Dhaka has turned into the world’s slowest city due to traffic jam. A study of National Bureau of Economic Research in the US revealed this information. Dhaka’s score is 0.60 on the research index. Next is Lagos of Nigeria, with 0.52 points.
With the finance of the World Bank, the study titled, “The Fast, The Slow and The Congested: Urban Transportation in Rich and Poor Counties” was published in last August. The study was conducted on 1,200 cities of 152 countries. China and North Korea were not included in the research.
As per the information of the study, apart from Dhaka, there are two other cities of Bangladesh -- Mymensingh and Chattogram -- in the list of the world’s top 20 slowest cities. It was observed in the study that the vehicle speed is 50 percent higher in the rich countries compared to poor countries. The per capita income is also higher in the cities where vehicle speed is higher.
There was a discussion on densely population in the study. Finland's Aalto University researcher Prottoy Akbar said a densely populated city may not be always slow, while the most densely populated city may not be slowest.
Such information was revealed in the study. Among the top 20 densely populated cities in the world, Colombia’s capital Bogota ranked first. But Dhaka was not included in the list. While Dhaka is second in the list of cities that are not densely populated but slow.
Accident Research Institute (ARI) of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Tecchnology (BUET) conducts regular research on road system, traffic congestion and transport situation of Dhaka in Bangladesh.
Speaking on the study of National Bureau of Economic Research of the US, former director of ARI and BUET Professor Md Hadiuzzaman said, “We are worried about the outcome of the study as it is alarming. This research is very rational. Our traffic jam is switching over to branch roads from the main roads.”
Professor Md Hadiuzzaman said, “We could not accomplish our land management at all. That is why our city slows down compared to other cities of the world even when there is less traffic on our roads. It is not possible to lessen congestion by building infrastructures. Now is the time to take decision in policy-making level.”
A BUET study conducted in 2020 revealed that the average speed of vehicles on the road during peak hour was 6.5 kilometer per hour. The speed came down to 4.8 kilometer in 2022. On the other hand, the speed of walking of a physically fit person was higher.
According to a study done by renowned research publication organisation Plus One Journal, the walking speed of 20-29 year-aged person is 4.9 kilometer per hour. People of 30-50 years old can walk 5.1 kilometer in a hour. The walking speed of the people above 60 years is 4.8 kilometer per hour. The average speed of people in different age group is 4.83 kilometer per hour , which is higher than the speed of vehicles on the roads of the capital during peak hour.
JH
