In 2005, at least 26,799 motorised vehicles joined the fleet, according to the data of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).

The data revealed high growth in all types of vehicles but the increase of cars is significantly higher than other vehicles. In 2005, 5,633 new cars hit the street while only 846 buses and minibuses were added to the fleet.

The BRTA officials told Star City that in 2004 the daily average increase of vehicles was 59 in Dhaka and in 2003 it was 95.88. In 2004, the number of cars hitting the city street was 4,734 while in 2003 it was 6,163.

Asked about occupancy of road space by different types of vehicles, a top traffic official of Dhaka City Corporation told Star City that there is no control over the fast-growing car population in the city. Cars carry only 10 percent of the total passengers but occupy more road space.

On average a car carries 2.2 passengers in a trip while a bus carry 88.4 passengers. A large bus occupies double space than a car and carries at least 88 passengers in a single trip while a car carries only two passengers.

According to the Strategic Transport Planning (STP), a government initiative for a 20-year transport strategy for Dhaka city, buses constitute only eight percent of the total vehicle population in the city while cars constitute 26 percent.

Dhaka City Corporation has an area of about 360 square kilometres (sq km) and only eight percent of this area is used for road network. Dhaka metropolitan area is about 1529 sq km but there no statistics on the size of its road network.

Dhaka Transport Coordi-nation Board (DTCB) on completion the Dhaka Urban Transport Project (DUTP) said the fast vehicle growth neutralises whatever develop-ment that is carried out to improve the transport infrastr-ucture of the city.

The report further said that the vehicle ownership has grown by 64 percent in the city between 2000 and 2004.

The traffic wing official of the city corporation said that the amount of road network has increased after widening some roads but it is impossible to match with the phenomenal growth of vehicles.

The high growth of vehicles also contributes to road accidents in the city and increases travel time of the commuters.

The DTCB data revealed that accidents costs more than Tk 1 billion a year in Dhaka and if the authority could solve the problems of bus services it could save Tk 46 million a year.