Interview: Dr. Md. Hadiuzzaman
Public transport system in the hands of evil gangs
ড. মো. হাদিউজ্জামানToday's paper: According to the World Traffic Index-2023 published by the international research institute 'Nambio', Dhaka is ranked fifth in the world as a city of traffic congestion. It was ninth in 2021. The situation is getting worse day by day. What is the reason?
Dr. Md. Hadiuzzaman: According to Nambio research, our traffic situation is getting worse, there is no denying it. The first and foremost reason is that our road management is not done in any scientific manner. The number of vehicles on the road in Dhaka city is increasing every day. This required accounting. We do not take into account the capacity of the road and the number of vehicles that need to be driven. At the same time, the average speed of vehicular movement is constantly decreasing. According to a 2005 study, the average speed was 21 kilometers per hour. It has decreased to 8 km in 2017. It is clear from this that the heartbeat of Dhaka city roads is slowly decreasing. Because the number of vehicles has increased four-five times than the capacity of the road. Because when it goes beyond capacity, it is no longer under control.
We always talk about the poor planning of this city, but there is also a huge weakness in management. Both side land and traffic management interactions are needed with city roads. But high-rise buildings are being built uncontrollably along our roads. Due to the lack of land management along with the road, the road has become like a short circuit. However, land management is no longer available. But the car can be controlled. The building is directly connected to the main road. Nowhere in the world is a road network built like this. Road management in developed countries of the world is conducted in a scientific manner. And we are in a dilemma.
Today's newspaper: Dhaka's traffic congestion is increasing day by day, even after mega projects such as Metrorail, Elevated Expressway are done. Where is the main problem?
Dr. Md. Hadiuzzaman: No city in the world has been able to control traffic congestion by just building infrastructure. The most important thing to control traffic congestion is 'Policy'. A policy is needed here. The first policy should be to control the number of vehicles. It is very important to control it. When the number of cars exceeds the capacity of the road, infrastructure alone cannot reduce congestion. For example, recently the elevated expressway was partially opened. The road below the expressway is slow and the speed above it is 60-80 kmph.
In developed countries of the world, expressways are connected to expressways or highways. This is a scientific rule. And we connected the expressway with a lower five kilometer speed road. When 60-80 km speed is connected with 5 km speed, there will be short circuit. Now it is seen that where the traffic signal is, there is a jam
. So the policy needed to be how to increase the speed of the lower road.
We are very interested in big investment again. Where investment is high, our focus is high. Management is very important for lower roads. Since there is no investment, there is not much interest in these aspects among our policy makers.
Speeding down the road is not impossible. Firstly, illegal and scattered parking is a poison for all of them. Studies have shown that 30 percent of traffic congestion is caused by illegal parking. Do 18 cars run together on the same road in any city in the world? Like fast and slow, heavy and light, horse-carts, vans and carts—all moving on the same road. If these were brought under the rules, the non-motorized vehicles would be removed from the main road and poured into the side roads through a plan, then the speed of the road would be increased to a large extent.
The 5 percent of people who use the elevated expressway rush to the lower road, causing heavy traffic. Because of them most of the people are facing problems.
Again, most of the people on the lower roads are completely dependent on public transport. Their journey is already riddled with many ironies. And there is no minimum service in public transport. There is no seat and they have to go to the office or any other work like bats. It cannot be a philosophy of development. It was logical to build modern infrastructure by increasing the speed of the lower roads.
And where most people travel by public transport, there is no such investment. Much of the investment is being made to benefit the elite, who can go faster with tolls. Because of this, the expressway project is appearing as a 'blow on the curve'.
Mega projects will be needed. But before that there are some stages of development. First, discipline should be brought in footpath management and public transport. Then move to high-capacity and high-speed infrastructure. If these steps are taken upwards, then few people will get this benefit of development. The majority of people are at risk of suffering. So it is not possible to control traffic congestion only with mega projects.
Today's newspaper: Who is actually responsible for the traffic jam?
Dr. Md. Hadiuzzaman: In this case, importance should be given to the transportation management for the common people. It is stated in the 2005 strategic plan. The noisy buses that run in Dhaka city should be removed and buses of good quality and according to the needs of the passengers should be introduced. These should be done in company based management. Why is this happening? And who is preventing them from doing this?
We have various project implementing agencies, their main focus being mega projects. Mega project means mega investment. These again get more publicity in the media. People's attention can be attracted here. Besides, there is a defensive behavior among those who control the bus service here. They have no interest in bringing public transport under control. Because whenever it comes to order, they will not have control over it. There will be no violence by landlords and transport syndicates. As a result, they do not want to change this situation in any way.
4 to 4.5 thousand public transports are running in Dhaka city every day. And the owners of these vehicles are about two thousand. Public transport is not operated like this in any country in the world.
According to our strategic plan, public transport must be managed through four-five companies. It must be in a root-based, scientific manner. Now these things are going on here by big leaders and transport syndicates. Their aim is to trade with it for life once they get a route permit. Because if someone wants to drive a bus on that route, they have to drive under him. It's big business. No investment is required here.
So thinking of people, policy makers must do bus route franchising and bus route rationalization; Which is an excellent model of bus management all over the world. If we want to build a mass transit friendly communication system for the masses, then I don't know any other option. Thus it is not possible to control passenger service or traffic congestion with 'fragmented ownership'.
Today's newspaper: What is your advice to make the city free of traffic jams?
Dr. Md. Hadiuzzaman: To make the city free from traffic jams, it is most important to bring order to the sidewalks and public transport. It is a matter of political will. Our public transport system is in the hands of a great vicious circle. This vicious circle must be broken first. There is no alternative. The main disease of the road is political. It is not a technical problem. It has to be solved with political patronage.
Those who are actually in various committees to take decisions related to public transport are the owners of public transport. When we form committees for decision-making, representation of public transport passengers is of course more important. In many cases they have no representation. They have no representation in determining fares or routes. This representation must be created first.
If you want to bring good quality public transport facilities like London in Dhaka city, only 8-10 thousand crores of investment is needed for this. Besides, 3-4 thousand crore rupees will be needed to make the footpaths pedestrian friendly and environment friendly. Overall, if we invest Rs 14,000 crore, it is possible to make a paradigm shift in public transport. It is a small amount compared to the mega projects in which mega investments have been made. So why is the government doing so little investment?
Determining the number and route of public transport is a technical problem in many countries but for us it is a political problem. So the government has to break this vicious cycle. By doing this, the image of the government will be brighter.
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