L.H. Immers and B.J. de Wilde

Possibilities for Bicycle Transport in Developing Countries

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CONCLUSIONS AND COMMENTS

This paper gives an impression of the present state of affairs in personal transport in Tanzania. However Tanzania is by no way an exception, in many African countries walking is about the only mode of transport available to the majority of the population.

As a result, both triplengths and loads to be transported are very limited. This leads to a frustration of socio-economic development; in rural areas agricultural production is limited to subsistence farming only, in urban areas it becomes more and more difficult to get access to jobs and public services, etc. For peasants in rural areas the sale of produce is only sensible if other goods are available for buying. Therefore the introduction of the bicycle could help to stop the downward spiral of socio-economic development.

Insofar as personal transport problems receive attention in development programs, emphasis has always been on motorized transport. For several reasons, this approach was doomed to fail (lack of funds, oil dependancy, technological dependency on donor, etc.).

The low-cost transport concept seems to be more feasible for solving problems in personal transport. It satisfies the movement needs of the public at large within the means of society. Evidence from several Asian countries shows the enormous potential of the bicycle in this context. However, several conditions will have to be met before bicycle usage will be widespread in Tanzania.

... In the Netherlands, one of the most developed countries, there are more than 10 million bicycles for a population of 14 million. The number of trips made by bicycle is equal to that by car (30 per cent of the total number of trips); the bicycles travel performance exceeds the travel performance by public transport (42). In the next few years the City of Delft (90,000 inhabitants) plan to invest more than $27 million on improving its bicycle route network, one that is already the envy of other cities.

At last it should be remembered that the bicycle is an extremely energy-efficient means of transport that deserves serious attention.

TABLE 4: Impact of measures