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Let's try it

29 March 2005, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Syed Karim, Chittagong
29 March 2005, 18:00 PM
Traffic congestion is not a new problem for us. In fact, it used to be the major problem for each and every mega city of the developed countries. As a least developed country with huge population, we are facing the problem for decades. Then what should be done to get rid of this issue? Many suggestions have been made over the years. Some are trite as well as non-effective, some are quixotic, and some are too expensive to implement. Yet some are feasible and may turn out to be a long-term solution. Major cities like New York, Tokyo, and Chicago are very populated. And it is interesting to know that the populations of these cities are increasing at a rate of 4-6% each year.

Does it mean that the inner-city roads of these cities are getting wider gradually? The answer is no. On top of that, vehicles used in these cities are wider and bigger. Then what is the secret? Some people have asked for banning the non-motorised vehicles from major roads, but that turned out as a non-effective solution. The government is building new

roads and flyovers within the cities and widening the exiting ones. But how can that be a long-term solution, given the population will go up anyway?

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My point is that we are not doing the rudiment for solving the problem. And I am suggesting walking for short distance travels instead of using private vehicles and using bus as much as possible. It might sound impracticable, but from the millionaire to the lower class families of the developed countries, they are doing it for their short distance travels. Last December, I was going to an NGO office Mohakhali. I used to live in New DOHS. The distance would have been only 5 minutes if I would have just crossed the road and took a rickshaw. I took my car instead. And I reached there after 45 minutes. The reason was, of course, traffic jam. On my way back home I had my foreigner friend with me and we were in rush. So we started walking asking my driver to get back later to avoid the jam. It took only 15 minutes to reach home. When we reached home my friend lampooned at me for being lavish by using the car to get there. Many of us are showing lavishness by using privet vehicles, when walking can do things. The story does not end here. To make the situation worse, most of us maintaining more then one vehicle for no good reasons (Out of 25 families, that I know of in Dhaka, 18 own more than one vehicle).

It has been proved that making new roads and flyovers, pulling out rickshaws from major roads, and widening the existing roads can do little good to the traffic problem. At the same time only walking won't do any good if the government does not take some positive actions. Some of those actions can be: making parking structures/lots, pulling out makeshift vendors from footpaths, restructuring the bus route and increasing the total number of buses, imposing higher tax on private vehicles,making insurance mandatory, and imposing tolls on one or two major roads of the city (on private vehicles only). Important to notice that all these actions require only modern planning with little investment. And the planning begins with 'walking.' It won't cost us a penny if we give it a try.