Car co-ops: was Re: [sustran] intro

aliani.unescap at un.org aliani.unescap at un.org
Thu May 15 01:43:15 JST 1997


     Hi!
     
     I am a Human Settlements Officer at the United Nations Economic and 
     Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) which is based in 
     Bangkok, Thailand.
     
     I agree with Maya when she says that given the present transport 
     system, using a car is a necessity if one wants to maintain one's 
     mobility. Take my example, my house is about a kilometer from the 
     nearest bus station. Given Bangkok's weather which alternates between 
     heat waves and rain showers, it is not possible for me to walk or 
     cycle down to the bus station to commute to work. Moreover, the buses 
     follow the main roads which are very crowded. I tried travelling by 
     bus for a month and found out that it took me on average 90 minutes to 
     get to work and about 120 minutes to return home. Usually by the time 
     I got to work I was so tired that I needed at least another hour to 
     recover. By car my normal commuting time was 30 minutes.
     
     They are building a mass transit system here which most likely will 
     fail to attract motorists because the distances between residences and 
     main roads are too great and people will not inconvenience themselves 
     in the heat and the rain to ride public transport. 
     
     I think private modes of transport are necessary and we have to 
     concentrate our efforts to finding sustainable and clean energy 
     sources for vehicular transport. In this connection electric or 
     hydrogen powered vehicles are the most feasible as yet.
     
     An interim measure could be to follow the Japanese example and make 
     ownership of vehicles older than five years very difficult. The older 
     the car the more it pollutes. This will also not hurt the auto 
     industry too badly, which is specially important in Thailand as the 
     industry employs an estimated 100,000 people directly and another 
     500,000 indirectly.
     
     Adnan H. Aliani



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