The transit and mass transportation system of Dhaka has deteriorated badly in the last ten to fifteen years. Since 1990, the roads of Dhaka have increased only by 5 per cent. The population of the City has increased by nearly 7 million. The traffic has increased by 200 per cent. The roads are already clogged. Over the next twenty years the population will increase by another 10 million to a total of 22 million. The built up area will increase by another 35 per cent to 40 per cent. Dhaka has currently approximately 7 per cent area under road network. For a working city the ideal is around 25 per cent. The bare minimum is around 14 per cent, coupled with a very good Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) (METRO) system. The current estimated passengerload is around 4.0 million. By 2024 this will rise to above 10 million per day.

Without a massively expanded road network and a collaborative public Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) (METRO) system the roads of Dhaka City will not be able to cope with the growing vehicles and expanded passengers in the near future and the whole transportation system will collapse. The urgent need now is to provide Dhaka with a major expansion of the Road network coupled with a surface separated Mass Rapid Transit System (MRT). What a METRO system does for a mega city is that it removes a huge number and percentage of passengerload and vehicles from the surface road network. It reduces surface vehicle congestion. It makes public transportation much quicker for a great bulk of the population. It leads to energy conservation. It also reduces air pollution. That is why most of the large and mega cities either have or are building a Metro system.

Recently I was in New Delhi, India and had a close look at the new METRO system they are building. Starting construction in 1999 Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the developing company, date built three Metro lines, extending to some 6o kilometres in length in six years. This includes some 53 stations, of which 11 are underground and the rest aboveground. Part of a much more comprehensive and ambitious plan the DMRC Company has so far built three lines of METRO in this phase 1.

One of these three lines (Yellow Line) serves New Delhi in the north south direction through the city centre (Connaught Place, through Kashmir Gate). This line is mostly underground in the city centre. There are 11 stations on this line.

There is another line going east west through the Kashmir Gate (Red Line). This line is mostly above ground and above grade (separated). This line has so far twenty stations.

The third (Blue) line opened on December 30.2005 is another above grade line (some 22 kilometres long) going through the Connaught Centre, mostly to the west. This line has 22 stations. Both these Red Line and the Blue line inter connects with the mostly underground Yellow line (at Kashmir Gate and Connaught Place. This makes the whole Metro System comprehensive, integrated and very effective as mass rapid transport (MRT) system. As a reference to the speed and efficiency with which this system is being built, the Blue line some 22 kilometres long with 20 above ground stations and two under ground stations was built in only 32 months. It started construction in May 2003 and completed the 22 miles in December 2005. It is truly quite amazing.

The cost of underground construction, I was told was Rs. 320 crores (US$ 70 million) initially per kilometres. This was later brought down to Rs. 270 crores (US$ 60 million) later as the company gained experience and expertise. The cost of above grade (on elevated rails) construction was initially Rs. 150 crores (US$ 33 million) and later brought down to Rs. 130 crores (US$ 28.8 million) per kilometre. The above costs are all inclusive of underground tunnels, elevated structures, rails, stations, and the rolling stock. The system in near future will be massively expanded with three more new lines added and a total coverage of approx. 220 kilometres. The passengerload with the first two lines initially was 250,000. With the opening of the third (Blue) line it will rise to 700,000 by March this year. Eventually by 2010, the company expects 1.5 million riders. Delhi has a total current 10 million passengers. By 2010, the metro will carry at least 15 per cent of the total riders. The fares on the Metro are also very reasonable. It is Rs. 1.0 per kilometre of distance travelled. I rode the Yellow line from Cannought Place to Kashmir gate and then onto Shahdara on the Red line, a distance of some 12 kilometres for a one-way fare of Rs. 11.

It is clear that the authorities of New Delhi understand the importance of a fast moving mass rapid transit (MRT) unhindered by surface traffic. Hence they have opted for a METRO system, that is efficient, viable and able to move large number of commuters rapidly, that is unhindered by other surface traffic. They are also building it at almost breakneck speed. It gives the commuters of New Delhi not only another option, but it also is environment friendly, in that it not only reduces the number of surface vehicles by removing surface passengerload, but also removes the polluting surface vehicles. By using the system, one is able to cover great distance within the city in hassle free and short time.

"After seeing the success of Delhi Metro Rail several Indian State Governments have approached DMRC for preparing schemes for Metros for their Cities. At the request of the State Governments of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, DMRC has already prepared Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for Bangalore and Hyderabad Cities. The State Governments of Maharastra, Gujrat and Tamil Nadu have also have also approached DMRC for preparing DPRs for Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Chennai Metros. Work on the preparation of DPRs for Metros for these Cities is presently in progress." Source: DMRC Metro Brochure.

New Dhaka Transportation Proposal Under STP

The government of Bangladesh has embarked on a very ambitious project. The Ministry of Communication together with the DCC (DTCB), has commissioned a twenty year Strategic Transport Plan (STP). The development period of this plan is 2004 to 2024. The STP has three major component parts. It has a ROADS (+++) component of some 72 Roads and elevated highways project to be built within the existing City including covering the expansion of area up to the Balu River on the east side of the city. These Roads network are to be developed by various line agencies in three broad phases.

The second component of the STP is a proposal for a Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system. This will be three bus lines on grade on existing roads, but with separate designated lane exclusive to bus system. Like the Roads, this system will also be developed in two major phases, as an interim system prior to the implementation of the METRO system.

The third component of the STP plan is a proposal to develop some 60 kilometres of, three line Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) (Metro) system. This again will be a combination of above ground and underground grade separated Metro Rail system. It has been proposed in the STP plan that the METRO system of three lines be developed in a span of some twenty years (by 2024). The first five years are to be devoted to the development of some ROADS, the BRT system and only feasibility studies of the METRO system. I participated in the discussions on the STP plan prepared by consultants as a member of the Advisory Committee. I personally feel that the proposed BRT system for Dhaka is not appropriate and should be discarded. No city in the World I know of which has a population of ten million or more has such a system or is planning to have one. This system works best in small to medium sized cities (under 5 million), where building and expanding existing exclusive bus lanes are easier. It does not work very well in congested existing roads in mega cities. On the other hand almost all major cities of the world that can afford such a METRO system, either has one or is aspiring to have one. I also strongly feel that given the experience of such cities as New Delhi, we should expedite the planning and development such a Metro system in Dhaka in the shortest possible time. Of the three lines proposed in the STP plan , the first line should be planned and implemented within a period of seven to eight years, i.e. the first line from Uttara to Saidabad via Mohakhali, Sonargoan Hotel and Motijheel should be up and running by 2013 to 2015. The second line from Mirpur to Saidabad, through Hotel Sonargoan via Dhanmondi and Azimpur and Sadarghat should be commissioned by 2018. The third circle line proposed from Gulshan to Mirpur Road and back to Gulshan via Sonargoan could be built by 2020 to 2022. If the above three lines could be built in 15 to 17 years it would be capable of carrying 2.5 million to 3.0 million people (riders), helping to reduce the surface vehicles congestion of Dhaka City in the future. The initial investment cost would be high, but the payback and benefits to the city and its inhabitants over a long, long period would be immense. We should invest now and build for the future.

I in the Part 1 of this paper I elaborated on the need of Dhaka to have an effective Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) (Metro) system. In this Part I want to discuss the possible structural set up of an agency that could be set up and the possible financial arrangements to implement such a programme.

Organisational setup

It is clear that to plan, programme, and finance and implement such an important transportation system we would need an effective organisational set up. This should be set up with only one basic criterion in mind. The organisation should be a professional body, based on merit only and totally devoid of any political considerations. It could be set up as an autonomous company with the participation of central government, the city government and civil society in the constituted Board. The Chairman of the Company could be the representative of the Central Government at least with a Secretarial rank. This person would be the primary link with the Central Government. The company should also have a CEO (Managing Director) to run the operation of the company. This person should be selected totally on the basis of technical, financial and organisational merit alone through an open competition. This person and those close to him in the organisational setup should be financially well remunerated like a local or multinational company. He should also be given a large and clear scope of operation and not be subjected to political pressures within his mandate. This person should report to the Board on the finances and progress of the project on regular basis. The current DTCB (Dhaka Transport Coordination Board) could be transformed into such an autonomous Board.

The Mandate of this Corporation or Company would include the continued preparation and the management of the proposed STP (2004 - 2024) plan and the implementation of the METRO programme.

Financial setup

The programme could be run as a totally public sector venture or as joint public and private sector initiative. The financing in case of public sector venture could constitute a donor agency funding, contributions from the central government and the City government. Also. Funds could be raised from the private sector through the issuance of Bonds and shares etc.

The joint public sector -private sector initiatives could include majority contributions from a donor agency, central government, City government to say 60 per cent to 75 per cent of the cost of the programme. The balance 40 per cent to 25 per cent could be raised from the participation of a private sector company. This company could build and run the project for a specified period of time under a BOT (Build Operate and Turnover) terms. This would reduce the financial burden of implementing the project. At the same time the recovery time by the private sector company would be substantially reduced by the donor and the public sector contributions.

On the cost and the financial aspect of the project we assume that if we project to build a three line Metro system covering some 60 Km over a 15 year period, and that the combined cost of the Metro with combination of underground and over ground system, the cost could be around US $ 40 million per km. The total cost of the project in 2006 US $ 2.4 billion. If this cost is divided into 15 years, we would need US$ 160 million per year for implementation in 2006 dollars. The bulk of this money could be raised through donor contributions and private sector investments. We could attempt to public sector contributions to 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the total sum. That would be a very wise and effective investment towards the easing of Dhaka s transportation problems.

The Roads programme under the STP plans should be run separately but in coordination with the Metro programme. The Roads programme could be carried by the designated line agencies. If we are bold and visionary enough, we could solve the transport problems of Dhaka with professionalism, with the greater interest of the country in mind. The sooner we start such a programme the better it will be.

The writer is an Architect and an Urbanist. He is also the Managing Director of Urban Habitat ltd

Source: http://independent-bangladesh.com/news/feb/08/08022006op.htm