There are modern traffic signal lights on the roads in the capital of Digital Bangladesh, but police are controlling the signals by hand because most of the traffic signal lights in the city are out of order.
In the last two decades, around TK 200 crore has been spent implementing various traffic management projects. Despite spending a lot of money on implementing and managing the traffic signal projects, no benefit has been achieved.
Discipline has not returned to public transport; traffic congestion has not been reduced.
Communications experts said that without detailed surveys and scientific approaches to vehicle control, piecemeal initiatives would not succeed.
However, initiatives have been retaken for intelligent traffic management of six new intersections in the capital.
Md Hadiuzzaman, a transport expert and professor at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), said those who have attempted traffic signal automation at Dhaka intersections have no clear understanding of Dhaka’s traffic.
Automated traffic signals are unsuccessful when the city’s vehicular demand exceeds the intersection’s capacity.
He said no city in the world, not only Bangladesh, will succeed in such a situation. The existing Dhaka intersection has three to four times more vehicles than its capacity. Vehicles of 18 to 20 editions are plying in Dhaka city. There are slow vehicles and fast vehicles. It’s a big mess.
Everyone must cross the intersection at the same speed when the signal lights are on. It is not possible in Dhaka's existing condition. Here, the speed of a rickshaw is 5 km, and that of a motorcycle, 60 km. It is not possible at all, he added.
According to research, after 2004,
traffic signal infrastructure was installed at the intersection of Dhaka at a high rate. The continuation of this is still ongoing. In particular, the technology of signal lights, traffic countdown timers, auto or automatic traffic signal systems, and intelligent traffic systems have been installed at the intersections of Dhaka.
The traffic department controls vehicles manually by hand signals at all intersections in the capital except Gulshan-2.
Sources said under the Dhaka Urban Transport Project, work is being done to improve the traffic signal system at 59 intersections in the capital at a cost of Tk 14 crores. Besides, Tk 16 crore was spent installing countdown timers at 30 more intersections. These two initiatives were implemented between 2004 and 2012. These initiatives did not yield any results.
According to related sources, the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) spent Tk 52 crore on intersection development in 2018. This initiative is implemented under the Intelligent Traffic System (IST) project. Under this project, ITS was installed in Mohakhali, Gulshan-1, Paltan, and Fulbaria in Dhaka, but it did not yield any benefits.
Besides, there are signal lights at 100 traffic signal points in two cities of Dhaka. Of these, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has 60, Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has 40.
It is known that Tk 100 crore was spent on traffic signal development in 2019 under the Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) Project. Under this project, an automatic traffic control system is developed at the intersection, and solar panels are installed to keep it running.
This project worth hundreds of crores of taka has fallen flat. The police control the traffic by hand signals at the risk of life. The use of ropes has also been found in signal control.
Despite years of efforts, the traffic department could not introduce the automatic traffic system.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Additional Commissioner (Traffic) Md Munibur Rahman said that the traffic signal management of all intersections in the capital except Gulshan-2 is useless. Intersection development is done by city corporations and other government agencies.
DMP only works to implement the procedures of the organisations. Although various initiatives have been taken on traffic signals, they are not effective, traffic management is being done by hand signalling, he added.
Professor Md Hadiuzzaman said no work is being done on policy changes to bring order to traffic in Dhaka. The government is particularly interested in implementing infrastructure projects. Controlling the number of vehicles should be done scientifically.
At Bijoy Sarani intersection, traffic police members were found busy controlling traffic. Due to VVIP traffic and traffic pressure, senior officials were also there. But everything was going on with hand signs.
In this regard, a motorist at Bijoy Sarani intersection said, “The traffic signal system was good. We controlled our car from a distance. But now it is difficult to see the hands of the traffic police. Besides, we can’t apply brakes on our vehicles on time.”
