The unplanned nature of Dhaka is infamous, and nowhere is this more noticeable than when it comes to our traffic situation. At least 25% of a city needs to be made up of roads in order for it to be livable. However, this has never applied to Dhaka.
This past week has seen the roads coming to a total standstill, with commuters losing hours upon hours sitting idle in traffic. Researchers say that 6-10% of the country’s GDP is lost indirectly to Dhaka's traffic congestion. For a better understanding, that is Tk56,000cr ($6.5bn) in 2020 alone.
And when one goes out into the road, this number is translated into experience. If people have to earmark 3-4 hours for commuting outside of the 8-10 hours one needs for work and school, it does not leave a lot of room for productivity at the end of the day.
As the schools have opened up after a long hiatus, a situation like this was inevitable and even anticipated. We are running out of roads but the number of vehicles is increasing at a fast pace. Adoption of a hybrid work environment, at least within the private sector, is one way to ensure that our productivity is left unimpacted. If people can get their work done from home, then they should have the right to do so. It will stop this waste of time and energy and stop this excessive pressure on the roads.
In the long term, however, we need to plan smart.
We need a robust public transit system, and we need to widen and increase the number of roads we already have available. We have big ambitions for the coming years. But if we continue to lose time and money like this, then the authorities will have a tough situation on their hands.
