Alan K. Meier

Intermediate Transport in South East Asian Cities

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Foreword

This Information Paper combines three case studies of intermediate transport in Asian cities, and highlights both the differences and the similarities in the systems. The Paper is the work of Alan Meier, an overseas member of the ITDG Transport Panel, and is based on surveys carried out in late 1974 and early 1975. Some of the observations are impressionistic, and others are based on depositions by local inhabitants. However, this in no way detracts from the main value of the work which is that it records the very rapid changes in intermediate forms of transport that have taken place in these citics, and gives an account of the factors which have influenced this. In one sense the studies are already outdated, yet they are unique in that they were undertaken during a critical period of change. Furthermore, the publication of this Paper is timely in view of the current debate about the future role of intermediate forms of transport in the urban areas of developing countries.

In reading the section on Saigon it should be remembered that it describes the situation prior to the transfer of power in South Vietnam which resulted in Saigon being re-named Ho Chi Minh city.

For convenience, all costs and prices have been expressed in U.S. dollars, converted from the local currencies at the exchange rates prevailing at the time of the surveys.

There is frequently confusion over the many terms used to describe particular forms of intermediate transport. The following definitions may assist the reader:

Pedicab:	a general term used in this paper to describe pedal-driven, passenger-carrying three-wheelers.
Tricycle:	a general term used in this paper to describe pedal-driven, load-carrying three-wheelers.
Becak:	(pronounced "bechak") the name given to pedicabs in Jakarta.
Cyclo:	the name given to pedicabs in Saigon.
Trisha:	the name given to pedicabs in Penang.
Jitney:	a general term used to describe small (in comparison with buses) public passenger transport vehicles which typically are owned by private operators, have flexible routes, and pick up and drop passengers on demand.
Opelet:	a particular type of jitney used in Jakarta.

Helicak, Bemo, Minicar and Mebea are the names given to particular types of motorised three-wheelers used in Jakarta.

I. J. Barwell
Editor