Will the auto make way for a sweet ride?

If plans made by the Industrial Design Centre at IIT and the proposal by the Mumbai Rickshawmen's Union are implemented, your creaking black and yellow autorickshaw will be upgraded to have better heat dissipation, more leg and luggage room, and even fancy shock absorbers to help you glide over Mumbai's pothole-ridden roads

The Mumbai Rickshawmen's Union's (MRU) proposal to make radical changes to Mumbai's trusty autorickshaw may have made news last week, but at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay's Industrial Design Center (IDC) at Powai, plans have been underway to create an entirely new, futuristic, comfortable three-wheeler for a while now. It's under wraps at the moment, but plans are afoot to give Mumbaikars a peek into the new design in the next two months.

Meanwhile, Sudeep Nakhe, a final year student ofu00a0 MA Design at IDC, is ready with a projection of changes in the design of the existing two-stroke engine vehicle to make it more comfortable for the driver, who spends 80 per cent of his day driving it along Mumbai's unforgiving roads. "I studied rickshaws all over India to track regional differences. In Delhi, rickshaws are green, in Goa, rickshaws have doors, and in Bengaluru, they have digital metres. The type of fuel also changes according to the state," he says. Nakhe was part of a team of students that worked under professor BK Chakravarthy, who conducts lectures in Product Design, Smart Materials and Concurrent Engineering, during their internship with Bajaj Auto. The group kickstarted the task of understanding and possibly reinventing the trusty autorickshaw in May 2010. "In Mumbai autos, we identified certain problems. During the monsoon, a driver is battered by rain. And he has no storage space to call his own. The passenger storage area is barely usable," he explains.

IDC designs to reinvent the two-stroke autorickshaw

Thampi Kurien, general secretary of the MRU, agrees. "The dimensions of the rickshaw have remained the same since 1977, although Mumbai's roads have worsened, and traffic has increased, making the ride a difficult proposition for both, drivers and passengers." The Union has, therefore, proposed that the length of the auto be increased by three feet (taking it to 12 feet), the luggage compartment and height be increased by three inches, and the seat be increased by nine inches. "We have also asked for drivers to be given adjustable seats.
u00a0

The Union has pitched for a roomier version of the three-wheeler
that includes more room and better seats for both drivers and
passengers. illustration/jishu dev malakar

More space for passengers to rest their feet will make it a relaxed ride for them," Kurien explains.u00a0But won't that make the auto too big to be a three-wheeler? "The dimensions stipulated by the State Transport Authority only list the minimum measurements. Unfortunately, we haven't considered evolving them even though driving conditions have become considerably tougher," says Kurien.

Meanwhile, at IDC, Chakravarthy's team has come up with a set of solutions that includes creating storage pockets within the rickshaw to accommodate the driver's personal items and smart construction materials that help maintain a bearable temperature within the vehicle. "Rickshaws are iconic in India, so, we didn't want to change the external look. We've left the design open, so that you can hop in and out, which passengers are used to doing. Using this concept and working on the styling alone can lend comfort to the ride," explains Chakravarthy.

Too small for three passengers
Three people can barely fit in an auto. At times when I go out shopping with family and have a few extra bags, I can't wait for the journey to end.
- Sarla Wadhwani, Kandivli (W)

I travel to the station in a share rickshaw everyday. The person who comes in last has to sit with half his body out of the auto.
- Neha Paniker, Malad (E)

Give us backrests, increase height, say drivers
The shock absorbers are useless. And tall drivers need to stoop and drive the rickshaw. They should increase the height of the rickshaw.
- Prabhakar Murudkar and Deepak Rajaram Chitlekar (Borivli-Bandra)

The driver's seat is uncomfortable. We drive for anywhere between eight to 12 hours a day and our seats do not even have backrests. We should get a single seat with a back and head rest like taxis have.
- Ajay Kumar Rai (Andheri-Dahisar)

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