Traffic snarls in Bangladesh capital Dhaka cost $4.6bn a year in lost time, fuel and health consequences, among other elements, UNB reports quoting UN Development Programme (UNDP). Bangladesh entered a solution pioneered by UNDP with the Bangladesh Road and Transport Corporation and Go-BD, a local start-up. It placed GPS (global positioning system) trackers on buses, linked to a mobile app showing where the buses are and how the traffic is flowing (or not). By the end of 2015, commuters had used the app nearly 34,000 times on one bus route alone, with some commenting that is has become the best way to navigate around their congested city. UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific released the report at the United Nations, New York last week.

Source: Dhaka Tribune September 25, 2016 12:00 UTC