The Shuttle Rickshaw Concept

I was introduced to the concept of the shuttle Rickshaw for the first time here in Baroda. Basically it is a rickshaw sharing scheme where the driver fits you and as many other people as possible in the rickshaw who are going in the same general direction. You have to be willing to get off at a major landmark, like the Baroda train station or a big building or park in the city. If you are going somewhere specific, you can take the shuttle to the closest big landmark, and take a “special” rickshaw for the internal part, saving you money. Oh yea, and you save money… it’s Rs.5-7 for a shuttle rickshaw, depending on how far away the landmark is. The same ride normally is costing you around Rs.15-17. I love the shuttle rickshaw esp. since most of the places I want to go are at landmarks that a shuttle will stop at. The crappy part is getting crammed in with a bunch of other people who may or may not have bathed that day or month. I’ve sat in a shuttle with 6 other people, and I’ve seen even more. It’s interesting to see how ambitious some rickshaw drivers are to squeeze a last person into the rickshaw. When people sit up front with the driver, he squeezes up to the corner of his own seat so passengers can sit right by him. So even though he has no angle to see the rearview and his driving handles are jammed into his stomach, at least he’s earning an extra Rs.5 on the tank of petrol!