[sustran] motorcycles shut down in Lagos

[Eric Britton]

Dear Simon,

 

It is always such a real pleasure to exchange these ideas with you.

 

The situation in many cities of the Global South as far as mortised two/three
wheelers is - and in particular with reference to convention bus and public
transport services is concerned -nothing if not surprising, anomalous and quite
confusing in our tradition-laden North context.   The trick line is here: For
many people it is not only faster and more convenient to buy a banger and head
out into the traffic stream, but it is also a whole lot cheaper. Ouch! This is
real tough competition and if you look at the short films posted yesterday you
will see where the on-street action is. There is nothing, zero, surprise in
this. 

 

And as to what we call "xTransit" (and how sometimes I regret this bit of
cleverness), the idea there is to open up the spectrum to a wide range of
services, that will in part, no doubt, replace some of the less effective main
line publicly run and subsidized traditional bus, etc. services. IF I sound like
an enemy of waiting for that red bus in the rain, please excuse me. There is a
real future for all those services too -- but in a radically different context. 

 

The motorized two/three wheeler is what one long time observer has called the
Great White Whale of transport in the cities of the Global South. But the next
time you go to London, have a look. They are out on the street there too, more
in number and more anomalous every day. While the mainline transportation
fraternity continues to look the other way.

 

Ain't life very surprising in its insistence simply to not stand still for us?

 

Eric Britton

 

 

 

On Behalf Of Simon Norton
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 6:08 PM
To: lotslesscars at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [LotsLessCars] RE: motorcycles shut down in Lagos

 

I don't understand what Eric means by saying that traditional public transport
may be unsuitable on cost grounds, the context being the Global South. This is a
disease of rich countries, where demand has been abstracted away from public
transport by uncontrolled car ownership and usage, where staff have to be paid
at the prevailing rates, and where the demand for high tech systems and safety
and disability requirements may have pushed costs up. 

One thing is certain: if conventional public transport is too expensive, there
is no way that xTransit can substitute. Its role is where there is a need for
transport intermediate between buses and taxis, or where demand is insufficient
to support a conventional bus service.

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