bicycling in asia - Clean Air Institute

BICYCLING IN ASIATRIPP

BICYCLING IN ASIA2008TRIPP

Compiled by:Geetam TiwariAnvita AroraHimani JainReviewed by:Tom GodefrooijProject Coordination:Innovative Transport Solutions (iTrans) Pvt. Ltd.TBIU, Indian Institute of Technology DelhiTransport Research & Injury Prevention Programme (TRIPP), IIT Delhi© Interface for Cycling Expertise,I-ce, The NetherlandsBicycling in AsiaInterface for Cycling Expertise,I-ce, The NetherlandsContents may be reproduced with attribution to the author(s) and I-ce

FOREWORDThe initiative for this 'position paper' on Bicycling in Asia was taken by Interface for Cycling Expertise (I-CE) withingthe framework of its Bicycle Partnership Program (BPP) and the Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA)*program. There is a growing recognition of the important role that cycling can play in addressing such a variety ofissues as urban transport, liveable cities, air quality, climate change, poverty alliviation, road safety, health andequity. Yet many Asian cities have hardly any tradition to properly accommodate this sustainable mode oftransport. As a consequence bicycle use is declining in all Asian countries, and in some of them very fast. Thiscalls for a quick and effective response of policy makers and planners.Both programmes mentioned (BPP and SUMA) aim to address the issue of sustainable urban transport, and I-CE is committed to promote policies that are 'cycling inclusive'. With reference to the Dutch (and European)experience I-CE is convinced that cycling can and should play a substantive role in modern urban transportsystems. Cycling can offer increased mobility to large parts of the population, safeguard the accessibility ofotherwise congested cities and provide freedom of movement to rich and poor, young and old. The Netherlandsand other European countries are showing that this is not Utopia. The liveabilty of European cities and thepreservation of its heritage go well together with modern active lifestyles in which cycling is the mode of transportfor a substantial share of inner urban trips.For succesfully persuing the effort to shift towards cycling inclusive urban and transport planning in Asia aswell, we considered it very useful to develop a better understanding of the position of cycling in Asian countriestoday. What are the strengths of this mode of transport, what are it weaknesses, what are the opportunities toutilise cycling to its full potential for the issues mentioned above, and what are the threats that could furthereundermine the position of cycling. A proper understanding of Asian cycling in its Asian context will help all policymakers involved to come up with effective strategies to firstly preserve the existing cycling and consequently toincrease the use of this human friendly, low cost and zero emmision mode of transport.The compiling of this postion paper was commissioned to TRIPP at IIT Delhi. In April 2008 a first workshopwas convened with a number of experts from south and east Asian countries. Some of them were invited to give asnapshot of cycling in their respective countries, others to go more in depths on specific aspects of cycling. On thebasis of the presented papers a first draft of the position paper was compiled. This draft was presented anddiscussed in a so called pre-event hosted by I-CE at the BAQ Workshop in November 2008 in Bangkok. Thediscussions in Bangkok resulted is a number of (small) changes and additions to the original draft. Also anexecutive summary of the paper was written by Professor Geetam Tiwari.We would like to thank all the authors who have contributed to to make this paper a holistic perspectivecycling in Asia. Our special thanks go to Dr. Geetam Tiwari, TRIPP, IIT Delhi for her invaluable contribution inleading the entire project and ensuring the great quality of the final compilation along with her student Himani Jain.We also acknowledge Dr Anvita Arora for coordinating the entire project on behalf of iTrans, TBIU, IITD. TomGoodefrooij has been our Dutch coordinator for the paper and has consistently monitored the work with greatinterest.We hope this paper can contribute to the ongoing efforts to include cycling in planning and policy making in Asia.Roelof WittinkExecutive director Interface for Cycling Expertise* SUMA - The Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia program is supported by the Asian Development Bank through a grant from SwedishInternational Development Cooperation Agency. SUMA is implemented by the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities Center(www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia ), in partnership with EMBARQ - the World Resources Institute Center forSustainable Transport (http://embarq.wri.org ), GTZ Sustainable Urban Transport Project (www.sutp.org), Interface for Cycling Expertise (www.cycling.nl ), Institute for Transportation andDevelopment Policy (www.itdp.org ), and United Nations Center for Regional Development(www.uncrd.or.jp/est ).

CONTENTSCycling in Asia : An Overview 1Country PapersBicycles in Urban India 9The Status of Cycling in Taiwan 27The Status of Bicycles in Singapore 49Bicycling in Chinese Central Cities 67Bicycles in Srilanka 75Cycling in Bangladesh 81Thematic PapersTransportation Systems and Priority 91Streets for Nanded 93Cycle Rickshaw: Design and Development 99Sustainable Transportation : Pune 103Cycle Rickshaw in Delhi 109Health Issues in Bicycling 117Poverty, Livelihood and Accessibility 121A Gendered Perspective on Bicycling 131

CYCLING IN ASIA : AN OVERVIEWGeetam TiwariINTRODUCTIONThe bicycle has been an important mode oftransport in many Asian countries since the early20th century. It continues to provide mobility to alarge segment of the population in the two largestcountries in the region - China and India. Howeverthe share of bicycles in urban transport has beensteadily declining in both countries. The bicycle asa commuting mode has been recognized by manyexperts in terms of its potential for providing cleanmobility, its important role in poverty alleviation,health benefits and its minimal adverse impact onthe environment. Therefore the “Cycling in Asia”study was undertaken for developing a betterunderstanding of the Asian context, to assesspotential contribution of bicycles to air qualitymanagement, poverty reduction, sustainable urbandevelopment, and for better quality of life in cities.The area covered by this preliminary study are thecountries of Asia; and the non motorized mode oftransport focused upon is the bicycle with all its richvarieties, from the electric bicycle making itsappearance in China, to the extended or cycle-withtraileror bicycle with side-car of Sri Lanka, not tomention the value added products of Taiwan whichare exported essentially to countries in the west.Six representative countries were selected to studythe cycling trends in Asia (Table 1). These countriesinclude the richest (Singapore and Taiwan) to thepoorest-Bangladesh; they also include the largestcountry (China) and the smallest country(SriLanka).Table 1 : Population and per capita income of selectedcountries in AsiaAreaUrban pop(in million% Urbanpop (inmillion)% PercapitaincomeUSD(PPP)By WB/CIAurbanmodalshare ofbicycle2000’s 2030 2003 2000’sChina 600 46 850 60 4990 11-28%India 300 28 590 41 2880 9-18%Bangladesh 35 25 80 39 1870 4 -7%Sri Lanka 4.1 22 7 31 3730Singapore 4.3 100 5.4 100 24180 0.8 %Taiwan 23 81 23 85 17138 1-2%The study focused to answer the followingquestions:(a) Why do some countries have a substantialshare of cycling while in other countries it isdecreasing to the point of disappearance?(b) What are the cycling trends?(c) What is the potential of rickshaws and bicycles?(d) How is bicycle use associated with poverty,urban development, employment, health, andsustainability (climate change?)Bicycle use in large countriesChinese and Indian cities have a large section ofthe population using bicycles. Study of 36 centralcities in China (China Communication Press, 2008)shows (Figure 1) cycle share ranging from 11% to47%. Average share of bicycle and walkingcombined is 65%. Bicycle share is higher in citieswith lower per-capita income. Some of the Chinesecities have excellent bicycle infrastructure (Photo1). However the bicycle infrastructure is beinginvaded more and more by electric bikes whichhave appeared in Chinese cities in the past twoyears. Although electric bikes are less pollutingthan motorcycles or cars, they are not as clean asBicycling in Asia 1

Cycling in Asia : An Overviewnon-motorized bicycles. Upon that the ridingcharacteristics of many electric bicycles in Chinaare very similar to those of 'ordinary' motorizedtwo-wheelers, causing similar road dangers. If nonmotorized bicycle users are replaced by electricbicycle users, both safety and environment will beadversely affected.Indian cities have substantial trips on bicycles.Its use varies from 7-15% in large cities to 13-21%in medium and small cities. Its high ownership, lowcost and easy use makes it a desirable mode ofPhoto 1: Exclusive bicycle lane in ChinaFigure 1 : Modal distribution in selected Chinese citiestransport for students and low income workers.A large amount of utility cycling is present inIndian cities because the bicycle is the mostaffordable form of transport available to lowincome households. However, Indian cities donot have bicycle infrastructure and bicyclistsare forced to use the same carriageway asother motorized vehicle. Bicycle ownership isvery high in all the cities. Most of the mediumand large cities have 35% - 65% householdsowning one or more cycles as per Census2001. Where as in the smaller cities, it variesbetween 33% 48% (the exceptions beingMysore with only 27% households owning bicycles).There are 54.43% households in Ahmedabadand 63.4% households in Chandigarh owning oneor more bicycle (Census 2001). In Delhi there arean estimated 0.96 million households (37.6%)owning bicycles in 2001. Indian policy makers andexperts building roads have not been very supportivefor creating bicycle infrastructure. The existingurban road guidelines which can be used effectivelyfor creating bicycle infrastructure are notdetailed enough in cities .Both India and China have strong local bicyclemanufacturing industry. This may be responsible for2 Bicycling in Asia

Cycling in Asia : An OverviewFigure 2 : Bicycle Modal share in selected Indian cities(1970-2000)% modal share in totaltraffic454035302520151050Trends in cycle modal sharedelhiPMRbhubaneswaindorethe easy availability of inexpensive bicycles and thehigh ownership of bicycles in both the countries.However, stronger policy support by the Chinesegovernment has resulted in dedicated bicycleinfrastructure. Large Chinese cities with higher percapita income compared to Indian cities have ahigher modal share of bicycles than Indian megacities. Indian cities have experienced a continuousdecline in the shares of cycling (Figure 2) andmostly the captive riders are using bicycles to meettheir daily commuting needs. These figures suggestthat the availability of dedicated cycling infrastructureis resulting in a less steep decline in bicycleuse. This would imply that better cycling conditionscould turn captive cycling into choice cycling.Bicycle use in High Income CountriesTaiwan has a very strong bicycle manufacturingindustry. Taiwan has been recognized as thekingdom of bicycle manufacturing and manyEuropeans are proud of having a bicycle that ismade in Taiwan because of its high quality,durability, and innovative design. However, bicycleusage as a transport mode in Taiwan has alwaysbeen an issue confronting local transportation andthe bicycle manufacturing industry. The low rate ofbicycle usage is evidenced in the low rate of bicycleownership in the affluent capital city, Taipei, wherebicycle ownership reached 0.25 per household,which seriously poses an inadequacy in transitnagpurahmedabadjaipurSeries1 198 Series2 1990 Series3 20000’s ’s ’sbhopalchoices for work, leisure, and living (Chang andChang, 2003).From the perspective of the bicycle environment,Taiwan's government has been engaged inefforts to promote the usage of bicycles forrecreation, and some infrastructures were alsoimplemented. This resulted in high quality bicyclelanes mostly in the intercity routes. However, thisdid not help in increasing the modal shares ofbicycles in daily commuting trips. Policy makers inTaiwan are moving away from promoting bicycle asa recreation mode only aimed at high incomepeople; there has been a strong emphasis on theimplementation of commuting bike lanes/networksand bicycle-related regulations in the recent past.Cities are preparing master plans and the city ofTaipei plans to implement 50km/year bicycle lanesin urban areas and promote the bicycle rentalsystem to connect biking network, markets, parksand public transit stations. It is too early to seeconcrete results from this policy shift to promotealso utilitarian cycling.Singapore is one of the richer countries in theregion. It is known for its policies supporting publictransport and congestion tax. Unfortunately theSingapore government has not been very active inpromoting bicycles as a sustainable mode oftransport. The officially-stated belief is that anetwork of routes for bicycles cannot be developedbecause of land scarcity and because bicyclesmust not be allowed to interfere with the centralpriority of providing for mass movement in spaceefficientpublic transport. The existing infrastructuredoes not provide for bicycles which are given a lowpriority. A number of standard features of roaddesign in Singapore are hostile for bicycle users.These include the widespread use of wide-radiusslip lanes at most major intersections, multiplelanes turning left and narrow curb-side lanes. Anextensive system of one-way streets, especially inthe central area and within and near major subcentres,encourage high traffic speeds, create longdetours for bicycle users and tempt some cycliststo ride against traffic on such streets which isextremely dangerous. Bicycles appear to haveBicycling in Asia 3

Cycling in Asia : An Overviewbeen ignored in the design of Singapore's roads(Photo 2 and 3).Traffic speeds also tend to be high. Currently,speed limit enforcement focuses on speeding onexpressways and other high-speed arterial roads. Itis not effectively deterring high speeds on manyordinary streets with the default 50 km/h speedlimit; and it is these very streets which have thelargest number of bicycle users which are put atdanger by those high speeds.the 2004 HIS conducted by the Land TransportAuthority (LTA), 'bicycle only' accounted for 1.1% ofhome-based work trips and 0.6% of home-basedschool trips. This work trip figure is very slightly upfrom the 1988 HIS, which had bicycles at 1.0% ofwork trips (cited by Willoughby, 2000)Bicycle use in low income countryBangladesh, one of the poorest country in theregion is dependent on the cycle rickshaw as themain mode of transport. Pedestrians clearly formby far the single largest group of road users inBangladesh, on sidewalks or in the street. Walkingis rarely used for regular journeys longer thanabout 5kms. Cycle rickshaws and bicycles are usedfor longer journeys. The potential benefit ofrickshaws and bicycles and their popularity rangesfrom the flexibility, easy availability and lower cost.On the cost per passenger kilometer basis, the costof travel by rickshaw is only half the cost oftraveling by auto-rickshaw, and much less than thecost of travel by car (DITS 1993).Photo 2 Restrictive signage for bicyclistsPhoto 3 High risk location for bicyclistsEven though the data on bicycles in Singapore israther scanty, the information that is available isconsistent and reveals a low but not negligible levelof bicycle use as a mode of transport. There maybe signs of a recent slight increase in bicycle useafter many decades of declining use. According toPhoto 4 - Images showing the large numbers of NMVson Dhaka roads4 Bicycling in Asia

Cycling in Asia : An OverviewCycle rickshaws are available for door to doorservices and are very flexible serving neighborhoodswhere road width is too narrow to accommodatelarger modes of transport. They are ideal forshort (upto 3 Km) and medium (3-6 Km) lengthtrips, Rickshaws are the most efficient means ofpublic transit over short distances in cities. Bothbicycles and rickshaws occupy less road andparking space. Investment and operating costs arelow and hardly need any foreign exchange. Theyalso do not contribute to air and noise pollution, areenvironmentally sound and contribute least toroadway damage. They provide earning opportunitiesfor a multitude of low income urban residentshaving no alternative means for survival.Rickshaws play a further role in supplementing thecongested public transport services.Some factors that contribute to the low usage of(private) bicycles are high cost (consideringrelatively low income levels with poverty incidencearound 50%) and the absence of segregatedand/or designated facilities. The possibility of theftand the limited domestic production also contributeto the overall low levels of cycling. Medium sizecities show bicycle share to be 4.3 -7.1 % of totaltrips (Figure 3).Table 3 - Bicycle ownership statistics of Sri lanka andchanging trendsYear 1978/79 2003/04Population 9millions)Size of a household9persons per household)Number of households(millions)% of households owinga bicycle (%)MInimum number ofbicycles owned (millions)14.35.462.621.50.519.44.314.546.62.1sub-sector (in show rooms, distributor centre, salesoutlets, etc.). Direct employment is also availablefor those engaged in public / private organizationswhere employment is offered as dispatch riders,messengers in the health, posts, and education,transport and tourist sectors. It is estimated thatthere are about 16,000 directly employed in theseFigure - 3 : The modal share of medium cities in BangladeshBicycle use in a small countrySri Lanka is an island country with high humandevelopment indicators. Bicycle ownership is quitehigh in Sri Lanka as shown in table 3.The use of bicycles has become a source ofemployment to several people. However, it isestimated that 3,500 persons are engaged in thissectors. In addition to this, there are entrepreneurswho use bicycles for direct employment. Thebicycle's share is high in intercity trips and smalltowns. Colombo, the capital city does not have highshare of bicycles. Currently, there is no nationalpolicy for bicycling in Sri Lanka. However, theRoads Development Authority has a policy /Bicycling in Asia 5

Cycling in Asia : An Overviewpractice* to provide a 1.5m wide lane in the case ofsingle way traffic and 2.0m wide lane for two-waytraffic dedicated to non-motorised transport (NMT)in their new road designs. Bicycles are consideredas part of NMT. In general, where the specific datais not available, there is an assumption that theNMT traffic is growing at the rate of 1.5% per yearand space allocation is done accordingly.SummaryThe issues addressed in this paper are heterogeneousand not easily comparable due the differencesin the size and geography, demographicsand the socio-cultural needs of people. Shanghai inChina, has a population of 17.8 million people inthe city. In Sri Lanka, cyclists are seen on localroads going through non-urban terrain whichcovers over 70% of their total road system. InSingapore, though the bicycling schemes havefailed to take off and the numbers of cyclists aresmall, they have a high fatality rate. It is interestingto note that in Singapore the data available forcyclists concerns only the citizens and not themigrant (temporary labour) cyclists. Taiwan, whichhas the fourth largest bicycle industry in the worldhas plans to make 12000 km of cycling paths. InBangladesh, where the great majority of trips areby walking and where the cycle rickshaw is animportant and popular mode of transport, it ismatter of note that 68% of roads crashes occur inrural areas.This study shows that there are three importantfactors which affect the use of bicycles:1. The local bicycle manufacturing industry2. Policy support from the government3. Socio- economic conditionsA strong local industry ensures availability ofinexpensive bicycles resulting in high ownership asin China and India. However, Taiwan shows thathaving a bicycle industry in itself is not enough toguarantee high levels of bicycle ownership. Herethe manufacturing industry aims mainly at theexport of bicycles, and policy support from thegovernment for bicycle use has only startedrecently. As long as the road environment is hostiletowards cycling, bicycles become a main mode oftransport when inexpensive bicycles are availableand the city population finds motorized modes oftransport too expensive. In other words, in thosecountries the bicycle is an important mode oftransport for low income households. In theabsence of strong policy support, bicycle friendlyinfrastructure is not created resulting in a hostileenvironment for the use of bicycles. This leads to asteady decline of bicycle use and only captivebicycle users continue to use bicycles as is thecase in India. The conclusion should be that aslong as road conditions don't improve, a rise inincome will result inevitably in a decline of cycling.Current trends from all the countries selectedfor this study show a steady decline indeed in theuse of bicycles, a very high share of bicyclists infatal road crashes, high bicycle use by low incomehouseholds only and weak policy and designsupport for bicyclists. China is the only countrywhich had a strong policy support in the 70s and80s and resulted in strong manufacturing industry,dedicated infrastructure for bicycles in most cities,large rich cities like Shanghai and Beijing have 20-30% trips on bicycle. Taiwan is a good example tounderstand that if the bicycle is promoted as arecreation mode only, despite good infrastructure,the share of bicycles does not change. The networkwhich gets created for recreation bicyclists doesnot meet the requirements of daily commuters. Inthe Asian context, the rickshaw is to be seen as asolution to the urban transport problem. It shouldbe promoted because of its potential as a cleantransport which provides employment to a substantialnumber of unskilled residents.Bicycle continues to provide mobility to a largenumber of urban Asians. However, the last twodecades have witnessed a sharp decline in bicycleusage. Current bicyclists are primarily the captiveusers who continue to use bicycles despite ahostile infrastructure. In recent years growingenvironment and fuel scarcity concerns haverenewed interest in the bicycle amongst policymakers. Efforts from all stakeholders policymakers, designers, civil society groups and users6 Bicycling in Asia

Cycling in Asia : An Overvieware required to translate policy interventions tosustainable infrastructure projects.The next chapters will explain in more detail thesituation of cycling in the countries mentioned, andgo into some additional aspects of cycling.ReferencesSustainable Transport Development in ChineseCities: Challenges and Options” published byChina Communications Press.2008Hsin-Wen Chang and Hsin-Li Chang. “A StrategicStudy of Bicycle Tourism in Taiwan.” Journal ofEastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies.Oct. v(5), 2003, pp1675-1685.Willoughby, C. (2000) Singapore's Experience inManaging Motorization, and its Relevance toOther Countries. Discussion Paper TWU-43, TheWorld Bank, Washington. Accessed viahttp://www.worldbank.org/transport/publicat/twu_43.pdfDITS Report (1994), “Working Paper Vol-II”,Bangladesh Planning Commission, Dhaka.Bicycling in Asia 7

BICYCLES IN URBAN INDIAGeetam Tiwari, Himani JainBACKGROUNDBicycle use in medium and large Indian citiesvaries from 7-15% in large cities to 13-21% inmedium and small cities. Its high ownership, lowcost and easy use attributes make it a desirablemode of transport for students and low incomeworkers. A large amount of utility cycling is presentin Indian cities because the bicycle is the mostaffordable form of transport available to low incomehouseholds.Most of the medium and large cities inIndia have about 56% to 72% trips which are shorttrips (below 5km trip length), offering a hugepotential for bicycle use. The close vicinity ofacademic institutions (mostly 3-4 km), easyridership, no license requirement and no fuelrequirement are all factors which make it anattractive mode of travel for students. Parkingfacilities, safety and ease of travel are some of themost important factors which seem to governfemale bicycle ridership. One of the reasons for thesmall share of bicycle trips in large cities is thepresence of hostile conditions for cyclists.Communities in these cities have a latent demandfor bicycles and walking trips, which can berealized with suitable facilities and resources. Morebicycle trips will be attracted with a coherent, directand safe bicycle infrastructure. However, theabsence of safe infrastructure and high cyclefatalities deter these potential groups from shiftingto bicycle use in large Indian cities.URBAN TRANSPORTIn urban areas, there is a positive correlationbetween accessibility and income security.Accessibility not only determines the place of workand time taken to reach the place but also, in manycases, the type and availability of work. With fasturbanization in low income countries in general andIndia in particular, the demand for a whole new setof services is increasing. These service providersbelong to both the organized and the unorganizedsectors, the latter being more in number. Many ofthese people either walk to work or use bicycles tocommute to work. It generally involves travellingshort and medium distances (5-10 kilometres).Short and medium distances also includescommuting, going to school, high school or college,running errands, and delivering goods or services.However the bicyclist's presence is often ignoredby policy makers, planners and engineers.Therefore generally there are no policy, programsand plans for bicycle commuters in Indian cities.Bicycles are an important means oftransport in almost all urban areas in India. Bicycleusers make journeys between the same kinds ofplaces for the same purpose as users of othermodes of transport. For all transport modes, themost direct, feasible routes between housing areas,shops, work places, schools and places of leisureactivities are usually served by existing roads.However, the layout of all-purpose roads combinedwith the quantity, size, speed and complexity ofmaneuver of motorised traffic can have a hugeimpact on the convenience and safety of bicycleusers. Cyclists need to be able to proceed to theirdestination with minimum effort, inconvenience anddanger (BMP, 1998).The objective of this paper is to understandand highlight the role of the bicycle in Indiancities and examine the socio-economic andinfrastructural constraints that make the bicycle anundesirable mode of transport for its users. Thispaper presents bicycles as a form of urban travelintegral and indispensable to policy formulation.The interests of bicycle users in the policy formulationprocess are not given due importance; thispaper also hopes to persuade policy makers to giveBicycling in Asia 9

Bicycles in Urban Indiaheed to this largely ignored set of road users andhighlight the specific areas which need to befocused upon.BICYCLES IN CITIESThis study covers 19 cities from various geographicregions with different characteristics. These includeDelhi, Pune, Indore, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh,Amritsar, Bhopal, Patna, Ahmedabad, Rajkot,Jaipur, Nagpur, Jabalpur, Hyderabad, Mysore,Alwar, Nanded, Vijaywada and Pimpri Chinchwad.Amongst these, Delhi being a mega city has thelargest population of 16 million and Alwar is thesmallest with 0.23 million. Populations and theclassification represented in Table1 gives detailsbased on the census definitions. Various factorslike population, slum population, area of the city,per capita trip rate, total vehicular trips, modalshare, cycle related crashes, short trips andaverage trip lengths have been compared for thesecities.Table - 1 : Size classification of the various study citiesCity size Category Total numbers and Names of city100,000 - 1m Small city 5 - Mysore, Rajkot, Alwar, Nanded,Bhubaneswar1m - 3m Medium city 10 - Vijaywada, Nagpur,Chandigarh, Amrits ar, Patna,Jabalpur, Bhopal, Indore, Jaipur,Pimpri Chinchwad3m - 5m Large city 3 - Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad5m and above Mega city 1- Delhi10 Bicycling in Asia

Bicycles in Urban IndiaBICYCLE MODAL SHAREThe large cities have a bicycle modal share varyingfrom 9% (Hyderabad) to 18% (Ahmedabad). Themedium and large cities have a typical bicyclemodal share of 13%-21% (see Figure 1). Nagpur isa very unique case with a large number of cyclists(34%), while Bhopal is another extreme case witheven the highly subsidized fares of public transitare unaffordable.Cycle trips might be as low as 6-8% inmega cities, however, the absolute numbers areabout a million bicycles. The cycle trips areestimated to be about 0.70 to 1.0 million in most ofthe large cities. In Delhi about 0.9 -1.2 million tripsFigure - 1 : Size classification of the various study citiesmodal share in medim and large citiesM2W20% - 28%M4W3% - 6%Walk27% - 38%Auto / ParaTransit5% - 12% Cycle13% - 21%Bus8% - 14%only 4.3% cycle trips and 49% walk trips. Typicallythe walk trips, in the mega-city, large, medium andsmall cities range between 27%-38% of the totalnumber of trips; in the case of Bhopal it is 49%,Pimpri Chinchwad (42%), Chandigarh city (15%walk trips).The time trend analysis in various citiesshow a sharp decline in cycle trip share during the80's and 90's. Figure-2 presents the share ofbicycles in 8 cities from the 1980s to 2000. Duringthis period all these cities experienced a highgrowth rate of motorized vehicles, road infrastructureimprovements and high cycle fatalities.However, despite the hostile infrastructure andhostile policy, cycle trips have not disappeared.There is always a substantial segment of thepopulation which remains captive and for whomFigure - 2 : Declining trends of bicycle modal share invarious medium and large cities454035302520151050DelhiPMRBhubaneshwarIndoreNagpurAhmedabadJaipurBhopal1980's 1990's 2000'sBicycling in Asia 11

Bicycles in Urban Indiaand in Pune about 0.75 million trips are estimatedto be on bicycles everyday. In the medium sizecities of Bhubaneswar (0.2 million), Nagpur (0.86million), and Indore (0.32 million), the cycle tripsare in between 0.2 to 0.4 million.BICYCLE OWNERSHIP AND PER CAPITA TRIPRATES (PCTR)Bicycle ownership is very high in all cities. Most ofthe medium and large cities have 35% - 65%households owning one or more cycles as perCensus 2001; whereas in the smaller cities, itvaries between 33% to 48% (the exceptions beingMysore with only 27% households owning abicycle). There are 54.43% households inAhmedabad and 63.4% households in Chandigarhowning one or more bicycles (Census 2001). InDelhi there are an estimated 0.96 million households(37.6%) owning bicycles in 2001; about 1.2mto 1.4m trips per day (7-10%) are bicycle trips.While experts suggests that bicycle use maydecline over the years, there will still be a largenumber of non-motorized trips at the rate of 8%modal share by 2021 (MPD-2021). There is asignificant reduction in non-motorized mode sharesover the years - in Delhi, bicycle trips fell from 36 to7% of trips by all vehicular modes between theyears 1957 and 1994.In smaller cities the PCTR (excluding walktrips) varies from the 0.7-0.92. In medium andlarge cities the PCTR is 0.85-1.1, with Bhopalbeing an exception at 0.72.TRIP LENGTH FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONThe average trip length for all vehicles excludingwalk in small cities varies from 2.5 to 4.8 km. About70 - 90% of the trips are less than 5 km or are shorttrips. Such short trips are ideal for non-motorizedmodes like bicycles. The average trip length forbicycles in small cities varies from 1.9 to 3.1 km.The average trip length for all vehiclesexcluding walk in medium and large cities variesfrom 4.2- 6.9 km; with the exception of Jaipur(8.6km). It is observed from the trip length frequencydistribution that 56% to 72% trips are shorttrips (below 5km, cyclable distance). The averagetrip length for bicycle in medium and large citiesvaries from 3.1 to 4.5km. In Delhi the average triplength of all vehicles excluding walk is 10.66 kmand for bicycle is 5.1km. About 35% of the totalvehicular trips are short trips.CYCLISTS FATALITIES / INJURIESIt is observed that cyclists are involved in 5% to10% of total road related fatalities in medium andlarge cities (except small cities where there is nodata available). It is observed that about 20% to32% cyclists are involved in crashes leading tosevere injuries in these cities. Figure 3 shows theinvolvement of cyclists in various cities in fatal roadcrashes (2001-2006). The extreme variation is inAhmedabad and Chandigarh which show anincrease from 0.5% -2.0% in bicycle relatedfatalities and Nagpur and Jaipur show a decreasefrom 8% to 5% in bicycle fatalities (NCRB 2001-06).It was observed in the detailed qualitativesurvey of students and parents (TRIPP, 2006) that18% of the bicycle using students met with anaccident some time or the other while cycling,mostly by M2W and cars, sustaining injuries in1/3rd of the cases. 66% of the current bicycleusing students didn't feel safe on roads for fear ofaccidents by other vehicles.Though pedestrians continued to be thelargest category of victims [900 people (49%)] ofroad accidents during 2004 in Delhi, bicyclistsconsists of 6% of all fatal crashes (NCRB, 2004).Safety benefits estimated for a typical arterial inDelhi show a 46% reduction in accident costsowing to the segregation concept. This is becausesegregated facility reduces injury accidents by 40%and fatalities by 50% (BMP, 2007).12 Bicycling in Asia

Bicycles in Urban IndiaFigure - 3 : Bicycle related fatalities in medium, large and mega citiesBICYCLE RELATED FATALITIES IN LARGE CITYBICYCLE RELATED FATALITIES IN MEGA CITIESBicycle fatalities (%)1086420PUNEAHMEDABADHYDERABADBicycle fatalities (%)151050DELHI CHENNAI BANGALORE KOLKATA2001200220032004200620022003200420069FATALITIES IN MEDIUM CITIES87% of bicycle fatalities6543210Jaipur Indore Bhopal Jabalpur Chandigarh Nagpur VijaywadaCITIES20012002200320042006OTHER NON MOTORIZED VEHICLES (NMV)Many medium and large citiies in India typicallyhave other kinds of NMVs. This includes animaldriven vehicles, handcarts (goods), victorias (handrickshaw), cycle rickshaws and various kind ofhawkers. Pune does not have cycle rickshawswhile in Nagpur about 2/3rd of the total NMVs arecycle rickshaws. Other than bicycles, it is estimatedthat Delhi has about 300,000 cycle rickshaws and400,000 hawkers and around 20,000 additionalpeople are servicing this sector. It is of importancethat along with bicycles in the city, the other NMVsshould also be taken cognizance of in planning anddesigning of our roads. In cities with populations upto 1.5 or 2 million, in which public transit plays alimited role at best, because it cannot be sustainedat the level of demand existing in these cities, M2Wand for-hire M3W vehicles and tempos, as well asbicycles and cycle rickshaws, tend to account for asignificant share of passenger trips (Tiwari, 2002).BICYCLE USERSThe share of bicycle trips of the total trips hasdeclined over the years. However, despite hostileinfrastructure for non motorized transport, bicycleshave not disappeared. This shows that currentbicycle users use the bicycle not out of choice butbecause they have no other viable option. Lowincome households are dependent primarily oneither bicycles or walking for their daily commute.Motorized public transport system is not anattractive option. For example in Delhi, the fare perBicycling in Asia 13

Bicycles in Urban Indiakm is Rs. 0.60 in the metro and Rs. 0.20 per km inbuses for longer distances (>12km). The DTC busservice is three times cheaper than the metro.However, even this system remains cost prohibitivefor a significant segment of the population. (Singh,1997; Tiwari, 2002). It is observed that 17% - 30%of the households have a monthly income less thenRs. 5000 in medium and large cities. The averagemonthly expenditure on transport has beenestimated to be 12% -15% of the total income.Thus, these households cannot spend more thenRs. 750 per month. An average trip of 6 kmeveryday requires Rs 600 /month for one person,therefore walking or bicycling are the only optionsfor these households.It is observed in various studies that thesecaptive riders are predominantly poor workers andstudents. In slums, 25% of the households ownvehicles, which are predominantly NMVs (21% h/hown bicycles) (TRIPP, 2005b). A survey of 2000 lowincome households in Delhi showed that all agegroups are active bicycle users. Cycle ridershipdecreases with increasing levels of literacy andincome. Amongst the informal sector workers, workplace and its type are the biggest determinants ofthe ridership; almost all the people whose workinvolved distribution activities (eg painters,plumbers, electricians, gardeners, courier deliverers,postmen, milkmen, newspapermen etc.) usebicycles; above 80% of factory / shop workers and73% of office workers use bicycles (TRIPP, 2006).BICYCLE TRIP ORIGINSIndian cities have mixed land use patterns and lowincome households living in urban slums are inclose geographical proximity to the plannedresidential areas. Depending on the city size 10%-50% people live in urban slums. It is also observedthat about 13% to 39% of the population (with h/hincome

Bicycles in Urban IndiaFigure - 4 : Scattered slums and the estimated catchment area around themFigure - 5 : Secondary and Sr. Secondary schools and their estimated catchment areaBicycling in Asia 15

Bicycles in Urban IndiaFigure - 6 : scattered spread of commercial activities (formal, informal, wholesale) in DelhiFigure - 7 : Catchment areas covering important destinations like industrial estates and government offices16 Bicycling in Asia

Bicycles in Urban Indiabicyclist friendly roads will also act as cycle tripattractors. It is estimated that some 20% of publictransport and 7% of private mode based educationtrips may convert to bicycle trips (Figure 5, fromBMP- Delhi 2007).It was found in the Delhi based bicycleusers survey (TRIPP, 2006) that 18% of the tripshave a commercial destination. It was alsoobserved that 80% of the shop workers usedbicycles to reach their destinations and 1/4th of thecyclists traveled up to 5 km and 51% of the cycliststraveled up to 10 km to reach their work place.Figure 6 shows the scattered spread of commercialactivities in the form of major Commercial Centres,District Centres, Shops / Mixed Land Use,Wholesale areas, informal sector establishmentsetc.An average industrial unit in Delhiemploys about 9 workers, who travel to work bybicycle or by public buses. Since most of theseIndustrial areas are located along the mass publictransport corridors, there is a need for optimizingthe process of redevelopment around these areas.It was found in the Delhi survey that about 21% ofbicycle work trips have the factory as their destination.These industries attract a large number ofbicycle trips. Figure 7 shows the major industrialestates in Delhi and the catchment area of 5 km forcycle trips around them. This clearly indicates thatmost of the urbanized area as also the highwaycorridors and outskirts of Delhi have a largenumber of bicycle trips. (Figure 7, from BMP- Delhi2007)From the Delhi survey conducted onworkers who use bicycles, it was found that about35% have offices as their destination. Offices (incommercial/residential areas) are spread all overthe city. (If a catchment area of 5 km is drawn onlyfor govt offices, it covers most of urban Delhi.)(Figure 7, source: BMP 2007)BICYCLE AS A FEEDER MODEPublic transit systems play an important role in theurban transport network. Public and para-transitsystems carry about 14% -25% of the total trips inmedium cities. This share increases to 40% inDelhi. Various factors (e.g. access, egress, cost,age, income etc.) affecting the trip profile of aperson determine public transit use. The accessand egress links in a public transport chain greatlydetermine its ridership and success. Mostly thesetrips are made by non-motorized modes like walk,cycle or pedal rickshaws.The results of bus users survey (TRIPP,2005a) in Delhi shows that of the 3600 buscommuters surveyed, 20% owned cycles, but only1% used it for access trips. 48% walk more than500 m but less than 1 km and 9% walk more 1 kmdistance (because most of them are from the lowerincome group whose household income rangesfrom Rs.1000 to Rs.10,000). If a bicycle friendlyinfrastructure is created, these 57% commuters canuse bicycles for their access trips reducing traveltime by approximately 33%. Also 91% of bicycleowners and 45% of the total bus commuters, whodo not own bicycles are potential users of bicyclefor access trips if a bicycle-friendly infrastructure isprovided. It is also observed in the survey that 7%of bus commuters travel for short distances (access+ main + egress < 5km). These people are likely toshift to the bicycle. (Advani,Tiwari, 2006).Multimodal bicycle/transit trips expand thecatchment area of public transit stations without thelarge expense and space requirements of automobileparking. Over longer distances, using thebicycle as a feeder mode for public transit canresult in shorter trip times. If the public transitsystem transports bicycles, then a passenger'sbicycle may also be used at the egress end of thetrip (Allen, 1999). If the bicycle has to be promotedas an access mode to public transit, all facilities likesecure parking at bus stops and safe cycling pathshave to be considered.Integration of the bicycle with the publictransit network (figure 8, from BMP 2007) canenhance the travel potential for both modes oftravel by offering a number of advantages. Bicycleto-transitservices (trails, on-road bike lanes, andbike parking) enlarge the transit's catchment areaby making it accessible to travelers who areBicycling in Asia 17

Bicycles in Urban Indiabeyond walking distances from transit stations.Table - 2 : Size classification of the various study citiesParameter Metro users Bus usersNo. of trip segments 3 1.6Travel distance 1.3 0.3Travel time 3.2 0.6Travel cost 0.7 0.2Source : Arora A., 2007ESTIMATED BENEFITSBicycles generate no noise pollution and emissions.Better bicycle infrastructure can play animportant role in increasing the modal share ofbicycles, reducing air pollution and the adversehealth effects of pollution. Estimations for Delhishowed a 28% reduction in fuel consumption and a29% reduction in health externalities related to airpollution (Tota, 1999).Bicycle lanes also result in better spaceutilization. For instance a 3.5m lane has a carryingcapacity of 1,800 cars per hour whereas it cancarry 5,400 bicycles per hour. The averageoccupancy of a car is 1.15 persons and the bicyclecarries one person (IRC 106-1990). This impliesthat in order to move the same number of peopleby car, we would need 2.6 times the road area thatwould be required for bicyclists.Figure - 8 : Mass transit routes, Stations, stops,terminals and main road network of Delhi18 Bicycling in Asia

Bicycles in Urban IndiaWith the bicycle infrastructure in place inDelhi (segregated lanes, network and other relatedfacilities like secured parking, bicycle friendlyintersections, etc.), it is estimated that 1/3rd ofshort trips (below 5kms) of M2W, cars, rickshawsand about 1/4th the auto rickshaw (three wheelertaxi) trips are expected to shift to bicycles. About1/3rd of short trips ([access + bus trip + egress] 45min) of two wheelers/cars may shift to buses, owingto more comfort and less crowd. It is estimated that50% of such trips will shift to buses, increasing themodal share of the bus to 40%.The average distance traveled by bicycle,rickshaw, auto rickshaw and bus will increase by20%; while a decrease by 20% is observed forpersonal vehicles (motorized two wheelers andcars). Fuel consumption is expected to reduce by25% for M2W, cars, buses and marginally for autorickshaws, because of smoother traffic due tosegregation of non-motorized transport. Theseestimations resulted in about 35% savings in theover all fuel consumption. 40% of fuel savings willbe contributed by cars and motorized two wheelers(personal modes) while about 20% will be saved bypublic modes like buses and auto rickshaws (BMP-2007).POLICY OUTLINESThe tenth 5 year plan (2003-07) for India emphasizesthe issue of road safety and energy savings/planning,because transport is the secondlargest consumer of energy (GoI, 2005). The othernational and city level policy documents are beingmade within the framework provided by this broadnational policy document.The National Urban Transport Policy(NUTP) acknowledges the fact that there arecertain sections of society, especially the nonmotorizedcommuter groups which face problemsof mobility. The cost of travel, especially for thepoor, has increased considerably. This is largelybecause the use of cheaper non-motorized modeslike cycling and walking has become extremelyrisky, since these modes have to share the sameright of way as motorized modes. Further, withpopulation growth, cities have tended to expand insize and increased travel distances have madenon-motorized modes difficult to use. This hasmade access to livelihoods, particularly for thepoor, far more difficult. According to the NUTP, thistarget of equity can be achieved by reservingcorridors and lanes exclusively for public transportand non-motorized modes of travel. The CentralGovernment decided to give priority to the constructionof cycle tracks and pedestrian paths,under the Jawaharlal Nehru National UrbanRenewal Mission* (JNNURM), to enhance safetyand thereby enhance the use of non-motorizedmodes.This policy ensures the support of thecentral government in the formulation and implementationof specific “Area Plans” in congestedurban areas with an appropriate mix of variousmodes of transport including exclusive zones fornon-motorized transit. The central governmentdecided to partially finance the pilot project whichdemonstrates the improvements resulting from theuse of bicycling, for possible replication in othercities (NUTP, 2005).The city level policy documents do not,however, incorporate such NMV friendly policies.For example, Tackling Urban Transport - OperatingPlan for Delhi (Transport department under theNCT Delhi government) does not give dueimportance to cyclists, NMT and pedestrians. Itonly seems to give left-over space to NMT instead*The aim is to encourage reforms and fast track planned development of identified cities. The focus is to be on efficiencyin urban infrastructure and service delivery mechanisms, community participation, and accountability of ULBs/ Parastatalagencies towards citizens. The main thrust of the Sub-Mission will be on infrastructure projects relating to water supplyand sanitation, sewerage, solid waste management, road network, urban transport and redevelopment of old city areasetc. (time frame 2006-2013) Assistance under JNNURM would provide as grants to the implementing agencies for aselect 63 cities.Bicycling in Asia 19

Bicycles in Urban Indiaof integrating it as an essential component in thesystem as a whole (NCTD, 2003). Though thepolicy mentions the Bus Rapid Transit on selectcorridors, it fails to consider the physical segregationof slow moving vehicles, which is a preconditionfor a successful BRT corridor.The budgetary outlay for transport in theDelhi government plans has been increasing overthe years. However, the fund allocation towardspedestrian, cycle and NMT improvement is a mere0.6% of the total Annual Budget Outlay 2006-07(NCTD, 2006).The Master Plan of Delhi (MPD) - 2021has estimated that the total number of trips will riseto 28 million by 2021, of which 2.3 million (8.2%)will be non-motorized trips. It has proposed theroad hierarchical system, which includes separatecycle tracks (wherever possible) on primarycollector roads/sub-arterial roads with recommendedR/w 30-40m (minimum 45m in urbanextensions). The master plan does not proposesegregation of NMV on arterial roads (>45m, ringradials, SH, NH, bridges etc., with high speeds) orother important roads (MPD-2021).The MPD-2021 policy pertaining tobicycle/cycle rickshaws claims it to be an importantmode of travel for short and medium distances. Butidentifies it as unsafe in the presence of fastmoving and mixed traffic; the policy proposes thefollowing actions (not mandatory):? Wherever feasible, fully segregated cycletracks should be provided along selected trafficcorridors with provision for safe parking.? In new areas/urban extensions, as alreadyindicated, cycle tracks should be provided atthe sub-arterial and local level roads andstreets.? In specific areas, like the walled city etc., theuse of bicycles/pedal rickshaw as a nonmotorizedmode of transport should beconsciously planned and promoted along withpedestrianisation.The non-mandatory suggestions are overlooked byplanners and these are lost opportunities for NMVintegration during the planning and designingphase. There are other ComprehensiveDevelopment Plans/Master Plans and various othertransportation plans for respective cities, which failto provide any significant bicycle-friendly infrastructureguidelines in detail.INTEGRATION OF BICYCLE WITH BRTSPresently in the absence of segregated bicyclelanes, cyclists use the curb-side lane. This makes itimpossible for buses to use the left-most lane, inspite of repeated attempts at enforcement by thetraffic police. Segregated bus lanes as part of theBus Rapid Transit Systems (BRTS) under theJNNURM with central government aid, are alreadyunder construction in many cities to meet theincreasing travel demand and to improve the publictransport service. As a matter of fact, the presenceof bicycle lanes is a necessary pre-condition forestablishing such bus lanes (curb side or central/median side). (BMP, 2007) In Delhi, a 14.6 km longcorridor is under construction with segregatedbicycle lanes and central bus lanes. 5.8km of thecorridor has been completed and has beenoperating since May 2008. The corridor hasexcellent details at T junctions and intersections forcalming down traffic speeds and ensuring bicyclistssafety. International standards have been followedfor signage and safety. 99% of the cyclists on thiscorridor are using the cycle tracks.NON MOTORIZEDTRANSPORT (NMT) CELLTo explore the possibilities of planning andimplementing cycle tracks, some cities come upwith an ad-hoc Working Group of 4-8 people(representatives/experts from municipality,Municipal Corporation, public works department,development authority, technical academic body ofregion, civil society organization etc.) This workinggroup is called the Cycle Cell or NMT Cell orCycling Engineering Cell and is responsible forfurnishing all the bicycle-related recommendations.The Municipal Corporation of Delhi established a20 Bicycling in Asia

Bicycles in Urban Indiabicycle cell in 2004. However, due to an unclearmandate, and very small budgetary support thebicycle cell has not been very successful increating bicycle infrastructure in the city. The PuneMunicipal Corporation has formed a bicycle cell in2007.NATIONAL ROAD DESIGN STANDARDS1. Guidelines for capacity of urban roads in plainareas (IRC: 106-1990) suggests somemeasures for improving the capacity of urbanroads by segregating the slow moving trafficand by providing adequate facilities forpedestrians and cyclists.2. Guidelines on regulation and control of mixedtraffic in urban areas (IRC: 70-1977)recommends physical segregation of lanes forcycles; time related restrictions on certain kindsof traffic or directional restrictions. Restrictingslow moving vehicles like cycles on certainroads during peak hours is also recommended.It suggests planning the bicycle tracks for thecity as a whole to be the best policy. There aredetailed rules concerning cyclists for using thesegregated lane and for their safety.3. Recommended practice for the design andlayout of cycle tracks (IRC: 11-1962) takescognizance of cyclists for the carriageway.Segregated cycle tracks are part of the right ofway and they may be provided when the peakhour cycle traffic is 400 or more on routes withtraffic of 100-200 motorized vehicles per hour. Ifthe volume is more for motorized vehicles, thena segregated track is justified even when cycletraffic is 100 per hour. It is suggested that twolanes can carry up to 5000 cycles per directionper day. It is suggested that three types of cycletracks parallel to the main carriageway otherthan the ones which are constructed may beconsidered.? Adjoining cycle tracks : These are part of thecarriageway, adjacent and on same level.? Raised cycle tracks : These are adjoining thecarriageway but at a higher level.? Free cycle tracks : These are separated fromthe carriageway by a verge and may be at thesame or different level from the carriageway.The details of the horizontal curves, gradients,sight distances, lane widths, and width ofpavements, clearance, riding surface, lightingand vertical curves suitable for the bicycletracks are given. As per the code, it is desirablethat cycle tracks be located beyond thefootpath, hedge and tree line. Though, wherecommercial activities exist, the footpath shouldbe on extreme end, followed by cycle track andcarriageway.4. Geometric design standards for urban roads(IRC: 86- 1983) suggests a minimum width of2m for the cycle track; where each lane is 1m.The capacity of 2 lanes (3m) cycle tracks maybe taken as 250-600 cycles/ hour in one waytraffic. Experts point out that though the designspeeds are as high as 80km/hr on arterialroads, the cycle tracks are not proposed basedon speeds. The desirable maximum gradientrecommended for cycle tracks is 3% and theminimum width of the underpass for the bicycleis 2.5m with a vertical clearance of 2.5m. Also, itis recommended that a combined cycle andpedestrian subway should be 5m (for one waytraffic) and 6.5m for 2 way traffic (height 2.5m).5. The space standards for roads in urban areas(IRC: 69-1977) have defined the 5 tier hierarchyof urban roads in plains and have suggestedtypical cross sections. According to it, the 4lane divided arterial roads, sub arterial roads,collector roads, 4 lane undivided collectorroads and 2 lane undivided collector roadsshould ave 2-3m wide cycle tracks on bothsides of the road.Bicycling in Asia 21

Bicycles in Urban India6. According to the IRC guidelines for the designof at-grade intersections in rural and urbanareas, the design speed in urban areas varyfrom 30km/h on local streets to 80km/h onarterial roads. It suggests that it is desirable tosegregate the cycle traffic at intersections by asuitable system of multi phase signalization. Ifcycle tracks are not segregated, separate lanesfor cycle traffic/cycle boxes ahead of stopline/provision of turning cycle paths inconjunction with signalization should beprovided. It also suggests that there should beseparate lanes for cyclists along with reservoirspace at the junction and two stop linesseparately for cyclists and motorized vehicles.7. The other details of cyclists crossings areprovided in IRC: 35-1970. Guidelines for thedesign of interchanges in urban areas (IRC: 92-1985) directs various design modifications in theclassical forms of interchange design; in casethere is more then 10% of slow moving traffic.8. Code of practice for road markings (IRC: 35-1997) recommends longitudinal cycle lanemarkings and cyclists crossings. The details ofthe cycle symbol should be marked on the cyclelane and its end along with the cyclist'scrossings, boxes and at all the intersections.9. The code of practice for road signs (IRC: 67-2001) offers mandatory/regulatory signs forcycle prohibited, compulsory cycle track andcycle crossing for uncontrolled cycle crossings.Among informatory signs, there is only one forcycle parking. The other important signs likecycle utilities, cycle or NMV lane only, etc signsare missing from the code.10. The Guidelines on accommodation of utilityservices on roads in urban areas (IRC: 98-1997) recommends the laying of utility lines bydifferent agencies in a coordinated manner andgenerally the sewer and gas lines should bebelow the cycle track (on a 4 lane divided road);or below the service lane.CONCLUSIONThe tenth 5 year plan (2003-07) and NationalUrban Transport Policy (NUTP, 2005) providesguidelines for the other regional and city levelpolicy documents. They acknowledge the fact thatthere are non motorized commuter groups withmobility and safety concerns that need to beaddressed by encouraging the construction ofsegregated rights of way for bicycles. There areother city development plans and various transportationplans/projects, which fail to integrate bicycleplanning.It is found in the comparative study ofcities that most of the medium and large cities haveabout 50-75% trips below 5km trip length. Thatmeans there is a considerable number of tripswhich have the potential to be shifted to the bicycle.Even in Delhi, it is estimated that more than 45% ofthe trips of privately owned modes and 38% of thetrips by public mode are less than 5 km (RITES,2001). The conversion of potential cycle trips fromother modes is highly likely, if favorable bicyclinginfrastructure is made available.Generally, of all the trips in medium andlarge cities, about 35% are for educational needs.Education trips can also be major targets forincreasing bicycle modal share on account of easyridership, cheap mode, close vicinity of academicinstitutions (mostly 3-4 km), and less time requiredto travel to it (up to 20-30 min). It is applicable to awide range of age (mainly 11-20) and all incomegroups. The major deterrents like fear of unsafety(39% parents) and heavy traffic other than theft andaccidents needs to be checked, by providing forsuitable and safe bicycle infrastructure (TRIPP,2006).The connecting routes for lower incomegroup people should be a priority. The residentialand work areas of these captive rider groups arescattered all over urban areas. Cycle friendlyinfrastructure will help reduce their hardships andimprove their accessibility to better opportunitiesand facilities. In some large and medium cities, theproportion of female students and workers using22 Bicycling in Asia

Bicycles in Urban Indiabicycles is very low. Facilities like social safety,well lit and well policed cycle tracks may govern thequantum of cycle ridership. The focus should be onencouraging this gender to use bicycles throughvarious interventions for increased accessibility toeducation and work.More bicycle trips will be attracted with acoherent, direct and safe bicycle infrastructure. It isobserved that each mile of bikeway per 100,000residents increases bicycle commuting by 0.075percent, all else being equal (Knapp et al, 1992).The major shortcoming of almost alldevelopment proposals in Indian cities is thatbicycle tracks have not been planned as an integralpart of the road networks. Bicycle routes, ifplanned, have not been integrated at junctions.Few attempts had been made to identify thecomplete bicycle network. Dedicated infrastructurefor cycling exists at some bridges and flyovers as aresult of traffic management strategies conceivedand planned by the city traffic police or as designedand maintained by the consultant/operator.On two and three lane roads, de factosegregation occurs naturally and the bicyclistsoccupy the curb-side lane. However, the naturalsegregation of bicyclists does not ensure theirsafety on two and three lane roads. Motorisedvehicles do not use the left most lane even whenbicycle flow rates are minimal. This affects theoverall capacity and speed of the road, becauseone whole lane is not used by motorised vehicles(BMP, 2007). Also, the road surface which isdesigned for motorised vehicles is used by bicyclesand other non-motorised modes. This amounts towasting resources because non-motorised modesrequire pavements which can be constructed moreeconomically.At most intersections and junctions, thestop line for bicyclists is not in front of the othermotorized vehicles which would give them an earlystart. The reluctance of the city traffic police inrestricting the free left turns for motorized traffic toprotect the bicyclists on the curb side has led tohigh risk for cyclists. An all red phase at the signalscan also prove to be beneficial. Restriction ofspeeds for motorized traffic in residential areas orother dense areas have not been implemented inmost of the cities. High speed of motorized vehicleson major roads exponentially increases the fatalrisk for cyclists.Hence, it is extremely important thatbicycle travel be considered early on in the designof transportation or city development projects inIndian cities. Otherwise, the opportunities tofacilitate bicycle use are often lost early in thedesign process and such improvements aregenerally of low cost and of benefit to all roadusers, (not just bicyclists) due to increased trafficcapacity, reduced accidents and low maintenancecosts.ReferencesAdvani M., Tiwari G, 'Bicycle As a feeder mode forbus service', Proceedings of VELOMONDIAL Conference, Cape Town, SouthAfrica, 2006.Allen J., Multimodal bicycle / transit trip, 1999[Online]. Available:http://home.swbell.net/mpion/multimodal.htm [accessed on 1 November 2005].Arora A., Transportation Projects and their effectson the poor: Integrating a Social ImpactAssessment Methodology (PhD thesis),Transportation Research and InjuryPrevention Program (TRIPP) IIT Delhi,2007BMP, Bicycle Master Plan for Delhi proposednetwork plan and detailed design,Transportation Research and InjuryPrevention Program (TRIPP) IIT Delhi, forTransport Department, Government ofDelhi, 1998BMP, Bicycle Master Plan for Delhi, TransportationResearch and Injury Prevention Program(TRIPP) IIT Delhi, 2007Census, Population and household tables, Censusof India, Registrar General of India,Government of India, 2001Bicycling in Asia 23

Bicycles in Urban IndiaGoI, Tenth five year plan (2003-07), National roadtransport policy, Government of Indiapolicydocument, 2003Knaap S., Gerrit and Arthur C. Nelson, TheRegulated Landscape, Lincoln Inst., ISBN1-55844-120-4, 1992.MPD 2021, Master Plan for Delhi 2021 (MPD-2021), Delhi Development Authority(DDA), Delhi, 2006MPD-2001, Master Plan for Delhi- 2001(MPD-2001), Delhi Development Authority(DDA), Delhi, 1991NCRB, Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India,(Annual reports 2001-2006), NationalCrimes Record Bureau (NCRB), Ministryof Home Affairs, Government of India,2001-06.NCTD, Annual Budget Outlay (2006-07), Transportdepartment, Government of NationalCapital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, 2006NCTD, Tackling Urban Transport - Operating Planfor Delhi, Transport department, Govt ofNCT Delhi, 2003NUTP, National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP),Ministry of Urban Development,Government of India, 2005RITES., Report on Multi Modal public transportnetwork for Delhi, for TransportDepartment, Govt. of Delhi, 2005Singh R. B., “Urbanization, Environmental Crisis,and Urban Planning in India”, TheGeographer, Vol. XLIV, No. 2, 1997. 21pp.Tiwari G, “Urban Transport Priorities Meeting theChallenge of Socio-economic Diversity inCities; A Case Study of Delhi, India”,Cities, Vol. 19, No. 2, 2002, pp. 95-103Tota K., The role of non-motorized transport insustainable urban transport systems: Apreliminary analysis of costs and benefitsof non-motorized and bus prioritymeasures on Vikas Marg, Delhi, preparedfor TERI, April 1999IRC Codes -IRC:106, Indian Road Congress -code 106,Guidelines for Capacity of Urban Roads inPlain Areas, New Delhi, India, 1990IRC: 70, Indian Road Congress -code 70,Guidelines on regulation and control ofmixed traffic in urban areas, New Delhi,India, 1977IRC: 11, Indian Road Congress -code 11,Recommended practice for the design andlayout of cycle tracks, New Delhi, India,1962IRC: 86, Indian Road Congress -code 86,Geometric design standards for roads inurban areas, New Delhi, India, 1983IRC: 69, Indian Road Congress -code 69, spacestandards for roads in urban areas, NewDelhi, India, 1977IRC: 35, Indian Road Congress -code 35,Guidelines for cyclists crossings, NewDelhi, India, 1970IRC: 92, Indian Road Congress -code 92,Guidelines for the design of interchangesin urban areas, New Delhi, India, 1985IRC: 35, Indian Road Congress -code 35, Code ofpractice for road markings, New Delhi,India, 1997IRC: 67, Indian Road Congress -code 67, Code ofpractice for road signs, New Delhi, India,2001IRC: 98, Indian Road Congress -code 98,Guidelines on accommodation of utilityservices on roads in urban areas, NewDelhi, India, 1997Indian Road Congress, Guidelines for the design ofat-grade intersections in rural and urbanareas, New Delhi, IndiaSurvey data and documentsTRIPP, Survey report, Bicycle use and barriers touse, Transportation Research and InjuryPrevention Program (TRIPP) IIT Delhi,Institute of Democratic Studies (IDS) forLOCOMOTIVES (I-ce) project, 2006.24 Bicycling in Asia

Bicycles in Urban IndiaTRIPP, Onboard Survey of bus commuters,Transportation Research and InjuryPrevention Program (TRIPP) IIT Delhi,Institute of Democratic Studies (IDS),2005 a.TRIPP, Metro users Survey, TransportationResearch and Injury Prevention Program(TRIPP) IIT Delhi, Institute of DemocraticStudies (IDS), 2005 b.Comprehensive Traffic and Transport Studies(CTTS) and other reports**Bhopal Municipal Corporation, Draft DetailedProject Report, Volume - I Main Report onConsultancy Services for Preparation ofDetailed Project Report for Bus RapidTransit System at Bhopal, 2007Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), FinalReport, Volume II of ComprehensiveTraffic and Transportation Plan for Nagpur,2000.CRISIL, Project Report-Draft Report for Discussionon Bus Based Rapid Transport System ofPimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation,2008.Dr. K. R. Rao, Report on Planning of Mass TransitSystem for Shimla Town, 2007.IDECK, Detailed Project Report, Volume -2,(Survey Results) and Volume - 3(b) onIntroduction of Bus Rapid Transit systemin Mysore, 2007.Jaipur Development Authority, Final DetailedProject Report Part 1, Executive Summaryon Preparation of Detailed Design &Engineering Report for Bus Rapid TransitSystem, Jaipur (Overall Design of BRTSystem)Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission(JNNURM), Executive Summary of BusRapid Transit System Indore, 2006Jawaharlal Nehru National UrbanRenewal Mission (JNNURM) and TrafficReport on Detailed Project Report forNanded City Roads under JNNURM,2008.Lea Associated South Asia Pvt. Ltd. and CRRI,Final Report on Comprehensive Trafficand Transportation Study for BhopalUrban Area, 2001Rajkot Municipal Corporation, Detailed ProjectReport 1 for Rajkot Bus Rapid TransitSystem, 2008.RITES ltd., Comprehensive Traffic & TransportationStudy of Municipal Corporation Amritsar,Final Report, 1998.RITES ltd., Feasibility Report of High CapacityMass Transport System For PuneMetropolitan Area, Interim Report ofMunicipal corporations of Pune and PimpriChinchwad, 1998RITES ltd., Mass Rapid Transit System forChandigarh Urban Complex, 2006Span Travers Morgan, Draft Final Report,Volume - on Comprehensive Traffic &Transportation Study for Pune City, 2004The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation,VIZAG, Bus Rapid Transit System, 2006.Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Hyderabad BusRapid Transit System, 2007Vijayawada Municipal Corporation, ComprehensiveTraffic and Transportation Study forVijayawada City, Bus Rapid Transit,Project Report, 2006** NOTE: Detailing in the section of bicycles inIndian cities, Modal share, ownership and percapita trip rates, Trip length frequency distributionhave been based upon facts and figures providedby the selected studies.Bicycling in Asia 25

THE STATUS OF CYCLING IN TAIWANS.K. Jason Chang, H.W. Chang and Y.K. LeeBACKGROUNDBicycles in Taiwan may be from two perspectives:the cycling environment and the bicycle industry. Asregards the cycling environment, the paperintroduces the implementation of bicycle lanes, thecharacteristics of cyclists, difficulties in promotingbicycles, and safety issues of bicycles in Taiwan. Inexamining the bicycle industry, the paper reviewsthe progress of the industry's development andprovides information on the production and salesstatus for the domestic and international markets.Finally, the paper identifies research and planningissues in the development of the cycling environment.INTRODUCTIONWhen entering the 20th century, the world faced atransportation revolution. New technologies broughtto us faster, safer and more comfortable transportationservices and changed our travel behavior,living environment, land use pattern, and urbandevelopment.In the early 1970s, the global oil crisisstimulated the bicycle revival and led to positivegrowth. As a matter of fact, the popularity of cyclingand walking has steadily increased since 1975,when the advent of the first fuel crisis saw the reemergenceof non-motorized modes of transportation.For example, the initiatives advanced inDenmark as a result of the oil crisis were widelyaccepted at almost all levels within professionaland governmental circles (ITE, the Bicycle in Indiasafety 1994).THE BICYCLE INDUSTRYTaiwan has been recognized as the kingdom ofbicycle manufacturing and many Europeans areproud of having a bicycle that is made in Taiwanbecause of its high quality, durability and innovativedesign. However, bicycle usage as a transportmode in Taiwan has always been an issueconfronting local transportation and the bicyclemanufacturing industry. The low rate of bicycleusage is evidenced in the concomitantly low rate ofbicycle ownership in the affluent capital city, Taipei,where bicycle ownership reached 0.25 perhousehold, which seriously poses an inadequacy intransit choices for work, leisure, and living (Changand Chang, 2003).There are two reasons to make thedevelopment of bicycle transportation in Taiwan apriority concern for other countries as well as thenative population in Taiwan. The first is thesuccessful experience of the bicycle industry andthe second is the contribution of bicycles toTaiwan's sustainable development.Due to the full support of central and localgovernments in terms of incentives and consistentstrategies, Taiwan is gradually becoming the centerthat provides innovative and unique products forthe global bicycle market. Additionally, with the hardwork of the three largest bicycle manufacturersaround the world, bicycles made in Taiwan arealways considered of a high quality. Therefore, thesuccessful experience of the bicycle industry inTaiwan serves as a good model for countriesworking to develop bicycle-related industries.Additionally, bicycles are one of the solutions tourban air pollution, noise pollution, traffic congestion,accident and parking problems, because theypossess the characteristics of being clean, quiet,convenient and energy saving. It is also anexcellent transport mode for transfer purposes andfor trips less than 4 km. In order to make thepromotion of bicycling activities efficient andencourage their use, it is necessary for theauthorities in particular and the people tounderstand the potential impact of bicycle development.Bicycling in Asia 27

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanBICYCLE ENVIRONMENT INTAIWANPLANNING OF BICYCLE LANES/NETWORKTaiwan is experiencing increasing investment in,and popularity of, bicycle tourism. Both central andlocal governments have been trying to stimulate thedevelopment of bicycle tourism and recreationalcycling. Many argue that the island's topographyand climate constraints may be less conducive forbicycle commuting in Taiwan. Nonetheless, nationaltrends emerged recently to include green modeplanning that regards the bicycle as an environmentallydesirable option for outdoor recreation andas a tourism transportation mode (Chang andHsieh, 2006).In 2002, the National Sports Councillaunched a policy of Planning and Establishment ofa Bikeway System in Taiwan. The program is aimedat encouraging the development of local greenindustry by elevating tourism and transportationdevelopment. Approximately 21 billion New TaiwanDollars (NTD) of investment have been spent onsuch developments. The National DevelopmentPlan 2008 and the Tourist Double Plan also stressthe importance of building a national bikewaysystem. There is a market of 100 million tourists inTaiwan annually (Chang and Chang, 2004).The evolutionary development of bicycleuse in Taiwan began with the transportationfunction, then responded to the demand for leisure,and now is combining that with tourism development.Because of differential administrative andsubsidizing organizations, the development ofobjectives for national policies varies as well.The development of bicycle lanes in Taiwanoriginated in Taipei and was based on the transportationfunction. In 1991, there were one-meter-widebicycle lanes constructed on both sides of trafficislands. It was done during a trial operation but itfailed because cyclists still rode on pedestrianwalkways and no further trials of this type wereconducted (Chang and Chang, 2003).In the late 1990s, the development of abicycle lane between Danshui River and HsintienCreek became the first bicycle lane with recreationalfunctions in Taiwan. In 1997, the bicyclelanes constructed around Kwanshan Town weresuccessful and, as a result, it promoted a wave ofdemand across Taiwan and every county and cityimplemented bicycle lanes. At this stage, the publicauthorities in the construction department acted asthe sponsoring organization in directing thedevelopment of bicycle lanes in every county andtown, together with the subsidy of the national planfor “New Features for Cities and Counties”.At the same time, the National Authority of Parksand National Scenic Areas coordinated with touristand recreational development and started toconstruct bicycle lanes within the park areas. Since2001, private amusement parks have providedbicycles for rent and relevant facilities for the users.Table 1 shows the development of bicycle lanes inTaiwan. Figure 1 shows the length of bike routeswithin 25 cities and counties in Taiwan.THE FIRST CYCLING ROUTE FOR TOURISMDEVELOPMENT IN TAIWANKwanshan Town is located on the east side ofTaiwan and is a major transport node along theeast coast line. It was famous for its sunset sceneryin the early period. The town has 120,000 residents,many of whom make a living from agriculture,which produces the famous Kwanshan rice.Under the local chief officer's efforts, and with asubsidy from the central government in 1997Kwanshan Town constructed the first bicycle laneof 12 km length which provides a safe bikingenvironment. Following the completion of thebicycle lane, and the coordination of many privateproprietors, including travel agencies and bikeshops, etc., the first step was taken in formingbicycle tourism in Taiwan in 2000.Nowadays, there are approximately one milliontourists visiting Kwanshan and it has created anannual value of 2 billion New Taiwan dollars (65million USD). With an investment of approximately3 billion New Taiwan Dollars, the governmentachieved successful completion of the construction.The development of bicycle lanes in Kwanshan28 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanTable - 1 : Bicycle lane development in TaiwanMainFunctionsLocationSponsoredOrganization/Sources of SubsidyLocation/PlanningCharacteristicsNoteCommuteand LeisureCity centerMaintenance Officeof Public WorksDept, Taipei CityGovernment1 meter on bothsides of trafficislandThe first traillane wasconstructed inTaipei in1991.RecreationDanshuiRiver andHsinteinCreekPark and StreetOffice, PublicWorks Dept, TaipeiCity GovernmentRiverside AreaFirstrecreationaluse bike laneTourismandRecreationKwanShanConstruction andAdministration ofInterior MinistryNew features ofcounty and townsFirst speciallane wascompleted in1997Commuteand LeisureTamshuiMRT LineTaipei Rapid TransitCorporationAlong the MRT lineCompleted in2000TourismandRecreationNationalParksNational ParkHeadquartersNational top gradeYangMingMountain,Kenting, etc.TourismandRecreationNationalScenic AreasNational ScenicArea AdministrationNational top gradeMost arebeing plannedSport andRecreationCircumIsland andlocalityNational SportsCouncilSignificant nationalsport constructionInitiated in2002Source: Chang and Chang (2003)Bicycling in Asia 29

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanFigure - 1 : Total length of bike routes in TaiwanTaoyuan : 11.5kmTaipei : 205.1kmHsinchu : 29kmMiaoli : 19kmYilan : 21.7kmTaichung : 37kmHualien : 40kmChanghua : 32kmYunlin : 7.1kmNantou : 17.2kmChiayi : 4kmTainan : 45.2kmTaitung : 27.3kmKaohsiung : 31.2kmPingtung : 28kmTotal Length in Taiwan : 555.3kmSource: Cycling Life Style Foundation (2006)Town is depicted in Table 2.THE COASTAL RECREATION CYCLING LANEIN HSINCHU TECHNOPOLISThe establishment of a science park is a vision formany governments. Especially in the era ofknowledge-based economies, lots of city governmentsare making great efforts to create anenvironment that will attract hi-tech employees. Theleisure environment in particular may be a keyfactor in attracting hi-tech employees.Hsinchu Scientific Industrial Park is thecenter of science and technology industries inTaiwan. As a city famous for high-end technology,higher education, as well as high incomes, thereare 130,000 employees in the Scientific IndustrialPark, with a local population of 390,000 in the city.In addition to trying to improve the investmentenvironment, the city government is also workingenthusiastically to improve the leisure environment30 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanTable - 2 : Development of bicycle tourism in KwanshanDevelopment Goals andIndicationsBicycle circulation lanes in Kwanshan Townof Taitung CountySocial AspectsUsersFrequency of usesFamily tours, youth camps, group travel80,000 tourists/monthSafetyHigh impact prior to entering the bike lane and thereis a section of sleep slope after entering the lane.FeasibilityOn the eastern side of Taiwan and an important nodefor 2 days travel; can be accessed via railway andairportEnvironmentalAspectsLane formBicycle path; single circular routeLane length Length: 12km; width: 3-5mPaving materialsSlopesConcrete pavingGentle, except a small section with a steep slope.LandscaperesourcesOpen country; river promenades; country landscape;cultivated fieldsIndustrialAspectsMarket andactivitiesTravel agencies; package tour; bike rental; dining;agricultural productsPoliticalAspectsPublicinfrastructuresBicycle path, street furniture, landscape platform,direction indication system and interpretation facilities.Investing capitals3 billion NT dollarsDisadvantagesSustainableDevelopmentBicycle path and bicycle maintenance andanagement, tourists insurance.Source: Chang and Chang (2003)Bicycling in Asia 31

The Status of Cycling in Taiwanin the coastal area.As the biggest wetlands in northernTaiwan, the Hsinchu coastal zone is home tospecial species including crabs, birds, and plants inthe wetlands, the coast is protected by law ashaving special scenic and environmental values.Starting in 2002, the city government hasbuilt a 17km-long bike lane along the coastline,which was completed at the end of 2005, involvingan investment of 5.3 billion New Taiwan Dollarsover three consecutive years. The percentage ofinvestment in environmental items is shown onTable 3.Cycling is often cited as a preferred way torelax, explore, and get in touch with nature. Incontrast to polluting automobiles, bicycles arequiet, have no emissions and have a limitedenvironmental impact on the sensitive coastalzone. Figure 2 shows pictures of coastal recreationcycling lane in Hsinchu Technopolis. Hsinchuscience city government has built a coastal bikelane involving an investment of 5.3 billion NewTaiwan Dollars.Figure - 2 : coastal recreation cycling lane inHsinchu TechnopolisTRAVEL CHARACTERISTICS OF BICYCLISTSIN TAIWANIn this section, we will discuss some characteristicsof bicyclists in Taiwan, which includes dataregarding ownership, modal share, purposes ofbicycle trips, and the average trip length forbicycles. Because of the lack of a nationwide studyof these characteristics, the statistics regardingthese characteristics are based on data gathered inTaipei City instead of the entire Taiwan area.The ownership of bicycles per household in TaipeiCity.According to the historical records ofTaipei City, bicycles were introduced into Taiwan bythe Japanese starting in 1903 and, before 1973,each bicycle had to be registered and apply for alicense with taxation. Because of the suspension oftaxation after 1973, the record of the number ofbicycles in Taipei City was no longer available untilsome household surveys were conducted by theTaipei City Government in 1990 and 2000. Therecord of bicycle numbers in Taipei City is shown in32 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanTable - 3 : Hsinchu government allocation of cycling investmentOrder ofimportanceEnvironmental factor itemsGovernment investment1 Bike path (rights-of-way separate from roads) 38%2 Good weather -3 Bike rental system -4 Bicycle attractions 6%5 Bike path wide enough for safety and comfort -6 Pavement quality (smooth, without bumps/holes) 7%7 Parking area for cars and bicycles 4%8 Restroom and shower facilities 0%9 Rougher slopes, path offers variety and challenge -10 Rich natural environment -11 Signage system and map 6%12 Cleanliness and environment management 1%13 Ecologic interpretation system 3%14 Cafe, restaurant, and convenience store 1%15 Gentle slopes and curve / ease of ride -16 Rest places and view points -17 Bike route long enough, complete and continuous -18 Accessibility -19 Government promotion -20 Greenery / shade trees 12%21 Pavement colorful and of diverse materials 6%Source: Chang and Hsieh (2006)Bicycling in Asia 33

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanFigure 3.It can be shown from Figure 3 that the number ofbicycles in Taipei City grew from 1950 to 1960, andreached a peak in 1960. After 1960, some data aremissing but it is reasonable to conjecture that thetrend in bicycle numbers in Taipei City decreaseddramatically between 1960 and 1990. However, itappears that the ownership of bicycles is on therise from 1990 onward based on the implementationof a mass rapid transit system and theemphasis on recreation.The statistics regarding the purpose of bicycle tripsin Taipei City is shown in Table 4. It can be shownfrom Table 4 that the percentage of individualsusing bicycles to travel to work or transfer to publictransport is increasing.THE AVERAGE TRIP LENGTH USING BICYCLESIN TAIPEI CITYThe average trip length when using bicycles inTaipei City is calculated from the bicycle trip time inthe Taipei metropolitan area and the average speedFigure - 3 : Ownership of Bicycle in Taipei City10.8Volume(per household)0.60.40.201940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010YearSource: Lu (2007)THE MODAL SHARE OF THE BICYCLE INTAIPEI CITYBefore 1970, the bicycle was the most importantprivate transportation mode and the modal share ofbicycles was 18.85%, which was only inferior to the43.4% modal share using public transportation, butsuperior to the 15.64% modal share of motorcycles.Due to the rise in income after 1970, the number ofmotor vehicles increased rapidly and made themodal share of bicycles gradually decrease. From1991 to 2003, the modal share of bicycles in TaipeiCity was in a static situation of 1% to 2% as shownin Figure 4.of bicycles. The average speed of a bicycle inurban areas is about 10 to 14km/hr and bicycledurations in the Taipei metropolitan area is shownin Table 5. In this way, it is possible to obtain theresult of 4 to 6km as the average trip length inTaipei City.34 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanFigure - 4 : Modal Share of Bicycles in Taipei City40.00%35.00%Modal Share (%)30.00%25.00%20.00%15.00%10.00%5.00%0.00%1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010YearBicycleMotorcycleCarSource: Lu (2007)Table - 4 : Purposes of Bicycle Trips in Taipei CityPurposeYear2000 2002 2004Shopping 32% - 51%Short distance - 40% 28%Exercise - 27%Recreation 49% 21% 29%Work 9% 5% 20%School 8% - -Feeder to Bus or MRT 2% 3% 4%Source: Lu (2007)Bicycling in Asia 35

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanTable - 5 : Bicycle Trip Time in Taipei Metropolitan AreaTrip Time PercentageLess than 10 mins. 43.2%10~20 mins. 28.6%More than 20 mins. 28.2%Source: Lu (2007)DIFFICULTIES IN PROMOTING BICYCLES INTAIWANAs the national economy grows and the GNPincreases in Taiwan, the ownership of cars andmotorcycles becomes more popular in everyhousehold. There are 23 million people in Taiwan'spopulation, with 5.7 million cars and 12 millionmotorcycles, but only 1.1 million bicycles. In thissituation, although Taiwan has been recognized asthe kingdom of bicycle manufacturing, nearly 95%of the total sales are for export, and only 5% areretained for domestic use. Bicycle usage as atransport mode in Taiwan has always been anissue.In Taiwan, more than half of the bicyclesare used for recreational purposes, and thebalance are used for commuting. Compared toJapan, in Taiwan bicycles are used for commutingmore than for recreation, so there is still a lot ofroom for improvement. The main reason thatbicycles are not used for commuting is that peoplein Taiwan consider bicycles as a lower form oftransportation and the environment lacks planningor safety designed for bicycles. However, from theperspective of sustainable development, cyclistsdeserve a better cycling environment in Taiwan.This is why Taiwan is currently promoting theestablishment of bike lanes and creating a saferbiking environment.Figure - 5 : Current urban traffic conditions in Taiwan36 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanFigure 5 shows some pictures of current trafficconditions in the urban areas of Taiwan. Throughthese pictures, it is easy to recognize the toughenvironment for cyclists. To become an advancednation with a sustainable environment, it isnecessary to re-consider urban development withthe thought of green transportation modes insteadof private motorized vehicles in the forefront of ourplanning.SAFETY ISSUESBicycles provide a convenient and non-pollutingprivate transportation mode which is worthy ofpromotion. However, the current road conditions inTaiwan are not suitable for bicycles, and bicyclesafety is a critical issue of concern.In this section, we simplify the research resultsfound by the Institute of Transportation (2004)which used accident data collected from 2000 to2002 to discuss some characteristics of bicycleaccidents in Taiwan.Table - 6 : Fatality rates for bicycles, motorcycles,and carsMode Fatality Rate Fatality Rate(Number/ (Number/Million Capita) Billion Km)Bicycle 0.09 411Motorcycle 0.69 65Car 2.1 16Source: Institute of Transportation (2004)Table 6 shows the death rates for bicycles,motorcycles, and cars based on two differentfactors; the number of fatality per million capita andthe number of fatality per billion km traveled. It isfound that the fatality rate for bicycles is muchlower than that of motorcycles and cars when themetric is fatality per million capita.However, the fatality rate is totally differentwhen the metric is fatality per billion km traveled.This means that the probability of a lethal accidenton a bicycle is much higher than for a motorcycle orcar with the same travel distance, and illustratesthat bicycle safety is a very important issue inTaiwan.Bicycle accidents can be divided intolethal accidents and injury accidents. According tostatistics gathered during 2000 and 2002, bothlethal accidents and injury accidents are mostly dueto lateral hits, with the percentages being 33% and31%, respectively. Additionally, 75% of lethalaccidents happen because of head injuries and45% of injury accidents result in head and leginjuries. This means that head injury is the maintype of injury that occurs in both lethal and injuryaccidents because of the infrequent use of helmets.In terms of the locations in which bicycle accidentshappen, regardless of whether they are lethal orinjury accidents, intersections and fast traffic lanesare the most likely places where bicycle accidentsare likely to take place.Based on these analyses of bicycleaccidents, it is obvious that legal and regulatoryschemes are still needed for enhancing the safetyof cyclists in Taiwan.In the U.S.A., the Pedestrian and BicycleInformation Center (PBIC) developed a checklist torate a community's “bikeability” (ITE, 1994).Experienced cyclists are asked to respond to eachitem, based on their own opinions, by circling anoverall rating for each item.The item-level responses are averagedacross respondents and the averages are thensummed up to come up with a global rating foreach community. The scores are divided into fivecategories: 26-30 represents a bicycle-friendlycommunity, 21-25 is a good community, 16-20indicates the conditions for riding are okay, 11-15indicates the conditions are poor, and 5-10represents the worst conditions.In a previous study, the authors appliedthe PBIC checklist to investigate 22 communities inthe case of Hsinchu Technpolis in December 2006.The average score of bikeability was 14.64, whichmeans: conditions are poor.Bicycling in Asia 37

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanBICYCLE INDUSTRY IN TAIWANThis section introduces the development of theTaiwan bicycle industry and starts by providingsome features of this industry. Some statistical dataregarding production and sales are shown in thesecond part of the chapter. Finally, a cooperativemodel of bicycle manufacturing alliance in Taiwanis presented.THE DEVELOPMENT OF TAIWAN BICYCLEINDUSTRYThe rising demand for good bicycles led to the startof new firms in the U.S.A., Japan, and Taiwan.Before the late 1970s, Asian manufacturers hadalready well undercut the prices of the oldEuropean and American manufacturers. Of all thequality frames made, more than 50% came fromthe Taiwanese Giant Company.Bicycles were first introduced to Taiwan byJapan during the Japanese dominance. After theWar was over, bicycles made in Taiwan weremostly sold to the local market and importedbicycles were still the mainstream in the bicyclemarket. Therefore, the government decided to helpbicycle manufacturers in Taiwan develop and meetthe domestic demand. Under a series of protectivemeasures in the 1950s, four major bicycle assemblyplants rose.However, when a huge number of 49ccmotorcycles which did not require a driver's licenseto operate were imported to Taiwan from Japan in1968, bicycles suddenly became obsolete. Theindustry suffered losses until a 1-million unit orderwas given by the American brand “Schwinn” in1972. This was a milestone in the export of bicyclesand started the era of Original EquipmentManufacturing (OEM) for the Taiwan bicycleindustry. In 1980, Taiwan's bicycle export volumesurpassed Japan's and it became the largestexporter in the world. The export volume fromTaiwan reached 10 million in 1986 and thenickname for Taiwan as the “kingdom of thebicycle” was born.Since the 1990s, wages and prices haveincreased in Taiwan, and the manufacturing ofbicycles was relocated to China and otherSoutheast Asian countries where costs are lower.The domestic production of bicycles in Taiwan wasreduced drastically and China became the largestbicycle manufacturer, as it has the advantage ofproducing low- to mid-priced bicycles.However, Taiwanese companies shiftedtheir emphasis to the research and design of midtohigh-priced bicycles. The Taiwan bicycle industryhas gone beyond the OEM model and is nowfocusing on making products that are lighter,innovative, and unique. High quality bicycles withadded value are the new focus for Taiwanesebicycle manufacturers, and Taiwan has become themost important supplier of mid- and high-pricedbicycles in the world.Since Taiwanese manufacturers focus onthe research of frames, materials, and angledesign, their products not only impress the publicwith the guarantee of quality but also win importantnational events that make bicycles produced inTaiwan the best in the world.After reviewing of the history of the Taiwanbicycle industry, we can draw some conclusionsbased on some features of this industry.1. The vertical integration of Taiwan's bicycleindustry is compact from componentmanufacturers to fully-assembled bicyclemanufacturers.2. A completely assembled bicycle can beanatomized into more than 2,000 components.In this way, the scope of the bicycle industryincludes metal, rubber, and chemical relatedindustries. The bicycle industry can beconsidered an assemblage productionindustry.3. Because the domestic demand is small,Taiwan's bicycle industry is export oriented.4. Bicycle manufacturers in Taiwan focus on theresearch and development of materials tomake bicycles lighter, more durable, andconvenient.38 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Cycling in Taiwan5. Because it is export oriented, the bicycleindustry in Taiwan is greatly influenced byseasonal demand and fluctuating economicconditions.Due to the support of the government and the hardwork of the manufacturers, the bicycle industry inTaiwan is already upgraded and has become a hightechnology industry.Figure 7 shows the production value of thebicycle industry in Taiwan. It can be observed thatthe production value is increasing regardless ofwhether it addresses bicycle components or wholebikes.The statistics of the value of completelyassembled bicycles imported to and exported fromTaiwan are shown in Figure 8. It can be concludedthat the export value is much higher than the importvalue for completely assembled bicycles. Thesedata reflect a trade surplus in this manufacturingsector.Figure - 6 : Bicycle Produced in Different CountriesVolume(Unit : million)90807060504030201001999 2001 2003 2005 2007YearChinaTaiwanUSAJapanItalyGermanyFranceEuropeanUnionPRODUCTION AND SALES ANALYSISIn this section, we analyze the production and salessituations in the bicycle industry in Taiwan throughsome figures and tables.Figure 6 shows the volume of bicyclesproduced in different countries. According to thestatistics, Taiwan produced more than 4.7 millionbicycles in 2005 and was fourth place in the world;just below China, India, and Brazil in productionvolume.Concerning the production and sales ofbicycles made in Taiwan, Figure 7 to Figure 10show some macroscopic statistical data, which isdiscussed as follows.In the area of bicycle components, Figure9 shows the import and export values. As opposedto completely assembled bicycles, the import andexport values for bicycle components show noobvious differences. Additionally, the total value ofimported and exported bicycle components is muchless than the total value of completely assembledbicycles. These data then reflect an essential tradebalance in this sector.Analyzing the bicycle manufacturers, wesee that more than 95% of bicycles made in Taiwanare exported, and less than 5% are demanded byinternal markets, as shown in Figure 10.Bicycling in Asia 39

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanFigure - 7 : Production Value of Bicycle Industry in Taiwan40,000Production Value(NTD : Million)30,00020,00010,00002000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007YearWhole BikeComponentsSource: Industrial Technology Research Institute (2006)USD 1 = NTD 33Figure - 8 : Sales Statistics for Completely Assembled Bicycles in Taiwan40,000Value(NTD : Million)30,00020,00010,00002000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007YearImportExportSource: Industrial Technology Research Institute (2006)USD 1 = NTD 33Figure - 9 : Sales Statistics for Bike Components in Taiwan15,000Value(NTD : Million)10,0005,00002000 2002 2004 2006ImportExportYearSource: Industrial Technology Research Institute (2006)USD 1 = NTD 3340 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanFigure - 10 : Volume of Completely Assembled Bicycles Produced in Taiwan6,0005,000Volume(Unit : 1,000)4,0003,0002,0001,00002000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006YearProducedSold inside TWNExportSource: Industrial Technology Research Institute (2006)EXPORT ANALYSISTable 7 shows the historical data associated withexport values from 2001 to 2005. It is obvious thatthe total export value is increasing and thepercentage of completely assembled bicycles ismuch higher than the percentage of bicyclecomponents. Additionally, with the informationshown in Tables 8 and 9, the main export countriesfor the Taiwanese bicycle industry are the U.S.Aand European countries.Figure 11 shows the average price ofcompletely assembled Taiwanese bicycles in thetop six export countries. The values shown inFigure 11 implies that the bicycle industry in Taiwanfocuses on high unit price products for export.IMPORT ANALYSISIn the area of import analysis, the total productionvalue is much less than that of export, and most ofthe products that are imported to Taiwan arebicycle components instead of completely assembledbicycles, as can be seen in Table 10.Table 11 shows that the most important importcountry for completely assembled bicycles isChina. This means that bicycles imported to Taiwanare positioned at the mid- to low-priced level.However, the two biggest import countries ofbicycle components are China and Japan as shownin Table 12. This means that some componentUSD 1 = NTD 33products imported into Taiwan focus on theircheaper prices and others focus on high quality.THE DEVELOPMENT OF A-TEAMThe domestic production of bicycles in Taiwanreached a peak in the 1980s with an annual outputof over 10 million units. Most Taiwanese manufacturersadopted the strategy of working as OEM andmaximizing profits by increasing quantity.However, at the beginning of the 1990s, domesticcosts began to rise and the Chinese market beganto open its economy to overseas investment. Thisforced a large number of Taiwanese bicyclemanufacturers to move their production centers toChina and took advantage of comparativelycheaper Chinese labor while also giving themaccess to China's huge bicycle market. ButChinese bicycle manufacturers were competingfiercely with the Taiwanese in the global OEMmarket and undercutting their prices in the worldmarket after 1990.This kind of price competition resulted in aloss of orders for many Taiwanese manufacturers.As a result, Taiwanese manufacturers started tofind a new strategic direction by producing highervalue-added products, which led to an industrywidetransformation/restructuring process beginningin the year 2000.In January of 2003, two leading domesticBicycling in Asia 41

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanTable - 7 : Historical data of export valuesYear 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005Product Amount1 % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount %Completely Assembled 20,089 67.9 19,881 69.1 21,854 68.7 26,034 70.6 31,796 74.1BicyclesComponentsFrame System 3,323 11.2 3,118 10.9 4,294 13.5 4,571 12.3 5,218 12.2Transmission System 2,200 7.4 1,791 6.2 1,604 5 1,678 4.6 1,287 3.0Wheel System 2,304 7.8 2,255 7.9 2,241 7 2,613 7.1 2,512 5.9Steering system 730 2.5 672 2.3 679 2.1 817 2.2 727 1.7Brake System 805 2.7 796 2.8 869 2.7 916 2.5 1,031 2.4Attachments 150 0.5 224 0.8 265 0.8 296 0.8 348 0.8Sum of Components 9,512 32.1 8,872 30.8 9,952 30.8 10,839 29.4 11,106 25.9Total 29,601 100 28,667 100 31,806 100 36,873 100 42,902 100Source: Industrial Technology Research Institute (2006) 1 Unit: NTD (Million) USD 1 = NTD 33Table - 8 : Top ten export countries for completely assembled bicycles from Taiwanese companySource: Industrial Technology Research Institute (2006) 1 Unit: NTD (Million) USD 1 = NTD 33bicycle companies, Giant and Merida created apartnership with another 11 Taiwanese bicycle partsmanufacturers to establish a partnership called "A-Team". The A-Team has been defined andpositioned as a learning organization. Members ofthe A-Team share management know-how in valuebasedmanufacturing processes to raise productionquality standards.The purpose of this kind of partnership isto stimulate innovation, enhance quality, andquicken response time in the bicycle supply chain.A-Team's aspirations were to leverage the highquality of integrated manufacturing in order tocounter the industry's movement towards costdown,low quality, and ever-decreasing margins.Figure 12 shows some pictures of the A-Teamsymbol.With the A-Team structure, bicycle42 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanTable - 9 : Top ten export countries for componentsSource: Industrial Technology Research Institute (2006) 1 Unit: NTD (Million) USD 1 = NTD 33Figure - 11 : Average Price of Whole Bike in Top Six Export Countries12,00010,000Price(NTD)8,0006,0004,000USAJapanEnglandBelgiumThe NetherlandsGermany2,00002001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006Source: Industrial Technology Research Institute (2006) 1 Unit: NTD (Million) USD 1 = NTD 33manufacturers were not only able to provide anintegrated structure for manufacturing andassembling the bicycles, but were also able todevelop new products. This arrangement created achain of global specialty bicycle retailers.Figure - 12 : Logo of the A-TeamBicycling in Asia 43

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanTable - 10 : Historical data of import valueYear 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005Product Amount1 % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount %Completely Assembled 5 0.1 66 0.9 188 2.0 468 3.7 672 5.0BicyclesComponentsFrame System 2,118 35.6 2,504 32.8 2,813 29.9 3,720 29.3 4,747 35.1Transmission System 1,892 31.8 2,341 30.7 2,954 31.4 3,785 29.8 3,332 24.7Wheel System 738 12.4 1,072 14.1 1,308 13.9 1,845 14.5 2,020 15.0Steering system 351 5.9 457 6.0 465 5.0 575 4.5 678 5.0Brake System 817 13.7 1,147 15.0 1,613 17.2 2,238 17.6 2,000 14.8Attachments 150 0.5 224 0.8 265 0.8 296 0.8 348 0.8Sum of Components 25 0.4 38 0.5 58 0.6 61 0.5 60 0.4Source: Industrial Technology Research Institute (2006) 1 Unit: NTD (Million) USD 1 = NTD 33Table - 11 : Top ten import countries of complete assembled bicyclesSource: Industrial Technology Research Institute (2006) 1 Unit: NTD (Million) USD 1 = NTD 33RESEARCH AND PLANNINGISSUESThe routes for bike lanes should be decided basedon existing roads. Nearby residential areas andmain activity areas must be analyzed in order todetermine the needed bike routes. However, underthe conditions of mixed traffic, it is difficult toprovide a safe and convenient environment forcyclists to commute. Therefore, it is necessary toseparate different kinds of traffic flows and integratethe planning, design, and implementation of roadsin urban areas to encourage the usage of bicyclesfor commuting.THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A BICYCLE RENTALSYSTEMIn order to encourage biking and increase thenumber of cyclists, bicycle rental is worthy ofpromotion. Bicycle rental may also promote the44 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanTable - 11 : Top ten import countries of complete assembled bicyclesSource: Industrial Technology Research Institute (2006) 1 Unit: NTD (Million) USD 1 = NTD 33biking and tourism industries, as well as enhancethe quality of life.Generally speaking, a bike rental systemcan be divided into the management and controlsystem, rental and return system, fee collectionsystem, and other relevant systems.(1) Management and controlThe bike rental management and controlsystem includes manual and computermanagement. Manual management isachieved through on-site personnel, whereasthe other utilizes advanced, computerizedmanagement.(2) Bike rental and return systemBike rental and return systems and the relatedanti-theft measures must be secure,convenient, and easy to use. They include thecomponents of the rental procedures and antitheftmeasures. Rental procedures include thetraditional method that requires on-sitepersonnel and the more advanced DIYmethod. The advanced method utilizes point ormagnetic cards or mobile phones. As for bikereturns, users can return them to the originalpost or at different locations.(3) Fee collection systemThe fee collection system for bike rentalsincludes on-site payment or advancedpayment. On-site payment is often used in thetraditional bike rental shops where attendantsare needed. Also, these places often require adeposit of documents or cash. However, theydo not change additional handling fees. Anadvanced payment system is used in anadvanced rental system. Since DIY bike rentalservices often have memberships, users mustregister in advance. They can make thepayment via point cards, cash deposit, orcredit cards.(4) Auxiliary serviceBike rental can also be combined with relevantindustries to provide diverse services. Besidesservices related to insurance, advertising, andschedule planning, rental stations can also bejoined with restaurants and relevant productsto provide a more complete biking servicenetwork.Although a bike rental system is good to encouragethe usage of bicycles, it is much more important tocombine the elements of a bike rental system withthe implementation of public transportation andother infrastructures.Bicycling in Asia 45

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanNEW STRATEGIES FOR BICYCLE PROMOTIONNew strategies to promote bicycle activities inTaiwan are worth noting. To stimulate the usage ofbicycles, innovative promotion strategies areneeded. Towards that end, three promotionexamples are presented to inspire more ideas toencourage the activities of bicycles.(1) First Bicycle Industrial Park in TaiwanThere is a “Bicycle Industrial Park Scheme”initiated in Chunghwa County by the localgovernment and bicycle industries.The aim of the park is to build a “bicycle mall”to promote bicycle related products and also toencourage more cycling tourists to visit thecounty.(2) Cycling the Island“Cycling the whole island” becomes a fancytarget among the citizens of Taiwan. From 7year old to 70 year olds, many people have adream of cycling round the island within oneweek.It is also a challenge for the youth to cycledifferent distances when they grow up. Thenewly-elected president Ma expects that 16year-olds can cycle at least 100kms; 18 yearoldscan cycle at least 200kms; and 20 yearoldscan cycle the whole Island.(3) North cycle routes from Keelung to HsinchuThe central government is trying to connect thecycling routes from county to county. Thegovernment initiated two cycling routes in thenorth part of Taiwan (from Keelung to Hsinchu).One is a coastal cycling route; the other is amountain cycling route.Beside the issues mentioned above, thereare still lots of efforts and research that shouldbe done to create a safe, convenient, andpleasurable environment for cyclists in Taiwan.CONCLUSIONCurrently, Taiwan has 23 million residents and isone of the highest population densities around theworld. There has been a growing dependence onprivate motorized transportation, evidenced by thepresence of 5.7 million cars and 12 millionmotorcycles. Vehicles with internal combustionengines have, therefore, become an inseparableway of life in Taiwan and a staple of its economy,despite the fact it is the cradle of the third largestmultinational maker of bicycles in the world.Motorcycles are the most common feature ofTaiwanese city traffic because of their mobility,convenience, and easy parking, but they are also ahuge problem as the infrastructure is far from city'sadequate. The roads are jammed with cars andtrucks; at peak hours they become an unbearabledaily experience for drivers and a dreadfully riskysituation for those who want to ride a bike. Inaddition, they contribute to environmental problemscausing severe health issues which are a burden tothe health care system.Fortunately, the government of Taiwan hastaken notice of this situation and, after neglectingwalking, cycling, and public transportation systemsfor long time, has started promoting these strategiesand encouraging citizens to use them. SinceMay 2008, the new government has officiallyannounced development of a low carbon andenergy saving society. The policy on national landdevelopment, housing and industry, as well astransportation will be formulated. Development of aworld class cycling environment has been consideredas a crucial element in this 5 year nationalproject.Based on reviewing the results of bicycleenvironments and the bicycle industry, it issuggested that the government of Taiwan needs tourgently consider, in the short run, a strategy forencouraging the increase of bicycles to ensure thatcyclists are safe on the roads. The governmentmust decide the best way of allocating road spacethrough a package of regulations. This is alsoessential to provide a smooth and safe cyclingexperience and a healthy high-quality standard oflife for all Taiwanese citizens.From the perspective of the bicycle environment,Taiwan's government has already beenengaged in efforts to promote the usage of bicyclesfor recreation, and some infrastructures were also46 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Cycling in Taiwanimplemented. However, there are still manydisadvantages that could be improved, such as theimplementation of commuting bike lanes/networksand bicycle-related regulations.As for students, cycling to school provides themwith opportunities to have meaningful socialinteractions and provides physical benefits whileprotecting the environment at the same time. It is,therefore, socially correct for the government ofTaiwan to promote this alternative mode as arelevant part of our life and lifestyle.As regards the bicycle industry, Taiwanesebicycle manufacturers already make their productswith a guarantee of high quality and have foundtheir position in the international market. AlthoughTaiwanese bicycle manufacturers have becomerole models to other countries, they are still able tostrengthen the integration of the industry and try tomake their products customized to satisfy a varietyof needs from different customers.With the advantage in the bicycle industry,people in Taiwan should have the vision that makesTaiwan a “Bicycle Island” as well as a world classproduction and design center for high qualitybicycles.ReferencesTain-Pen Hsu, Chi-Hung Huang and Yu-TzongShiao. Pedaling into the Dream: Exhibition ofBiking Sport and Leisure. National Scienceand Technology Museum. June, 2007.Fong-Fu Lin and Shih-Hsiang Yu. Bicycle AccidentsAnalysis and Countermeasures. ResearchReport, Institute of Transportation, Ministry ofTransportation and Communications, Dec.,2004.Chia-Ling Lu. A study on planning commutingbikeways in an urban area. Master Thesis,Department of Civil Engineering, NationalTaiwan University. Jun., 2007.Chun-Huang Huang. A study of bicycle relatedhead injuries in Taiwan. Master thesis, Instituteof Injury Prevention and Control, TaipeiMedical University. June, 2003.C.Y. Chiang.Formation of A-Team and Its Impact on theTaiwanese Bicycle Industry. IndustrialTechnology Research Institute. Jan., 2005.From:http://www.itri.org.tw/eng/news/commentaryshow.jsp?path=commentary-20050124.dcrYu-Shu Peng. Giant Rides to the Top. April, 2005.From:http://petersyt.blogspot.com/2005/04/blogpost_111312146417314565.htmlHong-Yen Lio, et al. Vehicle Industry Yearbook.Industrial Technology Research Institute. May,2005.Wen-Yan Liao. The Contribution of NGN onSustainable Transportation and on theBikeway Planning. Master Thesis, Departmentof Water Resources and EnvironmentalEngineering, Tamkang University. June, 2005.Shih-Shui Yeh. Retrospect and Outlook of TaiwanBicycle Industry's Development. MasterThesis, Graduate School of Management,Yuan-Ze University. June, 2006.Hsin-Wen Chang and Hung-Nien Hsieh. “A Studyon the Recreational Cyclists in NorthernTaiwan,” Asian Pacific Planning Review. Dec.v(4) no.1, 2006, pp115-130Hsin-Wen Chang and Hsin-Li Chang. “AStrategic Study of Bicycle Tourism inTaiwan.” Journal of Eastern Asia Societyfor Transportation Studies. Oct. v(5), 2003,pp1675-1685.Hsin-Wen Chang. “Let's get the nation ridingbicycles,” Taipei Times, 2006. Sunday,Sep.10, 8, Translated by Marc Langer.Hsin-Wen Chang and Hung-Nien Hsieh.Bikeability Strategy for a Creative City-Chupei Case. International Symposium onCity Planning. Japan, Yokohama, Aug, 16-18, 2007.Hsin-Wen Chang and Hung-Nien Hsieh.Leisure Cycling- A Diverse, Creative andSustainable Activity: Preference Study inTaiwan- Hsin-Chu Case. InternationalSymposium on City Planning. Taiwan,Taipei, Aug. 1-11, 2006Hsin-Wen Chang and Hsin-Li Chang. A Studyon Bicycle Tourism and RecreationalBicycling in Asia 47

The Status of Cycling in TaiwanCyclists in Taiwan, The 9th Conference ofHong Kong Society for TransportationStudies (HKSTS), Honk Kong, Dec.10-12,2004, pp1-10.Institute of Transportation Engineers, Bicyclingand Walking, ITE, Washington, D.C., 1994.48 Bicycling in Asia

THE STATUS OF BICYCLES IN SINGAPOREPaul A. BarterBACKGROUNDBicycles play a limited role in Singapore's urbantransport system. This is surprising in light ofSingapore's reputation as a paragon ofsustainability in urban transport and its vigorousrestraints on the ownership and use of private cars(Barter 2008). Despite a relative neglect of bicyclesas an urban transport mode, there is still much toreport. There are also small signs of changetowards a more positive policy setting towardsbicycles.BICYCLE OWNERSHIP AND USEStatistics on bicycle ownership or use are apparentlynot yet compiled in a very systematic way inSingapore. This reflects the relative lack of interestin bicycles as transport from the key land transportagencies, although there are small signs that thismay be changing.Even though data on bicycles in Singapore is ratherscanty, the information that is available is consistentand reveals a low but not negligible level ofbicycle use as a mode of transport. There may besigns of a recent slight increase in bicycle use aftermany decades of declining use. According to the2004 HIS conducted by the Land TransportAuthority (LTA), 'bicycle only' accounted for 1.1% ofhome-based work trips and 0.6% of home-basedschool trips. This work trip figure is very slightly upfrom the 1988 HIS, which had bicycles at 1.0% ofwork trips (cited by Willoughby, 2000)Another source of data is the national census,which provides numbers for 'usual mode oftransport to work', which is not strictly comparablewith the HIS data above. As shown in Table 1, the'bicycle only' share dropped from 2.1% in 1980 to0.9% in 1990 and 0.8% in 2000.The 2000 Census and the 2005 GeneralHousehold Survey provide data on the usual modeof transport to work, cross-tabulated with othervariables. Unfortunately, bicycles are not reportedbut are included under the 'other' category.Table - 1 : Usual Mode of Transport to Work for ResidentWorking Population Aged 15 Years & OverMode of Transportto work / schoolCensus YearBicycle onlyBicycle withanother modeResident working personsaged 15 years and over19802.1%n.a.1990 20000.9% 0.8%0.1% 0.1%Source : Data request answered by Department ofStatistics Singapore, June 2008However, it may be reasonable to assume somecorrelation between 'other' and bicycles. In the2000 Census of Population (Data Release 4), 1.2%of workers used a single 'other' mode of transport,while we saw above that 0.8% used bicycle onlyaccording to census data provided by theDepartment of Statistics. Therefore bicyclesaccount for two thirds of this 'other only' categoryoverall.If we assume this proportion (bicycles as2/3 of the single-mode 'other' category) to beconsistent then a few more comments can bemade about the role of bicycles. However, it mustbe emphasised that the following comments areextremely tentative. Bicycles are unlikely to becompletely consistent as two thirds of this 'other'category in all situations and across time.A first tentative comment is that there may havebeen an increase in bicycle use between 2000 and2005 (after decades of decline, as shown above).From 1.2% in the 2000 census, the 'other only'category in the usual mode for work trips rose toBicycling in Asia 49

The Status of Bicycles in Singapore1.6% in the 2005 General Household Survey(Department of Statistics 2005). Although thisconclusion is tentative, such an increase wouldmatch some other, more anecdotal, evidence of arecent increase in bicycle use in Singapore. Notealso that these figures apply to 'resident workers'which includes Singapore citizens and people withpermanent residency status but excludes severalhundred thousand workers in Singapore underwork permits or employment passes. Anecdotally,bicycles are probably a more common modeamong non-resident workers (many Singaporeansassume bicycles are used primarily by foreignworkers!).Other tentative conclusions also followfrom the assumption above (that variations in the'other only' category reflect variations in bicycleuse). All of the comments below on the use of'other' modes are plausible as conclusions to applyto bicycles. Those who use a single 'other' mode toget to work were apparently disproportionatelymale, from low-income households, elderly, andwith work trips below 15 minutes in duration.Specifically, in 2005; 2.1% of male workers used'other' versus only 0.4% of female workers. In2005, as mentioned above 1.6% of all workersusually went to work by 'other' modes, but thefigures were 3.3% of workers in low-income(

The Status of Bicycles in SingaporeTable - 2 : Bicycle parking places provided at MRTstations as of February 2002 (only thosewith more than 50 are shown)MRT Station NamePasir Ris 509Tampines 470Yishun 270Sembawang 258Admiralty 237Woodlands 202Tanjong Pagar 158Choa Chu Kang 150Kembangan 140Bedok 110Eunos 110Kallang 88Yew Tee 88Simei 85Ang Mo Kio 77Khatib 72Bukit Batok 72Bishan 70Bugis 70Lakeside 65Redhill 68Number of bicycleparking placesSource : Information provided by SMRT, 2002pattern of bicycle parking has some overlap withthe planning areas that had a higher-than-averagework-travel role for a single 'other' mode in the2000 census data. However, only one inner-citydistrict appears, probably because more bicyclework trips in such areas are short and direct(without bicycle access to public transport).SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF BICYCLEUSERSBicycle users vary widely in socio-economic status.Circumstantial evidence from data on 'other' modesabove suggested relatively low socio-economicstatus on average. Public perceptions apparentlyconcur with such data. Day-to-day, short-distanceuse of ordinary bicycles (such as the cheapermountain-bike-styled bicycles or traditional 'safetybicycles') is commonly associated anecdotally inSingapore with low-income elderly men and withmale temporary workers in low-paying jobs(colloquially 'foreign workers').Nevertheless, it would be misleading to generalise.Prominent segments of bicycle use, including somebicycle commuters, use high-end bicycles andaccessories that convey an affluent image. Bicyclesused for short trips within government-built housingestates, especially some of the newer outer ones,neighbourhoods where footpath cycling is thenorm, appears to involve quite a wide cross-sectionof people and both men and women.BICYCLE CRASH CASUALTIESBicycle users appear to be over-representedamong road fatalities in Singapore relative to theirrole in the transport system. Bicycle users were7.2% of all road fatalities in the whole period 1990to 2006 (Table 3). This compares unfavourably witha work-trip mode share of roughly 1% through mostof this period (as discussed above). We do nothave data on the bicycle share of all trips but itseems unlikely to be more than 2%.Both total road deaths and pedestrian deaths havebeen declining since the mid-1990s, despite arapidly rising population as well as significantlylarger vehicle fleet and more total vehicular travelsince then. However, no such obvious downwardtrend in bicycle user deaths can be seen. Withsmall numbers it would be unwise to read too muchinto these data. And without being able to comparewith exposure measures, we cannot draw conclusionsabout any trend in the level of danger forbicycle users. A speculative storyline here might bethat Singapore's roads are slowly becoming saferfor all users but that bicycle use may have beenrising somewhat since around 2000 so thatimproved safety is not reflected in lower numbers ofcyclist deaths.Aged bicycle users seem to be especiallyover-represented among bicycle user fatalities. Theyear 1998 is the most recent with publicly-availableBicycling in Asia 51

The Status of Bicycles in SingaporeTable - 3 : Persons killed in road accidents, 1990-2006Year Pedal Cyclist Pedestrians Total Pedal Cyclist as %1990 16 ` 88 236 6.8%1991 18 70 243 7.4%1992 18 65 239 7.5%1993 19 61 258 7.4%1994 17 67 254 6.7%1995 7 63 225 3.1%1996 15 70 225 6.7%1997 16 78 257 6.2%1998 15 67 221 6.8%1999 19 56 198 9.6%2000 15 59 213 7.0%2001 12 54 194 6.2%2002 16 49 199 8.0%2003 17 64 212 8.0%2004 17 46 193 8.8%2005 18 41 173 10.4%2006 14 42 190 7.4%Source : Information provided by SMRT, 2002Figure - 1 : Persons killed in road accidents, 1990-2006250200150Pedal CyclistPedestrians100Total5001990 1995 2000 2005Source : Singapore Traffic Policy annual reports on road safety (as shown in the reference list)52 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Bicycles in Singaporedata on the age breakdown of road deaths. Of the15 'pedal cyclists' killed on the roads in 1998, tenwere in the over 50 age group and eight of thesewere over 60 (Singapore traffic police 1999). Inpart, this may reflect the overrepresentation of theaged among bicycle users. The available data isnot sufficient to know. However, older workers' useof bicycles in the use data presented earlier did notseem high enough to account for the extremeoverrepresentation of the aged among the 1998cyclist deaths. So higher exposure seems unlikelyto be the only reason for this.Unfortunately, no data has been presented publiclyto breakdown the locations and causes of bicycleuser deaths and injuries. Such information wouldbe useful in assessing the widespread belief thatcycling on footways is safer than riding on the roadin the Singapore context. For example, it isunknown how many of the bicycle users killed overthe years were riding on footways or park connectorsbut killed while crossing a road.BICYCLE-RELATED INDUSTRIESSingapore is not a major bicycle manufacturingsite. However, it does have a significant bicyclecomponent industry. In particular, Shimano has es)had a large plant manufacturing bicycle componentsin Singapore since 1973. Singapore importsmore complete bicycles (and tricycles) than itexports (Table 4). However, for several categoriesof bicycle components, exports greatly exceedimports, as seen in the data for 2000 in Table 5below.BICYCLE PLANNING AND POLICYIN PRACTICEThis section briefly outlines Singapore's key policysettings and initiatives on bicycles as transport overthe last decade or two.A PLACE FOR BICYCLES IN THE TRANSPORTSYSTEM?The official Government view of the place ofbicycles in the transport system is ambivalent.Since the early 1970s spatial efficiency has been acentral focus of Singapore's urban transportpolicies (Barter, 2008). The peak agencies on landtransport policy (the Ministry of Transport and theLand Transport Authority) remain unconvinced thatbicycles are space-efficient enough to play asignificant role.Table - 4 : Imports and exports of bicycles and other cycles including delivery tricycles not motorised (NMB)Direction QTY(2000) Value(2000) QTY(2005) Value(2005) QTY(2007) Value(2007)Import 297,151 17,146 248,131 15,620 247,693 17,349Export 48,811 3,052 121,171 4,752 112,716 4,602Total 248,340 14,094 126,960 10,868 134,977 12,747(Imp-Exp)Note: Value figures are in thousands of Singapore Dollars. In 2000, S$1.73 = 1 USD. In 2005, S$1.66 = 1 USD. In 2007,S$1.51 = 1 USD. Source: Singapore Trade Statistics, Vol.4 #12 yr.2000, Vol.9 #12 yr.2005, Vol.11 #12 yr.2007.Bicycling in Asia 53

The Status of Bicycles in SingaporeTable - 5 : Value of imports and exports of bicycles and bicycle components 2000Description Direction Value(2000)(thousand S$)Bicycles and other cycles include delivery tricycles import 17,146not motorised (NMB) export 3,052Frames and forks and parts thereof bicycles & other cycles import 1,216not motorised export 251Wheel rim and spokes of Bicycles & other cycles import 967not motorised export 420HUBS excl coaster braking hubs & hub brakes & free-wheel import 890sprocket-wheels of Bicycles & other cycles not motorised export 5,580Brakes include coaster braking hubs & hub brakes & parts thereof of import 1,501Bicycles & other cycles not motorised export 3,542Saddles of Bicycles & other cycles not motorised import 59export 11Pedals & crank-gears & parts thereof of Bicycles & other import 205cycles not motorised export 221Other Parts & accessories of Bicycles & other import 253,337cycles not motorised export 454,820Note: Figures in bold indicate exports exceeding imports. In 2000, S$1.73 = 1 USD.Source: Singapore Trade Statistics, Vol.4 #12 yr.200054 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Bicycles in SingaporeThis ambivalence is reflected in thefollowing parliamentary reply by the Minister ofState for Transport, Mrs LIM Hwee Hua, during the2008 Budget debate, which represents the currentofficial view (Hansard (Singapore), 2008):We recognise that cycling provides anadditional, if not alternative, mode oftransport, especially for intra-town traveland to key transport nodes, like the MRTstations and the bus interchanges.To promote greater use of public transport,LTA will be implementing several measures tofacilitate cycling. Better bicycle parking facilitiesat the MRT stations and bus has interchangesin housing estates will be provided. The bicycleparking facilities will be sheltered and moreoptimally designed for supporting and securingthe bicycles. A one-year pilot will be carriedout next year at the MRT stations cum businterchanges at Pasir Ris, Tampines andYishun. This pilot will allow LTA to gatherfeedback so as to better understand the usagepatterns and needs of the cyclists beforeextending the facilities to all the other MRTstations.LTA, together with the public transportoperators, will also launch a six-month trialfrom mid-March 2008 to allow cyclists tocarry their foldable bikes on board trainsand buses.However, we have to recognise that givenour land constraints, it is not feasible toprovide a comprehensive set of dedicatedcycling tracks or cycle lanes island-wide,which is what Mr Teo Ser Luck has suggested.We have to ask ourselves if this is the best wayto make full use of our very limited road space.The issue is not whether cyclists have a placein our public transport system, but how do weallocate space amongst competing users thatwill best make use of our very limited land.Over the years, there have been many statementsfrom Ministers or senior officials similar to that inthe final paragraph above, stating land constraintsas a primary reason to not consider providingdedicated space for bicycles in the transportnetwork. Also mentioned repeatedly are the relatedissues of space efficiency and the priority given tomass movement of people which only publictransport can provide. Nevertheless, the statementabove, and similar statements in the LandTransport Master Plan 2008, do reflect a slightlymore positive view of the potential for bicycle-usethan previously (LTA 2008).BICYCLES ON ROADSAlthough the general expectation under the law isthat bicycles will be ridden on streets and roads,almost nothing has been done in practice tofacilitate this or make it safer. There are nodedicated facilities for bicycles on Singapore roads,with the exception of a small number of recentlyerectedsigns warning motorists of bicycles atlocations popular with recreational and sportingcyclists. For example, there are no bicycle lanes.A number of standard features of road design inSingapore are hostile to bicycle users. Theseinclude the widespread use of wide-radius sliplanes at most major intersections, multiple lanesturning left and narrow kerbside lanes. An extensivesystem of one-way streets, especially in thecentral area and within and near major sub-centres,encourage high traffic speeds, create long detoursfor bicycle users and tempt some cyclists to rideagainst traffic on such streets which is extremelydangerous. Bicycles appear to have been ignoredin the design of Singapore's roads.Traffic speeds also tend to be high. Currently,speed limit enforcement focuses on speeding onexpressways and other high-speed arterial roads. Itis not effectively deterring high speeds on manyordinary streets with the default 50 km/h speedlimit, which are the locations with the largestnumber of bicycle users.On the other hand, certain features ofSingapore's road system are helpful for thosebicycle users who do brave the roads. For example,on-street parking is extremely limited. Inaddition, road maintenance, repairs and surfacequality are of high quality. Currently bicycles areBicycling in Asia 55

The Status of Bicycles in Singaporepermitted in bus lanes, although this is not widelyknown. Many of these are too narrow for safe andcomfortable sharing but some do neverthelessprovide a haven or buffer from high-speed mixedtraffic on many roads in peak hours.A recent initiative undertaken at the urging ofbicycle advocates has been the erection of signswarning motorists to expect cyclists at locationspopular with recreational and sports cyclists. TheLand Transport Master Plan 2008 flags an intentionto extend this program to more locations.OFF-ROAD PATHSSince the mid 1990s, Singapore's agency responsiblefor National Parks and green spaces, NParks,has been providing off-road bicycle and pedestrianpaths, known as Park Connectors. These arefocused on recreational use rather than bicycletransport but some do serve useful destinationsand get some transport usage presumably. Theycommonly follow the right-of-way opportunitiesafforded by water bodies, such as rivers andcanals. A number of parks also have bicycle pathswithin them, most notably the long East Coast Parkwhich runs many kilometres along the southeastcoast of the island, as well as Bishan Park. NParkshas also built a number of mountain biking trailsaround the country.The network is currently incomplete, withmany gaps, and with many of the routes ending atbarriers such as expressways or water bodies, orrequiring the stairs of an overhead pedestriancrossing to be negotiated in places. However, thenetwork is planned to eventually reach more than300 km in length and to have many of these gapsclosed. The recent Land Transport Master Plan2008 also declares an intention to 'close short gapsbetween the park connectors and transport nodesto cater to commuters who cycle to the MRTstations or bus interchanges' (LTA, 2008).Park Connectors vary in design from placeto place. Most are configured as dual use paths, tobe shared by bicycle users and pedestrians (aswell as in-line skaters and others). The heavilyusedEast Coast Park paths have segregated rpathways for pedestrians/joggers and forcycling/skating. The quality of the bicycle facilitiesin this network is generally quite good (with somemuch better than others) but unfortunately thedesign does not seem to follow a clear set ofguidelines nor international best practices for suchpaths. A number of cyclists have criticised certainelements of the system. However, most criticismhas focused on the incompleteness of the currentnetwork.Two local Town Councils in the east of theisland, Pasir Ris and Tampines, have also takeninitiatives to create some off-road bicycle ways(with some built in Pasir Ris and others in planningin Tampines). The ones built so far (in Pasir Ris)have significant design problems. Like the ParkConnectors, these efforts appear to suffer from thelack of clear local guidelines or expertise on thedesign of such facilities.BICYCLES ON FOOTWAYS AND THE TAMPINESTRIALFootpath cycling is illegal in Singapore (with oneexception to be discussed below). Nevertheless, inpractice, a large proportion of all bicycle use inSingapore takes place at low speed on footways.A number of features make footwaycycling attractive, especially in outer New Towns.Footpaths are generally quite high in quality,although generally relatively narrow. The pavementsurface is smooth and sight-lines are usually good.Singapore's approach to urban design involvesefforts to limit access directly onto arterial roads,with the result that there are few driveways andside-street entrances to most main roads, especiallyin newer areas.The lack of side access may makefootway cycling safer in Singapore than in manyother countries, where frequent crossings of motorvehicle ways present an extreme hazard that hasbeen argued to render footpath riding moredangerous than roads. However, there have beenno systematic investigations of this hypothesis. Theclaim that footpaths are safer for cycling than roadsis widely assumed here and there has been little or56 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Bicycles in Singaporeno questioning of it nor, to my knowledge, anyresearch effort to verify or refute it.As a pragmatic recognition of the reality,the traffic police have long been turning a blind eyeto illegal cycling on footways. However, there hasbeen a more vigorous effort to try to prevent cyclingon overhead pedestrian bridges, through pedestrianunderpasses, and across zebra crossings.Ramped overhead pedestrian bridges andunderpasses all have prominent 'no riding' signswith warnings of a S$1000 fine. In the early 2005,the LTA tried to reinforce this message by installingU-shaped barriers to make cycling on such rampsdifficult. However, these were removed in July ofthat year after a bicycle user struck one of thebarriers in the dark and became paralysed (StraitsTimes, 19 July 2005 'LTA removes all bicyclebarriers after mishap' by K. C. Vijayan).Having a law banning footway cycling butnot enforcing it is somewhat unsatisfactory. As theresult of a Parliamentary question from TampinesMP Ms Irene Ng to the Minister of Home Affairs, theTraffic Police initiated a cross-ministry initiative(with the LTA and Tampines Town Council) to lookinto this issue. The result has been a trial oflegalizing footway cycling (in Tampines New Townonly). The Tampines Footway Cycling Trial began inJune 2007 and is currently being evaluated. Anannouncement of the outcome is imminent at thetime of writing.The philosophy behind the trial is torecognise that most bicycle use is on footways, thatenforcement to put a stop to this seems unlikelyand would seem unreasonable to many people. It isimportant to note that the trial is not really offootway cycling as such (people are cycling onfootways anyway) but of whether legalising it canhelp open opportunities (such as education andlocalised infrastructure) for addressing the variousproblems (and problem locations) that arise frompavement cycling.An investigation of the results has shownsome success in reducing conflict with pedestriansand improving cyclist behaviour. Despite somestrong public hostility to the trial, an opinion surveyrevealed a surprising degree of support forextending legal footway cycling in Tampines(according to a presentation at a 'Townhall' publicmeeting on the trial, held in Tampines, 9 June2008). Whatever the result, various dilemmasregarding footway cycling will remain and this islikely to be a central controversy over bicycles inSingapore for many years to come.BICYCLE PARKING AND END-OF-TRIPFACILITIESWith the exception of bicycle parking at MassRapid Transit (MRT) stations, provision of bicycleparking in Singapore is scarce and not of highquality. Most of the parking that does exist tends tobe of the old-fashioned 'wheel-bender' variety.Despite a lack of a serious 'bicycle pollution'problem, it is commonplace to see signs restrictingor forbidding bicycle parking in front of buildings.Neither bicycle parking nor other end-oftripfacilities, such as showers or lockers, arerequired by planning and building codes issued bySingapore's planning agency, the UrbanRedevelopment Authority (URA).MOTORIZED BICYCLESMotor-assisted bicycles came under stricterregulation from the beginning of 2005. Petrolpowered bicycles were banned. Electric bicycleswere required to be certified by the LTA as meetingtheir new requirements of having no more than 200Watts of power and of shutting down automaticallywhen the bicycle reaches 25 km/h (Straits Times, 1Oct. 2004 'Banned petrol-powered bicycles'). Thenumber of electric motor assisted bicycles isapparently rising but they are not yet a significantpercentage of the bicycles seen on the streets (asthey are in some Chinese cities for example).Singapore law does not require bicycle users towear helmets. However, since 2005, riders ofmotor-assisted bicycles have been required to weara helmet. In addition, riders of motorised bicyclesmust be at least 16 years of age. Details of theserules are available on the LTA website.Bicycling in Asia 57

The Status of Bicycles in SingaporeBICYCLES AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTAs seen above, official policy towards bicycles asurban transport is at its most positive when focusedon bicycles as a feeder mode to public transport.As discussed earlier, the two main public transportoperators, SMRT and SBSTransit, both installbicycle parking at most MRT stations and some businterchanges (some in collaboration with LTA).Although, the quality of this parking is not high, it isquite plentiful. The Land Transport Master Plan2008 includes a plan for trial improvements to thequality of bicycle parking at MRT stations.In early 2008 a trial commenced of allowingfoldable bicycles onto MRT trains and buses atcertain times and under certain conditions. There isnow some debate over whether the conditionsbeing imposed are too restrictive. In practice,folding bikes had actually been allowed onto publictransport vehicles for some time.BICYCLE SHARING ATTEMPTA bicycle sharing scheme, called Town Bike,operated in four neighbourhoods beginning in theyear 2000 There were two phases. In the first, from2000 to May 2003, bicycles were available free ofcharge to members. These phases were started byan outdoor advertising company, Capital CityPosters (CCP). In return, CCP had free use ofadvertising panels in the localities served.In the second phase, the scheme wasbought by NTUC Income, a major insurancecompany which also runs Singapore's largestcarsharing company. At first this phase requiredboth membership fees and a usage fee of 50 centsper half hour, in order to encourage judicious useand discourage the bikes to be held for longperiods by members. Both phases made use ofsmart cards to access the bicycles at their ports. Inthe first phase it was reported that close to 1,000members had paid a token $10 membership fee foraccess to 200 bicycles (Straits Times, 19 Aug. 2003'Income revives bicycle-sharing in four estates').It is unclear whether the scheme is still operating.The website has not apparently been updatedsince 2006 and the scheme has not expandedbeyond the original four areas, as had beenenvisaged in 2003. Despite the apparent failure ofbicycle sharing to thrive in Singapore, it is interestingthat this was tried, given the recent success of'second generation' bicycle sharing systems, mostnotably in Barcelona and Paris.ANACHRONISTIC LAWS REGARDINGBICYCLESI have not seen a systematic study of this, but itwould appear that some legislation regardingbicycles in Singapore may be outdated or inappropriate.There is a need for more investigation of thisissue.An example is a requirement for bicyclesto ride as close as 'possible' to the left side of theroad. This is unfortunately poor advice. 'As close aspossible' to the side of the road is frequently not thesafest or wisest location, depending on trafficconditions. This rule, if observed, would encouragekerb hugging and swerving in and out aroundobstacles, such as parked cars, and in and out ofbus bays. It may also encourage motorists to behostile to bicycle users who claim a little morespace in situations where safety requires it.COMMENT ON INSTITUTIONS ASSOCIATEDWITH BICYCLE POLICYA number of government agencies have a role inbicycle policy and practice. None has taken thelead on bicycles as transport however. In particular,the key agency for urban transport, the LandTransport Authority (LTA), has been slow to takemuch interest in bicycles as a mode of transport.The LTA is a statutory board under the Ministry ofTransport. However, the slightly more positivetreatment of bicycles in the Land Transport MasterPlan 2008 may be a sign that the LTA may bebeginning to take bicycles a little more seriously.We have already seen that several otheragencies have also taken bicycle-related initiatives.The most prominent are NParks, the Traffic Police,and certain Town Councils. In addition, the mainurban planning agency, the Urban RedevelopmentAuthority (URA), plays a role, somewhat behind the58 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Bicycles in Singaporescenes in shaping the urban fabric into whichbicycles may (or may not) fit. Similarly for theHousing Development Board (HDB) which isresponsible for planning and managing so-called'public housing', the state managed housingestates that house around 80 percent of thepopulation. To some extent, the Ministry forCommunity Development Youth and Sports(MCYS) also has some role, through overseeingthe National Sports Council. Cycling as a sport (orsports) comes under its purview.Despite the relative lack of enthusiasm forbicycles as transport at high levels in MOT and theLTA, nevertheless bicycle policy would probablybenefit from a clearer leadership role from the LTA.Currently, there is no specific bicycle unit within theLTA, nor any specific person designated as havingresponsibility for bicycle policy. The other agenciesmentioned above would benefit greatly if they couldturn to the LTA (where the transport engineeringexpertise is) for advice and clear guidelines onpolicy and design questions. Currently no suchguidelines apparently exist. The author of thisreport has recently argued (on the 'Cycling inSingapore' blog and in a presentation on 8 June2008 at Tampines Town Council, which wasreported in the press) that Singapore needs adedicated agency to coordinate bicycle transportpolicy and that this entity would be best framed asa bicycle unit within the Land Transport Authority.CIVIL SOCIETY AND BICYCLESOne factor in the relative neglect of bicycles asurban transport in Singapore may be the lack ofstrong bicycle lobbying groups. For many years,the only organisation championing cycling andcyclists was the Singapore Amateur CyclingAssociation (SACA) which is affiliated with theNational Sports Council and has as its primarymandate the development of sports cycling.Nevertheless, it has done much good work over theyears providing cycling education in schools andbeyond. It has also played a role in representingthe cycling community when government agenciesor others have needed a civil society body toengage. However, SACA's primary mandatefocused on sport has discouraged it from taking onany vigorous lobbying role on behalf of practicaltransport cycling or even recreational cycling.In 2004, a society known as the SafeCycling Task Force (SCTF) emerged with a missionto promote improvements to the safety of cyclists inSingapore. An early burst of activity subsidedquickly. In 2006 the group was revived. As of now itappears to still be active but without great momentum.It remains to be seen if SCTF can develop intoan effective bicycle transport advocacy organisation.SCTF had a recent success in persuading theLTA to erect bicycle awareness signs at locationspopular with recreational on-road cyclists.There are several online outlets andcommunities that include elements of bicycleadvocacy or at least discussion of policy.'Togoparts' is a large internet community devoted tocycling in Singapore, especially for seriousrecreational cyclists. It does host advocacy andorganising from time to time. The 'Cycling inSingapore' blog provides news and views with afocus on bicycles as transport (the author is one ofthe writers). A number of other blogs focus onbicycles and bicycle policy regularly, includingrecently, one of Singapore's most popular blogs,'Mr Brown'.In addition, there are numerous clubs,both formal and informal, large and small, for everykind of sporting and recreational bicycle activity.CONCLUSIONWe have seen that there has been relatively littleofficial encouragement of bicycle use in Singapore.Nevertheless, practical bicycle use for transportpurposes in Singapore is not negligible and mayeven be increasing after a long decline.There appears to be a core niche role forbicycles in Singapore's urban fabric. Most practicalcycling appears to be at low speed, for short trips(well under 4 km), using cheap bicycles, but byquite a wide cross section of society. Only aboutone third of Singapore's households own a car andin the state-managed housing estates (built and runBicycling in Asia 59

The Status of Bicycles in Singaporeby the Housing Development Board, HDB) thathouse about 80% of Singapore's residents, therates of car ownership are a little lower still. HDBestates are also compact and densely built up. Inthis context, a large proportion of non-work trips(and a good proportion even of work trips) must beshort and within easy cycling distance, even at avery gentle pace. For someone without a car ormotorcycle, a bicycle is often the fastest and mostconvenient mode for trips of between 1 and 4kilometres. A significant number of people in theflatter parts of Singapore have apparently discoveredthis bicycle niche. However, official transportpolicy has tended to focus on the mass movementof people during the busiest times and over longerdistances. It has therefore tended to miss thepotential importance of bicycles and their potentialstrength in serving this niche of trips. The exceptionis the recent increase in effort to exploit bicycles asa feeder-mode to public transport.The officially-stated belief is that a networkof routes for bicycles cannot be developed becauseof land scarcity and because bicycles must not beallowed to interfere with the central priority ofproviding for mass movement in space-efficientpublic transport. However, it is not clear if there hasever been any systematic investigation of the truthof this belief or the assumptions behind it. Suchclaims have been made many times but, to myknowledge, never with any clear evidence to justifythem. This view will certainly strike internationalbicycle infrastructure experts as odd, since thespace-efficiency of providing for bicycle transport,relative to provision for cars, is usually seen as apositive.Bicycles, with their high space-efficiencyrelative to cars, could be seen as potentially mostappropriate in serving short trips in a spaceconstrainedcontext like Singapore's. Furthermore,bicycles are usually seen as serving a set of tripsthat complement public transport and which are noteasily served by buses or trains. Arguably, spaceconstraints provide arguments for, not against,stronger efforts to include bicycles in the transportnetwork. Despite Singapore's anti-car reputation,the lion's share of road space is devoted to highspeedmixed traffic dominated by private cars. It istherefore plausible that a safer network for cyclingcould be provided in Singapore, through spacereallocation, speed management, and sharedspacetechniques, without expanding road rightsof-wayand with either no change or even a netgain to the overall carrying capacity of eachcorridor.Urban transport policy in Singapore hasgenerally not taken bicycles very seriously.However, despite this neglect, cycling has not diedout. In fact, it appears now to be growing inimportance again. However, a lack of appropriatepolicy settings makes such an increase problematicfor everyone, since the system as it is currentlydesigned cannot easily accommodate increasingnumbers of bicycles. There would appear to be astrong case for the land transport authorities inSingapore to take the potential role of bicyclesmore seriously, in order to transport them from aproblem into an opportunity.AcknowledgementsThanks to research assistant, Ms Tan Shin Shin, fortracking down many of the documents cited hereand for taking some of the photographs included inAppendix 3.ReferencesBarter, Paul (2008) 'Singapore's Urban Transport:Sustainability by Design or Necessity?' inWong, Tai-Chee; Yuen, Belinda;Goldblum, Charles (Eds.) 'SpatialPlanning for a Sustainable Singapore.Springer.Department of Statistics. Singapore TradeStatistics, Vol.4 #12 yr.2000, Vol.9 #12yr.2005, Vol.11 #12 yr.2007.Department of Statistics (ca. 2003) From Census ofPopulation 2000, Geographic Distributionand Travel, Statistical Release 4, by LeowBee Geok, Superintendent of Statistics,Singapore.60 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Bicycles in SingaporeDepartment of Statistics (2005) General HouseholdSurvey 2005, Statistical Release 2:Transport, Overseas Travel, Householdsand Housing Characteristics, Departmentof Statistics, Ministry of Trade andIndustry, Republic of Singapore. (On-linefromhttp://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/popn/ghsr2.html downloaded 10 May 2008)LTA (1996) White Paper: A World Class LandTransport System. Land TransportAuthority, SingaporeLTA (2008) Land Transport Master Plan 2008. LandTransport Authority, Singapore. Availablevia LTA website: www.lta.gov.sgHansard (Singapore). Parliament No: 11, SessionNo: 1, Volume No: 84, Sitting No: 12,Sitting Date: 2008-03-06, Section Name:Budget Estimates of Expenditure for theFinancial Year 1st April, 2008 to 31stMarch, 2009 (Paper Cmd. 2 of 2008)Order read for consideration in Committeeof Supply [7th Allotted Day].Singapore Traffic Police (1999) Road TrafficAccidents Statistical Report 1998 (annualpublication)Singapore Traffic Police (2005) Road TrafficAccidents in Singapore 2004 (annualpublication)Singapore Traffic Police (2006) Road TrafficAccidents in Singapore 2005 (annualpublication)Singapore Traffic Police (2007) Road TrafficAccidents in Singapore 2006 (annualpublication),http://www.spf.gov.sg/prints/tp_annual/2006/index_tp_06.htm, accessed on18/04/2008Willoughby, C. (2000) Singapore's Experience inManaging Motorization, and its Relevanceto Other Countries. Discussion PaperTWU-43, The World Bank, Washington.Accessed viahttp://www.worldbank.org/transport/publicat/twu_43.pdfBicycling in Asia 61

The Status of Bicycles in SingaporeAPPENDIX 1 : DATA ON MODE SHARES OFSINGAPORE WORK TRIPSTable - A1 : Usual mode of transport to work forresident workers 2005Workers Workers %Total 1647292 100.0%walk only 125294 7.6%bus only 360571 21.9%private bus only 88833 5.4%MRT only 165914 10.1%Car only 377759 22.9%taxi only 22368 1.4%lorry/pickup only 42921 2.6%motorcycle/scooter only 75660 4.6%others only 25921 1.6%MRT + bus 248072 15.1%MRT + car 10699 0.6%other combinations of2 or more modes 103281 6.3%Table - A3 : A3. Modal split for home-based-work andhome-based-school from the LTA'sIn HIS 2004Main mode Home based Home basedwork schoolCar/van 32.0% 15.0%Motorcycle 6.2% 0.9%Bus 29.2% 47.2%MRT/LRT 20.4% 10.6%Taxi 7.3% 1.7%Walk only 3.8% 24.0%Cycle only 1.1% 0.6%Source: George Sun, Deputy Director, Research &Statistics, Land Transport Authority, SingaporeSource: Department of Statistics 2005Table - A2 : Usual mode of transport to work for residentworkers, 2000Workers Workers %Total 1482579 100.0%no transport required(walk or work at home) 90298 6.1%public bus only 370062 25.0%private bus only 98784 6.7%MRT only 127838 8.6%Car only 351553 23.7%taxi only 18412 1.2%lorry/pickup only 31689 2.1%motorcycle/scooter only 70865 4.8%others only 17796 1.2%MRT + bus 205869 13.9%MRT + car 6583 0.4%other combinations of 2or more modes 92830 6.3%Source: Department of Statistics, Census 2000,Statistical Release 462 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Bicycles in SingaporeAPPENDIX 2 : BICYCLE ISSUES AS DISCUSSED IN THE BUDGET DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT, 6Hansard (Singapore). Parliament No: 11, SessionNo: 1, Volume No: 84, Sitting No: 12, Sitting Date:2008-03-06, Section Name: BUDGETESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE FOR THEFINANCIAL YEAR1ST APRIL, 2008 TO 31ST MARCH, 2009 (PaperCmd. 2 of 2008)Order read for consideration in Committee ofSupply [7th Allotted Day].Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong (Tampines):Sir, I would like to declare that I am the Patronof the Singapore Amateur Cycling Association.More people are cycling for transport and forleisure. This is to be encouraged. Cyclingensures a healthier population, reducespollution and provides for a more affordable andsustainable transport system. It also provides acheaper and convenient travel option forresidents to reach key nodes within theirneighbourhood, such as the markets andschools.LTA is the leading land transport policy agency,but there is a sense that it has been reluctant toprovide leadership in developing bike-friendlyinfrastructure and policies, or to take bicyclesseriously in general. Its moves towardsfacilitating the use of bicycles have beententative and piecemeal at best. The LTAshould put in place a more coherent andintegrated policy towards bicycles as part of theurban transport system, instead of ad-hocmeasures and trials. I would urge the LTAto commission a study to examine how busyand congested cities, such as Paris, Chicagoand Paris, integrate bicycles seamlessly intotheir transport system.While LTA recognises that cycling is atransport option, it does not seem to have aclear stand on it. Does it encourage the use ofbicycles or does it merely tolerate it? Canthe Minister state clearly his position? It willmake a significant difference in policy as well ason public attitudes towards cyclists. Forinstance, Norway aims to raise bicycle traffic toat least 8% of all travel by 2015, doubl itscurrent level, while Sweden hopes to movefrom 12% to 16% by 2010. Paris has putthousands of low-cost rental bikesthroughout the city to cut traffic and reducepollution.Copenhagen has doubled its spending onbiking infrastructure over three years, andDenmark has also increased spending on bikelanes on roads. Just this January, the UKgovernment announced that it will invest 140million pounds over the next three years toboost cycling nationally. The new funds willallow half a million school children to takeup cycling training, built 250 "safe Links toSchool", connecting around 500 more schoolsto the National Cycle Network, and create 10Cycling Demonstration Towns in England. InChicago, its Mayor cycles to work, setting theexample for the city, which released anambitious new bike plan to make all ofChicago's streets safe and convenient forcycling. The Chicago Transit Authority's networkof buses and trains also accommodatesbicycles.The Minister of State for Transport (MrsLim Hwee Hua): (in reply):Sir, let me now turn to cycling.We recognise that cycling providesan additional, if not alternative, mode oftransport, especially for intra-town travel and tokey transport nodes, like the MRT stations andthe bus interchanges.To promote greater use of public transport, LTAwill be implementing several measures tofacilitate cycling. Better bicycle parking facilitiesat the MRT stations and bus interchanges inhousing estates will be provided. The bicycleparking facilities will be sheltered and moreoptimally designed for supporting and securingthe bicycles. A one-year pilot will be carried outnext year at the MRT stations cum businterchanges at Pasir Ris, Tampines andBicycling in Asia 63

The Status of Bicycles in SingaporeYishun. This pilot will allow LTA to gatherfeedback so as to better understand theusage patterns and needs of the cyclistsbefore extending the facilities to all theother MRT stations.LTA, together with the public transportoperators, will also launch a six-month trial frommid-March 2008 to allow cyclists to carry theirfoldable bikes on board trains and buses.However, we have to recognise that given ourland constraints, it is not feasible to provide acomprehensive set of dedicated cycling tracksor cycle lanes island-wide, which is what Mr TeoSer Luck has suggested. We have to askourselves if this is the best way to make full useof our very limited road space. The issue is notwhether cyclists have a place in our publictransport system, but how do we allocate spaceamongst competing users that will best makeuse of our very limited land.In facilitating cycling, safety is always apriority,both for the cyclists as well as for thepedestrians. Following a pilot in Changi, LTAwill, from March 2008, install appropriate signsto alert motorists of the presence ofcyclistsalong frequently used recreationalcyclingroutes such as those in the West Coastand theThomson areas. Apart from thisinitiative, theTraffic Police will also continue toconduct annual road safety campaigns, talksand exhibitions on how to use our roads safely.Ms Ng would know that in May 2007, the TrafficPolice and LTA, together with the GrassrootsOrganisations at Tampines, started a one-yeartrial to allow cycling on pedestrian footways inTampines. Theoutcome of the trial and the feedback gatheredwill also help us to determine how best to meetthe needs of bothcyclists and pedestrians within our landconstraints. This would include addressingthe enforcement issues and infrastructureneeds.The LTA will work with other agencies toleverage on NParks' nation-wide ParkConnectors Network to enable cyclists toget to public transport interchanges moreeasily. Where feasible, new paths orexpansion of existing walkways will beundertaken to achieve that.As for Ms Irene Ng's suggestion to lookinto developments in other cities, yes,certainly LTA will continue to study theirexperiences. However, it is important, Sir,to remember that we would need to tailorthe experience of overseas cities to ourlocal context.64 Bicycling in Asia

The Status of Bicycles in SingaporeAPPENDIX 3 : PHOTOGRAPHS MARCH 2008Photo by Tan Shin ShinOne-way streets make wrong-way cycling very tempting.Photo by Paul BarterA Park Connector. Photo by Tan Shin ShinCommon road designs such as this have ignored thepresence of bicycle users on the roads.Photo by Paul Barter.Bicycle parking at Al-Junied MRT station.Photo by Paul Barter.Bicycling in Asia 65

BICYCLING IN CHINESE CENTRAL CITIES*BACKGROUNDWith the rapid economic and social development ofChina in the 21st century, cities have seen urbandevelopment on an unprecedented scale. Suchrapid economic development spurs demand fortransport and impacts urban transport systems.Issues like traffic congestion and environmentalpollution have become more and more serious,with impacts on urban development and quality oflife. Transport institutions, urban-rural transportintegration, integrated transport development andland use, energy, environmental protection, trafficsecurity and sustainable urban transport developmentare all issues that need to be urgentlyaddressed. Investment, construction and infrastructurein the transport sector have been modernized.This paper includes data about thetransport efficiency in the 36 central cities in China,and an analysis regarding the form and function ofbicycling in transport development on the basis ofsurveys and research. The contents are from thereport, “Sustainable Transport Development inChinese Cities: Challenges and Options” publishedby China Communications Press (2007 report ofChina Urban Sustainable Transport ResearchCenter).URBAN TRANSPORTThe larger challenge facing the urban transportsystem in Chinese cities is that the modal share ofpublic transport and non-motorized transportmodes is decreasing gradually, while privatevehicle trips increase rapidly. Some cities such asBeijing and Chongqing have implemented publictransit priority with some success, but most othercities still lack policies and regulations for urbanpublic transport or non-motorized transport (SeeFig 1).Figure - 1 : Modal share of various modes in urban transport system in some central cities of China.10080share rate (%)6040200Wu hanDalianpublictransportShanghaiBeijingbicyclesChon gqingChangshaChangchunLanzhouwalkingFushunNan jingHarb inAnshanHang zhouPrivatevehiclesmotorbicyclesGuiyangGuangzhouShenyangtaxiChengduTian jinZhengzhouothersShijiazhuang* Prepared from the report “Sustainable Transport Development in Chinese Cities: Challenges and Options” published byChina Communications Press.)Bicycling in Asia 67

Bicycling in Chinese Central CitiesCENTRAL CITIES IN CHINABy the end of 2005, the total population of Chinareached 1.3 billion (not including the population inHong kong, Macao and Taiwan districts). Theurban population is above 363 million people, anincrease of 3.5 percent year-on-year, and a 27.6percent increase over 2000. In the past ten years,the total population of 35 central cities (notincluding Lhasa) has increased yearly, faster thanthe national average. In 1995, the population was186 million, accounting for 15.3 percent of the totalpopulation. In 2005, it was estimated at 233million, accounting for 17.8 percent, or an increaseof 2.5 percentpoints.In the population of each central city in2005, the top three are Shanghai, Beijing andShenzhen, having 17.8, 15.4, and 8.3 millionpeople respectively. The smallest three areYinchuan, Haikou and Lhasa, having 790,000,760,000 and 240,000 people respectively. Theaverage urban population of these 36 central citiesis 3.7 million people. The urban density of Asiancountries such as Japan and China is about 15,000people / km2. Some areas are as dense as 30,000people / sq km.MODAL SHAREHowever, China as a developing country is really abicycle kingdom. As reform and economic liberalizationhas progressed, trends of mode diversificationand increasing motorization have beenobserved since the 1990s, from bicycles tomotorcars. The trip share of bicycle and publictransport usage has been decreasing while that ofprivate motor vehicles has increased. Even themodal share of public transit in Dalian is 54 %(max) and Shijiazhuang has only 2.87 %. But inBeijing, rail travel accounts for 5.9 percent of allpublic transport.BICYCLEOf the 16 central cities, there are big differences inmode share trip rate of cycling travel. The top oneis Shijiazhuang with 55.75 percent of trips, and thebottom one is Chongqing with the rate of only 1percent. The major factor is the geographicalfeatures of the cities. The relevant data are shownin figure 2.Figure - 2 : Modal share of bicycles in some central cities of ChinaShijiazhuangNinghoChengduHangzhouNanjingBeijingTaiyuanHarbinNanningWuhanLanzhouShanghaiChangchunDalianGuiyangChongqing132.71121.12126260 10 20 30 40 50 6029.1353940.943.742.7747.355.75Data source : Wang Jingxia, Review on strategies of China urban transport development 2006; planning reports of the cities.)68 Bicycling in Asia

Bicycling in Chinese Central CitiesWALKThere are big differences in share rate of walkingtravel among the 16 central cities. The top one isGuiyang with the rate of 62.4 percent, and thebottom one is Nanjing with the rate of only 23.57percent. The top three cities are Guiyang,Chongqing and Lanzhou, with walking trip sharesof 62.4%, 62% and 54.9% respectively. The majorcause is the cities' hilly features and the greatpopulation density. The bottom three cities areNanjing, Nanning and Ningbo with the rates of23.57%, 25.3% and 26.9% respectively. This canbe explained by their relatively flat topology, leadingto greater use of bicycles and motorcycles.Pollution-free travel like walking andcycling have a large share of trips among 16 of thecentral cities. The average trip share of such nonmotorizedmodes (walk + bicycle) is 64.9 percent,which is much higher than the level in the cities ofdeveloped countries. (See in fig 3)PUBLIC TRANSIT, WALK AND BICYCLEWalking, cycling and public transit travels areconsidered sustainable travel modes. The sharerate of these three modes is high in 16 of thecentral cities. The average rate is 85.5 percent,which is much higher than the average share rateof cities of developed countries. The top city isLanzhou with the rate of 96.2 percent. According toobserved travel behavior, Chinese travel iscomparatively sustainable.PRIVATE CARAmong the 6 Chinese cities under investigation, thetop one, Beijing, has private car trip share of only7.22 percent and the bottom, Guiyang has a car tripshare of only 0.8 percent.Figure - 3 : Modal share of NMT (walk + bicycle) in some central cities of China and other cities of WorldMarseillesNancyLyonsTokyoNagoyaAmsterdamMunichHamburgerNew YorkTorontoChicagoSan FranciscoDalianNanningShanghaiWuhanGuangzhouChongqingNanjingGuiyangHefeiTaiyuanHangzhouBeijingNingboChengduLanzhouShijiazhuang8665.315202839.3405451.948.951.35356576364.4765.1676870.387274.274.5760 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 9058.286.38Bicycling in Asia 69

Bicycling in Chinese Central CitiesECONOMY DEVELOPMENT AND TRAVELMODE CHOICEWith high purchasing power, comes the demand forluxury goods. In routing choices of travel mode, arational traveler will always weigh security,economics, accessibility and comfort, in consideringroute, mode and time-of-departure. Theindividual travel process is like a game, in thatevery player seeks to maximize their benefit.Among all main travel modes in an urban area,walking has the lowest pecuniary cost, followed bybicycling. The quality and cost of a private car isthe highest.PER CAPITA GDP AND BICYCLE SHAREIn all 20 central cities, the ratio of trips by bicycle isrelatively high. Only five cities have a value lessthan 20 percent. Cities with steep terrain have amuch lower bicycle trip mode share. This characteristicshows that the bicycle is the main travelmode for residents in Chinese cities. Interestingly,this phenomenon does not have much of arelationship with per capita GDP. Predictably, thelowest bicycle trip modeshare is below 3 percent inthe three hilliest cities (Chongqing, Dalian, andGuiyang) (Figure 4). The top five cities in terms ofper capita GDP are Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dalian,Ningbo and Beijing. Except for Ningbo (hillyterrain), the bicycle proportion is below 25 percentin these cities. There are twelve cities below35,000 RMB per capita GDP. The average bicycleproportion is 38.9 percent (without consideringrough-terrain Chongqing and Guiyang). In thesecities with relatively lower income the bicycle is stillthe major travel mode.In accordance with the current marketpreferences for low-income residents, walking andbicycling are usually the most important travelmodes because they are of the lowest cost. Withthe income growth, walking trips will shift to othermodes. The residents will gradually rely on publictransit with more cost and quality. As incomeincreases further, the residents will use privatemotorcycles and cars with high-quality and highcost. Then the non-bus travel is expected toincrease and other travel modes like buses, bicycleand walk will decrease.Figure - 4 : The relation of per capita GDP and bicycle use for 20 central cities of China70,00060,00050,00040,00030,00020,00010,0006050403020100 0ChongqingCuiyangZhengzhouNanningLanzhouHefeiTianjinTaiyuanWuhanChengduShijiazhuangShenyangNanjingChangchunHangzhouBeijingNingboDalianCuangzhouShanghaiPer capita GDPBicycle proportionData source : China city statistical yearbook, city survey, http://www.chinautc.com)70 Bicycling in Asia

Bicycling in Chinese Central CitiesINDIVIDUAL INCOMEThere is a correlation between individual incomeand travel-mode choice. To make this clear, data of20 selected central cities are analyzed in thissection. The analysis develops the relationshipbetween average transport expenditure and travelmode choice. The data of transport expenditure isfrom 2005 Chinese Trade Unions StatisticalYearbook.Figure 5 shows the relations between percapita expenditures on transport and bicycle traveltrip share. Similar to the analyses above,Chongqing, Guiyang, Dalian and Lanzhou are thestill an important travel mode in China.ELECTRIC BICYCLESThe electric bicycle as a renovation of the traditionalbicycle and a non-motorized transport modehas becoming more and more popular, but it hasalso brought many disputes in its wake. Thedevelopment of the e-bicycle is presently in anawkward situation owing to policy disunity indifferent areas. Some cities have already forbiddenor restricted the use of the e-bicycle, because ofreasons like its interference with regular transport,weak safety, producing pollution of batteries, etc.Figure - 5 : the relation between expenditure on transport and bicycles share in some central cities of China1,400.060.01,200.050.01,000.0800.0600.0400.040.030.020.0200.010.00.0ChengduShanghaiNingboBeijingCuangzhouHangzhouNanningDalianChangchunChongqingTianjinHefeiPer capita expenditure on transportShijiazhuangCuiyangNanjingTaiyuanZhengzhouWuhanLanzhouShenyangBicycle trip proportion0.0Data source: 2005 Chinese trade unions statistical yearbook, city survey, some statistical and news website.neglected by reason of their terrain. It is evidentthat in cities with higher transport expendituressuch as Beijing and Guangzhou, bicycle travelproportions are lower than those of other centralcities. The reason is that the urban area of Beijingis the largest among all central cities andGuangzhou belongs to the coastal zone whoseeconomic level is the highest in China. In othercentral cities whose annual per capita transportexpenditures are less than 400 RMB, the bicycletravel proportions are sustained at a level above 20percent with minor fluctuations. So, the bicycle isThe law of the People's Republic of China on RoadTraffic Safety has officially prescribed standardizede-bicycle as a non-motorized vehicle administratedby corresponding regulations.The Electric bicycle itself has four lows:low energy consumption, low pollution (comparedto motorized vehicles), low accident rate and lowcost, and two highs : high operating efficiency andhigh mobility. The average daily urban traveldistance by e-bicycle was 22.72 km in Chinesecities in 2005; much higher than that of 5 to 10 kmBicycling in Asia 71

Bicycling in Chinese Central Citiesby car. Among the characteristics of the e-bicycle,consumers are concerned most about convenience(47.6%), electricity consumption levels (45.0%) andsafety (42.8%). In 18 cities which permit e-bicycleuse, its travel generally surpasses all the othertransport modes for various travel purposes.(Figure 6)Statistics show that 80% of electric bicycleusers used to be bicycle users. They are mainlyself employed, labour and service workers, andordinary staff with low and middle incomes inenterprises, etc. Professional women and middleand old aged people make up the majority of e-bicycle users, who generally have a less strength,more daily trips, with a higher demand for travel.of their cities. Because of such perceptions, manycities choose to “control” or “forbid” e-bicycleusage, greatly restraining the robust developmentof the e-bicycle. The main obstacles perceived inthe Chinese e-bike development are as follows -? Consumption concept of consumers needssteering? Administrative concepts need improvement? Incomplete vehicle administration system forelectric bicycle? Poor transport management system for electricbicycleFigure - 6 : Purpose wise distribution of various modes within different central cities (allowing E-bike use)70.061.6Bicycle E-Bicycle Bus Motorcycle Metro Car60.052.155.150.040.030.020.035.744.837.827.836.720.227.934.110.00.0Work/S c hoolShoppi n gSend in g chi ld r e nInstead of waklFa m il y and f rie nd vis itsEntertainm e ntWander ingShop pi ngGro u p t ra velSubu rb t ouri ngG o ods movem en tCONCLUSIONThe macroscopic administrative policy of governmentis a key factor determining the future ofelectric bicycle development, and the attitude ofgovernment can directly influence the growth of theindustry. As a new transport, many local authoritieshave a lack of knowledge about e-bicycle and aresuspicious of its interference with the existing urbantransport system. And some believe that thebicycle or e-bicycle will depress the modern image?Lack of industry supervision?Speed surpasses the national standard?Poor in safety.ReferenceSustainable Transport Development in ChineseCities: Challenges and Options, Annual reportof China Urban Sustainable Transport72 Bicycling in Asia

Bicycling in Chinese Central CitiesResearch Center, China Academy ofTransportation Sciences and Ministry ofTransport, 2007; published by ChinaCommunications PressAuthors and PapersW.U. Hongyang, Visions for sustainable transportdevelopment in the central cities of ChinaW.U. Hongyang, Jiang Yulin, Peng Xiao,Benchmarking efficiency of urban transportsystems in chinaFeng Liguang, Jiang Yulin, Chen Suoxiang, Issuesand policy options for electric bicycledevelopment in ChinaBicycling in Asia 73

BICYCLES IN SRI LANKANamiz MusaferBACKGROUNDSri Lanka is situated at the southern tip of India(between 5o 55' & 9o 50' North Latitude andbetween 79o 42' & 81o 53' East Longitude) whichis home to 19.9 million people (2006). The totalland areas is 62,705 km2 excluding the 2,905 km2of inland water area. Sri Lanka's average populationdensity is 317 persons per km2, which issparser when it comes to rural areas. The mainlivelihood of the populace is (subsistence) farmingand over 70% of the population live in rural areas.42% of the people live under $2 per day. Theaverage household size is 4.3 persons with apopulation growth rate of 1.1 per annum.This island nation is blessed with a satisfactorynetwork of nearly 91,907 km of roads. This is onaverage 217 persons sharing a 1 km length ofroad. However, when it comes to the rural areas,the road network becomes very weak; and theavailability of modes of transport for passengersand goods is severely hindered. The pace of ruraldevelopment cannot be accelerated due to poortransportation facilities.BICYCLE OWNERSHIPDuring the period 1978-79, the population in SriLanka was 14.3 million people with an averagehousehold size of 5.46 persons per household.21.5% of the households owned a bicycle whichamounts to a minimum bicycle population of over0.5 million. In 2003/04, the population increased to19.4 million people with an average household sizeof 4.31 persons per household. Out of this, 46.6%of the households owned a bicycle which amountsto a minimum bicycle population of 2.1 millionbicycles. However, it must be noted that some ofthe households own more than one bicycle. In2005, it was estimated that there were 3.2 millionbicycles in Sri Lanka.Table 1 - Bicycle ownership statistics of Sri lanka andchanging trendsYear 1978/79 2003/04Population(millions) 14.3 19.4Size of a household(Persons per household) 5.46 4.31Number of Households(millions) 2.6 4.5% of households owninga bicycle (%) 21.5 46.6Minimum number ofbicycles owned (millions) 0.5 2.1Source : Bicycle ownership at household levelSERVICE PROVIDERS TO THE BICYCLESECTOR & EMPLOYMENT DUE TO BICYCLINGSECTORBy 2005, it was estimated that there were 3,500bicycle repair shops in Sri Lanka. They are called'wincles' in local usage which appears to be aDutch term for a 'shop'. The Dutch ruled Sri Lankafrom 1656-1796 A.D. Each workshop employed 2-3persons on an average. Total employment in thissub-sector was about 10,000. The statistics on thenumber of show rooms engaged in the sale ofbicycles or related appliances (tyres, tubes, bells,spare parts etc) are not available. However, it isestimated that 3,500 persons are engaged in thissub-sector (in show rooms, distributors, salescentres etc). Direct employment is also availablefor those engaged in public/private organizationswhere employment is offered as dispatch riders,messengers in the health, posts, and education,transport and tourist sectors. It is estimated thatthere are about 16,000 directly employed in thesesectors. In addition to this, there are entrepreneurswho use bicycles for direct employment. Again, thestatistics are not available.There are over 300 vocational trainingBicycling in Asia 75

Bicycles in Sri Lankainstitutions and technical colleges in Sri Lanka.However, none of them offer any technical coursesto bicycle technicians. The technicians have tolearn from their seniors. There are 4 main localmanufacturers of bicycles who employ about 400males and 200 females in their factories.IMPORTS, EXPORTS, PRODUCTION & SALESSri Lanka had an import substitution policy until1977. During this period, the local bicycle industrywas developing fast. Since, Sri Lanka adopted anopen economic policy, imports were allowed.Accordingly, the bicycles imported from India andChina dominated the local markets. A recent trendis that the businessmen import used bicycles fromdeveloped nations challenging even the bicycleassembling industry. The local bicycle industry,therefore, competes with totally imported productsand used bicycles whereas the local industry isengaged with assembling of imported componentswith a local value addition of about upto 60%.According to Sam Hingis [Bike Europe, 2005(www.bike-europe.com)], Asiabike Industrial PvtLtd, exported 125,000 bikes to UK in fiscal year2004. Firefox Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, was then manufacturingbetween 120,000 -144,000 bicycles per yearfor export to the UK. The City Cycle Industries hasmore or less a free run with 100,000 bikes per yearin the local market. The Company also owns analloy rim plant with a capacity of 200,000 rims peryear. About 150,000 200,000 bicycles are locallydemanded per year.According to the Daily Mirror(www.dailymirror.lk/2003/07/08), the price range forstandard bicycles bought by Sri Lanka is aboutUS$ 22-25 with all accessories and fittings. Someimporters import bicycles in the complete knockeddown (CKD) form and then assemble them locally.A levy is charged by Sri Lankan customs at the rateof Rs 750 or 25% (which ever is higher) percompleted imported bicycle. On average astandard bicycle imported would cost around LKRs4,500 (1 USD = 106.55 LKR Foreign currency ratesprovided by Citibank N.A. accessed throughgoogle.com on 27th October 2008) and a newlocally manufactured bicycle LKRs 4,800. The localindustry cannot compete with import unless theyoffer a better quality. The bicycles are available atdifferent prices with varying functions, qualities andafter sales services. Bicycles from LKRS 4,500 toover LKRs 200,000 are available in the localmarket.TYPES OF BICYCLES USED IN SRI LANKAThere is no study report available on the types ofbicycles used in Sri Lanka. In general, in marketmix for bicycles, the gents' 22” standard bicycle ison the forefront. In addition to the standard bicyclesfor males and females, the other types of bicyclesavailable in common area. Mountain Bike (MIB)b. All Terrain Bike (ATB)c. BMXd. Racing / Sports Bikee. Toddler / Kiddies BikeIn addition to bicycles being merely used, occasionally,value additions (mainly) to the (male) bicyclesare found, such as extended bicycle, bicycle trailerand bicycle passenger carrier side car. As incountries like India and Bangladesh, bicyclerickshaws are not found in Sri Lanka. Brief detailsof the value added forms are given below(i) Extended BicycleAn extension of 9" made to rear luggage framemade out of 1" X 1" X ¼ " Mild Steel angle iron,loading capacity increases from 50kg to 100kg(ii) Bicycle TrailerWelded mesh on all sides supported with two sidebicycle wheels of size 28" X 1 ½ " tires. Trailer is4"X 2" X 2". Total pay load 200 kg, weight of trailer30kg.(iii) Bicycle Passenger Carrier Side CarDetachable passenger carrier side car can beattached to the standard bicycle and carry goods orpassengers upto 250 kg. Heavy duty rims with76 Bicycling in Asia

Bicycles in Sri Lankastronger hub axle to carry more spokes are fitted toboth rear wheels making the wheels able to carryan axial load of 300 kg.CYCLING IN CITIESAccording to a study carried out by DEIHERM forPractical Action in March 2005 in Galle, the capitalcity of the Southern part of Sri Lanka, within 1 hour(Ranging from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m) 1,743bicyclists had been reported from 9 locations. Outof this, 299 were 20 years of age, while 683 werebetween 21-35 years of age. There were 761cyclists who were over 35 years of age.The distribution of purpose of use of thebicycles for some of them are given in table-2Table 2 - Purpose wise distribution for some of thebicyclistsPurpose Number of % among thebicyclists 1,743bicyclistsPostmen 7 0.4%Paper Deliverymen 5 0.3%Utility bill meterreaders 5 0.3%Street food vendors 32 1.8%Sweet sellers 21 1.2%Vegetable sellers 17 1.0%Fish vendors 39 2.2%Lottery sellers 41 2.4%Ice cream sellers 18 1.0%Total bicyclists 1,743 10.6%Summary of the average number of vehiclespassing 5 different points in 2 hours (8.00-9.00 a.m.and 1.00-2.00 p.m.) in a day in March 2005 was asfollows. This is based on spot observations carriedout in 2 days and the average per day is given intable-3.The total number of bicycles used in thecity of Galle in 2005 was estimated at 12,000. Thepopulation in Galle was nearly 91,000 as per thecensus carried out in the year 2001.Table 3 - Peak hour bicycle volume counts at selectedpointsLocation Total Number of % of bicyclesVehicles Bicycles1 1,297 257 20%2 1,316 341 26%3 1,227 137 11%4 1,454 371 26%5 390 63 16%Total 5,684 1,169 21%KURUNEGALAThis is the capital of the North-Western Province ofSri Lanka. The population is nearly 29,000 and theestimated number of bicycles used in Kurunegalain the year 2005 was 9,000. Practical Actionconducted a similar study in Kurunegala pertainingto bicycles and the data is not yet available.Ellis, Simon, in 'The Economics of the Provision ofRural Transport Services' at The Regional Seminaron Intermediate Nodes of Transport, Sri Lanka in1998, shared the cases of some rural areas in SriLanka which are as shown in table-4.ROAD NETWORKAccording to the Road Development Authority, thedistribution of national, provincial and local roadsare as follows:National roads 11,716 km (12.7%)Provincial roads 15,532 km (16.9%)Local roads 64,659 km (70.4%)Total 91,907National roads are managed by the RoadDevelopment Authority, which is a statutory bodyunder the Ministry of Highways of the CentralGovernment. Provincial roads come under thepurview of the Provincial Governments (9) and therest are managed by the Local GovernmentalInstitutions (18 Municipal Councils, 42 UrbanCouncils and 270 Pradeshiya Sabas).Out of the local roads, a majority are ruralroads. Inventories of the rural roads are convensortBicycling in Asia 77

Bicycles in Sri LankaTable 4 - some regional rural bicycle ownership patternsVillage Malagala Madiyawa Aluwatugirigama VeniwelaraNumber of Bicycles 263 150 20 140Number of Families 351 180 296 160Population 1,864 657 1,126 640Climatic Zone Wet Dry Wet DryProvince Western N-Western Central SouthernSource : Simon Ellistionally managed by the respective technicalpersonnel. They are done manually. It is understoodthat other than for maintaining road inventoriesthese Pradeshiya Sabas do not have any sortof classification hierarchy developed so far.Almost 62% of the country's total roadnetwork falls under the category of rural roads andthese are not yet classified. These roads in generalfall into the following categories:a. Sealed roads (sealed using bitumen)b. Concrete roads (Very small quantity)c. Unsealed gravel roadsd. Unsealed earth roadse. Foot pathsThe National & Provincial roads are given professionalinputs by qualified engineers on a regularbasis. Most Municipal roads too have inputs fromprofessional engineers. However, the urban andPradeshiya Saba roads hardly get the attention ofqualified engineers. These rural roads often do nothave consistent geometric standards. Also, theyare not designed with pavement structures orbicycle lanes.It is very likely that the total roads in thecountry are more than 100,000 km. There aresome roads which are managed by other authorities(other than for Pradeshiya Sabas) such as theForest Department & Mahaweli Authority etc. Someof these are accessible to the public (particularly tothose who live in and around those areas) forlimited purposes.HOW CYCLING IS INTEGRATED INTO DESIGN,PLANNING & POLICYCurrently, there is no national policy for bicycling inSri Lanka. However, the Roads DevelopmentAuthority has a policy/practice to provide a 1.5mwide lane in the case of single way traffic and 2.0mwidth lane for two-way traffic dedicated for Non-Motorised Transport in their new road designs.Bicycles are considered as part of Non-MotorisedTransport. In general, where specific data is notavailable, there is an assumption that the NMTtraffic has grown at the rate of 1.5% per year fordesign purposes.A circular carriage way of 1.5m width isconsidered appropriate at the left portion for NMT.However, there are certain concerns over thisconsideration from the safety aspects of NMT. Insuch places, the raised footwalk (200 mm height ingeneral) is made as a ramp, with about another 50-100mm rise. Along this footwalk, a space of 1.5mwidth is designed to be dedicated to the NMTs.Despite the efforts of the RoadDevelopment Authority in their designs, when itcomes to practice, there are hardly any dedicatedNMT lanes in Sri Lanka. Land acquisition problemsare considered to be the major obstacle. Many newroads originally have been designed with lanes forNMT but none of them are found in practice alongmain roads or cities.Earlier the RDA had a policy/practice ofdesigning infrastructure for NMT only if 5% of thetotal traffic volume consisted of NMT. However,78 Bicycling in Asia

Bicycles in Sri LankaTable 5 - Number of Reported Accidents in Sri LankaYear Number of Accidents Number of FatalitiesTotal Fatal Total Cyclists1990 34,463 1,714 1,795 2651995 48,139 1,481 1,681 2462000 54,250 1,992 2,058 306Source: Somasundaraswaran A KTable 6 - Number of Reported Accidents in Sri LankaYear Number of Number ofVehicles Involved CasualitiesTotal Pedal Cycle Total Cyclists1989 51,820 2,527 12,376 1,736drivers and the authorities, including the police,appears to not be upto expectations.ReferencesGranie R Jayalath, National Rural Roads classificationsystem (draft, unpublished), LFRTD, 2007Website of the Road Development AuthoritySri Lanka - www.rda.gov.lk.Somasundaraswaran A K, Accident Statistics in Sri Lanka,IATSS Research Vol 30 No 1, 2006Ellis, Simon, The Economics of the Provision of RuralTransport Services, The Regional Seminar onIntermediate Nodes of Transport, Sri Lanka,1998Catalogue of Intermediate Modes of Transport (IMTs) ofSri Lanka, LFRTD & Practical Action, 2005Sam Hingis, [Bike Europe, 2005 (www.bikeeurope.com)]Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Annual Report 2006, 2007Daily Mirror (www.dailymirror.lk/2003/07/08)1991 55,330 3,094 15,227 2,1651993 67,039 3,886 18,603 2,6781995 79,850 3,839 21,684 2,6811997 84,732 3,471 21,359 2,5671999 87,814 2,542 29,299 3,0092001 79,069 3,340 22,676 2,7732003 89,177 - - -Source: Somasundaraswaran A Know whether or not the NMT volume is 5%,designers consider designs for NMT. However,when it comes specifically to hilly terrains, once thewidth of the 2-way roads become 6.2m or less, nospace is allocated for NMT, but designed for theNMT to mix with the other traffic. Main roads aredemarcated with a white line on the same roads.CONCLUSIONIn the year 2000, of the total number of roadfatalities (2,058), there were 306 cyclists. Thesefigures reveal how risky bicycling is in Sri Lanka. Itbeing considered a slow moving mode of transport,the attention given to the bicycles both by the otherBicycling in Asia 79

CYCLING IN BANGLADESHMd. Mazharul Hoque, S. M. Sohel Mahmud & Abdus Shakur QaziBACKGROUNDTransport is an important component of economicactivity in all countries but especially so inBangladesh and other developing countries. Itprovides access to jobs, education, health care,agricultural and other services. Typically transportaccounts for 5-10% expenditure of GNP andcontributes to 10-25% of GNP. So the potential forenhancing economic and social developmentthrough improvements in the transport sector arevery large indeed. It also helps the generation ofeconomies of scale, increased competition,reduced cost, systematic urbanization, export-ledfaster growth and a larger share of internationaltrade. The transport system of Bangladesh consistsof roads, railways, and inland waterways.Bangladesh witnessed rapid growth of transportsince independence. The overall annual growthrate has been nearly 8.2 percent for freighttransport and 8.4 per cent for passenger transport.Even then, the transport intensity of theBangladesh economy is considerably lower thanthat of many developing countries. The transportationsystem is predominantly road based. Despitethe phenomenal growth in motorized vehicles, thecountry's travel demand is still predominantly metby non-motorized modes like walking, rickshawsand bicycles. The modal share of both passengerand freight transportation in Bangladesh isdominated by roadways. According to the mostrecent study, roadways carry about 73 percent ofpassengers and 65 percent of freight.bicycles and their popularity ranges from theflexibility, easy availability and lower cost. On thecost per passenger kilometer basis, the cost oftravel by rickshaw is only half the cost of travelingby auto-rickshaw, and much less than the cost oftravel by car (DITS 1993).Cycle rickshaws are available for door todoor services and are very flexible servingneighborhoods where road width is too narrow toaccommodate larger modes of transport. They areFigure - 1: Images showing the large numbers of NMVon Dhaka roadsNON-MOTORIZED TRANSPORTPedestrians clearly form by far the single largestgroup of road users in Bangladesh, on sidewalks orin the street. Walking is rarely used for regularjourneys longer than about 5kms. Bicyclesoperating in the street include both personal cyclingand rickshaw 'taxi-like' services (illustrated inFigure 1). The potential benefit of rickshaws andBicycling in Asia 81

Cycling in Bangladeshideal for short and medium length trips. Rickshawsare the most efficient means of public transit overshort distances in cities. Both bicycles andrickshaws occupy less road and parking space.Investment and operating costs are low and hardlyneed any foreign exchange. They also do notcontribute to air and noise pollution, are environmentallysound and contribute least to roadwaydamage. They provide earning opportunities for amultitude of low income urban residents having noalternative means of survival. Rickshaws play afurther role in supplementing the congested publictransport services.BICYCLIST TRAVEL SCENARIOThere is a scarcity of official statistics on bicycles(estimated ownership between 2-3 million asFigure - 2 : Total numbers of NMV in Bangladesh -1992200000016000001200000Fleet of NMT and Motorized Vehicles inBangladesh 1992shown in Figure 2) in Bangladesh. They areabundantly seen in rural areas as well as in urbanareas. They are used mainly for work and schooltrips (perhaps up to 20km in rural areas). Theabsence of legitimate facilities and promotionalsupports might be reducing their growth rate. Theyare exposed to significant safety hazards. Four outof five of them are found in the rural areas,matching the general urban/rural populationdistribution.Dhaka City is a metropolitan centre and ithas a significant share of trips by walk (62%) andcycle rickshaw (13%) followed by bus (Figure 3,Source: JBIC 2000). A survey conducted alsoshowed that about 2% h/h own bicycles. Thescreen line survey (2% inner cordon and 4% outercordon) done in Dhaka showed that the averagetrip length is about 5.73 km for all modes (STP,2004). About 6.3% trips were found to be on acycle on an arterial road and car, micro, jeep(47.3%), bus (14.7%), and about 31.6% by cyclerickshaws (not considering walk - Figure 4 ).Some factors that contribute to the low usageof bicycles are high cost (considering the relativelylow income levels with poverty incidence around800000Figure - 4 : bicycle share on arterial road section inmetro Dhaka4000000CountryBoatBicyclesRickshawBullockCarkMotorizedVehiclesBicycle Composition on a Section ofMain ArterialNumber18000001500000800000700000380000Figure - 3 : The modal share for Metro Dhaka(DITS, 1993)AutoRickshaw6%Bus, 10%Car, 4%Others,5%WalkRickshawBusAuto RickshawCarOthersAutorickshaw31.65%Bicycle6.30%Bus,14.71%Car, micro& jeep,47.34%Rickshaw13%Walk,62%82 Bicycling in Asia

Cycling in Bangladesh50%) and the absence of segregated and/ordesignated facilities. As a culture, the use of thebicycle reflects low social status and is generallyconsidered inappropriate for women. The possibilityof theft and the limited domestic production ofbicycles contribute to the overall low levels ofcycling.oooooochallenges to promoting bicycle use are:Financial constraintsInstitutional barriersSafety concernsInsufficient understanding of technicalissuesScarcity of road spaceLack of public awarenessFigure - 5 : The modal share of medium cities in BangladeshThe medium size cities show bicycle share to be4.3 7.1 % of total trips. (Figure 5).Typical Picture of Bicycle Use in BangladeshSOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF BICYCLEUSERSA study conducted by Rahman & Nahrin (2007) hasrevealed the following socio-economic characteristicsof bicycle users:? Income level of cyclists: The lower and middleincome people mainly use bicycles withthe income level at TK.3000-6000 per month.? Age and education of bicyclists: Thedominant age group of cyclists is 16-25 yearshaving an education level of high schoolgraduation (SSC).?Reasons for using bicycle: The main reasonfor bicycle use is that it is cheaper than anyother travel mode.?The promotion of bicycling: The majorBicycling in Asia 83

Cycling in BangladeshTypical Picture of Bicycle Use in BangladeshTable 1- Shares of NMV versus Motor Vehicles onRoads in Asian and Pacific CitiesCity Non- Motormotorized VehicleDhaka(Bangladesh) 51.8 48.2Phom Penh(Vietnam) 52.1 47.9Shanghai(People's Republicof China) 87.2 12.8Kanpur(India) 55.7 44.3Surabaya(Indonesia) 15.6 84.4Tokyo(Japan) 36.1 63.9Penang(Malaysia) 6.5 93.5Metro Manila(Phillipines) 33.8 66.2Chiang Mai(Thailand) 2.2 97.8OVERVIEW IN ASIAA regional study on Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs)in the Asia-Pacific Region conducted byADB/ESCAP has presented a detailed overview ofthe travel and safety scenarios of bicyclists in Asia.Some of the results of the study are presentedhere:Table 1 and table 2 show the relative position ofNMV in Bangladesh as compared to other Asiancountries and cities.It also compares the bicycle related casualties withsome developed countries like New Zealand andAustralia.THE PROBLEM OF ROAD TRAFFICACCIDENTS IN BANGLADESHTHE DIMENSION OF THE PROBLEMAccording to police reported statistics, around 4000people die through Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) inHanoi(Viet Nam) 64.3 35.7Bangladesh each year. It is estimated that theactual fatalities could well be 10000-12000 eachyear taking into consideration the factors likeunderreporting and definitional inconsistencies. Arecent household survey also revealed the actualspectrum of accidents and casualties:In economic terms, road accidents inBangladesh are costing the community in the orderof Tk. 5000 crore (US $ 850 million) which is nearly2 percent of GDP. This is, of course, a huge sumthat the nation can ill afford to lose (Hoque et al,2007a).SOME STRIKING ACCIDENTCHARACTERISTICSA comprehensive analysis was undertaken of allreported accidents in Bangladesh in the period84 Bicycling in Asia

Cycling in BangladeshTable 2- Percentage of Fatal Accidents Involving Cycle based Vehicles1 (1993)Sub region Country Fatal Accidents (%) Injury Accidents (%)NIEs Hong Kong, China 4 4Republic of Korea 0 0Singapore 8 5Taipei, China 6 5Central Asia People's Republic of China 92 NaSouth East Malaysia (1994) 62 52Asia Indonesia (1991) 9 7Hanoi, Viet NamNMVs account for 11% of allThailand 4 NaSouth Asia Sri Lanka 17 19PDMCs Fiji 3 6Developed New Zealand 3 9Countries Australia 3 7Bangladesh 3.5 ??1 Two- or three- wheeled cycle based vehicles2 Data relates to casualties at national level1998-2005. The most striking characteristices ofaccidents are:• The statistics revealed that Bangladesh has oneof the highest fatality rates internationally in roadaccidents, over 100 deaths per 10,000 motorvehicles.• About 70 percent of road accident fatalitiesoccurred in rural areas including rural sections ofnational highways.Figure - 6 : Pyramid of road accident casualties inBangladesh(Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey, 2005)Bangladesh10,000200,000500,0001 millionFor every injury death, 50 injured attend emergency care• Of the total reported accidents nearly 37 percentoccurred on national highways.• Accident type analysis showed 'hit pedestrian' asthe dominant accident type both in urban andrural areas, with 45 percent involvement in fatalaccidents. Other common accident types are:rear end collision (16.5%), head on collision(13.2%) and overturning (9.3%).• Heavy vehicles such as trucks and busesincluding minibuses are major contributors toroad accidents (bus/minibus 33%, trucks 27%)and in fatal accidents their shares are 35 percentand 29 percent respectively.• The incidence of overall child involvement inroad accident fatalities in Bangladesh is found toBicycling in Asia 85

Cycling in Bangladeshbe very high, accounting for about 21 percent.• Up to 61 percent of urban road accident deathsare pedestrians. Pedestrians accounted for 49percent of all reported fatalities in the accidentdatabase.• The principal contributing factors to accidents arethe adverse roadside environment, poordesign of junctions and road sections, excessivespeeding, overloading, dangerous overtaking,reckless driving, carelessness of road users,failure to obey mandatory traffic regulations,variety of vehicle characteristics and defects invehicles and conflicting use of roads.• The widespread underreporting and incompletecollection of specific details of accident data area major problems. This limits proper accidentanalysis and hampers the monitoring of roadsafety. (Hoque et al 2007b).POVERTY IMPACT OF RTAThe poverty incidence in road traffic accidents hasbeen examined by Quazi (2006). Some of thefindings are briefly summarized below:• Road accidents disproportionately affect the poorand their consequences plunge households intoacute poverty.• Poor people are forced to use non-standard andunsafe vehicles.• NMV operators particularly rickshaw pullersbeing unaware of traffic safety put their lives atrisk.• Of the children being killed and permanentlydisabled in RTA, the majority are from poorfamilies.• Many families are driven into poverty by the lossof a breadwinner and the added burden ofdisabled members.• According to TRL over 70% of poor householdsreported that their household income and foodconsumption decreased after a road death (fornon-poor it is 57%).• Some 61% of the poor families are forced toarrange loans after a road death ( 34% for thenon-poor).• Among the poor, 32% of the road deaths occur tothe head of the household (compared to 21%for the non-poor)SAFETY PROBLEMS OF BICYCLES ANDCYCLE RICKSHAWSTable 3 shows the number of cyclist fatalities ineach year according to the police reported MAAPdatabase in Bangladesh. On average 100 bicyclistdeaths every year as reported by the police whichare 3-4% of all fatalities.While the urban areas account for only 32% ofaccidents, the rural areas account for 68% ofaccidents and Figure 6 illustrates the bicycle crashtrends in the last decade. There is wide variationion the regional context related to RTA. Forexample, the Dhaka area has high cycle rickshawrelated accidents (57%, much above the otherplaces), while another area Rajshahi has very highbicycle related accidents (45%, much above theaverage). Other areas like Chittagong, Barisal, etc.report much less accidents as shown in Figure 7below. It has also been observed that mostlypeople in the age group 16-40 are involved in fatalcrashes and they are generally the bread winnersof the family (Figure 7 below). Despite the widespreadunderreporting of accidents, police reportedstatistics revealed that, the fatalities have beengenerally rising in Bangladesh during 1998-2006.This may be happening because of rising motorization,high speeds, frequent conflicts with NMT,inappropriate medical facilities or underreporting.The low numbers of injuries (grievous and simple)are due to the problem of serious underreporting ofaccidents.As regards the urban scenario, some of the86 Bicycling in Asia

Cycling in Bangladeshstriking accident characteristics are summarizedbelow:? Around 800 fatalities have been attributed tocycle rickshaws and bicycles in urban areas ofBangladesh during 1998-2006, which represented nearly 12 percent of the total urbanroad deaths.? On average, 30 bicycle deaths and 60 cycle45: years 24 percent and above 45 years: 12percent.? For the cycle rickshaw the age profile of thevictims are 0-15 years: 9 percent; 16-30 years:45 percent; 31-45 years: 35 percent and above45 years: 12 percent. These data indicate thatmost of the bicycle victims are young and nearly70 percent are middle aged people.Table 3 - The statistics for Bangladesh fatalaccidentsYear Cyclis All Fatalities PercentFatalitiest1998 83 2358 4%? Nearly 70 percent of the fatalities involvingbicycles and cycle rickshaws occur on roadwaysections with 30 percent at intersections. Thisagain demonstrates the need for separatefacilities for their protection.Figure - 7 : Trends of Bicyclists causalities (since 1998)1999 107 2893 4%2000 132 3058 4%2001 107 2388 4%2002 121 3053 4%2003 112 3334 3%2004 91 3150 3%90%80%70%60%50%40%30%20%10%0%1998 1999 2000 2001 2002YearFatalitiesGrieviousSimpleInjured2003 2004 2005 20062005 63 2960 2%2006 86 3160 3%Figure - 8 : Graph showing the regional variation inbicyclist's fatalitiesInvolvement of Light Vehicles in RTA in Divisional Areasrickshaw deaths each year are reported by thepolice.? The predominant types of bicycle accidents arerear end (58%) and head on (21%) and forcycle rickshaws, the predominant type ofaccidents are rear end (70%) and head on(15%).60%50%40%30%20%10%0%MotorcycleRickshaw / Rickshaw vanBi-cycleDhaka Rajshahi Chttagong Khulna Barisal SylhetFigure - 9 : Graph showing the bicyclists fatalitiesdistributed over the age?Most of the accidents take place during the daytime, 6 am to 6 pm, (83% bicycle and 71% cyclerickshaw).?Age profile of the bicycle victims are 0-15years: 19 percent: 16-30 years 45 percent: 31-18%16%14%12%10%8%6%4%2%0%0-56-1011-1516-2021-2526-3031-35Age Group (years)36-4041-4546-5051-5556-6061-6566-7071-75>75Bicycling in Asia 87

Cycling in BangladeshThe contributory factors for accidents includeadverse roadside environment, poor design ofjunctions and road sections. Also, excessivespeeding, overloading, dangerous overtaking andreckless driving contribute to it. The carelessnessof road users, failure to obey mandatory trafficregulations and a wide variety of vehicle characteristicsand defects in vehicles cause many fatalaccidents. The in-conspicuity of vehicles, pedestriansand bicyclists in particular is important.POLICY INITIATIVES FOR PROMOTINGCYCLINGSome policies that are planned are : Integration ofthe Land Use and Transportation and Developingan Integrated Transportation System. It is alsoplanned to meet the Bicycle Facility DesignRequirements and Application of New Approacheslike Safety Audit. Various other strategies would beto make bicycle inclusive planning; improved pathsand bikelanes, correcting specific roadway hazards(potholes, cracks, narrow lanes, etc.), improvedbike parking, more connected street network andclustered development (new urbanism) etc. Trafficcalming, speed reduction, vehicle restrictions, androad space reallocation along with safety education,law enforcement and encouragementprograms should lead to a decrease in fatalities. Toprovide bicycle rental and lending services at manylocations and to address security concerns ofcyclists, many programs have been planned. .Some initiatives that have been complementedat Accident Research Institute (ARI) are accidentdata collection and database development,conducting research and investigation on roadsafety, the safety of VRUs in particular andawareness campaigns. The training of professionalsand policy makers other than students, heavyvehicle drivers, workshops, seminars, conferencesand development of safety materials has also beenstarted.In order to generate road safety commitmentand strengthen efforts at the national level; ARCorganized the first ever International Conference onRoad Safety in Developing Countries inBangladesh last year with a view to strengthenglobal collaboration and share multi-sectoralexperience on road safety in developing countries.Cycling needs to be recognized as a serioustransport mode in Bangladesh. A network ofbikeways should be planned, which encouragescycling to major destinations. Planning and workson all major roads need to provide for the bicycle. Anational bicycle strategy is proposed to strengthenlocal studies and research on bicycle usage,legitimacy and safety. The need of buildinginternational collaboration and networking is alsorecognized.Indeed, Dhaka Integrated Transportation Study(DITS) strongly supported the use of the bicycle asan alternative to motorized travel and a replacementof the rickshaw. In this context, the recommendationswere:? Expansion of credit schemes for bicyclepurchasing;? Promotion of bicycle use among studentsthrough bank credit or grants; and? Strengthening NGO's working in the urbansector to encourage bicycle use.It is also important to note that substantial scopeand opportunities exist for improving vulnerableroad user safety by sustained introduction of newlydeveloped road safety approaches viz. safecommunity program and road safety audit, a newaccident prevention tool.COMMUNITY BASED ROAD SAFETYSTRATEGIESThe idea behind the safe community programs is toaddress all kinds of safety issues and preventinjuries in all areas, addressing all ages, environmentsand situations and involving non-governmentand governmental community sectors. Theprogram can be introduced at the local levels bypromoting wider public participation and aware-88 Bicycling in Asia

Cycling in Bangladeshness, as well as making necessary changes inbehavior and the environment. The communityitself by virtue of its expertise, enthusiasm,resources and networks can greatly enhanceexisting programs and even devise new ways oftackling safety problems. About 30 to 40 percent ofaccidents and injuries could be reduced throughsuch programs. The Safe Community interventionsare particularly effective in controlling road trafficaccidents.ROAD SAFETY AUDITThe concept of road safety audit as an accidentprevention tool is a relatively new and highly costeffective approach to improve road safety. SafetyAudit refers to the formal process of reviewing roadprojects specifically to identify potential or existingsafety hazards in order to allow for timely proactivecorrection, especially for pedestrians and othervulnerable road users whose safety needs areoften neglected in traditional transport planning anddesign. Safety checking or safety auditing offeropportunities to create safer roads for vulnerableroad users. The elements that could be checked atvarious stages of audit for VRUs are described inADP 1996.CONCLUSIONIt is expected that cycling should be able to play itseffective part in meeting transport demands. Theuse of the bicycle as a travel mode particularly inurban areas is far below the desirable levelaccounting for between 2-5 percent. The realchallenge is to re-plan for the future and providefacilities which support and encourage bicycling asa preferred transportation alternative. The bicycle ispoised to make a significant contribution towardsachieving the goal of minimizing resource consumptionand maintaining a reasonable standard ofliving through combined health, social, economicand environmental benefits.Technical Assistance in Road Safety (RETA5620), Draft Report, ADB.Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey, (2005),DITS Report (1994), “Working Paper Vol-II”,Bangladesh Planning Commission,Dhaka.Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC)(2000), Study of the improvement of transportation and environment in Dhaka, Dhaka.Hoque, M. M., Mahmud S. M. S., Newaz K. M. S,Anowar S, Huq A. S. (2007a), “Urban RoadSafety: Effective Rescue Of Accident VictimsUsing Gis Technology”, proceedings publishedon 6th International Symposium on NewTechnologies for Urban Safety of Mega Citiesin Asia, Bangladesh Network for Urban Safety(BNUS), December 9-10, 2007, Dhaka,BangladeshHoque, M. M., Mahmud S. M.S, Siddiqui C. K. A.(2007b). “Road Safety in Bangladesh AndSome Recent Advances”. Proceedingspublished on 14th International Conference onRoad Safety in Four Continents (RS4C),Thailand, Bangkok 2007Rahman M. S.& Nahrin K. and Shumi S. (2007)“Why absence of bicycling in dhaka city?Measures and policies to promote it” BURPThesis, Department of Urban & RegionalPlanning, Jahangirnagar University,Bangladesh.STP (2004), “The Strategic Transport Plan ForDhaka (STP)”, the Lousis Berger Group Inc.&Bangladesh Consultant Ltd.Quazi M. (2006), “ Road Safety and PoveryDynamics in Bangladesh”, Internationalconference on Road Safety in DevelopingCountries, Accident Research Centre (ARC),BUET, August 2006ReferencesAsian Development Bank (ADB) (1997). VulnerableRoad Users in Asia-Pacific Region. RegionalBicycling in Asia 89

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS AND PRIORITYK.T. RavindranThe American planning tradition has always solelyfocused on cars. The other modes like nonmotorizedtransport, public transport and otherforms of informal modes of transportation have notbeen given any thought. For example, the bustransport system which is not very expensive butcan be very dependable, has come to the fore onlyduring the last few decades. This kind of automobilebased transportation planning has been eyeingfor huge raised road network/structures.The economic levels are different invarious kind of societies. In most of societies, alarge number of people are still living in sub-humanconditions. The entire market system is such that alot of its efficiency depends upon the network.Some localized designs for very small areas can besuch that they are pedestrian friendly but ingeneral, design for substantial areas has not beenvery bicycle friendly, thus justifying the lowpresence of bicycles on the roads.In India there are huge areas where thereare unauthorized colonies, slums and urbanvillages. More then 50% of the city population havebeen residing in these informal dwellings and theydo about 60-70% of the work in the city. Most of thecity bicycle users reside in these shanty towns.Unfortunately, there have been zero planningattempts on their social integration and development.The first and foremost focus goes on theaccumulation of user database and issues relatedto them. The database information on the networkof residential and employment areas from thecyclist's point of view has not been explored indetail. It is observed that the peripheral villageshave a huge number of workers going in and out ofthe city using bicycles. Also, the industrial sectorshave traditionally been planned near the villages,as the workforce cannot afford buses or otherforms of public transport. This indicates that manyindustrial workers either walk to work, use bicyclesor some other indigenous mode for travel.In the land use plan, the centers wherethese poor people live (unauthorized colonies,slums and urban villages) and work in largenumbers have not been integrated with theplanning process for bicycles and other forms ofindigenous modes of transportation. There arerational problems of being located in the places foraccess to work, access to facilities, cheaper rents,etc. There is also a fluctuating kind of migrationwith regard to the labour force in the informalsector. There is a typical kind of housing for thesekind of workers, with tiny frontage or some 20-25households living in a single building of 4 storeyswith staircase access to 16 units.Though there is a high potential forproviding safe cycle parking, there have been noattempts to organize this. This lack of safety hasalso made the bicycle highly susceptible to thefts.This also indicates that the demand is very highbecause the stolen bicycles become untraceableas they are modified and used again.The second most important issue on thesubject is the design of the network. Landuseanalysis can clearly indicate the bicycle tripgenerators and a definite OD pattern is clearlyidentifiable. It can be done by identifying the urbanvillages, slums, etc and the trip profile of workingpeople from those communities which are mostlyby bicycle.The excessive provision for motorizedvehicle infrastructure also discourages the bicyclist.The redesign of traffic management policies andstrategies can help improve the situation.Another important issue is parkingprovisions: there is no organized system onsafeguarding parked bicycles. High investmentbased facilities are prioritized over the cheaperones. At the moment, the best course will be to is aBicycling in Asia 91

Transportation Systems and Priorityimplement the facilities and infrastructure forcyclists who constitute a large vote bank. There isa need to re-look at the bicycle as a viable mode oftravel and provide dedicated cycle paths for them.There are also large areas of the old city,and other areas designated as special areas (KarolBagh, etc.) which are mostly non-formal inplanning. The studies conducted in these areashave shown that there is an absolute minimumrequirement of the per household auto parking. Toimplement the bicycle plan will be a wholly newendeavour. The concept mostly applied to themetro or other road transport projects of planningand developing the 500m strips of land use on bothsides, does not work with bicycle planning. Thegrowing dependency on motorized modes has tobe tackled for the sake of energy, health andenvironment.The most saleable feature for bicycle usein cities can be the short distance of travel, mixedland use, urban forms favoring the use of nonmotorizedvehicles, etc. Actual measures like theinfrastructure development, policy prioritization andpolitical support can promote its use.Its important to note that the highestincome household has one gardener, one cook,two maids, a washer man, an ironing man, securityguards, a driver, etc. These household helpersneed to live nearby or commute to work at very lowcost. Its apparent from this mix of different socialstrata living in close vicinity and their interrelationsthat the bicycle infrastructure is required everywherein the city.The non-planning for informal marketshighlights the gaps in our understanding of socialstrata and their relationships. National UrbanizationPolicy was structured on the lines of Ar. CharlesCorrea recognizing that landuse planning is a statesubject. Although the 74th ConstitutionalAmendment Act (CAA) (14 years ago) stating urbanlocal bodies to be decentralized, is yet to beimplemented. Only a few states have moved in theright direction.92 Bicycling in Asia

STREETS FOR NANDEDPradeep SachdevaNanded city is located on the banks of theGodavari River, in the Marathwada Region inMaharashtra state. It is spread over 52 sq kms andhas a population of about 0.5 million (based on thecensus data 2001, with projections). It is theheadquarters to Nanded district which is surroundedby Andhra Pradesh and Karnatka. Underthe program of the Jawaharlal Nehru NationalUrban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), 'Improvementfor the Movement Network' project has beenformulated, designed and supervised by PradeepSachdeva Design Associates (PSDA), New Delhi(figure 1). A total length of 50 km stretch of roadwas required to be improved (r/w 15-30m).The designs of the roads are in the spiritof the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP)which states: “equitable space allocation for allroad users with a focus on people rather thanvehicles.” The design proposals are meant toestablish benchmarks for designs of streets forother similar sized cities in India.To incorporate current international bestpractices in the design, national and internationalexperts have been brought on board for the project.The experts providing detailed inputs areTransportation Research and Injury PreventionProgram (TRIPP), Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) Delhi; Interface for Cycling Expertise (I-CE)and Dr. L. R. Kadiyali. Interface for CyclingExpertise (I-CE), the Netherlands had deputed theirtransport planner Jeroen Buis to the offices ofPSDA, to provide expertise and support indesigning the roads.Figure - 1 : City of Nanded, its major street network and land use.LEGEND30M ROW24M ROW18M ROW15M ROW22M ROWBicycling in Asia 93

Streets for NandedFigure - 2 : Road activity survey showing the pedestrianand parking activities on road sideFigure - 3 : The non motorized users on the typical roadsof NandedPEDESTRIANON ROADIt was also observed from the on-street activitiesstudy that about half of the carriage-way isoccupied by on-street parking, especially on thecommercial stretches. The study of activities showsthat almost half of the space is used by pedestriansand other related activities like informal streetvendors, hawkers, shop extensions etc. (figure 2)City of Nanded bustles with rickshaws as publictransfer modes, cycles on rent in town and withhawkers and vendors.Figure - 4 : 15.0m ROW / Two way street / Road no. 1294 Bicycling in Asia

Streets for NandedFigure - 5 : 18.0m ROW / One way street / Road no. 8Figure - 6 : 24.0m ROW / Two way street / Road no.7Figure - 7 : 30.0m ROW / Two way street / Road no. 32While designing the road cross-sections, emphasiswas on safety, improved traffic flows, segregation oftraffic by speed, accommodation of all roadactivities, green streets and an improvement inquality of urban spaces (figure 4-7). The designshave been developed for motorized and nonmotorized traffic but they also have room forpedestrian activities, and a variety of vehicles usingthe space like push carts, animal carts etc.(figure 8)The design provides for on-street parkingfor the various types of vehicles in use: AutoRickshaws, Cycle Rickshaws, Bicycles, etc.(figure 9, 10)Bicycling in Asia 95

Streets for NandedFigure - 8 : hawker platforms designed in Multi Utility ZoneFigure - 9 : detail- bicycle parking towards the segregated cycle track in the proposed designFigure - 10 : completed designed stretch in use96 Bicycling in Asia

Streets for NandedThe use of roads in Nanded is dominated by nonmotorizedtraffic, predominantly pedestrians,cyclists, hawkers, push carts, cycle rickshaws,animal carts etc. The proposal has consistentlyfollowed all Indian Road Congress (IRC) codes onfootpaths, NMV, bicycles, etc. The highlight inspace allocation has been on people and notvehicles. In the right of way, there is a 2.5m MultiUtility Zone which accommodates all other roadfunctions like street lighting, trees, amenities, postboxes, street furniture, hawker space, parking,cycle rickshaw stands, auto stands etc., which areoften ignored (figure 11).the new design while maintaining quality control inall aspects. Initially, problems were also faced incoordination with different road agencies. Often,the essence of design parameters was lost in thetranslation from the drawing board to the executionon site.Figure - 12 : newly designed and constructed river sideroad in useFigure - 11 : newly designed and constructed riverside road in useThe design proposals faced many roadblocksduring the initial stages. The breakaway fromconventional urban road planning was not easilyacceptable to the city engineers as well as thecontractors. It was difficult for traditional practicesto give way to new and more practical designs. Itwas also difficult to integrate the existing utilities inSome of the roads did not get the proposed right ofway due to land acquisition problems. There havebeen changes in the lane width on the verbalinstructions of the site engineers and sometimes tointegrate the existing drains and other facilities.The validity of the IRC codes wasdiscussed, often, during the design stage. It wasfelt that even though the codes sometimes lack indetail, they do give clear directions regardingprovisions for pedestrians and NMVs.Before initiating the design process, anelaborate study of the roadside activities and landuse was carried out. The data was translatedgraphically onto survey drawings, which was thenshared with the Nanded administration. It wasfound that comprehensive studies of activity andland-use on the road sides are very important andgreat tools for effective planning of the road crosssection.The data was used right through theprocess of design development in locating paratransportstands, parking, hawker platforms, etc.Bids for this project were awarded in early 2007and the construction work started soon thereafter(figure 12).Bicycling in Asia 97

CYCLE RICKSHAWS : DESIGN ANDDEVELOPMENTShreya GadepalliCycle rickshaws reduce pollution, eliminate fuelconsumption, are low cost, road safe, increaseemployment and promote small scale industries.For example in Delhi, there are more than 500,000passenger cycle rickshaws. Each travels 25-30km/day and makes 6-8 passenger trips/day orabout 1.5 million trips every day; directly andindirectly supporting nearly 2 million people. Theyoccupy less than half of the road space perpassenger in a car and produce no pollution at all.Imagine what an environmental and social disasterit would be if all these rickshaw trips changed intomotorized trips. Governments of developingcountries are doing away cycle rickshaws in thefalse belief that rickshaws portray the image ofbeing under developed. Cycle rickshaws are fastloosing patronage as inefficient and unsafe. As aconsequence, there is a total absence of properroad infrastructure for the efficient use of cyclerickshaws.There are many types of cycle rickshawsall over the developing world. Predominantly, theycan be categorized as the ones with sitting cartbehind the driver, low sitting cart in front of driverand a side sitting cart. In India and Bangladesh(high rickshaw usage), the rickshaws are with thesitting cart behind. The traditional rickshaws aremade with a front bicycle frame, angle iron (l)chassis, wooden rear body, spring and coir seatand mass produced bicycle components and otherdecorative components. The traditional rickshawsin India and the traditional 'Becak' in use are heavy,inefficient, unsafe, uncomfortable and require highmaintenance.The government authorities are hostile tocycle rickshaws because they perceive them asimages of backwardness. Rickshaws create theimage of migrants being problem creators andmotorists complain that they block the road. Taxisand motorcycle/auto rickshaw unions are morepowerful politically unlike the cycle rickshawunions.There is a demand to make rickshawscomfortable and safer to promote their usage. Togarner support from local governments and publicgroups, changing their image through media andpublic awareness campaigns is necessary. This willhelp in the creation of an infrastructure for safeplying of cycle rickshaws. The promotion of localsmall scale industry utilizing appropriate technologyto manufacture technically sound and safe cyclerickshaws is the need of the day.Figure - 1 : Redesigned modern rickshawcomponentsBicycling in Asia 99

Cycle Rickshaws : Design and Developmentmany ways with two speed basics, five speeds andten speeds. The production gear kit was alsoexperimented with and improved upon with varioussteps like improvements in efficiency, stressreduction and low cost. Easy maintenance andeasy availability of spares have also been planned.The new simple design is very light, efficient, safeand comfortable. The new rickshaws are durable,low maintenance with large cargo space. There is amodular option for mass production with advertisingspace. With the introduction of new cycle rickshaws,the passenger choice has been very cleartowards the new improved technology.The new school bus rickshaw has alsobeen tried with new, safer, comfortable and lightweight designs. It has a large capacity and is idealfor short distances and an attractive transportoption. The sales and manufacturing of newimproved cycle rickshaws has also picked up verywell.Figure - 2 : New school bus rickshawsThe design improvements that aretargeted upon are to reduce weight, improveefficiency, improve strength, reduce flex, enhancesafety and increase comfort. Many steps weretaken to improve the traditional cycle rickshaws tomake them more efficient. First, the improvementswere made with strong tubular frame and a widecomfortable seat with woven seat suspension - itsheight was kept low for easy access to women cladin traditional clothes and for children and the elderlywho are the most common users. The low centre ofgravity for easy pulling and less effort by the multispeedgear system was provided. There is spacefor luggage below the seat and safety featureshave been enhanced as well. There have beenmany experiments with the rear differential, tenspeed gear system, battery driven motor assistanceand rear disk brake. But not all of them havebeen necessarily incorporated in the final design.The gear system had been explored inThe simple frame, fast assembly through localassemblers with minimal jigging has made the newdesign very ideal for SSI with modularity fortransportation.The Indian rickshaw project succeededwhile many similar ones failed in the past. Thedesign was developed with the rickshaw community,not behind closed doors by just engineers. Therickshaw community was taken into confidenceright at the beginning of the assembling of cyclerickshaws. The design was a fine balance between100 Bicycling in Asia

Cycle Rickshaws : Design and DevelopmentFigure - 3 : the new design version for rickshawsin use on streetstechnical improvement, socio economic needs,cultural requirements, local manufacturing materialsand techniques.Local government agencies wereapproached not only for their support for theprogram but to promote modern rickshaws byimplementing various self employment schemes.Information dissemination about the modernrickshaws (and rickshaws in general) was donewith the help of various media including print andelectronic to reach out to the public. There existeda strong informal rickshaw industry whichembraced the work, mainly because of publicpressure.The private sector does not innovate on itsown when the profit margin is too low. Theproducers are risk-averse small businesses andconsumers are risk-averse low income people. Butunderwriting the risks of new product development,marketing and dissemination can overcome thesebarriers to modernization.The estimated environmental impact hasobserved 48% of the trips attracted away frommotorized modes around Taj Mahal. Also around30% of auto-rickshaw trips shifted to cycle rickshawtrips. About 209.7 tons of CO2 emissions, 600 tonsof TSP and 120 tons of NOx are estimated to havebeen reduced per year. When calculated at the rateof $476 per ton of CO2, the emissions reduced in aperiod of three years (the benefits might last intoperpetuity) will be at $100000. Introduction of thenew cycle rickshaws has also helped to buildpolitical resolve to tighten restrictions on motorizedtraffic in the Taj Mahal area. As often discussed incomparison to electric bus technology as analternative, cycle rickshaws have many benefits.For example, the project costs a mere $300,000 asagainst a projected subsidy of $2.240 million forelectric buses needed for tourists to the Taj Mahal.The project promotes lesser exploitationwhere an average rickshaw driver now earns $1.5to $2 compared to industrial workers who earnaround $1. Rickshaw drivers have flexible workinghours and get reasonable ergonomic exercise.Industrial workers work for long hours often ininhuman and unsafe conditions with occupationalhazards. Also, rickshaw drivers are their ownmasters while industrial workers often are treatedlike slaves. Driving rickshaw is often the onlyavailable job for the poor who migrate to urbanBicycling in Asia 101

Cycle Rickshaws : Design and Developmentareas. Modernizing the cycle rickshaws not onlyreduces the stress on the drivers but also improvestheir income earning capacity. Adding a nonpollutingelectric motor to the cycle rickshaw wouldonly further increase the daily rental cost beyondthe reach of the current cycle rickshaw driver. Theincrease in income would have only been marginallyhigher.102 Bicycling in Asia

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION: PUNESujit PatwardhanPUNE TODAYThis paper is presented from the perspective of theCivil Society Organization (CSO), and representstheir views on equitable road sharing and prioritizationof Non Motorized Vehicles (NMV) for a betterenvironment. The city of Pune is 243 sq.km areaunder the jurisdiction of the Pune MunicipalFigure 1 - A typical commercial street in Pune? Feasibility of the proposed cycle track in thecity.? Study of existing land use along the corridors.? Phasing of implementation of cycle track.? Integration/inter connectivity between cycletrack and other modes of transport.? Proposals of missing links and various othermethods of developing cycle tracks.? Provision for cycle parking and signage to beused on the cycle tracks.? Operation, maintenance and promotionrallies, hoardings, media, etc.Corporation with a population of 3.3 million and agrowth rate over 3.5% p.a. There is a hugemigrating population who live in slums accountingfor 1.23 million of the city's population. The city hassome 1800 Km of roads (70% Surfaced) with about25% of roads > 24 m r/w. The modal share ofcyclists in the city has been put at 13% by variousconsultants and city authorities, accompanied by alarge number of pedestrians and two wheelers(figure 1). The following had been identified as thebasic requirements from the perspective of the CivilSociety Organization (CSO) before planning forcycle tracks other than 123km of Bus Rapid Transit(BRT) corridors which include dedicated internationalquality, physically segregated cycle tracks:? Identifying the corridors for cycle track;school routes, working class, sports, leisureetc.It is observed by the CSO that there are varioussites and areas that are developed for cycles inPune. As there is no scientific verification for tracksand provisions, it has been entirely fragmented andnot linked though it does provide access and safetyat critical points. But since the beginning, otherNMVs have been kept out like thelas etc., in thepresent hope of clearing up the existing cycletracks. The informal market has not been happywith these delegations. There is municipal policing(PMC) with 300 retired military people (but none assuch is dedicated to cycle track use), which mayinstill a feeling of safety and security in the people.The structure of the bicycle cell which hasbeen formed in Feb' 08 is still being experimentedupon. The bicycle cell is composed of city officials/planners,and CSOs with the MunicipalCommissioner as the chairperson. Ward-wiserepresentation is also debated upon to solve thelocal problems more practically. In the interimmeetings, it was discussed that important cityBicycling in Asia 103

Sustainable Transportation: Puneplanning and development decisions would involvethe cycle cell. For example, the tendering processof traffic and transportation projects in Pune, TORwith contractors, and other design and implementationstages of the project will have continuousinvolvement of NMT cell to ensure equitable stakeof cyclists and uniform quality of cycle tracks. Thefollowing had also been identified as importantgoals:? Prepare a Pune Cycle Network (PCN) Plan'Part to Whole' to select the cycle route needbased, shortest distances, safe.? Spot based solutions, specify the location ofsignage.? Prepare a financial module for O&M.? Preparing a wardwise cycle network map.? Promotion rallies, hoardings, media etc.It is proposed to have existing tracks designed andrepaired first, followed by the ones with high usage,then certain stretches which are not yet developedand finally the other lands/opportunities likenallah/parks/waste lands etc. to be brought intouse. The limitations in conceiving the homogeneouseffort and issue of inability to guide or controlthe quality of BRT cycle tracks was also discussedin detail (to tap the opportunities lost at an earlystage). There is great emphasis on stalling thecurrent bad practices, highlighting them to theCommissioner and upgrading the comfort andquality level. The joints, material used in pavements,retro-reflective (shiny green) surface paintand comfort levels among various cities are stillcompared and discussed with other cities examples.CSO discussed the potential of taking upsome of the design manual questions. Amongvarious local groups coordinating and improving thestakeholders representations in decision makingwas also explored.PRIVATE AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTIt is also observed by the CSO that road tax for aMaruti car in Delhi is Rs. 3,815 while in Mumbai it isRs. 10,382 and in Chennai it is Rs. 8,210 (Rs.16,240 if company owned). In Delhi, unlike carsthat pay a one time tax, buses pay an annual tax ofRs. 14,325. Buses ply 250 kms a day and for 300days a year which works out to a road tax of about19 paise per Km. But a car which say lasts alifetime of 15 years and runs some 10,000 kms peryear ends up paying 2.54 paise per km (Source:Down to Earth, May 31, 2001). The disparity ashighlighted by the CSO lies in the non-prioritizing ofthe public transport mode.The answer is the BRTS - Bus RapidTransit System which is a next generation publictransport with high quality buses and is integratedvia IT enabled system running along dedicatedlanes. The CSO observed from the PublicTransport Benefits (the US experience) that it helpsin congestion reduction, road parking saving andconsumer saving (affordability and mobility). By thisthe transport choice (particularly for non-drivers) isincreased and road safety (safer overall) andenvironmental protection (reduces air pollution,damage to natural and built environment) isstrengthened and community livability is improved.Public transport saves 1,500 million gallons in autofuel consumption each year. For every 10,000 solodrivers who leave their cars at home and commuteon existing public transport for one year, the nationreduces fuel consumption by 2.7 million gallons.It is also observed in the study that urbancommuters spent an average of 36 hours (nearly 5work-days) in traffic delays in 1999. The TexasTransport Institute found that 1/3 of daily traveloccurs under congested conditions. Publictransport enhances economic opportunity bylowering household expenses and freeing up moreincome for other needs. It is also estimated that USbusiness benefits through direct revenues,workforce improvement and other revenues. Every$ 10 million invested in a public transport capitalproject yields $ 30 million in business sales. Trafficcongestion causes an annual loss of $ 40 billion to104 Bicycling in Asia

Sustainable Transportation: PuneUS business. Without public transport that losswould rise by $ 14.8 billion per year. In addition,businesses in public transport intensive areas saveon land required for parking and its associatedcosts.BICYCLE AS A COMMUTING MODE25% of the world's energy is used in transport andabout 80% of this is used by road transport. Also30% of the total carbon dioxide emissions in theworld are from vehicles. As far as land use isconcerned, over 11% of Pune's land is used fortransportation while out of this 1/3rd of Pune'sroads are used for vehicle parking alone (figure 2).This motorization has caused severe congestion,Figure - 2 : A busy arterial road in PuneFigure - 3 : High modal share for walk and cycleWalk37%Car1%Bus22%Rail1%2-Wheeler16%Cycle18%3-Wheeler5%CarRailFigure - 4 : risks for pedestrians and cyclists3-Wheeler2-WheelerCycleBusWalkconflict between multiple modes and has reducedthe average speed to less than 15 km/hr in mostareas of the city. It is now the 6th most polluted cityin Asia. There is a high modal share of pedestriansand bicyclists, amounting to about 50% of the totaltrips (figure 3). There have been 1000 accidentsand 300 deaths in 2004 in Pune alone. Most of thevictims are pedestrians, cyclists and 2-wheelerriders (figure 4).Now, with growing motorization, the spaces neededfor an ever increasing number of cars, manufacturing,mobility and other uses is growing rapidly. Theimpact is upon the ever-decreasing open-spaces,gardens etc; in such a city, the cyclist and thepedestrian are at risk. The decreasing green coveralso makes life harder for these travellers. The'obvious' line of thought is that in a growing city, therise in vehicle numbers are inevitable. Therefore,the city must provide for increased vehicle usethrough increasing road space, parking spaces andensuring an adequate fuel supply. But Pune'sgrowth since 1960 is leading to a fast increase inpopulation and vehicles. Since then, the populationof Pune has quadrupled, the number of vehicleshas grown 106 times while the road surface hasincreased only 6 times. Ironically, public transitBicycling in Asia 105

Sustainable Transportation: Puneusage has decreased by 60%. Also, this is leadingto a decrease in the number of bicycles plying onthe roads. The solution till now is assumed to lie inthe building of flyovers and in road wideningoperations. Today, the share of cycles has reducedto 13% in Pune, which was once known as the cityof bicycles.The city has some very old dedicatedFigure - 5 : Views of various cycle track stretches inPunecycle lanes in the city. But most of them now existonly in stretches, unconnected and which are notproperly maintained (figure 5). In an NMT cellsurvey conducted in Feb. 2008 the observations forfour key cycle track sections and the actionsplanned/implemented are as follows:Table - 1 : The task inventory of removing obstacles/barriers on the key stretches of cycle tracksin Pune and Action plan for itTaskAction1. Athavale Chowk toSNDT - Pipesobstructing entranceto Cycle Track Needto expedite the workunder progress.NMT Cell to follow up withWard Officer and report. -The issue has beenalready brought to thenotice of the concernengineer from the watersupply project department.The work of laying thepipes is supposed to becompleted in next 10 daysand the pipes will beutilised in the same work.(Left side) Need to addblock stones. Many are nolonger in placeNMT Cell to follow up withWard Officer and reportThese are the openingsmade in the cycle trackwhen we go from Athawlechowk towards SNDT onthe left side. There are twosuch openings. Theseopenings will be closed forall vehicles. The work is tobe done by Mr. NitinUdhas Ward OfficersGhole road.(Left side) Repair curbingand remove “ramp” atBabasaheb Modak Pathintersection.NMT Cell to follow up withWard Officer and reportSame as above106 Bicycling in Asia

Sustainable Transportation: PuneTable - 1 : continuedTaskActionTaskAction(Right side) Create a smallkiosk for cycle repairperson 5 m from entrance.Person will also beresponsible for ensuringno encroachment on track.For implementation of this,a policy will have to beframed and got itapproved may be from theCommissioner NMT Cellto do.(Right side) Remove treestumps that are beginningto sprout.NMT Cell to follow up withWard Officer and reportWard officer Ghole Roadto do it.(Right side) Add properbus stop close to SNDTgate. Bus stop should bealong the road edge withenough space for passingbehind it.NMT Cell to follow up withPMPML (?)- YES(Left side) Add spacemarkings for Rickshawstand in a manner that willnot obstruct the cycletrack.3. Athavale Chowk to NalStopConnect cycle track tothe SNDT arm byproper treatment.Action: Design drawingsto be made10 openings in the trackalong the side at eachopening reduce thewidth where possibleand add access barrierdevices (e.g. bollards).Follow up with WardOfficer and RTA (?)Create sample of barrier ata ward office to testdesign. The barrier to beerected at the only oneside of each intersection,along the flow of traffic2. SNDT KarveRoad/Paud RoadJunctionComing from KarveRoad/Paud Road alongslip road (next toflyover) - Create CycleTrack starting along theslip road with clearmarkings that will mergewith the cycle track justafter the SNDT gate.Proper treatment,including the use ofcurb stones and properlane marking andsignage to be added.Add 'Cycle Track' signageto Pedestrian Bridge.Merge left side CycleTrack on Canal BankRoad to Cycle Track onKarve road (coming fromNal Stop) by propertreatment.Design drawings to bemade by NURM Cell (Mr.V.Deshpande) and givento NMT CellSignage to be finalized byNMT Cell.Design drawings to bemade by NURM Cell (Mr.V.Deshpande) and givento NMT CellExtend the cycle trackusing curb stones or largerbarriers up to thepedestrian crossing at NalstopAll manholes to be flushedwith the surface of thetrack. They are currentlyprotruding.4. Sambhaji Bridge CycleTrackThe pedestrian walkwayis 12 feet wide andprovides an opportunityfor a cycle track to allowcycles to cross thebridge safely.Proper treatment to beadded at both ends onboth sides. Opening tobe created, ramp addedand proper signageinstalled that indicatesthat cycles are allowedto cross the bridgeusing the cycle track.Design drawings to bemadeTo be followed up withWard Officer Ghole Road.Create drawings for thetreatment at both ends onboth sides.Bicycling in Asia 107

THE CYCLE RICKSHAW IN DELHIRajendra RaviAt least 6 lakh people ride rickshaws in the NationalCapital Region (NCR) of Delhi. Rickshaws carrygoods of small traders and take small children toschools. It is the most useful transport for women totravel home from bus stops. Along with the hugenumber of rickshaw-drivers and the peopletraveling on it, a small community of rickshawowners,rickshaw-mechanics and rickshaw-makersare associated with this tricycle. Despite theincremental rise in the numbers of private scooters,cars, public buses, mini buses and suburban trainsevery day, this study of the people related to therickshaw is enough to prove how essential it is inour cities. When the citizens of the territory wereasked whether rickshaws should be banned, 41.8per cent answered in the negative. Out of these,87.4 per cent of the people considered therickshaw to be a safe medium of transport and 97.2per cent thought that the rickshaw should be usedas an effective tool in the battle to save theenvironment of the city. 93.1 per cent favored aseparate lane for bicycles and rickshaws. And 94.3per cent of the people thought that the rickshaw isthe most easily available transport for shortdistance travel. Apart from travelling to bus stationsand railway stations, people travel on rickshaws togo to schools, colleges, markets and offices. Morethan 50 per cent of the rickshaw travellers prefer touse this tricycle running on human fuel. Comparedto any other vehicle, commuting by rickshaw is theleast expensive.All kinds of up-market means of transportare coming on the street today. Their number andmodels are increasing everyday. Their speed too isincreasing everyday. Yet they are unable to beatthe cycle rickshaw. The number of rickshaws isincreasing regularly. Their customers too areincreasing. After all what is the reason behind therickshaw's tenacity in the face of all these challenges?Why do people travel in rickshaws despitebuses and motor vehicles?Rickshaw-drivers answer this questiondifferently according to their respective experiences.23 per cent of the rickshaw-drivers feel thatpeople take rickshaws in order to avoid crowds.Rickshaws travel through even narrow by-lanes.20.3 per cent to 30.5 per cent of the rickshawdriversconsider these facts to be important. Threeper cent of the rickshaw-drivers even say that sincethe rickshaw carries luggage too, apart frompeople, its demand continues. Rickshaws areavailable everywhere; one can reach anywherefrom anywhere in a hurry by it; a rickshaw-drivereasily agrees to commute short distances.Any person with common sense canunderstand the utility of the rickshaw in everydaylife. If the rickshaw is banned today, there will be anunbridgeable vacuum in urban life. But despite thiscommon sense, why have only 73,000 rickshawsbeen issued licenses in the Delhi city zone?First, Delhi became the capital, then itbecame the National Capital Zone and now it is theNational Capital Region (NCR) subsuming adjacentareas. As its geography expanded formally, itsrickshaw-drivers increased in numbers informally.Today the rickshaw-drivers have turned into a newcommunity and a new class. Knowingly or unknowingly,they are intervening in the changes takingplace in the definition of modernity.In order to make Delhi more beautiful andpollution-free, orders were passed to shift all theindustrial units away from the city which took awaythe means of livelihood of lakhs of labourers.Looking through the eyes of a rickshawdriver,this hierarchical division of centre, peripheryand marginalisation of the city appears verycomplex. For example, rickshaws were bannedfrom plying in most parts in order to turn Delhi intoone of the most modern cities of the world. Delhi isdivided into three independent administrativeBicycling in Asia 109

The Cycle Rickshaw in Delhibodies: The Delhi Municipal Corporation, The NewDelhi Municipal Council and the Delhi CantonmentCouncil. Along with this, the entire city has alsobeen divided into red, yellow and green zones.While rickshaws cannot move at all in the red zone,they cannot ply between 8am and 11pm in theyellow zone. They can ply without any hindranceonly in the green zone. The New Delhi MunicipalCouncil comes under the red zone. This is the areawhere all the institutions of parliamentary democracyare located and the people governing thiscountry reside. Hence, this part is the super centreof the centre of Delhi. Through rules and regulations,this centre has pushed the rickshaw to itsperiphery.If all the cars, scooters, motor-cycles andbuses of Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennaiare added together even then they can't equal theirnumbers in Delhi. Keeping the popularity of thesefast driven vehicles in mind, Delhi is being transformedinto a city which will have the maximumnumber of flyovers. The roads are being smoothenedand beautified accordingly. On the otherhand, the condition of the lanes and streets of otherurban areas of the region is quite pathetic. There isno prohibition against the rickshaw out here butdriving rickshaws on battered and pot-holed roadsis extremely difficult and backbreaking.The increasing number of motor-drivenvehicles is continuously eating into the incomes ofrickshaw-drivers. Evidently, the difficulties of therickshaw are increasing. Yet the number of thosedriving it continues to rise. Whether legal or illegal,if the number of 6 lakh rickshaws plying in theurban areas of the entire region along with themechanics, the owners and those involved in itsproduction and their families are added together,the strength of this community will increaseconsiderably. If the rickshaw has managed tomaintain its space in this process despite theobstacles created by the process of urbanisationthen the biggest reason for this is that the povertyof the countryside pushes people towards the citiesand there is always space for them in the marginsthat serve the centre of the city.Rickshaw-drivers in NCR have left theirvillages mainly due to two reasons; almost 51 percent due to unemployment and about 35 per centbecause they were unable to make their ends meetin their erstwhile professions.Whether permanent or temporaryrickshaw-drivers, all go to their villages. Only thosewho have now permanently settled in the towns ofthe NCR and who don't have any parental property,don't go to their villages. There is no logic in theoriginal inhabitants of the city going to the village. Afew come to the city from their villages everyday,ply rickshaws and return to their villages. Thesepeople belong to villages that are adjacent to theNCR. These villages either come within the ambitof the NCR or are adjacent to it. Out of these about49 per cent do their own farming while about 36 percent perform labour in the fields. Approximately 9per cent go for other kinds of labour. Some of themeven engage in self-employment, animal husbandryand domestic work etc.Rickshaw driving is a paternal professionfor less than 1 per cent of the people. Mostrickshaw-drivers come from rural or semi-urbanpoor backgrounds. It would be rare to find acategory of professions traditionally associated withthe poor, which doesn't contain people earning theirlivelihood by driving the rickshaw. Fifty three percent of the rickshaw-drivers of the region eitherhave been agricultural labourers or have earnedtheir livelihood through some other kind of labour.Out of these, 35 per cent are poor peasants. Thenumber of rickshaw-drivers from Uttar Pradesh andBihar in the entire region has been almost equal at38 per cent each. There is considerable differencein their numbers from the point of view of theiroriginal place in the different sub-regions of thecity/state. In Delhi, 49.2 per cent, i.e. almost halfthe total number of rickshaw drivers are from Biharand Uttar Pradesh.People driving rickshaws in the regioncome here mainly because they know somebodyalready residing here. They think that they will findsome work after reaching here. People coming tofind work on their own are most in the Delhi sub-110 Bicycling in Asia

The Cycle Rickshaw in Delhiregion (15.2 per cent)Three-fourth of the rickshaw-drivers aremarried. More than half of these (56.5 per cent)stay alone in the city. The reason for their stayingalone is that they want to save the maximumamount of money and send it to their dependants athome. They think that a large share of their incomewill be spent on house rent and other necessities ifthey stay in the city with their families, whereasthey already have a house for the family back intheir village. Rickshaw-drivers living alone do notlead lonely lives. In fact they live with their friendsas a group in the city. Also, with living like this, thecost of living and eating per person reduce to aminimum.EARNINGS, SAVINGS AND EXPENDITUREThe everyday earning of rickshaw-drivers is notfixed but about 86 per cent earn between Rs.50and 100. Some rickshaw-drivers live in their rooms,some in their slums, some in rickshaw-garages andsome on the footpath (for this, they don't have topay rent). Some of them stay in rented rooms or inthe slums; some of them stay in a temple, withsome acquaintance or even in a school.All those coming from the far off countrysidedon't begin to drive rickshaws immediatelyafter reaching Delhi. Only about half of thosedriving rickshaws in the region are the ones whocoincidentally, out of choice or under somecompulsion began with rickshaw-driving. Twentyone per cent of the rickshaw-drivers in the regionbegin their urban life as daily wage labourers, while12.5 per cent as factory labourers.Rickshaw driving is a profession, which isrun illegally despite it being a legal profession.There is need of a license for the rickshaw-driverand the rickshaw in some parts of the NCR while inothers it is not necessary. In areas where a licenseis needed, not all rickshaw-drivers get it. Accordingto the survey, only 20.7 per cent of them arelicense holders in the Delhi region. A large sectionof the drivers, thus, are without licenses. They allhave different reasons for this. Some of them (10.9per cent) don't even know where the license is permade, 44.5 per cent tell you that you don't get alicense made here and 22.6 per cent say that hereyou don't need a license. 7.9 per cent attributedthis to non-issuance of the license during thesurvey-period and 5.2 per cent accused the civicbody for not issuing the license. 1.4 per cent citedlack of money as the reason while about 5 per centattributed this to their irregular rickshaw-driving.This was all about a license for rickshaw-drivers.But this is true as well that along with the licensefor a rickshaw-driver, a license is also issued for therickshaw itself. Those who have their rickshaws,get it made themselves. Those who rent therickshaw get it built by the owners. The rickshawownergets the license made under the name ofone of the rickshaw-drivers but it remains theproperty of the rickshaw-owner. Legally rickshawownerscannot keep more than one rickshaw. But itbecomes possible with the connivance of officialsof the Municipal Corporation for the rickshawownersto own many (even hundreds of) rickshaws.Those plying rickshaws on rent have tofurnish a bond to the owner. Barring a few exceptions,most of the rickshaw-drivers do this. Thisbond is not in a written form. When a rickshawdrivergoes to the owner to take the rickshaw forthe first time, he takes another person with him whoknows both of them. On the recommendation ofthis person alone does the driver get his rickshaw.Generally,this third person is somebody who hasalready taken a rickshaw on rent from the owner atsome point of time. The rickshaw-driver takes therickshaw from the owner on a daily rent. This rentranges between Rs.10 to Rs.30. The rent is fixedon the basis of whether the rickshaw is old or new.An older rickshaw fetches less rent compared to anew one.The rickshaw is perhaps the only transportof modern urban life where there is no hierarchicaldifference between the owner and the driver in theeyes of the law. Barring a few exceptions, legally,every rickshaw-owner has to present himself as therickshaw-driver too. It has been mentioned earlierhow rickshaw driving is forced to exist illegallydespite being a legalised profession. The specialityBicycling in Asia 111

The Cycle Rickshaw in Delhiof rickshaw-owners is that despite this dangerousaspect of the business, they risk their money on it.It's a business that needs small capital in which 100rickshaws can be bought for only about Rs.1.5 to 2lakh. They are left wondering how despite givingemployment to 100 people for such a small capital(and despite fulfilling the many needs of transportfor urban citizens along with preserving theenvironment in the process), they find themselveson the wrong side of the law.Legally, a rickshaw-owner cannot keepmore than one rickshaw. One can keep fiverickshaws only when one is a widow or is handicapped.Evidently, most of the rickshaws owned bya rickshaw-owner are either against fictitiousnames or are without licenses.There is a lot of variation among rickshawownersin terms of age, caste, religion, state andbackground. They are the most well-off andinfluential part of the business. There is only onecommonality among the rickshaw-owners: theirbusiness being termed illegal by the administration.Rickshaw-owners are of different ages,but none of them is a minor. This is the differencebetween the owner and the driver in terms of age;3.2 per cent of the rickshaw-drivers in the entireregion are below 18 years of age. But one canrarely find a minor among the owners; 23 per centof the rickshaw-owners in the region are in the 18-30 years category. They are 38 per cent in the 31-40 years age group and 39 per cent above 41years. What is the reason behind the higher age ofthe owners? This is because it is rickshaw-driversand mechanics, who become owners after havingworked for many years. Those who are youngnormally get the rickshaw through inheritance.From the religious point of view, 58 per cent areHindus, 32 per cent Muslims and 8.8 per centSikhs.Compared to the drivers, the rickshawownersare not as illiterate. 48.6 per cent of therickshaw-drivers are illiterate while only 24 per centof the owners are illiterate. It is clear from the datathat rickshaw-owners are better educated than thedrivers. Because of education, this category is ofmore aware of its interests. If the owners are ableto sustain their business despite adverse conditions,then it is because of their education.Rickshaw-owners immediately take initiativeswhenever government policies are publicisedthrough the newspapers. They immediately forwardtheir written demands to the officials in theadministration. Truly speaking, this very educationhas helped them in becoming rickshaw-owners.Housing is a major problem in cities. Onlyone-third of the rickshaw-owners have to face thisproblem. Whether a room, a flat or a 'jhuggi', mostof the owners have their own place to stay. About17 per cent live in their rooms, 45 per cent in theirflats and 6.2 per cent of the owners live in their own'jhuggis'. Out of these 28.6 per cent live in rentedrooms, 2.6 per cent in the garage and 1 per cent insome other place. Having their own room or flatindicates their better standard of living. Half ofthese owners have been in this business for morethan ten years. About 30 per cent have beenrunning their rickshaws for between 1-5 years and16.2 per cent between 5-10 years.Passenger rickshaw-drivers are males. Inthe rural areas of Delhi, one sees a few womencarrying luggage in the 'thela'-rickshaws. A fewwomen can be seen carrying a load even on cyclerickshawsin Ghaziabad and Faridabad. Womenare on the margins even as rickshaw-owners. Malerickshaw-owners in the region are 98.4 per cent.There are a few questions relating to rickshawowners,which we asked only the owners in Delhi.According to the information given by the them,most of the owners come from the peasantcommunity: 48.6 per cent. Only 31.4 per cent havebeen associated traditionally with the cyclerickshawbusiness and 5.7 per cent of the ownersare associated with it through shop-keeping.People associated with running the rickshaws arerelated to work like rickshaw-driving, running milkbooths, tailoring, junk dealers and other traditionalwork.Civic bodies in some places in the NCRissue licenses for rickshaws. In some other placesa license is not needed. A license for those license112 Bicycling in Asia

Cycle Rickshaw in Delhirickshaws run on rent is acquired by the rickshawowner.Though they are issued in the name of thedriver, the entire fee, which includes the actuallicense fee as well as the bribe-money, is paid bythe owner. One can feel while talking to theseowners that they are not being honest with theinformation they share. Some of them even add thebribe-money to the license fee as actual licensefee. People don't get their licenses made in thosetowns where the rules are not enforced strictly.They keep their rickshaws running by payingofficials of municipal bodies. They don't even knowwhat the actual license fee is. It is not that theydon't want to get their licenses made. They knowthat in the event of non-payment of bribe theofficials will not let the license be issued under thepretext of rules and regulations.The license for rickshaw is not madethroughout the year in the offices of civic bodies.Because of this, some rickshaw-owners cannot getlicenses made for their rickshaws despite wantingto do so. Hence, 58.4 per cent of the owners are ofthe opinion that the licenses should be madethroughout year as for any other vehicle. Only 43.5per cent of the owners support the idea of completelyabolishing the license fee though those infavour of this move in the Delhi sub-region are 51.4per cent. There is a difference of opinion over theissue of license fee. Those in favour of abolishingthe fee say that: (1) This is a means of employmentfor the poor (2) It does not provide much income (3)It is necessary to encourage rickshaws. Thoseprofessing these three opinions are 53.8, 9.7 and14.0 per cent respectively while 22.6 per cent of theowners give some other reasons as well. On theother hand, those supporting the license fee givethese arguments: (1) Rickshaws run on the streetsbelonging to the government (2) The governmentwill suffer from the abolition of the fee (3) There willbe an unprecedented increase in the number ofrickshaws. Hence, it is not proper to make rickshawslicense free. Those professing these threeviews are 41.3, 31.4 and 10.7 per cent of theowners respectively. 7.4 per cent of the ownersgive some other reasons in this regard. About 9.1per cent owners want the fee to be reduced slightly.RICKSHAW GARAGEGarages are needed to keep rickshaws as well asfor their maintenance and repair. There is severelack of such spaces in the city. Hence, there has tobe some arrangement for these rickshaws. Thoserickshaw-owners who are well off or who have theirown place run their own garages and those whodon't have such places of their own, keep theirrickshaws either on rented land or on governmentland (which includes vacant plots and parts of thestreet). According to the survey, 19.5 per cent ofthe owners run their garages on their own landwhile 23.7 per cent on the rented land. A bigsection of the owners (53.2 per cent) run thegarages on government land. Almost 1 per cent ofthe owners in the NCR keep their rickshaws intemples, schools or other such places. A majority(73.2 per cent) of those using government landdon't pay anything to the government or anybodyelse in lieu of this but 26.8 per cent do paysomebody. Most of the rickshaw-owners have onlyone garage, but a few of the owners own more thanone garage.RICKSHAWS MECHANICSThe rickshaw-mechanic is as diverse as therickshaw-owner or the rickshaw driver. Mostrickshaw mechanics in the NCR belong to the 18-30 years age group (about 47 per cent). It is indeednoticeable that in Delhi, neither the owners nor themechanics are below 18 years of age. The castewisebreak up of rickshaw mechanics in the regionis : scheduled castes (22.2 per cent), scheduledtribes (0.5 per cent), other backward castes (24.3per cent), upper caste (30.7 per cent).The maximum number of mechanics arehigh school graduates (27 per cent). Almost anequal number are illiterate (26.5 per cent). Middleschool pass mechanics are 20.1 per cent andliterate are 13.8 per cent. 10.6 per cent of themechanics have acquired primary education.Intermediate pass and graduate rickshaw mechanicsare about 2 per cent.Bicycling in Asia 113

The Cycle Rickshaw in DelhiThe traditional occupation of the familiesof these mechanics are diverse. Only 20.6 per centcome from the traditional occupation of cycle andrickshaw repair in the entire region. Most mechanics(37.6 per cent) come from labouring families,19.6 per cent come from a farming background and6.3 per cent from government service. Rickshawmechanics also come from families associated withprofessions like vendors, barbers, shoemakers,tailors, goldsmiths, potters etc.All mechanics working in the cities don'thave a similar residence system. They all havedifferent problems in this regard. 60.8 per cent ofthe mechanics live in their own houses, 22.2 percent live in rented rooms while 0.5 per cent inrented hutments (4.2 per cent in Delhi).We asked Delhi rickshaw-mechanicssince how long they had been in Delhi and 8.3 percent said that they were here for the durationbetween 1-6 months, 12.5 per cent between 1-5years, 16.7 per cent between 10-15 years and 16.7per cent said they had been based in Delhi for over20 years. We also asked them about the reason fortheir coming to Delhi and 70.8 per cent mentionedemployment, and 8.3 per cent mentioned otherreasons.RICKSHAW PASSENGERSOnly 16.4 per cent of the riders are daily users ofthe rickshaw while 83.6 per cent of them areoccasional users. Rickshaws link them with busstands,railway stations, offices, bazaars, schoolscollegesand fair-grounds. In the National CapitalRegion, 17.9 per cent of the riders use rickshaws toreach bus-stands and railway stations, 8.2 per centto reach offices, 57.2 per cent to reach the bazaar,12.3 per cent for schools-colleges and 4.4 per centfor other sites (such as hospitals).Rickshaw riders are aware and alert. Theytalk openly about the gains of a rickshaw ride. Ofthem, 22 per cent consider the rickshaw a meansof employment, 33 per cent of them find it convenient,13.8 per cent of them are of the opinion thatrickshaws are eco-friendly, 31.1 per cent of themthink that the rickshaw serves these three purposes. For short distances, 94.3 per cent of thepeople vouch for rickshaws, 3.8 per cent for threewheelersand 1.9 per cent for buses.Amidst the fast moving motor drivenvehicles, a rickshaw-rider sits glued to his seat,scared and apprehensive of being knocked down.93.1 per cent are strongly in favor of a separatelane for rickshaws and bicycles. In the narrowest oflanes, a rickshaw makes way without blockingtraffic. 75.2 per cent of the riders are in favour of aban against the entry of heavy vehicles in narrowlanes. 21.4 per cent of the passengers want thisban on tempos and three-wheelers, 1.6 per cent aban on 'buggi' and hand-carts and 1.9 per cent areagainst the entry of even a rickshaw in a narrowlane.In the NCR areas of Delhi, the quadrangularof rickshaw-drivers, rickshaw-riders, rickshawmechanicsand rickshaw-owners is not a squarebut a rectangle. On the long arms of the rectanglerest the rickshaw-drivers and rickshaw-riders. Onthe smaller arms are rickshaw-owners andrickshaw-mechanics. A close study of the relationshipof the city with poverty and labour brings us tosome conclusions. These conclusions can lay thefoundation of future policies, that humanise,equalize and democratise these relationships.THE RICKSHAWThe living standards and life styles of rickshawdriversdepend on their economic, social andcultural backgrounds. They take pride in physicallabour and are not shy of it. They are mostlyaddicted to tobacco, bidi and 'gutka'. Unions existonly in name and instead of sensitising them theykeep them demoralised and demotivated. With alittle encouragement, rickshaws can help us infighting unemployment, pollution, derth of petroleum-fueland encourage a cheap and convenientmeans of transport. This can also enable us tosave foreign currency which can be diverted toother schemes of development.The tussle between a rickshaw-driver andrickshaw-owner ultimately goes against therickshaw-driver. A co-operative society of rickshaw-114 Bicycling in Asia

The Cycle Rickshaw in Delhidrivers would be a positive step in their upliftment.Educating and acquainting them with all traffic rulescan easily bring down the rate of accidents.Only a few rickshaw-drivers own rickshaws.The reasons for not owning a rickshaw oftheir own could be paucity of funds, lack of spacefor keeping a rickshaw or discouragement frommunicipal employees. The government does notprovide loans, insurance, housing and parking; nordoes it do anything for their health and education.These basic amenities are a must for their mentaland material security and empowerment.Haggling and occasional tiffs are commonplacebut many passengers nurse tendermemories where a rickshaw-wallah came to theirrescue in an emergency. For the security andprotection of the passenger some rickshaw-drivershave even laid down their lives. In the case of anaccident they take the injured to hospitals free ofcost. Sometimes they don't even demand moneyfrom those who can't pay. The socio-culturalbackground of the passengers also determines thenature of this relationship between the rickshawpullerand the passenger.Scientific and technical experts shouldwork towards improving the technology of therickshaw to minimize the labour of rickshaw-drivers.The development of a city actually means thedevelopment of the poor and the under-employed.An integrated transport policy should be planned onthe basis of available national resources, whilekeeping the focus on all sections of society,particularly the weakest.Bicycling in Asia 115

The Cycle Rickshaw in DelhiFigure 1 : rickshaw pullers of Delhi116 Bicycling in Asia

HEALTH ISSUES IN BICYCLINGDinesh MohanThe bicycle was invented about the same time asthe car and the plane. It is one of the very modernmodes of transport having been invented lately(Figure 1). The bicycle arrives even after the metro.It was observed in a study that UK citizens now(Murphy, M.H. & Hardman, A.E.,1998). Previously itwas thought that only vigorous, uninterruptedexercise, such as jogging, could provide suchbenefits (Pate, R.R. et al, 1995).It was also estimated that the chances ofFigure - 1 : Bicycle as a modern mode of travel: its evolutionSource: Mohan, S. Comfort Bicycle for Urban/Semi-Urban Scenario. Diploma Document Product Design,Ahmedabad: National Institute of Design, 2005.walk an average of 12 km less each day than theirforebears 50 years ago. In 1949, 34% of thedistances travelled using a mechanical mode wereby bicycle; today its only 1-2% (Hillman M, 1994).Cycling into daily life is much more likely to besustainable in the long term than gym basedrigorous exercises (Hillsdon M,1995). A reduction inblood pressure of 10/8 mm Hg is observed amonghypertensive patients who cycle regularly (FagardR. H., 1995). 30 minutes of brisk cycling a day, onmost days, even if carried out in ten to fifteenminute episodes, reduces the risk of developingcardiovascular diseases, diabetes and hypertensionand helps control blood lipids and body weightFigure - 2 : Trip types and fatality rates in centralCopenhagenFatalities per100m trips2520151050Car Bus BicycleAccess In vehicle OthersBicycling in Asia 117

Health issues in Bicyclinggetting a heart disease are likely to be cut in halfwith brisk cycling on a regular basis. The likelihoodof getting strokes, diabetes and some kinds ofcancer will also be reduced. This reduces stressand helps reduce weight. Reduced cases ofosteoporosis have been reported from regularcyclists. The study by Thompson and Rivara hasalready established that the person in a carbreathes in more exhaust pollutants than the oneriding a bike under similar circumstances (ThompsonM J, Rivara F P., 2001).The trip types and fatality rates werestudied in central Copenhagen and it was observedthat bicycle has the most fatalities per 100 milliontrips. (Figure 2) It is observed in the USA that about70% of limited bicycle usage is for social purposes,and the bicycle is not considered a serious modefor commutation. The bicycle usage in theNetherlands and in Germany is about 35-40% ofthe modal share and is used for commuting toschool and work on a regular basis (Jorgensen, N.O., 1996) (Figure 3).The high income countries have a verydifferent attitude and perception towards bicycling.context of developed countries.On the other hand, in the low incomecountries, only the poor and the lower middleclasses use bicycles, because it is the onlyaffordable mode available to improve accessibility.The middle class and rich do not cycle because it isunsafe. There are a huge number of short trips (

Health issues in Bicyclingare other problems associated with mounting anddismounting. The convenient design with lowerfront bar is unjustifiably considered a ladies' bike.Also the stability, the saddle height and reach offeet are jeopardized by other factors.The conspicuity of the rider is veryimportant and the most common mechanism ofcollisions may be the failure of motorists toperceive and respond to cyclists. Low cyclistconspicuity increases the rate of crash-relatedinjury. Increased use of high-visibility clothing bycyclists is likely to reduce injury. There has been aneightfold reduction in the rate of days off work dueto a bicycle crash in riders who reported ''alwayswearing fluorescent colors'', compared with ''neverwearers'' (Thompson MJ, Rivara FP, 2001).The Cochrane reviews of helmets forpreventing head and facial injuries in cyclists hasobserved that wearing a helmet drastically reducesthe injuries for those involved in crashes even withmotorized vehicles. This review found that wearinga helmet reduced the risk of head or brain injury byapproximately two thirds or more regardless of thefact that the crash involved a motorized vehicle.The design of roundabouts needs to be rethoughtfrom the cyclist's perspective. The traffic calmingdesigns need to be practiced with high motorcycleuse. Also it is observed that the urban block sizeplays an important role in guiding the flows andspeeds on particular arterial and sub-arterial roads.City structure and safety are also largely interdependentfactors. The actual area devoted to roadsmay not vary much between different cities, but theresidential block or development size can vary a lotbetween cities (Figure 5). The width of roads havebeen also observed to vary in different cities. Whenthe blocks are large the arterial roads are very wideand it leads to higher speeds, increasing theunsafety on the streets.The fronts of motorized vehicles needs tobe researched and redesigned with respect tobicyclists of different ages, with extra luggage/goods being carried on it, or crash analysis withbus or motorized two wheelers etc. It has beenobserved that the promotion of conspicuity of nbicyclists can be done by law and communitypressure, while the speed of motorized vehiclescan be controlled by the urban block size, at leastin newer urban developments. The roundaboutdesign needs to be improved for cyclists safety.The traffic calming designs with high motorcycleuse will be very effective. The safer vehicle frontscan further reduce the number of fatal crashes.Figure - 5 : The comparison of the urban block sizein Delhi and London.DelhiLondonBicycling in Asia 119

Health issues in BicyclingReferencesHillman M. Cycling towards health and safety.London: BMA, 1994.Fagard RH. Prescription and results of physicalactivity. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 1995; 25:S20-S27.Hillsdon M, Thorogood M, Anstiss T, Morris J. RCTsof physical activity promotion in free livingpopulations: a review. J Epidemiol CommunityHealth 1995; 49: 448-453Murphy, M.H. & Hardman, A.E. Training effects ofshort and long bouts of brisk walking insedentary women. Medicine and Science inSports and Exercise, 30(1): 152157 (1998).Pate, R.R. et al. Physical activity ad public health. Arecommendation from the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention and the AmericanCollege of Sports Medicine. Journal of theAmerican Medical Association, 273: 402407(1995).Thompson MJ, Rivara FP. Bicycle-Related Injuries.American Family Physician 2001;63(10):2007-14.Jorgensen, N. O. (1996). The risk of injury andaccident by different travel modes.Proceedings of the International Conferenceon Passenger Safety in European PublicTransport. Brussels: European TransportSafety Council. 17-25.Suri MP, Naik NR, Raibagkar, SC, Mehta, DR. Heelflap injuries in spoke wheel accidents.Injury, (2007) 38, 619624Mohan, S. Comfort Bicycle for Urban/Semi-UrbanScenario. Diploma Document Product Design,Ahmedabad: National Institute of Design,2005.120 Bicycling in Asia

POVERTY, LIVELIHOOD AND ACCESSIBILITYDarshini MahadeviaURBAN POOR IN INDIAAs per the 2001 population census, 27.78 percentof the population lived in urban areas. By 2005, theurbanisation level would have reached 30 percentand some 320 million are expected to be living inurban areas. It is projected that 40 percent of thepopulation would be living in urban areas by 2020.Table 1 - Urban poor in IndiaNo. (Millions)1987-88* 75.1738.201993-94* 76.3432.362004-05** 80.8025.70* India, Planning Commission (2002).** Government of India, Press InformationBureau (2007).Note: The 2004-05 estimates are based onconsumption data of the Uniform RecallPeriod (URP), in which theconsumer expenditure data for all theitems are collected from a 30-day recallperiod.Of the total urban population of 320 millionin 2005, 80.80 million are below the poverty line(based on per capita consumption) (Table 1). In1993-94, 32.36% or 76.34 million of the urbanpopulation was below the poverty line. Thus, whilethe percentage of the poor in the urban areas hasdecreased, their numbers have increased. The rateof increase of the urban poor is less than the rateof urbanization; the Indian urban population hasincreased at 2.9 percent p.a. (during 1981 to 2001)and the number of the urban poor has increased atthe rate of 0.6 percent p.a (1983 to 2004/05)(Mahadevia 2008). 85% of these 80.80 million poor%people are in non-metro clusters (Mahadevia andSarkar forthcoming).The urban poor in India are predominantlyslum dwellers, and pavement dwellers, who live onthe urban periphery, squatting on vacant land andengaged in casual labour. Many of them are recentmigrants from rural areas, particularly those comingfrom small and marginal farms and landless labourhouseholds. Also many of them are seasonalmigrants and/or those with no or low education andno or low skills.This slum dwelling population is a goodindicator of poverty. But, not all the poor live inslums and not all the slum dwellers are poor. 25.7%of the urban population is below the poverty line(2004-05) (Table 1). But, on the whole, only 15% ofthe urban population lives in slums (2001) (Office ofthe Registrar General & Census Commissioner,India 2005: 21). In contrast, 24.1% or 17.70 millionof the population of the million plus municipalcorporations lived in slums in 2001 (Office of theRegistrar General & Census Commissioner, India2005: 21), but only 15% here are below the povertyline (Mahadevia and Sarkar forthcoming). Theareas not designated as slums also house the poor.For example, chawls in Mumbai, chawls and oldcity areas in Ahmedabad, katras in Delhi are someof the non-slum areas. Some regularized orauthority constructed colonies like Janta flats, EWShousings, etc. also house the urban poor.IN METRO CITIESIn the metro cities, the urban poor tend to live neartheir place of work, hence they start squatting onthe nearby vacant land. Most commonly they squaton the industrial segments of the city or onconstruction sites as the new constructions are onthe urban periphery. Also many of the urban poorare predominantly housed in old city areas, onpavements in the commercial areas, on marginallands, such as swamps, and riverbeds prone toBicycling in Asia 121

Poverty, Livelihood and Accessibilityflooding, no-development zones, etc.The travel patterns and problems of thepoor are different in metros as compared to nonmetros.The problems are more acute in metros, asthey are discouraging the poor from land marketswhich block their access to basic services.Figure - 1 : Pushing out the poor in MumbaiMUMBAISlums in Mumbai are mostly in the suburbs and inthe extended suburbs. The larger concentration isin the eastern side and other eastern extendedsuburbs. There has been a gradual shifting outfrom the slums to the city's periphery. For the firsttime, they were shifted out from the island city ofMumbai (Bombay) to the marshy lands in theeastern suburbs of Mankhurd in 1967, when theidea was to make Mumbai into a Paris. Then, thesame lot of slum dwellers were reevicted in 1976 asit was realized that they were living near the atomicresearch centre in Trombay. Through the 1980sand 1990s, the slum dwellers have been pushedout from the island city of Mumbai to the suburbsand from the suburbs to the extended suburbs. Fordetails of the repeated evictions in Mumbai seeMahadevia and Narayanan (2008a). In 2004-05,they were even evicted from the extended suburbs.The throwing out of the urban poor in Indiais the same as in other parts of the developingworld. In 1977, in New Delhi, they were sent torelocation sites 17 kms outside the city. Post-2000,500,000 people were again evicted from Delhi.Some of those who were rehabilitated (thrown out)at a distance of 33-35 kms (Batra and Mehra2008). In Beijing, the relocation of central city publichousing dwellers was beyond the 5th ring road.They are now migrants living in sub-divided rural1houses (siheyuans) on the urban periphery .MULTIPLE DEPRIVATIONSOnly 37% of the households in the bottom half ofthe urban population had access to all three basicfacilities; water supply, sanitation and electricity;and this figure for the top half was 80%. 69% of thehouseholds in the bottom half use community watersupply and this figure for the top half is 35%. AsExtended Suburbshigh as 46% of the households in the top half haveaccess to individual water supply. This figure for thebottom half is only 22%. The basic services accessfor the bottom half is even worse than the rest. 33%of the bottom half of urban households do not haveaccess to any latrine. This figure for the top half isonly 4%. Also 44% of the bottom half of urbanhouseholds have their own or shared latrinesconnected to sewerage or septic tanks and for thetop half it is 83%. 29% of the bottom half of theurban households do not have drainage connec-2tions and 46% are connected to open drains.Low availability of work for the males in ahousehold is the primary reason for poverty andhence access is very important for bringinghouseholds out of poverty. The data shows thatwork participation rates (2004-05) of the bottomhalf of the urban population are very low comparedto the top half groups. It is only 44% of the malesfor the lowest category and 18% of the females forthe same category. It is about 12-14% less then theSuburbsMankhurdIsland City1Data and information in this paragraph are from Lu, Rucai (2008): Self-Help Initiatives of Migrant Workers'Organization”, China Today, May, from website: http://www.chinatoday.com.cn/English/e2008/e200805/ p17.htm(accessed on September 3, 2008)122 Bicycling in Asia

Poverty, Livelihood and Accessibilitytop half for males, but the work participation ratesFigure - 3 : Work participation rates (2004-05)6050403020100

Poverty, Livelihood and AccessibilityTable 2 - % of workers in informal sectorMale Female Persons55th Round 67.5 68.7 67.761st Round73.7 63.5 71.7Source : NSS Data (NSSO 2007) from Mahadevia (2008).household is forced to spend on health, they giveup some other expenditure, and so on. Similarly ifthey are forced to spend on transport, they may notget a minor ailment treated. Mostly females in allcategories, have been observed to be neglectingminor ailments. The bottom half is more dependentthan others on borrowings mostly at high interestrates for treatment costs. But still a major percentagegoes from their income/savings. The bottomhalf is more dependent on borrowings especially ifhospitalization is required. Then they can spendonly half or less from the savings and income while3the rest has to be borrowed .Nearly 65-90% deliveries are at home orin government hospitals among poor households. Itis more often at home for the poorer households.Increasing access to public health facilities isextremely important in reducing maternal and infantmortality rate (IMR) in the urban areas. Urban IMRin India, 2006 is 42, this is way above the averagein many countries like Sri Lanka (12), and China4(25) .The poor are caught in a vicious cycle ofpoverty. The low shelter security and denial ofcitizenship adds to their access to basic facilities.This leads to low education and skills and henceconsequently to poor quality employment. They arepushed out of the city and forced to incur high costsof access, mostly in case where squatting withinthe city is not permitted (as is the situation in metrocities now). This also leads to poor access to waterand sanitation, affecting their health. They are3Data in this paragraph are from Mahadevia (2008).Figure - 6 : Ailments treated of 100 spells of ailments inlast 15 days1009080706050403020100paying for shelter security (protection money),accessing water, education and health at a muchhigher percentage of their income than the nonpoor.One severe illness to a member of thehousehold and they are pushed into a debt trap(which is also due to lack of institutional finance).And they incur this expenditure on illness/hospitalswhile spending about 60% on food (Table 5).Figure - 2 : Stating financial reasons for non treatment6050403020100< 300< 300300 - 350300 - 350350 - 425350 - 425425 - 500425 - 500500 - 575500 - 575575 - 665Female575 - 665Female665 - 775665 - 775775 - 915Male775 - 915915 - 1120915 - 1120Male1120 - 15001120 - 15001500 - 19251500 - 19254Data in this paragraph are from Mahadevia (2008).1925 & +1925 & +allall124 Bicycling in Asia

Poverty, Livelihood and AccessibilityFigure - 6 : Source of funding for treatment1009080706050403020100deduced that about 42.5% of the total income forthe poor goes in food and about 10% goes in fueland lighting. Transport being the third highestsector even for the poor, consuming about 6.52%of the total 1052.36 INR/capita (Table 5). Furtherdetailed break up analysis shows that the bottom50% spends about 58% on food items as comparedto the top 50% (38% on food) (Table 5).As a trade off, it is lesser on transport;only 3.3% (14-17 INR per capita) for the bottomTable 3 - Average monthly per capita expenditureFigure - 7 : Source of funding for hospitalization80706050403020100< 300300 - 350350 - 425425 - 500500 - 575575 - 665CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURESThe consumption expenditure pattern shows thatthe average monthly per capita expenditure was1.63 times that of the poverty line in 1993-94 (Table3). This ratio increases to 1.95 in 2004-05 (Table3), indicating that a section of the population hascome out of poverty. But the average monthlyexpenditure of an urban household in India is onlyINR 5,262 in 2004-05 (Table 4), and for a householdon the poverty line it is INR 2693. These arevery low figures, notwithstanding the high economicgrowth rates. The GDP data puts the total consumptionin the economy at double the total of NSSconsumption. Even then, the average monthlyexpenditure for a household is INR 10,500 and fora household on the poverty line it is INR 5,300.From the National Sample Survey, 61st Round,consumption expenditure data, it has been665 - 775Income / savings775 - 915915 - 11201120 - 15001500 - 19251925 & +Borrowingsall1993-942004-05MPCE(Rs)458.041052.35Total MonthlyExpenditure (Rs)2290.205261.75Poverty Line(Rs)281.35538.60MPCE : Monthly Average Per Capita ExpenditurePoverty Line is defined by Monthly Per CapitaExpenditureSource : Mahadevia and Sarkar (forthcoming, 2008)half, while its 7.6 (117 INR per capita) for the tophalf, thus seriously effecting accessibility (Table 5).Although, Delhi has 1.25 times higher percapita expenditure (INR 1319.31) than other urbancentres (INR 1052.36), the bottom 40% of the city'spopulation spends 55.5% on food (Table 6), leavingonly a small amount for other expenditures. Thebottom 40% in Delhi also spends quite a significantproportion(13.6%) of their total expenditure onenergy. Together, therefore nothing much is left forspending on other items such as education andhealthcare. As at the all India level, in Delhi too, thepoor need to borrow for medical emergencies.Delhi's per capita consumption expendituredata also shows a high inequality between thetop and the bottom 50%. While the total per capitaexpenditure of the bottom 40% is the same for allurban areas and Delhi; the top 20% and top 50% ofDelhi's population have far larger per capitaexpenditures.In all urban values, the bottom 40%spends INR 14 per capita per month and thebottom 50% spends INR 17 per capita per monthBicycling in Asia 125

Poverty, Livelihood and AccessibilityTable 4 - Urban consumption patternper capita expenditure ( 2004-05)ItemFood 447.41 2237.05Non food 604.95 3024.75Fuel & Light 104.62 523.10Clothing &FootwearValue (Rs)per capitaValue (Rs)per hh49.26 246.30Education 52.69 263.45%age42.5157.499.944.685.01four wheelers. 19.0% of urban households did notown any vehicle, which means that they wouldeither walk or depend on public tranport/paratransit.In all just 35% of all households in India ownedmotorized vehicles. In the case of Delhi, 36.8% ofthe households owned cycles, 28.5% had motorizedtwo wheelers and 13.4% owned motorizedfour wheelers while 14.1% did not own any vehicle.Thus, about half the households would bicycle orwalk or use public transport or paratransit even inrich city like Delhi. Clearly, there is a need to createan infrastructure that supports the travel needs ofthe poor in Delhi and 65% of the population inurban India.Medical 54.59 272.95Durables 42.81 214.05Conveyance 65.59 342.95Rent 59.45 297.25Taxes &CessesTotalSource : NSSO (2006)8.50 42.501052.36 5261.805.194.076.525.650.81100.00on conveyance; while, in Delhi, these figures areINR 25 (5.2% of the total) and INR 33 (5.7% of thetotal) on conveyance. With the poor being shiftedout of the city and new modes of transport such asthe metro being priced higher, the poor are beingpushed out of public transport system. Primary datareveals that a round trip in Delhi will cost anythingbetween INR12-20 per capita per day, INR 300-400per capita per month which is even greater then25% of the monthly income.URBAN ASSETSThe 2001 population census of India also collecteddata on urban assets. 46.0% of the urban householdsin India owned cycles; 24.7% owned amotorized two wheeler and 5.6% owned motorizedCONCLUSIONThe above data indicate that a large proportion ofthe urban population in India is below the officialpoverty line (based on the per capita consumptionexpenditures). A quarter of the urban poor is livingat expenditure levels below the poverty line. Thepoverty line in India is tied to the minimum calorieintake required for normal function and thenobserving the quantum of non-food items consumedby a household that has the minimumrequired calories. For the urban areas the calorierequirement was put at 2,100 kcal per capita perday and for the rural areas at 2,400 kcal per capitaper day. Such a line was established in 1972-73and since then the poverty line has been adjustedusing price inflators. This has caused manydistortions in the poverty estimates and hencemany debates.One set of arguments is that since thetotal of the NSS Consumption expenditures arelower than the total consumption estimatesavailable in the National Income data, the totalconsumption has gone up and the percentage andtotal population living below the poverty line havegone down. The other set of arguments from thenutritional and food consumption point of viewindicates that more than the stated proportion ofthe population is consuming less than the requiredcalories; in fact, 70 per cent of the total populationof India (Mehta 2007).126 Bicycling in Asia

Poverty, Livelihood and AccessibilityTable 5 - Consumption expenditure per capita (Rs.) 2004-05, Urban IndiaItem Bottom 40 Bottom 40 Bottom 50 Bottom 50 Top 50 Top 50 Top 20 Top 20In %age in % age in %age in %ageTotal food 281 58.4 301 56.7 592 37.7 762 31.9Total non-food 200 41.6 229 43.2 979 62.3 1627 68.1Fuel and light 62 13 67 12.7 141 9 186 7.8Pan, tobacco, intoxicants 12 2.5 13 2.4 22 1.4 26 1.1Clothing & footwear 13 2.8 16 3.1 82 5.2 136 5.7Education 12 2.4 14 2.7 91 5.8 153 6.4Medical 0 0.1 1 0.1 25 1.6 57 2.4Entertainment 6 1.2 7 1.3 33 2.1 50 2.1Minor personal effects 0 0.1 1 0.1 3 0.2 5 0.2Toilet articles 15 3.2 17 3.2 39 2.5 53 2.2Other household consumables 12 2.6 14 2.6 33 2.1 45 1.9Conveyance 14 2.9 17 3.3 119 7.6 208 8.7Other consumer services 16 3.3 19 3.6 129 8.2 232 9.7Rent 12 2.5 16 3 102 6.5 174 7.3Taxes and cesses 3 0.6 4 0.7 14 0.9 19 0.8Durable goods 3 0.6 4 0.7 82 5.2 184 7.7Total expenditure 481 100 530 100 1571 100 2389 100Source: NSSO (2006).Table 6 - Consumption expenditure per capita (Rs.) 2004-05, Urban DelhiItem Bottom 40 Bottom 40 Bottom 50 Bottom 50 Top 50 Top 50 Top 20 Top 20In %age in % age in %age in %ageTotal food 267 55.5 313 53.6 1109 36.5 1554 30.4Total non-food 214 45.5 271 46.4 1929 63.5 3557 69.6Fuel and light 66 13.6 78 13.4 332 10.9 524 10.3Pan, tobacco, intoxicants 6 1.3 7 1.2 34 1.1 58 1.1Clothing & footwear 10 2.1 13 2.3 82 2.7 169 3.3Education 12 2.6 17 2.9 179 5.9 326 6.4Medical 9 1.9 10 1.7 73 2.4 158 3.1Entertainment 9 1.9 13 2.3 82 2.7 151 3.0Minor personal effects 2 0.4 2 0.4 21 0.7 38 0.7Toilet articles 15 3.0 18 3.1 73 2.4 109 2.1Other household consumables 12 2.5 14 2.5 64 2.1 103 2.0Conveyance 25 5.2 33 5.7 312 10.3 572 11.2Other consumer services 20 4.2 27 4.7 333 11.0 697 13.6Rent 21 4.3 28 4.8 265 8.7 525 10.3Taxes and cesses 4 0.9 6 1.0 34 1.1 50 1.0Durable goods 3 0.6 3 0.5 46 1.5 77 1.5Total expenditure 482 100.0 584 100.0 3028 100.0 5111 100.0Source: NSSO (2006).Bicycling in Asia 127

Poverty, Livelihood and AccessibilityIn place of unraveling the availableconsumption expenditure estimates, we can makesome broad conclusions from the availableconsumption estimates and the access of the poorto other basic services. We can also draw someconclusions from the employment status of theurban poor and see whether they have thecapability to bear the increased cost of living in theurban areas. Lastly, we can situate this reality in theongoing macro processes of urban development toargue for an affordable and reliable access strategyfor the urban poor. This is what has been donehere. Instead of getting trapped into the definition ofthe urban poor, we can make these observationsfor the bottom half of the urban population, whomwe term, the poor.First of all, the poor are living in marginalareas of the city, which are unserviced. The poorare forced to pay more for access to basic servicessuch as water supply. They live in areas withoutsanitation and hence are more prone to health risksthan the others. Among the poor, the women tendnot to get their ailments treated and hence if it is afemale headed household then this is more likelythe case. In situation of illness and hospitalization,the poor tend to borrow for treatment; pushing thefamily below the poverty line or which forces themto compromise on to food consumption etc. Thepoor are constantly trading items of consumptionand they do drop items like girl child education,public or para-transit transport expenditure bywomen from their consumption basket.The poor and the women among them aretrapped in low-skill, low-wage employment. A largenumber of them either work as casual or as selfemployedlabour. The self-employment is also inlow skill sectors and for women it is largely inpersonal services.The poor live in housing that does nothave security of tenure. They are at the mercy ofthe state machinery and the real estate developer'spressure lobby for their survival. Lack of security oftenure and hence lack of a permanent address inthe city tends to make them illegal residents in thecity. Many city governments have a policy of a cutoffdate for issuing identity cards, that make slumdwellers legitimate residents of the city. Those whohave come to the city after the cut-off date areautomatically considered illegal residents of thecity. The urban governments are becomingincreasingly hostile to slum dwellers and do notwant to extend legality to a large section of thepopulation living in slums. Hence, there is anincrease in slum demolitions on the the one handand displacement of the urban poor to the cityperiphery on the other. The former entails loss ofassets on one hand and increasing indebtednesson the other. The latter entails increased transportcosts.The bottom half of the urban populationcan afford not more than 3.3% of its total expenditureon conveyance; in cities it is upto 5%. Thepoor are forced to expend upto 25% of theirincomes on traveling in case of non-availability oftransport infrastructure that can support cycling.City structures do not support cycling, particularly inthe metropolitan cities where the poor are pushedout to the urban periphery, at a distance of 30-40km from the city centre (not a comfortable distancefor cycling). When the poor households are forcedto expend large proportions of their incomes ontransport, they enter into a vicious cycle of poverty(access to employment declines, which keeps theirincomes low and so on).In short, poor education, poor skills, lowincomes, low possibility of employment mobility,poor access to basic services including water andsanitation services, resultant poor health, increasedindebtedness in case of any calamity such as illhealthor disaster, compromise on certain consumptionexpenditures, and then the ensuing cycleof poor education and so on, has created a viciouscycle of poverty and vulnerability in the urbanareas. A large proportion of the urban population istrapped in this. This has discouraged rural-urbanmigration keeping India's urbanization level andrate quite low. But, it also poses a great challengeto working out accessibility options in the urbanareas.Improved accessibility can set in a128 Bicycling in Asia

Poverty, Livelihood and Accessibilityvirtuous cycle of development. Creating cyclinginfrastructure and by that supporting cycling in sucha situation is a way forward for improving theaccessibility for the urban poor. This is particularlyrelevant when 85% of the urban poor are living innon-metros where traveling distances are not sogreat. In the metros however, when the currentsituation of very high property prices has pushedthe poor far out of the city, multiple solutions needto be thought of. Here, employment-housinglinkages too have to be looked into while supportingcycling.ReferencesBatra, Lalit and Diya Mehra (2008): “SlumDemolitions and Production of Neo-LiberalSpace: Delhi”, in Darshini Mahadevia (ed.)Inside the Transforming Urban Asia:Processes, Policies and Public Actions,Concept, New Delhi, pp. 391-414.Government of India, Press Information Bureau(2007): Poverty Estimates from 2004-05,March, Government of India, New Delhi (fromthe website of the India, PlanningCommission).India, Planning Commission (2002): NationalHuman Development Report, 2001, PlanningCommission, Government of India, New Delhi.Mahadevia, Darshini (2008): “InclusiveUrbanization Social Protection for the UrbanPoor in India”, paper presented at InternationalConference on Universalization of SocialProtection in Asia, Organized by Institute ofSocial Studies, The Hague and Institute ofHuman Development, New Delhi, February 18-20, 2008.Mahadevia, Darshini and Harini Narayanan(2008a): “Slumbay to Shanghai: EnvisioningRenewal or Take Over?”, in DarshiniMahadevia (ed.) Inside the TransformingUrban Asia: Processes, Policies and PublicActions, Concept, New Delhi, pp. 94-131.Mahadevia, Darshini and Harini Narayanan(2008b): “Shanghaing Mumbai: Politics ofEvictions and Resistance in SlumSettlements”, in Darshini Mahadevia (ed.)Inside the Transforming Urban Asia:Processes, Policies and Public Actions,Concept, New Delhi, pp. 549-589.Mahadevia, Darshini and Sandip Sarkar(forthcoming): Unequal Urban System, India -Poverty, Employment and Development inSmall and Medium Towns, Institute of HumanDevelopment, New Delhi.Mehta, Jaya (2007): “Nutritional Norms andMeasurement of Poverty”, fromwww.ansiss.org/doc/seminar2007July20-22/Final_jaya_mehta.doc (accessed onSeptember 5, 2008).National Sample Survey Organisation (2006): Leveland Pattern of Consumer Expenditure, 2004-05, NSS 61st round (July 2004-June 2005),Report No. 508 (61/1.0/1), Ministry of Statisticsand Programme Implementation, Governmentof India, December.National Sample Survey Organisation (2007a):Informal Sector and Conditions of Employmentin India, 2004-05, (Part I), NSS 61st Round,(July 2004 June 2005), Report No. 519(61/10/7), Ministry of Statistics and ProgrammeImplementation, Government of India, April.Office of the Registrar General & censusCommissioner, India (2005): Slum Population,Series -1, Census of India, 2001, Office of theRegistrar General & census Commissioner,India, New Delhi.Bicycling in Asia 129

A GENDERED PERSPECTIVE ON BICYCLINGAnvita AroraMobility of WomenUnderstanding of gender issues in the transportcontext is of vital relevance, since women areestimated to account for 70% of those living inpoverty worldwide (UNDP, 1995). The growingliterature on women and transport has also clearlyshown that they tend to have different travel needsderiving from the multiple tasks they must performin their households and in their communities(Greico and Turner, 1997). Low-income womentend to be much less mobile than men in the samesocio-economic groups. They are more dependenton walking and tend to have less access to anybicycles or motorcycles in a household. Socialrestrictions hinder women's mobility in manycultures (Gopalan, 1998). Efforts to increase themobility of poor women may face stiff resistancefrom those who feel threatened or offended by suchdirect empowerment of women (UNDP 1998).Sexual harassment (and worse) in streets and onpublic transport is a common occurrence. Sincemany more women than men are the care-givers offrail-elderly people, people with disabilities and ofchildren, the transport problems of these disadvantagedgroups also impact disproportionately onwomen. Poverty, of course, compounds each ofthese disadvantages. To adequately integrategender analysis into transport projects one mustconsider both the implications of the policies formen and women as also the implications of genderrelations for sector level analysis and policyoptions. Rather than looking at women solely astargets or project beneficiaries, it is important toexamine the ways in which gender relations,gendered norms, and gender imbalances affect theperformance, priorities and impacts of the transportsector. This involves recognising that the transportneeds of men and women can be different; thatmen and women have different capabilities toparticipate in the design and delivery of services;and that the institutions which design, deliver andevaluate transport programmes operate accordingto rules and norms which are gendered, that is theynormally function in ways which prioritise men'sneeds and viewpoints over those of women.Looking at a sector as a gendered structurehighlights the ways in which seemingly “genderneutral” institutions may in fact be gender-biasedand may unwittingly overburden the economy ofsocial reproduction. The negative feedbacks tosocial reproduction can have negative implicationsfor the commercially oriented market economy and,ultimately, undermine the overall effectiveness ofsectoral investment. This analysis is developedwith an examination of the macro, meso and microdimensions of the sector (Elson et al 1999).Gender bias can result when there is a failure torecognise that the same service delivers differentbenefits to men and women. For example, thepoorest households are often located on the edgesof urban centres where public transport servicesare infrequent. In Delhi, for example, the relocationof squatter communities to the outer periphery ofthe city has been especially damaging to women'sability to earn a living. Female unemployment in thenew squatter camps rose by 27% compared to 5%for men (Moser and Peake, 1987, cited in Alling etal 1997).The household is treated as an undifferentiatedunit, despite evidence of significant genderbaseddifferences in control over income, commandover resources and patterns of expenditure(Alderman, et al, 1995) where it has been shownthat women are more likely than men to devoteextra resources to the improvement of familywelfare (Dwyer and Bruce, 1988).Transport pricing strategies, which are based ontotal household income fail to recognise thatwomen and men within the same household do nothave the same access to household income and adBicycling in Asia 131

A Gendered Perspective on Bicyclingwomen may spend a larger proportion of theirdiscretionary income on transport than men. Sostrategies which fail to recognise gender differenceswithin the household may lead to unexpectedoutcomes (Alling et al 1997).Cutting expenditure, and implementinguser charges, on transport and social sectorprogrammes often means that women don't haveaccess to transport services, either because theycan't afford them, or they are not available. Yet theymust continue to provide care in the household tomaintain the health nutrition and education levels oftheir children. The invisible costs of transport sectorreform could be measured if a wider range ofindicators were used which include the increasedpressure on women's time in the household.Household surveys might attempt toestimate the time spent by men and women indifferent reproductive activities; the number ofhouseholds with school age children,disaggregated by gender, working in the home.Management information systems are often seenas gender-neutral technical tools. But these, too,are gendered, in the sense that they can help toreduce gender inequality; perpetuate the status quoor create gender inequality. If a managementinformation system omits indicators which measuregender gaps, and which could be used to evaluatethe impact of sector reforms on gender gaps, thenit will tend to preserve the existing pattern ofgender inequality. Within the family, men andwomen co-exist in a mixture of conflicting andshared interests, and decisions are made as aconsequence of intra-household bargaining. It isimportant not to assume that everyone's view canbe included in consultations with the head of a unit,or only the male members (Elson 1999).Different work schedules of men andwomen are linked to their different responsibilitiesin the productive and reproductive economies. Thisgives rise to gender differences in transport needs.Because transport design and delivery fails torecognise reproductive work, it is assumed that thedemand for transport revolves around the workingday of men (who do not have to integrate the needsof the household into their working day in the sameway that women do).Transport schedules of women are oftenmore complex than those of men. Women oftenmake shorter journeys, with multiple stops (Greicoand Turner, 1997), so timing is crucial. As aconsequence, the scheduling of transport servicesis not suited to the travel patterns of women, whooften make journeys at off-peak times, often withmultiple purposes (dropping or collecting childrenfrom school on the way to work, for example).Women spend more time traveling because theycombine reproductive and productive responsibilitiesin the way they organise their day.THE POVERTY DIMENSION OF MOBILITYSeveral groups in the developing world are fightingfor rights to shelter, education, heath, livelihood andservices, but mobility is not a part of that agenda.The number of cars is increasing but the space forequitable mobility is decreasing. It is now widelyacknowledged that transport policies are genderbiasedin so far as they fail to accommodate thespecific gender-based needs of the transport users(Greico & Turner, 1997). Transport planningliterature, which has emerged in several, developedcountries, and which is informed by gendermethods, highlights the gap between the specificneeds of the women and transport planning (WorldBank 1999). This has led to several initiatives inEurope and some African countries linkingtransport planning and women's specific needs.Similarly women's poverty, both resource and time,has been linked to their mobility and severalinitiatives have been planned to address this issue.But transport planning, in India, for instance, is notbased on an understanding of the effects of pooraccessibility on the lives of poor women or how toincrease the their accessibility.Accessibility is a major barrier to theupliftment of women, especially in a country likeIndia where the socio-economic constructs ensurethat women are the last persons to have access totransport in the households or money to travel.Added to this, the indifferent public transport132 Bicycling in Asia

A Gendered Perspective on Bicyclingservices and the safety risks that women incur onthe streets ensure that women are unable to travelto access their primary needs of health, educationand livelihood.Sustainability can only be achieved by preservingdiversity. Development experience world-wideshows that gender based policies become allinclusive. If the mobility policies too are gendercentricthey will target the mobility of the entiresociety. This can be equated with the UN educationslogan 'educating one woman will educate theentire family'.A research study (Singh & Anand, 2001)showed that women's greater domestic responsibilitiescoupled with their weaker access to householdresources have significant consequences for theirtransport and travel status. The women of lowerincome households experience greater transportdeprivations as compared to men. Women were tobe found as the users of the less expensive andslower modes of transport whereas their intensivehousehold schedules (women are time-poor ascompared to men) would be better served byaccess to faster modes, The survey results indicatethat women spend more time traveling on slowermodes, the faster and more flexible modes beingmore expensive. Their time-poverty forces them tolook for work at shorter distances from their homesthus decreasing their choices and opportunities.The survey results illustrated that women lackmobility in the city due to gender-based restrictions,inferior access to transport means, high dependenceon low quality public transport, lack ofavailability of affordable modes of travel; and thatlack of mobility is inextricably linked to poverty ofwomen in such a way that:?It is caused by their poverty (of both time andresources)?It becomes the indicator of their poverty (asillustrated by their work force participation andthe nature of jobs they are able to access)?It causes their poverty (by becoming adisabling factor to their access to livelihood)The study also showed that while the bicycle wasthe mode of transport for the poor, where distancesexceeded walking limits and bus fares were tooexpensive, not one woman bicycled to work. Thewomen constituted 25% of the working populationand they mostly walked to work or used buseseven though the fares were too high.WHY DO THE WOMEN NOT USE THEBICYCLE?Patriarchy: Patriarchy is an overarching conceptinfluencing local power relationships and cultures. Itis therefore directly related to the gendered divisionof labor in both modern and traditional societies,with the household (or family) unit as the centralperpetuator of the societal system. Men, in theirsuperior power position within the householdhierarchy, tend to appropriate the most efficientmeans of transport for themselves. In this interpretation,cars, motorcycles, bicycles or animal cartsare mainly seen as household assets andresources over which men, as the most powerfulmembers of the household, would obviously seekto maintain control. Given the lower levels of overallmotorization in less developed countries, powerstruggles are more likely to occur even over nonmotorizedforms of transport.No dignity for the cyclists: Bicycles, in India, areinvisible modes driven by people who are invisiblein the city. So government policies and plans do notprovide space for cyclists on the roads. Over thelast few years, however, efforts are being made byorganizations such as TRIPP, IIT, Delhi to redesignroad spaces to include the non-motorized. Theyhave done a lot of work in sensitizing the plannersand the policy makers toward the need andimportance of the non-motorised modes oftransport. However, what is difficult to combat is thelow image of the bicycle. Bicycles are the mode ofthe poor; bicyclists are captive riders in India; thatis, they have no choice. So issues of equity anddignity are closely linked to bicycle use on ourroads.Bicycling in Asia 133

A Gendered Perspective on BicyclingNo space on the road: The reality today is thatcyclists have no space on the roads, especially inthe bigger cities. They are forced to compete forspace with larger, high speed motor vehicles (referfigure 1) increasing their vulnerability to accidentsand road rage. Since there is no legitimate spacefor the cyclists, some men on bicycles may be ableto adapt to aggressive/defensive driving to survive(though their exposure is no less); women find ittougher to undergo this struggle on a daily basis.Gender biased infrastructure design: There isvery little infrastructure existing for cyclists ingeneral in Indian cities and it is all designed for theanthropometrics of young male cyclists. Womencycling with children and shopping bags may needmore width of the track and safe space at parkingareas where they can unload children and bagsFigure -1 : Woman cycling along a truck on unpavedshouldercomfortably. They would have longer accelerationtimes and need longer leads at green phases of thesignals.Uncomfortable bicycles: The male cycles, moreeasily available in the market, especially secondhand,are completely unsuitable for women. If theyare wearing skirts or saris then it is impossible forthem to ride them. The cheapest ladies bicycle ismore expensive than the cheapest male bicycle. Ifthe household wants to buy bicycles they will buythe male bicycles that all the males in the housecan use rather than a ladies bicycle which a manwill never ride on for fear of ridicule.Harassment and abuse of women: The entiretransport infrastructure of our cities, be it the badlylit subways, unusable overhead bridges, absurdlyhigh sidewalks, uncomfortable bus shelters, badlylit walkways, roads in a state of disrepair; allcontribute to a very hostile street environment forpeople in general and women in particular. Cyclingin these badly lit roads with potholes is an invitationto jeering comments and abuse for the women onthe road. In fact, as with car drivers (the behavior ofmale car drivers towards their female counterparts),male cyclists will always try to overtake and ridiculefemale cyclists, to establish their dominance on theroad.Photograph by IDS, 2005EXPERIENCES FROM THE FIELDIn 2005, with the Institute for Democracy andSustainability (IDS), we concluded a year-longstudy on the bicycle users and non-users in the cityof Delhi. Of the total of 2000 people interviewedacross Delhi, 1000 people were interviewed fromthe low-income working class section of thepopulace, and of them only 2 bicycle users werewomen. Amongst the non-users several of thewomen knew how to bicycle and had bicycled intheir home towns or villages, but they stoppedcycling after migrating to Delhi.This argument is borne out by the fact thatthere is a higher percentage of women bicycling insmaller cities and towns which have a higher share134 Bicycling in Asia

A Gendered Perspective on Bicyclingof both male and female cyclists (refer ibid Tiwari).Alwar, a third tier city in Noth India, with a populationof less than 3 million, claims of have an 80%share of bicycling. Figure 2 shows girls cycling inan arterial street, a common sight in Alwar.In the year 2005-2006, under the aegis of afellowship from the Environment Equity and JusticePartnership (EEJP) we conducted a small pilotstudy in a low-income settlement in South Delhiamongst a group of domestic workers. Thesewomen had the unique characteristic that theybicycled to work. The studies showed that they hadbeen taught bicycling by their husbands so thatthey could go to more apartments and do houseFigure - 2 : Girls cycling in AlwarPhotograph by Anvita Arorawork rather than wasting time in walking or moneyin resorting to public transport. The survey resultsshowed that the increased mobility had increasedtheir income and hence their bargaining power inthe households and the community. It had giventhem more confidence and freedom to work andeducate their children. The study tried to understandthe problems and barriers these women faceon the road and in the community. Box 1 is thetranscription of an interview with a domestic worker,Uma Muniyan (figure 3), who bicycles to work. Hernarrative highlights several issues raised in thispaper.Increasing urbanization and small familysizes have destroyed traditional lifestyles andbeliefs. In joint families, there was always somebodystaying at home, especially women. So somepeople went out for jobs and business and the resthelped with the household chores. Now thesituation has changed completely. The middle classpeople are so busy, both men and women, withtheir jobs and businesses, that they do not havetime to do their household chores. Washing clothesand utensils, getting vegetables and milk from themarket etc. are chores they do not have time for. Inthese situations, they need these maid servants,who help to make their daily lives comfortable andconvenient.These maid-servants come from far-offareas of the country and often belong to the verypoor and tribal sections of society. Some of themlive in the houses they work for. Whenever theyhave to leave the house for some chores for theiremployers, they need transportation. Usually theywalk to the markets and when they are carrying alot of stuff, they use the cycle-rickshaw. They arethe first to get up in the morning and the last to goto sleep. After working 16-18 hours a day, theydon't even get weekly holidays. They go to theirhometowns once a year and they don't get paid forthat period. If they stay back at their hometowns for2-3 months then the probability of their getting thesame work back is very low. These maidservantsare usually teenagers or young girls. They oftenface sexual harassment at their place of work anddue to their poverty, lack of education and awareFigure - 3 : Domestic worker doing her householdchores on the bicyclePhotograph by IDS, 2005Bicycling in Asia 135

A Gendered Perspective on BicyclingBox - 1 : An Interview with Uma MuniyanBe it morning or evening or the afternoon theintersection near the Vasant Kunj police station seesa continuous stream of small groups of women someon the bicycle and some on foot. Infrequently, theycan also be seen traveling alone. These women arethe residents of Shankar Camp, a slum settlementnear Vasant Kunj Enclave. These women work asmaid-servants in the Flats and offices of Vasant Kunj.(Vasant Kunj is a large flatted colony on the southendof the city, built by the Delhi DevelopmentAuthority). One of these women is Uma Muniyan, aBengali woman of 30 years. She is originally fromHoogly in Bengal. She still finds it difficult to speakHindi fluently and rides her bicycle to work wearingher sari.She says “I have been working for the lastyear as a maid-servant. I used to walk to work earlierand was very tired by the end of the day. The flats ofVasant Kunj are far from Shankar Camp and there isno public transport system connecting them. We areforced to use personal vehicles. There is no optionbut to walk or bicycle. There is no bus service here.We do not earn enough to buy a scooter. So, for us,the best option is to buy a bicycle. That is the reasonI bought a bicycle 3 months back.”“Why did you not buy a bicycle before this?”“Because of lack of funds. Today I work in two flats,earlier I worked in only one. My husband, SwadeshMuniyan, cleans cars belonging to the flat-owners.He also earns 1000-1500 Rupees a month. I earn1300 rupees a month 700 from one place and 600from the other. I have one son, 8 years old, whom Iteach at home. He is young yet hence I can teachhim at home. I will have to send him to school whenhe grows older. I have studied till the 6th grademyself and my husband passed the 9th grade. So,we have to really plan our savings and expenditure”“How did you, finally, manage to buy thebicycle?”“One of the maidservants was returning home toBengal. She had a bicycle. She could not take thecycle with her. Traveling in the train is difficult enough(without the added burden of taking a bicycle). Shewanted to sell off her bicycle and I wanted to buy oneso we settled it between ourselves. She sold thecycle for 500 rupees. I did not find it too difficult tospend that sum either and I had to think of thefuture”“You had to think of the future what do youmean by that?”“I mean that earnings increase with owning abicycle. The bicycle makes it easy to work in 2-3places. If the flats are located far apart, it is notdifficult to manage. On foot, even working at oneplace leaves one very tired at the end of the day. Iwill tell you my daily routine. I have to reach at thefirst flat at 7 in the morning. There I work till 8:30and 10 minutes later I am at the second flat. By10:30, I finish the work there too. After that I comeback to Shankar Camp. Here I have to stand in aqueue for water. After finishing my householdchores, I go back to the flats and work there from 5-7 in the evening. After that I come back home andwork. If I get work in 1-2 more flats I would workthere too. I have told a few people that I am lookingfor more work.”“Do feel any hesitation or discomfort incycling?”No, I do not feel any hesitation. Though, men still donot like to see women cycling, but the circumstancespressurize the men to teach their women tocycle. Nowadays the expenses have increased somuch that the men's salaries are not enough to runthe family. So women are encouraged by theirfamilies to work too. The men of our families knowthat if we work at more flats, we will be able to earnmore, and a bicycle is necessary for that. However,the Bengali men accept this fact with an ease thatBihari men don't. Most of the Bihari maid-servantswalk to work.”“Did you learn bicycling after coming to Delhi?”“No, I learnt to bicycle at a very young age. Thelearning at that early age is helping me now.”“Being a woman, do you face any problemswhile bicycling?”“No problem at all. The ladies cycles are comfortableto ride on even with sarees. With regard to thesafety of women on the roads, the bicycle has verylittle to do with it. Men who make comments willkeep on doing that whether the woman is on foot oron the bicycle or on a bus. While working in theseflats we have to be alert. Who knows what is therein anybody's mind.”136 Bicycling in Asia

A Gendered Perspective on BicyclingFigure - 4 : Uma Muniyan cycling to workstudy in one area of Delhi, IDS put together aproposal in 2007, for the Bicycle PartnershipProgram (BPP) to train domestic workers to bicyclein a community where the women were notbicycling earlier. It was a two-phase project ofwhich one phase is already complete. The projecthas shown unprecedented success.Photograph by IDS, 2005ness and no family back-up they are unable tooppose or complain about their treatment.However, most maid-servants (like UmaMuniyan) work part-time. They work in one or morehouseholds. Usually, they work for 2-3 hours in themorning and 2-3 hours in the evening. The kind ofwork they do is dependent on the needs of thefamily they work for.Their wages are decided by bargainingbetween them and their employers. There are nolegal structures for their wages or the kind of workthey do. Most of these maid servants live in theslum settlements and, according to theiraffordability, distance from home to work, availabilityof transport etc., decide on which mode to use totravel to work. The bicycle empowers them withindependent mobility, freedom of choice andenables them to better their economic status. Apartfrom access to livelihood, the bicycle gives themefficiency in handling their daily chores too (figure4).Based on the learning derived from thisCONCLUSIONDuring the last 10 years of my work on thetransportation issues of the urban poor I haverealized that the extent of mobility and the accessto opportunities are/can be the prime enabling ordisabling factor in their struggle for survival in thecity. And since in the same household, the womenare poorer than the men, improving their mobilityoptions can go a long way towards helping them tohelp themselves. The bicycle, then, can be a goodoption to provide affordable mobility to poorwomen. At the same time, there is an increasingrealization around the world, that non-motorizedtransport is the sustainable transport of the future.In this era of high energy consumption, highpollution and environmental degradation, encouragingthe use of non-motorized modes of transport isa step towards achieving environmentalsustainability while promoting gender equity andsocial justice.The bicycle is not only a symbol ofmobility, it is also a symbol of freedom and selfrelianceand encouraging women to bicycle willgive them the tool to attain dignity and selfsufficiency,thus ensuring their upliftment.ReferencesAlling, G., E. Brazier, D. Burjorjee, A. Camoens andA. Webber, 1997, Mainstreaming Genderin Transportation projects: A Toolkit,Report to the Gender Analysis and PolicyGroup, The World Bank mimeoDwyer, D. and J. Bruce (eds.), 1988, A HomeDivided: Women and Income in the ThirdWorld, Stanford University Press,StanfordBicycling in Asia 137

A Gendered Perspective on BicyclingElson, D., Evers, B., Turner, J., 1999, TransportSector Programs in Developing countries:Integrating a gender analysis, Universityof Manchester, Graduate School of SocialSciences, GENECON Unit.Gopalan, P., 1998, Circumscribed Existence:Women's mobility and settlementsdevelopment, (a note prepared fordiscussion at the SUSTRAN GeneralAssembly, June 2-5, 1998, Manila),Swayam Shikhan Prayog SSP, MumbaiGrieco M. and Turner J. 1997, Gender Poverty andTransport, UN International Forum onUrban Poverty (HABITAT), Florence,http://www.art.man.ac.uk/transres/gender.htmSingh N. and Anand A. 2001, Linking TransportPlanning with Alleviating Women'sPoverty, unpublished report of joint projectby Asian Institute of TransportDevelopment, New Delhi, andTransportation Research and InjuryPrevention Program, IIT DelhiUNDP, 1995, Human Development Report, NewYork, United Nations DevelopmentProgramUNDP, 1998, Transport and Sustainable HumanSettlements: A UNDP Policy Overview(DRAFT), United Nations DevelopmentProgramWorld Bank 1999, Gender and Transport: arationale for action, PREM Notes, Number14, 1-2138 Bicycling in Asia

Notes on AuthorsAbdus Shakur Qazi recently graduated with aB. Sc Eng. degree(Civil) from the BangladeshUniversity of Engineering and Technology (BUET)in January 2008. He has been working as aResearch Assistant at the Accident ResearchInstitute (ARI), BUET since March 2008 and iscontinuing his M.Sc in Civil Engineering (Transportation).Anvita Arora is an urban transport planner with aPhD from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT),Delhi. She has a Bachelors degree in Architectureand a Masters degree in Transport Planning. Sheis, currently, the CEO of Innovative TransportSolutions (iTrans) Pvt. Ltd., an incubatee companyof the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and theresident representative of Interface for Cyclingexpertise (I-CE), Netherlands for their BicyclePartnership Program in India. She has beenworking on the social dimensions of urban transportfor over 10 years, specifically on poverty andgender issues. She works to incorporate the needsof marginal road users like pedestrians, bicyclists,rickshaw pullers, hawkers and the disabled in themainstream of urban transport design and is acertified trainer on non-motorized transport. She iscurrently working with several cities in India onthese issues.Dinesh Mohan is Volvo Chair Professor forBiomechanics and Transportation Safety and Coordinatorof the Transportation Research and InjuryPrevention Programme at the Indian Institute ofTechnology, Delhi. He obtained his BTech inMechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute ofTechnology, Bombay, followed by a Masters degreein Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from theUniversity of Delaware and then a PhD inBiomechanics from the University of Michigan, AnnArbor. He started his research career working onvibrations of anisotropic plates and moved on tomechanical properties of human aortic tissue. Thiswas followed by work on head, chest and femurinjury tolerance, injuries in human free falls,effectiveness of helmets, child seats and the firstevaluation of air bags in real world crashes. Thisbackground helped him work on epidemiology ofroad traffic crashes and injuries in rural India,helmet design, pedestrian, bicycle and motorcyclecrash modelling, and technological aids for thedisabled. Concerned with the mobility and safety ofpeople outside the car he is trying to integratethese issues within a broader framework ofsustainable transport policies, urban transportoptions and people's right to access and safety asa fundamental human right. He has co-authoredand edited four books on safety. He is a recipientof: Distinguished Alumnus Award of the IndianInstitute of Technology Bombay, the AmericanPublic Health Association InternationalDistinguished Career Award, the Bertil AldmanAward of the International Council onBiomechanics of Impacts, the Association forAdvancement of Automotive Medicine's Award ofMerit and the International Association for Accident& Traffic Medicine's International Award and Medalfor outstanding achievement in traffic safety.Darshini Mahadevia teaches at the Faculty ofPlanning and Public Policy, CEPT University,Ahmedabad. She has a PhD from JawaharlalNehru University, New Delhi and a Masters inUrban and Regional Planning from the School ofPlanning and Architecutre, New Delhi. She hasbeen a visiting scholar at the Graduate School ofArchitecture and Urban Planning, University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles and the School of UrbanPlanning, McGill University and a Visiting Fellow at

Tsinghua University, Beijing and the TianjinUniversity of Finance and Economics, Tianjin. Shehas participated in a number of national andinternational collaborative research projects. Shehas been researching on urban poverty, urbandevelopment, human and gender development inIndia and China. Prof. Mahadevia is associatedwith a number of research organizations and NGOsin India.Geetam Tiwari is Associate Professor, CivilEngineering Department, andTransportation Research and Injury PreventionProgramme (TRIPP), in the Indian Institute ofTechnology Delhi, India. She is also AlderbrastkaGuest Professor for sustainable urban transport atthe Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden2007-2009. She received her Ph.D. at theUniversity of Illinois, Chicago, and has professionalexperience in the areas of Transport Planning,Traffic Engineering and Safety. She has beenteaching at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhisince 1990 and has published over 60 researchpapers on transportation planning and safety andedited four books. She received the StockholmPartnerships Award for local impact, innovativethinking and a potential for replication or transferabilityfor TRIPP. She received the Center forExcllence grant from Volvo Research andEducation Foundation, Sweden in 2002 forSustainable transport in Less Motorised Countries.Dr. Tiwari is an invitee to the Urban AgeConference series held by the London School ofEconomics 2005-2008 and Principal Voicesprogram on urbanization sponsored by CNN-Timeand the Shell company in 2006.Himani Jain is currently working as ProjectScientist with Transportation Research and InjuryPrevention Planning (TRIPP) at the Indian Instituteof Technology (IIT) Delhi. She is also a part timeresearch scholar enrolled with the civil engineeringdepartment at IIT, Delhi. Her research is supportedby the Volvo Research Education Funds (VREF)and Cycling Academic Network (CAN by I-ce, withITC, UT) scholarships. Earlier she had also workedwith Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for theMaster Plan of Delhi 2021. Her interests lie in theareas of sustainable transport and physical urbanplanning, focusing on their integration.K.T. Ravindran is a professor and has been headof Urban Design at the School of Planning andArchitecture, New Delhi since 1982. He is amember of the academic boards of a number ofuniversities in India and has been teaching UrbanMorphology and Humanizing Cities in addition tohis courses in the Urban Design Studio. He is thefounder and president of the Institute of UrbanDesigners, India, a professional association ofqualified urban designers. He has been a regularcontributor to professional magazines and newspapersin India on subjects relating to urban design,planning, architecture and conservation. Hispractice includes the design of cultural buildings,memorials, urban conservation, and greenfieldcities. He is the vice chairman of the EnvironmentalImpact Assessment Committee of the Governmentof India which scrutinizes large projects all overIndia for their environmental fitness and management.Ravindran is at present chairman of the DelhiUrban Art Commission, a statutory body mediatingaesthetics, environment and heritage in buildingand development projects. His research interestsinclude contemporary urban history, indigenousurbanism, vernacular building traditions,sustainability and urban form. He is a frequentspeaker at many national and international forums.Mohammed Mazharul Hoque is a Professor in theDepartment of Civil Engineering and Director,Accident Research Institute (ARI), BangladeshUniversity of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka.He graduated in 1975 with a B.Sc. Eng degree(Civil) and subsequently obtained the degrees of M.Eng. and Ph.D. from the Asian Institute ofTechnology, Bangkok and Monash University,Melbourne, respectively. He has authored over 170papers internationally in the road safety and trafficengineering areas and attended many international

seminars and conferences. Professor Hoqueplayed a pioneering role in road traffic safetyresearch in Bangladesh, Australia and Thailandand was an invited faculty member at the IndianInstitute of Technology, New Delhi. ProfessorHoque spent his sabbatical leave at theTransportation Research Group, Department ofCivil and Environmental Engineering, University ofSouthampton, UK under the CommonwealthFellowship program. He acted as the Chair of theOrganising and Scientific Committee ofInternational Conference on Road Safety inDeveloping Countries-2006 in Dhaka. ProfessorHoque is currently a member of the National RoadSafety Council in Bangladesh.Namiz Musafer is the project manager ofIntermediate Technology Development Group(ITDG), South Asia in Srilanka.Paul Barter is an Assistant Professor in the LKYSchool of Public Policy at the National University ofSingapore (NUS) where he teaches infrastructurepolicy, urban policy, transport policy and anintroduction to public policy. His earlier researchfocused mainly on international comparisons ofurban transport policy and its interactions withurban policy. This work has a geographicalemphasis on eastern Asia, especially Malaysia andSingapore. He initially pursued these interestswhile associated with the Institute for Sustainabilityand Technology Policy at Murdoch University,Western Australia, then from December 2000 at theDepartment of Geography at the NationalUniversity of Singapore. His recent and currentresearch interests focus on innovation in transportdemand management policy, public transportregulation and the contested fundamental prioritiesof urban transport policy. He publishes on theseissues through the usual academic channels andalso shares ideas on the 'Reinventing UrbanTransport' blog. A long-running interest in bicyclecommuting and advocacy is currently expressed bywriting occasionally for the Cycling in Singaporeblog. His views on urban transport policy havebeen sought by the media in Singapore, Malaysia,Australia, several governments in Southeast Asia,United Nations agencies such as UNDP and UN-Habitat, and by various civil society organisations.Pradeep Sachdeva is a renowned architectworking on urban design and urban redevelopmentprojects in India and abroad. His firm PradeepSachdeva Design Associates started in the early1990s as a small design studio, working mainly ondomestic projects. Today, the practice has 25architects and designers involved in a wide rangeof projects, from the design of a chair to theredevelopment of a street. His more notableprojects in the public realm are Dilli Haat and JaipurHaat; the Garden of Five Senses, Delhi; and theredevelopment of the Jama Masjid in Delhi.Rajendra Ravi is a social activist and researcherand has over 30 years of experience of workingwith marginal groups in the country. Since 1989, hehas been associated with Lokayan, a Delhi-basedNGO working at the grass-root level. He is currentlythe Director of the Institute for Democracy andSustainability (IDS), Delhi. His special focus hasbeen on the vulnerable road users like the cyclerickshaw pullers, cyclists and pedestrians. Since1998, his research has particularly focused on thecycle rickshaws in India and has been involved in anumber of projects in this regard. He is thecoordinator on issues of urban transport andpoverty in the National Alliance for PeoplesMovement (NAPM), a consortium of 200 NGOsworking on issues of poverty in India.

S.K. Jason Chang is currently professor of CivilEngineering Department at National TaiwanUniversity. He is also a visiting professor at theChina Academy of Transportation Sciences. He isactively involved in international societies andcurrently the BOD member of ITS Asia PacificForum, member of the International ProgramCommittee of the ITS World Congress and memberof the International Scientific Committee of theEastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies(EASTS). Professor Chang has been an advisor tothe Mayor and the City Government of Taipei since1995, mainly focussing on public transportation andurban development issues. He had been an advisorto the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation forpreparing the technical proposal on demandanalysis, functional design of terminals and transfersystems planning from 1997 to 2000. Prof Changhas been also responsible for providing advisorytechnology policy when he served as the DirectorGeneral of the Science and Technology Office inthe Ministry of Transportation and Communicationsfrom 2001 to 2002. Because of his research andexperience in both public and private sectors, hehas been invited as an advisor or internationalexpert on transportation infrastructures andsustainable urban development to more than 30cities in Taiwan, India and China and to internationalorganizations, including the EnergyFoundation, the World Resource Institute, GTZ,UNDP, and the World Bank. Professor Chang'sresearch focuses on public transportation, transportationeconomics and policy, green transportationand sustainability, and bus rapid transit-orienteddevelopment (BRTOD), and electronic paymentsystems. His publications consist of more than 80journal papers, 150 conference papers, 80technical reports, as well as 40 commentaryarticles.S. M. Sohel Mahmud graduated with a Degree ofB. Sc Eng. (Civil) from the Khulna University ofEngineering and Technology (KUET) in 2004. Hehas been working as a Research Assistant at theAccident Research Institute (ARI) of theBangladesh University of Engineering andTechnology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh since2005. He has authored over 25 papers internationallyon road safety and traffic engineering andattended many international and national seminarsand conferences. He is an active member of theBangladesh Regional Science Association (BRSA).Shreya Gadepalli is the Technical Director ofInstitute for Transportation and Development Policy(ITDP).She started her working career with ITDP asa non-motorized vehicle designer on the Indiancycle rickshaw modernization project in the late90's, a hugely successful project with more than300,000 modern cycle rickshaws plying on thestreets of nearly a dozen cities in India. Shecontinued the NMV design work as the lead designconsultant on the Indonesian Becak ModernizationProject in Yogyakarta. She has since expanded herarea of professional interest to BRT and NMTplanning, working as a Technical Director onvarious projects in India. She holds a Bachelor'sdegree in Engineering and a Master's Degree inIndustrial Design from the Indian Institute ofTechnology, Delhi.Sujit Patwardhan graduated from the LondonCollege of Printing and Graphic Arts, U.K. in 1966.He is visiting lecturer in Printing at the PuneUniversity School of Journalism and MassCommunication at the Ranade Institute Pune formore than 15 years. He is an active environmentalistand is the founder member of Parisar, anindependent NGO working in the field of environmentalawareness, education and action. As aresult of his work in this area, he has beenappointed as Member, Maharashtra EnvironmentProtection Council of which the Governor ofMaharashtra is the Chairman; Member,Mahabaleshwar Panchgani Regional PlanningBoard; Member Urban Heritage Committee, PuneMunicipal Corporation; and Member MonitoringCommittee for Mahabaleshwar and Panchganiappointed by the Mumbai High Court. He is alsofounder member of PTTF (Pune Traffic &

Transportation Forum), a coalition of NGOs workingin the field of Traffic in Pune.

Interface for Cycling ExpertiseTRIPP