[sustran] Motorcycle discussion

[J.H. Crawford]

>I found the debate about environmental impacts of motorcycles very 
>interesting. The actual question was raised by Barbara, quoting GTZ 
>that the bicycles are often replaced by motorcycles if income 
>increases. A research from Ouagadougou corroborates this thesis. 
>Bicycles are regarded as transport for the poor, while French 
>mobylettes are preferred by the middle class. This is not only an 
>image problem but also a physical one, especially when the 
>temperature rises above 40 Celsius in the summer time. 

This sort of problem is one of the reasons why the reference design
for carfree cities which we are developing does not require the
use of bicycles. In many areas, they can't be used year-round due
to weather extremes.

>My questions are now:
>
>1. What can be done to increase the image of bicycles?

In 40 degree heat, maybe nothing. I've seen in Bali that
people would buy and use bikes, but as soon as they had
enough money, they bought a 70cc motorcycle (the old
reliable Honda is a 4-stroke, and so a good deal cleaner
than the usual scooter).

>2. Which technical improvements reduce environmental 
>damages of motorcycles? Regarding the low purchasing 
>power it is essential that these improvements have low costs.

The motorcycle is usually ridden fairly short distances
at moderate speeds. This seems to me to be a reasonable
recipie for battery-powered two-wheelers, and Lee Iacoca
is supposed to be busy developing something along these
lines.

>3. In case that there is no low cost solution, would it be desirable 
>that Development Cooperation subsidises the technical improvements?

It may be that private enterprise can handle this, maybe
with some initial support. Some restrictions on emissions
would help provide the incentive for using other technologies.
(Bangkok already required its 3-wheelers to move from gasoline
to propane. This helped air quality some.) Also, noise restrictions
might make battery power much more competitive, since the petroleum-
fueled vehicles will have considerable difficulty achieving reasonable
noise levels.


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J.H. Crawford    Crawford Systems    joel at xs4all.nl    http://www.mokum.com/