To commemorate its fifth anniversary in Bangladesh, Uber Wednesday pledged to reduce noise pollution by encouraging drivers to be responsible when honking, said a press release.
It marked ‘No Honking Day’ on Nov 23, to collectively raise awareness about the negative effects of noise pollution on health and wellness.
Hosted by Prothom Alo, a stakeholder roundtable was attended by Dhaka’s leading experts and environmentalists, including Md. Ziaul Haque, Deputy Director, Dhaka Region, Department of Environment, Syed Nazrul Islam, BPM (bar) PPM Joint Commissioner, Traffic (south), Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Chief Executive, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), Dr Fahmida Khatun, ED, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) as well as Uber officials.
The ‘No Honking Day’ initiative marks Uber’s stand against excessive and unnecessary honking. According to the noise pollution control guidelines for Dhaka, the maximum noise level during daytime for quiet zones is 50 decibels, in residential zones 55 decibels, and in mixed zones 60 decibels. However, in reality, those levels exceed 120 decibels, leading to numerous health and wellness problems in residents.
Uber has already started to raise awareness about responsible honking amongst Drivers. Additionally, it’ll also place banners at strategic points and initiate in-car placement of awareness raising materials.
Applauding Uber for its commitment, Md. Ashraf Uddin, Director General, Department of Environment (DoE), said “I am pleased to see Uber’s support to raise awareness against noise pollution and its adverse effects on health and wellness. This will go a long way in encouraging others and I thank Uber for participating in this initiative.”
Md. Humayun Kabir, Additional Director General, Department of Environment, said, “We are pleased to have Uber as a partner to raise awareness about noise pollution and responsible honking. We are thankful for their support for reaching out to its stakeholders on their platform.”
Marking its 5 year anniversary, Uber also announced the first ever Hero Driver Partner Awards to recognise, appreciate and celebrate their contributions in this journey. Three Car Drivers and two Moto Drivers were awarded this year. Each awardee received a cash award of BDT 25,000 and a trophy. Awarded for their top performance, highest ratings, service quality and community service during the pandemic, these five awardees are:
Uber’s mission is to create opportunity through movement. We started in 2010 to solve a simple problem: how do you get access to a ride at the touch of a button? More than 15 billion trips later, we’re building products to get people closer to where they want to be. By changing how people, food, and things move through cities, Uber is a platform that opens up the world to new possibilities.
