[sustran] Re: government is planning to restrict the movement of private cars in Dhaka to reduce nagging traffic jam.

[Cornie Huizenga]

Dear Syed,

Thanks for sharing this with us. While I think that it is a good idea to
restrict the use of private cars and promote public transport I am somehow
lost when I read your email.

First of all, my guess is that well over 50% of cars will have less than 4
persons in it. That would mean that you would ban almost all private cars.
Second if such rules are applied as in the case of Jakarta it is only for
certain streets.  The success in Jakarta has been mixed I think.

More traditional approaches to reduce the use of cars would be: (a) make
driving more expensive through registration fees for private cars, higher
fuel prices (with subsidies if required for public transport), or (b) higher
parking rates in city center or banning of parking.

Enforcement will be an issue of what ever measure is put up and I would
argue that registration fees, fuel prices are more easily to enforce than
number of people in the cars.

At the same time if you restrict use of private cars you will need sound
alternatives. I am not certain whether buying 255 busses is really that
sound alternative.

Nevertheless, it is great that the honourable Minister is starting to
acknowledge that there is a problem and that he is not suggesting to build
more roads :-)

Cornie

On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 4:51 AM, Syed Saiful Alam <shovan1209 at yahoo.com>wrote:

>
> Dear all Good news for all our activist that  The government
> of Bangladesh is planning to restrict the movement of private cars in Dhaka
> to reduce nagging traffic jam.
> "Private cars with less than four or five passengers will not be allowed to
> ply the city streets," finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith told
> reporters at the secretariat on Tuesday.
>
> "We'll have to make public transport system more efficient for the people,"
> he said.
>
> He said they had approved a proposal to buy 255 buses to make the public
> transport system more effective. "Public transport should be meant for
> public but now a few people are creating anarchy in the field."
>
> The minister said: "Traffic jam is the biggest allegation against the
> government.
>
> The cabinet committee on purchase has approved the proposal to buy 255
> Korean buses for BRTC under EDCF loan of Tk 2.12 billion.
>
> Thanks
> Syed Saiful alam
> shovan1209 at yahoo.com
> +8801552442814
> Are private cars the ideal transport? www.dhaka-rickshaw.blogspot.com
>
>
>
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-- 
Cornie Huizenga
Joint Convener
Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport
Mobile: +86 13901949332
cornie.huizenga at slocatpartnership.org
www.slocat.net