April may be the cut-off point for the traffic movement in Dhaka to mark some notable transformation. To go by the Dhaka Metropolitan Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia's assurance, a desired difference in the chaotic transportation system of the capital is definitely in the offing. All because circular bus service, like the existing one in Gulshan, will be introduced in the city's Motijheel, Dhanmondi and Uttara areas. Only six bus companies will operate in the areas concerned. Well, limiting the bus companies to just six along with a few other regulatory road measures and infrastructural adjustments was a brain child of the deceased mayor Annisul Huq. Under this arrangement, the buses to be in operation within Motijheel will not go to Dhanmondi or Uttara and perhaps the vice versa. How commuters will negotiate their way from different areas to the city centre is not yet clear. Will they have to make break journeys -- sometimes a series of those -- instead of the current bus ride from the city's periphery to the city centre or other destinations on the other side?
The good news is that the DMP's traffic division is working, as the DMP commissioner claims, in coordination with the two city corporations, the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC). Coordination between and among such organisations is often conspicuous by their absence. If the different set-ups can put their acts together, there is every chance that even within limitations the traffic situation in the capital will improve to some extent. But in making this happen, all the stakeholders including the transport operators involved and other road users -- pedestrians included, will have to play their respective role responsibly. No system -- no matter how innovative it may be -- can be successful if service providers and beneficiaries are rash and/or callous.
Circular buses going round and round are unlikely to cram several buses together within a designated length of a bus stop. The system's other advantage is that even a small number of buses can ensure their availability within a short time because they are supposed to be on the move except at the bus stops for the minimum possible time and for a little longer time at the end point. However, there is perhaps a need for examining if the existing roads without any notable change in their shapes will be suitable for the purpose.
Last but not least, the DMP commissioner has issued a stern warning that the elite of society -- remarkably he did not mention VIPs -- will have to show the way so far as the compliance with the traffic rules and regulations are concerned. Violation of those will not be tolerated. Let it be no empty threat. Admittedly, the tendency to break laws among the high-ups here is overwhelmingly predominant. The lowly drivers and transport operators feel encouraged by the bad examples set by the VIPs. Both feudal and rustic types of mentality do not help the cause of cosmopolitanism and city traffic.