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The Road Sector – Background & Evaluation
The
Bangladesh
government outlined its
rural development strategy,
focusing on development of
infrastructure including
roads, markets, storage
facilities, and minor
irrigation. Since then,
improved rural roads and
other infrastructure,
through various Government-
and donor-funded projects,
have created opportunities
for economic growth and
poverty reduction through a
range of mechanisms. Roads
have reduced transport costs
and in turn the cost of
goods and services. The
easier access to markets and
technology has expanded farm
and nonfarm production
through increased
availability of inputs at
lower cost, as well as
growth in rural enterprises.
Road-related studies in
Bangladesh
have also suggested that
household consumption has
gained, reducing poverty. At
the household level, road
development contributes to
higher productivity and
demand for labor and
improved education and
health, including for women
and girls. Rural road
investments have been
pro-poor: gains are
proportionately higher for
the poor than for the
non-poor.
Still
roads remain unsafe
& Injury and death rates
from road accidents in
Bangladesh
are among the highest in the
world.
Bangladesh
has around 0.7 million
motorized vehicles and 1.5
million non-motorized
vehicles, with the former
expected to double in the
next 10 years. According to
police statistics, road
traffic crashes cause 4,000
deaths annually, but the
unofficial figures are much
higher. Even using official
figures, road accident
fatalities in
Bangladesh
would be about four times
those of
India
(57 deaths per 10,000
motorized vehicles in
Bangladesh
versus 13 in
India
).
While
the priority given by the
Government to roads may be
criticized because it lead
to a reduced role of
waterways and railways,
expanding the road network
has generated benefits both
in terms of economic growth
and poverty alleviation that
have likely largely exceeded
the additional costs
resulting from the use of
road transport more
expensive than the two
others. The problem of the
respective share of the
various transport modes is
thus more a question for the
future in a context where
creating accessibility is
less a priority than
maximizing the benefits
generated by the transport
sector in the country on its
economy and population in a
more difficult environment
(global financial crisis,
cost of energy, climate
change).
A
key reason for road
transport’s dominance is
its efficiency relative to
other modes. It provides
door-to-door services, is
more flexible, and completes
the service in less time
than competing modes. An
important element in the
dominance of road transport
has also been the
government’s public
expenditure policy that has
favored the road sector, at
the expense of rail and
river transport.
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