I was doing a bit of browsing (thank you, Al Gore, for this blessed series of tubes) and came across this article, about India’s efforts to at least reduce the amount of rickshaws clogging the streets of Delhi.
As you (hopefully) know, the rickshaw is basically a bicycle used as a cab. India has about 500,000 of them in Delhi, and they would like to reduce that number to 100,000, as well as test and license the operators. This is part of an effort to “modernise” their city. Oh, and make room for the 1,000 or so new cars that add to their already crippling traffic and congestion each day. Yes, 1,000 new cars on the road each day. Cars that belch smog* and use up non-renewable resources. Get rid of all those bikes to make room for cars. How modern. Never mind all the low income people that rely on them for affordable transport, or the operators themselves that rely on them to feed their families. Never mind that bikes are basically zero emissions vehicles.
Rickshaws are bad, and shouldn’t be on the road. That’s what I read.
Then, on the same site, I read this article about the two female constables in England that jumped into a rickshaw to rush to a crime scene. They were without a car, and knew that if they ran to the scene, they’d be worn out by the time they arrived. A rickshaw provided the perfect transport for them, thanks to the efforts of two very noble cyclists, Ben Matthews and Will Vaughn. Crime-fighting cyclists (sort of).
Rickshaws are good, and can help fight crime. That’s what I read.
Obviously, there’s a bit more to each article, if you take the time to read them. But I certainly appreciate that irony of them both being published on the same day.
*I really wish I had a car blog too. I recently read about Tata Motors’ experimental car that runs on compressed air. Sweet. A car that farts!