An Overview of the Traffic Congestion in Dhaka City: Its Causes and Consequences

Abstract

- The mega city, Dhaka cannot afford the burden of 14.54 million people on its 815.8 sq. kilometers of land. It is lengthy in south and northern directions while its width consisting of east and western directions is few kilometers only. Traffic congestion stands as the number one problem of Dhaka city and becomes the most intolerable one for the city dwellers. All most all city dwellers are directly allied with this problem. Besides, traffic congestion leads to other problems such as air pollution, noise pollution etc. Although several research have been conducted to deal with this problem, but still people are being adversely affected by it. Therefore, this study attempts to explore the hidden causes of traffic congestion of Dhaka city as well as to shed light its overall consequences. This study is based on the surette of 400 people who were directly associated will this problem. The researchers have also drawn information from the existing literature and various reports of the Government of Bangladesh to clarify the different causes of traffic congestion and its overall effects. The major finding of the study is that there are several factors liable for traffic congestion of Dhaka city and it has adverse effects on the different socio- economic aspects, but still these issues are not emphasized considerably lo minimize it.