Are we there yet?

I know there are many who fear being stabbed in a dark alley, or shot down in broad daylight, or being run over by a speeding vehicle — but not me. I can say for certain that it will be traffic jams which will bring about my death. I fear that I’ll die waiting in the streets.

In an age where life is speeding past us and we’re struggling to barely hold on, our roads aren’t much help. I bet turtles can move faster. Forever packed with immobile cars, buses, and motorcycles, one could question whether these are roads or parking lots. I know I can never be certain, when I’m waiting in line, holding my breath, when I’ll move by a foot.

Traffic jams are nothing foreign to the world — they are present in every country. For most countries, they are occasional inconveniences, but in Bangladesh, the problem is an integral part of daily life. We deal with it by normalising it. In fact, we have accepted it to such an extent that it is impossible to think about Bengali life without thinking about the traffic. I think it’s more appropriate to say I live on the road, rather than at a particular address when asked, because it seems that is where I spend most of my time.

But enough complaining. It seems that nowadays all we do is complain. Complaining about how our roads have become the major obstacles in our modern lives, or how the government is failing to improve this will not get us anywhere — regardless of how entertaining we find. Everyone has a share in the blame, but dishing it out will not solve our problems. For that, we have to find the roots of the problem.

I’ll refrain from bringing in the common “poor road and city construction” argument. That might be true, but arguing about it will not give us better roads. Until someone finds a way to raze the entire city and rebuild it without any collateral damage, we’re stuck with what we have.

Love me or hate me for saying this, but rickshaws are not part of the bigger problem. I’m not saying that rickshaws are innocent. Every now and then, we can find one blocking a part of a road here, or taking a crazy turn there. They might have their share of the blame, but they cannot be called the major contributor.

Another group often framed for this problem is public transport — how old and large vehicles are killing our streets. The real culprit is private transportation. If you take a look at any photograph displaying traffic jams, what you’ll see is that the ratio of public transport to private transport is approximately 1 to 25. You’re lucky if you can find a bus — which has empty seats — in the swarm.

It is difficult to explain how this situation has developed. People believe there are many advantages of private transport over public transport. For one, it gives you the privacy of your very own box, away from the venomous stare of the world. Private cars tend to have air conditioners, available in only a few buses. Besides, there are also the bragging rights that come along with the ownership of your very own car, which public transports cannot dream of providing.

It seems that the reasons mentioned above outweigh the negative factors, such as increasing traffic jams, contributing to climate change, making lives slow and miserable, etc. Owning a private vehicle is not necessarily a bad thing. But when we use that vehicle every single day, contributing to the buildup of traffic jams, we are at fault.

I do not take any particular pleasure in accusing my readers of being spoilt or being braggarts, so forgive me if I break a few hearts. But if we all were to avoid using private transport for every daily task — such as going to school, work, or grocery shopping — we would all be heroes. Not only would we be saving Bangladesh a lot of trouble, we would also be fighting climate change and save a pretty penny in the process. Public transportation is cheap, and would save us quite a lot of money we would otherwise spend on fuel.

This might sound a little hypocritical of me, considering how I happen to use private transport more often than not. And I’d be lying if I said that I did not enjoy the benefits of private transportation. If I am to be honest, I’ll have to admit that there are many good reasons for avoiding public transport.

For one, the quality of public transport is not at all appealing to the people. Most buses on the street are so battered that one could say they were held together by tape, threatening to fall apart. 20 luxury buses could be afforded and maintained with a 10cr budget, assuming that the money was not eaten away by corruption.

Another reason why people are reluctant to use public transportation is that Bangladesh is not a safe place at all. When you walk around the street, there is the ever-present risk of being mugged, raped, or murdered. People who can afford private transport would rather not take the risk, and unless Bangladesh can be made safer, it is illogical to assume that people will step outside their comfort zones to make the world a better place.

The problem of traffic is not going to go away by itself. As people buy more vehicles and neglect public transportation, our streets will only grow more crowded. There are certain issues that need to be dealt with before we can expect people to accept public transport as ideal. Unless measures are taken, this image of Bangladesh will remain unchanged.