3d Preserving and Expanding the Role of Non-motorised Trans

8/14/2019 3d Preserving and Expanding the Role of Non-motorised Trans

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Module 3dPreserving and Expanding the Role of

Non-motorised Transport

Sustainable Transport:

A Sourcebook for Policy-makers in Developing Cities

Division 44

Environment and Infrastructure

Sector project: Transport Policy Advice

Deutsche Gesellschaft frTechnische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH


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Overview of the sourcebook

Sustainable Transport: A Sourcebook

for Policy-Makers in Developing Cities

What is the Sourcebook?

This Sourcebookon Sustainable Urban Transportaddresses the key areas of a sustainable transportpolicy framework for a developing city. TheSourcebookconsists of 20 modules.

Who is it for?

The Sourcebookis intended for policy-makersin developing cities, and their advisors. Thistarget audience is reected in the content, whichprovides policy tools appropriate for applicationin a range of developing cities.

How is it supposed to be used?

The Sourcebookcan be used in a number ofways. It should be kept in one location, and thedifferent modules provided to ofcials involvedin urban transport. The Sourcebookcan be easilyadapted to t a formal short course trainingevent, or can serve as a guide for developing acurriculum or other training program in the areaof urban transport; avenues GTZ is pursuing.

What are some of the key features?

The key features of the Sourcebookinclude:A practical orientation, focusing on best

practices in planning and regulation and,where possible, successful experience indeveloping cities.Contributors are leading experts in their elds.An attractive and easy-to-read, colour layout.Non-technical language (to the extentpossible), with technical terms explained.Updates via the Internet.

How do I get a copy?

Please visit www.sutp-asia.org or www.gtz.de/transport for details on how to order a copy. The

Sourcebookis not sold for prot. Any chargesimposed are only to cover the cost of printingand distribution.

Comments or feedback?

We would welcome any of your comments orsuggestions, on any aspect of the Sourcebook, byemail to [email protected], or by surface mail to:Manfred BreithauptGTZ, Division 44Postfach 518065726 Eschborn

Germany

Modules and contributors

Sourcebook Overview; and Cross-cutting Issues ofUrban Transport(GTZ)

Institutional and policy orientation

1a.The Role of Transport in Urban DevelopmentPolicy(Enrique Pealosa)1b.Urban Transport Institutions(Richard Meakin)1c. Private Sector Participation in Transport Infra-

structure Provision (Christopher Zegras,MIT)1d.Economic Instruments(Manfred Breithaupt,

GTZ)1e. Raising Public Awareness about Sustainable

Urban Transport(Karl Fjellstrom, GTZ)

Land use planning and demand management

2a.Land Use Planning and Urban Transport

(Rudolf Petersen, Wuppertal Institute)2b. Mobility Management(Todd Litman, VTPI)

Transit, walking and cycling

3a.Mass Transit Options(Lloyd Wright, ITDP;Karl Fjellstrom, GTZ)

3b.Bus Rapid Transit(Lloyd Wright, ITDP)3c. Bus Regulation & Planning(Richard Meakin)3d.Preserving and Expanding the Role of Non-

motorised Transport(Walter Hook, ITDP)

Vehicles and fuels

4a.Cleaner Fuels and Vehicle Technologies

(Michael Walsh; Reinhard Kolke,Umweltbundesamt UBA)4b.Inspection & Maintenance and Roadworthiness

(Reinhard Kolke, UBA)4c. Two- and Three-Wheelers(Jitendra Shah,

World Bank; N.V. Iyer, Bajaj Auto)4d.Natural Gas Vehicles(MVV InnoTec)

Environmental and health impacts

5a.Air Quality Management(Dietrich Schwela,World Health Organisation)

5b.Urban Road Safety(Jacqueline Lacroix, DVR;David Silcock, GRSP)

5c. Noise and its Abatement(Civic ExchangeHong Kong; GTZ; UBA)

Resources

6. Resources for Policy-makers(GTZ)

Further modules and resources

Further modules are anticipated in the areasofDriver Training; Financing Urban Transport;Benchmarking; and Participatory Planning. Ad-ditional resources are being developed, and anUrban Transport Photo CD (GTZ 2002) is now

available.


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I

Module 3dPreserving and

Expanding the Roleof Non-motorised

Transport

Findings, interpretations and conclusionsexpressed in this document are based on infor-mation gathered by GTZ and its consultants,partners, and contributors from reliable sources.

GTZ does not, however, guarantee the accuracyor completeness of information in this docu-ment, and cannot be held responsible for anyerrors, omissions or losses which emerge fromits use.

About the author

Walter Hook received his PhD in Urban Plan-ning from Columbia University in 1996. Hehas served as the Executive Director of theInstitute for Transportation and DevelopmentPolicy (ITDP) since 1994. He has also servedas adjunct faculty at Columbia UniversitysGraduate School of Urban Planning. ITDP isa non-governmental organization dedicated toencouraging and implementing environmentallysustainable transportation policies and projects

in developing countries.

Author:Walter Hook (Institute for Transportation andDevelopment Policy)

With additional input by Oscar Diaz (Institutefor Transportation and Development Policy)

Editor:Deutsche Gesellschaft frTechnische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbHP.O. Box 51 8065726 Eschborn, Germanyhttp://www.gtz.de

Division 44, Environment and InfrastructureSector Project Transport Policy Advice

Commissioned byBundesministerium fr wirtschaftlicheZusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ)Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 4053113 Bonn, Germanyhttp://www.bmz.de

Manager:

Manfred Breithaupt

Editorial Board:Manfred Breithaupt, Karl Fjellstrom, Stefan Opitz,Jan Schwaab

Cover photo:Karl FjellstromBike lane in Bogot, Colombia, Feb. 2002.

Layout:Karl Fjellstrom

Print:TZ Verlagsgesellschaft mbHBruchwiesenweg 19, 64380 Rodorf, Germany

Eschborn, 2002


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II

1. Benets of a greater role fornon-motorised transport 1

2. Regulation of non-motorised transport 7

2.1 Regulation of the vehicles 7

2.2 Regulation of non-motorised

vehicle operators 7

2.3 Regulation of the design of

new and existing roadwayfacilities and their impacts 8

2.4 Regulation of roadway use 10

2.4.1 Developed countries 10

2.4.2 Developing countries 11

2.5 Regulation of commercialnon-motorised vehicles 16

2.6 Regulations and the Planning

Process 17

2.7 Regulations on importing

non-motorised vehicles 17

3. Non-motorised transportplanning 18

3.1 Project Team and Task Forceformation 19

3.2 Selection of areato be improved 193.3 Inventory of existing

regulations and conditions 20

3.3.1 A review of the laws, regu-lations, and design standardspertaining to non-motorisedtravel 20

3.3.2 A review of existing data 20

3.4 Collection of usefuladditional data 20

3.4.1 Division of the project areainto zones 21

3.4.2 Supplemental householdsurveys 21

3.4.3 Roadside surveys 21

3.4.4 Roadside counts 21

3.4.5 Origin and destinationmapping 21

3.4.6 Actual route mapping 21

3.4.7 Mapping of existing NMTfacilities and perceivedquality of NMV travel 22

3.4.8 Mapping of existing NMVows 22

3.4.9 Mapping of trafc accidents 23

3.4.10 Intersection conict diagrams 23

3.4.11 Additional pedestrian andsafe routes to schoolsmapping 23

3.4.12 Collection and review of all

other transport plans for theproject area for impacts onNMT 25

3.4.13 Identication of priorityimprovement locations 25

3.5 Selection and design ofappropriate facilities for

each location 25

3.5.1 Bicycle and non-motorisedvehicle facilities 25

3.5.2 Pedestrian and trafccalming facilities 29

4. Advice on how to achieveimplementation 33

4.1 Political commitment 33

4.2 Cost, and time frame for

implementation 34

5. Resources and key contacts 34

5.1 Web-based resources 34

5.2 Other References 34


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1

Module 3d: Preserving and Expanding the Role of Non-motorised Transport

1. Benets of a greater role fornon-motorised transport

Many developing cities have implemented poli-

cies which reduce the appeal of cycling, encour-aging people to travel by motorised means evenfor short trips. However, an increasing numberof city governments in developed and develop-ing cities have recently begun actively promotingbicycling and walking.

Pedestrians, bicyclists, and cycle rickshawpassengers generate no air pollution, no

greenhouse gases, and little noise pollution

Reducing these emissions and noise are criticalto slowing global warming, reducing incidents

of asthma and other upper respiratory andcardio-vascular disease, and reducing sleepdisorders. In both developed and developingcountries, upper respiratory illnesses, particu-larly asthma, are increasing dramatically. Whileemission standards and cleaner vehicles cangreatly reduce certain emissions, reducing car-bon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and ground levelozone through tailpipe-focused measures aloneis proving exceedingly difcult. These emissionsare growing rapidly in most developing countrycities as the use of motor vehicles increases.Sleep deprivation is also a problem of growingseriousness, the medical signicance of which isonly beginning to be understood.

Bicyclists and pedestrians are more efcient

users of scarce road space than private motorvehicles, helping to combat congestion

While fully occupied public transit vehicles arethe most efcient users of road space, bicyclistsuse less than a third of the road space used byprivate motor vehicles, and pedestrians use lessthan a sixth. Even cycle rickshaws use consider-ably less road space per passenger than motor-ised taxis and single occupancy private motorvehicles (see Figure 1).

Bicycling and walking are the most efcientand environmentally sustainable means of

making short trips

In most developing cities, average trip distancesare extremely short. Often over 60% of trips areunder 3 kilometres long. In well planned Ger-man cities, over 80% of trips under 3 kilometres

would be made by walking or bicycling, generat-ing no pollution and minimal trafc congestion.

Fig. 1

Arterial road capacityin two cities.M. Traber, EWE

Surabaya, for example, is only 15 kilometresnorth to south. This means virtually no tripinside the city is too far for an average healthycyclists average commute.

In Bogot, in 1998 70% of the private car tripswere under 3 kilometres. Even though thispercentage is lower today thanks to the bike andpedestrian facilities, it is still too high comparedto some Northern European cities.

In Asian cities, however, even with per capita in-comes less than one-twentieth of Germany, over60% of these short trips under three kilometresare made by motor vehicles, usually motorcycle,moped, or paratransit (see Figure 2).

Our studies indicate three reasons for this:1. Few pedestrian or cycling facilities have

been provided in many cities. Over 60%of the roads in Jakarta, for example, haveno sidewalks, and those that exist are

Fig. 2

Mode split for tripsbetween 1km and 3km,Surabaya, Indonesia,compared to Germany.GTZ & ITDP 2000

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

SURABAYA GERM ANY

M O TO RISED

BIKE/BECAK

PEDESTRIAN

,

TAIPEI: 14,000

PASSENGERS

PER HOUR

ARTERIAL,

KUNMING: 24,000

PASSENGERS

PER HOUR

Arterial in

Taipei: 14,000

passengers

per hour

Arterial in

Kunming: 24,000

passengers per

hour


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2

Sustainable Transport: A Sourcebook for Policy-makers in Developing Cities

g. 3

arrow, obstructedalkway in Hyderabadrces pedestrians onto

e street, consuming all lane of road space.lter Hook, ITDP

heavily obstructed by telephone poles, trees,construction materials, trash, and open sewerand drainage ditches (see Figure 3).

2. Secondly, the trafc system has been de-

signed to increase motor vehicle speeds, atthe expense of pedestrian and bicycle safety.Many Asian cities make minimal use oftrafc lights with zebra crossings and me-dians which provide a place for pedestriansto cross safely. As a result, the number ofroadway fatalities per vehicle is many timeshigher than in Europe or the US.

3. Finally, pedestrian barricades and one waystreets have been used to facilitate long dis-tance motorised trips but which simulta-

neously impose huge detours for short dis-tance cycling and pedestrian trips (see Figure4). People wishing to cross a main shoppingstreet often nd it easier to take a taxi two

PASAR

GENTENG TO

TOPS (3.36)

HO TELSHERATON -

TUNJUNGAN

PLAZA (9.6)

KED. RUKEM

AREA TO PASAR

BLAURAN (8)

Fig. 4

Detour factors in central Surabaya.Bicyclists travelling between these originsand destinations have to travel from 3.3to 9.6 times further than a straight linedistance, largely due to one-way systems.Such detour factors can induce a switch tohigher speed where the detour factor impact

is less signicant but more polluting modes.GTZ & ITDP 2000

kilometres than to walk across the street.In Surabaya, a World Bank nanced studyestimated that these measures generate anadditional daily 7000 kilometres of needless

vehicle trafc.Most people feel that culture and heat are rea-sons for low levels of cycling in parts of the de-veloping world where cycling is no longer ubiq-uitous. In terms of heat, average temperaturesin Asia are not signicantly higher than summertemperatures in Europe when cycling trips areat their peak. Streets need to be designed toprovide shade and pavements that do not radi-ate heat. Cultural factors are clearly involved,but cycling culture did not happen overnightanywhere. In Holland the cycling culture haslong historical roots, but the dramatic increasesin cycling in the last two decades resulted fromconcerted government efforts. Use of the May-ors Ofce as a bully pulpit in Bogot coupled

with the construction of extensive cycling pathshas resulted in an increase of cycling from 0.5%of daily trips to 4% of daily trips in only 3 years.

Improving the efciency of non-motorised

travel is economically vital

Virtually every trip begins and ends with a walk-

ing or cycling trip, whether between a parkinglot and an ofce building or a home and a busstation. Because walking trips and cycling tripsare very slow, inefciency in making these trips,forcing people to walk or bicycle a long wayout of their way, has very high economic costbecause of the slowness of travel by these modes.

At three kilometres per hour, having to walk akilometre out of your way adds 20 minutes to atrip. In some countries it now takes as long forpeople to walk from their homes to the nearest

bus stop as it takes to y from Sao Paulo to Rio


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3


de Janeiro. Similarly, new studies of modernlogistics indicate that the cost of making thelast link in the supply chain namely from thestore to the consumer - costs as much as ship-

ping products half way around the world. Thesestudies indicate that the efciency of shortdistance travel is much neglected and of criticaleconomic importance.

Full pedestrianisation of downtown commercialareas has been observed in Chinese, Colombian,European, Brazilian, and other cities to dramati-cally increase the protability of shops in thearea, and led to an increase in land values (seeFigure 5).

Fig. 5Nanjing Road, Shanghaiwas recently pedestrianisedand is one of the highest rentdistricts in China.Walter Hook, ITDP

Bicycling and walking provides important

aerobic exercise which is important tocombating high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes,

and depression

Increasing evidence, according to the US Centrefor Disease Control, indicates that the globalepidemic of obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes,and depression are directly linked not only todiet but also to the sharp decrease in averagedaily aerobic exercise. Bicycling and walking canhelp address these issues.

This phenomenon is also evident in developingcities, where poor conditions for pedestriansresult in motor vehicle use for even short trips.

Health problems associated with lack of aerobicexercise are not limited to rich cities.

Increasing the modal share of bicycling and

walking can reduce a countrys dependenceon imported oil

Many developing countries are going deepinto debt to continue subsidising oil, which is

overwhelmingly used by higher income motor-ists. The Indonesian government up to 2001spent more than $4 billion annually to prop upthese unsustainable fuel subsidies. (These fuelsubsidies have been considerably reduced by thecurrent government since early 2002, through aseries of price rises.) The volatility of oil prices,and the risk of diminishing global reserves overthe next two decades, make a reduced relianceon oil critical to avoiding serious exogenouseconomic shocks to the national economy.

Promoting safe bicycling and walking arecrucial to improving the accessibility of the

poor, and social cohesion

In some developing country megacities, reachingcentres of employment from low income set-tlements is an arduous journey consuming overone quarter of a familys disposable income andmore than 4 hours each day. For trips less than3 kilometres, the poor of Surabaya are alreadymore dependent on motor vehicles than Ger-mans, who have incomes 40 times higher. This

is imposing an enormous, needless burden onthe poor, and inhibiting their ability to par-ticipate in the workforce, as well as gain accessto education and health care. Viable and safe

walking and cycling are also crucially importantin allowing people to reach public transit facili-ties, but little attention is generally paid to theseaccess modes.

Investments in walking and cycling facilitiesare investments for the poor. This creates a newsociety where people of all incomes can meet as

equals on a bike path or a sidewalk. In the devel-oping world where income disparities are oftenvery high, this potential role of non-motorisedtransport is very important. In Bogot the safestplace in the city is the Ciclovia. On Sundays 120kilometres of main arteries are closed to trafcallowing about 2 million people to cycle, roller-blade or just jog and walk. It is a meeting place

were the highest income earners ride beside thelowest earners (see Figure 12).


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4


Benets of planning for cyclingContributed by Roelof Wittink, I-ce, and based on the chapter:

Planning for cycling support road safety, in the book: Creating

Sustainable Transport, ed. Rodney Tolley, Woodhead Publishing

Ltd. UK, 2003 (forthcoming)

Safety-related benets

Data from different countries shows that an

increase in cycling use and an increase in the safety

of cycling can go together very well. The Dutch

Bicycle Masterplan1 concludes that in 1998 the

number of fatalities among cyclists was 54% lower

than in 1980 in spite of the increase in both car use

and bicycle use. The increase of car kilometres was

about 50% and the increase of cycling kilometres

was about 30% over the same period. In Germany

the total number of cyclist fatalities fell by 66%

between 1975 and 1998 while the share of cycling

in transport increased substantially, from about 8%

to 12% of all trips.2 In the city of York in the United

Kingdom 15 cyclists were killed or seriously injured

from 1996 1998 compared to 38 in 1991 1993,

while cycling levels rose from 15 to 18% of trips. 3

The best explanation for these effects is the

integration of cycling and of walking in our trafc

and transport systems. A good mix of motorised and

non-motorised modes of transport brings the trafc

system onto a more human scale. This required a

change in the planning and the design of the roads.

The measures also have a huge positive impact onthe motorised modes.

This approach ts very well with the modern

road safety approaches that aim to minimise the

risk of serious accidents, such as the Dutch concept

of Sustainable Safe Trafc and the Swedish zero

road fatality vision concept. A key element in thesemodern approaches is the prevention of risk by

giving due consideration to the limited abilities of

human beings, meaning that conicts between road

users with huge differences in mass and speed

should be made technically impossible. The trafc

environment should enable all road users with

their huge differences in skills and experiences

to behave predictably and respectfully to each

other. The consequences for the road network are

a categorisation that accommodates the efcient

ow of all different modes to a certain extent and

protects our urban areas from domination by

motorised trafc. The vast majority of the whole

road network has a low speed limit and is adapted

to facilitate cycling and walking in a safe way.

This policy provides the right conditions for

safe cycling. It may not be primarily the cycling

facilities to segregate cycling from other modes

on the road that will increase the safety of cycling,

but the integration of cycling in the overall design.

By catering for a safe mix of modes, cycling can

even become a catalyst for a very successful road

safety policy.

The Dutch Bicycle Master

an, description and evalu-

on in an historical context,

n. of Transport, 1999.

Pucher, J. (1997), Bicycle

oom in Germany: A Revival

gineered by Public Policy

Transportation Quarterly

(4) and Pucher J. (2001),

he role of public poli-

es in promoting the safety,

nvenience & popularity of

cycling, in World Transport

licy & Practice, Volume 7,

, 2001.

Harrison, J.: Planning forore cycling: The York ex-

rience bucks the trend,

World Transport Policy &

actice, Volume 7, (4), 2001.

23%

5% 9%-

50%

-

13%

-

-200-100

0100200300400500600700

illion US$

n 10 years

Costs

In

frastructure

Congestion

Pollution

Health

Roadsafety

Bicycletheft

Usercosts

Timesavings

Costs

Benefits

C / B = 1 : 7

g. 6

osts and benets ofcycle lanes in Bogot.e Economic Signicance of Cycling;

G/I-ce; The Hague/Utrecht; 2000

Fig. 7

A narrow street shared by cars and cyclistsand a bicycle lane allowing bi-directionalroad use only for cyclists in Florence, Italy.

Roelof Wittink, I-ce


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5


Economic benets of planning for cycling

I-ce calculated the economic value of planning

bicycle facilities in four cities, one of which was

Bogot.

The costs of building bicycle tracks, their main-

tenance as well as promotion and education

campaigns were calculated to be US$186 million

over a period of 10 years. The construction costs

of one kilometre of high quality bicycle track were

about US$200,000.

Cost savings from reduced infrastructure needs,

reduced congestion and reduced pollution due tothe replacement of car kilometres over 10 years

amount in total to US$493 million, of which more

than 50% results from saved parking spaces.

Road safety is expected to be improved by 50%,

based on experiences abroad. This results in savings

with an economic value of US$643 million.

Savings in running costs for road users by not

using a car or a bus amount to US$167 million.

The overall result is that the benets have an

economic value of US$1302 million over 10 years,

compared to US$178 million costs. The benets

are 7.3 times higher than the costs.

For further information visit: www.cycling.nl ;

The Economic Signicance of Cycling; VNG/I-ce;

The Hague/Utrecht; 2000.

Fig. 11

Segregated bicycle tracks in Bogot , Colombia.Roelof Wittink, I-ce

Fig. 10

An advanced stopline for cyclists

makes them morevisible and provides

them with rightof way (Utrecht,

The Netherlands).


Fig. 9

Separate bus and bicycle lanes through anintersection in Utrecht, The Netherlands.


Fig. 8

mini roundaboutslower speed andfacilitate safeintegration betweencars and cyclists(Utrecht,The Netherlands).Roelof Wittink, I-ce


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6


Promoting safe bicycling and walking is vital to

reducing over 500,000 premature deaths from

trafc accidents each year

There are an estimated 1.1 million trafc deathsglobally each year, and among young peoplein developing countries trafc accidents arethe second leading cause of death according tothe World Health Organisation. In developingcountries, the vast majority of the victims oftrafc accidents are pedestrians and cyclists,though with increasing motorcycle use, motor-

cyclists are fast becoming the majority of high-way fatalities in higher income Asian countries.Having a father or mother killed or disabledin a motor vehicle accident, horrible in itself,

will almost certainly throw a lower middle classfamily into destitution.

Bogot had in 1997 a trafc death rate of 2 to 3people every day, which is one of the highest inLatin America. Even though it is still very highit has dropped to 1 to 2, due largely to dramaticimprovements in cycling and walking facilities.

g. 12

iclovia: Car-freeunday in Bogot.titute for Sports and Recreation,

y of Bogot

Non motorised goods transportSource: Niklas Sieber, GTZ

In urban areas non-motorised vehicles (NMVs)

are not only relevant for the movement of people, butalso for the transport of goods. In many African towns

handcarts are used to transport goods to and from

markets. This can be done either by the seller or by a

small scale entrepreneur as a service provision for the

customer. In Asia, rickshaws designed for passenger

transport are often used to transport goods in towns

(as for example in the picture below).

A special form of rickshaw is used in Bangladesh,

the bicycle van, which has basically the same design

as a rickshaw, only the back (load area) is designedto carry goods. Using this vehicle, a human is able

to transport up to one metric ton on a at terrain

without the aid of an engine. Most bulky goods are

transported by rickshaw vans; not only goods to and

from markets, but also raw materials and products of

small-scale industries. The abundance of rickshaw

vans in Bangladesh towns shows the economic

importance of this mode for the local economy.

Non motorised goods transport is often important

for intermodal goods transport. Farmers often carry

their produce with buses to the market town and

than load them onto NMVs. Bottlenecks occur when

loading facilities are non-existent or inadequate and

unloading on the road causes trafc jams around

bus stops. Additionally, often little or no space is

provided for NMVs around markets.

These types of non motorised transport ser-

vices are in most cases offered by small scale

entrepreneurs, which underlines the economic

viability of these NMVs. They are not only essential

for urban goods transport, but are also important for

the urban economy, because they give employment

to many drivers and entrepreneurs. As a matter of

course, these types of jobs are mostly taken by

poorer citizens.

Niklas Sieber


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7


2. Regulation of non-motorisedtransport

Non-motorised vehicles (NMVs) are regulated

in a manner similar to motorised vehicles. Theyface regulation of the:1. Vehicles2. Operators3. Design of new and existing roadway facilities4. Use of existing facilities5. Use of commercial vehicles under

commercial codes6. Planning and decision-making process7. Import and export of non-motorised

vehicles.

2.1 Regulation of the vehicles

It is instructive to compare the regulatory frame-works for non-motorised vehicles and motorisedvehicles. For motor vehicles, governmentsregulate the types of vehicles that are allowed tooperate. The vehicles, parts, and componentsare all generally registered by the InternationalStandards Organisation (ISO) and new carsgenerally are subject to type approval standardsto certify their quality, safety, and emissions.

Motor vehicles are also generally registeredwith the police or motor vehicles departmentin case they are involved in criminal activity orare stolen vehicles. In developed countries andmore and more developing countries motorvehicles are also subjected to inspection to ensurecompliance with tailpipe emission standards androadworthiness. For commercial vehicles, suchas taxis and trucks, they are also likely to needa license or plate/sticker in order to operate as acommercial vehicle, and pay some sort of taxesor fees.

As bicycles, cycle rickshaws, and other NMVsgenerate no pollution, and operate at slowspeeds, very few countries require these vehiclesto be inspected for roadworthiness or emissions.Some countries insist that bicycles be manufac-tured up to a certain ISO quality standard, butbecause of the complexity of the number of newmanufacturers and new components, the proc-ess of approval by the International StandardsOrganisation is cumbersome and slow, and the

cost high relative to the cost of the product. Assuch, the trend in the industry is to approve the

quality control of a manufacturer rather than ofa specic product.

In many developed and some developingcountries, it is illegal to sell non-motorised

vehicles without reectors in the front andrear, as well as to operate the bike without thereectors and front and rear lights if operated atnight. Enforcement is generally lax. Some lawsspecify the use of reectors of a specic qualitystandard. Some safety experts have suggestedthat requiring the bicycles and cycle rickshaws tobe painted yellow might also solve the visibilityproblem, but the proposal seems to run againstthe strong desire to personalise the vehicle.

Finally, in some countries owners register their

bicycles or other vehicles with the police. Insome cases this is mandatory (as in Chinese cit-ies) but in most it is voluntary and used prima-rily as a mechanism to facilitate recovery in caseof a theft. Outside of China, bicycle registrationas an anti-theft measure has not proven to bevery successful. In Bogot people can voluntarilyregister their bike with the police.

2.2 Regulation of non-motorised

vehicle operators

To operate a motor vehicle generally requireshaving a drivers license. This is because op-erating a motor vehicle is a skill that requirestraining, and untrained drivers are a risk tothemselves and others. The relative simplicityof operating a bicycle or other non-motorisedvehicle has made operating licenses unnecessarythe world over for non-commercial uses.

In some US states and municipalities the use ofa bicycle helmet that is in conformity with a par-

ticular safety and quality standard is required bylocal law. In most developing countries helmetuse is less regulated on bicyclists and even rareon motorcycles. In Bogot, the use of helmetsfor motorcycles and bicycles is now mandatory,but in the case of bicycles it is not enforced.

Many bicycling advocates oppose mandatoryhelmet laws as paternalistic (the only person af-fected is the operator himself and thus it shouldbe their decision) and argue that they limit theuse of bicycles. Most agree that the use of hel-

mets should be encouraged, despite ambiguityin the data regarding their effectiveness.


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8


2.3 Regulation of the design of new

and existing roadway facilities

and their impacts

In most countries, developed and developing,

the law tends to authorise certain branches ofgovernment (or in a few cases professional as-sociations of civil engineers) to develop designstandards for new highways and for the congu-ration and signage on existing roadways.

One that has had a signicant impact is theUS American Association of State Highwayand Transportation Ofcials Green Book, orthe Policy on Geometric Design of Highways andStreets. This book sets parameters for geometricdesign of highway and roadway facilities. In

the US, all roads that are dened as part of theNational Highway System (NHS) and henceeligible for Federal funding must fall withinthese design standards. Most US states have alsopassed laws authorising the State Departmentsof Transportation (DOTs) to set up designstandards, and these standards are generallybased largely on the Green Book.

Transport master plans

While transportation master plans are not

heavily used in the US, in many European anddeveloping countries master plans are widelyused. These plans sometimes have status as lawpassed by national and local governments, andany new developments have to be in compliance

with these plans that are modied regularly.Sometimes the new master plan will stipulatedesign standards. In the Netherlands a BicycleMaster Plan was passed which made the promo-tion of bicycle use a clear policy of the DutchMinistry of Transport. Many cities then devel-oped specic bicycle master plans. One of the

rst and most famous was developed by the Cityof Delft.

Bogots 10-year Master Plan for the rst timestipulates as a matter of policy that prioritybe given to the pedestrian, and indicates theprojects that will be built in the city in theshort, mid and long term. This is further speci-ed in transportation master plans. The 2000Transportation Master Plan stipulates that allnew highways and road facilities include grade-separated bicycle paths and sidewalks of specicdimensions. The design specications are based

on the Taller del Espacio Pblico, a manual inwhich the design for bike paths and public spaceis established.

Design standards

In developing countries, design standards havehistorically been based on standards from de-veloped countries, modied somewhat to meetlocal conditions. The prevalence of the GreenBookin setting roadway design standards hashistorically been problematic. It was developedoriginally with very little acknowledgementof the existence of non-motorised travel. Assuch, earlier versions of these standards, whichhave been around since the 1930s, propagatedinfrastructure designs that were neither safe nor

convenient for non-motorised travel. It wasthe proliferation of these NMV-hostile designs

which, much more than regulations restrictingaccess, led to a decline in non-motorised travel.Today, less than 1% of daily trips are made bynon-motorised vehicles in the US.

The adoption of similar designs and designstandards in developing cities, like in India andChina, where sometimes 70% of the trafc onurban roads is non-motorised, is resulting ina similar decline in non-motorised travel and

dramatic increases in accidents involving pedes-trians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users.

In recent years, in developed countries thesedesign standards are increasingly trying to en-sure that new road designs are safe and efcientfor non-motorised vehicle use, and to retrotexisting roadways to facilitate safe and efcientnon-motorised vehicle use.

For bicycle design standards, the Green Bookrefers to a new 1999 publication, Guide for the

Development of Bicycle Facilities. Most StateDOTs have adopted this guide as the basis forbicycle facility design standards. It is available atwww.aashto.org. These standards are somethingof a compromise between the wishes of the bicy-cle advocacy community and what will be toler-ated by the highway engineering community.

Another commonly used manual is the DutchSign up for the Bike: Design Manual for a Cycle-Friendly Infrastructure, published by the Centrefor Research and Contract Standardisation inCivil and Trafc Engineering - The Netherlands.
http://www.aashto.org/http://www.aashto.org/


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The Green Bookitself provides limited designguidance for pedestrians. It stipulates only thatpedestrian facilities (sidewalks and crosswalks)should be sufciently wide to handle the volume

of pedestrian trafc safely, and recommends theuse of refuge islands, street lighting, and multi-ple visible pedestrian crossing signs at intersec-tions. The US Federal Highway Administrationand AASHTO (American Association of StateHighway and Transportation Ofcials) have de-veloped design manuals for trafc calming andother pedestrian facilities. Trafc Calming: Stateof the Art Practice by the Institute for TransportEngineers and the FHWA is mainly used in theUS. These guidelines have been translated intostate level guidelines in many states. In Ger-

many, England, and other European countriessimilar guidelines exist.

Similarly, in the US, there is aManual on Uni-form Trafc Control Devices. The design of thedevices themselves (such as road signs, trafclights, crosswalks, etc.) must conform to thismanual. It does not, however, require that thesedevices be installed. The use and installation ofthese devices is at the discretion of the agencyunder whose jurisdiction the road falls.

All these regulations and guidelines set fairlywide parameters within which local govern-ments and engineers have the freedom todetermine under what conditions to use theseguidelines. The guidelines do not stipulate thatthere must be a trafc light at every intersectionfor example, nor do they stipulate that thereshould be bike lanes on roads with speeds overa certain level. Such decisions are all left to localgovernment departments to determine at thelocal level based on local conditions.

Design standards for operating speeds

Most design standards are developed for specicoperating speeds. By setting speed limits onspecic routes, then, governments are simultane-ously dictating the appropriate design standard.Because these design standards were developedto ensure the safe operation of a motor vehicleat a given speed, but do not necessarily ensurea safe environment for pedestrians and NMVs,the standards themselves played a role in worsen-ing safety conditions for vulnerable road users.

For example, in New York City, the State ofNew York set the state minimum speed limitat 30 miles per hour (50 kilometres per hour).New York City roads had to be designed to al-

low motor vehicles to travel safely at that speed.This made a large number of trafc calmingmeasures illegal until the Slow Speed Bill nallyrepealed the residential minimum speed limits,and allowed the City to selectively reduce mini-mum speed limits. It is certain that many of theover 350 annual pedestrian deaths in New YorkCity could have been avoided by design stand-ards which took vulnerable road user safety intoaccount as well as vehicle operator safety.

Simply designing all roads for high

speed motor vehicle use will destroy

the commercial, recreational, and

residential character of entire

sections of the city

Design standards and the road hierarchy

In many developing countries the road hierarchyhas never been dened, speed limits are unclear,and engineers are not sure which design stand-

ard to use for a given roadway. In Surabaya,Indonesia, for example, in theory a road clas-sication system and road hierarchy has beendened, with allowable speed limits associated

with the road classication, but no trafc policewere aware of legal speed limits, nor were anyspeed limit signs posted anywhere in the city.Design standards are meaningless unless they areassociated with a clear functional road hierarchyand corresponding speed limits.

In China there is currently a national effort to

increase motor vehicle trafc speeds on all urbanroads through roadway design changes, eventhough on some roads it might actually be moreappropriate to alter design standards to slow mo-tor vehicle speeds. Similarly, in Indonesia, mostcity trafc improvement plans aim to increasevehicle speeds, rather than increasing vehiclespeeds on long distance corridors and reducethem on residential and commercial corridors.

This problem is also embedded into the costbenet analysis process. The cost benet analysis

done for the Surabaya Integrated Transport


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Network Project, which was funded by theWorld Bank, calculated economic benets basedsolely on increased vehicle speeds even on roads

where speed limits had not been dened in rela-

tion to appropriate speed limits given the roadsfunction.

Settling the conicting design needs of safetyand convenience for non-motorised trafc andthe safety and convenience of motorised trafccan best be settled through a careful denitionof a functional road hierarchy, establishingappropriate speed limits, and designing roads ina manner appropriate to the roads use. Simplydesigning all roads for high speed motor vehicleuse will destroy the commercial, recreational, and

residential character of entire sections of the city.

2.4 Regulation of roadway use

2.4.1 Developed countries

Vehicle use of roadways are also regulatedthrough trafc codes. In most countries, bicyclesand cycle rickshaws are dened as vehiclesunder the trafc codes, and have all the samerights to use roadways as any other vehicleunless the trafc code specically says otherwise.Usually there are special provisions in trafccodes pertaining to non-motorised vehicles andpedestrians.

Some cycling advocates argue that from thepoint of view of the trafc codes there shouldbe no other special regulations pertaining tonon-motorised vehicles, and any form of specialtreatment is inherently discriminatory. Certainly,any special treatment of non-motorised vehiclesin the trafc code should be justied on thebasis of the special operating characteristics of

these vehicles, and all other vehicles with similaroperating characteristics should face similartreatment under the trafc code.

City governments or higher levels of govern-ment might restrict the use of non-motorisedvehicles on certain roads or types of roads toincrease motor vehicle speeds and to reduce therisk of serious collisions with pedestrians andcyclists. Ultimately, the criteria for whether ornot non-motorised trafc should be allowed ona particular road should be based on:

whether the facility can accommodate andhas been designed to accommodate both

motorised and non-motorised travel safelyand efcientlywhether a convenient alternative non-motorised route exists, and

the number of short distance trips served by agiven road link.

Even high speed, limited-access freeways can bedesigned in ways which protect non-motorisedtrafc, though almost certainly such facilities

will be fully separated from the roadway. Mostaccidents occur at intersections or as a result oftrafc crossing unexpectedly at non-intersec-tions. Few accidents occur between motorisedand non-motorised vehicles continuing forwardon a higher speed road. The availability of apaved shoulder, a wide curb lane, or a fullyseparated bicycle path can make cycling reason-ably safe and cause no travel time delay formotorised trafc even on fairly high speed roads.Non-motorised vehicles are allowed on partsof the US National Highway System, and onmany intercity highways in both developed anddeveloping countries.

Historically, many high-speed, limited-accessfreeways were not designed to accommodatenon-motorised travel. Limited access freeways

are dened as those roads where access to theroad from adjacent properties is not allowed. Asmost of these highways were designed followingthe design standards set out in the Green Book,and these designs do not accommodate non-motorised vehicles safely. In most state laws,non-motorised vehicles are not allowed on alllimited access freeways, unless there is a speciclocal ordinance which allows them.

For lower grade roads in the US and most ofEurope, there is no general law prohibiting the

use of non-motorised vehicles on certain typesof roads. Rather, non-motorised vehicles areallowed to operate on all roads unless specicallyprohibited under a state, municipal, or localordinance. In New York State, for example, non-motorised vehicles are not allowed on most ofthe Parkways and on some specic bridges wherethere is no paved shoulder. All major arterialsin New York City are open to non-motorisedvehicle use. In each case, however, the criteria isthe road design, and discretion usually lies with

more local levels of government.


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In all cases, the reasons for the restrictions onnon-motorised vehicles, safety and efcient useof the roadway, apply also to other slow movingvehicles, whether motorised or not. As such, the

restrictions should not be based on vehicle typebut rather on operating characteristics such asspeed and vulnerability. Such restrictions shouldbe placed also on other slow moving motor ve-hicles (motorcycles with engines under a certainsize, electric bicycles, the Segway, roller blades,electric or gas powered scooters, tractors, andanimal traction vehicles). Arguably, it should besufcient to set both minimum and maximumallowable speeds.

Except on very high speed roads,

cyclists should be allowed to use

either the bicycle lane or any other

part of the roadway, with advanced

cyclists basically operating like any

other vehicle and more vulnerable

and slow cyclists relying on bike

paths

In many developed country cities, if bicycle or

NMV use is allowed on a particular road, andno bicycle path is provided, non-motorisedvehicles are required to operate in the curb(slow) lane except during turns. In most devel-oped countries, and most recently in Bogot,if a bicycle lane or path is provided, use of thisbicycle lane or path is required by law unless it isobstructed.

Some cycling advocates feel that the require-ment to use a bike lane and/or the curb lane isdiscriminatory, and oppose such restrictions.

On roads with travel speeds 60 km/hr or less, anincreasing number of cyclists are able to main-tain these vehicle speeds and do not want to beforced onto narrow bike paths which are oftenobstructed by pedestrians or refuse, are poorlymaintained, or are of a design standard inappro-priate for speeds that advanced cyclists can easilyachieve. Such controversy arises because theaverage vehicle speeds for cyclists vary widely.For this reason, it is recommended that excepton very high speed roads, cyclists be allowed to

use either the bicycle lane or any other part of

the roadway, with advanced cyclists basicallyoperating like any other vehicle and more vul-nerable and slow cyclists relying on bike paths.

In most countries, pedestrians are required to

use sidewalks if they are provided, and to walkon the side of the road facing into the trafc ifone is not provided. Pedestrians are required touse crosswalks if one is provided and if there isa crosswalk within a reasonable distance. If nocrosswalk is available in a reasonable distance,crossing of the roadway is allowed generally butthe motor vehicles have the right of way, just aspedestrians have the right of way when motorvehicles cross a sidewalk. Interestingly, in manycountries including the United States a person

is NOT required to use a pedestrian overpassif one is provided, but if the overpass is notused then the motor vehicle has the right of way.

Increasingly in the US and in Europe, and insome progressive developing country cities, lawsactually require that any new facility on whichnon-motorised vehicles and pedestrians areallowed be designed to facilitate safe pedestrianand cyclist use.

Limited access roadways and busy arterials withfew pedestrian crossing and trafc lights create

particular hardships for non-motorised, shortdistance travel, known as severance problems.In developed countries, state, provincial, andnational laws increasingly include clauses whichstipulate that transportation plans and projectsshall provide due consideration for contiguousroutes for non-motorised vehicles and pedes-trians. Federal law in the US now stipulates thataction that will result in the severance of existingor potential major non-motorised routes isforbidden unless a reasonable alternate route for

this trafc already exists or is provided.

2.4.2 Developing countries

Restrictions on non-motorised vehicles

In Asia in recent years restrictions on the useof either certain classes of non-motorised ve-hicles or all non-motorised vehicles have goneconsiderably beyond the regulatory restrictionsthat these modes faced in Western trafc codes.

While in the West the roadway design standardsmade bicycling difcult and unpleasant, which

proved sufcient to drop non-motorised vehiclemode share down to below 1% in the US, this


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was not generally the result of regulatory restric-tions on access to the street network except onlimited access freeways and parkways.

In most of Africa and in much of South Asia,

limited access freeways are relatively few, andbicyclists and other non-motorised and animaltraction vehicles are generally tolerated on theroadways by authorities. Often the use of bikeson highways is a legal gray area, not explicitlyforbidden, but not specically allowed either.Restrictions on the use of bicycles and othervehicles on some limited access freeways are ofrelatively recent origin.

In Bogot, as was typical of many LatinAmerican cities, prior to the construction of the

new bicycle infrastructure there, bicycles wereallowed on all urban streets, but the design ofthese streets was so hostile to bicycle travel thatby 1998 bicycle trips accounted for less than 1%of total trips. (After some 250 km of new bicyclefacilities were constructed at a cost of US$500per metre, by 2001 ridership had increased to4% of total trips).

In China and Southeast Asia, bicycles andother NMVs were allowed on all intercity andurban roads until the 1990s. For the last decadeChina has been building a national limited

access freeway network on which non-motorisedvehicles are not allowed. NMVs are generally al-lowed, however, on the old highways which tendto parallel these roads. In India there are evenfewer limited access freeways. While NMVs areallowed on these roads, they were not necessarilydesigned to allow safe travel by these modes, andtrafc safety is often a serious problem.

In Guangzhou, bike use in the

1990s dropped from 34% of trips

to around 16% of trips in 2000

In recent years, restrictions on normal bicyclesand other non-motorised modes have beenintroduced on some urban arterials in China

which serve primarily local trafc. Shanghai,Guangzhou, Beijing, and other cities haveimposed restrictions prohibiting bicycle useon some major roads. Many of these roads arevirtually impossible or extremely inconvenientto cross by bicycle, severing millions of short

distance origin-destination pairs that previouslycould have been made by bicycle. In the pastbicycles dominated the use of service roads.Now, these service roads are used primarily bybuses and taxis, while bicyclists are being pushedonto shared facilities with pedestrians (see Figure13) where only much slower travel speeds canbe maintained. Chinese cities have thus beenusing a combination of both design changes andregulatory changes to restrict bicycle use, withunfortunate consequences. In Guangzhou, bikeuse in the 1990s dropped from 34% of trips toaround 16% of trips in 2000. These trips werealmost entirely shifted to motorcycle and taxitrips, with a small increase in bus trips.

In Indonesia, entire classes of vehicles are notallowed on certain primary arterials. Not onlyare bicycles not allowed on the major arterialsand limited access freeways in Jakarta, but Bajaj,Bemo, becak, and other slower moving motor-ised modes are also not allowed. In most Indiancities, and in most cities in Indonesia other than

Jakarta, bicycles are generally allowed on all butlimited access highways.

g. 13

icycles are prohibited on many roads in Shanghai, with bans eitherll-time or during peak morning and afternoon periods. Above,clists, prohibited from entering a road, are forced to dismount anderge with slower-moving pedestrians. Top, a main road in Nanjingreserved during peak periods for cars and buses. While bicycles

reviously had exclusive access to a wide lane, they must now share

is space with other modes.l Fjellstrom, Jan. 2002


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Beijing to reverse direction;promote bicycles for Olympics?Excerpts from Bicycles can save Beij ing in China Daily,

20 Sept. 2002

Two-wheelers encouraged for environment

In order to help curb air pollution, Beijing will

adopt administrative measures to encourage people

to ride bicycles, said a special plan on environmental

protection in the Olympic Action Plan, which was

issued earlier this month by the organizing committee

of the 2008 Olympics.

The plan did not reveal details of the future

measures. Special bicycle routes will be built in the

Olympic Village by 2008 with bicycles provided, the

plan also said.

Aiming to help full Beijings commitments to the

International Olympic Committee on environmental

protection, the provision is also based on the reality

in Beijing, said Wang Kai, director of the Department

of Comprehensive Planning at the Beijing MunicipalBureau of Environmental Protection which drafted

the plan.

Wang said bicycle routes will not only be formed

in the Olympic Village but also the Olympic Green.

The layout on routes will be decided in the next two

years, he said.

Bicycle lanes will continue to be drawn on city

streets, said Chen Jinchuan, a researcher with the

Beijing Transport Development Research Centre, a

think-tank for the municipal government.

Li Wenhua, dean of the school of environment

studies at Renmin University of China, agreed with

Beijings decision to push bicycles and he said hehoped the government could make bicycle usage

more convenient through various measures, such

as creating more bicycle parking lots and renting

locations.

I am sure Beijings action will play a demon-

strating role in the industrys development, said

Sui Songjiang, secretary-general of the China Bicycle

Association.

China continued to be the worlds leading country

in bicycle production and consumption as the output

of bicycles in China reached 50 million last year.

Chinese bicycles were also exported to over 100

countries and regions.

Manfred Breithaupt

Cycle rickshaws

Cycle rickshaws in their various forms havebeen, by contrast, subjected to particularly tightrestrictions on their access to certain streets or

certain zones of various cities. Manila bannedcycle rickshaws on its main roads initiallyin the 1950s, and they re-emerged after theeconomic crisis in the 1990s, but only on somelocal streets. Karachi banned cycle rickshawsin 1960, and Bangkok in 1962. Kuala Lumpuralso banned them. In Jakarta, and New Delhi,cycle rickshaws were banned in the 1980s, withselective enforcement (Figure 14). Surabaya,Dakar, and Ho Chi Minh City restricted theiruse on certain major roads starting in the 1990s.These roads are spelled out in specic municipaldecrees. These roads include all limited accesshighways but also many primary or secondaryarterials serving both short and long distancetrips in congested urban areas. In Surabaya,they are also not allowed in industrial areas, neweconomic zones, and many new gated housingestates, mainly for image reasons. These restric-tions on NMV use on major urban arterialssever numerous short distance origin destinationpairs, forcing numerous potential non-motor-ised trips to rely on motorised modes.

Cycle rickshaws do have operating characteris-tics which make them less efcient users of road

Fig. 14

Delhi richshaws seizedby police for operating in

areas where they are banned.Walter Hook, ITDP


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Indian Cycle RickshawModernisation Project

Another innovative way of increasing the use

of non-motorised transport is to work with the

human powered vehicle industry to modernise

non-motorised vehicle technologies.

While the bicycle is constantly being modernised

by a dynamic and competitive industry, in many

Asian countries bicycle rickshaws continue to be

manufactured based on outmoded design develo-

ped in the 1950s. As a result, they are extremely

heavy, slow, and uncomfortable, weighing around

80kg. Their outmoded designs make life hard for

the low income operators. This has made it possible

for politicians to ban the vehicles on supposedly

humanitarian grounds. Unfortunately, banning the

vehicles only takes away a valuable job from a low

income person, and forces people to walk long

distances or use more expensive and polluting

motorised vehicles.

An innovative project sponsored by US AID

and carried out by the Institute for Transport and

Development Policy succeeded in modernisingthe Indian bicycle rickshaw. There was never any

shortage of alternative designs, but until the recent

project none of them had ever been commercially

adopted. As a result of the project, today there are

more than 10,000 much lighter (55kg) and more

comfortable bicycle rickshaws operating on the

streets of Delhi, Agra, and a half dozen other Indian

cities (see Figures 15 and 16). These vehicles actually

cost less to manufacture than the traditional cycle

rickshaws. Operators of the new vehicle saw their

incomes increase by from 20% to 50%. Surveys

also indicate that around 20% of the passengers

of the new vehicles would otherwise have taken a

polluting motorised vehicle.

Successful commercial adoption of a better cycle

rickshaw required not only the development of a

superior design (see Figure 15), but also an extensive

marketing push and the entrance into the market

by at least one corporate entity willing to compete

to capture the traditional bicycle rickshaw market,

forcing the traditional industry to respond.

The project is now being replicated with sup-

port from GTZs GATE program in Yogyakarta,

Indonesia. For more information, see ITDPs Web-

site, www.itdp.org.

g. 15

he rst modern cycleckshaws in India wereld to the drivers operating

cross the street from theheraton in Agra, India.

lter Hook, ITDP

g. 16

he entire eet of over000 cycle rickshaws

the city of Vrindavan,

ndia, has been modernised.lter Hook, ITDP

space than normal bicycles. They are wider, theymove slower, they start and stop frequently, theytake up public space while parked and cruisingfor passengers, and their capacity ow ratios are
http://www.itdp.org/http://www.itdp.org/


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much lower than for bicycles. However, theircapacity ow ratios are similar to those of mo-torised taxis, and all of these problems are alsotrue for normal taxis. There is thus no trafc

system efciency justication for a blanket banon cycle rickshaws in entire areas or on normalstreets serving short distance and long distancetrips where taxis and other relatively slow mov-ing vehicles are allowed to operate.

Nonetheless, their image of backwardness andexploitation and the role they play in facilitatingurban-rural migration has made this mode thesubject of hostile government regulation whichcannot be justied from a safety or trafc man-agement perspective.

At the very local level, a neighbourhood maydecide for whatever reason that it simply doesnot want a particular class of vehicle to operatein its community. On streets used only for verylocal travel, decisions about vehicle restrictionsshould be made by the local community, anda reasonably democratic local decision-makingprocess is recommended.

In Jakarta, and New Delhi, for example, thelocal governments passed regulations making theuse of non-motorised cycle rickshaws, or becaks

illegal in the entire city. While this was no doubtagreeable to certain communities, other com-munities with very narrow streets, with women

who relied heavily on becaks or cycle rickshawsfor shopping and taking children to school,found the loss of becak services caused themconsiderable hardship. In these districts over70% of the population favoured retaining becakservices. Local government regulation shouldallow the exibility for such issues to be decidedat the community or at least at the District or

Ward level.

Conicts between motorised and non-

motorised modes

Conicts between motorised and non-motor-ised travel are particularly acute in Asia anddeveloping countries because of the frequentlack of an interconnected secondary and tertiarystreet network which would allow slow movingvehicles to bypass major arterials. As a result,short distance non-motorised travel is moredependent on the major arterials and even many

intercity highways than in developed countries.

Restricting rather than accommodating shortdistance non-motorised trips in Asian cities hasled to a dramatic decline in the number of tripsbeing made by non-motorised means to levels

well below European and Japanese levels.In some countries there are not only issuesregarding whether NMVs are allowed on normalstreets, but there are also issues about whethermotorcycles and mopeds are allowed on bicyclelanes. Even the Netherlands and Belgium allowmotorcycles on some bicycle paths. Chinese,Malaysian, and some other cities dont allow mo-torcycles on some major roads, and force themto use bicycle lanes. With the growing numberof electric bicycles in China, this is a growing is-

sue. China is currently trying to decide whetherto require electric bicycles to operate on bicyclelanes or on normal trafc lanes. Currently itvaries from outright bans in central Wuhan tolegal limbo in Beijing to required operation incycle lanes in Shanghai. Kuala Lumpur, Malay-sia, has an extensive network of shared bicycleand motorcycle facilities. The motorcycle speedstend to drive off the ordinary cyclists but speedrestrictions, design standards encouraging slowspeeds, and emission and noise controls on themotorbikes could at least mitigate some of theconict between these two modes.

There are also issues about whether bicycles,and more recently whether electric scooters andthe Segway are allowed on sidewalks or not.Travel speeds between bicycle and pedestrianare sufciently high to justify keeping bicycleand pedestrian trafc separate for safety andefciency reasons. In Tokyo there are numerousshared bicycle and pedestrian facilities that workmainly because the crowds ensure slow bicycle

speeds. In New York City, operating a bicycleon the sidewalk if you are over 14 years of ageis illegal. Bike use is also sometimes restricted inpedestrianised areas in both Europe and the US.The new electric scooter Segway has recentlyreceived permission in numerous US states tooperate on sidewalks, over the objections of localbicycling advocates.

In developing countries, typically pedestrianswalk in the road because sidewalks have been sopoorly designed that they are virtually unusable

as sidewalks. Conicts over the use of sidewalks


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are most acute between pedestrians, street ven-dors, and parked cars.

2.5 Regulation of commercial

non-motorised vehiclesSome non-motorised vehicles operate as com-mercial vehicles, and as such are subject tofurther regulation. Most commercial vehicles areregulated for at least three valid reasons:1. to protect consumers2. to limit adverse trafc and related impacts3. to protect the operators.

In most US cities, like New York City, cyclerickshaw taxi services are relatively few andcompletely unregulated. No licenses are required

and fares are unregulated and negotiated on acase by case basis. They are required by munici-pal authorities only to hold insurance for thepassengers in case of an accident. In Europeancities these vehicles are sometimes required tohave a vending or operating license and in oth-ers they are not.

In developing countries, regulation of cyclerickshaws varies from country to country andcity to city. In Bogot, the situation is similarto developed countries, as pedicabs are unregu-lated. Their numbers are only about 200, andthey circulate only on main bike paths which

were designed wide enough for their use in mostplaces. These pedicabs are privately owned andhave ads in the rear (advertising mobile phoneand liqueur products) and there is no formalcharge for their use, but a decent tip to thedriver is expected for a home-to-work ride.

In most Indian cities where cycle rickshaws areallowed, operating them nominally requires alicense. In Delhi, getting the license is oftennot easy and often requires going through amalek, (a eet owner) who rents the vehicles or anancier (who sells the vehicle on credit at fairlyhigh interest rates). Oddly, the vehicle licensesare issued by the Veterinarian Department ofthe Municipality because they were historicallylumped together with animal traction vehicles.These regulations stipulate very specic sizingrequirements that did not in fact correspond toany of the actual sizes of the mass manufacturedmodels. They also required the presence of mud

guards and a canopy for the sun, but did notrequire that the canopy be functional.

Often municipalities try to limit the numberof licenses issued in order to reduce their total

numbers, in some cases with the aim of phasingthem out altogether. Delhi, Agra, and manyother Indian cities have restricted their numbers,but generally ineffectively. In fact, in Delhithere are an estimated 500,000 cycle rickshawsoperating without a license, mostly in outlyingareas. In Surabaya, there is active discussionregarding the ability and desirability of limit-ing the numbers of becak operators. The idealnumber, according to the becak union, is around30,000 40,000, and there are currently around

42,000. Since 1974, the numbers of becaks havebeen ofcially regulated, but in fact the regula-tion does not work. The unions would supportcontrolling the numbers as it would increasetheir income, but as both the police and theRoad Trafc Ofce make money from issuingthe licenses, they are not extremely interestedin regulating the total numbers. Currently theypay Rp. 7,500 ($0.75) for a three year operatorslicense to the Road Trafc Ofce, and they paya one-time Rp.40,000 fee ($4.00) to the policeto have the permission to own the vehicle. In

Yogyakarta, Indonesia, the situation is similar.Fees are paid to register the vehicle and to beallowed to operate the vehicle.

Recently, the Prime Minister of India has sug-gested scrapping the old licensing system andallowing anyone with an identication card or

willing to pay the fee to get an identicationcard to automatically get the registration free ofcharge. Their argument is that the main reasonfor the registration is in case there is a problem

the customers can report the driver. The newproposal also suggests dividing up the city intogreen zones, amber zones, and red zones. Ingreen zones, there would be no restrictions onthe number of vehicles allowed to operate. Inthe amber zones there would be restrictions onthe number, and in the red zone they are not al-lowed to operate at all. This would more or lessformalise the existing informal status quo, unlessthe zones are substantially changed.

In Jakarta, not only is the operation of becaks

illegal, but their manufacture and sale is also

on-motorised

ansport and raising

ublic awareness

any of the best examples

awareness-raising, organi-

tion and advocacy about

stainable urban transport

me from groups promot-

g improved conditions for

cling.

odule 7: Raising Public

wareness about Sustainable

ban Transport discusses

any such initiatives, includ-

g a recent bicycle path

ogram in Sao Paulo.


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illegal. As a result, frames for those becaks thatcontinue to operate on the outskirts of Jakartaare manufactured outside of Jakarta, usually inrelative secrecy, and they are assembled by the

operator from widely available bicycle parts.This module recommends that as a minimumthe vehicles and operators be registered to give aminimum amount of protection to passengers.The vehicles should also be required to haveproper reectors. Whether restricting the totalnumber of vehicles in a given zone is advisableor not, or whether the process should be left tobe organised informally, depends on the degreeto which greater government involvement willlead to a more fair and stable economic situa-

tion for the drivers and greater security for theresidents.

Rather than dening specic

designs, the law can specify a process

by which those designs should be

developed and approved

2.6 Regulations and the Planning

Process

In both developed and developing countriesone of the major reason that the concerns ofpedestrians and cyclists in the trafc system areignored is that responsibility for these modes isnot clearly identied with one particular branchof government or one government agency.Typically the police, the department of public

works, the department of transport, and the cityplanning agency will all have authority over dif-ferent areas of critical concern to non-motorisedtransport. This inter-departmental confusion is

bad in developed countries and extremely seri-ous in many Asian countries.

For this reason, an increasing number of state orprovincial laws mandate the creation of a specialNon-Motorised Transport Coordinator (or Bikecoordinator), and a Non-Motorised TransportTask Force. The Coordinator and the Task Forceare then given certain regulatory powers.

Ideally, the Non-Motorised Transport Task Forcewill have representatives from not only all state

(provincial) and municipal agencies involved in

issues affecting non-motorised transport, such asthe police, the road trafc agency, public works,city planning, the city council, etc, but alsofrom civil society. At least one should represent

non-motorised vehicle users groups (such as abecak union or cycling advocacy organisation)and there should be at least one representative ofthe private sector. This group in turn generallyselects a chairman.

This Non-Motorised Transport Task Force, ledby its Coordinator, is generally responsible forpromoting and facilitating the safe and conven-ient use of non-motorised modes of transporta-tion. They should also be given the right tocomment on all new infrastructure projects to

determine whether the concerns of non-mo-torised transport modes have been addressed,should supervise the inter-agency efforts neededto design and implement the development offacilities for pedestrians and non-motorisedvehicles, and public education, promotion, andsafety programs.

In other words, rather than dening specicdesigns, the law can specify a process by whichthose designs should be developed and approved.

2.7 Regulations on importingnon-motorised vehicles

Tariffs on bicycles vary widely from countryto country. In some Asian countries, tariffs onimported bicycles have been kept high to bothprotect domestic industry and to discouragenon-motorised vehicle use. In Bangladesh, forexample, in 1989, taxes on imported bicyclesand most components were 150%, while importtaxes on automobiles were only 50%, and onsmall transit vehicles, motorcycles, and trucks, only

20%. While some of these measures were aimedat protection against Indian bicycle manufactur-ers, for 80% of the components Bangladesh hasno domestic manufacturing capability.

Since both India and China have joined theWorld Trade Organisation (WTO), tariff bar-riers on bicycles in both countries are falling.Both countries have large low cost domesticbicycle manufacturing, but Indian bicyclemanufacturers are already facing competitionfrom Chinese imports and Chinese-ownedmanufacturers in Bengal.

Basic mobility now

costs less

Reducing bike tariffs

On June 13th, 2002, the Ken-

yan government announced

the elimination of bicycle

import duties. The decision

comes on the heels of a rise

in petrol prices, and should

give a signicant boost to bike

sales and use. The Internation-

al Technology Development

Group in Kenya was a key

force behind the decision.

The Tanzanian government

has yet to remove bicycle

import duties, although they

have recently reduced the dutyon bicycle tires by 10%. In a

country where the average

price of a bike is Tanzania Shil-

lings 60,000 and the per capita

income is Tanzania Shillings

270,000 per annum, this is an

important rst step but does

not go far enough.

The Association for the

Advancement of Low-Cost

Mobility, (AALOCOM), the

organisation that lobbied for

the reduction, is taking their

campaign farther, hoping to

convince the government

to follow Kenyas lead and

reduce the duty on the entire

bike.

The benets of reducing or

eliminating the tax are numer-

ous. With access to this low-

cost transportation, villagers

can take grain to the market

in larger quantity and more

quickly; children in rural areas

can reduce their travel time to

school by hours; traditionally

disadvantaged groups, such

as women, can increase their

access to self-employment

opportunities. In short, the

benets of the reduction or

elimination of the import duty

are signicant.

Adapted from ITDP sustainable

transport newsletter, August 2002,

www.itdp.org/STe/STe2/index.html


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3. Non-motorised transportplanning

Historically, little attention was paid to systema-

tising a transportation planning methodologyfor non-motorised transport. Transportationplanning evolved in the 1950s and 1960s in theUS and England as a response to the growingchaos on the roads caused by the increasing useof motor vehicles. The planning methodologiesdeveloped during that time, from the traditionalfour-step planning process, to the cost benetanalysis procedures codied in the World BanksHighway Design and Maintenance (HDM)model largely ignored non-motorised travel (andpublic transit and freight trips as well initially).The problem began at the level of data collec-tion, where no data was collected about originsand destinations made by non-motorised means.The result was a set of planning methodologiesoften hostile to non-motorised travel.

Since that time, as a result of thirty years ofadvocacy efforts to modify or change these plan-ning methodologies, most trafc demand mod-els in developed countries are based on originand destination surveys that include some infor-

mation about bike trips, though often not aboutwalking trips. Even if specic origin destinationsurveys do not have information on bicycle orother non-motorised vehicle travel, all tripsunder roughly 10 kilometres arepotentialnon-motorised vehicle trips and hence can be used inthe planning process. As a result, bicycle plan-ning can build on traditional transport planningmodels, whereas information about very shortpedestrian trips is likely to require further datacollection and some different techniques.

Planning for bicycle and cycle rickshaw facilitiesshould be integrated into standard transporta-tion planning as much as possible. However,as much of the existing infrastructure is likelyto have been designed in a manner which ishostile to non-motorised travel, some correc-tive measures specically focused on improvingconditions for non-motorised travel are oftencalled for.

In fact, in many cities the critical locations fornon-motorised vehicle and pedestrian facilities is

rather self evident, because there is visibly a large

number of bicycle and walking trips in theselocations. Some cities have a few major corridors

which account for most trips, and non-motor-ised trips will follow the general trafc ows for

other short distance trips.There is a debate among trafc planners whethernew bike facilities should be located based onthe rational planning methodology describedbelow, or whether they should be placed op-portunistically on all urban roads where they canbe justied by high vehicle speeds and politicalexpediency. Political expediency generally meansthe following criteria would be used:

The road is being newly built or rebuilt, offeringan opportunity to put in a new bike lane.

An existing road has sufcient space thata bike lane will not disrupt motorised orpedestrian trafc.

A canal, a park, railway right of way, or otherfacility can be modied so that bike lanes canbe built without antagonising motorists.

The new Bogot bike system (see Figure 17),which has dramatically increased trips, was acombination of focusing on major known cor-ridors based on surveys done in a JICA planningstudy, other origin and destination studies,

combined with putting the facilities wherespace was available, namely along canals, in themedian strips of roads, on roads which are much

wider than needed to serve existing motorisedtrafc, and on all new road construction.

Putting good bike facilities on all roads withspeed limits above 50 or 60 kph serving a sig-nicant number of trips under 10 kilometres isnot a bad planning methodology if the politicalcommitment is present.

There is, nonetheless, something to be said for

the rational planning approach, which helpsto build a case for the interventions and morecarefully prioritises investments on truly neededfacilities. This rational planning process is usu-ally broken down into the following steps:1. Establishment of a project team and a non-

motorised transport task force or committee2. Selection of area to be improved3. Inventory of existing regulations and

conditions4. Development and prioritisation of planned

improvements


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5. Selection and design of facilities6. Testing after implementation.

3.1 Project Team and Task Force

formation

When initiating a non-motorised transportimprovement project, aproject team must beselected. Normally this team should initiallyconsist of an international planning consultant,an international civil engineer, a local partner

with inuence and contacts inside the citygovernment (could be a government agency, theMayors ofce, a retired senior planner now withan NGO, or the local staff of a developmentorganisation) and a local NGO, university, orplanning rm with experience in working withand surveying the affected population (pedestri-ans, cycle rickshaw drivers, community organisa-tions, local politicians, and so on.).

The project team will work for the projectssponsors, but one of its rst tasks is to reviewgovernmental responsibility for non-motorisedtransport in the project city, and the responsiblepersons within each relevant government agency.These responsible persons should be invited to

join aNon-Motorised Transport Task Force

or Committee, which in turn might select aChairman of this Committee responsible for

Fig. 17

Bogots bike lanes werebuilt predominantly in

median strips on majorarterials, some of whichwere in the process ofreconstruction.Institute of Urban Development,

City of Bogot

inter-agency coordination. This Committeeshould involve all the relevant governmentagencies such as municipal planning agencies,public works, police, trafc management, andany relevant public authorities, but it should

also include some key stakeholders such as cyclerickshaw union representatives and other poten-tial stakeholders. Formation of this Task Forceearly in the planning process can avoid obstaclesto implementation in later phases.

This Task Force will be responsible for hostingpublic hearings when more developed plans arecompleted, for overseeing the proper implemen-tation of the plans, and for acting as an advocatefor the plans within the administration.

3.2 Selection of area

to be improved

Identifying key stakeholders will depend tosome extent on the location for which non-mo-torised travel is to be improved. The planningmethodology is also going to differ dependingon whether it is a neighbourhood-specic pilot

projector a city-wide master plan that is beingdeveloped.

For pilot projects, there are several factors to

consider. A pilot location should have:


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1. A high level of political commitment toNMT improvements by the district or ward(most local level) government. A city-wideproject should be considered if it has the

backing of the Mayor.2. A high level of support for NMTimprovements in the community.

3. A high level of existing NMT trafc in thecommunity

4. A high level of potential NMT trafc in thecommunity

5. A high number of trafc accidents involvingvulnerable road users.

In our experience, certain types of facilities tendto generate a large number of non-motorisedtrips. Among them are:1. Schools and universities2. Popular markets and shopping centres3. Factories and other employers of large

numbers of people who do not have access tomotor vehicles

4. Mosques (they are visited frequently).

For this reason, some municipal programs inEurope and the US focus specically on schoolaccess, and are known as Safe Routes to Schoolsprogram. For cycle rickshaws, the vast majorityof trips are to schools, public transit stations,popular markets, and tourist locations. Programscan also focus only on such locations. This

would greatly simplify the planning and prioriti-sation process.

3.3 Inventory of existing regulations

and conditions

Once you have selected your project area, youneed to decide how much more data collectionyou really need. While appropriate locations

for prioritising non-motorised vehicle facilitiesmay be fairly self-evident to people familiar

with the area, the data collection process alsocan play an important educational role withmunicipal ofcials. For example, an astoundingnumber of transport professionals in developingcountries are completely unaware that peopletravel by non-motorised means, or if they areaware of it have never paid any attention to it,and lack even basic information about it. Simplydemonstrating that 30% of the trips on a given

road are made by pedestrians and cyclists, orthat 60% of the victims of trafc accidents are

non-motorised road users, can help to sensitisepolicy makers and the public to the importanceof the measures that later stages will propose.The following data will all be relevant:

3.3.1 A review of the laws, regulations, anddesign standards pertaining to non-motorised travel

Obviously, if bicycles and other non-motorisedvehicles are banned or restricted on certainroutes, or certain design standards exist, thisinformation will be pertinent to the planningprocess.

3.3.2 A review of existing data

Before conducting expensive new surveys, the

availability of data from pre-existing surveysshould be fully explored. It is common for onemunicipal or national agency to be unawareof the fact that another municipal or nationalagency has recently completed surveys of thevery data you are looking for. In some citiesin Asia there may be a fully functional traf-c model. In most cities there will be somehousehold survey data, (though it is likely to beoutdated) some origin and destination survey data,and some vehicle counts at specic locations.Most police departments collect at least somedata on trafc accidents that can be mapped,and some cities may actually have decent trafcsafety database and black spot mapping.

3.4 Collection of useful

additional data

If your pilot project is only going to focuson safe routes to schools, markets, or publictransit hubs, for example, a lot of further datacollection will not be necessary. One advantage

of targeting schools is that a handful of pilotschools can be selected, and the students,parents, and teachers can be directly utilised in

3d Preserving and Expanding the Role of Non-motorised Trans

Documents