Two years ago, A public awareness campaign provided information on the huge losses suffered by the economy as a whole from Dhaka�s unending traffic congestion

Losses from Dhaka�s traffic nightmare

For the citizens of Dhaka as indeed those coming to and going out of Dhaka almost daily, traffic movement is a nightmare for both. The first category-- school-going children and  daily office-goers-- face the horror of long commuting hours.
Medical experts say that it has an adverse effect on health and make them easy victims of various diseases not the least of which is mental strain. For many in the roads, it is a common sight to see children in vehicles falling asleep due to physical strain further aggravated by air and noise pollution.
   Two years ago, a public awareness campaign jointly organized by an English daily newspaper and Grammen Phone provided information on the following losses from traffic congestion : 8.15 million work hours of commuters wasted per month. 40 percent of it is business hours ; tk 20 billion lost due to 3.2 million business hours wasted in a month ; tk 200 billion worth of business hours lost a year ; environmental damage worth tk 22 billion on average a year ; motor vehicle speed 12 kph against the capacity of 40 kph; cost of the speed loss is tk 12 billion a year ; public transport operations and freight industry lose Tk 20 billion in lost trips per month ; tk 5.75 billion excess fuel burned per month.
   The big international lending agencies give priority to macro-economic balance. If the roads and highway management were effective, there could be more associated savings. To this must be added savings from diminishing need for investment in curative care on which huge investments are made.
   It cannot be said that the government is blind to this aspect of good and fast mass transport system. But efforts are yet to show results due to unpardonable snags in the implementation of various projects designed to ease traffic congestion.

Two years ago, A public awareness campaign provided information on the huge losses suffered by the economy as a whole from Dhaka�s unending traffic congestion

Losses from Dhaka�s traffic nightmare

For the citizens of Dhaka as indeed those coming to and going out of Dhaka almost daily, traffic movement is a nightmare for both. The first category-- school-going children and daily office-goers-- face the horror of long commuting hours. Medical experts say that it has an adverse effect on health and make them easy victims of various diseases not the least of which is mental strain. For many in the roads, it is a common sight to see children in vehicles falling asleep due to physical strain further aggravated by air and noise pollution. Two years ago, a public awareness campaign jointly organized by an English daily newspaper and Grammen Phone provided information on the following losses from traffic congestion : 8.15 million work hours of commuters wasted per month. 40 percent of it is business hours ; tk 20 billion lost due to 3.2 million business hours wasted in a month ; tk 200 billion worth of business hours lost a year ; environmental damage worth tk 22 billion on average a year ; motor vehicle speed 12 kph against the capacity of 40 kph; cost of the speed loss is tk 12 billion a year ; public transport operations and freight industry lose Tk 20 billion in lost trips per month ; tk 5.75 billion excess fuel burned per month. The big international lending agencies give priority to macro-economic balance. If the roads and highway management were effective, there could be more associated savings. To this must be added savings from diminishing need for investment in curative care on which huge investments are made. It cannot be said that the government is blind to this aspect of good and fast mass transport system. But efforts are yet to show results due to unpardonable snags in the implementation of various projects designed to ease traffic congestion.