DHAKA (AFP)

Bangladesh's densely populated capital has launched its first AI-powered traffic enforcement system in a bid to bring order to one of the world's most congested cities.

Across Dhaka, buses, cars, motorcycles and pedal rickshaws jostle for space. Despite repeated attempts to modernise traffic management, the city of more than 22 million people had remained reliant on manual control, with officers stretching ropes across roads before traffic lights turned green.

But in April, Dhaka police linked traffic cameras to artificial intelligence software designed to automatically detect violations.

One study, by the US National Bureau of Economic Research, ranked Dhaka as the "slowest city" in the world. With an average speed of just 4.8 kilometres (3 miles) per hour, according to a World Bank and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology study, it is quicker to walk.

City police spokesman N.M. Nasiruddin said the AI system used existing traffic-monitoring camera feeds -- with the software identifying offences ranging from signal and lane violations to illegal parking.

Coverage does not stretch across all the city, and manual traffic enforcement will be phased out over time, but police say it is changing behaviour.

"We have started getting results," Nasiruddin said. "We have prosecuted at least 300 vehicles."

Inside a control room at police headquarters, analyst Sharmin Afroze, 52, monitored a bank of live traffic feeds, plugged into the AI system, where violations it flags are checked by humans.

"Before, police used to stop vehicles, check papers and determine fines," Afroze told AFP, noting that in a single day, the system had recorded nearly 800 traffic violations. For now, police are only fining the worst offenders -- while giving the others a warning.

Still, officials admit the technology faces hurdles.

"We are facing some challenges too," Afroze said. "For example, some number plates are blurred or too small to identify."

Police are working with the road transport authority to address the issue, while additional features -- such as vehicles driving on footpaths -- will be added soon.

The system also currently targets motor vehicles, and police are still considering how to regulate Dhaka's vast fleet of pedal rickshaws, a defining feature of the city's traffic.

Hasib Mohammed Ahsan, a professor at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said the long-term success of the system would depend less on technology -- and more on whether authorities consistently enforce the rules.