Clean-air allies: Rickshaws get a lift ...In developing countries, most people can adopt a new technology only if it's cheap. Keeping low cost paramount, a team of Indian and American engineers has redesigned a widely used, nonpolluting human-powered taxi--the cycle-rickshaw. In cities such as New Delhi New Delhi (dĕl`ē), city (1991 pop. 294,149), capital of India and of Delhi state, N central India, on the right bank of the Yamuna River. in India and Dhaka in Bangladesh, hundreds of thousands of such rickshaws ply (mathematics, data) ply - 1. Of a node in a tree, the number of branches between that node and the root. 2. Of a tree, the maximum ply of any of its nodes. the roads. Unlike the light, strong, metal-alloy bicycles with 10 speeds or more that abound in Western countries, cycle-rickshaws remain largely single-gear bruisers weighing up to 90 kilograms unloaded. The redesign team trimmed 38 percent of that weight by switching to a tubular frame and streamlining the carriage. The engineers also changed distances between wheels to improve handling and provided at least two speeds. "We couldn't increase the bore of the human engine, the human heart, so we had to make the machine more efficient," says Matteo Martignoni of the nonprofit Institute for Transportation and Development Policy in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . The team also tested and rejected more complex and costly improvements, such as shock absorbers Shock absorbers See: Circuit breakers and differential gears. Air-pollution damage to the Taj Mahal Taj Mahal (täzh məhäl`, täj məhŭl`), mausoleum, Agra, Uttar Pradesh state, N India, on the Yamuna River. It is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and the finest example of the late style of Indian in Agra has prompted a ban on gas-powered vehicles from a wide swath around the building. The institute and cosponsors of the redesign hope to use the ban to boost the fortunes of the environmentally friendly Environmentally friendly, also referred to as nature friendly, is a term used to refer to goods and services considered to inflict minimal harm on the environment.[1] rickshaw, which offers a livelihood to many extremely poor people. Late last month, the team paraded some four dozen of the first batch of machines past the Taj Mahal. About 30 of the $100 vehicles have already been sold by two Indian firms. |
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