Readers respond
Here are some comments that came in response to Sunday's The Daily Star report headlined 'Private cars fill 70pc city roads'.
S Hossain
It is very simple. Decentralise the country into eight to 10 divisions. Move all the industries from the capital city to those divisions. Stop grabbing lands for personal benefit. Stop import of any more cars for the next 10 years. Emphasise on using clean, sophisticated, public transportation. Improvements will be seen automatically. Junayed
Most traffic congestions are caused by traffic personnel and inexperienced, uneducated drivers. The other day, I saw sergeant stopping a huge truck for inspecting its papers in the middle of the road in Mohakhali clogging the roadway. Now tell me who is to blame? I am sure, there are several more incidents like that we see in our daily life. Saklain
If we think in a very simple way, we can find out that the main reason of traffic congestion in our city is because we have less room in the roads and a huge number of vehicles. Either, we should increase the room in the roads or reduce the number of vehicles. The government cannot increase the room in the roads overnight, so we must go for the latter one for short-term solution. So, we must restrict private cars and introduce a huge number of comfortable/luxurious double-decker buses where even the car owners won't hesitate to get into with his family. Only then, we can reduce this horrible traffic problem. Saidur
My economy is growing. Hence my life style should be improved. Hang on a second, we won't have a good transport system, still I will have to leave my personal car, I have to ration electricity, won't be able to open my shop to do business, etc. So, are we going ahead or going backwards! Zimmim Ahmed
Security and quality of transport are the major issues. Increasing parking charges, tolls and taxes is not going to do any good. All the vehicle prices have more than doubled over the last four to five years, but more and more new cars keep flooding the streets. Improving the present conditions just a notch will not attract people who travel by private cars. There has to be a significant change. Hossain
No one has the hobby to buy a car and maintain such an expensive way to move. It's the fact that they have no other way but using a car as the condition of public transport is miserable. In addition, there is no sufficient public transport for the general people. Dr Shahidur Rahman
Dhaka is now a city of shops and markets. Free footpaths from hawkers and construction materials and ensure parking discipline. Md Sirajul Islam Molla
The number of private cars should be much less than 70 percent. Even then the number of private cars should be controlled. But, before that the government must ensure easy transportation for the car users. Until that can be ensured, more private cars will be coming on the roads. Md Shafiqul I Bhuiyan
Why don't the government stop the CNG stations for the cars and supply gas to the residential areas? If gas is not made available, the cars on the streets will vanish by 50 percent. Riyadh Hossain
An alternative would be to introduce motorcycle usage to regular commuters through a financing programme, which would save fuel since these engines are merely 150cc each versus a car of 1300 cc. But for that, the government has to ensure safety mechanisms on roads. The government has to implement a non-corrupt traffic system that is a complete and fresh new entity to maintain order.
It is very simple. Decentralise the country into eight to 10 divisions. Move all the industries from the capital city to those divisions. Stop grabbing lands for personal benefit. Stop import of any more cars for the next 10 years. Emphasise on using clean, sophisticated, public transportation. Improvements will be seen automatically. Junayed
Most traffic congestions are caused by traffic personnel and inexperienced, uneducated drivers. The other day, I saw sergeant stopping a huge truck for inspecting its papers in the middle of the road in Mohakhali clogging the roadway. Now tell me who is to blame? I am sure, there are several more incidents like that we see in our daily life. Saklain
If we think in a very simple way, we can find out that the main reason of traffic congestion in our city is because we have less room in the roads and a huge number of vehicles. Either, we should increase the room in the roads or reduce the number of vehicles. The government cannot increase the room in the roads overnight, so we must go for the latter one for short-term solution. So, we must restrict private cars and introduce a huge number of comfortable/luxurious double-decker buses where even the car owners won't hesitate to get into with his family. Only then, we can reduce this horrible traffic problem. Saidur
My economy is growing. Hence my life style should be improved. Hang on a second, we won't have a good transport system, still I will have to leave my personal car, I have to ration electricity, won't be able to open my shop to do business, etc. So, are we going ahead or going backwards! Zimmim Ahmed
Security and quality of transport are the major issues. Increasing parking charges, tolls and taxes is not going to do any good. All the vehicle prices have more than doubled over the last four to five years, but more and more new cars keep flooding the streets. Improving the present conditions just a notch will not attract people who travel by private cars. There has to be a significant change. Hossain
No one has the hobby to buy a car and maintain such an expensive way to move. It's the fact that they have no other way but using a car as the condition of public transport is miserable. In addition, there is no sufficient public transport for the general people. Dr Shahidur Rahman
Dhaka is now a city of shops and markets. Free footpaths from hawkers and construction materials and ensure parking discipline. Md Sirajul Islam Molla
The number of private cars should be much less than 70 percent. Even then the number of private cars should be controlled. But, before that the government must ensure easy transportation for the car users. Until that can be ensured, more private cars will be coming on the roads. Md Shafiqul I Bhuiyan
Why don't the government stop the CNG stations for the cars and supply gas to the residential areas? If gas is not made available, the cars on the streets will vanish by 50 percent. Riyadh Hossain
An alternative would be to introduce motorcycle usage to regular commuters through a financing programme, which would save fuel since these engines are merely 150cc each versus a car of 1300 cc. But for that, the government has to ensure safety mechanisms on roads. The government has to implement a non-corrupt traffic system that is a complete and fresh new entity to maintain order.
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