Motorbike ride-sharing a panacea for Dhaka traffic chaos

The advent of motorbike sharing apps is not only providing relief to commuters used to wasting hours in Dhaka's gridlocked traffic, it is also creating employment opportunities for thousands. —Reuters

DHAKA: Ride-sharing motorbike services are surging in popularity in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, where nightmare traffic often means that walking is faster than travelling by car or bus.

Congestion in Dhaka, one of the world's most crowded cities with a population of 20 million, eats up 3.2 million working hours per day, according to a 2017 World Bank study. Average traffic speeds have dropped to 7km per hour from 21km/h over the last decade, only slightly faster than the average walking speed.