A Comprehensive Guide to the Bangladeshi Transport System
Posted by Emilie Tennant on July 6th, 2011Our arrival into Dhaka on a hartal (strike) day left us naively optimistic about the state of Bangladeshi roads. 36 hours spent in the car over the following few days, on the edge of our seats whilst our driver casually avoided numerous head-on collisions, quickly set us straight. Native Bangladeshis, it seems, have an uncanny sixth sense for dodging, weaving and horn-honking: skills that are all entirely necessary on the narrow, overcrowded roads. Until fairly recently, however, our transportation methods have remained relatively luxurious, in comparison to the wide range of two, three and four wheeled contraptions that we have seen. Most vehicles resemble something close to a three wheeled car or a bicycle, with either seats or a trailer tacked onto the back, depending on what needs to be transported. Cars are a rare sight; the one lane roads are occupied by hordes of highly decorated rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, Easy Bikes (electric auto-rickshaws), trucks, buffalo-drawn carts, bicycles, buses, vans, nosimons (auto-vans) and pedestrians.
Bangladeshi trucks are usually painted in very bright colors.
Mikey Leung