17,872 vehicles use elevated expressway on first day, Tk14.5 lakh toll collected

A total of 17,872 vehicles crossed the Airport-Farmgate segment of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway within the initial 16 hours of operation on Sunday, resulting in the collection of Tk14.5 lakh in toll revenue, said AHM Shakhawat Akter, project director of the expressway.

The number of southbound vehicles was 11,723, including 9,598 travelling from the Airport to Kamal Ataturk Avenue, Mohakhali, and Farmgate, and 2125 travelling from Kuril to Kamal Ataturk, Mohakhali, and Farmgate. 

On the other hand, 6,149 northbound vehicles crossed the expressway, with 2,212 originating from Banani, and 3,937 from Tejgaon.

A part of Dhaka commuters have bid farewell to their worries and frustrations as the Dhaka Elevated Expressway opened to the public at 6am on Sunday with a promise to revolutionise the transportation between northern and southern Dhaka.

On the opening day, commuters shared their thoughts on this transformative infrastructure project with The Business Standard, expressing their excitement for a future free of traffic woes and lengthy commutes. 

Mizanur Rahman, a businessman residing in Uttara for the past 20 years, is among the very first few people to have commuted through the newly opened Dhaka Elevated Expressway. 

"It [the expressway] will bring comfort to people's journey. Whenever I thought of going to Farmgate, Moghbazar and Old Dhaka area, I became worried," Mizanur Rahman explained while pulling up his SUV at the entrance to the Kawla point of the elevated expressway on Sunday.

The long-awaited expressway has left Monirul Islam, a 32-year-old microbus driver, in a state of euphoria. He was determined to be among the first to use the elevated expressway, leaving his home at the crack of dawn to ensure he could ply his microbus on this new route. 

"I am feeling great. Look, it takes only five minutes to reach Banani," Monirul exclaimed as he navigated his microbus along the expressway, reaching Kawla in the Airport area within a mere 12 minutes.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday inaugurated the 11.5km of elevated expressway including another 11km of ramps and link lines. The infrastructure opened for public vehicles at 6am on Sunday.

The Tk8,940 crore project is being implemented under the public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement involving a consortium led by Italian-Thai Development Company Limited. The government is providing 27% of the project cost as viability gap financing.

"We are satisfied with the first day of service. The management of the infrastructure and traffic management in front of the ramps were very fine," said Md Monjur Hossain, executive director of Bangladesh Bridge Authority and Secretary of the Bridges Division.

There was a little crowd of vehicles ahead of the exit ramps prior to the office time, around 9-10am. But the ramps were clear during the remainder of the day.

TBS found no public buses to be using the expressway, while a few office buses used it. The number of buses was almost the same on Airport road, beneath the expressway.

Officials of the Bridge Authority said that the expressway will have a capacity to allow 80,000 vehicles per day. The Authority provided a guarantee to the investors that 13,500 vehicles per day.