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Rickshaws are an early 21st century solution

Let's think before we destroy them

FARID BAKHT
ULTiMATELY, like you, i do not want to see rickshaws on the streets of Dhaka in 2015. Rickshaw pullers will also tell you that they do not want to make a living in such an inhuman way. But they have a right to live, don't they? They have a simple demand: "if you want to get rid of us, fine. But give us an alternative way of working first."
This isn't about mobility. it's a life and death struggle for jobs and income. Banning rickshaws today and getting rid of them from Dhaka will make the traffic situation worse! No, this is not a typing error. Please read on with an open mind. Until now, you have been fed the propaganda against rickshaws. Reading this newspaper means you probably own a car or certainly ride in one. So you know the solution. it's been written in countless articles and letters. Get rid of rickshaws and the streets will be smooth? Think how many pictures (perhaps even in this newspaper) you have seen of rickshaws causing huge traffic jams. You have seen it with your own eyes. But what have you really seen?
Did you see how much space a rickshaw takes while carrying two passengers (plus the driver)? We drive private cars. if you take the maneuvering space into account, each car takes the space of 4 rickshaws and mostly carries just one passenger.
The government is making a massive mistake by implementing the flawed Dhaka Urban Transport Project (DUTP). A mistake that will be devastating for millions of people.
Rickshaw-pullers (citizens and voters too) are being removed from so-called ViP roads. This will extend to other roads. So passengers will not want to use rickshaws for many journeys. 200,000 rickshaws cannot just survive in narrow streets. This is therefore death by a thousand cuts.
Simultaneously, we are encouraging private car use. By lowering import duties, the middle class can buy cars. Cheap credit is now available. one cannot blame the new middle class people from wanting to own a car.
our opinion formers are under a huge illusion. They think that motorisation equals modernisation. The more motor vehicles we have clogging our streets, the more modern we are! This is not modern thinking.
The new innovative strategies worldwide are to curb car use, strengthen public transport, and encourage people to use cycles.
We want to leap into the motor age when others, far ahead of us, are thinking another way. in the 21st country, they see a place for the cycle. i am not suggesting we all start pedaling! Socially, the middle class would die rather than be seen on a bike. But we already have cycles -- tricycle rickshaws in place! So why not use them?
if you have driven in the cantonment, you may have noticed there is a rickshaw lane on the left. Have you seen how disciplined they are? in fact, all vehicles operate in a disciplined manner (out of fear!). So if traffic can flow properly in the cantonment with rickshaws and cars on the same road, why cannot it be done on the ViP roads? is it more to do with the failure of the traffic police or our own prejudices?
What's the size of the rickshaw economy in Dhaka?
Every day rickshaws make seven million passenger trips, covering eleven million miles. That is double what the London underground does.
200,000 rickshaws ply the streets of Dhaka, in two shifts. This means 400,000 pullers plus 30,000 rickshaw owners and 50,000 ancillary workers, mechanics, etc. Then there are thousands of restaurant workers dependent on rickshaw pullers and other service providers in slums, etc.
A rickshaw generates Tk 200 per day which translates to Tk 6,000 per month, i.e. $100 a month. Thus, 200,000 rickshaws produce an income of $20 million a month or $240 million a year. Add Tk 50 rent per rickshaw per day: that means $60 million a year. And the ancillary mechanic sector accounts for $30 million a year.
So the directly-related rickshaw economy in Dhaka is a $330 million turnover or almost Tk 2,000 crore industry.
if one believes the higher estimate of 400,000 rickshaws in the city, then the size of this economy could reach $500 million a year. More than the World Bank gives per year.
The real causes of traffic jams are badly trained traffic police, not enough roads, too many unplanned shopping centres and businesses with no parking space, and hardly any footpaths.
Let's not make rickshaws extinct. Let's come up with an integrated strategy with a role for cars, cabs, buses, trains, CNG rickshaws, pedal rickshaws and pedestrians.
Short term actions
Separate cycle lanes on main roads We have a working model in the Cantonment. All ViP roads must be renamed as main roads, each with a rickshaw lane.
Better traffic management
This requires technology (traffic signals) and also better planning, e.g. one way streets (in some cases).
Training for traffic police
There cannot be many complaints about this one. This would be one of the best returns of investment around. in addition, we need to recruit more police.
Private car restraint -- alternative days or timing (similar to restrictions on trucks)
it trucks can be restricted until the evening, why cannot we do so for private cars? Trucks and lorries play a vital economic role. Private cars are used mostly for convenience. Schools and parents should arrange minibuses to pick up and drop off kids to reduce the jams near schools. if businessmen and office mangers can go to work via trains and buses in the West and Singapore, why cannot our captains of industry do the same? We need strict restrictions on car movement by timing and area.
Footpaths and over-bridges for pedestrians
in developed cities, most people actually walk to their destination. A lot of the glitterati in Dhanmondi do
not complain when they have to get on a bus or metro in KL or Singapore. So let's make it possible for them and the vast majority of urban citizens to walk here. Freeing the footpaths will reduce the push on to the roads and improve safety. Some areas such as Banani university area can be pedestrianised (only allowing cycles or rickshaws). This will reduce congestion and improve movement. We should build more over-bridges and zebra crossings.
Build four to five fly-overs at junctions
The rail tracks are actually redundant in that they were originally built for a far smaller city. But shifting Kurmitola Rail Station and the attendant track would be counter-productive. So it is better to reduce waiting times at the rail crossings by building fly-overs at those junctions
Medium term actions
A mass transit bus system
We can build our mass-transit system on regular CNG buses to reduce pollution and get people to where they want to go. old buses have to be removed and replaced by new CNG-converted ones. The authorities must create modern bus stands with room for waiting in queues and shade from the rain.
By-pass roads for Dhaka
Many vehicles are forced to enter Dhaka to go from North to South or East. With the relocation of many industries outside the capital, it is imperative to build bypass roads/highways to reduce the pressure on Dhaka.
Long term actions
A mass transit light rail system
This could take the form of a monorail for the centre, built on the central divider stretch of main roads. This will be expensive and should be limited to Motijheel and Central Dhaka initially. As the city stretches outwards, this should be complemented by a suburban railway for workers who cannot afford the rents of Dhaka. The track is already in place. it needs better stations and more rail stock.
Land use planning
Transportation is all about how one uses our spaces. We have to reduce the distance needed for people to travel. if for example factories are located in Gazipur and low cost housing is created in that locality, it negates the need to travel to Dhaka.
The wider issues
The authorities seem to think rickshaw-pullers will simply pack up and go home. Where's home? The villages? And why do they think they came to Dhaka in the first place? To look for jobs because there is nothing left back home. There has been no investment in agriculture -the mainstay of the economy. So they have to search for work in the big city. We do not provide a proper education system, so many cannot read or write. So what's the easiest thing to do? Pull a rickshaw.
Provide an alternative in the villages or small rural towns, and you won't have so many rickshaws. That should be the goal for 2015. Until then, improve their performance and let them continue to provide a vital service for the majority of Dhaka's population. How do the authorities think they can replace this industry overnight? Many rickshaw-pullers are married to garments workers. With the impending closure of garment factories from this winter, this will be a double whammy to two of the largest sectors in Dhaka.
Farid Bakht is an activist and entrepreneur.