Not for beginners: How difficult is it for foreigners to navigate Dhaka?
Though Dhaka is slowly becoming a cosmopolitan hub, navigation remains a difficult puzzle to solve for our foreign guests
Justin Blackwell, a loan officer at an American Bank, visited Dhaka last week to attend his best friend's wedding. Whenever he visits a new city, he loves to explore the place on foot.
"The best way to truly get to know a city is by exploring it on foot, and I make it a point to do this every time I visit a new place. I begin my journey with basic navigational skills, wandering block by block for several kilometres. I rely on my instincts rather than Google Maps for this experience," he said.
But in Dhaka, he could not return to where he was residing, even after using Google Maps.
"I was staying at my friend's place on Central Road and decided to start my morning stroll early, aiming to return by noon. Initially, everything was all good; I enjoyed navigating the maze of narrow streets. However, the return journey proved challenging as the roads were confusing and lacked any systematic layout. Turning to Google Maps only added to my confusion, as some routes were blocked due to maintenance. Eventually, I had to call my friend to pick me up," he added.
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Stephen Ibelli, the Public Affairs Counselor at the US Embassy of Bangladesh, also faced something similar recently. He intended to visit Ahsan Manjil during Eid-ul-Adha with a local driver, but somehow ended up at a tannery in Puran Dhaka.
If a foreigner wants to cut costs and use mass transportation, it is quite stressful for them. First of all, they lack access to accurate data and information about the public transportation system. Secondly, the language barrier is significant. None of the buses have any information written in English, making navigation extremely challenging.
"Roads there are quite confusing and my driver could not keep track. We took help from locals on our way back. However, discovering the tannery was a wonderful experience. We were lost amidst the plethora of animal skin," he said.
Stephen has been living in Dhaka for a year now and has gotten lost in the city many times, having to depend on Google Translation and Google Maps everytime that happens. For easier navigation, he has even learned many Bangla words.
"Words like "kothay", "shamne", "daane jan", and "baye jan" come very handy here," he added.
Tashfiya Bushra Joya, a 20-year-old born in the US, also faced difficulties when she visited Dhaka this January.
"Once, I went to Pink City Shopping Mall in Gulshan with my family. An emergency came up, and my family left with the car. I decided to stay back, thinking I could just take an Uber home to Uttara," she recalled.
Tashfiya called an Uber and waited at the entrance of the mall. When her Uber arrived on time, she could not identify it, because she could not read the Bangla digits on the number plate.
Even in our neighbouring country India, English is widely used on number plates. In Thailand, it is mandatory to have numbers in dual language on the licence plates (Thai and English). But our system only uses Bangla digits.
While decoding the number plate was a problem for Tashfiya, Jigdrel Y Tshering, Head of Chancery at Royal Bhutanese Embassy, has a different struggle with Uber.
"I always set my pickup location very specifically, keeping prominent landmarks in my mind for convenience. Hence, finding the exact car isn't very stressful for me. However, I struggle to communicate with the drivers. Even though my instructions are clear enough, the Uber drivers always call me to ask for further directions, and most of them do not understand basic English," he said.
Low, middle-income foreigners out of luck
Over the past decade, Dhaka has been transforming rapidly through several megaprojects such as the metro rail and expressway. These major infrastructure projects, often led by international companies, have brought a diverse influx of foreign professionals to the city, spanning various social strata.
As a result, Dhaka is slowly becoming a cosmopolitan hub, with expatriates residing in the city for work, contributing to its evolving cultural and social landscape.
However, our transportation system and facilities, which have been bolstered in recent years through these megaprojects, are not keeping pace with the economic growth to cater to foreigners of different economic backgrounds.
"Dhaka is not a city for backpackers or middle to low-income foreigners. Accommodation-wise, we have advanced, offering good hotels and serviced apartments at various price ranges, but our mass transportation system is not accommodating for everyone," said Dr Adil Mohammed Khan, professor at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Jahangirnagar University.
"If a foreigner wants to cut costs and use mass transportation, it is quite stressful for them. First of all, they lack access to accurate data and information about the public transportation system. Secondly, the language barrier is significant. None of the buses have any information written in English, making navigation extremely challenging," he added.
Jigdrel shares that in his native country Bhutan, every public transportation has information written in both English and their native language.
"Dual language makes everything easier for everyone, not just foreigners," he added.
Developed countries typically have comprehensive and user-friendly portals for public transportation. These portals provide a range of services and information, including real-time updates, routes, tickets, multilingual support, interactive maps etc. Unfortunately, there is no presence of such portals or apps in the country.
"If I want to travel from point A to point B without a personal car or ride-sharing app, it is quite challenging to get the information of existing transportation modes by yourself. You must resort to a native for details," said a British expat living in the city, unwilling to disclose his identity.
Where did all the taxis go?
Dhaka has never had a strong taxi service. However, in earlier times, taxis were more readily available, despite the persistent issue of fare haggling rather than using metres.
Today, taxis have almost vanished from the streets.
"This is quite a sad scenario - that we do not have a proper taxi service in the city. If someone is not connected to the internet and is unable to call a vehicle through ride-sharing apps, the only option is to hail a CNG (autorickshaw). CNGs in the city are notoriously known for reckless driving and safety issues," added Adil.
Getting a CNG also requires bargaining as they too refuse to rely on the metre for fares.
Taxis, being operated under a well-regulated system, are a preferred choice of transportation by tourists worldwide for their safety and convenience.
One name, many roads
Dipankar Bhaduri, a resident of West Bengal, India, visits Dhaka every other month for business. During his visits, he hires a microbus from rent-a-car shops with local drivers.
"Once I was supposed to visit a factory at Tallabag of the capital's Jhigatola. I asked him to drop me off at Tallabag and did not give much detail, thinking it would suffice. But, he took me to another Tallabag, somewhere in Sobhanbag," he said.
Even the locals get confused here with the names of the roads. There are at least three to four Love Roads and a few Notun Bazars in the city. Then there is Old Elephant Road, New Elephant Road, Old Eskaton, New Eskaton, and so on.
Another peculiarity of Dhaka's roads is the seemingly arbitrary assignment of names and numbers. There is no clear logic behind the distinctions between streets, lanes, and alleys. For example, the main roads perpendicular to Mirpur Road in the Kalabagan area are simply named Lane 1, Lane 2, and so forth, without any apparent rationale.
In Dhanmondi, many roads have dual names or numbers. For instance, what is commonly referred to as Dhanmondi 27 (the old name) is actually Dhanmondi 16 (the new name) on maps. This dual naming system often requires us to be familiar with both the old and new names to navigate the city smoothly.
The problem with house numbering is even more bizarre. In Dhaka, it is not uncommon to have polar opposite house numbers on adjacent streets and sometimes even on the same street! As you walk, buildings on your right may have numbers in two digits while the ones on the left may be from a completely different range.
"Roads and road names are unplanned in Kolkata as well. But in Kolkata, especially in tourist areas, we have nameplates on every road, regardless of how narrow it is," he added.
Stephen visited downtown Cairo many years ago and saw the same thing.
"Downtown Cairo's road infrastructure is also very confusing and hard to navigate. But a local mobile phone company installed road nameplates with signs in dual languages (English and Arabic) in front of every road, making navigation a lot easier. The private sector can also contribute greatly to improving navigation in a city," he added.
The complete lack of traffic discipline
"One thing I find very frustrating about Dhaka is traffic lights not being maintained properly. Other than some prestigious areas, in most signals, there is hardly any traffic discipline. Traffic management depends heavily on police officers who direct the traffic manually," said the British expat.
Anna Quintero (pseudonym), a teacher at an international school in the capital's Bashundhara area has been living in Dhaka for two years now. The school is a five-minute drive from her residence, but she prefers to take a walk.
"I don't mind walking. But the footpaths in the city are not very walk-friendly, even in Bashundhara. I need to be extra careful at some points during my commute to school every day," she said.
For instance, sidewalks in Dhaka are more hawker-friendly and biker-friendly than they are pedestrian-friendly.
An accessible city for all
"We should build a more accessible and navigation-friendly city for ourselves first, foreigners will be the secondary beneficiary," said Amanat Ullah Khan, former professor of the Department of Geography and Environment, Dhaka University.
Adil agreed, "Despite all the challenges, Dhaka is a vibrant city, full of life and potential. It can easily become a top tourist destination if we brand ourselves correctly. To attract tourists, we must make the city and its roads more tourist-friendly."
But what could be done to achieve that?
In Adil's opinion, first of all, we need a well-regulated portal for our transportation system which will have adequate information about the routes, existing modes of transportation and fares.
Professor Amanat emphasised on revival of old practices like handing out maps in airports.
"Even a few decades ago, maps were given to foreigners in the airport. But the practice has disappeared. Back in the days, maps were even sold by street hawkers," said Amanat Ullah Khan.
The quality of road infrastructure and footpaths also needs to be improved.
"In areas like Puran Dhaka and other older parts of the city, where urbanisation has occurred haphazardly, we cannot eradicate the establishments. However, we can certainly improve the quality of the infrastructure. Puran Dhaka is a prime tourist spot, and we must maintain its heritage while upgrading the quality of its road infrastructure," he said.
