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I. Introduction:
Traffic congestion has now become a curse in the life of human being. It is like a trap where
once someone gets stuck it is very hard to find a way out. Everyone feels helpless and cannot do
anything then to wait until and unless the vehicles move from front and make way to go.
II. Background/ History: The importance of the infrastructure can be particularly felt by the citizens
of Dhaka in its traffic system, as its congestion reminds us of how important it is to have a good
transport system.

We the citizens of Dhaka are suffering because our traffic system is failing us, as it is resulting in less
efficiency in various fields, such as business.
Due to traffic congestion, our valuable times and energy are being wasted.
The problem of traffic congestion and uncontrolled vehicle emission make life miserable in Dhaka city
causing threat to health.
Everyday work-hours are unnecessarily wasted due to traffic jam. It has a great economic impact on
production and thus on our economy.
Traffic congestions intensify sufferings of commuters keeping people motionless as well as creating
suffocating condition in the streets.

Few reasons of Traffic Congestion are mentioned below:
1. The minimum road requirement is 25% for a standard city, whereas Dhaka has only 7.5% road of its
total area which is creating huge traffic. Moreover, if we look at the map of Dhaka city, the road
connection of north and south is comparatively better than east and west which is causing people to
take a longer route to travel.
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2. The district truck and bus travel through heart of the capital city due to no bypass road. For example,
a person who lives in Chittagong must enter Dhaka to reach Kushtia.
3. The Export Processing Zone (EPZ) which is established near Dhaka forces the vehicles to move from
Savar to Dhaka to Chittagong. Our EPZ is oriented to bulk products like garments and it must be located
near sea port.
4. Every day thousands of people are entering the city as our economic activity and administration like
education, health sector are all Dhaka centered. There is no attempt for decentralization.
5. Bangladesh population growth has increased rapidly in the last few years.
Previously we used to get empty or free roads during hartal and blockades but nowadays we do
not even have that opportunity. Demand of imported goods also increased with the population.
Since coming to power, the present government has been facing a number of big challenges, finding a
solution to the chronic problem of traffic jam in Dhaka city is one of those. It needs extra efforts to
check the traffic congestion in the capital city that kills unlimited manhours and saps commuters of
energy and working ability every day. The financial losses are beyond measurement though informal
studies estimate the same at several hundred billions of taka.

Taking the problem into account, the present government since its coming to power has been showing
its desire to resolve it. It has taken up major projects to ease the unbearable traffic gridlock of the city.
Despite all its efforts, the city people are yet to get the minimum respite from the problem.

Losses caused by traffic jam

A study conducted by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with
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Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport states that 200 billion taka is lost every year because of
staying longer time, 8.15 million working hours, on the streets because of traffic jams every year. The
loss of business hours constitute 40 per cent of the total working hours lost. Both public and private
transport operators and freight industry also suffer losses for losing trips per day. Traffic jam reduces
speed of motorised vehicles from 40 kilometre per hour (kph) to on an average 15 kph. Loss of different
modes of vehicles including buses, mini buses and CNG three wheelers and paddle-driven rickshaws for
losing speed is estimated at Tk 12 billion a year.

Another study of Roads and Highways (RHD) done in 2009 also estimated loss of fuel worth Tk 96 million
that the motorised vehicles burn staying longer than required time in the streets. Each vehicle faces
killing of on an average time of 7.5 hours. On an average 2500 vehicles can run only 15 kph as against its
50 kph during the traffic jam free roads.
Tailbacks, thanks to PMs reception
Commuters at the capitals Farmgate wait for vehicles, which were hard to come by because of
massive gridlock yesterday evening. Traffic on the thoroughfares between the airport and the
Gono Bhaban plunged into chaos as ruling Awami League men flocked to greet Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina on her return from the US.
Several groups of ruling party activists played musical instruments and danced in joy on busy
roads and intersections, creating traffic jams much before Hasina and her entourage landed at the
airport around 5:30pm.
The AL accorded a reception to Hasina at the airport on her winning the International
Organisation for South-South Cooperation Award for her role in reducing poverty. She was on
an eight-day official visit to the US to attend the UN General Assembly.
A number of ministers, lawmakers, and military and government officials, diplomats and top AL
leaders were present at the airport to receive Hasina. The premier left the airport at 6:10pm and
directly went to her official residence, Gono Bhaban, via Jahangir gate.
The Daily Star correspondents talked to commuters, who suffered due to long tailbacks in
Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi, Tejgaon, Nakhalpara, Bijoy Sarani, Mohakhali, Gulshan,
Baridhara, Kuril, Uttara, Mirpur, Nakhalpara, Moghbazar, Paltan and Azimpur.
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Moon ride on Dhaka roads
Commuting in the capital is now a real hassle, as many roads lie potholed for months in the
absence of timely repair. Rain and waterlogging in recent weeks have worsened the situation,
adding to the plight of city dwellers.

The city corporations say they will not take on any major repair job before August as the rain
will hinder the work. They, however, see no problem in the construction of footpaths and drains,
making the roads narrower only to compound the nagging traffic congestion.
Jahangir Alam, chief engineer of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), has said due to a fund
crisis, the authorities do their work in order of priority.
The DSCC sought Tk 400 crore for road maintenance and traffic management in this fiscal year
but received an allocation of Tk 178 crore. In the previous fiscal year, it got Tk 134.8 crore after
seeking Tk 500 crore, officials said.
The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) got allocation of Tk 236 crore against a demand of
around Tk 500 crore in this fiscal year.
Asked about the construction of footpaths and drainage when massive repairs should get priority,
Jahangir said, These are emergency works to drain rainwater from roads into the storm sewer
system.
He also said the ongoing repairs were also being delayed as contractors take time to compact
roads in a proper manner.
According to Jahangir Alam, the roads that are supposed to last at least three years turn shabby
within six months because of waterlogging. He blamed unplanned urbanisation for the situation.
As DCC progresses with drainage work by digging the footpaths from Panthapath intersection to
Farmgate in the capital, people go through huge sufferings while negotiating the road on foot or
in vehicles. The photos were taken yesterday. Photo: Anisur Rahman
Meanwhile, frequent accidents are taking place in different areas owing to bad road conditions,
especially at Green Road, Jurain Natunrasta and Sutrapur areas, where contractors are digging
trenches to construct surface drain or storm water drainage line and repair footpaths.

The Mohammadpur Town Hall road was dug up last year to install sewer lines. The authorities
have again started digging the road recently to install more sewer lines, exposing a lack of proper
planning by the authorities.
The ensuing traffic congestion is making miserable the lives of residents.
The roads in front of north south unversity inside bashundhara seems as if someone dropped
bombs from fighter. Everyday a lot of expensive cars gets damage on these roads especially the
shock absorbers.

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III. Research areas or Questions:
The questions are:
Qa). What impact does traffic congestion have on peoples everyday life?
Qb) What are its causes?
Qc). What are its effects and consequences?
Qd). To what extent constructing flyovers contributed towards reduction of traffic congestion?
Qe). What can be the solution to get out from this huge problem?
Answers can be-
a. Students are late for school college and universities leading to reduced performance &
efficiency of work for office workers are late, their bad mood will have a bad influence on work
place.
b. Causes of traffic congestion can be lack of laws or no implementation of laws for driving on
roads. Unplanned infrastructure of city roads and streets. Increased population can also be a
cause of traffic congestion.
The major factor behind traffic Jam in Bangladesh:
There are many reasons behind traffic jam in Bangladesh. Among them some major factors are as
follows:

Undisciplined traffic signal in the road.
Indiscipline among the road user.
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Might is right, everybody are free to park their vehicle on Road.
No knowledge of traffic rules which encourage violating the rules.
Enforcement of rules by dishonest persons who are busy in collection of illegal money from traffic
rules violators.
Heavy numbers of vehicle on roads.
c. Traffic congestion increases the burning of fossil fuels at a more multiplied rate. Use of CNG
has increased enormously since it is cheaper than oil. However, CNG is a compressed natural gas
that is used for cooking in our kitchen. Burning oil increases pollution especially by the truck
drivers leading to air pollution and environmental degradation. The consequences of using CNG
in cars are scarcity of gas in kitchen. Government are not giving any new connection. Also, gas
pressure has decreased in many areas due to excessive usage by the CNG filling gas pumps.
d. Kuril flyover has been a huge success in reduction of traffic congestion, where as Banani
flyover to just avoid the rail crossing was not worth it. All the vehicles stuck on the flyover due
to Kakoli point and banani points before mohakhali. So, it would be better if they could joined
the two flyovers from Banani to mohakhali.
e. Solutions are gathered from primary data and discussed elaborately in the data analysis part.
IV. Hypothesis:
I expect people those who have cars will ride in cars even if the distance is short. People do not
follow traffic laws as they are in Bangladesh. The interesting part is the same people always
follow traffic rules strictly when they are abroad. Even if the schools provided transport facilities
children will not use them. Now a days, people say riding cycle is the new trend introduced by
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groups like BD Cyclist etc. But according to me they are minority groups compared to the
humongous Dhaka city population.

V. Methodology:
Data analysis was done serially. i.e. first all 30 answer one was counted. then all 30 answer two
was counted. In this way it took a lot of time to find out the results by doing tally, summation
and mean was done for question four, five and seven. Answer of question no. 5 was subtracted
from answer of 4 to get the time wasted while going to schools/institutions/offices etc. Answer 7
shows how much time each person has to waste on average. Pie chart was shown for qs 1 and 8.
In qs 9, 10, 11 ,and 16 which shows yes no votes and bar charts are also attached for each under
the figures in numerical.
To get a reliable random result survey was done on different timing and spots. Some survey was
done on BRTC double Decker bus. Some surveys were taken from long stoppage signal points.
Some were taken from outside of Dhanmondi schools where guardians wait for their children.
Some were taken from NSU campus. To get professional advice 1 cng driver was also
interviewed. Finally some surveys were done through asking random online people on internet.
Secondary Data are collected through browsing web and newspapers like Daily star and Prothom
alo. 3paper cuttings are also attached in the appendix.



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VI. Data presentation and analysis:
Q 1. What do you do?
a) Student b) Employee c) Worker d) Business person e) Unemployed

Ans: 1a) Student: 18 b) Employee: 6 c) Worker : 3 d) Business man: 1 e) Unemployed: 2

The data seems like survey was biased for student and employee. Yes it is true since workers
turned out to be uneducated and business man are too busy with their work. Mainly I did some
random but a bit selective survey to keep relevance to my topic. Another reason could be my
survey was during peak hours during school, college and universities ends.




30
Employee
Worker
Business man
Unemployed
student
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Q 4. How long do you take to reach your destination during peak hours?
Ans: 4 Total /hr= 2845/60=47hr
47hr/30people=1.58hr/person
1hr 36min=96min
Q5 How long do you take to reach your destination at other times?
Ans: Total /hr =1250/60hr
20/30people= 0.70hr per person=42min
therefore by subtracting(5-4) 96min-42min= 54min
Every person wastes around 54min per day to reach there destination/ workplace or institute.
Q7 How much time do you waste sitting on traffic jam per workdays on average?
Total time/no of people= 3622/ 30 =120min=2hr
on average a person has to spend on road without any reason because of traffic jam.
Through this prolonged and complex calculation I came out what every person looses everyday
on average and think so many productive works could be done in these hours. So, much of extra
fuel is wasted everyday which we will never get back.



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Q8 What kind of transport do you use mostly?
a) Private car b) Rickshaw c) Bus d) Others
Ans: a) Private car-11 b) Rickshaw-6 c) Bus-16 d)Others -5
total 38 since some people answered multiple.

Q 9 Does your organization provide transportation facilities?
Ans: a)Yes 3 b) No 27

Q 10 Are you often late while going to office/schools?
38
private car
rickshaw
bus
others
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
yes
no
30
30
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Ans: a)Yes 19 b) No 11

Most people are late, this seems that students will lose so many valuable things taught by their
teacher. As time and tide waits for none. Some might even end up getting late for exams.

Q 11 Are transports easy to get where you live?
Ans: a)Yes 21 b) No 9


Q 16. Is it a possible option for you to cycle or walk short distances rather than sitting on traffic
jam for long hours? Why or Why not?
0 5 10 15 20
yes
no
30
30
0 5 10 15 20 25
yes
no
30
30
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Ans: a)Yes 13 b) No 27


Well it could be a controversial issue so people might not tick as per their wish. As no one wants
them to be called lazy. Some old people might have a different case as they may have knee
problems. And about the trending of riding expensive bi cycle. It is only for the youngsters so
ride for their passion, very few people in the world think about others. i.e some have said yes
whereas they don't even know that they are contributing to the reduction of traffic congestion.

Findings:
Some say it is unsafe dangerous to ride to school by bicycles and students feel insecure to travel
in school bus so they come to their intuition by either car or rickshaw. From question number 12
about problem spots people named a lot of places they are: Nilkhet signal, panthapath, Rampura
Badda, Nodda, Gulshan points.
Many suggested introducing subway train will reduce the problem. Some suggested
Cantonnment roads should be allowed to use by everyone for proper distribution of population.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
yes
no
30
30
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Some suggested to build more roads and flyovers. It has been found that there are scarcity of
public vehicles e.g. bus. Fine amount is low which can be an incentive for drivers to break laws.

Limitations:
Most surveyors turned out to be students. I had to avoid taking worker group much because
mostly were uneducated working in garments or shops who left many answers. Business person
and top management officers who travel via private car were not interested in answering about
transportation facilities, going late, riding cycle, etc. Also the cng driver answer to three, four
and seven could be an outlier to the data. Funding might be a big drawback for not implementing
these innovative ideas given in findings. Also, Bangladesh is full of corrupt people in the
developing sector.

Recommendations:
Walk for short distances, rather than using vehicles. Make use of public transport if possible no
matter how expensive your car is. Number of busses should be increased so that more people can
be commuted in less time. people should follow traffic rules. Vehicles should not be parked on
streets and driver should drive on the correct lane as instructed by DMP. Every school should
provide safe and secure school busses.
(i) Increase of road space Increase of road space in the Dhaka city is actually very difficult and
costly. However, there are some areas in the city where road spaces can be increased by the
concerned authority. Besides, the road spaces of the city must be kept free from any Illegal
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occupation.
(ii) Shifting of low capacity vehicles : In the most important and busy roads of the city, the low
capacity and slow moving rickshaws and auto rickshaws should not be allowed to ply on.
(iii) Improving the traffic management system the traffic management system of the city should
be improved through installation of sophisticated traffic signals and traffic directing instruments.
Moreover, the existing traffic laws of the country should be reformed. Provision should be made
to ensure the punishment for violation of traffic rules and regulations.
Speed breakers in highway and Aiport road e.g. in front of Raddison are also a reason for traffic
jam so they should be replaced with over bridge for people to cross road and not by zebra
crossing. An over bridge should also be built in kakoli point as all illeterates and educated
people like to cross road while the green signal is on for the vehicles to travel.
VII. Conclusion:
Now, from the above discussion, it is clear that the problem of traffic congestion in the Dhaka
city could not be solved totally overnight. However, Initiatives taken so far by the government
are praiseworthy. They include construction of fly-over at different important points of the city.
Different transport companies are formed under which huge number of people. It may seem very
difficult to get out of the problem but nothing is impossible. If everyone works in a united
approach and contribute as much as we can. Then Bangladeshi people will be able to face any
difficulties and change the infrastructure. Thus individually everyone should do their own part by
obeying rules and sacrifice space in front of their house for roads and streets

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VII. References:
(2011, 01). Traffic Jam in Bangladesh. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 01, 2011, from
http://www.studymode.com/essays/Traffic-Jam-In-Bangladesh-545715.html
(2010, 11). Traffic Congestion in Dhaka City. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 11, 2010, from
http://www.studymode.com/essays/Traffic-Congestion-In-Dhaka-City-475264.html
(2011, 01). Dhaka City's Traffic Jam and Planned Solutions. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 01, 2011, from
http://www.studymode.com/essays/Dhaka-City%27s-Traffic-Jam-And-Planned-556481.html
Went through Daily Star Newspaper and Prothom Alo newspaper also provided cuttings on
appendix part.

VIII Appendix: A Report proposal
B Questionnaire
C newspaper cuttings