[sustran] Re: Information on 'Bike Taxi'

[Karl Fjellstrom]

One of the downsides is that motorcycle taxis tend to lounge around and park
on walkways, and ride on walkways for at least part of their journey,
honking aggressively to clear away those bothersome pedestrians. Further,
the areas they congregate in tend to be more concentrated areas of
pedestrian activity such as major bus stops, markets, etc. In Bangkok it's
common for them to cordon off areas near a bus stop to the detriment of
waiting bus passengers - e.g. in front of Pata Pinklao. Not to mention the
noise and air pollution they contribute, often in areas with lots of people
which already suffer noise and air pollution (there's been an interesting
debate on noise pollution recently in Bangkok following data released by the
Env Ministry).

Another consideration is that many of the motorcylce taxi trips in Bangkok
are within an easy walking distance - if only there was a navigable,
pleasant walkway. If conditions for short distance trips by walking were
improved, the demand for motorcycle taxis would diminish. Also, where trips
are too long to walk, bicycles could easily substitute for motorcycle taxis
for many trips, if only secure parking areas and other forms of
encouragement were provided for cycling. Such measures need not cost a lot.

But there seems to be little interesting in encouraging alternatives to
motorcycle taxis, and this leads to the point that the motorcycle taxi
industry is also a major contributor to corruption, by most estimates
contributing tens of millions of dollars each year in pay-offs to police and
others. It's great to have these motorcycle taxi services in outlying areas
where otherwise no other service might be available, but the real issue is
their presence in congested urban areas. They can play a valuable role as
Jonathan outlines. However, at least in Bangkok which I'm more familiar
with, encouraging walking and cycling and improved bus routings as an
alternative to motorcycle taxis wherever possible, and strictly prohibiting
motorcycle taxis from parking or driving on walkways, would have many
benefits.

Regards, Karl 


-----Original Message-----
From: sustran-discuss-bounces+karl=dnet.net.id at list.jca.apc.org
[mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+karl=dnet.net.id at list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf
Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond
Sent: Monday, 23 August 2004 11:18 PM
To: Asia and the Pacific sustainable transport
Subject: [sustran] Re: Information on 'Bike Taxi'


It is a mistake to assume that official public transport will necessarily
result in the consumption of less fuel than motorbike taxis or that it can
replace them in many instances. A bike operating on demand in a suburban
area can be considerably more efficient than buses circulating most of the
day almost empty.

In fact, many motorbike services do operate as public transport -- charging
about the same fare but providing a level of frequency not possible with
buses. For low-income people living in outlying suburbs, there may be no
alternative if density is inufficient for more formal operations -- in fact,
in many cases, the bikes actually operate from bus stops and provide
services to locations not served by buses.

So we have to be careful about making generalizations.

Note that in my case the alternative to taking a motorbike, which I
frequently use to complete a journey after a bus or train ride, would be to
take a regular taxi for the whole journey as it would simply take too long
otherwise.

                                            --jonathan

-----

Jonathan E. D. Richmond                               02 524-5510 (office)
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Transportation Engineering program
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Asian Institute of Technology                 Intl.: 662 524-8257
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Thailand                                      Intl:  662 524-5509

e-mail: richmond at ait.ac.th               Secretary:  Ms. Nisarat Hansuksa
        richmond at alum.mit.edu		              02 524-6051
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