Rickshaws for Last Mile Connectivity

Solutions

Initiation:

Transport modes – Firstly, the problem lies in defining these modes. These are defined as ‘bus depots’, ‘metro stations’, ‘Railway stations’ and not as transport interchange hubs. I would like to cite from my own thesis presented to the DA in Italy on multimodal transport interchange hubs: the core requirement of urban transport hubs is an organized and convenient way to be able to interchange from rail to metro and metro to bus.

Let’s look at current ‘stations’ in India. As soon as you exit or even before you enter, you have to maneuver through a chaotic pattern of rickshaws, cycles, hawkers, beggars and pedestrians, layered with unimaginable levels of air and noise pollution. Often blamed are the authority for management, civic sense and rickshaw drivers. The solution here is to devise a functional circulation pattern inbuilt in the architecture of these stations. (Implemented to a certain level in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Zurich, Milan, London and even Paris). These are Commuter-friendly circulation patterns allow the ease of interchange.

Rickshaw, being the most used LMC option, should be given its due respect by being allocated a dedicated space within the transport architecture, and even by designing specific LMC routes to enable it to become the Indian avatar of the western pods. From the scientific perspective, its turning diameters and speed make it easily maneuverable; and optimizing the lane widths for rickshaw specific routes and even value-engineering the road surface to suit a rickshaw would bring it as a LMC into the limelight instead of being on the fringes of urban transport and being piloted by the driver unions.

Implementation & Operation:

This involves the hurdles in implementation at a physical level and operation at a policy level.

At a physical level, once the transport architecture ensures the dedicated availability of rickshaws in an organized fashion, it faces the hurdle of actual usability, which is still low in cities like Mumbai – mainly due to lack of proper signage. Current exit signage on metro stations and railway stations show the directions for the nearest landmarks. While this is important for orientation, adequate and correctly positioned signage to lead to the LMC modes as important. Whether that is a bus stop or rickshaw stand, encouraging and leading the public in that direction helps decongest the chaos at the pedestrian exits. Else, the commuter is out from a pedestrian exit and then looks around for a change of transport – where most unorganized rickshaw drivers see an opportunity to demand their high fares.

At a policy level, it is difficult to sustain this interchangeable relationship in the absence of an agreement between the primary transport authority and the para-transit agencies. The relationship needs to be mutually beneficial and financially viable. A commitment of commuters for the LMC and benchmarking of fares is one way to handle this. A common ticket that takes care of certain routes on metro along with a certain diameter of the LMC service – although a complicated option to work out — could be an excellent solution for the end commuter. This would also encourage the use of metro since the main deterrent as per the metro primary survey, 2010 is the cost and availability of LMC. Other than select metros, currently, most cities run rickshaws on unmetered fares.

Product

We shall concentrate on the rickshaw as the most preferred LMC product/mode.

The original auto rickshaw ran on dirty petrol/diesel and two-stroke engines, which led to major health risks. Vehicular pollution increased risks of lung cancer and asthma – major public health issues across India’s cities. As a result, in 1998, India banned two-stroke engines, in favour of natural gas engines. Two-stroke engines pollute more than 13 times their natural gas engine (CNG) counterparts (as stated in Quartz and accessed in July 2015). CNG rickshaws are most common today. Studies have shown that this transition has led to substantial decrease in some pollutants but not all (Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 115, no. 1 (2006): 405-17).

A non-polluting alternative (hand pulled rickshaws/ cycle rickshaws), this sector provides employment to more than 20 million natives (in India) as per hypothetical estimates. According to the study conducted by Center of Science & Environment, India, every rickshaw heaver conserves minimum 2.07-ton carbon dioxide. A tour of old Kolkata markets in these hand-pulled rickshaws is a must to experience the life of a Bengali. Rajasthan has its version of a 6 seater, highly decorated and colourful cycle rickshaw. While these have zero carbon footprint, there are debates about them promoting slavery and class distinction between the driver carrying the load and the passenger sitting comfortably. The other disadvantage is their speed. At a max speed of 10kms/ hr, these rickshaws fall behind in the fast urban areas where every minute counts.

Looking forward, there have been multiple attempts to create an e-rickshaw that runs on battery power. Battery-powered e-rickshaws could help solve the problem of growing emissions within India. They are mostly manufactured in India and China, only a few other countries manufacture these vehicles. Initially e-rickshaws were unregulated by any central law in India. In fact, the Delhi High Court banned running of e-rickshaws in Delhi on 31 July 2014, over safety concerns raised through a public interest litigation. However, after their number, need and performance increased, in March 2015, the Indian Parliament passed an amendment to the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2015 legalizing e-Rickshaws. Since July 2015, battery rickshaws are available for travel in many cities. They are now certified to ply with Registration Number plate by R.T.O. However, due to low speed, low wattage of batteries, most versions are still unsure about whether they fall under the Motors Vehicles Act or not, and if they can be booked for traffic offences or not.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has tied up with operators that will procure, maintain and operate e-rickshaws to provide first and last-mile connectivity from Metro stations to neighborhoods within a radius of three to four kilometers. These were launched on the World Environment Day this year.
One of the operators aims to introduce 610 e-rickshaws at earmarked eight operational metro stations in Noida and Ghaziabad within a year. Mahindra & Mahindra’s focus on electrical mobility and a cumulative investment of INR 1200 crores in that sector is also being talked about in the transport/ traffic sector with much enthusiasm. The company’s Managing Director, Pawan Goenka, said in an interview recently that at present the e-rickshaws are powered by lead acid batteries but M&M is working on lithium ion batteries and swappable batteries too. An Australian firm, Star8Solar, is developing sunlight-powered tuktuks. Other innovations include wind powered innovations in design like Bajaj company’s mini car version, Thailand’s tuktuk factory designing a tuk-tuk limo and electrical open tri-cycle rickshaws.

If India wants to lead its way with the perfect LMC mode, then structuring rickshaw as a LMC solution, organizing it to be viable for both the operator and commuter, optimizing its product design for financial and environmental sustainability is the way to go. While the western world is grappling with the pods, mono rails and electronic shuttles, retrofitting our native love affair with rickshaws can change the urban transport scenario.