What is Traffic jam?

A traffic jam is a long line of vehicles that cannot move forward because there is too much traffic, or because the road is blocked by something. The major factor behind traffic Jam in Bangladesh: There are many reasons behind traffic jam in Bangladesh. Among them some major factors are as follows: Undisciplined traffic signal in the road. Indiscipline among the road user. Might is right, everybody are free to park their vehicle on Road. No knowledge of traffic rules which encourage violating the rules. Enforcement of rules by dishonest persons who are busy in collection of illegal money from traffic rules violators. Heavy numbers of vehicle on roads. The increased number of vehicles is an alarming factor for the country. A recent statistics shows that each day, Dhaka city gets 2000 new vehicles. For these purposes, neither did Bangladesh government plan ahead, nor they are taking any significant measures now-adays. As a result, more and more traffic jam is making the lives of normal people a living hell. Traffic management system of Bangladesh is still the ones that were used to be in the 80s. Therefore, the new methods of traffic management is not being applied properly. Rickshaws, however, are identified as one of the most common reason for traffic jams. The number of rickshaws is very much high and they dont maintain any law whatsoever. However, you cannot eradicate them off the street either because they are one of the best ways of communication and the greenest vehicle you may find. Parkings in the country is horrible because there isnt enough space for parking. Most of the buildings of the country thought of having room for their works inside their buildings but never even concentrated on having a parking spot. Therefore, the parking areas chosen by these workers here are the roads itself! Bangalis have a tendency to break the traffic law. All of them are like in a competitive flow, who can go before. Such tendency are forcing them to break the law, hence, increasing unwanted traffic jam. Traffic Jam and its reason at glance in Bangladesh Traffic jam is a common phenomenon in our country especially in Dhaka city, one of the mega cities in the world. It is not aproblem now-a-days rather it is more than a problem because problem has some solutions that traffic jam has not. Time is the most valuable things in the twenty first centaury no doubt. And traffic jam is killing the most productive time of the people of Dhaka city. Time is going on and on and we are lagging behind. The world is becoming speedy where as we are becoming slower. It is a common scenario that in morning and evening the jam becomes bad to worse. Student pressure is another vital reason for traffic jam because kindergartens, schools, private universities and coaching centers are growing like tadpole in Dhaka city. In the morning, the guardian of a child is using private car for going to its educational institution.

We see thousands of private cars are being used only for this purpose and creating a huge jam. But if a school or college ensures bus for the students and stuff, this pressure will be lessened. Like this big organizations with a huge stuff or workers may use its own buss for stuff. Although this big problem has a great effect on our social life... Introduction Over the last few years the transportation problem of Dhaka City has visibly been deteriorating steadily. Citizens constantly complain about the unbearable twin problems of traffic jam and air pollution. Democracy watch decided to address this problem through an opinion poll covering around eight hundred households randomly selected from several purposively selected neighbourhoods of the city, representatives of middle and lower income areas. The questions asked focused mainly on three issues: (a) the nature of the problem as perceived by the surveyed residents, (b) their understanding about the causes of these problems and (c) their recommendations on solutions to these perceived problems. Some preliminary results from this survey were presented at a workshop, which was participated by persons associated with the formulation and implementation of traffic policies, rules and programmes .This Draft Final Report benefits from valuable discussion and comments received at the workshop. The methodology of this survey is explained below in brief. It is easy to see that the study extended beyond a standard opinion poll and entered the arena of investigative research in seeking some explanations to perceptions as well as behaviour. The findings are presented mainly in the form of self-explanatory tables with some introductory highlights and conclusions. A further extension of the survey is currently being completed to cover the very poor and the rich categories of residents as was recommended by several participants at the workshop mentioned earlier. Reasons behind traffic jam (a)City lay-out (master plan) and over-population: [pic] The causes of traffic congestion in Dhaka city are multifarious. Starting from the city itself, it is observed that the skeleton, structure and lay-out of Dhaka City are not well-planned and well-directed....

I live in Dhaka, only 20 minutes away from my university; but I get out from my house about 1 hour and 15 minutes before class will start. Because of terrible traffic jam, most of the time it takes about an hour to reach university. I remember a week, right after Eid-ulFitr Dhaka city was like half empty, at that week I went to university in 20 minutes. Dhaka is a mega city. More than twelve million people live here. Day by day the number is increasing and most part of Dhaka is badly affected by the population growth. More than 7 hundred thousand rickshaws ply the city road, but only 75 thousand have legal number. This huge number of rickshaws is creating traffic jam. From time to time attempts are made to reduce the number, but the initiative usually produces no results. The number of rickshaw pullers is huge. Almost there are no roads or street or lane free from traffic jam.

Traffic jam is obstructing trade and commerce. Illegal parking is another reason for traffic jam. Cars, trucks and other vehicles are parked almost everywhere. Faulty traffic signaling systems, inadequate manpower and narrow road spaces and overtaking tendency of drivers create pro-longed traffic congestions and intensify sufferings of commuters keeping people motionless as well as creating suffocating condition in the streets. Also there are bus terminals not authorized by the traffic department and drivers do not go by traffic rules. VIP protocol maintaining is another reason for frequent traffic jams in the streets and divider problem in the citys different important roads also causes congestion. Besides, illegal car parking, and unplanned road excavating on the same road by Water and Sewer Authority (WASA), Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA), telephone and telegraph agencies without any integration among them, is responsible for intolerable traffic jams. In any roundabout in Dhaka the plying CNG, ricksha, bus, etc form multiple lines. They do this to grab a tiny space out of sheer desperation. Behavioral scientists have long since done experiments to show that even insects demonstrate aggressive behavior when they are placed in a crowded situation. Therefore, it comes as no surprise to see that Dhakas pedestrians, thelawallahs, rickshaw pullers, CNG drivers, van pullers, and bus/truck drivers all vie for tiny spaces with noticeable aggression and utter disregard for others right of way. This obviously creates serious problems such as unnecessary traffic holdup and minor fender bender incidences. Nonetheless, there is a price tag for such bizarre behavior. The traffic managers have failed to do anything about this problem and the situation is going from bad to worse day by day. Most of time, I see that during jam traffic police just let one side go for like 5 minutes or more which increase the jam more. They should manage it more professionally; they could let go each side 1 minute. To reduce traffic jam we can take steps such as:

Have a good public transport system so people would use it Ban rickshaw from the main roads of Dhaka Good traffic system Good lane system

Traffic police should do their duty properly Use zebra cross and foot over bridge Respect the law

Traffic jam is a common affair in the big cities and towns in Bangladesh.It's one of the major problem of Bangladesh.The causes of traffic jam are many.In proportion to our population roads have not increased.The roads are all the same.There are many unlicenced vehicles which should not brought under control.The drivers aren't willing to obey the traffic rules.They want drive at their sweet will.Overtaking tendency also causes of traffic jam.The number of traffic police isn't sufficient.At office time traffic jam is intolerable.Sometimes Traffic jam is so heavy that it block half a kilometer.It kills our valuable time and our work is hampered.It causes great suffering to the ambulance carrying dying patient and the fire brigade vehicles.How ever this problem can be solved by adopting some measure.Well planned spacious roads should be constructed.One way movement of vehicles should be introduced.Traffic rules should be imposed strictly so that the drivers are bound to obey them.Sufficient traffic police should be posted on important points.Unlicenced vehicles should be removed.After doing all theses things we can hope to have a good traffic system for our easy and comfort movement..

Pollution

One of the most harmful effects of traffic congestion is its impact on the environment. Despite the growing number of hybrid vehicles on the road, cars stopped in traffic still produce a large volume of harmful carbon emissions. Besides contributing to global warming, these emissions can cause more short-term and localized problems, such as smog and increased respiratory problems in a community due to poor air quality.

Economic Impact

Drivers who encounter unexpected traffic may be late for work or other appointments, causing a loss in productivity for businesses and in the drivers' personal lives. Traffic delays may also slow down the shipping of cargo if delivery trucks can't remain on schedule due to a congested route. Drivers who know that traffic congestion is likely may decide to forgo an activity altogether, leading to less consumer spending and lower event attendance.

Non-recurrent causes
The five main non-recurrent causes for traffic congestion are as follows: Incidents and accidents: Clearly a road accident has the ability to shut down lanes on a highway as the vehicles involved block the route and/or emergency personnel need space on the road in which to work, but minor incidents - which do not require emergency personnel - also have the effect of encouraging so-called rubber-necking (in which other drivers slow down to take a look), which effectively creates a bottleneck. Work zones: Road maintenance and construction near a road requires space and a reduction in speed of vehicles. The result, again, is a bottleneck. Weather: Bad weather hampers visibility (in the case of rain or snow) and therefore cautious drivers will slow down to compensate. Special events: An influx of a few thousand people to a sports or entertainment venue such as a stadium creates traffic congestion in the surrounding access roads. Emergency situations: Although not very common in South Africa, locations in the world where large-scale disasters, such as hurricanes or severe snowstorms, occur regularly, also experience severe traffic congestion before 'landfall' as people evacuate the area. The evacuation of cities and towns in the southern US states in the face of Hurricane Katrina in 2006, for example, resulted in gridlocks that lasted hours.

Impact of traffic congestion

Time loss The wasted hours spent on the roads during peak hours not only increase frustration levels in drivers, but also take up valuable and productive (potential) work hours. Clearly the loss of potential work hours influences the economy, but social schedules are also impacted. In Japan, for example, an estimated 3.8 billion person-hours are lost each year due to traffic congestion! The loss of time (and associated costs in petrol, etc) often influences people to relocate their businesses and/or homes in an attempt to win back more hours in the day. Other important social decisions are also based on physical distance between one's daily locations, such as the choice of schools for children, or the preferred place to shop. All of these social factors, in turn, influence how we organise our lives. However, town planners will argue that traffic congestion is a direct result of people's lifestyle choices and the location-specific design of communities and transport systems. Ultimately, this is a vicious cycle with complex solutions.

Economic impacts and productivity loss

Ultimately, the economy loses out due to traffic congestion through an increase in prices: People, business and industry, and the environment are negatively affected by the daily congestion as money is lost due to delays, lost opportunities, increased running costs, an increase in accident rate and pollution. All of these facets cost individuals (be they tax payers or otherwise) millions - collectively- each year. The issue of traffic congestion has reached epic proportions in South Africa's urban centres - so much so that the Minister of Transport, Jeff Radebe, said in 2007 that, based purely on the economic impacts of traffic congestion, the Government would have to act immediately to avoid a potential threat to the country's economic well-being. It was becoming too apparent that economic sustainability was no longer possible based on the use of private cars as transport means. It was imperative that the major urban centres' transport infrastructure and systems were upgraded to a world-class level, and as a result plans such as the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), freeway network expansion as well as rail network expansion in addition to the Gautrain project were unveiled for the Gauteng Province in particular.

Accident rate increase

It follows that an increase in traffic volume will increase the rate of road accidents and incidents. Most countries report a spike in road accidents on weekdays between the hours of 16:00 and 18:00, which clearly substantiates the above statement.

Additional factors such as visibility (early morning and early evening periods being characterised by a decrease in sunlight, or even lack thereof during some months of the year, as well as the angle of the sun's rays relative to the driver at these times - sunrise and sunset), driver fatigue or lack of concentration (being tired at the end of the day, or still drowsy in the early morning) and speed also contribute to the rate of accidents during these peak periods, although the overriding factor is the absolute increase of vehicles on the road. As mentioned above, road accidents themselves are one of the key causes of traffic congestion, so again there is an unstoppable cycle of cause and effect driving the problem.

Increase in pollution
It is often thought that the only form of pollution that is increased with an increase in traffic volume is that of air pollution. However, noise pollution is as concerning and therefore both will be discussed in this section. Exhaust emissions as a direct function of wasted fuel drives greenhouse gas levels up while vehicle engines are cyclically idling, accelerating and braking over short distances. In a world where global warming is a key environmental issue, means to reduce carbon emissions have become topics on political, economical and social agendas, and yet, vehicle emissions contribute greatly to the overall impact. Noise pollution originates from vehicle engines, hooters and car radios or sound systems and the noise is transmitted through the air to the 'recipient' of the noise. However, various factors influence the volume of noise, such as the ambient temperature, the air pressure and humidity, the type of vehicle (and its condition) and the grade of the road surface. Naturally these factors are present on all roads at all times, but the concentration and slow movement of congested traffic compounds the effects of the noise pollution dramatically.

Decrease in road surface lifetime

The average road consists of four layers of various materials, with a layer of asphalt on top. These layers are relatively elastic, or flexible, in order to handle the weights of the vehicles travelling on them. When a vehicle moves over the surface, the areas of contact (where the vehicles' tyres touch the road) are deflected downwards under the weight of the vehicle and as the vehicle moves forward, the deflection corrects itself to its original position. Naturally the deflection is tiny - in the region of a few microns - and therefore not noticeable to the driver. The correction occurs far slower than the initial deflection, so it is ideal for there to be a delay between successive vehicles. In peak-hour traffic, however, cars are closely packed on the road and, hence, not enough time is allowed for the deflection correction. Over time, this has the effect of wearing down the elasticity of the top two layers (the so-called base course and the overlying asphalt), as they become compacted and rutting occurs. The road therefore requires more maintenance more often. National highways are generally designed and constructed with a 25-year lifetime expectancy in which three maintenance procedures (every 8 to 10 years) are included to

resurface the uppermost layers. Provided the maintenance procedures are completed as such, the road's lifetime is likely to extend beyond the 25 years. Poor maintenance frequency results in the need for the rehabilitation of the deeper layers of the road after (roughly) 25 years, which is considerably more expensive to execute. An increase in traffic flow - high-moving traffic or slow-moving congestion - therefore contributes to the drop in quality of road surfaces and the increase in maintenance costs.

Vehicle maintenance costs

Modern cars are designed and built to comfortably travel at speeds in the vicinity of 120 km/h, so the 'stop-start' style driving encountered in typical South African peak hour congestion is not ideal for one's vehicle. It is recommended that a vehicle owner should take his or her vehicle to be serviced every few thousand kilometres, or once a year, whichever comes first. However, this does not take into account the effects of daily stopstart commuting between home and work. The negative impact on a vehicle engine stems from the additional time spent on the road. For example, it might take a driver 15 minutes to travel between point A and point B in clear road conditions, but this may increase to 55 minutes in congested conditions. In both instances the same distance is travelled, but in the first instance, the vehicle's engine only runs for 15 minutes, while the second scenario adds another 40 minutes to this total. Essentially, the car is running for much longer than what is assumed by the service recommendation, and therefore needs to be serviced more frequently. South Africa's climate also plays a part in this situation: The relatively warm temperatures combined with a high level of dust and airborne particulate matter make matters worse for the average engine, by placing more stress on it. In addition to this stress, stop-start driving skews the ratio of fuel-to-air in the direction of the fuel, which makes the engine less efficient, as the engine oil has the additional task of removing non-combusted fuel and pollutants from the inside of the system. 'Wear and tear' on mechanical components such as the clutch and brakes is also considerably increased under stop-start driving conditions.

Road Rage

Drivers who become impatient may be more likely to drive aggressively or dangerously. This contributes to poor health for those affected by the stress and puts other drivers in danger. Road rage also increases the danger posed to emergency workers or construction crew members who are working on the congested road close to dangerous drivers.