http://voiceofsouth.org/2008/01/03/rickshaw_bans/
Fuel Consumption and Environmental Impact of Rickshaw Bans in Dhaka
Most trips in Dhaka are short in distance, usually one to five
kilometers. These trips are perfect of Rickshaws. Rickshaws are
cheap and popular mode of transport over short distances. Rickshaws
are safe, environmentally friendly and do not rely on fossil fuels.
Rickshaws support a significant portion of the population, not only
the pullers, but also their families in the villages, the mechanics
who fix the rickshaws, as well as street hawkers who sell them food.
From the raw materials to the finished product the Rickshaw employs
some 38 different professions. Action needs to be taken to support
the Rickshaw instead of further banning it in Dhaka. The combined
profits of all Rickshaws out earn all other passenger transport
modes (bus, rail, boats and airlines) combined. In Dhaka alone,
Rickshaw pullers combine to earn 20 million taka a month.
We think that over the coming holiday of Eid du Ajah, new Rickshaw
bans will be put into action on roads in Dhaka. Eid was used in the
past to place new bans on roads in Dhaka. Last Eid many roads were
declared Rickshaw free without public support or approval. By
banning Rickshaws roads are clogged with increased private car use
as well as increased parking by cars. Banning of Rickshaws on major
roads increases the transportation costs for commuters. Not only due
to longer trips to avoid roads with bans in effect, but also due to
actually having to take more expensive forms of transport such as
CNG or Taxi, where in the past a Rickshaw would suffice. The
environmental impact of banning Rickshaws is obvious because it
exchanges a non-motorized form of transport for a motorized form of
transport, thus increasing the pollution and harming the
environment. Rickshaw bans harm the most vulnerable in society,
mainly the sick, poor, women, children and the elderly; generally
those who can not afford or do not feel comfortable on other forms
of public transport. To ban Rickshaws also hurts small businesses
that rely on them as a cheap and reliable form of transporting their
goods. Rickshaws are ideal for urban settings because they can
transport a relatively large number of passengers while taking up a
small portion of the road. In 1998 the data showed that Rickshaws
took up 38% of road space while transporting 54% of passengers in
Dhaka . The private cars on the other hand, took up 34% of road
space while only transporting 9% of the population (1998 DUTP). This
data does not include the parking space on roads that cars take up
in Dhaka . If included this would further raise the amount of space
taken up by private cars. Every year the Rickshaw saves Bangladesh
100 billion taka in environmental damage.
The government makes many efforts to reduce traffic congestion in
Dhaka but with no success. Blaming Rickshaws for traffic congestion
and subsequently banning them from major roads has not had the
desired affect. Traffic is still as bad now as it was before the
Rickshaws were banned on major roads. Rickshaws thus can not be seen
as the major cause of traffic congestion. Instead one should look
towards private cars and private car parking on roads as the major
cause of traffic congestion. The space gained by banning Rickshaws
is often used for private car parking. The current trend in
transport planning reduces the mobility of the majority for the
convenience of the minority. The next time a ban on Rickshaws on
another road is discussed please take into consideration who is
being hurt and who is being helped. For a better transport system in
Dhaka we need to create a city wide network of Rickshaw lanes. If
this is done Dhaka can reduce its fuel usage dramatically as well
its pollution. We ask your help in our fight to keep Dhaka a
Rickshaw city. Any information or help is very much appreciated and
sought after. I write you this letter to describe the difficulties
we are facing and some solutions but they are by no means exhaustive
and we look forward to your help and input.
Author is the Volunteer of Save Environment Movement৷ Email:
shovan1209@yahoo.com
--- In mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com, "A.H. Jaffor Ullah" <jhankar@...>
wrote:
>
>
>
> Dear forum members:
>
> Bangladesh's myriad environmental groups should take into
> consideration the plights of rickshaw-wallahs. The World Bank
does
> not give a hoot to the plight of these hapless mass. How could
the
> nation provide an alternative employment to the able bodied
rickshaw-
> wallahs? Will the World Bank economists for once address this
> important issue?
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Jaffor Ullah
>
> ---------------------
> The Bangladesh Observer
>
> December 20, 2004
>
> Editorial
>
> Dhaka's Rickshaws Under Threat
>
> In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, most journeys are made on
foot,
> and bicycle rickshaws are the main form of vehicular transport.
> Rickshaws are an efficient, non-polluting way to move around, and
for
> many people without job skills, pulling a rickshaw is the only
option
> other than begging or crime.
>
> It is estimated that five million people in Bangladesh are
dependent
> on the income of rickshaw pullers for their survival. While
> rickshaws, or bicycle taxis, have been introduced successfully in
> Western cities such as New York and Berlin, the World Bank has
shown
> nothing but hostility towards rickshaws being the dominant mode of
> vehicular transport in Dhaka, seeing them as an impediment to
their
> idea of development (e.g., mass motorisation, fossil fuel
dependence,
> traffic jams, dirty air, and accelerated climate change).
>
> Under pressure from the World Bank, Dhaka City Corporation
announced
> that from December 17 it plans to ban rickshaws and non-motorised
> transport from an important road in Dhaka - Mirpur Road from
Russell
> Square to Azimpur . But this is only the test case in a much
larger
> World Bank plan that would eliminate rickshaws from
>
> eight major roads (120 km) in this city of ten million people.
> Pushing rickshaws off the main roads would allow motor vehicles to
> become the dominant mode of vehicular transport in the city. At
the
> same time, the World
>
> Bank is pressuring the Bangladeshi government to pass a law
freeing
> the bank of legal liability for any harm that results from its
> policies.
>
> Increasing limitations on rickshaws in Dhaka are causing untold
> hardship to the poorest and most vulnerable segments of society,
> reducing the mobility of the middle class (particularly women,
> children, and the elderly), and
>
> contributing to air pollution and motorisation. Meanwhile, roads
that
> have completely banned non-motorised transport are still some of
the
> worst affected by traffic jams.
>
> World Carfree Network, concerned organisations in Bangladesh and
> around the world, and Dhaka's many rickshaw unions are all
prepared
> for action to save the rickshaws. If the most vulnerable members
of
> the population are to go
>
> hungry, it will not happen without a fight. Banning rickshaws and
> building highways while people face starvation is nothing short of
a
> war on the poor.
>
> Why Rickshaws should not be wiped out :
>
> · Rickshaws are in many ways the ideal form of transport: they
> provide door-to-door transport at all hours and in all weather,
emit
> no fumes, create no noise pollution, use no fossil fuels, and
employ
> large numbers of the poorest people.
>
> · It is not the rickshaws that are clogging the streets; it's the
> cars. In 1998, the less than 9% of vehicular transport by car
> required over 34% of road space, while the 54% travelling by
rickshaw
> took up only 38% of road
>
> space. The solution is not to reduce rickshaw transport, but to
> prevent the growth of car use, by minimising the road space and
> parking space allocated to cars.
>
> · In addition, there are many simple solutions that could benefit
> both the rickshaw-riding majority and the car-owning minority.
> Instead of banning rickshaws, the World Bank and local authorities
> could be (a.) providing
>
> dedicated lanes and cycle rickshaw stations that would prevent
> conflicts between modes, (b.) implementing a programme to help
> improve the quality of the rickshaws, (c.) supporting cycle
rickshaw
> drivers with training,
>
> uniforms, tariff standardisation, etc., (d.) creating cycle lanes
> throughout the city, and (e.) supporting public transit through
bus-
> only lanes, bus-only turns, etc.
>
> · Many rickshaw pullers fled from starvation in the villages. With
> exceptionally bad floods this year, many villages lack sufficient
> food and seeds. Cutting back on rickshaw income means directly
> attacking the ability of the poorest and most vulnerable to
survive -
> not just the rickshaw pullers themselves, but the families and
entire
> villages that they support.
>
> · The Mirpur Road is a disastrous choice for a rickshaw ban, as
there
> are no alternate roads for rickshaws, and it is extremely
difficult
> to walk on this road because of the prevalence of street vendors.
>
> · Accommodating the automobile over other modes is undemocratic,
> supporting a wealthy elite while the majority suffers. In the long
> run, even the rich will not benefit from rickshaw bans, as current
> policies will lead to more traffic jams, dirtier air and increased
> noise pollution.
>
> · The World Bank figure that the rickshaw ban will cover "only 6%
of
> roads" is highly misleading. Maybe 6% of roads, but those
corridors
> carry well over 50% of all the traffic in the city. Further, the
> figure of 6% is misleading
>
> because Dhaka has only a small number of arterial roads which due
to
> the lack of a secondary road network means must carry all kinds of
> traffic, including short trips by pedestrians and rickshaws as
well
> as longer trips by motor
>
> vehicles. The proposed restrictions cover almost all the main
> arterials (the widest roads in Dhaka), and almost all of the north-
> south corridors, where a large percentage of the overall traffic
> occurs. The rickshaw-ban roads are almost all in the range of 25
> metres to 45 metres wide (including walkways), i.e., at least
three
> lanes in each direction. Some are even wider. So the World Bank's
> claim that traffic cannot be segregated on the arterial roads is
> simply false.
>
> · World Bank policy in Dhaka is inconsistent with the spirit of
the
> World Bank's urban transport strategy, Cities on the Move (2001),
> which is highly progressive and supportive of non-motorised
> transport.
>
> · Rickshaws are the main source of vehicular transport for the
middle
> class. Since there are often not alternatives within their means,
a
> rickshaw ban is a restriction of their freedom of movement, and
> therefore a violation of
>
> Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
>
> · While proposing for further rickshaw bans between Russell Square
> and Azimpur, the Dhaka Transport Coordination Board presented data
> showing an increase in average motor vehicle speeds (15 kmh to 24
> kmh) in other parts of the same corridor where a rickshaw ban has
> already been imposed. But did they analyse how robust and stable
the
> gain in speed reductions would be? Considering experiences of the
> other rickshaw-free roads, is it not more likely that the gain in
> speed would be very short lived and the extra space created would
> soon be filled by more motorised vehicles? And further, wouldn't
a
> ban on motor vehicles on major roads similarly speed up the
rickshaws
> and also allow space for bicycles and pedestrians?
>
> -SAN-Feature Service
>
> [This write up is produced by the People Action Alert and World
> Carfree Network ]
>
------------------------------------
*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm
*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf
*****************************************
MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm
*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/
*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm
*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm
*****************************************
Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm
****************************************************
VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/
****************************************************
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:mukto-mona-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:mukto-mona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
mukto-mona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/