[sustran] Re: Information on 'Bike Taxi'

Anil K. Raut ankraut at wlink.com.np
Tue Aug 24 13:48:14 JST 2004


Very interesting debate. There are many points, I need to address on the discussions.

First: Jonathan. You mentioned the positive role of these 'bike-taxis' on the streets of Bangkok. This was what I assumed when I saw them on the streets of Bangkok. I was even trying to ride one. But I was not familiar with the city and these drivers were not good enough on English. So there was a high chance that I could be taken to unwanted area. I gave up the idea.

Another point is: I am not talking about the higher share of these bike-taxis on public transport. There is obviously role for mass-transport. I just wanted to see what could be role of these bike-taxis on a balanced modal-split. I am not pushing this forward but it is good have idea on what is going on around the world and importantly WHY it is happening, what are the driving forces. We could then localise these knowledge and plan our city accordingly.

I agree with Jonathan's point. 'A bike operating on demand in a suburban area can be considerably more efficient than buses circulating most of the day almost empty.' This was also my observation which forced me to think about the possibility of bike-taxis. I am not saying; mass-transport will consume less fuel than bike. I was intended to say what you mentioned. Bike taxi can consume less fuel (and space) than a car-taxi with almost most of time with single occupancy. BUT, there is certain role of mass transit. Bike taxi should not be alternative to the mass-transit rather to their supplement.

Second: Mr. Mehta. I do agree with you in all ways. Yes, the oil price has been going up and this has already creating problem in our country in terms of revenue. We are advocating for alternative energy (which are available within our country- hydropower) and its use in transportation sector. Till now electric vehicles are bit costly than fossil fuel vehicles. But I guess a time will come, when the fossil fuel price will be higher than electric and we could easily promote electric vehicles. This is what the market drive. At this time, we can not just push the entrepreneurs to go for electric vehicles. They will obviously go for low cost options. However, we have already more than 600 electric three-wheelers in Kathmandu. And possibly in future the share of electric transport will be increased (trolley, trams).

But as I said earlier, this was what I intended to look for various options. Our goal is the effective transport management with less emission overall. For that we need to explore both the long and short term possibilities.

Karl: Thanks for adding more point to understand the Bangkok bike-taxis. I know they were being parked within the walkways. But don't you think this is a management problem rather than the particular mode? I would love to know more about the Bangkok taxis from you. If there has been any study on the impact on environment, transport management due to these taxis.

The discussion is being interesting. Any additional thoughts????

Regards,

Anil K. Raut
----------------------------
Anil K. Raut
P. O. Box 8846
Kathmandu, NEPAL
E-mail: ankraut at wlink.com.np; anil at environmentnepal.com.np
Tel: 977-1-4232761 (Res.)/977-9841233941 (Mobile)

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Karl Fjellstrom 
  To: 'Asia and the Pacific sustainable transport' 
  Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2004 8:44 AM
  Subject: [sustran] Re: Information on 'Bike Taxi'


  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)
  Visiting Fellow                               Intl.: 662 524-5510
  Transportation Engineering program
  School of Civil Engineering, Room N260B               02 524-8257 (home)
  Asian Institute of Technology                 Intl.: 662 524-8257
  PO Box 4
  Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120                        02 524-5509 (fax)
  Thailand                                      Intl:  662 524-5509

  e-mail: richmond at ait.ac.th               Secretary:  Ms. Nisarat Hansuksa
          richmond at alum.mit.edu               02 524-6051
        Intl:  662 524-6051
  http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/



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