Pedal Power one of the positives.



The city ring road

Exhaust fumes are a huge problem

City ring road and a small tractor holding it's own

These 2 wheel tractor pulling trailers are all we've seen, and
as expected they can really load them up with cement and bricks.
 



Lagankel, Patan's bus station, heaves with activity

I’ve posted a few images of the roads and traffic in Kathmandu so that you may draw your own conclusions. Getting around seems very chaotic and road rules few to non-existent.  Vehicles joining roads have the priority and intersections are a free for all. On the larger cross roads police control the movements and try to keep things flowing. However, let’s explore some possible benefits of the system.

One thing that rises out of the chaos is driver awareness and reduction in speed. At first glance it seems that someone tore up the H/S manual and threw it out the window. Living with the fact that anyone is likely do anything at any time promotes driver awareness and reduces speed. Collisions seem relatively infrequent and low impact.

 

A young passenger with Mum on the back

Tempo fully loaded, or can we get one more in?

No different from the tube except everyone is smiling.

No bus, minibus or tempo leaves Patan’s Lagankhel bus station without being full. The young man riding in the open side door, shouting the destination, directing traffic and giving stop, go commands by thrashing the roof panels also hails potential fare payers. So what was a full bus becomes  overcrowded . Who cares! Laughs and squeals of fun fill the hot dusty air as we rock and bounce through the potholes. Motorbikes jam between the buses and taxis, most of which carry a pillion. At certain times of the day, driver plus two pillions and a youngster or two on the fuel tank is not uncommon. Ok the vehicles are small, and forget for a moment the lack of catalytic converters together with some H/S issues, but what is the carbon footprint of most journeys?  No huge queues of single occupancy gas guzzling cars here, no long commuter trips and empty public service vehicles either .

Another young passenger with bro and Mum behind Dad

 

The tempo is the cities gesture to a green transport system. These three wheel vehicles, which I believe are privately run but may be hired by the driver, are electric! Speed and acceleration do not seem to be a problem and neither does the ability to carrying a decent payload.

 

Electric Tempos

Pedal or quite often push bike power is a huge plus. Most items for recycling are collected by a rider, or pusher, filling the panier sacks with cardboard, metal and plastic bottles. Other waste is often collected by tricycle, which also seem to be a popular method of light haulage. Bikes and sometimes four wheel carts are used by street vendors to sell fresh fruit and veg, Bikes seem to cope with heavy haulage if necessary. Pedal power has a low carbon footprint, it allows young entrepreneurs a foothold in trade, drives an essential recycling service and fits with the road infrastructure.

 

About 180 kgs of onions and spuds on this bike

 

 

 

The rider shown an appreciative smile after a helping hand.

Recycling collector

Young man collects waste before sorting it

All is not well here on the roads of Kathmandu but all is not lost either.

Milk being taken to a processer