A cabinet committee has expressed disappointment at the failure of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) to properly coordinate the traffic system management in and around Dhaka city.
The cabinet committee on government purchase (CCGP) observed that there was no sign of improvement in the traffic situation as the authority failed to play its due role in this regard.
Besides, it has become difficult to implement many traffic and transport-related projects in the city due to lack of coordination among different agencies, officials said.
The CCGP already shared its disappointment with the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges (MoRTB) and asked it to strengthen the DTCA immediately to help improve the traffic situation.
The DTCA was set up in line with an act in 2012 to check unplanned construction of infrastructure, including flyovers and buildings, and to ensure better coordination among all transport-related agencies.
It was found that due to lack of coordination, two or more government agencies under different ministries took up separate projects to implement on the same site.
Transport experts said DTCA could not do anything to bring about changes in the city's transport system.
It only took steps to revise the 20 years' transport policy and introduce mass transit system in the city, they said.
They also said the DTCA's failure in coordination also resulted in the revision of the transport policy named Strategic Transport Plan (STP) within a few years after its formulation.
As per the act, the implementing agencies will have to take clearance from the DTCA for transport-related projects and no projects inconsistent with the STP could be taken up.
The experts said the DTCA could not play its strong role for lack of expertise.
"Since its inception, the DTCA has been demoralised as it did not have adequate manpower, including technical experts," said an official.
Only 10-12 people have been working full-time for the DTCA all along, he said.
However, the public administration and finance ministries have given approval for recruitment of 142 people to the DTCA, official sources said.
Recently, the Accident Research Institute (ARI) in a study report also recommended strengthening the DTCA with the appointment of an adequate number of technicians and experts.
It cited examples of many mega cities where hundreds of engineers and traffic experts work every day.
The report said enough manpower and technical hands are required to manage the city's traffic and transport system amid growing demand for transports.
Transport and safety expert Prof. Shamsul Haque said it is essential to empower and equip the DTCA with adequate technical experts for ensuring better coordination among transport agencies.
"The DTCA executive director should be a technical person having special expertise," he told the FE over phone when asked for comments on the need for reforms of the DTCA.
"Government officials having the rank of an additional secretary generally hold the position of DTCA executive director, but technical person was hardly appointed to this post," said Mr Haque, a teacher of Civil Engineering Department at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).
The DTCA board was formed with the road transport and bridges minister as its chairman. Though it comprises some high-profile members, including mayors of the Dhaka city corporation and other major cities, other members mostly come from transport owners' and workers' associations.
At its board meetings, political issues often got more priority than the issues relating to the improvement of the city's transport system or its better cooperation, sources said.
That is why the DTCA has yet to reform the bus network although a decision was taken to divide the city into six routes to stop the practice of overtaking and reduce overlapping of bus services, they added.
