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Transports of Joy

by Arjuna
YOU read a lot in the newspapers about the car industry, which swings around from boom to gloom and back again.
However, most of the world doesn't own a car. It doesn't even ride in one. Most of the world climbs aboard a bus or pedals a bike, or uses one of a dozen kinds of other vehicles.
And thereby hangs a very fine piece of research, done by someone called Michael Replogle, published by the World Bank. I would like to meet him one day, and swap varns. The title of his great work Is "Non-motorised Vehicles in Asian Cities.”
It brings out the colourful (and sometimes crazy) traffic scene in Asia which has the most varied array of vehicles imaginable.
Stand, for instance, on any corner of Colombo’s Galle Road as the traffic weaves through the suburb of Kollupltlya. You will see at least nine modes of transport, from bullock carts to container- rigs!
At one time, the government marked the road out into . speed-lanes — bullock carts on the outside, four-wheel motors down the middle. It worked well, but not the way the authorities Intended. The fast motorist took to the bullocklane, because it was usually clear of traffic, whereas the center lane was crowded with trucks.
Or go to Bangladesh. The country has 24,000 buses and trucks, but it has 698,000 cycle rickshaw. Cars? Very few.
The cycle rickshaw is, in fact, the vehicle in Asia — India has 1,700,000, China probably 500,000 and Indonesia 200.000. Overall, there must be well over 3 million of these pedeal-pushed vehicles, nearly as many as all the motor vehicles combined.
Today, the old rickshaw where the puller Jogs between two shafts is disappearing. This was the invention of an American in Japan (hence its name of "Jin-rick-sha" — Japanese for man-power-vehicle), and at one time it was the premiere vehicle on the streets of Colombo. Rangoon, Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as over most of China and Japan.
In the hilly districts of Hong Kong, there used to be sedan chairs, carried by two or four hefty bearers. These are Aslan in origin, but were used a lot in Europe even up to the last century. Hone Kong runs an annual charity competition for amateur sedan-teams’ up its stiff-sloped Peak, the professionals having disappeared 50 years ago.
All over China in the major cities everyone owns a bicycle — it’s the fastest way to move around on your own. Outside every office or factory there are special parking spaces for bicycles and special lanes are cordoped off for these pedal-
pushers.
Pedal-power, of course, is not the only means of getting around Asia The region, tn fact, is rich in small motorised vehicles, and of these my fondest memories are of Delhi's "phut-phut-kah." a motor-cycle and covered side-car. The capital’s taxis were not always reliable, whereas a-phut-phut-kah would take you anywhere for half the price and in half the time, too.
The mini-motorcycle was invented in Italy and called the Vespa (Italian for "wasp”). It was imported into India, where the BaJaJ brand took over. Now more of the machines are ridden there than anywhere on the globe.
They helped forward a revolution in the labour force, in fact. In newly industrialising cities like Poona and Banglaore and Kota, young ladies can be seen riding them to work, their sari-ends streaming in the breeze. Thus there has arisen a new breed of independent young businesswomen, previously thought to be impossible in Indian society. — Depthnews Asia