The city buses in Dhaka are unsafe, shabby, over-crowded, and difficult to access by women, the elderly, and people with special needs. The buses also do not cover many commonly travelled routes in the city.
Riders have to regularly deal with harassment and rude behaviour from the bus staff and regular illogical increase in ticket prices.
Many of the buses are unfit and highly unsafe as they are recklessly driven by drivers who have very little knowledge of traffic rules and very little concern for road safety.
Above all, the service is extremely unreliable, as the bus operators often call off their service to force the authority to comply with their unethical demands such as to stop conducting raids against unfit buses or to stop penalising bus operators for charging extra for fares or to stop penalising drivers for committing traffic accidents.
When the bus operators call off their service, the rickshaw-pullers and CNG drivers take advantage of the situation by charging unbelievably high fares, leaving city-dwellers without personal modes of transport in a helpless situation.
In fact, city-dwellers without personal modes of transport have now become hostage to the public transport operators such as buses, rickshaws, and CNGs, as their fate of daily travel depends on the public transport operators.
Although quality public transport is one of the basic features of a livable city, Dhaka has been unable to provide it for decades.
In fact, the lack of quality public transport is one of the prime reasons as to why Dhaka is considered one of the least livable cities in the world.
In the recent past, the authority has taken some steps to improve the public transport service in the diplomatic zones of the city. However, the service is highly inadequate.
Now, the question stands: Is there any other viable mode of transport that the city-dwellers can avail, to improve their daily commuting experience?
Certainly, there is, and the solution is by commuting by cycling.
It may seem that a bicycle is a slow mode of transport but due to the horrendous traffic congestion in Dhaka, a bicycle is much faster compared to other available ones
In the past few years, several people in the city have taken up cycling as a mode of transport. It may seem that a bicycle is a slow mode of transport compared to motorised vehicles, but due to the horrendous traffic congestion in Dhaka, during rush hour, a bicycle is a much faster mode of transport compared to other available ones.
In fact, in an online survey, it was revealed that 75% of the people who switched to commuting by cycling from other modes in Dhaka are now saving more than an hour in their daily commute.
Cyclists can use this extra time to get more sleep in the morning, spend time with their family and friends, and do other activities.
Another big advantage of commuting by cycling is financial savings.
There is no doubt that buying a bicycle and the necessary accessories costs money, but depending on the price of the bicycle and on the amount used to spend for commuting prior to commuting by cycling, a cyclist may be able to recover the costs of the bicycle in about six months.
Thus, at the end of the year, the cyclist will most likely enjoy substantial financial savings. In addition, cyclist commuters will not have to wait in long queues, travel in overcrowded buses, have their pockets picked, bargain about the fare, stress about rude behaviour and harassment from the operators, stress about public transport strikes etc.
Furthermore, the exercise they will get will help them to stay healthy and fit.
Thus, overall they will have a peaceful mind and a healthy body.
The average distance that most people commute in Dhaka can be easily travelled by cycling.
Therefore, rather than being dependent on the unreliable and unsafe public transport, city-dwellers in Dhaka may consider commuting smartly by commuting by cycling, which will help them to live healthier lives and build a green and livable Dhaka City.
Ridwan Quaium is a transport engineer working in Thailand.