1. 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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2. 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
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3. Public Transport Crisis
Anxious passengers waiting for bus, struggling to get in, overcrowded bus.
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4. Public Transport Crisis
Congestion,
Poor management, Inefficient road use, Mixed traffic,
Air pollution
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5. Number of Vehicles
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6. Modal Share
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7. Modal Share SusTrans Bangladesh
Rickshaw is considerably cheaper than taxi and baby-taxi, but significantly expensive than tempo and bus.
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8. Motorized Vehicle Growth
Increasing Motorized Vehicles…….
Annual growth rate over 10%.
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9. Number of Motorized Vehicles
Public Transport
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10. What is growing most ???
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11. 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: µg/m3
NOx: 58.9 µg/m3.
Except NOx all others exceed the standard limit.
Air Quality in Selected Locations of Dhaka
Location
Average Concentration µ/g3
SPM
SO2
NOx
Hatkhola
1013
22.89
37.89
Farmgate
1942
24.00
61.03
Gulshan
1096
48.88
52.41
Mohakhali
1684
58.14
44.17
Source: DoE, 2005.
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12. Ambient Air Quality Standards
Bangladesh Standards in 1997.
Dhaka Standards (microgram/m3).
Pollutants
Standards
Avg. Time CO
10 mg/m3 (9 ppm) ([3])
8-hour
40 mg/m3 (35 ppm) (6)
1-hour
Lead (Pb)
0.5 µg/m3
Annual
NOx
100 µg/m3 (0.053 ppm)
SPM
200 µg/m3
PM10
50 µg/m3 ([4])
150 µg/m3 ([5])
24-hour
PM2.5
15 µg/m3
65 µg/m3
Ozone (O3)
235 µg/m3 (0.12 ppm) ([6])
157 µg/m3 (0.08 ppm)
SO2
80 µg/m3 (0.03 ppm)
365 µg/m3 (0.14 ppm) (5)
Category
SPM
SO2 CO
NOx
Industrial area/ mixed use
500
200 [1]
5000
100
Commercial area/ mixed use
400
Residential area
200 80
2000
Sensitive[2] area 30
1000
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.
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13. 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.
Vehicle Type
Pollutants (%)
SO2
NOx CO
Car 23 21 41
Bus 32 4
Jeep 14 22 18
Truck 17 3
Motorcycle 5
Human Haller 2
Baby-taxi 26
TOTAL
100
Source: Jaigirdar, 1998.
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14. Transport Policy SusTrans Bangladesh Policy for Rich !!??
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.
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15. × √ Transport Policy SusTrans Bangladesh
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?
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16. 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.
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17. Thank You !
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