Snowflakes are just like big cities. From afar, they may look the same, but in close up they are different from each other. Major cities like New York City and Dhaka are overpopulated and may seem similar at a distance. However, at a closer glance, they differ in many ways such as modes of transportation. Even though both cities’ reliance on transportation is similar they differ in usage, time, and law.
The environmental issues in New York City and Dhaka are widely known since these cities are immensely populated with people and vehicles. Both cities have more than seven million commuters. Some walk but most take either one’s personal car or a bus, taxi, or train. The amount of harmful pollution is relatively the same in both cities. Already overloaded with population, more people from all over the cities’ respective countries are coming desperately to settle in these cities. In New York City and Dhaka, this will result in more congestion and a lower body mass index. In Dhaka, the influx of population will result in not only high population density, but also growth of slums in an alarming way. Three characteristics of the city environment: living in areas with mixed residential and commercial uses, living near bus or subway stops and living in densely populated areas, were found to affect BMI levels. When there are more than 15,000 motor vehicles running in New York City and 0.3 motor vehicles running daily, there is much severely harmful air pollution. The pollution that come from these vehicles cause many diseases and sickness to workers and tourists which are very unfortunate. The environmental issues in New York City and Dhaka are very difficult to solve or make better when these cities are known as fast-paced and people are known to have no time for many things.
Both Dhaka and New York City are equipped with many traffic signals and walking signs at every street. At some main intersection there are even authorative figures guiding cars and pedestrians. Although the traffic signals and walking signs are to help decrease accidents, traffic, and collisions between people and vehicles, not many drivers and pedestrians follow them. In these cities that don’t sleep at night, people are always on the move and have no time to be patient. There will be many who speed on yellow lights and run pass red ones. The “walk and “don’t walk” signs are also not followed strictly. People just simply go if they don’t see any nearby car coming. These disobedient actions are why there are many authorative people on many intersections, assuring order and regulation. Both cities are coming up with new technological ways to better the system of traffic signals. In New York City, there are now cameras by almost every traffic signal. In Dhakka, new high tech signaling system would be set up in the city's 59 traffic points. Traffic movement in these cities would be automatically guided from a central control room through the respective sophisticated signaling module.
Airports in New York City and Dhaka are very convenient for people coming on quick business trips. New York City and Dhaka are major cities that thrive with many small and huge businesses. Both cities are populated with many businessmen looking out to invest or make money in these cities. Airports are very vital to tourists also. When tourists first come to the U.S. and Bangladesh through JFK International airport or Shahjalal International Airport, their main desire is to go tour the biggest city in the nation. Shahjalal and JFK are the busiest airports of their respective countries’. There are elevated expressway systems for these two airports from different parts of Dhaka and New York City. The Air train to JFK make it possible for people to go to and come from Long Island, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, whereas, Dhaka Metro make it possible for people to go to and come from different parts of the city of Dhaka.
Despite all the similarities these cities have regarding transportation, they have many differences. One such difference is the general modes of transportation. The residents of the two cities use different vehicles to travel to their destinations. People in Dhaka look to rickshaws to travel small distances, while for longer distances, they rely on cars and scooters. New Yorkers rely on bikes or cars to travel short distances. You won’t see a rickshaw or a scooter travelling 5 miles per hour on the road in New York. To travel small distances, New Yorkers mainly walk, but in Dhaka no one walks to places because you are sure to encounter danger. Public transportation also differs in the two cities. New York City has an elaborate and efficient Metro Subway system. Dhaka does have railroads that travel from Chittagong to far away cities and railroads that travel from Kolkata and cross the border into Bangladesh, but they lack a localized Subway system. The two cities also have a public Bus system, but Dhaka’s bus system is not as organized as New York City’s. Females are rarely seen on the buses because the buses are packed and even have people riding on the roof. Receiving payment for the bus is much more difficult and the buses themselves are not in good condition compared to the clean and well regulated buses running in New York City.
The time it takes to travel to places in two cities differ. Both the cities are immensely populated, but it is much quicker to travel in New York City than it is to travel in Dhaka. It is impossible to travel anywhere in Dhaka without a car or a rickshaw which is why the roads are overcrowded and people are always stuck in heavy traffic. It takes an average of thirty minutes to travel approximately a mile in Dhaka by car. Rickshaws and scooters are man powered and so the speed of the traffic on the roads of Dhaka is really slow. However, even though they travel at slow speeds, people choose to travel by rickshaws and scooters because they are smaller in size and easy to squeeze between spaces in the road. Also, the cars avoid and give way to rickshaws and scooters because the wheels on them have really large sharp bolts that leave deep scratches on the body of a car. The only vehicles that are on the roads in New York City are cars and similar vehicles which can all travel at fast speeds. The bicycles have their own lane and do not have to share the road with the cars, which is why it is faster to travel in New York City than in Dhaka.
Traffic speeds in the two cities are also different due to laws. The laws in New York City are strictly enforced while the traffic laws in Dhaka are not. There are traffic lights in the major roads in Dhaka, but no one pays them any attention which leads to confusion on the roads. There are also police officers stationed at roads, but they are only present at the major intersections and don’t do much to assist the horrid traffic situations. In New York City, there are traffic lights and STOP signs stationed at every road to ensure safety and control traffic. There are hidden cameras that can capture drivers who run a red light. People who do not abide by the law face consequences in New York City, however in Dhaka, there seem to not be any consequences.
Transportation is very important in these two major populated cities. Both cities have their positives and negatives in transporting people to different places, but both cities hold two of the biggest complex transportation systems of infrastructure in the world. They both have different rules and regulations regarding the system and multiple ways to get around while using similar vehicles and objects to do so.
