Study of Traffic Congestion in Sylhet City (2)

8/2/2019 Study of Traffic Congestion in Sylhet City (2)

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ABSTRACT

In Sylhet, newly born Metropolitan City of north eastern Bangladesh, faces severe traffic congestion due to rapid

and uncontrolled development by an unacceptable level of disparity in transportation demand and supply

scenario resulting in environmental degradation as well. To assess the severity of the existing traffic system

engulfed by tremendous traffic congestion in Sylhet city a study was conducted by Civil and Environmental

Engineering department of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology throughout the year (2005-2006).

In the study, traffic volume count, survey of road geometry and calculation of flow capacity, pedestrian count,

household interview and questionnaire survey for counting travel time and trip generation was performed.Relevant secondary data was also collected. The study revealed that Ambarkhana to Chowhatta link, the core

link of the city was found as the busiest, link, whereas, the Ambarkhana intersection was found to be the most

critical one showing the maximum traffic volume at a rate of 9111 PCU/h. Two traffic congestion peaks, first at

11.00 to 12.00 mainly by office, business and education trips and the second at 17:00 to 18:00 due to business

and shopping trips was observed. Traffic congestion mainly occurred by non-motorized vehicles (47 percent)

such as rickshaw and pushcart, which was followed by tempo (15 percent), private car (14 percent). Illegal

occupations on the roadside by hawkers, mobile shops etc. (34 percent) were among the major causes of traffic

congestion in the city. Maximum pedestrian movement was found at Zindabazar to Chowhatta link running

through the only busy commercial zone of the city. The Roadway Congestion Index (RCI) of 2.36 indicated the

severity of traffic congestion of Sylhet City. Such a detailed scenario of the traffic paradigm of the urban

conglomeration of a developing country is depicted in this paper.

BIJIT KUMARBANIK*, MD. AKTARUL ISLAM CHOWDHURY** &MD. SHAHJAHAN KAISARALAM SARKAR***

Paper No. 550

STUDY OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN SYLHET CITY

1 INTRODUCTION

Traffic and transportation problems in Sylhet City have

not been commensurate with the increasing demands

for its usage. The city expanded dynamically without

any planning and control due to the rapid socio-

economic changes. Sylhet City is the nucleus of the

greater Sylhet regions and all of the divisional head

office of corporate offices, the higher educational

facilities (two public universities, one public medical

college, one public engineering college, three privateuniversities, four private medical colleges, private

hospitals and clinics, government colleges and schools),

so many business and shopping complexes, the holly

shrines of Hazrat Shah Jalal (R) and Hazrat Shah Paran

(R), and even one International Airport of the country,

are located in or around the Sylhet city. Thus, the city

plays a big role in controlling the economic

development of not only Sylhet region but also the

entire Bangladesh. Due to lack of proper planning and

control over land use activities, people from various

districts rush to Sylhet and made it a horde of residential,

commercial and business centers. Therefore, high

migrations rate especially a population growth rate of 4

percent per annum (1) is observed in Sylhet city in

comparison to the annual average growth rate of 2.01

percent in Bangladesh (2). Such high migration rate

increases the population of Sylhet city dramatically.

According to Bureau of Statistics (3) the total

population of this area was about 0.2 million in 1991 but

* Lecturer** Associate Professor*** Assisant Professor

}Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,Shahjalal University of Science and Technology,Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh

thWritten comments on this Paper are invited and will be received upto 30 June, 2009.

e-mail: [email protected]

Journal of the Indian Roads Congress, January-March 2009


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3.1 Selection of Study Area

Sylhet, a newly born City Corporation, is situated at the0

northeast portion of the country with latitude of 28.85 N0

and longitude of 98.8 E. The study area selected for this

study comprises 26.50 sq. km of central urban portion of

Sylhet City. The study area belonged to SCC. For the

analysis of regional transportation activities, the study

area is divided into five broad sub-regions or Specified

Zones (SPZ) which is designated as Zone-1, Zone- 2,

Zone-3, Zone-4, and Zone-5 as shown in Fig. 2. SCC

has total 27 wards. Table-1 shows ward wise zoning of

SCC area. Fig. 3 indicating road networks in Sylhet City

Corporation showing important intersections Details ofward-wise population and zone-wise automobile

ownership are presented in tables A1 and A2 of

Annex A.

3.2 Traffic Volume Count

The most important data are generated through the

modern survey techniques like traffic volume count at

different links and intersections. The extent of variation

of traffic flow was ascertained by carrying out twelve-

hour (8:00 to 20:00) weekday counts at five

intersections such as Bondor, Zindabazar, Chowhatta,Ambarkhana and Modina Market. By analyzing the

twelve-hour traffic volumes, the period of peak flows

are assessed. Traffic volume counts were performed at

20 major intersections and 20 important links only in the

period of peak flows as assessed by twelve-hour traffic

volume count. The traffic volume is expressed as

passenger car unit per hour (PCU/h).

76

at present the population of this area is about 0.7 million

(4). Such rapid and uncontrolled developments have

created an unacceptable level of disparity in

transportation demand and supply scenario, which

resulted in traffic congestion and environmental

degradation. To reach at an equilibrium level between

the demand and the supply of transport and traffic

system, it is required to implement traffic engineering

and transport planning measures on the basis of

scientific studies.

2 SCOPE OF THIS STUDY

In view of constraints, like computational facilities, a

time and information resource, the study is dedicated to

the only central urban portion of Sylhet (Area under

jurisdiction of SCC) and evaluation of some selected

alternative planning options. Again, it is well

recognized that changes in transportation system have

always some long-term effects with corresponding

land-use pattern changes. Such long-term effects with

changes in land-use pattern are also out of the scope of

this study.

3 METHODOLOGY

The study has been conducted by the Department of

Civil and Environmental Engineering, Shah Jalal

University of Science and Technology, Sylhet for

assessing the existing traffic condition in Sylhet City

Corporation (SCC) area (5). Fig.1 showing the stages of

the research work.

Traveltime

and travelcost

Household

interview

Data fromdifferentsources

Link width+Intersectiondimension

Pedes-triancount

Intersectionvolumecount

Linkvolumecount

Data analysis and presentation

Conclusion and recommendations

Selection of study area

Data collection

Zoning of study area

BANIK, CHOWHURY & SARKARON

Fig. 1 Flow chart showing the stages of the research

Zone Zone Name Consisting WardsNo.

1 West Zone 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

2 North Zone 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 17

3 Central Business 2, 13, 14, 15, 16District (CBD)

4 East Zone 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

5 South Zone 25, 26, 27

Table 1 Zoning of SCC



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3.3 Road Geometry and Flow

Capacity

Road geometry data of 20 link roads

was surveyed and traffic flow

capacity of those roads was

calculated and expressed as PCU/h

according to Indian Roads Congress

(IRC). These theoretical traffic

volumes are compared with the

actual traffic volume and the ratio of

volume to capacity is assessed.

3.4 Pedestrian Count

Walking is very significant in urban

areas of Bangladesh as the

pedestrians form the largest single

road-users group in terms of the

total number of trips. Huge number

of pedestrians may aggravate the

traffic congestion if sufficient space

(foot path) is not available for the

m o v e m e n t o f p e d e s t r i a n s .Considering the importance of the

pedestrian activities pedestrian

counts were conducted at five major

busy links in the period of peak

flows as assessed by twelve-hour

traffic volume count.

3.5 Quantifying Congestion

Due to lack of sufficient data only

the Roadway Congestion Index

(RCI) was selected to quantify

congestion for this study. RCI can

be calculated by the following

equation (6)

Fig. 2 Map of sylhet city showing different zones

Fig. 3 Road networks in Sylhet City Corporation showing important intersections

=)(

)()(

)(

RCILengthLinkHourPeakperVehicle

LengthLinkHourPeakperVehicleCapacityLink

HourPeakperVehicle

77STUDYOF TRAFFIC CONGESTIONIN SYLHET CITY



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Here the RCI stands as the network weighted average

volume capacity ratio.

3.6 Household Interview

In order to obtain relevant socio-economic data and trip

information, a household survey was carried out in SCC

area. 100 households of five zones consisting of 20 for

each zone were selected randomly for this survey work.

Population of these 100 households was 715.

Distributions of trips by purpose, by trip time and by trip

mode have been assessed by household interview.

3.7 Travel Time Survey

A travel time survey was conducted through

interviewing different types of vehicles moving through

five zone centroiods. This was done for four major

travel modes such as rickshaw, car, motorcycle and

tempo used in Sylhet. The zone centroiods were selected

as Modina market, Ambarkhana, Zindabazar, Shibgonj,

and Kadomtoli for Zone-1, Zone-2, Zone-3, Zone-4,

and Zone-5 respectively.

3.8 Questionnaire Survey

Public views and opinions about the problems and

solutions relating to traffic movements and facilities

have been gathered through questionnaire survey.

Pedestrians, passengers, drivers, street hawkers,

shopkeepers etc. were the main target of the

questionnaire survey. Respondents were selected on a

random basis. Approximately two hundred respondents

were asked relevant questions (for example parking

facility) as a part of the questionnaire survey. Some

relevant photographs had also been taken during the

field visits and questionnaire surveys.

3.9 Secondary Data Collection

Secondary data such as road accident data with injury

and fatality was collected from various departments

such as SCC, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority

(BRTA), Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), and

Police station.

4. RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS OF THE

STUDY

A lot of survey works were performed as a part of the

study. Among these intersection survey, link volume

count, household interview, roadside interview,

pedestrian counts were the main primary data sources.

4.1 Traffic Volumes and Composition

Twelve Hourly Volume Count

Figure 4 represents the relative value of twelve hourly

traffic volumes with respect to average value at five

locations in the study area. This data tended to show two

distinct peak flows; one was observed between 11:00 to

12:00 which was 1.192 to the average flow and another

was observed between 17:00 to 18:00, which was 1.164

to the average flow. The first peak (11.00 to 12.00) was

occurred mainly by office, business and education trips.

The second one (17:00 to 18:00) was occurred mainly

by business and shopping trips. However, the flow of

traffic remained almost fairly uniform through out the

daytime. Flow of truck had been tended to be high

during 17:00 to 18:00 as there was no truck flow before

15:00.

Link volume count

Traffic volumes were counted at 20 links in the period of

peak flows (11:00 to 12:00 and 17:00 to 18:00) and

compared with the actual capacity of those links. Table 2

represents the hourly average traffic volume expressed

as PCU/h and the volume/capacity ratio at different

Fig. 4 Relative value of twelve hourly trafficvolumes with respect to average

78 BANIK, CHOWHURY & SARKARON



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links. The highest traffic volume was found in

Ambarkhana to Chowhatta link (4569 PCU/h) where as

the lowest one was observed in Eidgah to Tilaghor link

(1571 PCU/h). However, the highest volume/capacity

ratio was observed as 3.35 in Madina Market to

Subidbazar link whereas the lowest one was observed as

1.31 in Eidgah to Tilaghor link. At all links, non-

motorized vehicles were dominant. It is evident that at

all stations the major portion of vehicles was rickshaw

(55 percent), which was followed by motorcycle (12

percent), auto rickshaw (9 percent), bicycle (7 percent),

private car (6 percent) etc as shown in Fig. 5. Details of

conversion of PCU and capacity are presented in table

A3 and A4 of the Annex A.

Table 2 Comparison of Actual Volume to the

Link Capacity

Intersection survey

Traffic volumes were also counted at 20 intersections inthe period of peak flows (11:00 to 12:00 and 17:00 to

18:00) as shown in Table 3. The maximum traffic

volume was found at Ambarkhana (9111 PCU/h), which

was followed by Kudratulla Mosque (8306 PCU/h),

Bondor (8115 PCU/h) etc. The lowest value was found

in Tilaghor (4227 PCU/h). One of the very important

intersection; Zindabazar was ranked as eighth and had a

traffic volume of 6568 PCU/h. Similar to links'

composition, the highest amount of vehicle at

intersections was observed as rickshaw (54 percent),

which was followed by motorcycle (13 percent), autorickshaw (10 per cent), bicycle (7 percent), private car

(6 percent) etc. as shown in Fig. 6.

Station Location Link Road Actual Capacity Volume/Type Width Volume (PCU/h) Capacity

(ft) (PCU/h) Ratio

In front of Bondhon Modina Market to Arterial 30 4023 1200 3.35community center Subidbazar

West side of Fajilchisht Subidbazar to Arterial 30 3780 1200 3.15bridge Ambarkhana

Near Electricity supply Ambarkhana to Arterial 25 2981 1200 2.48station Eidgah

TB gate Eidgah to Tilaghor Arterial 21 1571 1200 1.31

In front of Dorgah gate Ambarkhana to Arterial 44.5 4569 2500 1.83

ChowhattaIn front of Al-Hamra Chowhatta to Arterial 38.5 3209 2100 1.53shopping center Zindabazar

In front of stadium Chowhatta to Sub- 38 4055 2100 1.93market Rikabibazar arterial

In front of Manru Chowhatta to Sub- 34 3106 2100 1.48Shopping Center Mirboxtula arterial

Near Barudkhana point Zindabazar to Sub- 18.5 3965 1200 3.30Nayasharak arterial

In front of Agragami Zindabazar to Arterial 33.5 3089 2100 1.47gi rls high Schoo l Mod hub an Po int

Mirjajangal point Zindabazar to Sub- 23.5 3581 1200 2.98Lamabazar arterial

In front of Sylhet Rikabibazar to Sub- 21 2805 1200 2.34Metropoliton Clinic Medical arterial

In front of Modon Rikabibazar to Sub- 22 3713 1200 3.09Mo hon Co llege Lamaba zar ar ter ial

In front of Court Puler Mukh to Arterial 32 3583 1200 2.99Kudratulla Mosque

In front of Nayasharak to Sub- 18.5 3847 1200 3.21Anurag Hotel Niorpul arterial

Near Mirabazar point Niorpul to Shibgonj Arterial 32 3904 1200 3.25

Near Hatim Ali Mazar Shibgonj (Upashahar) Arterial 32 3146 1200 2.62to Tilaghor

West side of Bondor to Arterial 42 4002 2100 1.91Children Park Children Park

Near south side of Niorpul to Arterial 22 2202 1200 1.84Niorpul Intersection Subhanighat

In front of Puler Mukh to Arterial 18.5 3639 1200 3.03Bangladesh Bank Taltala

55%

12%

9%

7%

6%11%

Rickshaw

Motor-cycle

Auto rickshaw

Bicycle

Private car

Others

Fig. 5 Composition of vehicles at different links

54%

13%

10%

7%

6%10%

Rickshaw

Motor-cycle

Auto rickshawBicycle

Private car

Others

Fig. 6 Composition of vehicles at different intersections




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Table 3 Hourly Average Volume of Traffic at

Different Intersections

4.2 Pedestrian Count

Pedestrians were counted at five links in the period of peak flows (11:00 to 12:00 and 17:00 to 18:00) andexpressed as pedestrian/h,. Table 4. The maximumpedestrian was found at Zindabazar to Chowhatta link

(3500) which was followed by Zindabazar to Bondorlink (3409), and Bondor to Keen Bridge link (3090),Chowhatta to Amborkhana link (3076) and Bondor toShishu park link (2628) etc.

Table 4 Pedestrian Counts (5:00 P.M. to 6.00 P.M.)

4.3 Roadway Congestion Index (RCI)

The Roadway Congestion Index (RCI) was found 2.36for the entire network as shown in Table 5. A similar

study was performed for Dhaka city in 2002 (7) where

RCI value of 2005 predicted from the model was 2.95.

Table 5 Calculation for RCI

4.4 Household Interview

From household interview for obtaining trip

information, the total numbers of trips were reported as

417 for 100 households having people of 715. Therefore

the gross per capita trip rate was calculated as 4.17 trips

per household and 0.60 trips per person. It is evident

from Fig. 7 that the greater percentage of trips weremade for educational purpose (38 percent), which was

followed by business trips (31 percent), job trips (18

percent) etc. The predominant mode of trips was

observed as rickshaw (40 percent), which was followed

by walk (20 percent), motorcycle (15 percent), car (12

percent) etc. On the other hand, Fig. 8 represents that

most of the trips were made in short time, the maximum

trips (51 percent) took 10 to 15 minutes only.

Name of intersection Type Approach Total

Nor th South East West Vehicle/h

Ambarkhana 4-legged 1603 2099 1474 1882 7058

Kudratulla Mosque (Bondor) 3-legged 4177 0 0 2780 6957

Bondor 3-legged 0 0 2958 3840 6798

Nayasharak 4-legged 1533 1372 1591 1621 6117

Modhuban (Bondor) 3-legged 0 869 2587 2575 6031

Rikabibazar 4-legged 1328 2057 1510 1107 6002

Puran Puler Mukh 3-legged 0 1840 2203 1954 5997

Zindabazar 4-legged 2880 514 1544 1055 5993

Modina Market 3-legged 0 1261 2447 1931 5639

Chowhatta 4-legged 1960 329 1603 1745 5637

Children Park (Bondor) 3-legged 1520 0 1695 2369 5584

Niorpul 4-legged 743 1409 2540 856 5548

Subidbazar 3-legged 0 1502 1548 1895 4945

Lamabazar 4-legged 1656 672 2173 414 4915

Puran Puler Mukh (Station) 3-legged 977 1261 782 1429 4449

Subhanighat 4-legged 793 1722 255 1400 4170

Eidgah 3-legged 0 1048 1412 1507 3967

Shibgonj 3-legged 0 602 1939 1364 3905

Barthokhola 3-legged 790 0 1515 1051 3356

Tilaghor 4-legged 502 459 1079 1207 3247

Location Direction No. of pedestrians

Zindabazar to Bonor road in In bound 2003

front of Sonali Bank Out bound 1406

Total 3409

Zindabaza to Chowhatta road in In bound 1845

front of Al-Hamra shopping center Out bound 1655

Total 3500

Ambarkhana to Chowhatta road in In bound 1589

front of Istikutum restaurant Out bound 1487

Total 3076

Bondor to children park road In bound 1203

near tempo stand Out bound 1425

Total 2628

Bondor to puler much road in In bound 1398

front of Judge Court Out bound 1692

Total 3090

Col-1 Col-2 Col-3 Col-4 Col-5 Col-6 Col-7 Col-8 Col-9

Link Name Actual Capacity Link Width (Col-2 * (Col-2 / (Col-6 * RCI=

Volume (PCU/h) Length (m) Col-4) Col-3) Col-7) ( Col-8 /

(PCU/h) (km) Col-6)

Modina Market to Subidbazar 4023 1200 1.00 9.15 4023.00 3.35 13487.11

Subidbazar to Ambarkhana 2057 1200 1.31 9.15 2694.67 1.71 4619.11

Ambarkhana to Eidgah 2981 1200 1.21 7.62 3607.01 2.48 8960.41

Eidgah to Tilaghor 1571 1200 2.72 6.40 4273.12 1.31 5594.23

Ambarkhana to Chowhatta 4059 2500 0.65 13.72 2638.35 1.62 4283.63

Chowhatta to Zindabazar 3209 2100 0.48 11.89 1540.32 1.53 2353.76

Chowhatta to Rikabibazar 3255 2100 0.65 11.59 2115.75 1.55 3279.41

Chowhatta to Mirboxtula 3106 2100 0.60 10.37 1863.60 1.48 2756.35 2.36

Zindabazar to Nayasharak 3165 1200 0.46 5.79 1455.90 2.64 3839.94

Zindabazar to ModhubanPoint 3089 2100 0.40 10.37 1235.60 1.47 1817.51

Zindabazar to Lamabazar 3228 1200 0.80 7.32 2582.40 2.69 6946.66

Rikabibazar to Medical 2805 1200 0.70 6.40 1963.50 2.34 4589.68

Rikabibazar to Lamabazar 3713 1200 0.38 6.71 1410.94 3.09 4365.68

Puler Mukh to Kudratulla Mosque 4983 1200 0.25 9.76 1245.75 4.15 5172.98

Nayasharak to Niorpul 2447 1200 0.55 5.79 1345.85 2.04 2744.41

Niorpul to Shibgonj 3904 1200 1.21 9.76 4723.84 3.25 15368.23

Shibgonj (Upashahar) to T ilaghor 3146 1200 0.70 9.76 2202.20 2.62 5773.43

Bondor to Children Park 5327 2100 0.43 12.80 2290.61 2.54 5810.51

Niorpul to Subhanighat 2202 1200 0.38 6.71 836.76 1.84 1535.45

Puler Mukh to Taltala 3639 1200 0.30 5.79 1091.70 3.03 3310.58

TOTAL 45140.87 106609.07




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4.5 Travel Time Survey

Travel time and cost for inter-zonal movement was

predicted by travel time and travel cost survey. Taking

weighted average of different vehicles travel time for

different locations (zone centroids), an average travel

time for zone-to-zone movement was estimated which

is shown in Table 6.

Table 6 Zone-to-Zone Travel Time (Minutes)

10%

51%

32%

6% 1%

less than 10

10 to 15 min

15 to 30 min

30 to 45 min

above 45 min

Fig. 8 Distributions of trips by time required

38%

31%

18%

13%Educational trips

Business trips

Job trips

Others

Fig. 7 Distributions of trips by purpose

4.6 Causes of Traffic Congestion

Road Side Activities

The city is too much centralized to a small area. The

central portion is Zindabazar and Bandar, which suffers

a strong traffic congestion almost allover the day. In the

central portion of Sylhet, floating shops, mobile

hawkers, artisans and temporary traders of different

goods and commodities occupy almost every road. The

questionnaire survey result claims that, illegal

occupations on the road side by hawkers; mobile shops

etc. (34 percent) were the major causes of traffic

congestion which was followed by narrow road

condition (31 percent), unauthorized parking

(17 percent) etc as shown in Fig. 9.

Parking Facility

Lack of parking facility for the increasing number of

motorized vehicles is one of the major causes of

aggravating traffic congestion in SCC area. There are so

many high-rise buildings situated in the commercial

hubs of SCC area and many are also going to be

constructed. Most of these have almost no parking

facility. Setting up commercial complexes on the lower

floors is very common practices in these high-risebuildings and users of these buildings have to park their

vehicles on the roadside that causes severe traffic

congestion in peak hours. The questionnaire survey

result also claims that, the existing facilities are very

poor which has been supported by most of the

respondents (90 percent of passengers, 80 percent of

drivers and 75 percent of shopkeepers).

Origin Destination Zone

Zone1 2 3 4 5

1 11 15 22 27

2 11 12 11 22

3 15 12 12 16

4 22 11 12 12

5 27 22 16 12

34%

31%

17%

18%

Illegal

Narrow

Unauthorized

Others

Fig. 9 Causes of congestion due to roadside activities




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Improper Design of Intersections

The real feature limiting the capacity of the main roadsystem and creating traffic congestion is the lack of

capacity of the intersection. Factors contributing to this

problem are narrow intersections, encroachment by

hawkers as well as parked vehicles, poor design and

management of intersections. Ambarkhana intersection

is the busiest and most critical intersection of Sylhet,

and Zindabazar is one of the more congested

intersections based on both flow and design. Frequent

truck movement on Ambarkhana intersections create

considerable bottleneck to the smooth flow of local

vehicular and pedestrian traffic. About half width of the

Sunamgonj road of Ambarkhana intersection is

occupied by an unauthorized tempo stand as well as by

the street hawkers that ultimately reduce the roadway

capacity resulting serious traffic congestion in that

region.

Vehicle Responsible for Congestion

The questionnaire survey revealed that traffic

congestion mainly occurred by non-motorized vehicles

(47 percent) such as rickshaw and pushcart which was

followed by tempo (15 percent), private car (14 percent)

etc. Most of the rickshaw pullers have no training and

they are not even aware of the traffic rules. In Sylhet

City, both motorized and non-motorized vehicles are

occupied by the same streets at the same time. The

heterogeneous speeds create chaos and congestion on

the street.

Lack of traffic signs and signals

Proper traffic signs and signals were not present in anyintersection. Though some of the intersections (for

example) Puran puler mukh, Niorpul etc.) have the

traffic signaling system, they were not functioning. All

of them are spoiled or out of operation. Sufficient

numbers of speed breakers, zebra crossings, markings,

light posts with streetlights were not available in most

major roads of Sylhet city.

Management Problem

Traffic police personnel were not able to utilize theirskill and ability on roads due to limited scope and lack of

proper training on traffic rules, regulations and orders.

Lack of awareness or negligence was also responsible

for not applying traffic rules properly and systematic

control of traffic. No passenger's waiting shed was

established, no town services-of bus or minibuses has

been introduced in the Sylhet City. There were no public

bus and adequate tempo services that result in higher

level of motorized personal vehicles.

4.7 Accident Scenario

The number of road accidents in whole Bangladesh

increased from 3533 in the year of 1997 to 3970 in the

year of 2000. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, shares

more than 20 percent of road accidents of Bangladesh

with annual death of over 300 (8). However, total 837

accidents were recorded in the last five years (2000 to

2004) in Sylhet region and the total 522 deaths were also

recorded in those accidents (9). A survey was conducted

on 200 accidents occurred in Sylhet region. The result of

the survey revealed that most of the accident caused byrickshaw (27 percent), which was followed by tempo

and baby taxi (22 percent), private car, microbus and

truck (19 per cent), push cart and bicycle (4 per cent) etc.

Survey results also showed that most of the accident

caused due to the tendency of the driver to overtake (28

percent) followed by lack of traffic knowledge

(21 percent), mismanagement (18 percent) etc.

4.8 Public Suggestion for Remedial Measures

A lot of suggestions came from household interview.

Among them 38 percent people suggested to wide the

existing roads, 22 percent to improve the major

intersections while 15 percent for building up

awareness among public and also the drivers. 70 percent

respondents recommended for increasing 12-seated

CNG driven 4-stroke vehicles and to turn all the 2-

stroke three wheelers to CNG driven 4-stroke three

wheelers.




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5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Sylhet, a rapid growing city with non-controllablemigration from peripheral outskirt in view to change the

economic fortune aggravates the urban facilities of the

inhabitants in limited infrastructures including narrow

roads and streets of pre-urban and initial urban age.

Increase of population creates tremendous traffic

pressure on old narrow congested roads to provide

excess transport facilities in the city. Two distinct traffic

peak flows observed during the study. Morning peak of

11-12 AM corresponded to the educational trips of the

students and teachers as well as the multi-actions offices

whatever private or public while Past Meridian peak of17-18 indicated to the busy scenario of shopping pattern

of the city. The highest traffic volume was in

Ambarkhana to Chowhatta, the busiest link of the

Sylhet City leading to the maximum traffic volume at

the Ambarkhana intersection at the heart of the city. The

pedestrian concentration hiked up at Zindabazar to

Chowhatta, the central part of the city. The roadway

congestion index of 2.36 indicated the severity of traffic

congestion in Sylhet city. To face the traffic congestion

of a newly born city corporation and metropolitan city,

authority should take initiative through proper studyapplying engineering science of traffic management

aided with computer models. It should utilize the know-

how of traffic engineers and involvement of the experts,

specialists and concerned academicians. It will lead to

the short term and long term solution for efficient traffic

management in Sylhet city. In this regard the following

recommendation would be meaningful.

a) The most vital and significant task to improve the

traffic condition is to wide the roads that can be

possible, because all of the links are exceeding its

capacity.

b) As some of the roads are getting almost fixed the

alternative actions for these roads should be made.

As mentioned earlier the west road of Zindabazar is

almost in a fixed position and the widening of that

road is impossible here. Modhuban (Bondor) to

Chowhatta road is one way, same way Mirjajangal

zindabazar-Nayasharak road can be made one way.

In that case the pressure on sub-roads (Dariapara &

Howapara) will be increased and development of

that road would be essential.

c) A crucial decision have to made by the respective

authority to decentralize the institutional and

administrative premises to somewhat distant away

from the most congested commercial zone (Bondor

& Zindabazar), resulting in significant reduction of

congestion.

d) SCC can enforce some rules on developing high-

rise infrastructure. In that case the high-rise

building should obviously provide multistoried

parking facility.

e) Constructing multi-storied parking complex by

replacing Hasan Market at Bondor, where ground,

first and second floor can be used as off street

parking and others floors will be used for market.

This feasible solution can help overcome traffic

congestions in the Central business area.

f) Sufficient footpaths and footway should be

constructed to facilitate free movements ofpedestrians on major roads.

g) Floating shops, mobile hawkers, artisans and

temporary traders should be removed from roads

and roadsides.

h) Required number of speed breakers. Zebra

crossings, traffic signals, light posts with street

lights are to be constructed. Also provision of traffic

markings and traffic signals should be introduced.

i) Parking for rickshaws, buses, trucks should berestricted to the roads, enforcing by the laws and

orders of the duty police. Traffic rules and

regulations should be maintained on roads by

increasing the number of duty police at road

junctions and other busy places.

j) The Tempo terminal near the Bondor point that has

great impact on traffic operation to minimize traffic




10/12

congestion should be shifted elsewhere.

k) The existing Ambarkhana intersection, which is amost critical one, should be improved and widened

immediately. Undesirable vehicle storage and

parking on both sides of the approaches area should

be strictly restricted.

l) Separate lane for both motorized and non-

motorized vehicles should be introduced as the

non-motorized mode; Rickshaw plays significant

roles in causing congestion.

REFERENCES

1. Rahman, G. and Islam, M.M. "Urban Growth

Pattern in Dhaka City and its Problem of Urban

Solid Waste Management. In Bangladesh

Environment 2000", Ed. M. Feroz Ahmed,

Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon, Dhaka, 2000, pp

436-443.

2. Ahmed, M.F. "Municipal Waste Management in

Bangladesh with Emphasis on Recycling, Aspect of

Solid Waste Management Bangladesh Context".

Ed. Mofizul Hoq and Mrs. H. Lechner, German

Cultural Institute, Dhaka, 1994, pp 113-131.

3. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) (1991),

Statistical Year Book of Bangladesh, Dhaka

Reproduction Documentation and Publication

Wing, BBS.

4. SCC (2005), "Status Report of Sylhet City

Corporation", Sylhet, Bangladesh.

5. Banik, B. K. "Evaluation of Traffic Congestion in

Sylhet city and a Development of Mathematical

Model". B. Sc. Engg. Thesis, Department of Civil

and Environmental Engineering, Shah Jalal

University of Science and Technology, Sylhet,

Bangladesh, 2005.

6. Ortuzar, J. De and Willumsen, L.G. "Transport

Modeling". J. Wiley & Sons Ltd., USA., 1995.

7. Habib, K.M.N. "Evaluation of Planning Options to

Alleviate Traffic Congestion in Dhaka City" M.Sc.

Engg. Thesis. Department of Civil Engineering,

BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2002.

8. "Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA)",

Dhaka, Government of Bangladesh, 2002.

9. Sharmin, R., Chowdhury M.A.I., Sarkar M.S.K.A.,

and Haque M.S. "Study on Traffic Environment: A

Case Study in Sylhet City Corporation Area". In

Bangladesh Journal of Environmental Science.

Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh,

Bangladesh, Vol. 12(1), 2006, pp 123-128.



Table A1 Ward wise population data

Ward No. Area (sq. km) Population

1 0.95 17990

2 1 17972

3 0.92 19742

4 0.94 16999

5 0.93 17743

6 0.95 17420

7 0.92 19479

8 0.97 199259 1 19925

10 0.9 17975

11 0.88 18417

12 0.91 19925

13 0.9 19720

14 0.9 17440

15 0.92 19421

16 0.97 16964

17 0.94 17842

18 0.9 19405

19 0.92 16842

20 0.93 1757721 0.94 19720

22 0.95 15875

23 0.96 18981

24 0.93 15342

25 1.35 20443

26 1.35 23472

27 1.37 25950

Total 26.5 508506

Source: SCC, 2005

ANNEX A(Clause 3.1 & 4.1)


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Table A2 Zone wise automobile ownership

Zone Automobile

1 1356

2 1313

3 700

4 1574

5 752

N.B.: Estimated (Based on household interview)

TRAFFIC SURVEY DATA SHEET

INTERSECTION VOLUE COUNT

AREA CHARACTERISTICS

Location: Time:

Approach: Date:

Vehicle type Direction of travel

Left Through Right Total

Rickshaw

Bi-cycle

Rickshaw van

Bullock carts

Push carts

Car/Taxi

Truck

Buses

Minibuses

Motor cycle

Baby taxi/Tempo

Other

Total


Source: Indian Road Congress (IRC)

Serial No. Vehicle type Equivalency factor

1 Passenger car, tempo, auto rickshaw or agricultural 1.0

tractor,

2 Cycle, motorcycle or scooter 0.5

3 Truck, bus or agricultural tractor-trailer unit 3.0

4 Cycle rickshaw 1.5

5 Horse-drawn vehicle 4.0

6 Bullock cart Small 6.0

Big 8.0

Table A3 Equivalency factors for differenttypes of vehicles (IRC)

Table A4 Flow capacity of urban roadsrecommended by IRC (Indian Road Congress)

Traffic flow capacity in PCU per hour for traffic condition

No. of traff ic Roads with no Roads ways with Roads with free

lanes and width Way frontage access, frontage access and frontages access

no standing high capacity parking vehicles

vehic les, very intersect ion and heavy cross

little cross traffic traffic

Two lane (7 7.5 m) One 2400 1500 1200

Two lane Two 1500 2500 750

Three lane (10.5 m) One 3600 2500 2000

Three lane Two 3000 2100 1600

Four lane (14 m) One 4800 3000 2400

Four lane Two 4000 2500 2000

Six lane (21 m) Two 6000 4200 3600

Source: Indian Road Congress (IRC)



12/12

TIME

Vehicle Type

Rickshaw

Bi-cycle

Rick-shaw Van

Bullock Cart

Push Cart

Other

Total


LINK VOLUME COUNT

DIRECTION OF TRAVEL:

Date: (NON-MOTORIZED)

Location:

Time:


LINK VOLUME COUNTDIRECTION OF TRAVEL: (MOTORIZED)DATE:

Location:

Time:

TIME

Car/Taxi

Truck

Buses

Minibuses

Motor-cycle

Baby Taxi/tampo

Other

Total



STUDYOF TRAFFIC CONGESTIONIN SYLHET CITY

Documents

Study of Traffic Congestion in Sylhet City (2)