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The Role of Cycle Rickshaws in Urban Transport: Today and Tomorrow
Abstract
Cycle rickshaws continue to play an important role in meeting the mobility demands in South Asian cities. Current transport policies, however, do not support their use. Rickshaws are viewed as a cause of congestion and a profession in which rickshaw owners exploit poor people. This article presents data from published studies to argue against those views. Data from Delhi metro users suggests that as cities expand their public transport services, rickshaws will continue as an important feeder mode in the future. Recent studies also suggest that if separate lanes are created for non-motorized vehicles (which can be used by bicycles as well), then rickshaws and motorized vehicles will experience less congestion and non-motorized vehicles will be exposed to lower traffic crash risk. This article advocates the collection of relevant data concerning rickshaw trips and the number of rickshaws in future travel surveys and that appropriate infrastructures should be designed to facilitate their movement.
... Finally, the amendments in the MVA required to allow ERs to ply in Delhi came as both the houses of the parliament approved the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2015in March 2015(IANS, 2015. Section 2A of the amended act brings ERs under the ambit of the MVA but changes the power threshold criterion as it defines an ER as 'a special purpose battery powered vehicle of power not exceeding 4000 W' (The MV (Amendment) Act, 2015; my italics). ...
... ERs' proliferation was opposed by the media (mostly English language), technology experts and activists on the grounds that they undermined the rule of law and were unsafe. Scholars like Tiwari (2014) and Harding (2004) argue that such opposition was actually ideological and often results in anti-poor policies (Bhan, 2009). This sentiment was also shared by the respondents from ER associations who claimed that people opposing ERs couldn't see that their actions 'ultimately hurt poor people' (I-16, I-17 and I-23). ...
... On the one hand, it often originates organically as part of the socio-political-cultural milieu and thus integrates itself seamlessly in the urban landscape creating positive spillovers. On the other hand, there is a strong perception that it contributes to traffic congestion and accidents (Sengers and Raven, 2014;Yuana et al., 2020;Zuev et al., 2019;Tiwari, 2014). This tension usually results in a complex political dynamics where multitude of actors at different levels use their resources and relationships to produce a favourable outcome for themselves. ...
The significant role of politics in shaping sustainability transitions (ST) is well-recognized but still under-researched, especially in the Global South, where institutional context can differ widely from the Global North. For instance, informal transport is a unique and common feature of many Global South countries and constitutes complexity that is not captured adequately by transition studies’ conceptual frameworks. This study explores how power and politics surrounding informal occupations shape niche-regime interactions in a Global South country by examining the emergence, development and subsequent legitimization of the informal electric rickshaw (ER) transport in Delhi (India). The study shows the limitation of dichotomous conceptualizations like niche/new entrants vs. regime/incumbents and fit-and-conform vs. stretch-and-transform in understanding niche-regime interactions and argues that studying how politics of transition unfolds in the Global South's informal spaces can broaden the conceptual horizons.
... In fact, diesel car manufacturers even tried to suppress this evidence [40,106]. Véron [107] also observes a distinct middle-class bias in the judicial activism and the overall environmental campaign in the CNG case. Similarly, in the ER case, Harding [73] and Tiwari [108] argue that the HC's stand on ERs was ideological and endorsed the middle class perspective on order and regulation. ...
There has been a substantial growth in the Sustainability Transitions literature in the last few years. However, most of it has come from, and has analyzed, the Global North with less attention to the Global South countries, where institutions and governance mechanisms are weaker. This paper explores the unfolding of transition dynamics through two case studies from India. It finds that because of weak governance capacity, the role of state is complex and not limited to nurturing niches, the dynamics of political conflict are not confined to niche vs. regime but happen at novel spaces like niche-regime, and the role of non-state actors like judiciary, driven by their own political vision, assumes importance. The study thus argues for more attention to the complex and multi-faceted transition politics in the Global South countries, particularly elaborating upon the role of state and its interaction with non-state actors.
... rickshaws, roller skating; see e.g. [23,24]). ...
This paper provides an overview of key themes and concepts within energy-related Social Sciences and Humanities (energy-SSH) research in Europe. It aims to use this overview as an introduction for those producing strategies and interventions to advance energy and sustainability transitions in practice as well as for newcomers to the field of energy-SSH research, such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) researchers. This paper builds on four extensive literature reviews from the EU Horizon 2020 SHAPE ENERGY project on four energy topics derived from the EU's Strategic Energy Technology Plan (EU SET-Plan) priorities: energy efficiency, low-carbon energy supply, energy system optimisation and transport decarbonisation. Based on a cross-cutting analysis of these four literature reviews, this paper discusses the evolution of and recent developments across energy-SSH research. It highlights two interrelated stories of scholarly expansion concerning the role of people in low-carbon energy transitions, illustrated with an example on demand-side management , and points towards future energy-SSH research and policy priorities.
... Shenzhen is famous for being a rather successful example in adopting EVs for its taxi fleet and e-buses for its public transportation, but also for enforcing the ban of e-bikes as a part of its low-carbon, high-tech and modern city image management. Indeed, any form of informal transportation is considered illegal despite its social benefits, as it compromises public safety and is regarded as an undesirable object on the streets, as in many Asian cities (Tiwari, 2014) -sporadic policing and "periodic harassment of the informal sector" has become a norm in many developing countries (Norcliffe, 2011, 240). Nevertheless, informal mobility provision remains part of the Chinese urban landscape and often helps to resolve the "last-mile" problem. ...
In this study we look at everyday politics of electric bike mobility by exploring the social practices of e-bike users in order to understand the role of e-bikes in emerging low-carbon mobility system in China, asking ‘where is the politics of the E2W in contemporary China?’ We explore the underlying political tensions in electric two-wheeler mobility by examining family and informal e-bike journeys. We argue that ‘civilizational’ government perspective provides a new way of thinking about politics of mobility and system transition in China.
Prepared for the "Urban Transformations" curriculum of the Sociology subject in EPG-Pathshala, this module highlights the link between transport and land use in Indian cities. It contextualizes issues of motorisation against data on trips undertaken. The module examines the political economy of transit policy, in the context of public transport options such as metro rail, bus rapid transit and intermediate public transport.
Men who migrate to Delhi, India, from West Bengal to fulfill the male breadwinner expectation by operating cycle rickshaws claim that business is slow, which keeps their families’ expectations for remittances low and helps camouflage their slacking. Slacking is a crucial activity in light of the men’s belief that operating a cycle rickshaw dries out their bodies such that it reduces their sexual fitness. Their laziness supports the masculine goal of remaining sexually fit, and when they privilege this goal over the demand for productivity inherent in the breadwinner role, the standard analytic of productive versus reproductive labor becomes untenable. It is instead argued that the men’s behavior reveals a limited case of anti‐productivism. Studies of anti‐productivism are usually confined to Western workers, and those that take gender into account usually focus on workers’ gendered positions in society’s division of labor. This article shows how clashes between gender ideals at the somatic level can provoke an anti‐productivist response. It also shows that tension between culturally particular ideas about the embodied consequences of labor performance and workers’ gendered body ideals can have profound effects on the workers’ orientation to their labor.1
With rapid growth in urbanization, the demand of infrastructural services has boosted up. High economic opportunities in metropolitan cities lead to increased movement of people which ultimately results in very large demand of transportation services. As transportation sector has very large impact on the social, economic and environmental growth of a country it is imperative to make it greener and more sustainable. For a country to have a better growth, transportation sector should be inclusive and provide equity. Cycle Rickshaws are a green mode of transport that has to the potential to provide last-mile-connectivity, act as feeder mode, as well as supplant motorized trips for shorter distances. The usage of cycle rickshaw is seen in many parts of India and it forms a popular mode of transport for shorter trips made in small towns. Since NCT of Delhi, which has tremendous number of motorized vehicles plying on its roads, the promotion and improvement in cycle-rickshaw services may provide a respite to the environment from the carbon load. With this motivation, this study aims to study the trip generation pattern for cycle rickshaw for selected locations of Delhi. The results reveal that age, status and duration of ownership, income, perception of difficulty governs the number of trips generated by pullers. Occupancy and the trip rates are also analyzed in the article. This study aims to provide an initiative towards the development of sustainable transportation by taking a step forward in the direction of organized structure of Non-motorized vehicles.
This chapter adopts a mobilities perspective and examines the extent to which some of the key concepts encapsulated within mobilities studies, and most normally seen as characteristic of the present, operated in similar ways in the past. Although mobilities researchers quite often make reference to the past, historical mobilities are rarely explored in detail. This chapter uses empirical evidence from a variety of times and places to argue that although some aspects of human mobility have certainly changed there is also much continuity. I suggest that most of the processes and concepts developed through mobilities studies can also be applied to past migration and mobility, and that travellers in the past would recognise most of the opportunities, constraints, frustrations and implications of travel today.
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