Non-motorized vehicles NMVs (bicycles, three-wheelers and carts) play a vital role in urban transport in much of Asia. NMVs account for a larger share of vehicular trips in many Asian cities than anywhere in the world. With increasing income, ownership of all vehicles, including NMVs, is growing rapidly throughout Asia. However, the future of NMVs in many Asian cities is threatened by growing motorization, loss of streets space for safe NMV use, and changes in urban form prompted by motorization. Transport planning and investment in most of Asia has focused principally on the motorized transport sector and has often ignored the needs of NMVs. Without changes in policy, NMVs may decline previously in many Asian cities in the coming decade. Large-scale replacement of NMVs with motorized transportation would have major negative impacts on air pollution, traffic congestion, global warming, energy use, urban sprawl, and the employment and mobility of the poor. As cities in Japan, The Netherlands, Germany, and several other European nations demonstrate, the modernization of urban transport does not require total motorization, but rather the appropriate integration of walking, NMV modes, and motorized transport. As in European and Japanese cities, where a major share of trips are made by walking and cycling, NMVs have an important role to play in urban transport systems throughout Asia in coming decades. This paper provides an overview of the current use of NMVs in Asian cities, environmental and economic aspects of NMVs, the characteristics of NMVs and facilities that serve them, and policies that influence their use. The paper identifies conditions under which NMVs should be encouraged for urban transport, obstacles to the development of NMVs, and makes recommendations for action by the World Bank and other donors.
Abstract