A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1990

Since independence of Bangladesh in 1971 , Dhaka, its capital city had a boom both in population and physical size. As a result of this change, recurrent pressure on transportation and pl1ysical infrastructure ha s exhausted the avail able resources. The recent phenom~r1on of traffic congestion and detorioration of the urban environment has prompted the government to ban the "rickshaws", a very popular mode of informal transportation. This policy seems ill timed and apparently not in conformity with the socio-economic setting of the city. The objectives of this research is to draw upon some planning, design, and traffic management solutions to the problem of traffic congestion created by the rickshaws . The research attempts to demonstrate the viability of using the rickshaws as a complementary mode to the formal public transports in separate spatial systems. The research objectives include investigations into the potential of the outlying areas as a future relocation area for the ricks haws . Finally, by using graphical representations and descriptive texts the research attempts to demonstrate this concept of spatial separation in two pilot areas, one being in the center and the other in the outlying parts of t he city. The study is based on data and on field surveys conducted i11 Dhaka, in April, May and June 1990.