Examining sustainability of heritage on wheels: the case of autorickshaws in Delhi (India)

ABSTRACT

This study examines autorickshaws (ARs), a traditional mode of transportation in a popular heritage tourism city from a sustainability standpoint. The overarching purpose is to suggest a modified ASI (Avoid-Shift-Improve) model that lends credibility to the auto rickshaw as a cultural and social/economically and environmentally viable form of personalized transport. This study argues that by meaningfully integrating the AR rides into a heritage travel package and as a cultural transport to heritage attractions, tourists’ local heritage experience can be enriched. The ride can facilitate deeper engaging experiences by offering a slow journey and the ‘last mile’ personalized connectivity to popular heritage sites. This study also offers a discourse on how heritage tourism and traditional transport modes of connectivity to heritage attractions can partner for a win-win solution, that is, to achieve mutually beneficial goals to address the health and economic risks emerging from the current COVID-19 pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Autorickshaws
• sustainable transportation systems
• marginalized stakeholders
• heritage tourism
• ASI framework

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Deepak Chhabra

Deepak Chhabra is an associate professor at Arizona State University. She also holds the position of Senior Sustainability Scientist in the Global Institute of Sustainability. Her research interests include authenticity and authentication of heritage and sustainable development and marketing of tourism.

Akshat Chowdhury

Akshat Chowdhury finished his M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Amity University (Jaipur, India) and is currently working as a Clinical Psychologist.

Jasleen Chowdhury

Jasleen Chowdhury is a student/research assistant and is doing her Bachelors in Technology from Amity University (Noida, India).