Transportation Problems of Dhaka City:
Findings from an Opinion Survey

A. 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. Democracywatch 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.

B. Methodology

During the round of the opinion poll the main focus was on the middle and lower income population of Dhaka city. Therefore, the sample was drawn from 30 purposively selected neighbourhoods which are