Has AI finally fixed Dhaka’s traffic?
After one and a half months of the experimental deployment of AI-powered cameras and signals at key intersections across the capital, the shift is hard to ignore. The technology is not merely fixing Dhaka’s roads; it is fixing the behaviour that disrupts them
It is a little past nine on a weekday morning at the Banglamotor intersection. The signal turns red. A row of motorcycles and private cars brake obediently behind the crosswalk. To everyone's surprise, a battery-run autorickshaw stays put too. A camera mounted on the signal pole swivels above, its lens catching the morning glare.
Since 7 May, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's (DMP's) Traffic Division has been running what it calls an experimental deployment of AI-powered cameras at key intersections across the capital.
The cameras are integrated with software officially described as the "AI-based Road Transport Act 2018 Violation Detection Software", installed at major junctions to automatically detect violations and build digital case files using video and image evidence.
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The system does not shout, does not argue, and does not accept explanations. It simply watches — and files.
For a city long accustomed to traffic enforcement that depended on the mood of a constable standing on a sweltering footpath, this is something genuinely new. But the question remains: Are they working for the complex Dhaka traffic?
How the system works
When a violation is detected — such as a vehicle crossing a red signal, breaching lane discipline, or blocking a designated traffic lane — the camera captures the number plate and generates a digital case without any manual intervention. A violation notice is then sent directly to the registered owner via SMS, followed by a notification through postal services.
Offenders who fail to respond after receiving the notices face further legal action, including summonses or arrest warrants issued through the Special Metropolitan Magistrates of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
The DMP has also warned the public about fraudsters who are already attempting to exploit the system by calling vehicle owners, falsely claiming traffic violations, and demanding cash payments outside official channels.
At present, the system detects five categories of violations: running red lights, entering closed left lanes, lane violations, wrong-way driving, and illegal parking. Cameras have been installed at the Hotel InterContinental signal, Banglamotor, Karwan Bazar, Bijoy Sarani, Jahangir Gate, along the Airport Road corridor, and at several other intersections.
A penalty-point system linked to driving licences is also in the works. Under the proposed framework, each licence will carry 12 points, with deductions made for every offence. Repeat violations could eventually lead to licence suspension or cancellation. A BRTA official, however, confirmed that the software for automatic point deductions is still under development and is not yet operational.
The shift in mindset
Ask almost anyone who commutes regularly through the camera-covered stretches, and the answer is the same: something has changed.
At major intersections, vehicles now stop before the crosswalk when the light turns red, no longer rolling over the crosswalk or crowding the space meant for pedestrians, at least not with the same frequency as before. Even more noticeably, vehicles wait for green before moving — a small but genuinely remarkable shift for anyone who has spent any time navigating Dhaka's roads.
The long-term success of the system will depend less on the technology itself and more on whether authorities sustain enforcement consistently. We have spent enormous sums on traffic signals and upgrades before, but those efforts were never maintained. A lack of accountability for failure has been a recurring problem.
Jalal Yunus, a private car owner who drives daily from Mirpur to Motijheel, says the fear factor is real. "Earlier, I would sometimes inch forward a bit at the signal, not deliberately, just out of habit. Now I think twice. You don't know exactly when the camera is looking at you, so you just stop properly." He pauses. "Honestly, it should have been like this a long time ago."
There is another shift that regular commuters have started noticing — one that goes beyond mere compliance. Since the cameras went live, waiting times at several major junctions have dropped sharply. Drivers who once sat through eight to 12 minutes of gridlock at Bijoy Sarani, Karwan Bazar, and the Banglamotor intersection now report clearing the signal in three to four minutes, sometimes less. On good days, the wait is as short as 30 seconds.
Raihan Chowdhury, a private car owner who commutes daily through Karwan Bazar, says the difference is hard to ignore. "Before, I used to leave home early just to account for the waiting time at the signal. Now I'm through in a minute. It is the same road, but it does not feel like it."
Sharmin Akter, a ride-share passenger who passes through Bijoy Sarani most mornings, puts it simply, "I used to read half an article on my phone while waiting at the light. Now the car is moving before I even unlock the screen."
The reason, traffic officials say, is straightforward: when vehicles actually stop at red and move only on green, intersections clear in cycles the way they were always designed to. The technology is not fixing the signal timings — it's fixing the behaviour that disrupts them.
Akram Hossain, who runs a small shop near the Karwan Bazar crossing, has been watching the change from the pavement. "Before, the signals meant nothing. Now cars actually stop. My children cross the road to bring me tea in the afternoon, and I feel a little less anxious."
Mohammad Aslam, an autorickshaw driver based in Farmgate, says awareness among drivers is spreading fast — even at intersections without cameras. "People are talking about it. Word travels. Even where there is no camera, some drivers are being more careful now, just in case."
But some are not entirely satisfied.
Arefin Kabir, a ride-share motorcycle driver who passes through the Bijoy Sarani signal several times a day, has a more cautious view. "The cameras are doing their job. But the fines need to be fair. If a pedestrian walks onto the road and I have to move forward slightly to avoid them, and the camera catches that, who pays?"
It is a question others are raising too.
Bitu Khandokar, a long-haul truck driver who passes through Dhaka several times a week, is straightforwardly pleased. "The roads feel less chaotic at the spots where the cameras are. The problem is that there are too few of them. Two kilometres down the road, it is the same mess as always."
Asked whether the system had brought any change at all, DMP Additional Commissioner Anisur Rahman said, "We are grateful to the people of Dhaka, who have responded quite positively to the introduction of these automated traffic signals and AI-powered cameras. The system is already contributing significantly to improvements. In many cases, even when traffic police officers are not present, people are following the traffic lights and obeying the signals. We are gradually increasing the number of cameras and will install them at other key locations across Dhaka as well."
The blind spot
For all the visible improvements, there is a significant gap running straight through the middle of the story — and it travels on three wheels.
While the AI system works effectively for registered motor vehicles, a large unregulated segment — battery-run autorickshaws, numberplate-less small vehicles, and illegal rickshaws — largely remains outside its reach.
At intersections where cars and motorcycles wait in orderly lines, more often than not, battery-powered autorickshaws frequently push past stop lines, cut across zebra crossings, and weave into oncoming traffic without consequence.
Traffic police officials say that even when violations by battery-run rickshaws and easy bikes are captured on camera, cases cannot be filed because these vehicles are not registered and therefore do not appear in any database.
The frustration among other drivers is palpable. "We stop, we obey, we get fined if we slip up," says Fahim Sinha. "And right next to us, a battery rickshaw goes wherever it wants. The camera does nothing. That is not fair enforcement — it is selective enforcement."
Traffic Sergeant Rakib, stationed at Banglamotor, acknowledged the difficulty. Even when violations by unregistered vehicles are recorded, there is no mechanism to act on the footage. He called for a structured regulatory framework to bring such vehicles within the system.
Experts and city authorities have warned that the unregulated spread of battery-powered autorickshaws is among the growing road-safety challenges facing the capital, contributing to accidents, worsening congestion, and undermining the discipline that the AI cameras are building among registered vehicle owners.
The system also does not currently cover pedal rickshaws, and police are still considering how to regulate Dhaka's vast fleet of non-motorised three-wheelers.
DMP Additional Commissioner Anisur Rahman said a major operation against unregistered vehicles and unclear number plates had already begun. The government is also looking into the matter to resolve it permanently, but he cautioned that it would take more time to arrive at a comprehensive solution.
Technology-driven reforms in Dhaka's traffic system are not entirely new. Signals have been upgraded before. Enforcement drives have come and gone. The roads eventually returned to form.
Dr Hasib Mohammed Ahsan, Director of the Accident Research Institute at BUET, believes the long-term success of the system will depend less on the technology itself and more on whether authorities sustain enforcement consistently.
"We have spent enormous sums on traffic signals and upgrades before, but those efforts were never maintained. A lack of accountability for failure has been a recurring problem," he noted.
Police officials acknowledge that several significant challenges remain in the implementation of the technology. According to them, some vehicle number plates are either unclear or so small that they are difficult to identify accurately.
To address this issue, the police are currently working jointly with the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). In addition, new features will soon be introduced to detect offences such as driving cars or motorcycles on pavements.
