Managing traffic amidst constraints
Inadequate road space, unmanageably high number of vehicles and chronic disorders of all other types, which create regular and seemingly interminable traffic jams, are the severe problems that the traffic authorities are facing in the city, with the citizens taking the excruciating brunt of immobility and loss of man hours.
Not surprisingly, traffic snarls are unavoidable in a city having roads comprising less than eight percent of its area, when, ideally, it should be 25 percent. Evidently, things are going wrong in almost all areas. It has been found that the city now has more than 10 lakh vehicles while its traffic load handling capacity is not more than 1.5 lakh. And the number is increasing by around 180 vehicles every day. To cap it all, only two important roads have been constructed in the city in the last 20 years.
So, we know for sure that the situation calls for drastic, immediate as well as longer-term measures. While development of traffic infrastructure in order to keep pace with the fast increasing number of vehicles is needed to avoid total stagnation, there are areas where the traffic managers need to act with a sense of urgency here and now.
Things have to be kept under control until something approximating a reasonable road space-vehicle ratio can be ensured. For example, everybody knows that ramshackle vehicles having long lost their roadworthiness and driven by young boys have to be eliminated as a matter of top priority. These vehicles not only inflate the number of vehicles but are also a constant source hazards to citizens. There are a huge number of mini-buses and human haulers in the city which should have been dispatched to scrap-yard long back.
There have been repeated drives against the dilapidated vehicles, but with little success as prime minister herself has pointed out. So, it has to be the first priority of the traffic authorities to dispose of.. Similarly, Dhaka roads must be cleared of unlicensed rickshaws with the DCC, which issues the license, obliged to play the corrective role in the matter.
It is not clear why the BRTA, which issues driving and vehicles fitness certificates, does nothing as the supervisory body after issuing such certificates.
The overarching imperative for the government is to develop a mass transport system as soon as possible if the multiplicity of and dependence on private cars and other modes of transport are to be put a lid on.
Then there is the perennial problem of parking and footpaths being turned into markets and shelter for rootless people. This has to be addressed to recover some of the road space lost to them. It is also imperative that the inter-district buses and trucks do not move through the long queues of stranded vehicles. Parking lots will have to be created away from the busy city centres and it must be made mandatory for all owners of tall buildings to have parking lot. There is potential for the private sector to be into commercial parking lot management, if necessary, through bank financing
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