Cumilla. Transport leader Heru of Mohakhali bus stand also negotiated with the new leadership.
Experts from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) have been tasked with finding a way to solve the crisis. Initially, they have started working on a six-point outline.
It said that unregistered rickshaws, auto-rickshaws and easy bikes should be removed from the main road. Vehicles should not be parked within 50 meters of every road junction and 100 meters on important connecting roads. Ensure orderly loading and disembarkation of passengers at the designated place. Ensure 2 to 3 minutes signal in low busy signal and maximum 5 minutes signal in busy signal, forming 6 to 8 mobile traffic monitoring teams to solve the problem immediately.
Several transport owners and labor leaders said that in the last one and a half decades, the transport sector was mainly under the control of Khandaker Enayet Ullah (Ena Paribhahan) and Former Minister Shajahan Khan. They have led the owners and workers of this sector to behave like party workers. That is why there was a big movement in 2018 demanding safe roads. But there was no fundamental change.
Dhaka Road Transport Owners' Association has informed the concerned in this regard. Steps are also being taken to stop extortion, encroachment and encroachment and ensure that the real workers have leadership in the terminal, the leaders said.
On August 14, a general meeting of road transport owners and workers announced to stop all kinds of extortion. On behalf of the Road Transport Owners' Association, it was decided that the transport companies will not be able to take extra money beyond token money as daily expenses from the general bus owners for management. The amount of token money should be informed through the resolution of the concerned organization, the money cannot be collected arbitrarily.
Saidur Rahman, executive director of Road Safety Foundation, said discipline has not been established in road, rail and water transport sectors in independent Bangladesh. There is no safe-people-friendly public transport system. Vested interests have made the public transport sector a den of extortion and corruption. Countless people are being killed in road accidents due to unskilled drivers, faulty motor vehicles and unprofessional management. The initiative to introduce company-based buses to establish discipline in public transport in the capital has not been successful due to this vested group.
He also added that despite the allocation of several lakh crore, these two sectors are sinking into losses due to corruption. It is known that the financial loss due to traffic congestion in the capital Dhaka is at least Tk 50,000 crore annually. About 82 lakh working hours are lost every day due to traffic congestion.
The Work for a Better Bangladesh Trust placed an 18-point recommendation to improve the country's traffic system, as about 82 lakh working hours were being wasted daily due to the traffic congestion in Dhaka city.
It said the monetary value of the wasted working hours was about Taka 139 crore daily, which would be more than Taka 50,000 crore annually.
The organization noted that lack of respect and non-compliance of law as well as non-mandatory training of drivers became the key-reason for making Dhaka city's traffic system ineffective.
Alongside the 18-point recommendation, it also advocated for the introduction of automated integrated traffic management system or customizable integrated traffic management system (CITMS) to overcome this situation.
They also expressed hope that the current interim government will play a positive role in developing a multi-media based integrated and people-friendly communication system.
Executive Director of the Work for a Better Bangladesh Trust Saifuddin Ahmed said that in 2007 the average speed of cars in Dhaka was 21 km per hour, which has now reduced to 4.8 km.
He attributed several factors -undisciplined driving, delay of mega projects on various busy roads, private car dependency, weak traffic signals and monitoring system, mismanagement of vehicle registration, lack of scientific and modern methods in overall traffic management-- responsible for this problem of traffic congestion.
"If these issues are properly resolved, speed and discipline can return to the road," he added.
To overcome this situation, he proposed customizable integrated traffic management system or Customizable Integrated Traffic Management System (CITMS).
According to a United Nations Development Program report, Bangladesh's population will increase to 23-25 crore by 2050, and a large portion of this population growth will occur in urban areas. If steps are not taken to reduce the traffic congestion now, the situation will become awful, he said.
He also said that they expect the current interim government will play a positive role in building a multi-media integrated and people-friendly communication system by increasing investment in public transport, buses, railways and waterways.
The traffic division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) filed 1,779 cases and collected Tk 73.25 lakh in fines during drives against traffic rule violators on Thursday and Friday.
Additionally, 169 vehicles were impounded, and 66 others were towed during the drives conducted in different parts of the capital.
ZH
