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Public Transport Crisis in Dhaka City, Bangladesh: failure of appropriate government policy responsible for congestion and air pollution!. M. Shafiq-Ur Rahman Assistant Professor, Urban & Regional Planning Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh and Chairman, SusTrans Bangladesh
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Public Transport Crisis in Dhaka City, Bangladesh:failure of appropriate government policy responsible for congestion and air pollution! M. Shafiq-Ur Rahman Assistant Professor, Urban & Regional Planning Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh and Chairman, SusTrans Bangladesh Email: shafiq_urp@yahoo.com BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh
Transport in Dhaka City • Area: 2,000 sq. k.m. • Population: 12 million (2004) 24 million by 2021 • Least motorized of the world! • 30 MVs/1000 population • 325,000 MVs • Automobile usage: 8% population • Only 2547 bus! • No Bicycle!!! • Walking & Rickshaw BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh
Public Transport Crisis Anxious passengers waiting for bus, struggling to get in, overcrowded bus. BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh
Public Transport Crisis Congestion, Poor management, Inefficient road use, Mixed traffic, Air pollution BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh
Number of Vehicles BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh
Modal Share BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh
Modal Share Rickshaw is considerably cheaper than taxi and baby-taxi, but significantly expensive than tempo and bus. BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh
Motorized Vehicle Growth • Increasing Motorized Vehicles……. • Annual growth rate over 10%. BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh
Number of Motorized Vehicles PublicTransport BAQ 2006 Conference
What is growing most ??? BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh
Air Pollution in Dhaka City • Air pollution in Bangladesh kills about 15,000 people, loss $200-$800 million each year (about 0.7%- 3% of GNP). • Dhaka is one of the most polluted cities of the world. • Lead concentration in 1996 (Khaliquzzaman, et. al, 1997): Dhaka: 463 µg/m3; Mexico City: 383 µg/m3; Mumbai,India: 360 µg/m3. • Average weekly concentration at Farmgate Commercial Area in 1998 (DoE,2000): • PM: 2459 µg/m3 • NOx:61 µg/m3 • SO2:121 µg/m3. • Highest concentration at Tejgoan Industrial Area in 1990s(Rahman,et.al,1999; Khuda,2001): • PM: 630 µg/m3 • SO2: 64-142 µg/m3 • NOx: 58.9 µg/m3. • Except NOx all others exceed the standard limit. Air Quality in Selected Locations of Dhaka Source: DoE, 2005. BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh
Ambient Air Quality Standards Bangladesh Standards in 1997. Dhaka Standards (microgram/m3). Source: DoE, 2005. [1]Bangladesh National Standard is 120µg/m3. [2] National monuments, hospitals, educational institutions. [3] Not to be exceeded more than once per year. [4] Annual average value will be <= 50 microgram/cubic meter. [5] Average will be <= 150 microgram/cubic meter for a day each year. [6] Maximum average for every 1 hr each year will be =< 0.12ppm. Source: GoB, 2005. BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh
Transport and Air Pollution • MVs are the chief mobile source of air pollution in urban areas. • Everyday 1000 MT pollutants pumped into Dhaka’s air, of which 70% comes from transport (BCL,2005). • Transport sector exhausts about 55% of SO2, 70% of NO2, & 60% of CO emissions in Dhaka City (CPD,2004). • High vehicular emissions • Diesel-powered engines • Two-stroke engines • High content of lead (0.84 gm/litre) in gasoline • High sulphur concentration in petroleum • fuel (blend of gasoline & lubricating oil) • Old & mechanically defective vehicles • Overall poor traffic management. • Automobile exhausts about 50-90% of lead emissions in Dhaka (Khuda,2001). • BPC supplies sulphur free petrol but diesel containing 1% sulphur per litre whilst international standard is only 0.2%. Pollutants Emitted from Vehicles. Source: Jaigirdar, 1998. BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh
Transport Policy • Long term vision for sustainability of transport is absent. • NMT is seen as hindering motorized traffic flows. Policy for Rich !!?? Banned Rickshaw, No alternative for mass people, 25% NMT users compelled to walk, Increased travel time & cost, Bus speed reduced 3.8km/hr, Traffic volume (PCE) reduced, Rich people enjoy the benefits. BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh
Transport Policy • Enforcement is completely absent. • Clause 150 of Motor Transport Act, 1983. • Government has not yet initiated for any restriction of baby-taxi or private cars. • A complete absence of road use charge, parking charge, and congestion charge. • Two-stroke baby-taxis have been banned in 1 January 2003; and replaced them by CNG operated 4-stroke baby-taxis. • Lost the opportunity to improve the environment and affordable public transport service, and reduce congestion simultaneously. ×√ Is possible to satisfy the travel demand ?? Desirable? BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh
Policy Recommendations Much of the pollution and congestion could be reduced through • Develop mass public transport, promote walking, cycling, & NMT. • Restrict car use, and introduce road use charging. • Efficient traffic management. • Strict enforcement of regulations, immediate screen-out of unfit vehicles, and complete ban on two-stroke engine. • Monitoring to detect faulty vehicles & penalize the violators. • Use lead or sulphur free CLEAN fuel. Conversion of petrol-engine to CNG-engine could reduce 80% smoke and emissions. • Install Catalytic Converters to reduce vehicle emissions. • Polluter must pay for the social cost and that money should be earmarked for air pollution reduction. • Media campaign to increase people’s awareness and participation. • Meaningful coordination among related agencies & departments. • Develop secondary cities to reduce population growth, economic concentration, and travel pressure in Dhaka. BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh
Thank You ! BAQ 2006 Conference SusTrans Bangladesh