Banning two-stroke auto-rickshaws in Lahore: Policy implications

Abstract

The problem of banning two-stroke auto-rickshaws in Lahore is discussed in different contexts here, such as its impact on the socio-economic status of rickshaw drivers, factory workers engaged in rickshaw manufacture, rickshaw manufacturers, rickshaw users, etc., and the quantification of its benefits and costs, as ell as its socio-economicimplications. The primary data were collected through questionnaires developed for different categories of stakeholders such as the Transport Department, the Government of the Punjab, Punjab Environment Protection Department, Manufacturers of Two-stroke and Four-stroke auto-rickshaws, Rickshaw and Motorcycle Dealers Association, Rickshaw Drivers, Union, etc. The information collected has been computed and interpreted in the form of descriptive research. The findings suggest that the problem is not completely nderstood by the stakeholders. There is almost a complete consensus on the need to impose the ban but the strategy followed by the stakeholders, including the Government of the Punjab, was extensively criticised and challenged by the affectees that included rickshaw drivers, two-stroke rickshaw manufacturers, rickshaw dealers, and others. Our primary qualitative assessment is that the banning of two-stroke rickshaws is a complex problem whose nature and implications are not completely understood. To handle the gravity of this problem, no systematic techno-economic study was carried out before the banning so that it might have helped form a better policy to satisfy all parties affected.