Rearranging city bus routes
WITH traffic jams in the capital increasingly taking nightmarish proportions, the move by the traffic authorities to rearrange a number of bus routes may well be considered a good one. However, the extent to which such actions will actually help citizens find a way out of the road gridlock remains a question. Clearly, a sense of professional commitment toward implementing such a decision must come from the traffic police authorities. People must be convinced that, with Ramadan already here, the move is not a seasonal one where a mere spurt of seriousness will be noticed. What is important is that a durable and sustainable traffic arrangement be put in place.
There are some obvious ways of handling road traffic. The many traffic sergeants and constables posted on the roads must ensure that no random stopping of buses is allowed. All too often, these vehicles are seen to come to a stop nearly in the middle of the road, thus forcing other vehicles to a sudden, risky stop, only because they would like to pick up new passengers. This is a gross example of traffic indiscipline that the authorities need to focus on. Moreover, it is sometimes the police who force vehicles to a stop even as they are in movement, thus causing obstructions on their own.
Indeed, a careful and strict operation of the rules of the road should be enough to compel buses to park at bus bays where such bays happen to be. In many instances, though, bus bays are occupied in illegal manner by individuals having nothing to do with bus services. A rigorous application of the law is thus necessary here. At the same time, more bus bays must be in place as a way of bringing traffic movement in line with public expectations. That said, there is the matter of the thousands of less than road worthy or dilapidated vehicles, pushed off the streets soon after the imposition of emergency last year, coming back into business with no one to check them. These vehicles, responsible for pollution as well as holding out the threat of major accidents because of their conditions, must be ordered off the streets again if the rearranged bus routes are to have a chance of working out.
Since road traffic goes beyond the issue of buses, a broader look at the situation becomes important. Altogether 87,000 licences have been issued for the plying of rickshaws in Dhaka city. The actual reality is that no fewer than 5,00,000 rickshaws ply on the roads. Without question, there is a need to regulate the number of these vehicles. All said and done, an urgency-driven comprehensive strategy relating to combating traffic gridlocks is now a pressing need.
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