Alan K. Meier

Intermediate Transport in South East Asian Cities

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Introduction

In late 1974 and early 1975 I toured various cities in Southeast Asia with the intent of examining intermediate transport. The focus was general: I sought to discover what kinds of vehicles were used, the social context of their use, and any unique aspect of intermediate transport in the cities I visited. My definition of intermediate vehicles was broad: anything that moved people faster than walking, i.e., faster than sandals, cheaper than an automobile on a passenger- kilometre basis, and smaller than a bus. The number of vehicles fitting these requirements was truly remarkable and it was not possible to record them all. Therefore I tried to be selective, choosing only the vehicles that seemed important either technologically or sociologically.

In the rest of this paper, I discuss my observations of intermediate transport in three Southeast Asian cities. They are by no means complete but do convey the sense of the intermediate transport network in those cities.