Dhaka's Traffic

As an outsider to Dhaka, whenever I step into that city the first thing that bugs me the most is its traffic system, countless working hours are getting wasted every day. Even I suffered a lot due to this issue multiple times. It's hard to predict the amount of time as we are not the daily dwellers in that city.

So for the indefinite time, I am in this city again, but this time I had a thrilling experience. I had three hours, had to travel 8 km, do the job, and come back. Just 8 KM in three hours, so easy right? This is a trap. The most common medium to travel is bus services, the cheapest option to go to your destination but this suffers the most in the traffic jams as well. I was on a bus, going towards my destination, after crossing a few signals, I was sure that it wouldn't arrive on time, it would take an eternity for sure.

I took the bus, after covering a certain distance, I got down and started walking to cross the signal that takes ten to fifteen minutes to cover whereas I can walk past this within two to three minutes and I crossed two such signals and took rickshaw with a hope that he would take shortcuts through the local roads instead of the main roads that are heavily congested. After a certain period of time, I realized that this was not working either. I was in the most congested and heavily traffic-prone area in Dhaka so this is expected. I walked again and then took a rickshaw for the last time to reach my destination. While returning, did almost the same, took a rickshaw, walked for two or three signals to avoid the heavy traffic jams, and then boarded on the bus again. Just a hectic journey that took more than three hours.

But again, there are alternatives. If you took a car, CNG, or rickshaw you might feel less exhausted or irritated but the jams and wasted hours are there. CNGs and Rickshaws might save some time going through the local roads apart from the main ones. Nowadays we have metro rail too but that goes through a single route, for now, has extreme demand and heavy pressure from the increasing numbers of passengers.

Wait, the one and only effective solutions are the bikes. Yeah, you have a bike in Dhaka? Congrats, you saved countless times. Even if you don't have one you can always take a ride-sharing services that are widely available throughout the city. Many are making their lives by giving this service.

On the last day, I had to make it to the railway station. I was running out of time as I had to catch my train on time. Made a deal with a rider and we are on our way. The most surprising fact was how they managed to move even with the space of a single person. Where every vehicle is standing still they manage to move forward and forward and then goooooooo. Can you imagine, the distance that would have needed almost one and a half hours for a bus to cover was covered within 20 minutes by a bike? Just a couple of days ago, I traveled the same distance via CNG, which took almost 40 minutes, half then the Bus but double then the bike. So you got the point, right? If you are extremely careful about your time, every second counts for you, then pick the option of bike. If you are single, this is the best shot.

If I were to shift to that city permanently I would surely consider getting a bike otherwise You're gonna lose a chunk of your valuable time doing nothing on the irritating traffic jams.