Dhaka’s chronic traffic congestion is becoming worse this month, with the regular surge in pre-Eid shopping trips.
Congestion is the most important issue which the public expects the authorities to address.
The capital cannot afford business as usual. Piecemeal solutions have been tried in the past and proven to be lacking. We cannot afford to wait for individual schemes like metro rail, which opened new tenders this month, to come on stream.
The capital needs a unified transport authority answerable to local authorities to take a strategic approach to improving public transport and controlling traffic now, not later.