WALKING is a good exercise. But this is not so when it becomes involuntary, especially amidst a poor environment for walking. An increased share of walking in daily trips in the greater Dhaka area — which is composed of, wholly and partly, five districts of the Dhaka division which are Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Narsingdi and Munshiganj — appears to be no sign of health. The Updating Revised Strategic Transport Plan and URSTP Household Interview Survey, conducted in 2023 as part of the Updating the Revised Strategic Transport Plan for Dhaka, covering 2025–2045, shows that the share of walking in daily trips has more than doubled in 14 years, having reached 38.3 per cent, of the daily 38.7 million trips, in 2023 from 19 per cent in 2009. And, the increase has taken place despite poor facilities for walking and lack of safety and security for pedestrians. All this suggests that the transport system, not only in the city area but also in the greater metropolis, has fallen ill as the number of buses as public transports is reported to have declined to almost a half in 10 years and other modes of transport have become expensive.

Whilst the number of public transport has decreased over the years, allowing a greater number of privately owned cars to run on the roads, congestion increased because of untenable use of road space. And, when the public transports that run on the roads barely at the speed of walking, people get off the vehicles and start walking. As the footpath network in the city, and also in the greater metropolis, is in a pitiable condition, people walk down the roads, adding to risks of traffic accidents. The situation is compounded as the footpaths, which lie unconnected, remain unfriendly to pedestrians, and pedestrians suffer for lack of zebra crossings and proper traffic signals. The footpaths that are there also remain occupied by vendors and shopkeepers. Other commercial activities also stop people from using the footpaths. The report of a survey conducted by Dhaka’s north city authorities and the city police shows that about 61 per cent of the victims of road accidents in the city’s north in 2023 were pedestrians. With an increased number of vehicles other than public transports running on the road, experts believe that mobility in the city and in the greater metropolis has become expensive, which also forces people to walk, even when walking, at times, is not safe.

The government should, therefore, improve the public transport system and sort out the footpath network to make people’s mobility in the city and the greater metropolis safe and sound.