Motorcycles rule the roads as people leave Dhaka on Eid holiday

Ahmed Ali, an employee of a garment sourcing agency in Dhaka’s Mohakhali, left Dhaka on a motorcycle on Friday with his wife to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr in their home village in Brahmanbaria.

“There are only two of us. And considering the extremely hot weather, a motorcycle trip is better than a bus journey. We'll enjoy the air while travelling,” said Ali, as he stopped the motorcycle in Narayanganj.

Ali added he was trying to avoid the highway because it was full of recklessly speeding buses.

A number of people started by motorcycles for their hometowns and villages from Dhaka ahead of Eid, fearing hassles for bus or train tickets, and perilous journeys full of traffic jams.

In the 22 hours to 10pm on Friday, a total of 39,255 northbound vehicles crossed Bangabandhu Bridge. Of them, 7,862 were motorcycles.

Around 12,000 motorcycles crossed the bridge in a day before Eid in 2021, but there were restrictions on travelling by bus and other vehicles due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“This time there are no restrictions and buses are operating normally. Yet a huge number of people are travelling by motorcycles,” said Ahsan Masud Bappy, executive engineer at the bridge’s Bhuapur site office.

To the south, all vehicles on a ferry were motorcycles, according to photos posted on social media.

Videos showed hundreds of motorcycles waiting to cross a narrow passage on the Dhaka-Rangpur Highway.

Crowds at Gabtoli bus terminal were thinner than the previous years, and many believe the trend to travel by motorcycles has eased the pressure.

The rush of motorcycles surprised Rabiul Islam, a policeman who was on duty near Amin Bazar bridge.

“It appeared everyone was going home by motorcycle!”

One of the motorcyclists, private firm executive Habib-ul-Hasan said he did not face any traffic hold-up in the morning on his way to Naogaon. Buses were picking homebound garment factory workers on the middle of the road in Savar, Nabinagar and Baipail, but the wait there was tolerable, he said.

But after he arrived in Tangail’s Elenga, he had to wait two hours to reach Bangabandhu Bridge as tolling slowed down traffic. “I had hundreds of motorcycles ahead of me,” he said.