Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
- Introduction
Bangladesh is a very densely populated low lying country with 123 million inhabitants living in an area of 147 570 sq. km. Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, has a population of over 10 million with a growth rate of 8% per annum. Road transport plays an important role in Bangladesh. It has achieved a significant growth in the road transport sector over the past twenty years. Presently the length of roads is about 271,000 kilometers (km), including about 21,000 km of major roads; 2,835 route km of railways; 3,800 km of perennial waterways (which increases to 6,000 km during the monsoon) and the ports of Mongla and Chittagong; and three international airports (Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet) and eight domestic airports . Road transport has turned out to be the most dominant mode in carriage of passenger and freight traffic in recent years. The number of registered motor vehicles on road increased steadily by 62% over the last decade from 3 39 448 in 1990 to 5 51 011 in 2000. The motor vehicle composition on roads is characterized as motorcycles 46%,motor cars 14%; trucks 12%; baby taxis 12%;buses/minibuses 9%, and others 7%. Despite phenomenal growth in the number of motor vehicles the country’s transport demand is still predominantly met by non-motorized modes, particularly rickshaws and its level of motorization is far below the levels in other Asian countries . The present number of rickshaws in Bangladesh could be in the order of 8 00 000. To cater to the growing demand of road transport, the major road network (national highways, regional roads and feeder roads) increased from 14 949 km to 21 174 km in 2000. Pedestrians are involved in about 70% of road accidents.
Approximately 1.3 million people die each year and nearly 3,500 people die on the world’s roads every day. Tens of millions of people are injured or disabled every year and between 20 and 50 million sustain non-fatal injuries. The Global status report on road safety is the first broad assessment of the road safety situation in 178 countries, using data drawn from a standardized survey. The results show that road traffic injuries remain an important public health problem, particularly for low-income and middle-income countries. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists make up almost half of those killed on the roads, highlighting the need for these road users to be given more attention in road safety program .
Traffic jam always poses negative externality upon the society. It poses severe threat to the economy as well as to the environment. In 1997, the annual country wise Economic Wastage occasioned by Traffic jam was $75 million. Since Dhaka City has large share of the total vehicles of the whole country, we can say that most of this jam occurred in Dhaka. And now, in the year of 2014, the wastage will be definitely higher; because the vehicles of this city, not the roads, are increasing significantly each year.
1.2 Transport Situation of The Capital of Bangladesh
Once known for its beautiful natural setting and charming lifestyle, the city of Dhaka today offers a lamentable spectacle of environmental degradation. Polluted air, unsafe water, free flowing fumes and dust, deafening noise, breath-stopping filth and many other forms of negative impacts of pollution on this city are posing serious habitation threats. Demographic explosion coupled with enormous opportunities created by administrative and economic developments in the last few decades have not only propelled a massive agglomeration of people in this city but expansively urbanized its periphery as well.
Dhaka is one of the fast growing metropolitan cities with a highly dense and increasing population in the world. Haphazard urban expansion with a minimum attention to the living environment has been the most common scenario here and existing transportation system has become hazardous for the entire city system due to its inherent transport as well as road network deficiencies. Although, the city mainly depends on road-based transportation system, the amount of road network is far apart from the minimum requirements. Only 9 percent of roadways and 6 percent of pavement area is available, in which 62 km functional primary and 108 km secondary and 221 km connector road serve the city transport service. It is evaluated that bus service plays the dominant role in providing public transport facilities (58 % passenger by only 8% trip) but lack of proper land use and transport planning, uncontrolled development and due to post planning approach; about half of the area do not have the bus service facilities.
Traffic congestion is the major problems for most of the Asian major cities. The problem of traffic congestion make life miserable in Dhaka city, the capital of Bangladesh, causing threat to economic loss as well. The study is based on secondary information and aims to explore the existing public transport situation of the city, major transport problems and their causes, and policy failures of government to combat congestion. Dhaka is perhaps the only city of its size (over 9 million populations in 2000 sq km} without a well-organized bus system or other mass public transport. Like previous decades, if appropriate policy measure for public transport is not taken at government level to tackle the large amount of travel demand (24 million projected population by 2021), it will be disaster for the city. Among the various causes of congestion, the mix of fast moving vehicles with slow moving non-motorized vehicles is the major one. It was also found that the failure of appropriate government policy in different times also encouraged congestion. The study found rapid bus transit is the most suitable form of public transport for the city and in-time appropriate policy decision and proper implementation for promoting public transport can reduce congestion.
1.2.1 Urban Transport in Bangladesh
Transportation facilities are a fundamental need in modern societies. Therefore the provision of a transport system that the majority can benefit from is a requirement. Transport contributes to economic growth but also to problems such as traffic congestion, air pollution, accidents and a number of other side effects. Today the basic need of access and mobility is badly provided for in Dhaka. Family members of lower income households need to make long and dangerous walks daily. Almost 50 percent of the population is poor and approximately 60 percent of them use walking as their main mode of transport. To begin with today’s traffic congestion, insecurity and misuse of street space poses serious threats to urban development. Lack of relevant measures and firm decisions to cope with the complexity of traffic has created chaotic conditions. Different types of modes using the same road space characterize traffic environment. Delays have tripled in the last three years. Inadequate traffic management, conflict of jurisdictions, poor coordination among organizations and increasing air pollution are some other main problems. Dhaka is perhaps the only city of its size that almost totally lacks bus transport with reasonable capacity, let alone other form of mass transport system. Today, public transport based on a multitude of private operators has grown out of control. The combination of a large number of slow-moving cycle rickshaws, approximately some 600.000 and an increasing number of motorized three wheeler auto rickshaws create serious problems. These vehicles fight for street space and negotiate constantly with cars, buses and pedestrians.
It is likely that the problem will grow even worse considering the still low levels of motor vehicles per thousand inhabitants. According to a survey made it is estimated that the number of motor vehicles in Dhaka is 240 000 which means that there are about 30 motor vehicles per 1000 inhabitants. This can be compared to almost 700 per 1000 inhabitants in the US. So far only 3 percent of trips are made by cars. The majority of the inhabitants are poor but the economy is growing by approximately 4 percent per year.
This growth will surely be reflected in a growing fleet of private vehicles in Dhaka as in most other sites. Still, the majority of people will continue to travel by public transport or walk. In 2004 almost 89 percent of trips in Dhaka were undertaken by walking, rickshaw or bus (STPP). According to Fjellstrom 2004, 60 percent are on foot. The need for transport options is reflected in the increasing fleet operated by minor entrepreneurs. Deteriorating traffic conditions have prompted several popular public campaigns to find urgent solutions. Women and urban poor are particularly and severely disadvantaged in accessing the existing facilities due to extreme over-crowded buses. Bus drivers simply do not let them on the bus.
1.4 Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC)
The transport Problems jeopardize the ability of the transport sector to sustain economic growth and contribute to reasonable quality of life. Congestion and air pollution can be said to be today’s main problems in bangladesh uraban area. The Government has taken important steps to improve the quality of air by banning the two-stroke engine auto-rickshaws from the central parts to the suburban areas and by promoting high capacity public transport. In 2003 a contract was signed between the Asian Development Bank, ADB, and the Government of Bangladesh, the Ministry of Energy. It stipulates that the ADB will finance 300 CNG buses and that the diesel buses should be eventually phased out. The required CNG infrastructure would be built and operated by private operators. Today 100 standard buses out of an estimated 7100 large buses, minibuses and microbuses run on CNG or equal to 1,5 percent of the vehicle fleet. In order to improve the conditions a number of different measures could be taken such as the separation of various traffic modes, introduction of bus lanes and other ways to increase the efficiency of the use of street space. Other possible actions include improved drainage, sidewalks and to banish garbage impeding on access for pedestrians and vehicles. Improvement of road safety is part of poverty reduction and promoting gender. There seem to be a special need to decrease road vulnerability for girl children and women since they suffer from injuries and fatalities. Their modes of trips are dangerous. Road safety could be improved by measures such as the introduction of luminous tags increasing pedestrian visibility, lowering speed in some places, drinking and driving information and drivers training.
Chapter 2
TRANSPORT SYSTEM AND IT USES
Road transportation dominates the transport systems providing passenger services and transportation of commodities in the urban area. Road transport system is the main means for carrying passengers and commodities within the city. Rail and water transport systems are mainly used by commuters and for transporting commodities. By virtue of being surrounded by the rivers, water transport played significant role in early age both inside and periphery of the urban areas. Navigability in the dry season has deteriorated over the years due to urbanization and siltation in the riverbed. However, in the monsoon season water transport is playing a significant role in transporting commodities and passengers.
2.1 Types of Vehicles operating in the City and its Growth
The metropolitan area of the city has several precincts – old city, newly developed areas, developing areas, satellite towns etc. with their own characteristics including social and cultural tradition and income disparity. These lead to a variation of demand (or transport services and subsequently prolife rate different types of vehicles. The bottom income group mostly depends on the low cost transportation including non-motorized vehicles.
The development of mass transit was limited to bus operation, which has failed to cope with the rapidly increasing demand for transportation in the metropolis. The government own public transport (bus operation) deteriorated steadily both in quality and quantity since its formation in the pre-independence era because of management and maintenance problems. The private sector bus operators also were unable to provide required public transport facilities due to fragmentation of ownership, lack of coordinated control, poor maintenance, traffic congestion, and excessive overcrowding etc. causing undue wear and tear and premature failure.
In order to meet growing transport demand of the middle-income and low-income group of the metropolis, both motorized and non-motorized Para transit as an inevitable alternative proliferated in the city. Auto-rickshaw, two-stroke three-wheeler, with seating capacity of 3 passengers rapidly expanded in 1980s and Tempo with 8-10 seating capacity came into operation in the latter half of the decade. In the first half of 1990s, Tempo mode expanded rapidly at the rate of more than 100 percent per annum and the expansion of the three-wheeler Auto-rickshaw operation become slower. With further growth of population including floating population and sprawling of the city with increased commercial activities and growth of secondary and tertiary industries, the demand for transport was accelerating at a very high rate while the public transport system (bus operation) could hardly be developed. In this context, Para-transit penetrated deeply and quickly in the public transport system. A convoy of small passenger vehicles, four-stroke four-wheeler, with passenger capacity ranging from 10 to 15 started coming in operation from the beginning of the last decade.
The economically well off city dwellers have their own vehicles including car, jeep, station wagon, microbus as means of their transportation. It is revealed from the transport registration department that on an average about 5000 cars and 1600 microbuses per annum are entering into city. There is a declining trend of registration of Auto-rickshaw and Tempo in the metropolis due to discouraging policy of the government.
Number Of Registered Motor Vehicles In Bangladesh (Yearwise)
Serial no Type of Vehicles Upto-2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Jan-14 Grand
Total
1 Ambulance 2506 287 219 181 243 37 3473
2 Auto Rickshaw 108436 18327 20423 23545 15697 1247 187675
3 Auto Tempo 13977 289 175 626 395 10 15472
4 Bus 26016 1762 1761 1439 1107 62 32147
5 Cargo Van 2911 611 489 282 687 142 5122
6 Covered Van 3760 1898 2354 1421 2271 256 11960
7 Delivery Van 15564 1499 1004 774 894 63 19798
8 Human Hauler 5846 674 1152 715 385 9 8781
9 Jeep(Hard/Soft) 8781 2124 2134 1569 1314 117 37420
10 Microbus 59404 6975 4051 3044 2537 215 76226
11 Minibus 24749 895 276 249 148 12 26329
12 Motor Cycle 650147 109110 114616 101588 85808 8956 1070225
13 Pick Up
(Double/Single Cabin) 23273 8967 10460 7625 6553 549 57427
14 Private Passenger
Car 196870 22960 12950 9224 10472 893 253369
15 Special Purpose
Vehicle 5900 471 396 226 227 25 7245
16 Tanker 2379 327 317 195 226 14 3458
17 Taxicab 44361 19 75 172 51 7 44685
18 Tractor 16855 3745 5200 3494 1885 59 31238
19 Truck 73336 9535 7327 4335 5129 574 100236
20 Others 934 383 7 1 1080 111 2516
TOTAL 1307386 190858 185386 160705 137109 13358 1994802
Source: BRTA-2013
2.2 Consumption of Fuels
A survey on fuel consumption by the small passenger vehicles operating in the Dhaka city has been carried out during the month of June and July 2002 by South South North project. The survey has been carried out on 171 small passenger vehicles having different brand names such as Tempo, Maxi, Navana, Laguna etc., with different seating capacities ranging from 12 to 16 passengers. The survey result revealed that some of the small passenger vehicles are gasoline driven and some are diesel driven. The average fuel consumption per kilometer varies with the types of vehicles ranging from 4.5 to 9.0 km/litre.
2.3 Utilization of Capacity
It was found that the seating capacity utilization of small passenger vehicles varies from about 70 to 85 percent. The small passenger vehicle “Niloy” has reported the highest utilization of its capacity, which is about 86 percent.
2.4 Road transport
There has been a dramatic expansion of road network all over the country in recent years. In 1947 there were only 461.8 kilometers of metal led roads. In 1997, the total length of paved road under the Roads and Highways Department stood at more than 20,000 kilometers. The road transport carries about 70% of the country’s total passenger and cargo. Bangladesh is a reverie country. So in past days, main transportation was through water. But in recent years, Construction of a number of important bridges over the mighty rivers such as the Bangabandhu Jamuna Bridge, Meghna Bridge. Meghna-Gumti Bridge, Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge, Shambhuganj Bridge and Mahananda Bridge have been completed. The 4.8 km long Bangabandhu Bridge is the eleventh longest in the world over the Jamuna River. It has established a strategic link between the East and the West of Bangladesh. Especially north Bengal is now strongly connected with the main stream of the country. It is faci1itating transmission of electricity, natural gas and the telecommunication links. The Rates of Road transport in Bangladesh is one of the cheapest in the world. The Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) also maintains a countrywide network of bus services, Dhaka – Calcutta – Dhaka direct daily bus services via Benapole, Jessore.
2.5 Bangladesh Railway
Bangladesh Railway, a principle transportation agency of the country, is a Government –owned and Government –managed organization. It covers a length of 2,855 route kilometers employing a total of 34,168 regular employees. As railway is a very important mode of inland transport, linking the entire length and breadth of the country, it’s healthy grow naturally contributes to the economic development of the country.
2.6 Water Ways
About two-thirds of Bangladesh has a dense network of rivers, canals and creeks. Water transport is the only way in nearly 10% of the country. The waterways vary from 8372 kilometer during the monsoon to 5200 kilometer during the dry season. State-owned BIWTC provide passenger and cargo services in waterways within the main land and coastal areas of the country. There are two major sea ports in Bangladesh. Chittagong, the oldest port( at least 1000 years) and The Mongla port in Khulna region. The country has also communication between the mainland and islands by waterways. Because of Bangladesh’s many rivers, ferries are a major form of transportation.These ferries carry people and cargo. Many types of traditional country made boats are also used for transportation. The landscape ofBangladesh is dominated by about 250 rivers and so these carry passengers and merchandise on a large scale. Journey by Steamer from Dhaka (Sadarghat) to Khulna Sundarbans will be a rocky experience.
2.7 Airways
Bangladesh can be reached by air from any part of the world. The national flag carrier Biman ofBangladesh flies to 26 international and 8 domestic destinations. Biman Bangladesh airlines connected Dhaka with 27 major cities of the world. They are- London, Muscat, Dhahran, Baghdad, Kuwait, Yangoon, Bangkok, Mumbai, Calcutta, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Karachi, Kathmandu, Kualalumpur, Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Athens, Rome, Tripoli, Tokyo, Singapore, Baharin, Frankfurt, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Sarjah, Seoul, Riyadh and Delhi. Biman, Bangladesh Airlines also connected Dhaka with major cities of Bangladesh, Chittagong, Jessore, Cox’s Bazar, Rajshahi Saidpur and Sylhet in its 7 domestic routes.There are total 11 airports in Bangladesh.These are Dhaka, Barisal, Chittagomig.Comilla, Cox’s Bazar, Ishurdi, Jessore, Rajshahi, Syedpur, Sylhet and Thakurgaon.
2.8 Local Transport
Bangladesh has an amazing range of vehicles – on any highway you can see buses, cars, trucks, rickshaws, baby taxis, tempos (oversized auto-rickshaws), tractors with trays laden with people, motorbikes, scooters, bicycles carrying four people, bullock and water-buffalo carts, and bizarre home-made vehicles all competing for space. One local favourite in rajshahi division is a sort of minitractor powered by incredibly noisy irrigation pump motors.
In Dhaka and Chittagong motorised transportation has increased tremendously over the last 10 years, and traffic jams in Central Dhaka are a nightmare. The problem continues to be due more to rickshaws than cars, and Dhaka has to be the only place on the planet where you can get caught up in a snarling hour-long traffic jam consisting entirely of rainbow-coloured bicycles and cycle-rickshaws.
What freaks out new arrivals the most is the total chaos that seems to pervade the streets, with drivers doing anything they please and pedestrians being the least of anybody’s worries. Accidents do happen and sometimes people are killed, but the odds of your being involved are still fairly slim.
Where possible it can be wise to negotiate fares beforehand to avoid hassles at the other end, though you will be surprised at how often people don’t overcharge you on principle. If you are hassled, a good strategy is to keep the discussion going long enough for a crowd to form, which won’t be long. This crowd of strangers is something of a people’s court, and more often than not is an impressively fair adjudicator. Once deliberations are over and the court has handed down its verdict, the honourable thing for both parties to do is graciously acquiesce.
2.8.1 Baby taxi
In Bangladesh three-wheeled auto-rickshaws are called baby taxis. As with the rickshaw-wallahs, baby-taxi drivers almost never own their vehicles. They’re owned by powerful fleet-owners called mohajons, who rent them out on an eight-hour basis. Also like rickshaws, they’re designed to take two or three people, but entire families can and do fit.
In Dhaka and Chittagong baby taxis are everywhere – most people use these instead of regular taxis. Faster and more comfortable than rickshaws on most trips, baby taxis cost about twice as much. You’ll also find them at Dhaka and Chittagong airports and they charge less than half the taxi fare, but the ride into town from either airport is long and not ideal after a tiring long-haul flight. Outside of these two metropolises, baby taxis are much rarer. In towns such as Rangpur, Dinajpur and Barisal they virtually don’t exist.
2.8.2 Tempo
This is a larger version of a baby taxi, with a cabin in the back. Tempos run set routes, like buses, and while they cost far less than baby taxis, they’re more uncomfortable because of the small space into which the dozen or so passengers are squeezed. On the other hand, they’re a lot faster than rickshaws and as cheap or cheaper. Outside Dhaka and Chittagong they’re a lot more plentiful than baby taxis – you will find them even in relatively small towns.
Chapter 3
PROBLEM OF THE TRANSPORT
In this chapter I discuss the problem as problems of the capital of Bangladesh and others problem about transportation as accident, transport crisis, environmental pollution and the policy assessment of the problem.
3.1 Problem Of The Capital city Of Bangladesh
Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh with current population of 17 million has been growing at astonishing levels since the independence. Its metropolitan area is home to almost 15 million people in an area of 1,528 km² (about 17 million in the Greater Dhaka).
The rapid urbanization process, high vehicular population growth and that of the mobility, inadequate transportation facilities and policies, varied traffic mix with over concentration of non-motorized vehicles, absence of dependable public transport system and inadequate traffic management practices have created a significant worsening of traffic and environmental problems in the metropolitan Dhaka. Road traffic congestion continues to remain a major problem and indeed is deteriorating rapidly resulting in massive losses.
Following picture is showed a transport problem in Dhaka city for growing people:
There are several category people live in Dhaka city. For their requirement vehicle are not available. These are low level, mid-level & high level income people. It is urged that Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has been seen as a “creative, emerging public transit solution” which can be cost-effective in addressing urban congestion.
Naturally in view of shortage of space I shall endeavor to present those rather briefly.
3.1.1 Nature of Transport Problem
In order to judge the nature of transport problem as experienced in Dhaka city we shall categories various aspects of the problem in the following headlines :
(a) Problem faced by all types of people in reaching destination within walking limit,
(b) Problem faced by the low income people in reaching destination requiring vehicle,
(c) Problem faced by the mid-income people in reaching destination requiring vehicle,
(d) Problem faced by the high-income people in reaching destination requiring vehicle.
- Problem faced by All Types of People
The problems faced by all types of people in reaching the destination within walking limit are the following
Footpath
In any city footpaths are the prime, first and most essential mode of movement. For rapidly increase people in Dhaka city but there is no situation to walk footpath in Dhaka city. In emergencies like fire incident, earthquake etc., when vehicles rather madly run in the roads, footpaths is the only mode of movement for the people. For that people of Dhaka city face problem to walk in footpath and for this reason people are constrained to walk in main road. It congested road for both of people & transport vehicle. The city authorities have shown unpardonable irresponsibility in maintaining the footpath. In some cases the authorities whose responsibility was to keep the footpath walk-able, themselves have created obstruction for selfish interests.
In case of footpath we find the following types of lacking:
(i) Absence of footpath,
(ii) Poor condition and
(iii) Creation of obstruction.
(i) Absence of Footpath
In addition to health reasons, in a city suffering from excessive vehicles the dwellers should be encouraged to walk. For this purpose footpaths with acceptable quality should be provided in all possible cases. The following general policy can be adopted for this purpose:
(ii) Poor Condition
It is needless to describe the poor condition of the footpaths in Dhaka city. So, we better mention the general policy to be adopted for their betterment.
(iii) Creation of Obstruction
At present electric posts, telephone posts, junction boxes etc. create obstruction on the footpath.
Crossing
Dwellers‟ crossing of vehicular roads must be made safe. It can be done by arranging zebra-cross marking and construction foot over-bridge at suitable locations. In the present situation the following policy general may be taken in this regard.
(b) Problem faced by low income people
The major problems faced by the poor people in reaching destination requiring vehicles are the following :
- Inadequate number of vehicle,
- Problem in management,
iii. High-fare,
- Long travel time.
Inadequate Number of Vehicle
The poor people travel mostly in bus, minibus and auto-tempo. Even though the general cause of transport problem in Dhaka city is „excessive vehicles‟, the number of vehicles the poor people use is inadequate. There is however, no inadequacy of vehicles in the city. But the owners create this scarcity because by doing this they can become gainer by carrying more people per vehicle and charging higher fares. For this motorized traffic is growing rapidly, around 300 new motorized vehicles are coming to road every day. The number of registered motorized vehicle grew from problem of the capital city of Bangladesh.
Thus it is a management problem, where the service providers create situations in their favor. The city authorities, whose duty is to look after the welfare of the people, keep mum either because they are bribed or because they lack in the intelligence to understand their fraudulent tricks.We have mentioned what type of people has in higher positions.
It may be mentioned here that the bus-owners have one genuine problem. As soon as there is increase in travel time, there happens increment in their expenses, which they must realize. In the present situation introducing more bus would help in increasing vehicular jam. It is obvious that as soon as the buses would need less travel time, the owners would increase their number and frequency of travel.
Problem in the management
Definitely there lie problems in transport management in Dhaka city. It happened due to black liaison of the trio‟s who are
- Vehicle owners,
- Bureaucrats and
- Elected representatives.
The owners of vehicles are in the habit of earning profit at the cost of anything including traveler‟s problems and they are ready to continue that sharing the extra-earning with the bureaucrats and politicians.
Since there is no system of allocating fund to the political workers for running their activities, the politicians usually collect the same from the law-breakers (in this case, the vehicle owners), who earn additional profit by such violations. In most cases the bureaucrats are infamous for their readiness to accept bribe and for having low level of intelligence. In addition, some of them have been found to act as medium in between the two other parties for selfish gain.
In the present context of vehicular jamming, any new policy in the above field is meaningless
High-fare
The fare charged by various vehicles is determined on the basis of a number of factors. However, in Bangladesh three major tendencies work in its finalization . These are:
- The owners try to make the fair as high as possible,
- The passengers expect it to be low as possible and
- The elected members and bureaucrat administrators try to intervene, where they expect to have some share from additional increase.
At times the authorities in collusion with the vehicle owners arrange inadequate number of vehicles, such that the owners/drivers can increase fare by taking the scope of scarcity.
Long travel time
Travel time increases if:
- There is less intra-vehicular distance,
- If the vehicle‟s motion is interrupted due to frequent stoppage and right-hand turn etc.
The only means of increasing intra-vehicular distance in the present situation, where there is no scope of widening the road is decreasing the number of vehicles or decrease their appearances on road.
The city authorities must take other steps to lessen the travel time of the public transports.
(c) Problems Faced by Mid-Income People
The vehicles the middle income people use are taxi-cab, CNG scooter and bus. Major problems faced by them in reaching distant destinations are :
(i) inadequate number of vehicles,
(ii) High fare,
(iii) Long travel time,
(iv) Less comfort and
(v) Lack of the accountability of the drivers.
(i) Inadequate Number of Vehicle
The vehicles that the middle income people usually use are taxi, CNG-scooter etc. At present there remains tremendous crisis of these vehicles. It is a matter of common sense that the fare would increase with less availability of the vehicles. It is now a open secret what made the previous government to drive away the huge number of petrol driven scooters (baby-taxi) and to replace those with inadequate number of CNG scooters.
(ii) High Fare
The increase of fare is the resultant of inadequate number of vehicles in a city with ever increasing demand of vehicles.
(iii) Long Travel Time
In addition to bus, the two types of vehicles mentioned above and used frequently by the middle income people also cannot move with usual velocity because of vehicular jamming and propensity of right-hand turns. Policy no. 05 mentioned earlier is capable of taking care of this situation.
(iv) Less Comfortable
There is enough scope of improving the body of the CNG scooters with glass doors, suspended fans, comfortable seats etc.
(v) Lack of Accountability of Drivers
Sometimes the passengers and most of the time the parents cannot rely on the drivers of the vehicles because of lack accountability of the drivers. There is no way to be sure if the driver of the bus would slip way immediately after accident, the CNG driver would hijack the children or the taxi driver would pull out arms.
(d) Problem Faced by High-Income People
The vehicles the higher income people use in reaching destination at distance are private car, jeep or micro-bus . The problems they face in travel are:
(i) Increased running and maintenance cost due to lesser effective velocity of the vehicle and
(ii) Long travel time.
Both of these factors are associated with road-jamming caused by excessive number of vehicles.
Another problem we face regular which is free-oil vehicle (rickshaw, auto-rickshaw etc.). But we feel comfort to travel. This causes the free-oil transport are increased day by day. For this reason this vehicle enters to main road and move away as a randomly as people‟s required
3.2 Road Accident
Road accident is a global trauma and like many other countries in the world Bangladesh also suffers a great deal due to road accidents every year. With the growth of motorization, urbanization and hence number of road users, the number of accidents and fatalities on road are increasing with the passage of time. Proper and rational rates of accidents and corresponding trends are required to understand or judge the situation accordingly.
An accident is an unexpected occurrence of physical damage to animate inanimate structure. Road accident in particular is now acknowledged to be a global phenomenon with authorities in virtually all countries of the world concerned about the growth in the number of people killed and seriously injured on their roads. In 1990, road accidents as a cause of death or disability were by no means insignificant, lying in ninth place out of a total of over 100 separately identified causes (WHO 1999). However, by the year 2020 forecasts suggest that as a cause of death, road accidents will move up to sixth place. In case of Bangladesh, the number of accidents and fatalities are on road are also stepping up with the passage of time. But all these comparisons are based only on numbers. Severity and fatality in road accidents demand extra attention in addition to numbers as it is a complex combination and interaction of different road user, vehicular, environmental, road and roadside factors.
There has been an alarming rise in road accidents, significantly highway accidents, in Bangladesh over the past few years. According to a study conducted by the Accident Research Centre (ARC) of BUET, road accidents claim on average 12,000 lives annually and lead to about 35,000 injuries. According to World Bank statistics, annual fatality rate from road accidents is found to be 85.6 fatalities per 10,000 vehicles. Hence, the roads in Bangladesh have become deadly!
A high growth in urbanization and motorization can be identified as one of the factors leading to the higher number of road accidents. Recent studies claim that the annual urban growth rate in Bangladesh stood at 4% in 2010, whereas the present growth in motor vehicles stands at 8%. Consequently, the road systems are experiencing greater congestion, physical deterioration and safety problems. According to a WB report, only 40% of the main roads (National Highways and the Zila Roads) are in good state.
Table: Reported road accident trends in Bangladesh (2007-2011)
Year Total of accidents Death Serious Injury Simple Injury Total casualty
2007 4869 3749 2734 539 7022
2008 4427 3765 2720 564 7049
2009 3381 2958 2223 463 5644
2010 2827 2646 1389 414 4449
2011 2863 2836 1465 485 4386
Source-BRTA
Road traffic accidents have now become a great social concern in Bangladesh and the situation is deteriorating. According to THE ACCIDENT RESEARCH INSTITUTE (ARI), the annual economic wastage occasioned by traffic accidents is estimated to be in the order of 2 to 3 percent of the GDP. Each year, there are at least 3,000 fatalities and 3,000 grievous and simple injuries from around 3,500 police reported accidents on Bangladesh roads. Other sources estimated the fatalities as high as from 12,000 to 20,000 per year. Thus, the safety problem is very severe by international standards with some 60 to 150 fatalities per10,000 motor vehicles in Bangladesh compared to around 25, 16, 2 and 1.4 in India, Silence, the USA and UK respectively.
Motor vehicle ownership has increased steadily in Bangladesh, at present it is about 2 to 10 vehicles per 1,000 persons. However, despite large growth in the number of motor vehicles, the country’s transport demand is still predominantly met by non-motorized modes, particularly walk and rickshaws, and its level of motorization is still far below compared to the levels of other countries, such as around 12, 25, 426 and 765 motor vehicles per 1,000 persons for India, Silence, UK and the USA respectively. Such growths together with other complementary urban hazards have resulted in substantial road traffic safety problems.
3.2.2 Overcrowding on Buses
The buses of Dhaka are bursting at their seams with passengers, with travelers filling every available space in the aisles, and forced to hang out the door frames in the most extreme conditions. This not only is a comfort issue for many passengers but also affects the safety level at which the buses operate. For many passengers the link between crowding and safety is strong, with some feeling not only less comfortable but also less safe amongst their co-passengers during crowded conditions (Cleland and Thompson 2000). In a report about the ergonomics of bus riding, Yogi describes how passengers are able to handle the crowded conditions, but tolerance for such conditions decrease after a certain threshold. Passengers on an overcrowded ticket bus hang out the door, grasping the doorframe to stay on. Being crowded independently increase, passengers reach a point where they are perplexingly discomforted (1979). In Dhaka this can be a serious issue because traffic jams are prevalent. As the bus sits in traffic, the amount of passengers walking past and boarding the bus increases, while concurrently passengers are enduring long waits under these increasingly crowded conditions.
It is a matter of great regret that most of the middle class people of Dhaka city have been suffering from acute transportation shortage.
The public buses are too congested and limited in number that the people are in a real trap. It’s time to take immediate measures to overcome this problem as all citizens have the right to have a hassle free safe journey. There may be some bureaucratic problems while planning for this massive change but the government policymakers must have watched the buses while crossing the roads with flags in their cars.
3.3 Transport Crisis
Management Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh contains 12 million populations within 2,000 sq, k.m. land area. Transport environment of the city is characterized by traffic congestion and delays, inadequate traffic, public transport crisis, unaffordable and inaccessible public transport for many people, high accident rates, and increasing air pollution problems (DUTP, 2011). The crisis in public transport is largely the result of growing concentration of population and economic activities, and inadequate public transport systems. The population of Dhaka City grew at an annual rate of 6.4 % whilst the vehicle population grew even faster, at an estimated rate of 8.9 % per year between 2003 and 2010 (ESMAP, 2011), However, the projected population of the city is to be about 16 million by the year 2015 and around 24 million by 2021 (DDC, 2011); will make the situation more critical if appropriate measures are not taken to tackle the increasing travel demand. The paper is based on secondary information and the required information has been collected from related journals, published and unpublished materials of different agencies. The purpose of this research is to explore the transport crisis of the city and how the crisis situation could be solved. The study also further examines to come up with some guidelines for sufficient transport supply and whether the bus rapid transit (BRT) system is possible to solve the transport crisis of the city.
Transport Crisis in Dhaka City
The transport problems of the city have recently reached in a crisis situation; streets are choked with traffic, inadequate and overcrowded buses, and poor public transport service. Bus speed reduces to less than 10 km per hour because of mix-traffic flow, uncontrolled number of rickshaw and baby-taxi and their indiscriminate operations. Usually taxi and baby-taxi are reluctant to go for shorter distance or certain areas of
the city and to use meter for charging. Beside these, absence of a good scheduled bus system or other mass transport, inadequate sidewalks and pedestrian facilities, absence of road signs and markings, general lack of regard for traffic regulations, weak institutional arrangement for planning, modes and sub-modes act independently of each other, and very small bus fleet size are also the common problems. The poor institutional and regulatory framework, reluctance to enforce existing legislation, and lack of enforcement reduce the capacity of existing roads (DMDP, 2010). Further, the road hierarchy is poorly established and most new development is taking place without any coherent road system. Traffic congestion and air pollution are the major problems of Dhaka City. Mixed traffic flow, poor driver behaviors and road blockage by haphazard parking, insufficient transport capacity and insufficient operation are the major causes of congestion (DDC, 2010). As there is no proper parking place, cars parked on busy streets occupying much of the carriage way. Inadequate traffic management, inefficient road use, and poor operating conditions waste up to 50 % capacity of the roads (BCL, 2010). Slow moving vehicles such as rickshaws, ply with fast moving automobiles, getting in their way and forcing them to slow down. Buses stop illegally wherever they feel they can pick up a few people and pedestrians cross busy streets blocking the movement of vehicles behind them or bringing them to a complete halt.
Vehicle type wise increase in 2011
Source:- BRTA (Bangladesh Road Transport Authority2011).
Among the transport modes, bus is the most effective and economic mode of public transport in terms of energy consumption per passenger and per passenger km basis. Dhaka is one of the least motorized cities in the world with a total of 383,000 or approximately 30 motorized vehicles per 1,000 population, of which almost 70 %-80 % are old and defective (BRTA, 2011, DDC, 2010). Despite the very small number of motorized vehicles, Dhaka is one of the most polluted cities in the world because of high vehicular emissions. About 1,000 MT of pollutants are pumped everyday into the air of Dhaka, of which 70 % comes from transport sector. Dhaka City has only around 2500 buses as public transport whilst the current demand is more than 5,000. However, only 1,300 of the existing buses are playing of which less than 200 are of improved quality. Public transport of the city is poor and disorganized with limited coverage (DMDP, 2009). Present public transport problems are the lack of integration between land use and transport system, lack of integration between different modes of transport, and increasing trend of private car. Because of inadequate and disorganized bus service, rickshaw has filled the vacuum and become popular mode among the middle and lower-middle income groups. Almost 600,000 rickshaws are available for hire which accounts more than 60 % of the total vehicles (BRTA, 2011). However, trip cost of rickshaw is significantly expensive than bus or tempo whilst considerably cheaper than the baby-taxi or taxi. Average length of trip on rickshaw and NMT is small compared with the bus and motorized vehicles . Despite the unavailability of information on average trip distance by mode, it is evident that over the year trip length is increasing as the city size is growing. The average work trip has a size of 11 minutes only. Without major transport changes, in future most of the population would live near to workplace (DMDP, 2010). Majority of the trips in Dhaka City are walking and NMT trips. Lots of researcher argued in favor of walking, cycling, and NMT for the health and environmental benefits.
However high dependence on walking and rickshaw in Dhaka is not for these reasons; but for unaffordable and inaccessible bus service. Whatever the reason, there was a significant increase of trips on car, bus, and rickshaw between 1997 and 2003. There is no information available for trips made on walking and others for 2003. Whatever, lack of infrastructure facilities for walking, footpaths encroachment by traders, and consequently safety problems might be the reasons behind the strong decrease of walking. Despite the small number of bus trips, its contribution in passenger km is the highest. As the trip share is very minimal, car is not considered for the comparison of trip and passenger km for different mode in 2010. There were about 45,000 baby-taxi/tempos in 2011, which constitutes 19.5 % of motorized vehicles or more than 75 % of public transport vehicles. However, despite the large share in transport fleet the contribution of baby-taxi/tempo in trip making is only 1.4 % of the total (DUTP, 2011). On the other hand, contribution of bus is 16 % of public transport vehicles and 9.2 % of trips made on public transport.
City Structure and Economical Context
Dhaka’s past growth and present urban configuration have been shaped by the city’s relative susceptibility to flooding (DMDP, 2010). There is a preponderance of mixed use with high densities, a wide scattering of very poor slum areas and squatter settlements. Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP) indicated that transport would play a major role for Dhaka’s growth. Without major transport changes, the future shape of the city will still be constrained by the need of most people to live near to their workplace. Around 53.62 % population of the city is with low income of Tk 5,000 per month (Euro 60 per month) and 22.8 % live below the absolute poverty level (DMDP, 2010). As the majority of the population are poor, any extensive outwards growth of the city will be a burden for their mobility and travel (DMDP, 2010). Dhaka master plan emphasized on integrated transport network plan, improved public transport along with proper pedestrian facilities, improved road intersections and water transport facilities for metro Dhaka. Dhaka integrated transport studies (DITS) also gives priority to expand and upgrade public transport services, most particularly high capacity buses where management measures rank traffic second. Provision of better bus services will produce greater benefits than any other single measure (DMDP, 2010).
5.5 Vehicle Growth Rate
Number of registered vehicles in Dhaka has grown by 60 % from 2005 to 2010 The total number of motorized vehicles of Dhaka City in 2011 became more than double that of in 2005 with an annual growth rate is about 10 % (BRTA, 2008, BCL, 2010;). The rate of vehicle ownership per capita is unlikely to change drastically, though some increase will occur over the next 20 years. As a result, it is anticipated that even though the number of privately owned vehicles may rise, a great part of the population will still remain dependent on public transport modes. A high percentage of poor people might be the reason behind this. Figure 4 reveals a high number of car, baby-taxi, and motorcycle — all with very small passenger carrying capacity; whilst very few buses. Main reason for increasing vehicle ownership and trips are raising incomes, low quality of public transit services, and urban spatial decentralization. As motorcycles in the country are mostly registered only in Dhaka, it shows a high number. Except the bus and minibus, almost all types of vehicle had a high increase over the last ten years. Considering the public transport and private transport mode, during the same period, number of private vehicles had increased and public transport decreased. However, within the public transport, taxi had a dramatic increase whilst bus decreased more than half and a slight increase for minibus. Absence of transport policy to promote public bus service for middle and lower-middle class people is responsible for it. Despite the less contribution in trips and comparatively a very high fare rate, the numbers of baby-taxi are increasing dramatically. Among the motorized vehicles, in 2011, the highest increase (22 %) was for baby-taxi; whilst for bus, which is barely needed for Dhaka, was only 4 %.
Source: BRTA 2011
3.4 Environmental Pollution
Fossil fuel consumption by the road transport sector in Bangladesh shows an increasing trend, with the increase of greenhouse emission. It is found that greenhouse gas emission of the road transport sector has increased on an average 8 per cent per annum from 1995 to 2000. The total greenhouse gas emission of the road transport sector was about 2845 Gg CO2 equivalent and 4050 Gg C02 equivalent in 1995 and 2000 respectively (DOE, 2002).
About 80 percent of car, jeep and station wagon of Bangladesh ply in the Dhaka metropolis. About 60 percent of total auto-rickshaw, tempo and other small passenger vehicles are operating in the Dhaka Metropolis, which is the main mode of transport for low-income and middle-income group.
The automobiles on the roads are often very old, overloaded, and poorly maintained. Other old vehicles, including 40-year old trucks and dilapidated mini-buses, are also plying the city streets emitting smokes and gases.
3.4.1 Greenhouse Gas Emission in Per Passenger Kilometer
The analysis also revealed that the passenger kilometer services provided by the different vehicles vary due to travel distance and capacity utilization. It is revealed that “Navana” is providing highest services in terms of passenger kilometers. It is found that on an average a small passenger vehicle consumes about 13 milliliters fuel for providing a kilometer passenger service, which emits 0.028 kg of greenhouse gases in CO2 equivalent. Table 6 presents vehicle-wise passenger services and fuel consumption in terms of passenger kilometer.
3.5 Policy Assessment
Government Transport Sector Policy
The government’s policy for the transport sector is spelt out in the National Land Transport Policy approved in April 2004. The policy objectives include provision of safe and dependable transport services, and improving the regulatory and legal framework. The policy is designed to play an important role in helping reduce the transport costs of goods for export and in keeping the costs of Bangladeshi goods competitive in the world market. The policy also introduces an integrated multimodal transport system, linking road, rail and water transport.
Integrated Multimodal Transport Policy
It was prepared but has not yet been approved. It is designed to build upon the Land Transport Policy and help in achieving more rational and balanced investments across transport modes and achieve better coordination among them. However, implementation of the transport sector policy has been hampered by the weak institutional framework governing the sector. In particular, achieving a balanced and coordinated transport system has not been possible because the Government does not have a system for coordinating development plans and budgets in a fragmented institutional framework, whereby three ministries and several agencies oversee transport sector policy and development. The institutional set-up to address road safety has not been able to make an impact on the country’s high accident rate
Private-sector participation
In Bangladesh’s transport sector is moderate compared to neighboring countries, in part due to the lack of a regulatory framework and government proactive actions to promote public/private partnerships in transport infrastructure financing and management. Private firms operate road, water and air transport services, but until recently played no part in the ports. It was not until 2007 that a private operator was first awarded a concession to handle cargo in part of Chittagong port, a practice that has become increasingly common in neighboring countries and many emerging economies.
Policy Measures
More recently a great deal of awareness has been created about the adverse effects of vehicular pollution particularly on human health and the economic loses arising from poor transport system including traffic congestion. As a result, the Government has taken initiatives for reducing air pollution through withdrawing two-stroke small passenger vehicles particularly Auto-rickshaw and Tempo. In addition, government is also promoting Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) driven vehicles by creating necessary infrastructure. It is to be noted that the necessary infrastructure for supporting existing CNG driven vehicles are inadequate. There is growing concern
that absence of necessary and adequate infrastructure may create a bad example of a good measure.
Prohibition of import and operation of two-stroke driven vehicles in the metropolis, limiting operation of old buses, and providing of unleaded gasoline are noteworthy policy measures among other initiatives of the government. During July 1999, the GoB executed the decision to provide only unleaded gasoline in the country. According to recent measurements between late 1999 and 2000 by BAEC and Eastern Refinery Ltd (ERL), the gasoline dispensed at pumps in Bangladesh is now confirmedly free of lead (Shah et. al., 1999).
The government stopped two-stroke auto-rickshaw and tempo from plying in Dhaka metropolis on January 2003 to reduce urban air pollution. This initiative has obviously improved urban air quality but does not necessarily reduce the overall emission from the vehicular sector as these vehicles are operating in other parts of the country. It has shifted the pollution load and concentration from one place to all over the country.
Infrastructural Measures
As part of improving air quality and reduce traffic congestion in the city, government is implementing infrastructure improvement project including new traffic signalling, improving bending of road and flyover in the Dhaka metropolis.
Electric Vehicle, the New Technological Measures
The Government of Bangladesh has recently phased out the large fleet of two-stroke auto-rickshaw and tempos from the city. In order to meet transportation demand, there are newly introduced four-stroke three-wheeler and four-wheeler but their number is still small. The effort for expansion of bus services is far behind the ever-increasing transport demand. Besides, withdrawal of rickshaw from the main corridors has been enforced very recently causing a vacuum in the transport system for short distance trips, which is envisaged to be filled by the small passenger’s vehicles. The development of capital-intensive large investment for mass transit like metro, trolley bus, monorail etc is far away in the present scenario of public finance and private entrepreneurship. The operation of small passenger vehicles and steady expansion for a considerable long period of time is therefore inevitable.
Chapter 4
EXISTING LAWS OF BANGLADESH
4.1 The Penal Code, 1860
Causing death by negligence
Whoever causes the death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. (Section 304(a))
Section analysis-. Essential ingredients of this section are
- Death of human being
2 .That the accused caused the death
- That the death was caused by doing of a rash and negligence act through it did not amount to culpable homicide.
The requirement of the section are that the death of any person must have been caused by the accident doing any rush and negligence act. in other words, there must be proof that the rush and negligence act of accused was proximate cause of the death. There must be direct nexus between the death of person and the rush or negligence act of the accused.
In my personal opinion the punishment of this section are less than the quantity of crime.i think if the punishment are became greater by amendent than the fear about negligence are increase and the person who does any act by negligence may be aware and avoid this types of occurrence.
Causing death by rash driving or riding on a public way
Whoever causes the death of any person by rash or negligent driving of any vehicle or riding on any public way not amounting to culpable homicide shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to [ three years], or with fine, or with both [Section 304(B)]
Section analysis-
The factor determined rash and negligence driving are –
- Examination of marks of wheels on the road
- The state of traffic at the relevant time
- The speed of the vehicles
In my personal opinion, the punishment of rush driving is so poor, for that reason the driver drive recklessly without any fear in her mind. If the punishments became rich than the quantity of road accident may be reduce and proper implementation of this section also needed by proper guidance of the authority.
4.2 Railway act, 1890
Maximum number of passengers for each compartment
The railway administration shall fix, subject to the approval of the government, the maximum number of passengers which may be carried in each compartment of every description of carriage, and shall exhibit the number so fixed in a conspicuous manner inside or outside each compartment, in English or in Bengali. (Section 63)
Section analysis-
In that section the main things are mention that the administration will fix the maximum number of passenger who can travel and also will announced this and attached each copartment in both bangla and english language.
But the management of the implement of this section is not proper guadence and the train full of passenger by overloaded and it’s a serious cause of accident.
Reservation of Compartments for Females
(1) One and after the first day of January, 1891, the railway administration shall, in every train carrying passengers, reserve for the exclusive use of females one compartments at least of the lowest class of carriage forming part of the train.
One such compartment so reserved shall, if the train is to run for a distance exceeding fifty miles, be provided with a closet. (Section 64)
Section Analysis-
The section is mention that the administration of railway authority should be reserve component for female but it is not present in our mail train for that reason any ocuurence may be held or haappend on that train.
So the proper implementation of the section is very much needed to stop any ocuurence about women safety.
4.3 Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance, 1976
Penalty for refusal to serve as auxiliary police-officer
Any person who having been appointed as an auxiliary police-officer under section 10 without sufficient cause refuses to serve as such or to obey any lawful order or direction that may be given to him for the performance of his duties shall be punishable with fine which may extend to two hundred taka. (Section -46)
Section analysis-
the punishment of this section is so poor it need to beccame rich. And take proper steps to implement this law.
Penalty for misconduct of police-officer
Any police-officer who is guilty of cowardice or of any wilful breach of any provision of law or of any rule, regulation or order which it is his duty as such police-officer to observe or obey shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand taka, or with both. (Section -48)
Section analysis-
The punishment of misconduct behavior is so poor. This types of situation has been always seen by us but the proper implementation of this section will not happened. Its needed proper management to implement this section.
Penalty for Wrong Driving and Violation of Traffic Regulations
Whoever, when driving a vehicle along the street, without sufficient reason fails to keep on the left side of such street and when passing any other vehicle proceeding on the same direction fails to keep on the right side of such vehicle or violates any traffic regulation made by the Police Commissioner shall be punishable with fine which may extend to two hundred taka. (Section-65)
Section analysis
The amount of the compensation is not consistence with present situation. if it changes by amendment than possible to reduce transport problems of Bangladesh..
Penalty for Wrong Parking
Whoever leaves or parks any vehicle in any part of a street or public place where parking is prohibited by the Police Commissioner shall be punishable with fine which may extend to one hundred taka. (Section-66)
Section analysis- The punishment of misconduct wrong parking is so poor. This types of situation has been always seen by us but the proper implementation of this section will not happened. its needed to proper management to implement this section.
4.4 Motor Vehicles Ordinance, 1983
Refusal of registration
The registering authority shall refuse to register any motor vehicle if the vehicle is mechanically defective or fails to comply with the requirements of Chapter VI or of the [regulations] made thereunder, or if the applicant fails to furnish particulars of any previous registration of the vehicle or the chassis identification number or furnishes inaccurate particulars in the application for registration of such vehicles, and shall furnish, the applicant whose vehicle is refused registration, with the reasons in writing for such refusal . (Section 38)
Offences relating to licence
Whoever, being disqualified under this Ordinance for holding or obtaining a driving licence, drives a motor vehicle in a public place or applies for or obtains a driving licence or, not being entitled to have a driving licence issued to him free of endorsement, applies for or obtains a driving licence without disclosing the endorsements made on a driving licence previously held by him or, being disqualified under this Ordinance for holding or obtaining a driving licence uses in Bangladesh a driving licence such as is referred to in sub section (2) of section 10, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to [ three months], or with fine which may extend to five hundred] Taka, or with both, and any driving licence so obtained by him shall be of no effect.
2.Whoever, being disqualified under this Ordinance, for holding or obtaining a conductor’s licence, acts as a conductor of a stage carriage or a contract carriage in a public place or applies for or obtains a conductor’s licence, or not being entitled to have a conductor’s licence issued to him free of endorsement, applies for or obtains a conductor’s licence without disclosing the endorsement made on a conductor’s licence previously held by him, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month] or with fine which may extend to two hundred] Taka or with both, and any conductor’s licence so obtained by him shall be of no effect.
- Whoever while driving a motor vehicle in a public place fails to produce his valid driving licence whenever required to do so by any authority acting under this Ordinance or any rules or regulations] made thereunder shall be punished with fine of fifty Taka. (Section 141)
Using vehicle in unsafe condition
Any person who drives or causes or allows to be driven in any public place a motor vehicle or trailer while the vehicle or trailer has any defect, which such person knows of or could have discovered by the exercise of ordinary care and which is calculated to render the driving of the vehicle a source of danger to persons and vehicles using such place, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month or with fine which may extend to two hundred and fifty Taka, or with both, or, if as a result of such defect an accident is caused, causing bodily injury or damage to property, with imprisonment which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand Taka, or with both. (Section-149)
Chapter 5
CASES
5.1 Kaliaperumal Vs State
A women was boarding the from the front entrance.the conductor whisted and the driver took off speedily.either of them could have known wether she had come in or not,but neither carred to do so.she fell of and was crused by the rear wheel.no doubt remained in the mind that the driver and the conductor were guilty off rush and negligence act.
5.2 In The Case Of Syad Akhter, (AIR 1976),
The accused was driving a passenger bus at moderate speed along a narrow 12 road whice has deep ditshes on either side of the road. when the bus a place where a kaccha road bifurcated for a nearby village a girl of 4 suddenly ran across the road from left to right. The accused in order to safe the girl swered the bus to the right to the extend possible but steel the left wheel hit the girl and she died on the spot.it was held that it was not rush driving or negligent act.it further held that the dostrin of ipsa loquitur(thing speak for itself) had no application in the criminal case.
5.3 Tarekh Masud and Mishuk Munir Accident Case
On the date of 13th january 2011,tarekh masud,one of the pioneeers in the Tareq Masud, one of the pioneers in the film revival movement in Bangladesh, was killed in a road accident on August 13 on the Dhaka-Aricha highway in Ghior upazila of Manikganj. Along with Masud, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ATN News in Bangladesh Mishuk Munier and three others were killed, as their microbus collided with a passenger bus on the highway on Saturday. Masud’s wife, Catherine Masud, was critically injured along with painter Dhali Al Mamun and his wife Dolly. The three were rushed to the Square Hospital in Dhaka.
Media in Bangladesh have reported that the entire team were returning after visiting a site for shooting a new film titled ‘Kagojer Phool’ (Paper Flower )in Shibalaya and were on their way to the Manikganj deputy commissioner when the accident occured.
Talking to The Daily Star, Rois Uddin, officer-in-charge of Ghior Police Station, said: “The accident took place around 12:20pm when a Chuadanga-bound bus collided head-on with the microbus coming to Dhaka in Joka area of Ghior”. He added that police later seized the bus although the driver and helper had managed to escape.
On the date of 13th february 2013,catherin masud,wife of tarek masud and kanij,wife on mishuk munir filing case aginst the owner of chuyadanga dilang poribahan,driver jamir hossain at manikgang under the section 304(a).
The charge sheet said that under the provisions of this sastirai. Manikganj pp Abdus Salam, its lawyers and the investigating officer, according to sources. Ashraf ul Alam police chief investigating officer Ghior.
The case Is now pending and on the date of 1 october,2013 his wife katherin masud rid on the high court divission that why the case will not tranfer on the higher court.
5.4 Kabir Ahmed Vs Mofiz Uddin
On the date of 11th July 2011 after finishing the football tournament on mirosoray stadium they back by truck, than the truck fallen down on a deep and 44 school going student become spot date. The case is now pending
5.5 Eakub Ali Khan (Md) And Anr Vs State
There is absolutely nothing on record to disbelieve the consistent and corroborative evidence of competent witness proving the guilt of the driver Eakub Ali and his guilt under section 338a and 304(b) of the penal code has been proved to the hilt by most cogent and consistent evidence.
Chapter 6
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 Recommendations
Sustainable transport includes economic, environmental and social aspects. In Dhaka the authorities have studied several transport projects towards sustainable transport. Various plans have been outlined during the last five years (many of them infrastructure-oriented, such as flyovers, BRT-systems, highway ring road and so on). Today time has come to priorities between different proposals, to decide and to construct. Besides the specific hardware deliveries that have been requested by the Government, Sida could also provide support in transport planning, possibly to draw up a transport master plan. Our understanding is that continued support and follow up is crucial to make the interventions successful both socially and technically but also management wise. We consider this kind of cooperation relevant in Dhaka and it could also be adapted to other cities. Today there are networks of cities working on sustainable transport. The different cities can support and inspire each others regarding various kinds of initiative to improve urban transport and to increase sustainability in transport.
- Route network planning and optimization.
- Monitoring of private bus operators.
Regarding the outspoken need in bangladesh to consider the transport conditions of low income (poor), women and disabled a few things are concluded. Today women do not have the same access to transport as men and their unfavorable conditions have been neglected. In order to make it possible for women and poor to be economic active it is crucial to improve and further develop existing transport opportunities. To improve transport facilities for this very extensive group of the population is also to increase women’s productivity and promoting social equity. This is a truly cross cutting issue and the following recommendations are made:
- Increase attention on women’s contribution to societal development by means of increasing number of buses dedicated to women.
- To continue and expand the leasing out of women buses.
- Increase the number of routes, transport, frequency and turn into a daylong service.
- Re-introduce reserved seats for physically vulnerable passengers.
- Reduced tickets fares for ext. vulnerable women groups (garment workers, some students for instance).
- Training and employment of conductresses and drivers.
- Facilities to rest and access to toilets for conductresses at the depots.
- The construction of passengers’ sheds in the streets.
The punishment about transportation problem and the law about this should be amended considering the circumstance of present situation.
6.2 Conclusive Remarks
However there is no doubt that roads sector is most eligible to kick-start the economy. With widening of the city roads as well as maintaining it in the proper condition the gains will far outweigh the cost. Yearly savings on fuel, spare parts and vehicle maintenance will be substantial. Trade would get a fillip as travel time is expected to be reduced by 50 percent. Yearly savings due to fewer accident and damage to property will be several million taka. While recounting America’s prosperity former US President John F. Kennedy said, “It is not wealth that built our roads but the roads that built the wealth.”. Sadly true, Bangladeshi leaders thought the other way. In India, new measures are being taken to encourage private capital in the road sector. Unhappily, even though the number of vehicles in the bangladesh roads has perhaps increased 100 times during the last one decade the investment flowing into the road sector has not matched this growth.