[sustran] 1) Motorised 2 wheelers 2)Hong Kong has all the solutions?

[Gerry Hawkes]

Barbara -

I think both you and the GTZ fellow are right.

You are correct in that walking and bicycling are economical,
efficient and healthy ways to alleviate the congestion and
pollution caused by using fossil fuel powered, motorized vehicles
for short trips.

The GTZ fellow is right in that people tend to "upgrade" to
noisy, highly polluting two stroke engine powered motor bikes in
order to increase their speed and range.  Having been in
Ouagadougou several times on consulting assignments as well as in
numerous other cities with high motor bike traffic, I need no
convincing that two-cycle motor bikes are not a means of
transportation to be encouraged.

We need to create conditions and infrastructure that promotes
walking, bicycling, and muscle powered movement of goods, but
also channels the inevitable desire for more speed, power and
range to clean, quiet, affordable vehicles.  A vision of how I
think this might be achieved can be found at
http://www.biketrack.com/visions.htm

We have been testing  and developing the surface to be used in
the EcoTrack transportation system since 1993.  We now have many
installations of the surface on steps, wheelchair access ramps,
gangways, bicycle/pedestrian bridges, etc. around the U.S.  A
partial listing of these sites can be found at
http://www.biketrack.com/install.htm

The next step toward the EcoTrack transportation system will be
the introduction of structural travel surface panels that may be
placed together to form high quality walking and bicycle riding
surfaces without the need for a wood or metal sub-surface and
eliminating the need to excavate and pave.  The first 2'x4'
panels will be available by the end of next month along with a
new, modular truss system for building economical bicycle and
pedestrian bridges.   Please watch www.biketrack.com for
developments.  We will be posting more details on the surfacing
panels and modular truss system during the month of May.

Gerry Hawkes
Bike Track, Inc.
Woodstock, Vermont USA

www.biketrack.com

ghawkes at sover.net

Tel. 802-457-3275
Fax.  802-457-3704



-----Original Message-----
From: Barbara Gruehl Kipke <hobbes at t-online.de>
To: Activists <sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org>
Date: Saturday, April 11, 1998 3:51 AM
Subject: [sustran] 1) Motorised 2 wheelers 2)Hong Kong has all
the solutions?


>Dear Sustainable Transport Activists,
>
>Hi! I'm new to your discussion list! You're welcome to find out
more
>about me at my web site: http://www.mobility-consultant.com.
>
>Maybe you can help me with two issues that have cropped up:
>1) We are trying to convince German development aid agencies to
put more
>money into the sustainable transport modes (ie. walking,
cycling, animal
>drawn alternatives, hand carts etc.). One guy from GTZ (an
important
>development aid agency) has written a counter-argument saying
among
>other things that it is not a bright future/perspective if we
start with
>the bicycle and the next development step is the polluting
2-wheelers à
>la Hanoi, Vietnam or Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
>
>The Asian region seems to abound with this problem. You must
have come
>up with some alternative scenarios?! I thought Singapore might
have
>banned motorcycles/2-wheelers from their streets...is that the
case? It
>would seem a good combination of public transport together with
bike &
>ride à la Japan could be the way forward. How did Japan tame the
>motorcycle development. Do you have other positive
>examples of how Asian cities have handled the 2-wheeled
motorized
>"pest"?
>
>For your information, I have already looked at Sustran-discuss
files
>134, 136, 138, 167 that discuss this subject. Are there
additional
>comments you can provide me with?
>
>2) The GTZ guy mentions Hong Kong as a city that has solved "the
>transport problem". Hong Kong can thus "show us the way forward"
>according to this guy.
>
>I was in Hong Kong many years ago, but I don't remember it being
>particularly great in terms of its transport solutions. I
haven't seen
>too much written on Hong Kong that would lead me to believe that
they
>are very innovative or effective.
>
>How do you see the transport situation in Hong Kong?
>
>Thanks in advance for feedback!
>
>Yours sincerely from the deep Black Forest in Germany
>(where the Black Forest Cake comes from...)
>--
>Barbara Gruehl Kipke (M.B.A.)
>Mobility Consultant
>
>Horber Gaessle 13    Tel./Fax: 0049 7451 6985
>72160 Horb           e-mail: barbara at mobility-consultant.com
>Germany              http://www.mobility-consultant.com
>