<DIV>Dear Walter,</DIV> <DIV>In the Global North, motorcycle may not necessarily be a part of "urban transportation".But in the Global South particlarly Sub-Sahara Africa,motorcycle is a sub-system of the urban transport.For instances,it takes care of a subtiantial percentage of the travel demand, in most cities that are bedevilled by traffic congestion.As a result,it has been able to bridge the gap of long distance and short neighbourhood trekking,headloading which are still a major challenge of rural transport in this part of the world. </DIV> <DIV>Bicycle is a wonderful alternative to motorbike,apart from the fact that the infrastructure for a safe ride is not available in most countries,socially people in cities may want to despise it,but if infrastructure like bicycle paths could be provided in cities prior funding and or distribution of bicycle,i am of the opinion that more people across gender would embrace it.But, it is unfortunate that
in this part of the world nobody has ever thought of providing this infrastucture,meanwhile they want all to shift to bicycle.This may be difficult to accomplish.I will be glad if anyone can point out extensive of bicycle path infrastructure provision in West Africa as well as other part of the global south.</DIV> <DIV>Regards,</DIV> <DIV>JOSHUA ODELEYE.</DIV> <DIV>NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY,</DIV> <DIV>ZARIA,NIGEIA</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><B><I>Walter Hook <whook@itdp.org></I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"> <META content="Microsoft Word 10 (filtered)" name=Generator> <STYLE> <!-- <ZZZ!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:ZZZlink, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline;} /* Font Definitions */
@font-face {font-family:SimSun; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1;} @font-face {font-family:Tahoma; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;} @font-face {font-family:"\@SimSun"; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline;} span.emailstyle17 {font-family:Arial; color:black; font-weight:normal; font-style:normal; text-decoration:none none;} span.EmailStyle18 {font-family:Arial; color:navy;} @page Section1 {size:595.35pt 842.0pt; margin:56.7pt 76.55pt 56.7pt 85.05pt;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </STYLE> <DIV class=Section1> <DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY:
Arial">We need to be careful here. Not all transportation is ‘urban’, and in </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Africa</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> lack of access to basic mobility constitutes a fundamental barrier to economic development, access to employment, health care, schools, etc. A number of thoughtful articles by John Howe and other experts indicate that the introduction of motorcycles has had enormous economic benefits in those few African cities where they have been introduced, and of course a few unfortunate externalities like more pollution, accidents, etc. </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The problem of the ‘missing middle’ in Africa, meaning the absence of vehicle options between land rovers and women headloading, is a key component of the basic economic underdevelopment of Africa. When a woman spends 60 hours a week taking care of basic mobility needs, how in the hell is she supposed to do much else? When your country is very poor, the economic effects are extremely critical. We’re doing good work introducing better bicycles, which are of course not controversial, but all the industry related problems are the same, and the economic benefits of introducing cleaner, cheapter, higher quality motorcycles would be important also. There is no such thing as ‘public transportation’ in </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Africa</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt;
COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> at this point, there are only paratransit services. A lot of African cities are very low density, and motorcycles are a reasonable option. Ambient air pollution becomes a problem only with a certain amount of concentration of the pollutants. The safety issues are better addressed by designing roads for slower speeds. </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">What to do about motorcycles is certainly a critical issue. Banning them in </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Africa</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> is
certainly not the solution.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Best</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Walter </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">-----Original Message-----<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] <B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">On Behalf Of </SPAN></B>Eric Bruun<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Wednesday, September 06, 2006 3:42 PM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> eric.britton@ecoplan.org; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport; 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport'<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Cc:</SPAN></B> oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk; 'joshua odeleye'<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Like I keep saying, massive numbers of motorcycles and mopeds is a symptom of neglect of public transport. If the rich can drive, are the masses really going to do without mobility
if they can afford it? How could you persuade them otherwise?</SPAN></FONT></DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Eric Bruun<BR><BR></SPAN></FONT></DIV></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; MARGIN-TOP: 5pt; PADDING-LEFT: 4pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: blue 1.5pt solid; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none"> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">-----Original Message----- <BR>From: Eric Britton <BR><ERIC.BRITTON@ECOPLAN.ORG>Sent: Sep 6, 2006 11:52 AM <BR>To: 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport'
<BR><SUSTRAN-DISCUSS@LIST.JCA.APC.ORG>Cc: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk, 'joshua odeleye' <BR><JOSHUAODELEYE@YAHOO.COM>Subject: [sustran] Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos <BR><BR><BR></SPAN></FONT></DIV><ZZZHTML><ZZZHEAD><ZZZMETA HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><ZZZMETA content="Microsoft Word 10 (filtered)" name="Generator"></ZZZHEAD><ZZZBODY lang=EN-US vlink="purple" link="blue"> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">As Walter put it so well, they are playing with fire in the streets of Lagos today. For the reasons that he and Joshua mention, but also because – and this is something that transport planners often simply do not take into consideration since they try to ‘solve’ their problems within a very partial systems analysis in a broadly and relentlessly systemic world – they either have no memory or no knowledge of what happens when you mess with
the ‘small details’ of people’s lives. In this case as Walter points out, actually millions of people.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">History is strewn with the bodies of specialists who proposed ‘transportation solutions’ to inconvenient problems, only to see a fast and massive reaction on the streets that has toppled governments in very many cases. (It’s really quite a long list and at some point we might all sit down and draw it up as a sweet reminder. Transportation is indeed dynamite!)</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">And oh yes, I have not forgotten in this that push from the law enforcement side for whatever reasons. My best guess is though that the transport guys were just looking for good excuse to get these guys out of circulation.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This leaves us at the end of the day, however, with what is among the most ‘inconvenient truths’ of transport planning and policies in cities across the Global South today – those damn motorized two-wheelers. Certainly an enormous problem, but a far more subtle and astute response is called for. </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE:
12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Eric Britton</SPAN></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></ZZZBODY></ZZZHTML></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><p> 
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