Qingqi rickshaws rule most routes

Government pins hopes on electric vehicles replacing hazardous rides

LAHORE:

Motorcycle rickshaws have become a major cause of accidents and pollution in Punjab due to weak regulation by the provincial transport department.

Amid the shortage of public transport services, the motorcycle rickshaw has become the prevalent option across the province.

Despite a ban, the number of such rickshaws is growing rapidly in the urban as well as rural areas.

Hundreds of people were killed and injured in 136,758 traffic accidents involving vehicles in Punjab during the past three years.

When contacted, Punjab Transport Minister Jahanzeb Khan Kichchi expressed hope that electric vehicles would become an alternative to such rickshaws.

He told The Express Tribune that the government is planning to regularise motorcycle rickshaws. However, they cause environmental pollution and risk the safety of commuters.

The minister said the government had announced an electric vehicle policy.

“We want electric vehicles to replace rickshaws,” he added.

There are very few public transport facilities in all the districts of Punjab, including the provincial capital.

The Lahore Transport Company bus service on more than 30 routes of the city has been stopped.

Due to the Metrobus service being available on only one route, very few people of the city travel by it to reach their destinations.

The Orange Line train, the largest such project in the history of the country that cost billions of rupees, also could not alleviate the travel difficulties of the residents of Lahore.

The train project also included the creation of 11 feeder routes to transport passengers from different parts of the city to its stations, but this important part of the plan has not yet been implemented.

That has led to the Orange Line becoming a burden on the exchequer because of fewer passengers than the capacity travel by it.

There are no public transport buses in the provincial capital, which has an estimated population of over 15 million, except for 55 buses running on the feeder routes of the Metrobus service.

Motorcycle rickshaws have become a major means of public transport on the city’s main roads like The Mall, Ferozepur Road, Multan Road, Raiwind Road, and the streets in the old city areas.

The rickshaws are also used for travel from the suburbs to Lahore as well as dominating the streets of all localities of the city.

It is estimated that the rickshaws and the online taxi services are covering 80% of the public transport needs of the provincial capital.

A few years ago, the Lahore High Court banned motorcycle rickshaws and ordered the preparation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for them, but so far no route permit has been issued for the vehicles and no system to check their fitness has been introduced.

The rickshaws are mostly driven by youths and they have become a major cause of accidents due to underage drivers, overloading and lack of safety measures.

Sources in the transport department said that several attempts to regularise or restrict motorcycle rickshaws to certain areas had failed in the past due to lack of coordination between the traffic police, excise and taxation and the transport departments.

An attempt was made to restrict such rickshaws to some routes in specified areas, but the restriction was not enforced due to protests by a union of the owners.

Commenting on the issue, Punjab Emergency Service Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer said the vehicles had proven to be dangerous 136,758 rickshaws had been involved in accidents in the province between January 2018 and December 2020.

The untrained drivers only endanger themselves and their passengers but also cause accidents of other vehicles due to their disregard for traffic rules.

The official said the government should replace the rickshaws with four-wheel vehicles, which are environment-friendly and safer.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2021.