Abstract

Limited resources, invested for the development of transport facilities, such as infrastructure and vehicles, coupled with the rapid rise in transport demand, existence of a huge number of non-motorized vehicles on roads, lack of application of adequate and proper traffic management schemes are producing severe transport problems in almost all the urban areas of Bangladesh. Worsening situation of traffic congestion in the streets and sufferings of the inhabitants from vehicle emissions demand extensive research in this field. However, no detailed study concerning traffic congestion and pollution problems for urban areas of Bangladesh has yet been done. Therefore, it has become increasingly important to examine the present state of the problem.

This research is a preliminary evaluation of the current situation of traffic pollution problem in Bangladesh. The daily total emissions of NO_x, HC, CO, PM, and SOx are estimated using the daily fuel consumption and total traffic flows in Dhaka city. Estimated daily emissions are 42, 39, 314, 14, and 42 t/d for NOx, HC, CO, PM, and SO_x, respectively. The emissions estimated using two different methods revealed good correlation. Daily average concentration of NO_x (NO₂, NO) were measured at 28 street locations in Dhaka city during November, 1996. The results showed extremely high concentrations of NO₂ and NO in these locations.