Alan K. Meier

Intermediate Transport in South East Asian Cities

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Transport in Saigon - Background

Saigon is one of the few cities whose transport system can visibly be observed to have been affected by the energy crisis. The oil price rises are still less than a year old, yet the city's transport system has undergone a massive retrenchment in the face of these new economic realities. The Saigon of the very recent pact was unique in that its transport system was based on the motorcycle. No other city has had such a network and, for that reason, the system should be described before it disappears entirely. At the same time, it is fascinating to observe Saigon make the adjustments to a new transport mix.

The present transport situation in Saigon - a city of two and a half million - is difficult to describe because there are no statictics indicating the relative use of the different transport modes. It is clear, however, that very many people walk to work. Saigon is a city of refugees and many of them cannot afford any transportation other than that provided by their feet. Two hour walks into the city from the outlying slums are not uncommon. The wealthier residents have a variety of modes available. Bicycles are now widely used generally by school children, though adults in ever increasing numbers are riding too. Pedicabs, called cyclos in Vietnam, are also numerous (about 5,300) and many of them appear to be quite new. The smallest public transport vehicle is the lambro; about 2,300 of these three-wheeled, eight-passenger vehicles now operate in Saigon. There are also about 800 buses, working approximately thirty routes, but most visible are the 250,000 motorcycles and mopeds (with the whole mass generally referred to as hondas). On the streets, the hondas dominate the traffic mix, with very fev cars providing competition.

By 1965 the Vietnam conflict and the American involvement had begun in earnest. The huge injections of dollars caused by the American presence created an unusual problem for the Saigon government. Somehow, these excess dollars, which were quickly finding their way into the wallets of thousands of Vietnamese workers, had to be mopped up before they sparked an inflationary spiral. Acting on American advice, the Vietnamese government chose luxury imports to be the sponge. The principal import was to be motorcycles, all under 100 cc. 800,000 Japanese motorcycles and Italian motorscooters were imported over the next four years. By rigging the exchange rate, the 'hondas' as all this group of vehicles were called, were within reach of all but the very poor. For a while, the sponge effect worked and inflation was held to tolerable levels. But by 1969, American operations needed far less labour and had closed many of the dollar outflows and quickly the dollar surplus turned into a deficit. Inflation struck hard. ln response, the Saigon government banned importation of all foreign vehicles. The ban worked well; there are few cars or hondas of post 1969 vintage in Saigon, excepting the locally assembled La Dalat car (by Citroen).

1965 marked the beginning of the Vietnamese "love affair" with the honda. I do not believe it vas a love affair so much with the machine as with the independence the honda gave. Suddenly, hundreds of thousands of people in Saigon were freed from all the constraints of public transport. When reporters spoke of the loving care with which the Vietnamese maintained their hondas, they were really speaking of the peoples' love of the freedom the honda gave them.

For the next seven years, the honda served as the principal means of personal transportation. There were alternatives (some people, for various reasons, simply could not ride a honda) such as the lambro and the cyclo, but the city really moved on hondas.

One explanation has already been given for the immediate acceptance of the honda, but I think there are others that were crucial. For example, women have not been excluded from riding hondas. This is partly due to the traditional independence of Vietnamese women, but also to their style of dress, namely the Ao dai which allows the women to straddle the motorcycle or bicycle with no loss of modesty. While there is a "men's honda" and a "women's honda", the distinction is slowly disappearing in the face of demand for any honda. (The difference follows that of men's and women's bicycles.) Another requirement for successful use of a motorcycle is decent roads. The honda's efficiency is seriously impaired when the streets are filled with potholes. Saigon had, and still has, well paved streets, so the hondas can move at maximum speed. Weather also plays an important role. There have been no unique adaptations to the weather except, the acceptance that if it rains really hard one is either going to get wet or be late. Throughout Southeast Asia, motorcyclists wear their raincoats backwards, an effective measure against a light rain. Fortunately, the showers are brief even in the rainy season, so all the hondas scramble for shelter and wait out the shower. Another consideration is the baggage problem, Knapsacks, the American solution, are not used, nor are the farm wicker baskets. Usually, people will use a cyclo or a lambro if anything more than a shopping bag is required. Finally, a culture must be able to accept the constraints imposed by the limited passenger capacity of the hondas. I do not believe the Vietnamese were forced to make any concessions simply because they were not constrsained; that is, the Vietnamese are so amall that four people often squeeze onto a honda. Not all cultures or cities can meet the constraints imposed by the hondas, but it is clear that Saigon did.