[sustran] Re: fwd: update from Jakarta by Urban Poor Consortium - Konsorsium Kemiskinan Kota

[Sujit Patwardhan]

12 September 2001


Dear Wendell,
Attitude of the typical middle class urban Indian would be somewhat along 
these lines.
They feel "We have lacked basic infrastructure of roads, communication 
networks and mobility for years. Roads and highways need to be better and 
wider to enable faster movement of traffic" (in their minds only the 
motorised vehicles fit this definition).
Slow moving vehicles are seen not only as obstructions but also as symbols 
of backwardness. So rickshaws, cycles and other "non-modern" and 
"non-high-tech" modes are really an eyesore for this class.
They would say "people who use these modes should switch to buses or 
subways" and perhaps add "why should these outdated pre-historic vehicles 
be allowed on major roads? They (rickshaws) slow the traffic, are a threat 
to safe driving and hence should use the narrower, less important roads and 
keep out of our way". Roadside trees are also seen as obstruction and cause 
of road accidents.  They have been butchered on most roads in Mumbai, Pune, 
Nagpur and other growing cities as a result of the never-ending 
road-widening drive, which by the way is seen as panacea for solving all 
traffic congestions / pollution problems.
The media by and large re-enforces this view by trumpeting every 
road-widening / flyover proposal with articles on how the traffic 
congestion will disappear when the sickly roads are transformed into 
impressive four-lane highways fit for the fast auto vehicles, preferably 
fortified by:- road dividers to keep out the pedestrians (for them the 
steep climb up and down the over -bridge). The exercise is often 
accompanied by the removal of "excessive" bus stops on newly widened roads 
(they interrupt speedy movement of autos)... this is not exaggeration but 
actually happening in Pune....pavements are also removed or narrowed with 
the result that the pedestrians have to fight for space with telephone 
junction boxes, roadside vendors, garbage containers and other stationary 
or moving objects that are attracted to the additional unused space offered 
by the newly widened road. Some roads widened far in excess of the needs of 
traffic also encourage car owners to exceed the speed limit and to overtake 
other vehicles including two wheelers from the left (in India we are 
supposed to drive on the left side of the road and overtake a vehicle from 
the right).
Only a small section of population understands that infrastructure like 
roads and flyovers need to be expanded judiciously as more/wider roads 
encourage even more traffic, and it is wiser to manage traffic demand than 
to convert more and more open spaces into red-carpets for auto vehicles. If 
you manage traffic demand, road-widening can be avoided and mixed modes 
encouraged, optimising the road space. But we are still wearing the old hat 
and blindly imitating the west, although in many parts of Europe and the US 
these policies are increasingly coming under attack from people opposed to 
the domination of their cities by auto-vehicles.
Sorry if this has become trifle too long.
Regards
--
Sujit



-----------------------------------------------------------
At 09:40 AM 9/10/01 -0500, you wrote:
>Paul...
>
>Re the efforts to rid Jakarta and Delhi of becaks and rickshaws, is it fair
>to view this as something of an elitist agenda to rid the communities of
>something seen as unsightly? What are the people who use these systems
>supposed to do? Walk? Eventually buy cars? Appears to be a real dilemma and
>would be interested in perspectives on this.
>
>Best regards,
>Wendell Cox
>
>
>
>DEMOGRAPHIA & THE PUBLIC PURPOSE (Wendell Cox Consultancy)
>http://www.demographia.com (Demographics & Land Use)
>http://www.publicpurpose.com (Public Policy & Transport))
>Telephone: +1.618.632.8507 - Facsimile: +1.810.821.8134
>PO Box 841 - Belleville, IL 62222 USA


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Sujit Patwardhan.
PARISAR,
Yamuna, ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007
Tel: 5537955
Email: sujit at vsnl.com
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