[sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city

[Alan Howes]

For a debate among professionals, this one is rather lacking in facts. Now I
have no knowledge of Dhaka, but it seems to me that there are at least two
alternative strategies (and I am assuming that basically NMT is a GOOD
THING - although that depends on social and political issues, as well as
transport strategy):

1. If the major roads are wide enough, establish separate lanes for NMT, or
buses, or both.

2. If they are not, it may be worth segregating traffic by road, rather than
by lane. Do the main roads have parallel routes (albeit perhaps on minor
streets) that could be used for certain types of traffic - whether NMT,
buses, or cars.

But to progress the argument, you need information about capacities. What
are the capacities of a single traffic lane, in persons per hour and in
Dhaka conditions, for -

1. A lane exclusively occupied by NMT

2. A lane exclusively occupied by buses

3. A lane occupied by general traffic but excluding NMT

4. A lane occupied by general traffic includinhg NMT.

(Of course, there are issues of whether free flow is achieved or not -
problem with 1 and 2 is that unless vehicles stop, the capacity is
worthless - and while busesmight only stop in bus bays, NMT will stop
wherever they feel like it.)

I am pretty sure that (2) will be the highest - and at normal Dhaka traffic
speeds, it may well be that (1) would be higher than (3), unless (3)
includes a lot of buses.

Then of course, it is no good providing capacity for cars unless there is
somewhere to park them at their destination - otherwise you fill the streets
with cars parked, or circling looking for a parking space.

I have to say though that the official policy in Dhaka reminds me of Europe
and North America in the 40s and 50s, busily getting rid of trams which now
they are bringing back. Not that I would like to be a rickshaw puller or
rider - while it may be an ecologically sound form of transport, it is
hardly something that a developed society would countenance.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mohsin J. Sarker" <t9802 at cc.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp>
To: <sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 8:21 AM
Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city


> Dr. K Z Hoque
> Rickshaws have been banned on the main roads, not on narrow roads. You
know
> that main roads of Dhaka city are wider enough to accommodate at least
three
> lanes in one way. Lets consider the road from cantonment gate (Old
airport)
> to Shahabag. This road has three lanes in one way (so far I remember. Last
I
> went Bangladesh about three years ago). Now if we make one lane exclusive
> for NMT, then I think this exclusive one lane of NMT would carry more
> persons in unit time than two lanes of motorized transport.
>
>
> Mohsin J. Sarker
> Regional Planning
> Utsunomiya University
> Email: mohsin_jp at yahoo.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dr Kh Zahidul Hoque" <zahidul at hotmail.com>
> To: <sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 9:55 PM
> Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city
>
>
> >
> > >Dr Zahid wrote:
> > >
> > > > Regarding exclusive
> > > > lane for NMT, I thing Dhaka city is too congested to afford
> > > > extra lane for
> > > > NMT.
> >
> > Alok Jain Wrote:
> > >
> > >All the more reason to promote NMT. Densely built areas are
particularly
> > >adaptive to NMT. And I am surprised to see no mention of public
transport
> /
> > >modal shift in any of the suggestions.
> > >
> > >Alok Jain
> > >Hong Kong
> >
> > I am very much interested to know space constraints along the roads are
> > particularly adaptive to NMT. While the city roads are so narrow that it
> > cannot accommodate existing vehicles and hardly there is any spare
> > land/space for an expansion or additional lane, how an exclusive lane
for
> > NMT could be justified?
> >
> > Public transport/modal shift will definitely come in for detail study.
Of
> > course, when you ban NMT on the major roads, there should be sufficient
> > public tarnsport to facilitate modal shift from those NMT.
> >
> > K Z Hoque
> > Singapore
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>