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

[SUSTRAN Resource Centre]

Dhaka does seem to be a rather unique place. I can't think of another city
in which pedicabs play such a huge role and dominate traffic flows to such
an extent.

One of the best references with an enormous wealth of detail, data and
careful analysis on this issue is still  Gallagher, R. (1992) The Rickshaws
of Bangladesh. Dhaka: University Press Limited.   It may be a little dated
in some minor respects but I believe that most of his observations will
still hold today.

Another reference that is good on NMV policy (not focused on Bangladesh):
Replogle, M. (1992) Non-Motorised Vehicles in Asian Cities (World Bank
Technical Paper 162).

Both authors argue against undue restrictions on pedicabs. They explain the
errors and faulty logic in most of the commonly heard arguments for banning
pedicabs.

Gallagher does acknowledge that Dhaka's transport system is out of balance.
He suggests positive efforts to enhance bus transport and to encourage
bicycles as ways to gradually enhance those alternatives that make most
efficient use of space (which everyone agrees is at a premium in Dhaka).
These efforts are also important because the rickshaw passengers are mostly
middle-income or rich people (or poor people running errands for richer
people). Currently the poor are walking or struggling to use the extremely
deficient bus system (or driving the rickshaws to earn a living).

Gallagher: "The real alternative to the rickshaw is the bicycle." (p.206)
but he outlines various barriers to this, including high up-fornt cost in
Bangladesh, fear of theft, . Ironically bicycles carry a stigma of being
for poor people in Dhaka, when in fact the very poor cannot afford a
bicycle. He also suggests various ways to popularise bicycles in Dhaka.

Gallagher goes on to say: "Although the bicycle is the most efficient
vehicle on the road, the bus comes a close second, and no-one would dispute
that Bangladesh needs a lot more buses." (p. 215) By any standard, Dhaka is
grossly under-provided with buses. 

I would suggest that a top priority of traffic management in Dhaka must be
on improving bus movements. I wonder if centre-of-the-road bus lanes (like
in Taipei, Nagoya, Kunming, Curitiba, Quito and soon Bogota) may be a
possibility on the largest roads in Dhaka, since this will reduce the
friction with the rickshaws and also improve safety. 

One crucial issue is that women in Dhaka find it very difficult to use the
crowded bus system (they are regularly denied entry) as was emphasised to
me last week by Ms Mashuda Khatun Shefali of the Centre for Women's
Initiatives in Dhaka. This means long walking trips for poor women workers
and a tendency for other women to depend much more on rickshaws than men.

I would like to quote Gallagher again:
"
 The real reasons for wanting to abolish cycle-rickshaws had nothing to
do with ‘efficiency’ or ‘humanity.’ After all, rickshaw drivers were not
the only undisciplined road-users. Nor were rickshaws the most wasteful
users of road space. As for the ‘humanitarian reasons’, the authorities
cared very little about the other aspects of the pullers’ lives. The real
reason for wanting to do away with cycle-rickshaws was that
wealthy people didn’t like them. They detracted from the modern city image
that they were trying to create, and they got in the way of the motor cars."


My comment: Any city in which private cars face little or no restraint or
restrictions can have no justification in restricting the operations of
non-motorised vehicles, including pedicabs.

Private passenger cars come at the bottom of any rational list of priority
when space is at a premium (as in Dhaka) being by far the least efficient
users of space (both when moving and for parking space). 

Paul
Paul BARTER
(a.k.a.  A. Rahman Paul Barter)
SUSTRAN Resource Centre
P.O. Box 11501,  50748 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
sustran at po.jaring.my

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