[sustran] SUSTRAN News Flash #33: People-centred and sustainable transport news

[SUSTRAN Resource Centre]

SUSTRAN Resource Centre	  
P.O. Box 11501,  50748 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 
Tel/Fax: +603 274 2590.   E-mail: sustran at po.jaring.my, 
Web: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2853/

SUSTRAN NEWS FLASH #33			5 May 1999

CONTENTS
1.	Profiles of active groups
	* Sustainable Transport Environment Penang (STEP)
	* Forum on Automobile Issues in Japan (FAJ)
	* Forum for Equitable and Environment-friendly Transport (FEET)
	* Dr Debasish Bhattacharyya, Calcutta
2.	Stay Order Against Mumbai-Pune Expressway
3.	Manila bike against pollution
4.	Cars and meat cause most damage
5.	Resources
6.	Web sites
7.	Events
8.	Lighter Side

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1. PROFILES OF ACTIVE GROUPS

Here are some brief profiles and updates on groups that are active on
people-centred and sustainable transport issues. There will be more in
future news flashes. Please send us your latest details and news if you
would like your group to be profiled. 

* Sustainable Transport Environment Penang (STEP)
was founded in 1997 and grew out of the Sustainable Penang Initiative led
by the Socio-economic and Environment Research Institute (SERI). STEP is a
network of local NGOs promoting a more participatory transport planning
process, is pushing for the development of a cycling master plan, and has
developed a list of 'indicators' to use for getting media attention and
building public awareness.  The group is pushing for public transport to be
regulated locally from Penang instead of by a Kuala Lumpur-based board, as
at present. Along with other groups, it opposes plans to build a second
road link between the island of Penang and the mainland, arguing that the
full potential of the existing ferry services should be exploited first.
STEP also includes an active group of advocates for disabled people's
access. This group has produced a compelling photo essay of the
difficulties faced by wheelchair users and blind people on a short stretch
of one of the city's main streets (see Resources below). STEP is also
collaborating with a new UN-funded project to make Penang's built
environment accessible to people with disabilities. [Contact: Mr Ganesh
Rasagam, Sustainable Transport Environment Penang (STEP), c/o SERI, 10a
Persiaran Bukit Jambul, 11900 Penang, Malaysia. Tel: 604-645-1710, Fax:
604-645-1807, Email: rasagam at tm.net.my].


* Forum on Automobile Issues in Japan (FAJ)
is a sustainable transport advocacy group in Japan (recently renamed from
Demotorization Forum Japan).  FAJ campaigns for human-oriented and
sustainable transport. It also campaigns for cutting automobile traffic,
safer walking/cycling and better quality of public transportation services.
FAJ is planning a Car Free Day festival for Earth Day 2000. This will be
Japan's first Car Free Day event. FAJ welcomes any suggestsions and
experiences from elsewhere on how to make their car-free festival a
success. [Contact: Masashi Tada, ED2000 Japan, Forum on Automobile Issues
in Japan (FAJ), Bessho3-16-4, Minami-ku, Yokohama-shi, Japan 232-0064. Tel.
+81-45-712-9095, Email: QWT07203 at nifty.ne.jp, Web:
http://member.nifty.ne.jp/railway_ecology/].


* Forum for Equitable and Environment-friendly Transport (FEET)
is a newly formed group in the Klang Valley (Kuala Lumpur's metropolitan
area), Malaysia. Its aim is to promote more people-friendly and
environment-friendly transport, especially by promoting the interests of
pedestrians, public-transport users and bicyclists. FEET includes
representatives of residents' associations, people with disabilities,
transport experts, members of the press and concerned individuals. FEET has
first raised its voice over the failure of relevant authorities to build
enough pedestrian crossings across a newly-opened expressway, the
Damansara-Puchong Highway. This came after a serious injury sparked a
controversy. In a number of places along the road, school students and
other residents have had no choice but to scamper across 6 lanes of
high-speed traffic to cross the road. FEET is also now cooperating with the
Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall to
promote pedestrian improvements for Brickfields, an inner-city
neighbourhood frequented by many people with visual impairments, since it
is home to the MAB centre and numerous traditional blind massage centres.
[Contact: Naziaty Yaacob, Tel. +60 3 759 5396; naziaty at hotmail.com or
Zaitun Kasim, Tel/Fax. +60 3 274 2590, tkasim at pc.jaring.my].


* Dr Debasish Bhattacharyya
is a public transport campaigner in Calcutta, India. He and his colleagues
are involved in a lobbying effort to save the Calcutta Tramways from a slow
death from official neglect, mismanagement and replacement by diesel buses.
It is feared that the loss of the trams will only hasten motorisation and
the deterioration of public transport service and worsen air-pollution
which already exceeds WHO standards by many times. Protests have stopped
the tram system from being totally dismantled, but maintenance and
management of the system remains poor. Activists and academics estimate
that reviving the CTC trams would cost roughly $25 - $35 million, or $29
per annual passenger, but the agency hasn't even requested the money.  By
contrast, Japan's OECF has agreed to fund a second line on the Calcutta
metro, which has only about 200,000 daily passengers, and costs $1860 per
annual passenger, and highway flyovers at several  downtown intersections,
costing the municipality $128 per motorist.  In a poor city like Calcutta
this is a serious mis-allocation of scarce public funds.  The
Japanese-funded flyovers are now the subject of a court case over
allegations of corruption. [Contact: Dr Debasish Bhattacharyya , 4 Raja
S.C. Mullick Road, Jadavpur, Calcutta 700 032, India. Tel: 91-33-473-3491,
91-33-455-0858 (Res), Fax: 91-33-473-0284  or  91-33-473-5197, Email:
iichbio at giascl01.vsnl.net.in].


2. STAY ORDER AGAINST MUMBAI-PUNE EXPRESSWAY
A High Court in Bombay has recently admitted a  Writ Petition filed by
several NGOs and affected villagers, opposing the land acquisition for the
Mega City Project which is part of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.  The High
court has stayed further acquisition of land pending hearing  and final
disposal of the petition. The court has also restrained the respondents,
Maharashtra Government and the Maharashtra State Road Development
Corporation (MSRDC), from evicting, affecting blasting, or interfering in
any manner with the possession and occupation of the  persons residing in
the different tribal areas. The admission of the Writ Petition vindicates
those who have been opposing  the project and demanding more transparency
and openness from the  Government. [Contact:  Sujit Patwardhan,  PARISAR,
Yamuna, ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007, India. Tel: 327955
Email: sujit at vsnl.com].


3. MANILA CYCLE AGAINST POLLUTION
As part of the Earth Day '99 celebrations, Cycling Advocates,  CYCAD, the
Manila-based bicycle advocacy group, together with various environmental
groups organised a 50 kilometre bike ride around the metropolitan area and
a people's march for clean air. On April 25 more than a thousand cyclists,
some of them colourfully costumed as a horse, firefly or a grasshopper,
joined the leisurely ride which began around 7:30 am and ended around 1pm.
The bike ride show-cased the feasibility of urban cycling while at the same
time decrying the worsening conditions for cycling, primarily the poor air
quality. The bike ride was dubbed as the "Tour of the Fireflies" after the
fireflies which have fled the city because of the bad air. It took
participants through seven cities in the metro area and finished with a
rally, a picnic lunch, an environmental fair, exhibits and a concert.
[Contact: Ramon Fernan III, 1563 Pasaje Rosario, Paco 1007, Manila,
Philippines. Email:  cycad at quickweb.com.ph].


4. CARS AND MEAT CAUSE MOST DAMAGE
A new book co-authored by Dr. Warren Leon, deputy director at the Union of
Concerned Scientists, looks at which consumer alternatives cause the least
and most environmental damage. "The Consumer's Guide to Effective
Environmental Choices" (published by Three Rivers Press) shows that only a
few Consumer activities - use of cars and trucks, consumption of meat, and
choice of homes and appliances - are responsible for the vast majority of
consumer related environmental harm. After grouping 134 consumer spending
choices into 50 categories like furnishings, clothing, computers, the
authors discovered that most environmental degradation is linked to just
seven categories: cars; meat; produce and grains; household appliances and
lighting; home heating and cooling; home construction; and household water
and sewage. Cars and light trucks cause the most environmental damage
overall - nearly half of the toxic air pollution and more than one-quarter
of the greenhouse gases traceable to household consumption. [Source:
Environmental News Service, http://www.ens.lycos.com/ens].


5. RESOURCES

"An International Sourcebook of Automobile Dependence in Cities 1960-1990"
by  Jeff Kenworthy and Felix Laube with Peter Newman, Paul Barter, Tamim
Raad, Chamlong Poboon and Benedicto Guia (Jr). [Contact:  University Press
of Colorado, Fax +1 303 530 5306 or  Darrin Pratt, Email:
prattd at stripe.colorado.edu].

"Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence" by Peter
Newman and Jeff Kenworthy [Contact: Institute for Science and Technology
Policy (ISTP), Murdoch University, South Street, Murdoch, Western
Australia, Australia. Tel: +61 8 9360 2913, Fax: +61 8 9360 6421, Email:
istp at central.murdoch.edu.au, Web: http://wwwistp.murdoch.edu.au/].

"Proceedings of  Velo Australis 1996 International Bicycle Conference"
Fremantle, Western Australia. [Contact: Ian Ker, Dept. of Transport, 441
Murray Street, Perth, PO Box 7272, Cloisters Square, W. Australia 6850 Tel:
61 8 9320 9491 Fax: 61 8 9320 9497, Email: iker at transport.wa.gov.au].

"Directory of NGOs in the Field of Human Settlements" and "Directory of
NGOs in the OECD Countries" by UNCHS (Habitat), OECD, NGLS and GRET.
[Contact: UNCHS (Habitat), PO Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya. Tel: 254 2 621234
Fax: 254 2 624266/7, Web: http://habitat.unchs.org/home.htm].

"A Walk from St Nicholas Home to One-Stop Shopping Complex" by TAN Kuan Aw
of the Penang Society for Disabled Persons. Paper featuring a photo-essay
on accessibility problems for people with disabilities along a major street
in Penang. It was presented at the STEP Forum, August 23, 1998, Penang,
Malaysia. [Contact: TAN Kuan Aw, E-mail: tanka at pc.jaring.my or STEP - see
profile above].

"Financing European Transport Infrastructure" by Sheila Farrell of Imperial
College London. [Contact:  Fiona Woodruffe-Peacock, Macmillan Press
Houndsmill, Basingstoke RG21 6XS UK. Fax: +44 1256 330688, E-mail:
f.woodruffe-peacock at macmillan.co.uk].

Victoria Transport Policy Institute reports available for free downloading
at their revised and expanded website. Most were previously available only
as printed documents, with prices ranging from $8 to $16 per copy. Free
reports include: Evaluating Transportation Equity; Generated Traffic;
Implications for Transport Planning;  Land Use Impact Costs of
Transportation; Parking Requirement Impacts on Housing Affordability; Reply
to Critics of Transportation Costing; Win-Win Transportation Strategies;
Whose Roads? Defining Bicyclists' and Pedestrians' Right to Use Public
Roads [Contact: Todd Litman, Director, Victoria Transport Policy Institute,
Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, Canada, Phone & Fax: 250-360-1560,
E-mail:  litman at islandnet.com, Website: www.islandnet.com/~litman].


6. WEB SITES

*   The International Bicycle Fund  (ibike at ibike.org) has posted several
new bibliographies and reading lists on their web site.
http://www.ibike.org/bibliography/ 

*   Car Free Days site http://www.ecoplan.org/carfreeday/

*   John Z Wetmore's pedestrian links web site "Perils for Pedestrians"
http://www.pedestrians.org 

*   European Local Transport Information Service, ELTIS:  http://www.eltis.org
 
*   EcoPlan International - Technology, Economy, Society: The Nexus Latest
action on The Commons Web site at http://www.ecoplan.org

*   PTRC training courses up to June 1999 on web-site:
http://www.ptrcers.demon.co.uk
 
*   Hank Dittmar of the Surface Transportation Policy Project's discussion
on Transportation Consumption at web:  http://www.newdream.org/discuss

*   "Relationships between Highway Capacity and Induced Vehicle Travel" a
research paper on induced demand, available at :
http://www.epa.gov/tp/trb-rn.pdf

*   ITDP's New Transport Actions Online on web-site:
http://www.itdp.org/TRAhome.htm
   
*   Comprehensive Sustainable Urban Travel bibliographies at
http://omni.ac.uk:8099/lczhmc/bibs/sustrav

*   Human Settlements in Asia site hosted by the Urban Management Centre at
the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand.  The site includes two
searchable databases: one on available expertise in the field of human
settlements and another on current projects in the region by multilateral
and bilateral agencies. Go to http://www.hsd.ait.ac.th/ 


7. EVENTS

"53rd UITP International Congress" - An Urban and Congestion-Free 21st
Century, May 23-28,  1999, Toronto, Canada. [Contact: UITP Tel:
+32.2.673.61.00 Fax : +32.2.660.10.72, E-mail : events at uitp.com,
administration at uitp.com, Web site: www.uitp.com]. 

"7th International Conference on Low Volume Roads", May 23-27, 1999,
Mpumalanga, South Africa. [Contact: G P Jayaprakash, Transportation
Research Board, 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington DC, 204218, USA.
Tel: 1 202 334 2952, Fax: 1 202 334 2003, Email: gjayapra at nas.edu].

TRL short training courses. "Management of Appropriate Technology in the
Road Sector for Developing and Emerging Economies" June 21- 25, 1999,
"Roads and Transport in Developing Countries and Emerging Nations" June 28-
July 09, 1999, [Contact: Ms. Linda Parsley, International Development Unit,
Transport Research Laboratory,  Old Wokingham Road, Crowthorne, Berkshire
RG45 6AU, United Kingdom Fax : + 44 1344 770356 Tel: + 44 1344 770551
E-mail: international_enquiries at trl.co.uk].

"Balancing the Load: A fair deal for women. Designing National Policy
Guidelines for Gender and Rural Transport", The culmination of a research
project comprising 31 case studies from 15 countries in Africa and Asia.
Two 3-day seminars: Colombo, Sri Lanka, 24-25 June 1999 and Pretoria, South
Africa, 15-16 July 1999 [Contact: International Forum for Rural Transport
and Development (IFRTD) Secretariat, 150 Southampton Row, 2nd Floor, London
WciB 5AL, United Kingdom. Tel: +44 171 278 3670, Fax: +44 171 278 6880,
Email: ifrtd at gn.apc.org, Web: http://www.gn/apc.org/ifrtd]. 

"3rd Asia Pacific ITS Seminar", July 4-7, 1999, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
[Contact: Road Engineering Association of Malaysia, Unit A2-22, Block A,
2nd Floor, PJ Industrial Park, Jalan Kemajuan, Section 13, 46200 Petaling
Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. Tel: 6033 7544403, Fax: 603 7548376 Email:
ream at po.jaring.my].

"Deals On Wheels: Sustainable Transportation Initiatives Supporting The
Economy And The Environment In Developing Countries" July 28-30, 1999, San
Salvador, El Salvador. [Contact:  Maria J. Figueroa., UNEP Collaborating
Centre on Energy and Environment, Risoe National Laboratory, P.O. Box 49,
Roskilde, DK-4000 Denmark. Fax: +45 46 32 19 99  E-mail:
maria.figueroa at risoe.dk].

"21st World Road Congress", October 3-9, 1999, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
[Contact: MPCR/PIARC, La Grande Arche, Paris Nord, Niveau 8, 92053 La
Defense Cedex, France. Fax: +33 1 49 000202 Email: piarc at pratique.fr].

"Transportation Science and Technology into the Next Millennium" December
4, 1999, Hong Kong. [Contact: Dr. Hong K. Lo, c/o Department of Civil
Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water
Bay Hong Kong, PR China Fax : (852) 2358- 1534 E-mail : cehklo at ust.hk. Web:
http://home.netvigator.com/~hksts/conf99.htm].

"Thailand National Bicycle Conference" (in Thai) organised by the Thailand
Cycling Club (TCC), planned for late 1999 or early 2000. [Contact: Nancy
(Mrs Kasama Panswad) or Dr Thongchai Panswad, Thailand Cycling Club c/o
Environmental Engineering Department, Chulalongkorn University, Phyathai
Rd, Bangkok 10330, Thailand. Tel: 66 2-2186669, Fax: 66 2-252 7510, Email:
pthongch at chula.ac.th ].

"Planning  For  Sustainable And  Integrated Transport System In The New
Millennium", January 4-7, 2000, Sussex, England. [Contact: Dr. Julian Hine,
Transport Research Institute/School of the Built Environment, Napier
University Redwood House, 66 Spylaw Road, Edinburgh EH10 5BR,     UK. Tel:
0131-455-5140 fax: 0131-455-5141 Email: j.hine at napier.ac.uk].

"Setting Child Safety Priority Within a Safe Community Framework", February
26-28, 2000, Dhaka, Bangladesh. [Contact: Dr AKM Fazlur Rahman, Institute
of Child and Mother Health, Matuail, Dhaka-1362, Bangladesh. Tel: 880 2
9122509, Fax: 880 2 822679 Email: fazlur at citecho.net].

"5th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Control", New Delhi on 5-8
March 2000, CALL FOR PAPERS. Abstracts by 30 June 1999. [Contact: Ms Arati
Walia, CONFER, D-1, Kalindi Colony, New Delhi 110065, India. Tel: +91 11
6919377, Fax: +91 11 6848343, 6929541, e-mail: awconfer at del2.vsnl.net.in,
Web: http://www.ciionline.org/fiwoco/].

"2nd International Conference on Quality of Life in Cities-  21st Century
QOL",  ICQOLC 2000, 8-10 March 2000, Singapore.  CALL FOR PAPERS. Closing
date for abstracts: 1 August. [Contact: Dr Foo Tuan Seik Conference
Secretary, Conference Secretariat (ICQOLC 2000) School of Building and Real
Estate National University of Singapore 10 Kent Ridge Crescent Singapore
119260 Tel:  (65) 772-3440   Fax:  (65) 775-5502 E-mail:
qolnet at nus.edu.sg, WWW site:   http://www.qolnet.nus.edu.sg/conf2/main.html

"CODATU IX World Congress on Urban Transportation" - central theme: Urban
Transportation and the Environment, Mexico City 11-14 April 2000 [Contact:
CODATU IX Scientific Committee, Christian JAMET, 9/11, Av. De Villars 75007
Paris, France. Fax: +33 1 44 18 78 04, E-mail: christian.jamet at stp-paris.fr].

"2nd APTE 2000 - Asia Pacific Conference on Transportation and the
Environment", April 11-13, 2000, Beijing, China. [Contact: Mr Wang Haiqing,
Mr Richard Bi, 2nd APTE' 2000 Sec. Office, 240,Huixinli, Chaoyang District,
Beijing, 100029, P R China Tel: 86 10 6491 4809 Fax: 86 10 6491 8204 Email:
tcs at iicc,ac,cn].

"Earth Day 2000", April 22, 2000. Global citizens' movement  to transform
how we live with the Earth and each other. [Contact: Earth Day Network,
Mark Dubois  Tel: +1 206.264.0114x203, Shalini Ramanathan Tel: +1
206.264.0114x214 Email: worldwide at earthday.net].

"ICTTS'2000 - The Second International Conference on Traffic and
Transportation Studies", Beijing, July 31-August 2, 2000. CALL FOR PAPERS.
Deadline for Submission of Abstracts - August 20,1999. [Contact: Organizing
Committee (Dr.XIAO, Guiping), School of Traffic and Transportation,
Northern Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, People's Republic of China.,
Tel:  +8610  6324,0314, Fax:  +8610  6324,0308, E-mail:
ictts at center.njtu.edu.cn]

8. LIGHTER SIDE
A German couple out for a Christmas drive near Berlin ended up in a river
-- apparently because their luxury car's computer forgot to mention they
had to wait for a ferry. The 57-year-old driver and his passenger were not
injured in the accident, police said the couple were out driving at night
when they came to a ferry crossing at the Havel River in Caputh, 10km from
Berlin. That information, however, was never stored in the satellite-guided
navigation system they were using. The driver kept going straight in the
dark, expecting a bridge, and  ended up in the water. [Source: newspapers].

A giant pedicab (or "beca" - pronounced "becha" in Malay) measuring 7
metres high and 9 metres wide has been erected by the South Muar District
Council in Johor State, Malaysia.  Muar has adopted the Beca as something
of a symbol for the town, since it is said that Muar always had more of the
3-wheeled pedicabs than other Malaysian towns. [Source: New Straits Times,
7 Feb. 1999]

------------------------------------------------------------------
Written and compiled by A. Rahman Paul Barter and Sreela Kolandai.
 
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