Study of mass transit in metropolitan Dhaka

Abstract

Public transport plays a significant- role in metropolitan's transport scene. In developing countries, bus transit, with combination of various vehicle sizes and services is playing an increasingly major role in urban passenger transportation. This thesis presents the findings of a research study which aimed at investigating the status of the public transport systems in metropolitan Dhaka. Particular attention has been given to examine the necessity of a functional and cost effective "mass transit" system. A review of literature was conducted in order to understand the various aspects of public transport systems. Benefits resulting from mass transit investment include time savings, user cost savings, improved quality, population distribution, employment transfers, reduced congestion, better road space utility, and reduced parking space requirements. The operating conditions of the existing public transport modes were studied. It revealed that mass transit in metropolitan Dhaka caters about 15 to 20 percent of passenger trips. This data implies passenger trips of the order of 3,00,000 to 4,00,000 per day. Mass transit modes in metropolitan Dhaka were found more efficient than other travel modes in terms of passengers kilometers per day per vehicle, staff employment opportunities per vehicle, road space utility, and it had the cheapest fare structure. The mass transit mode, in particular double decker buses, achieved the highest passenger kilometers per day per vehicle, 8,874 passenger kilometers. Road space occupied by buses, in terms of space occupancy per passenger, was one fifth of that for private cars. Fare for buses was only Tk.0.25 per kilometer compared to"Tk.5.2, 2.7 and 0.47 for auto rickshaws, cycle rickshaws and auto ,tempos respectively. characteristics, Further studies include usage, and investigation operations of into the the mass system transit system. Bus transit was the only mass transit mode in metropolitan Dhaka, which consisted of buses, minibuses, and haulers. Buses provided traditional stage carriage service. Minibuses and haulers acted to provide improved service with less number of stoppages. A mathematical model was applied to determine the optimum stop-spacing for bus transit services in metropolitan Dhaka. It gave a value of 630 meters. The main causes of overall mass transit service deficiencies in metropolitan Dhaka are considered to be inadequate transit equipment and poor transit operation. Method recommended by the World Bank was applied to evaluate the service performance of the government-owned Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation. Evaluation of vehicle efficiency, fleet utilization, and operation ratio indicated the weak performance of the services. Characteristics of mass transit users in terms of socio-economic status and travel behaviour, and their attitudes towards the various attributes of mass transit services were also studied. The ratio of male and female mass transit passengers in metropolitan Dhaka was about 10 to 1. Almost 90 percent of these passengers were below 40 years of age and there was no passengers below 12 years of age. About 80 percent passengers had a monthly income of below Tk.2,500 and around 33 percent had no direct income. These passengers spent almost 18 to 45 percent of their monthly income as monthly travel expenses. The service quality of mass transit in metropolitan Dhaka has been termed as poor to very poor by majority of passengers. It is envisaged that the existing mass transit system needs to be expanded in terms of both fleet size and route network. Also necessary is to improve maintenance facilities, stops and terminals layouts, the quality of services and development of more advance form of transit facilities, such as rapid transit system. Some priority measures for public transport such as bus only lanes and bus bays, and traffic controls viz. restriction on movement of low occupancy vehicles, parking and street trading are also required for faster, safer and efficient passenger transport system in metropolitan Dhaka.