Editorial
New buses on city roads a good idea
But basic problems must be handled first
THE spirit behind the decision to introduce an articulated bus service, or buses with increased passenger capacity, on city routes is understandable. There can be no denying that traffic movement in Dhaka has of late acquired horrendous proportions. It will certainly lessen citizens' worries if serious, purposeful moves are made to ease their movement on the roads. However, there is also the truth that a mere introduction of new vehicles on the road will turn out to be quite pointless where facilitating road traffic is concerned. And there are some rather pertinent reasons behind such observations of the traffic situation.
We appreciate the idea of the introduction of jumbo buses, as these vehicles under the articulated service are sometimes referred to. The bigger question, though, is whether these new buses will instead of solving our traffic problems in fact only add to them. Which brings up the matter of the severely constricted road network all across the city at present. In recent years, a number of measures --- taking rickshaws off large roads, building underpasses and footbridges, et cetera --- have been taken to ease the flow of traffic. They have not worked to our full satisfaction, one reason being the progressively large number of cars, buses and trucks and other vehicles that hit the roads nearly every month. And, of course, a glaring impediment to easy movement on the roads remains the sheer brazen manner in which the roads get clogged through haphazard parking nearly everywhere in Dhaka. That happens because of the impunity with which people, especially those concerned with markets, shopping malls, business offices, hospitals and private universities, have constructed their structures with little thought to the requirements of parking space on their premises. The authorities have by and large turned a blind eye to the issue. There is too the matter of the roads being taken over by vehicles which do not qualify for plying on those roads. Add to these problems the audacity with which homeowners dump construction materials on public roads and streets, thus adding to citizens' plight. The authorities are blissfully unconcerned about such transgressions.
That is the picture before us. We therefore suggest that before any decisions are made about adding more buses on city routes, the basic problems about traffic movement be handled first. For starters, a swift assessment should be made of buildings that do not have parking space in them. Let the owners be subjected to scrutiny by mobile courts and, subsequently, let appropriate punishment --- through cancelling leases and the like --- be meted out to them. The same should apply to those who occupy the roads by dumping their construction materials along them. It is not newer vehicles that will make life easier for us. It is a clearing of the roads and punishment for those who commandeer them that is of essence. The rest will follow.
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