RICKSHAW

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Do we need any ‘VIP’ roads?

Do we need any ‘VIP’ roads?

In a civilised society every citizen should be treated as a VIP by his or her 
own merits, irrespective of social or economic status. No public infrastructure 
such as roads should be designated for a specific privileged class. Rather than 
assigning roads for a few advantaged sections of the society, functional 
classifications should be decided on the basis of scientific approaches. 

Consider the irony of feeling that rickshaws are the source of our image 
problems. In contrast, widespread corruption, illiteracy, erosion in social 
norms and values, unacceptable rates of noise pollution, and lack of good 
governance should be our sources of shame. After all, wealthy countries have 
rickshaws—but Dhaka constantly outscores the rest of the world on 
corruption. 



Rickshaw Bans in Dhaka City:  An Overview of the Arguments For and Against

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

With a few simple steps, we could make Dhaka more livable. The first step is to change our priorities, by emphasizing access, not mobility, short rather than long distance travel, children, not cars, and livable environments, not just transport. To achieve this, we must change our policies; for instance, by enforcing the ban on parking on footpaths; reducing parking and charging a fair market rate for it; creating positive infrastructure for non polluters: pedestrians, cyclists, and rickshaws; and by putting children first: building more or better schools, libraries, and parks, and by making streets safer. In short, “We need a model in which happiness, rather than consumption levels, is the measure of success.”