By Md. Zillur Rahaman

City dwellers are seriously fed up with heavy traffic jam, not only big cities like Dhaka and Chittagong, but also other small cities are gradually becoming more and more affected by traffic congestion. Traffic gridlock is becoming increasingly plight due to unplanned urbanization, poor traffic system and unregistered vehicles. The capital city of Dhaka faces excruciating traffic pack every day on the way to work and most of the working people travel to offices, educational institutions or business establishments between 7:30 am and 10:30 am and return home between 4 pm and 8:30 pm. As a result, the traffic jam in the capital reaches its peak at this time.

Elevated Expressway section from Kawla to Tejgaon was inaugurated on September 3, 2023. After that, every day from the northern part of the capital, about 5 thousand vehicles are coming and alighting at Farmgate. A large part of these vehicles are going to Karwanbazar, Shahbagh and other areas along Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue through Farmgate by Khamarbari turn.

After the opening of Dhaka Expressway, Farmgate and adjacent areas have added a new level of unbearable traffic gridlock. According to the traffic police, 15 areas of Dhaka are already considered as traffic jam points and Farmgate is one of these. According to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) traffic department, the reason for the incessant traffic jam in those areas is the Dhaka Elevated Expressway. In fact, the government has spared no expense in reducing traffic congestion in Dhaka. In the last two decades, 9(nine) flyovers and such infrastructure have already been constructed in the capital and the work of one more is in progress.

About Taka 20 thousand crore have been spent on these projects. Despite the benefits of the one or two flyovers, in most cases people have to face unbearable traffic jams at the time of take-off and landing at the flyovers. Roads above and below some flyovers i.e. double decks are also creating traffic jams. Questions have arisen about the benefits of this huge investment. Experts say that due to the lack of proper planning and feasibility and hasty construction of flyovers due to political considerations, the city dwellers are constantly suffering from incessant traffic jams.

According to a recent research report published by the US National Bureau of Economic Research, three of the world's 20 slowest cities due to terrible traffic jam are now in Bangladesh—Dhaka, Mymensingh and Chittagong, and Dhaka is the world's slowest city. The study also listed the 20 slowest cities despite having less traffic on the roads, with Dhaka also ranked second. In cities where more than three lakh people live, how much time it takes to go to various destinations by car, the data collected from Google maps was analyzed in the study. In this case, the traffic data has been taken on different days of the week and at different times of the day. This figure emerged from an analysis of traffic speeds in more than 1,200 cities in 152 countries. This slow circular of traffic is also having a negative impact on the country's economy. The study named Flint, Michigan, as the city with the highest speed. Almost 86 of the 100 fastest cities in the world are in the United States, and 19 of the 20 fastest cities are in the United States and only one is Windsor of Ontario, Canada.

According to Google maps in the study, it takes 55 minutes to travel 9 kilometers from Dhaka Airport to Gulshan-2 Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed Park and it takes about nine minutes to travel the same distance from the world's fastest city Flint Airport in Michigan to Sloan Museum of Discovery. Studies have shown that car traffic in cities in rich countries is 50 percent faster than in poor countries. This is possible because cities in rich countries have large roads and lots of open spaces. As a result, more cars can go on the road without traffic jam.

The difference in travel time between Dhaka, a city of 21 million people, and Flint, a city of only 4 lakh people, is not only due to traffic pressure, but there are other factors as well. As a result, it takes half an hour to travel that distance in Dhaka even in the middle of the night, which is three times more than the time required in the world's fastest city. According to the research report, if the speed of road traffic is increased by 1.3 percent, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country increases by 10 percent. Moreover, according to a survey report by Bangladesh's research institute Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Dhaka residents have to spend 46 minutes every 2 hours on the road in traffic jams and an average of 276 hours per person are lost in traffic jams.

According to a study by the Accident and Research Institute of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), the financial value of the working hours lost every day due to traffic congestion is about Tk 140 crore. In 2022, more than 8 million working hours were lost on Dhaka roads every day, which was 5 million working hours a day in 2017. According to the study, about two and a half million trips are made daily in short and long distance vehicles in Dhaka, of which 44% are office going passengers. Over the past few years, the number of privately owned vehicles has increased significantly, resulting in increased traffic congestion.

The number of private cars, jeeps and motorbikes has increased tremendously. As a result, instead of making public transport easier, the gridlock problem is increasing. In this case, the main reason for the increase in traffic congestion is said to be the increase in the number of private vehicles and less registration of new buses. According to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) data, new bus registrations fell by 32.3% in 2021 compared to 2020, while sales of jeeps jumped by 55%, private cars by 28% and motorcycles by 27% during the same period. Another disadvantage of traffic jan is the reduced lifespan of roads. The life of the road is reduced by 18-30% if the vehicle is stopped for hours. Engineers consider moving loads when they design roads. The road is being damaged as it is filled with thousands of vehicles for hours.

One of the major causes of traffic jams is that road renovation and development work is not completed on time and properly. Worryingly, none of the initiatives that have already been taken to reduce traffic congestion in the capital are working. The authorities have implemented various initiatives to ease the traffic congestion, including stopping the entry of trucks and inter-city buses into the city during the day. Besides, rickshaw movement has been stopped on various roads. Footoverbridges and underpasses have been constructed for pedestrian crossing. Traffic signal lights and CCTV cameras were also installed. But even then the traffic jam has not reduced. According to experts, traffic congestion can be reduced by 80 percent if properly planned and implemented.

Unplanned urbanization is the main cause of traffic gridlock in the capital Dhaka. In 1974 the population of Dhaka was only 2 million, by 1981 and 1991 it reached 3.5 and 6.5 million respectively. But due to the lack of decentralization of power, in the last twenty years, people from all over the country started coming to Dhaka in droves in search of work. Due to which the population of this metropolis has reached 21 million by the year 2022. Only 1.8 percent of the country's population lives in China's largest city, Shanghai, 2 percent of the population live in major cities in neighboring India, 4 percent in Indonesia, 8.9 percent in Pakistan, and 8.1 percent in Vietnam. Yet 11.2 percent of Bangladesh's total population lives in Dhaka—the highest in the region. Dhaka, with an area of only 1600 square kilometers, cannot bear the pressure of such a huge population. As a result, various civic problems are being created and traffic jam is one of these. A city-metropolis needs to have 25% roads of its total area to maintain the normal speed of traffic system but the unplanned growth of Dhaka city has only 7-8 percent of roads, which is grossly inadequate compared to the requirement for moving vehicles in our capital.

A research report presented at an annual conference of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) in December 2021 said that woeful traffic jam in the capital Dhaka is not only causing human suffering and lost working hours—it is also affecting GDP and per capita income. Due to traffic gridlock in Dhaka alone, the annual loss is 2.9 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As of the new base year of 2015-16, this loss in monetary value is at Tk 1,01,036 crores. A high-powered commission consisting of local and foreign members can be constituted to reduce traffic jam in the country, who will identify the real causes of traffic gridlock and suggest solutions. Traffic jams are wasting valuable labor hours, affecting the country's economy and foreign investment inflows. Just as corruption is very harmful to the economy, traffic jam is causing great damage to the country's economy. Traffic gridlock is a silent monster and needs to be overcome. In addition, many people are suffering physical and mental damage due to traffic congestion. Hence there is no alternative to take immediate and coordinated effective measures to decongest traffic jam.

The writer is a, Banker and Columnist