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

[Thomas Krag]

Dhaka is not the first place a ban of rickshaws is introduced. From several principal points of view it seems, as also pointed out in the discussion here, a very unadequate response to the challenge of providing a satisfactory transport system in a densily populated city.

Moving from principles to realities and figures I wonder whether studies have been made on the effectiveness of transporting people and goods by rickshaws.

>From what I've seen myself in Asian cities my guess would be that a rickshaw-based transport system will be relatively slow but very efficient in terms of the number of people transported per cross section. The vehicles are, compared to normal passenger cars, narrow and with a high carrying capacity in terms of number of persons per unit. And they can move in a very flexible way.

In a situation with excess space the passenger car is second to none in terms of speed and comfort.

In reality, however, where space is limited, cars will often be slowed down to speeds lower than what could be obtained by rickshaws.

The demand for cardriving is however enormous. And to my knowledge no western city of big or medium size has solved the conflict between demand and available space satisfactory. The vision of fast moving cars (which can be demonstrated outside rush hours) seems to have a much higher impact on politicians and planners than the possibility of developing a transport system giving a satisfactory service even at peak times.

This is nothing that can be changed by a few arguments or over a short time span. But actual facts on what rickshaws can actually do would be a small step in this direction. Any figures are welcome.

Best regards

Thomas Krag

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Thomas Krag
Wilhelm Marstrands Gade 11 - DK-2100 København Ø
tel +45 35 42 86 24, mobil 28 40 04 52, tk at thomaskrag.com
-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: Mohsin J. Sarker <t9802 at cc.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp>
Til: sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org <sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org>
Cc: Hirotaka Koike <koike at utsunomiya-u.ac.jp>
Dato: 1. november 2000 03:23
Emne: [sustran] Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city


>Hi there!
>
>There is a news about banning rickshaw on roads of Dhaka city in the
>following URL address.
>
>http://www.nation-online.com/200010/31/n0103101.htm#BODY4
>
>According to this news...