Indo Ambassador

Attending the CDU Waterfront campus I happened across this beauty.

An Indonesian Rickshaw, freshly painted and sporting promotional banners from  Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Indonesia

Singapore 2017

Back to this much neglected blog...

Well I don't have anything particularly profound or ground breaking to share. The world seems to be moving along quite happily without transitioning to renewable energy or awakening to the virtues of pedal powered transport.... Well as far as Australia is concerned anyway.

However I was recently in Singapore, where, although there appears to be a similar decline in the use of bicycles as a serious transport option, they do at least have some remnant machines worth taking a few photos of. 

So basically here is a collection of photos I took of remnant rickshaws and utility tricycles I happened to see while I was there.

Service trike. There are several around town they collect rubbish

Cargo Trike - Old but still being used by a gleaner collecting recyclable bottles

Rickshaw - On display at the food court near the monorail station to Sentosa Island

Extra long cargo trike - Huge potential as a hearse @ Sentosa Island

Uncles Trishaws in Little India

Cargo Trike - Not sure what it's being used for, possibly a vendor

Uncle's Trishaw - parked

Trishaw parking bay

Utility Trike - fairly new looking in good condition

Tricycle rubbish collector

Stationary cyclo

I've driven past this becak many times over the past year or so. I'm not too sure how many of these there are lurking around Darwin town but I thought I'd better get a couple of shots, just in case it disappears.

Building Community Confidence

Consumer confidence....?!!! Apparently it's what the world economy is based on.
This post is absolutely nothing to do with 'Consumer Confidence' it's about building Community Confidence.

It's time we started!   

- Cycling without age -

A continuation from Syed Saiful Alam's previous post, originally published as a comment on 8th July 2012.

"Finally, are rickshaws an antiquated vehicle that should be relegated to the past, or instead a glowing emblem of modernity? The most modern, attractive, liveable cities are mostly in western Europe. A significant portion of trips in those cities – say, 30-50% or more – occurs by bicycle. European cities, as well as growing numbers of cities in Australia and North America, promote the bicycle in order to reduce traffic congestion, fumes, noise, and travel expense, and to increase the attractiveness and liveability of cities.

What after all is a rickshaw but a three-wheeled bicycle (imagine trying to cycle through Dhaka...no wonder people prefer rickshaws!). Given the related catastrophes of climate change, peak oil, obesity, and lack of physical activity, governments around the world are trying to get people out of their cars. It is the low-income cities of the world that are heading in the opposite direction, laying out the red carpet for cars while making life difficult and unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists. Why are policymakers in Dhaka insistent on making things worse for the city rather than better? If we really want to reduce traffic congestion, we must do what city after city around the world has been forced to do: actively work to reduce travel by car and increase travel by other means.

Years ago, an international transport expert referred to Dhaka’s modal share as “enviable”: few cars and many rickshaws. Rather than appreciate what we had and work to make things even better, we are instead working to increase traffic congestion, noise, fumes, and expense, and to make moving about the city more difficult for the non-car-owning majority.

It is also interesting to note that the latest rickshaw bans occurred after government decisions to limit car use through a variety of measures. To the best of our knowledge, none of those measures have been implemented to date, while other measures to encourage car use continue. What was done instead, despite significant media attention over the last few years to the problem of private cars, was to ban rickshaws from various streets. Clearly the decision was based on prejudice, not any technical understanding of the situation. It allows the government to say that it is doing something to improve traffic, while only making matters worse, because politically it is difficult to put into places measures to reduce the vehicle preferred by a tiny portion of the most wealthy and powerful.

But it is wrong to believe that only rickshaw pullers are upset by the bans. Dhaka residents have long suffered for the various bans that have been put into place over the years: witness the long lines of people attempting to go to and from New Market by rickshaw, or the anger of women in focus groups discussing the rickshaw bans on Mirpur Road. Of course people want safe, convenient, comfortable transport. People also vote. It is not wise to anger the masses through such wrong-minded decisions.

It is time to raise our voices in support of smart traffic planning: to ensure that all people, not just those with a car, can move about safely and conveniently; that non-polluting modes are given priority; and that international experience in addressing traffic congestion is put to good use here. It is time to say no to further rickshaw bans, to overturn the recent ones, and to work together to make Dhaka a city in which people can move about safely, comfortably, and conveniently on foot, on 2- and 3-wheeled bicycles (rickshaws), and on public transport. We would all benefit from the improved air quality, safety, and convenience."

Syed Saiful Alam
Environmental Activist

A reflection on shortsighted policy

 A Guest Post from environmentalist and rickshaw advocate Sayed Saiful Alam from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Sayed challenges claims that traveling by rickshaw is 'inhumane' to the riders. He critiques Government initiatives to 'Modernize' Dhaka by removing rickshaws from the streets and the subsequent traffic congestion caused by an increase in motor vehicles in his city.

Sayed also points out the micro economic benefits of the rickshaw industry, which has traditionally supported thousands of families and provided a flexible employment option for people who would otherwise be forced to work in much worse conditions. 

 

Author:  Syed Saiful Alam

How inhuman is the business of pedaling a rickshaw? It might not be a profession most of you reading this article would like to have, but neither is it likely you would wish to spend hours a day standing in water, bent at the waist, transplanting rice. The measure of whether a profession is inhuman is not whether or not we are willing to engage in it, but rather what those working in it feel about it and what their alternatives are. Rickshaw pulling is a huge source of needed jobs; the pullers themselves clearly prefer it to begging or starving. Further, unlike many other professions, it is fairly well-paid, involves a good deal of independence, and gives the pullers a chance to choose their hours and to rest when they wish. It is thus far less inhuman than many other professions. What is inhuman is denying people the right to earn a living.

How well can we manage without the rickshaw in Dhaka? It is important to remember that many trips taken are short. Does it make sense to wait 10-20 minutes for a bus in order to travel 3 kilometres? What if you have many destinations: say a woman taking her child to school, going to a shop, visiting a relative, going home, then going back to pick up her child? If she had to buy separate bus tickets for each trip segment, the expense would be exorbitant. No wonder 41% of trips to take children to school occur by rickshaw; it is a safe, convenient, and affordable form of door-to-door transport.

As for walking as an alternative, we are all for it: but first there needs to be a better environment for walking. The problems faced by those on foot in Dhaka are numerous: footpaths in bad condition, often occupied by parked cars, and used at times by motorbikes; lack of safe street crossings; bad smells due to the lack of public toilets; lack of safety at night; and the exposure to continual fumes and noise from the traffic on the streets. Rickshaws provide a fairly pleasant alternative to the dismal business of walking in Dhaka; it is unfair to the middle class to take away that option in the assumption that they should either buy a car or suffer on buses, which themselves involve a number of obstacles to comfortable travel and of course only operate on certain routes, causing problems for those traveling with children, carrying heavy items, and so on.

Speaking of the popularity of rickshaws, it is helpful to compare the percentage of trips that occur by rickshaw versus car. No measures have been taken to ban cars from narrow lanes, despite the obvious fact that cars create congestion in the lanes, blocking the easy movement of hundreds of people traveling by rickshaw. Far from it: the building code is insisting on the provision of ever more car parking, providing incentive for ever more cars, even on narrow streets. But how popular is the car versus the rickshaw?

According to the latest government figures, for overall trips in the Dhaka Metropolitan Area and Dhaka City Corporation, 4-5% are made by car versus 29-39% by rickshaw. While men make 32% of their trips by car, that figure is 47.4% for women. As mentioned, 41% of trips to school occur by rickshaw; only 4% are taken by car (yet cars already create hideous congestion around schools and during the times when children go to and from school). While car use is far higher among the wealthy (here defined as those earning over 50,000 taka per month), at 18% of trips, that figure is still dwarfed by rickshaw trips: 35% of trips taken by the wealthy are by rickshaw. That is, rickshaws account for twice the number of trips as cars even among the wealthier, and up to ten times as many trips overall. If it is so important to ban vehicles due to the congestion they create, why on earth is it the rickshaw that is being banned?

Finally, are rickshaws an antiquated vehicle that should be relegated to the past, or instead a glowing emblem of modernity? The most modern, attractive, liveable cities are mostly in western Europe. A significant portion of trips in those cities – say, 30-50% or more – occurs by bicycle. European cities, as well as growing numbers of cities in Australia and North America, promote the bicycle in order to reduce traffic congestion, fumes, noise, and travel expense, and to increase the attractiveness and liveability of cities.

What after all is a rickshaw but a three-wheeled bicycle (imagine trying to cycle through Dhaka...no wonder people prefer rickshaws!). Given the related catastrophes of climate change, peak oil, obesity, and lack of physical activity, governments around the world are trying to get people out of their cars. It is the low-income cities of the world that are heading in the opposite direction, laying out the red carpet for cars while making life difficult and unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists. Why are policymakers in Dhaka insistent on making things worse for the city rather than better? If we really want to reduce traffic congestion, we must do what city after city around the world has been forced to do: actively work to reduce travel by car and increase travel by other means.

Years ago, an international transport expert referred to Dhaka’s modal share as “enviable”: few cars and many rickshaws. Rather than appreciate what we had and work to make things even better, we are instead working to increase traffic congestion, noise, fumes, and expense, and to make moving about the city more difficult for the non-car-owning majority.

It is also interesting to note that the latest rickshaw bans occurred after government decisions to limit car use through a variety of measures. To the best of our knowledge, none of those measures have been implemented to date, while other measures to encourage car use continue. What was done instead, despite significant media attention over the last few years to the problem of private cars, was to ban rickshaws from various streets. Clearly the decision was based on prejudice, not any technical understanding of the situation. It allows the government to say that it is doing something to improve traffic, while only making matters worse, because politically it is difficult to put into places measures to reduce the vehicle preferred by a tiny portion of the most wealthy and powerful.

But it is wrong to believe that only rickshaw pullers are upset by the bans. Dhaka residents have long suffered for the various bans that have been put into place over the years: witness the long lines of people attempting to go to and from New Market by rickshaw, or the anger of women in focus groups discussing the rickshaw bans on Mirpur Road. Of course people want safe, convenient, comfortable transport. People also vote. It is not wise to anger the masses through such wrong-minded decisions.

It is time to raise our voices in support of smart traffic planning: to ensure that all people, not just those with a car, can move about safely and conveniently; that non-polluting modes are given priority; and that international experience in addressing traffic congestion is put to good use here. It is time to say no to further rickshaw bans, to overturn the recent ones, and to work together to make Dhaka a city in which people can move about safely, comfortably, and conveniently on foot, on 2- and 3-wheeled bicycles (rickshaws), and on public transport. We would all benefit from the improved air quality, safety, and convenience.

Syed Saiful Alam
Environmental Activist

Darwin Pedicabs

Surprise Surprise...!

Finally I have something to post on this blog. About a week ago a mate of mine told me he'd seen Pedicabs in Darwin. Yesterday during my lunch break I drove through town and saw them for myself.

I think I counted four or five Pedicabs.The riders all seem to be backpackers, they charge from $5 per ride and I think they are confined to the City Center gravitating from the Mitchel Street, 'tourist precinct'.

Fantastic!



Pedicab cruising Mitchel Street


Resting the rider

Last night after visiting a performance of Sita & Rama's Mystical Journey in the Botanic Gardens, I took the family for a drive through town and saw more pedicabs.


Wayang Kulit - Sita & Rama's Mystical Journey

Tigers Rickshaw

This old indonesian Rickshaw was imported from Sumatra by the guy at Bali Gallery Coconut Grove, (Darwin NT). It's been repainted with the Tigers football logo and looks nice and neat.

Neglected blog but not forgotten

Hi to those readers who have actually been visiting this rickshaw blogspace...
I must apologize for neglecting this space for so long!
I was surprised to discover that the blog continued to receive visits for such a long time after my last post. I hadn't set it up to notify me if messages were left and so now I find myself reading interesting remarks long after they were left. So tardy I hadn't even looked at the blog for several months!

Anyway. The interest this blog has attracted has prompted me to attempt to continue with the project and catch up on some rickshaw stories and thoughts I've been having in the year or more since my last post.

I have had several conversations with people from all walks of life about the potential of pedicab, rickshaw, becak or whatever the human powered vehicle is called in your area.
There have been some interesting developments in the design of solar powered and electric assist rickshaws and regulations related to pedicabs appear to be becoming stricter. Meanwhile the issues of traffic congestion, global warming and fuel prices have public opinion about the validity of human powered transport swinging to extremes with all the force of a giant pendulum.

Let's see if we can get this thing up and moving once again. Comments are very welcome and discussion is encouraged.