Why Lahoris must use bicycles

Why I'm a cycling enthusiast

Urban/urbane Friday, May 29, 2009 Ahmad Rafay Alam In a column titled "Wake up to the New Urban Reality" (Aug 25, 2008), I had written "Our import bill is now at $1.287 billion, 87 percent higher than the same month last year. Of this amount, oil imports accounted for $752.618 million, a 135-percent increase from this time last year." Over half the money we spend buying dollars to pay for our imports goes towards the purchase of oil. We still don't have the figures for our import bill for this fiscal year (they are compiled later), but in 2005-2006, according to the ministry of petroleum and natural resources website, the oil import bill alone was $6.7 billion. The Economic Survey of that year records a consumption of 14.6 million tonnes of petroleum products. According to the website and the Economic Survey, over half (55 percent) of the sectoral oil consumption in Pakistan was by the transport sector.  Energy, the next largest consumer, had a sectoral consumption of nearly 29 percent. One may compare these reports for the 2006-2007 and onwards, but the trend appears to be the same: Of the oil we spend money on importing, about half is spent in fuelling our cars, buses, trucks, wagons, motorcycles, rickshaws and other motor vehicles. Wait, there's one correction: Last year, the Saudi government agreed to give Pakistan a $4.2 billion oil "facility." So, of the oil they we've bought using money we don't have, over half of it goes to fuelling our cars, buses, trucks, wagons, motorcycles, rickshaws and other motor vehicles. Lahore has a population estimated to be in the region of eight million.  There are, last I checked, approximately 1.8 million registered motor vehicles plying the roads of the city. On a straight calculation, it would appear that nearly 20 percent of the city's residents have motor vehicles. This is not the case. Motor vehicles include cars, rickshaws and motorcycles, and anecdotal evidence suggests that a large proportion of the motor vehicles in the city are the two-wheel variety.  In any event, what these figures don't tell you is that less than 20 percent of Lahore's population actually has access to, or uses, motor vehicles.  Children don't drive, and a large proportion of the female population is completely immobile. On a day-to-day basis, I would estimate that no more than 15 percent of the population drives or uses their own motor vehicle. The truth is that most Lahoris walk, cycle, pillion-ride, car-pool or use what we euphemistically refer to as "public transport." However, when one compares the amounts of money spent by government on cars, the figure is disproportionate to the number of people who use them. For instance, according to the 2008-2009 budget allocation, the government of Punjab allocated nearly Rs37 billion to health, public-health and education. That's Rs37 billion on three separate heads of allocation. On the other hand, its singular allocation for roads and bridges stood at Rs45 billion.  The Parwaiz Elahi government spent billions of rupees on underpasses along the Lahore Canal alone. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is doing the same, with more underpasses at Shalimar Link Road and Harbanspura. There's also talk of a billion-rupee road construction linking the city with Jati Umra, the Sharif Estate on the outskirts of the city. Meanwhile, not a rupee has been spent on public transport in the past decade. (Mr Shahbaz Sharif's initiative of the Lahore Transport Company notwithstanding, as it seemed to be derailed following the entire Governor's Rule saga.) With such a small proportion of the city actually using fuel-eating motor vehicles the effects of Lahore's use of the motor vehicle are staggering. The pollution in the city is the worst it has ever been in recorded history. The WHO recommends, for instance, the level of particulate matter PM 2.5 be no more than 40µg/cubic metres every 24 hours.  Particle pollution is made up of chemicals, including acids, metals and soil and dust particles. Inhaled, they affect the heart and lungs. Constant traffic raises large quantities of dust into the air. According to the Environment Protection Department, this month, the level of PM 2.5 was 119 µg/cubic metres near Town Hall--119 µg/cubic metres. During the winter, these figure jump even higher. PM 2.5 also reduces visibility. The WHO limit on the presence of nitrogen oxide is 80 µg/cubic metres, whereas it stood at 110 µg/cubic metres near Town Hall. Nitrogen dioxide is formed when fuel is burned at high temperatures and one of its primary sources is thought to be motor vehicles. Carbon monoxide is produced by motor vehicles as well. One of the reasons we have such bad pollution in the city of Lahore is because of the motor vehicle. And one wonders why, when our children and we get sick – there were an estimated 45 million cases of respiratory disease reported in 2005-2006 – they aren't any good hospitals or good doctors. It's because, instead of spending money on schools, hospitals and the training of medical staff, our government is spending it on roads that will be used by the elite few who drive the motor vehicles that pollute us in the first place. Talk about a vicious cycle. Meanwhile, from an urban planning point of view, Lahore's sprawling growth is dependant on the motor vehicle as the only form of mobility. We simply have no public-transport alternatives. The "public transport" system currently in place, if it can be called that, is closer to an extortionate supply system feeding off an immense demand. And so, anyone who needs to get around in the city simply cannot, unless they have access to a motor vehicle. In other words, if you don't have a car, you can't do as much as someone with a car. In fact, not having a car also affects a person's income-earning potential (you can't have two jobs, for instance). The automobile-dependant growth of our cities makes them breed inequality and discrimination. Last year, while oil prices were shooting through the roof, I decided to park my car and invest in a locally-manufactured Sohrab bicycle. If cost me less than Rs5,000 and will last me over a decade. And I've already more than made up for its cost in the amount of money I would have spent on petrol while driving around stuck in traffic all day. Many people ask about traffic safety or the levels of pollution. I tell them the chaos on the roads is a reason to improve traffic congestion. Not a reason to give up cycling. In any case, I've invested in a face mask. Many ask about the weather. The summer is undoubtedly hot, but with a few precautions (and an extra shirt), I'm usually not the worse for wear. In fact, an architect friend from London told me that his city recently introduced new building regulations requiring all buildings to have cycle stands and showers located on premises. Most of the comments I receive reveal the inverted priorities of those who take the automobile for granted. I've also become part of a small group of cycling enthusiasts in the city who call themselves Critical Mass Lahore. Critical Mass is a cycling event that takes place the last Friday or Sunday of the month in over 200 cities around the world. Cyclists gather and take to the streets to remind people that cycling is a perfectly sound alternative to automobiles. That it's actually the automobile that causes congestion, not the cycle. That cycles don't burn costly petrol. That they don't pollute. That they don't discriminate between income groups. That our city streets are should be safe for citizens to enjoy themselves.  The group meets at the Zakir Tikka intersection on Sarwar Road in Lahore's Cantonment at 5.45 this Sunday, as it has the last Sunday of the previous six months. It's a diverse group of men and women of all ages. Some women participate to make the point that the remaining public space in our cities shouldn't be thought of as segregated.  All one needs is a roadworthy cycle and sense of fun. The writer is an advocate of the high court and a member of the adjunct faculty at LUMS. He has an interest in urban planning. Email: ralam@nexlinx. net.pk