Followup on "Transportation System Design for Rickshaw and Hybridizations of Roads and Rickshaws"
Here is a news item that would give more food for thought on a topic that was discussed in a previous article. We hope that our planners and policy-makers would seriously look into this. Effective and well participation of all the stakeholders will be ensure to develop a homegrown transportation system that ensures the challenges that we face, instead of copying the western sytems that themselves are destined nowhere!
If you thought some of the ideas are worth of your reading time, please forward it to others. If you have an ear to the columinsts in regular traditional media, please forward it to them. If you have an ear to the journalists and news editors of the electronic media, discuss it with them. Hope they would look at the suggestions and give due diligence.
Also, if you thought the article was important enough so it should come under attention of the head of the government please forward the message to them.
Email address for the Chief Advisor: feeedback@pmo.gov.bd (please let us know if you think its not correct address)
or at http://www.cao.gov.bd/feedback/comments.php
Thanks for your time,
Innovation Line
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Note: This is a freelance column, published mainly in different internet based forums. This column is open for contribution by the members of new generation, sometimes referred to as Gen 71. If you identify yourself as someone from that age-group and want to contribute to this column, please feel free to contact. Thanks to the group moderator for publishing the article.
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| Increased focus on motorised vehicles to take toll on economy Says expert Star Business Report
 | | Motorised and non-motorised vehicles ply on a Dhaka street. A discussion in the capital yesterday suggested that non-motorised or fuel-free transports such as bicycles and rickshaws should be given priority in Strategic Transport Plan in order to create an environment-friendly and pro-people transport system. Photo: STAR | More than 15 percent of the country's GDP will have to be used just to keep Bangladesh's transport system going by 2030 if the country continues to prioritise motorised vehicles, a transport expert claimed in Dhaka yesterday. Instead non-motorised transports systems or fuel-free transport such as walking, bicycles and rickshaws should be given priority in the Strategic Transport Plan (STP) in order to create an environment- friendly and pro-people transport system. Mahabubul Bari, senior assistant manager of Transport for London, UK, said that in Dhaka Metropolitan area 76 percent movement is based on short distance trips, and for this movement there is no need to use motorised vehicles such as buses and private cars. The fuel-free transport system will not only reduce the fuel import but also will be environment-friendly, pro-people, and cut traffic congestion in the metropolitan area, he said. Bari was presenting a keynote paper at a roundtable on 'Environment-friendly, Fuel-efficient and Pro-people Transportation System: Present and Future of Dhaka Metropolitan' in Dhaka organised by Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), with its President Professor Muzaffer Ahmad in the chair. Pollution-free modes of pedestrian facilities, biking and cycle rickshaws are being given priority even in many developed countries including the UK for short distance travel, he said. But, the STP has been formulated targeting long-distance travel, he said, adding, "it's difficult for Bangladesh to make a room for non-motorised vehicles since the country does not have enough space, on the other hand many roads are being made off limits to rickshaws." The STP that was formulated to develop the transport system in Bangladesh stresses the needs of only five percent of the people, those who are using cars and occupy 50 percent of the road, he said. The contributions for private cars would stand at 31 percent by 2024 from 18 percent and the participation of public transport would drop to 21 percent from 34 percent, if the recommendations of STP are implemented, Bari observed. Referring to a study, he said 2 percent of GDP is currently being absorbed on importing energy required in transport sector. "If the fuel price increases to $120 per barrel by the year 2030, more than 15 percent of GDP will have to be relinquished in order to keep country's transport mobile," he said. He also said for long distance travel in the metropolitan area, metro (subway) transport system should be introduced instead of buses and private cars. "The major objective of the STP should be ensuring movement of the mass of people, not increasing the movement of vehicles," he added. Other speakers at the roundtable yesterday asked the government to develop an integrated STP through which use of non-motorised and motorised transport systems will be coordinated. They said apart from introducing metro service, the government should take immediate initiatives to develop the water transport system and also to improve the railway system. | |
--- In banglarnari@yahoogroups.com, "innovation_line" <innovation_line@...> wrote:
>
>
> Transportation System Design for Rickshaw and Hybridizations of Roads
> and Rickshaws
>
> This article is neither about older generation bashing nor western style
> city and transportation planning bashing. Rather it attempts to point
> out that there is a value in our local indigenous transport of
> Rickshaws, there are things that can be very beneficial to our country
> and the world can learn from it. Lets try to do that - instead of
> throwing it out on the basis of some foreigner's comment. They don't own
> your problem, you should own your problem.
>
>
>
> Copying the West and listening to the West without using their brain is
> the trademark for our older generation. Conventional wisdom says them
> the Rickshaws are bad for the image of Bangladesh. It is inhuman in some
> sense. It is slow. So, get rid of rickshaws. The financial agents of the
> west, including World Bank, is always spreading money to get encourage
> policies that get rid of Rickshaws from Dhaka. It seems like that they
> want to make another copy of London, New York, Tokyo or Berlin in Dhaka.
>
> Aren't all these cities are rethinking their own planning and design to
> make the environment more sustainable? To make the cities more
> environment friendly? If that is the case, what is the point of running
> towards a faulty system only to discover that it would not be
> sustainable? So, what is the point?
>
> Stop making the same mistakes that westerners have been doing for years.
> Try to do something new that is locally grown and sustainable. How many
> projects and thesis has been written so far that examines a new
> transportation system that allows the Rickshaws to co-exists and
> humanly?
>
> Or is it that they are not being able to sell enough used cars to Dhaka?
> Once Rickshaw is out of the scene, they will be able to sell all the
> junks to Bangladeshis and other countries like that?
>
> Also, there is another aspect. Bangladesh is already tired of the lack
> of fossil fuel. So, if you are not able to import more fuel, how you are
> going to support the "all non-motorized transport system"? Does it make
> economic sense? The whole science experts are working hard to make the
> transports more environment friendly with the use of renewable energy.
> What better renewable energy system do you get other than human body?
>
> Do not get me wrong - I am not saying the Rickshaw-puller job is
> something that we are very fond of. In its current pay structure, it is
> very inhuman. How about designing an economic system that would increase
> the pay-rate for Rickshaw pullers? How about they do not have to work
> more than six hours a day in order to make enough money to support a
> three member family? Have any of the experts thought about that? If you
> pull out all the rickshaws, that will be replaced by the taxis. Ask the
> taxi drivers, how healthy and human their job is!! You will be
> surprised.
>
> Drivers on the road of the Dhaka should be trained to follow the rule.
> There should be separate lanes for Rickshaws in the city streets. The
> car owners need to understand that buying a car is not enough. There are
> other laws related to parking, fitness of the car and fuel efficiency.
>
> Before we finish, it needs to be emphasized that there is a problem -
> certainly there is. Western style city planning would not work with
> Rickshaws plying in parallel with motorized vehicles. This is a pure
> transportation engineering and city planners' issue. If they just want
> to copy of a planning that has been developed throughout the western
> world - albeit unsustainably - it won't work. Our experts needs to use
> their own brain and stop borrowing every intelligence from their western
> counterpart.
>
> Once that happens - there should be solutions where everybody is happy.
> Rickshawpullers will have their human life with a fair amount of work.
> Even the students in the colleges and universities may start considering
> Rickshawpuller job as a part-time job to compensensate for their costs.
> Environment will be saved - since it does not create any polution. The
> national exchecker will be saved - with less fuel import. The local
> industry will be preserved. However, government should engage
> researchers how the current design can be improved - possibly with a use
> of small electric motor that uses the energy from the braking system.
>
> Everybody talks about Rickshaws in a tone that they are ashamed of it
> and it would be nice to have get rid of it. We want to say that this is
> something that we should take pride in. Certainly, there are many works
> to be done and it has to be improved. The inhuman part of it can be
> taken away by the use of two strategy - economics and technology. Lets
> make it something when students will depend on it as a way of income - a
> part time job. Not only the economy and technology of the Rickshaw
> itself, our friends in Roads and Highways and LGED would have to rethink
> their designs of the cities and localities that keeps Rickshaw in their
> mind while designing roads.
>
> Do not push the rickshaws out of the city. Plan how to make the system
> change so it can coexist. It has a lot of advantages. A bit slower
> compared with other mega cities, but a much better cities if properly
> planned and designed, both from technical and social perspective.
>
> Above all, stop copying the westerners blindly. They have brought the
> world close to destruction. Who knows how close we are!
>
> If you thought some of the ideas are worth of your reading time, please
> forward it to others. If you have an ear to the members of the CG,
> specifically the advisers for Transportation, Environment, Labour and
> Energy ministry, please forward it to them. If you have an ear to the
> journalists and news editors of the electronic media, discuss it with
> them. Hope they would look at the suggestions and give due diligence.
>
> Thanks for your time,
>
> Innovation Line
>
> ========================================================================\
> ==========================
>
> Note: This is a freelance column, published mainly in different internet
> based forums. This column is open for contribution by the members of new
> generation, sometimes referred to as Gen 71. If you identify yourself as
> someone from that age-group and want to contribute to this column,
> please feel free to contact. Thanks to the group moderator for
> publishing the article.
>
> We have not seen the Liberation War, but we know if we can free the
> country from corruption first, we will eventually get to other dreams
> soon. Because of corruption, we could not even get into information
> highway for years, let alone other dreams!
>
> This is the kind of article for which we started this column. Because of
> ongoing mess, a gift from our older generation, we often get diverted.
> Now that it seems some sanity is returning in Bangladesh, we would try
> to go back to our original plan.
>
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> ==========================
>
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