(Manuscript No: I12528-04) April 15, 2012 / Accepted: April 21, 2012

SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS OF TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS IN MIRPUR AREA, DHAKA, BANGLADESH

Shohana Iffat*
She is now a lecturer of Ahsanllah University of Science & Technology, Department of Civil and Transportation Engineering BUET, Bangladesh. (Email: shohanaiffat@yahoo.com) Abstract - Mirpur Thana of Dhaka city has been divided into the three thanas of Shah Ali, Pallabi and Kafrul. There are several problems on transport appears in this area. Congestions due to heavy volume of rickshaw mainly near Mirpur 1 and Mirpur 10 roundabout intersection mainly at peak hours particularly from 8.30 to 9.30 am and from 5.00 to 6.00 pm. Mirpur 10 roundabout is a physical but not operational roundabout. At Mirpur 10 intersection there is a grade separated pedestrian crossing (FOB) but pedestrians does not use it properly. There is hand operated system available which cause a huge congestion and also due to illegal pedestrian crossing at this point accident is also common. Many of the express buses leave the city from Kalyanpur. So a huge amount of congestion occurs after Kalyanpur to Gabtoly. Lack of sufficient public transport facilities and poor scheduling is a great problem observed at Mirpur area. Improper loading unloading of passengers occur by public transports because of lack of stoppages. Several places in footpaths are occupied by hawkers and also there is no safe movement opportunity for disable people. Some possible solutions of these problems can be done by Traffic Management, Transit Management, Demand Management and Restraint Measures. There are also a huge amount of safety problems in this area. So, road safety engineering strategies should be adopted to ensure safety of passengers and also pedestrians. In this paper some sustainable solutions about the transportation system management and safety concern will be discussed. Keywords: Mirpur area, Roundabout, Foot over bridge, Public transport, Congestion, Safety. Introduction Land Transport promotes and supports the installation and use of area-wide traffic control systems. Most systems include both state highway and local road traffic signal installation. Geometry and pavements shall be constructed in accordance with Land Transport Standards and guidelines manual. Traffic signal installations must be in accordance with Land Transport Standards and guidelines manual. A. AREA DESCRIPTION Mirpur is located at 23.8042N 90.3667E. It has a total area of 58.66 km2 (22.65 sq mi). It is situated at northeast of Dhaka city. According to the 2000 census of Bangladesh, Mirpur had a population of 1,074,232, of which males constitute 54.15% and females 45.85%. Recently Mirpur Thana has been divided into the three thanas of Shah Ali, Pallabi and Kafrul. B. EXISTING PROBLEMS Mirpur area contains a lot of shopping centres, hospitals, educational institutes, highway bus stoppages, amusement places and so on. Some notable institutions are National Heart Foundation Institute, Grameen Bank, Ibne Sina Hospital, Prince Bazar, Mukto Bangla Shopping Mall, Mukti jodhdha Shopping Mall, Mirpur Butic House, Benarorsi Palli, Mirpur Bangla College, Mirpur University College, Mirpur zoo, Botanical garden etc.

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System Model and Problem Definition Congestion due to heavy volume of rickshaw mainly near Mirpur 1 and Mirpur 10 roundabout intersection mainly at peak hours particularly from 8.30 to 9.30 am and from 5.00 to 6.00 pm. Mirpur 10 roundabout is a physical but not operational roundabout. So traffic signal is present here and due to malfunctioning of this signal a huge amount of congestion occurs at peak hours. Also traffic police is presented there and hand used signal maintenance is also available which is an illegal method against basic concept of round about intersection. At Mirpur 10 intersection there is a grade separated pedestrian crossing (FOB) but pedestrians does not use it properly. So accident occurs frequently. Though there are picket rail (pedestrian barrier) provided to prevent illegal pedestrian crossing at the junction but it ends very near to the intersection. So pedestrian frequently cross the road at the intersection point avoiding using FOB.

Figure 1 Mirpur 10 intersection

At Mirpur 10 intersection, in peak hours especially from 7.30 AM to 9.30 AM huge amount of delay is produced for the vehicles from Mirpur 1 to Rokeya Soroni (right turning vehicles) because less priority is given to these vehicle. But actual amount of traffic in this direction is larger than other directions. In order to re-cover this delay vehicle turns at highest speed and collision occurs often. Other Problems

Improper loading unloading of passengers by public transports because of lack of stoppages. Huge number of garments factory has been built-up in this area. So in peak hour great amount of congestion taken place. Also amount of pedestrian traffic is very high at that time due to garments workers. So pedestrian crossing at that time is a great problem. Building up of markets at Mirpur 1 intersection. The customers park their private vehicle beside the road due to lack of parking facilities and congestion occurs.

Figure 2 Markets at Mirpur

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Another problem is that due to presence of Mirpur sher e Bangla cricket stadium, during cricket matches congestion occurs in this zone. In between Mirpur 1 to 10 the footpaths are occupied by hawkers mainly earthen goods sellers and there is also a nursery of flowers is on that footpath. So pedestrian movement is hampered due to these problems. Sustainable Solutions A. TRAFFIC M ANAGEMENT

As Mirpur 10 roundabout is a physical but not operational roundabout and traffic signal is present here and due to malfunctioning of this signal a huge amount of congestion occurs at peak hours. So improvement of this intersection is essential. Grade separated roundabout or other grade separated interchange facility should be constructed there. But as it is a five legged intersection so grade separated roundabout is the best solution for this intersection because signal system improvement might give no proper solution to this problem. Channelization and installation of exclusive right turn and left turn lane is essential at all the intersection approaches. Especially an exclusive right turn lane is necessary. Introducing proper public transport facility is essential. Mainly it is urgent to improve existing services instead of introducing new service. Bus services should be provided for the garments workers by each garments factory. Improvement of existing public bus service schedules is necessary. Also proper bus stoppage with appropriate loading unloading facility is needed to construct. Signal priority for buses have to be ensured Improvement of existing signals at all intersection is necessary. Also new signal is need to introduce at Kalyanpur and Mirpur 1. Ramp controlling can be initialized by ramp metering specially at Rokeya Sarani where there is a number of access road entry in the main road. Segregated bus lane is needed to introduce. It is very much essential for the traffic coming from Mirpur 11 to Mirpur 10 intersection because volume of mixed traffic is higher in this route and also the amount of public transport users are highest. Bus lay by is needed at every stoppage for proper loading unloading of passenger in a safer way and also reduce congestion due to improper loading unloading at any points. Reversible lanes can be introduced for the traffic coming from Mirpur 1 to Mirpur 10 because peak volume in one direction is very much higher than the other direction. HOV can be introduced with High Occupancy vehicles. Mainly High Occupancy vehicle can be used for carrying the garments workers and the office going people. Also the office company and schools have to provide separate bus for their own people to reduce congestion in peak hours. Proper use of footpaths have to be ensured by hawkers removal and also repairing the necessary spaces. Repairing existing footpaths are necessary.

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Removal of rickshaw is very much essential from major roads of this zone. But as in Mirpur amount of middle and low income people is very high and their main transport mode is rickshaw so rickshaw remove will not become fruitful for this area. Bicycle lane or bike path is necessary to build instead of rickshaw removal. Because when people could be able to use bicycle or bike safely and comfortably they will replace rickshaw by default and congestion will automatically reduce. But as sufficient ground space is not available, so grade separated bicycle path/lane should be constructed Fleet improvement is necessary. That means the time interval between the arrivals of buses of each bus company is needed to improve. Fleet monitoring and maintenance is also essential. Park and ride facilities need to introduce for the people coming from other area to Mirpur for job, shopping and other purposes. B. TRANSIT M ANAGEMENT

Bus routing and scheduling: Buses of whole Mirpur area should have to maintain a proper schedule and should move on the proper routes. Bus signal priority: Should have to provide to promote public transport services. Express bus service: Need to introduce. Fare collection and integration: It should be carefully monitored by an authority. Fleet management, monitoring and maintenance: Need to improve as early as possible. Intermodal Coordination: Need proper transfer facilities between one transport system to another. Park and ride facilities: Very much essential mainly for the market places, offices and schools. C. DEMAND M ANAGEMENT

Before any transport demand management, rail freight and sea freight activity is submitted for financial assistance, there must be an agreement in writing between the parties receiving the benefits that all parties will contribute their proportion of the total cost. Financial assistance for new rail freight and sea freight activities will be based on the proportion of expected benefits identified in the evaluation. These benefits will be allocated to the parties receiving those benefits. The necessary demand management steps for Mirpur area are for: Rickshaw is a not valid Para-transit which causes a huge amount of congestion. So rickshaw removal is necessary from main roads of Mirpur area (between Mirpur 1 and 10 no intersection). Should provide sufficient rickshaws at the accessory roads. Car pool, Van pool, Shared taxi system etc have to be introduced to reduce transport demand Staggered shift of school and office hour can be introduced E-commuting, E-commerce and E-billings can be introduced. D. RESTRAINT M EASURES Markets have to be removed from Mirpur 1 intersection. If market removal is not possible then curb parking restriction is necessary to introduce there.

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Parking charge is required for curb parking Loading/unloading restriction and facilities Truck routes Peak hr restriction The express buses should not be allowed to enter into the city. They should be leave from the Gabtoly terminal only. Conclusion

Area wide traffic management improves the road way capacity of that particular area and at the same time combining all areas improvement measures, the capacity of the whole country increases, congestion reduces and as a result economic growth improves and condition of living for the people improves. So it is very much essential for our country Bangladesh which is a developing country with huge amount of congestion and other transport related problems. References 1. 2. 3. Traffic Engineering, Roger P. Roess, Chapter 26-Arterial Planning & Management. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_traffic_safety http://www.smartmovez.org.nz/references/refs/manuals/programme_and_funding_manual/programme_and _funding_manual_-_ch_4_specific_determinations/2