I was walking down a street in Fort Cochin, India and it so happened that it was the end of the day for the local school kids. A stream of children walked home but there was also a line of the ubiquitous autorickshaws waiting to pick up their passengers. If I were to compare them to our local transport in the Philippines I'd
say they were a cross between a jeepney and a tricycle. They don't follow a set route like the jeepneys here but there would be no way we could turn a tricycle into a schoolbus like they did in India. For one you could never stand up in our tricycles (only sit) and we don't have roof racks on ours. Although universally these modes of transports (autorickshaws, tricycles, jeepneys) are the scourge of the roads, ever cursed by their fellow motorists, but try running a city without them and everything will grind to a standstill. For one these kids would have to walk home.
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1 comments:
This reminds me of pedicabs and tricycles (de-padyak) in our hometown Navotas. Although not as colourful and big than Fort Cochin's, they last longer as most are made of stainless-steel (Half of our town is part of Manila Bay during high-tides). Students, market-goers, and ordinary people use it in a daily basis and far outnumbers four-wheel vehicles. I agree, despite the target of ire by fellow motorists, one can't simply think of living without them.
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