Traffic in Dhaka

What’s transportation like in Dhaka? Crowded, disorganized, chaotic – in short, “jungle rules”! Dhaka is a city of 13 million people. Most of them are poor. They rely on walking, rickshaws, “baby taxis” and buses to get to and from work, the markets, and to visit family and friends. Nonetheless, there are also hundreds of thousands of cars on the road every day. The roads are narrow, rough, and full of puddles after the daily rain shower. Although one recognizes absolutely no sense of traffic organization on first glance, there is actually a system of sorts. Driving here is a daily Olympic event, risking life and limb if not fully alert and cautiously aggressive. Here is how it works:

Whoever gets to a narrow spot, a turn against traffic or a passing opportunity first -- wins. When it is bumper to bumper traffic, that means if you don’t nudge the nose of your car in front of the neighboring vehicle, you will sit still for hours. Honking is constant on every street, either to fend off an encroaching driver or bicycle rickshaw, or to warn pedestrians walking out in the traffic lanes that you are about to run them over if they don’t move aside (usually into a puddle…). Sitting still in traffic when everyone else expects you to poke your car into oncoming traffic also unleashes a barrage of community honking. Remember that driving is on the left side of the road here. If you are making a right turn, against oncoming traffic, local custom dictates that you do that with ANY break in oncoming traffic. Although you may be sure to be hit by judging the speed of the oncoming car, the “local rules” dictate that once you have gotten in the way of the oncoming vehicle, it will slow down and wait for you. If you don’t pull in front of it, it will speed up. Getting the idea?

Now add to that the baby taxis and rickshaws. Baby taxis are actually small motored tricycles with a miniature cab over the back axle that appears to seat two. Not for Bangladeshis – they routinely get 3-4 people in by being small, crowding together and sitting on each others’ laps. For every car on the road, add in 2-3 additional baby taxis that dart in and out of traffic lanes, occlude any space left between cars side-to-side, and sometimes go in the wrong lane into oncoming traffic.

Next we have the rickshaws as seen in the pictures below. There are several million of these in the streets of the Dhaka city district on a daily basis. They are pedal tricycles with single gear, that carry two people perched high above the rear axle. Although quaint in appearance, they are fairly dangerous with a high center of gravity and easy tipping if a sharp turn is taken. The rickshaw drivers are everywhere, 10-30 on every block of every street. Any Westerner seen walking is seen as “needing” a ride, so any vacant rickshaw passed brings on non-stop hawking to give a ride. A short ride of less than one mile is about 30 cents. Like the baby taxis they ride anywhere in the road, in the middle of intersections, against traffic, between cars, but not on the few sidewalks that are found. They must be as aggressive as the cars to turn or change lanes. In the Bangladeshi system, any accident involving a rickshaw and car is automatically the fault of the car driver. After accidents, large crowds of pedestrians are known to form around the involved parties, and sometimes mob rule leads to throwing rocks or bricks at the offending driver, despite the rickshaw driver being at fault much of the time.

Lastly, there are the thousands and thousands of pedestrians on every street during commuting hours. They walk on sidewalks, in the streets both with and against traffic. Crossing a lane of traffic is a daily act of devout faith for walkers. When a car is coming toward you, putting up your hand defensively brings on a prolonged honking, but also the slowing of the car.

Despite all of this, bad accidents are fairly uncommon. Why? One reason is that the norm is absolute defensive, but aggressive road behavior. Not paying strict attention to traffic all around is not an option. The other reason is that the whole system creeps along at 3-5 miles an hour on most city streets. My nurse lives about 6 miles from our health center. On a Friday morning (day of prayer, all shops closed, first day of the weekend) it takes 10 minutes to cover the distance. Most days she needs 1 ½ - 2 hours for her commute home!

This is why most Western diplomats and business people that live in Dhaka have a hired driver. They are quite skilled, patient, and appropriately aggressive. For $100 per month, they will drive you anywhere you want to go, whenever you need to go. Since no parking can be found, they will simple creep around the neighborhood while you are shopping. They will also keep the car gassed up, maintained, and hand-washed at all times. The traffic is also the reason that most diplomats live in the “diplomatic enclave”, and work is less than one mile away for most.

Learning about traffic in Dhaka is all part of the fun. After just 10 days in Dhaka, what seemed strange and uncomfortable at first is already becoming the “new norm”. Survival here is mostly a matter of resetting expectations, being a careful observer of differences, and adjusting behaviors as needed. I sold my Volvo in Washington, and a 2006 Honda Fit with a right-hand steering wheel is arriving by boat from an exporter in Japan in several weeks. I guess I will start looking for a driver to hire, but rest assured I am game to give driving in Dhaka a try!

Mike