Four wheels good, two wheels bad
Some say Kolkata should back-pedal on its bicycle ban
TRAVEL within any Indian city is usually crowded and slow. But Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), capital of West Bengal, has certain advantages. Its underground rail network, which was the first to open in India in 1984, is being extended. Uniquely in the country, electric trams clatter along its streets. Public transport may look dilapidated but it functions reasonably well: urban ferries, suburban trains, smoky buses and motorised rickshaws shunt around the city’s 14m residents.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Four wheels good, two wheels bad”
From the October 5th 2013 edition
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