[sustran] fwd: Phnom Penh's moto-dub (motorcycle taxi) drivers

[SUSTRAN Resource Centre]

More from the latest edition of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights'
newsletter, "Housing by People in Asia", No. 12, April 1999, which has
several items on transport issues.

A. Rahman Paul BARTER
SUSTRAN Resource Centre
P.O. Box 11501,  Kuala Lumpur 50748, Malaysia.
Tel/Fax: +60 3 2742590,  E-mail: sustran at po.jaring.my
Web: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2853/
The SUSTRAN Resource Centre is a not-for-profit organisation 
that promotes and popularises people-centred, equitable and 
sustainable transport with a focus on Asia and the Pacific.


MOTO-DUB DRIVERS IN PHNOM PENH
In a city like Phnom Penh, which has no public transport system, crossing
the city leaves you few choices. You either walk, bicycle, hire a cyclo
(Pedicab) or jump on one of the city's thousands of motorcycle taxi, called
in Cambodia "moto-dub" (a Khmer version of the French "moto-double" :
motorbike for two.)     A moto-dub can carry 1 - 3 passengers or transport
goods lashed on the back or loaded into connected trailers. 

Motos are gradually replacing cyclos (single-passenger cycle rickshaws,
with the passenger sitting in front) as the city's chief people-mover. In
1997, the number of motorbikes in the city had topped 115,000. Moto drivers
wear the characteristic "p-cap" and sit in front of hotels, schools,
temples, markets and at street corners, raising their hands and calling
"Mo-to?". A moto is a cherished investment and a moto driver never leaves
his moto unattended, since theft is moto-dub's biggest fear. The market is
a bit saturated these days, and competition for fares is cut-throat, but a
moto-dub can still earn about 7,000 Riels (US$2) a day, which in
impoverished Phnom Penh isn't bad for a day's work. 

Contact the URC in Phnom Penh for a copy of their study on Moto-dubs.
Urban Resource Centre (URC), PO Box 2241, Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA. Tel.
+855-23 211474. E-mail: urcpp at forum.org.kh