Enhancing Public Transport Efficiency in Sylhet: Addressing Low Occupancy and Its Economic Toll on Traffic Efficiency

Abstract

One of the main concerns in metropolitan areas of developing nations like Bangladesh is the increase in automobiles brought on by a proportionate increase in people and the quick development of contemporary culture. Thus, it is essential to keep an eye on both the amount of traffic and the Level of Service (LOS), which is a measure of the quality of the transportation provision. Traffic congestion can't be solved by simply doubling the width of roads. More space just means more traffic. Thus, mass transport system can be a good solution. In Sylhet city, CNG and cycle rickshaws make up about 75% of the total traffic volume on major roads. Traffic composition of different roads of Sylhet city are analyzed and found that LOS and congestion cost can be improved greatly by replacing these low occupancy vehicles with minibus. The worst condition was found at Lamabazar road, and the current LOS F can be improved to LOS B just by replacing the two target vehicles with minibus. The V/C ratio at Rikabibazar can be improved by 68.33% after the replacement. Replacement of both the low occupancy vehicles brought an overall improvement of 38.81% in congestion cost. However, the available bus service available during this thesis was found unsatisfactory.