From howes at emirates.net.ae Tue Jul 2 21:59:07 2002 From: howes at emirates.net.ae (Alan P Howes) Date: Tue, 02 Jul 2002 16:59:07 +0400 Subject: [sustran] Job Vacancy - Dubai - Sales and Public Relations Officer Message-ID: Apologies for the formatting, and the lack of information such as salary, but I would like to draw the following to your attention. If anyone would like an MS Word copy of the Job Description, please contact myself. If anyone would like to enquire further about the job itself, or make an application, please contact - Abdulaziz Malik Director of Public Transport Dubai Municipality PO Box 67 Dubai email: transport@dm.gov.ae =========================================== JOB DESCRIPTION Job Title Sales and Public Relations Officer Grade Department Public Transport Department (PTD) Section Reports to Head of Planning and Marketing Staff Supervised Schools and Children Liaison Officer (?) Other 1. Main Purpose of Job: To promote and achieve increased sales of Public Transport Department products 2. Principal Job Objectives: ? Identify, pursue and achieve opportunities for increased corporate sales of passenger trips on scheduled public transport services. ? Identify, pursue and achieve opportunities for sales of PTD products other than scheduled services. ? Ensure a positive and high profile for the Department and its operations in printed and broadcast media. ? Ensure a positive image of the Department and its operations, and of public transport in general, is cultivated among the residents of Dubai. ? Maintain good relations with commercial firms and other organisations whose activities may have a bearing on the Department's success. 3. Job Activities: ? To obtain, and maintain, a thorough knowledge of the PTD's products, capabilities, strengths and weaknesses, as well as the principles underlying product costing. ? To keep abreast with international best practice in public transport promotion and sales, by means of appropriate journals, the Internet, etc. ? To collect and maintain information about existing and potential corporate customers, including both customers for contract services etc., and organisations which may generate customers for scheduled services. These will include, to a greater or lesser extent: ? Significant employers ? Hotels, particularly those attracting numbers of tourists ? Shopping Centres ? Educational institutions ? Hospitals and other medical facilities ? Sports Clubs ? Event Organisers ? Other visitor attractions ? To identify key personnel within these organisations whose activities are relevant to the aims and objectives of the PTD. ? To conduct visits to the above, in order to: ? Ensure they are familiar with the Departments products, and that they have all necessary information. ? Understand their views about the Department and its products, and what might be necessary to achieve more custom. ? Generate ideas for new products, or new ways of marketing existing products. ? Identify occasions on which Press Releases should be produced, and draft such Releases. ? Encourage the broadcast and printed media to produce articles featuring Public Transport in a positive light, and assist them in so doing. ? Identify relevant societies, groups etc. among the resident population, and maintain liaison with them in order to achieve a positive image of public transport, generate sales and obtain feedback on their opinions and requirements in respect of our products. ? Ensure that the Department's aims, objectives and activities, and the objectives and advantages of public transport in general, are communicated to young people throughout Dubai. ? Represent the Department at official and commercial functions as required. ? Produce reports on the above activities as specified. 3. Main outputs: ? Increased sales of Department products. ? Improved public perception of the Department and its activities. 4. Work Contacts and Relations: ? Internal. Regular contact with Publicity Officer, Planning Officer, and other Department staff who may be able to assist in the job objectives. ? External. Organisations as mentioned above. 5. Independence of Operation and Responsibility: Performs according to specific directives and regulations. Superior is kept informed of the work progress and spot checks/verifies completed work. 6. Supervisory Responsibility: i. Number of employees supervised: ii. Calibre: from Grade ___ to Grade ___ 7. Physical Effort: Minimal 8. Work Environment: 9. Minimum Requirements: 9.1 Academic Qualifications: University Degree or other approved qualification in Marketing, Public Relations, Communication or other relevant subject. 9.2 Vocational Training: 9.3 Professional Experience: At least 02 years relevant experience. 9.4 Language/s: Fluent spoken Arabic and English, ability to write well in one of these languages. 9.5 Other skills & proficiency: Good communication skills, both written and verbal. Ability to use computers effectively for communication and research. A pleasant, outgoing personality. -- Alan Howes, Dubai, UAE (Otherwise Perthshire, Scotland) alaninthegulf@yahoo.co.uk Professional website (Needs Updating!): http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/alanhowes/ From ecoplan.adsl at wanadoo.fr Fri Jul 5 02:30:33 2002 From: ecoplan.adsl at wanadoo.fr (Eric Britton) Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2002 19:30:33 +0200 Subject: [sustran] successes and failures of privatization of city transport Message-ID: <009e01c22380$80dfeca0$6501a8c0@home> Paris, Thursday, July 04, 2002 Dear Friends, Just to let you know that there is a vigorous series of critical exchanges that are going on with the broad contact of the World Transport Policy and Practice list these days on the topic of successes and failures of privatization of city transport operations, including in but not at all limited to Britain. As a result of the first round of these exchanges the editors of the Journal have decided to open up the pages for a special edition to be devoted to providing some much needed background and perspective on this difficult topic. We see this as a process, of which the first step is this series of exchanges and proposals - for which we have set up a special group which you are invited to join at WorldTransport-Focus@yahoogroups.com. To do this, all you have to do is send a blank email to WorldTransport-Focus-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and you are on. With all good wishes, Eric Britton The Journal of World Transport Policy and Practice The Electronic Edition is at http://wTransport.org The Commons __ technology, economy, society__ Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France Day phone: +331 4326 1323 Mobile: +336 8096 7879 24 hour Fax/Voicemail hotline: +1 888 677-4866 IP Videoconference: 81.65.50.63 Email: mail@wTransport.org or ecoplan.adsl@wanadoo.fr -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/sustran-discuss/attachments/20020704/dda8ce76/attachment.htm From esg at bgl.vsnl.net.in Sat Jul 6 19:05:42 2002 From: esg at bgl.vsnl.net.in (ESG, INDIA) Date: Sat, 6 Jul 2002 15:35:42 +0530 Subject: [sustran] =?iso-8859-1?Q?SHELVE_BMIC_-_The_=22Enron=22_Of_Road_Development-__Press_?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?Release_-_July_04=2C_2002?= In-Reply-To: <009e01c22380$80dfeca0$6501a8c0@home> Message-ID: Press Release - July 04, 2002 SHELVE BMIC ? The "Enron" Of Road Development GoK should Immediately Implement the Expansion of SH-17 and Doubling of Railway According to recent press reports, the Government of Karnataka (GoK) has opted to expand the existing Bangalore-Mysore highway (State Highway-17) from its present 2 lanes, to a 4-lane highway at the cost of Rs. 331 crores. Karnataka Road Development Corporation (KRDCL) officials have confirmed that the expansion project has the following specifications: 2-lanes measuring 7 metres wide in either direction; a 2 metre median strip; shoulders and embankments on either side. The total "right of way" would be 45 metres. Although the width of the road and median will come to only 16 metres, it is important to note that the shoulders will allow ease of passage to pedestrians, farmers, bullock carts and the like, thus mitigating accidents and ensuring a smoother flow of traffic. Total land acquisition between Bangalore and Mysore would be only 65 acres. It is well established that the majority of accidents on the existing road are primarily due to bends that are hard to negotiate. The planned expansion, according to KRDCL officials will ensure that road geometry is also addressed and the expanded road will be straighter, safer and easier to travel. Most importantly it would require negligible acquisition of agricultural land and marginal acquisition of existing commercial zones to prevent "ribbon development". A combination of this project and the doubling of the railway line between Bangalore and Mysore (approx. a distance of 140 kms.) will be viable economically, and more acceptable environmentally and socially. In comparison to other existing proposals to develop transport corridors between the two cities, expansion of the existing highway is far more affordable. Considering this situation, the question looms as to why the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMICP) is still being considered. According to reports, the Asian Development Bank has assessed that the traffic volume between Bangalore and Mysore does not justify an expressway of the type proposed in BMICP and is significantly less than international standards for expressways. Of the options available then, to improve safe traffic flow between Bangalore and Mysore, BMICP has the greatest adverse impact, the highest financial outlay, and the most uncertain returns. Not only will it involve a 6-lane expressway which apparently requires over 7000 acres of land, but would demand the acquisition of over 14000 acres of land for 5 gated townships developed clearly to extract real estate value, so as to ensure the expressway becomes financially viable! It is very doubtful if the real estate projections of the BMICP are believable given that several similar housing, recreational and corporate facility developments in and around Bangalore have failed. In other words there is simply no demand for expensive, exclusive even, housing developments between Bangalore and Mysore. Most importantly this extravagant proposal costs over Rs. 2,000 crores. Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise, promoters of BMICP, has also failed to comply with a string of compliance conditions in the clearance issued by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Keeping this in view, we must call into question the reported commitment of HUDCO to both the expansion of SH-17 and the in-principle support to BMICP. Even if HUDCO had all the money to fund both projects, the moot point would be if it were at all required to have two new highways between Bangalore and Mysore. Such mockery of "development" cannot be sustained in the claim to delivering the objectives of wider public interest. ICICI and the consortium of financiers must consequently withdraw financial support to BMICP, as with the expansion proposal and the doubling of the railway line, the BMICP would be the "Enron" of Road Development. The Reserve Bank of India is clear that projects such as BMICP should not be easily supported by financial institutions and has even released a Circular No. IECD No. /08.12.01/2001-02 dated 20 February 2002, extracts from which state that: "In respect of infrastructure projects, where financing is by way of term loans or investment in bonds issued by government owned entities, banks/Financial Institutions should undertake due diligence on the viability and bankability of such projects to ensure efficient utilization of resources and creditworthiness of the projects financed. Banks should also ensure that the individual components of financing and returns on the project are well defined and assessed. Lending/investment decisions in such cases should be based solely on commercial judgment of banks/Financial Institutions. There should be no compromise on proper credit appraisal and close monitoring of the projects financed and banks should ensure that only projects that are intrinsically viable are financed. State Government guarantees may not be taken as a substitute for satisfactory credit appraisal and such appraisal requirements should not be diluted on the basis of any reported arrangement with the Reserve Bank of India or any bank for regular standing instructions/periodic payment instructions for servicing the loans/bonds." The BMIC project has repeatedly claimed that project financing is based on GoK guarantees. In view of the RBI circular, it would seem the GoK is supporting an economic disaster against RBI advice, to say the least. Keeping the expansion of SH-17 in view, we urge the GoK to stop investing wastefully its time and resource in being a part of the BMICP, and focus on assuring the quick implementation of the SH-17 expansion. In addition, doubling the existing railway line alongside, at a reported cost of Rs. 276 crores would help decongest Bangalore and develop Mysore while boosting the economy of Mandya and Chamrajnagar districts, thus reducing regional imbalances. Furthermore, reviving the shelved proposal of developing housing at important railway stations, will surely meet the growing demands of providing all sections of society affordable housing and safe travel options. This way Bangalore can be protected from the ugly sprawl as proposed in the BMICP. Leo F. Saldanha Nagini Prasad Rajmohan Pillai Coordinator -ESG Campaigns Coordinator Coordinator (Infrastructure Finance Research) For more information on the BMICP please visit http://www.indiatogether.org/campaigns/bmic ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Environment Support Group (R) S-3, Rajashree Apartments 18/57, 1st Main, SRK Gardens Bannerghatta Road, Jayanagar Bangalore 560041 Telefax: 91-80-6341977 Tel: 91-80-6531339 Email: esg@bgl.vsnl.net.in -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/sustran-discuss/attachments/20020706/4e7f79f7/attachment.htm From kisansbc at vsnl.com Sat Jul 6 23:09:50 2002 From: kisansbc at vsnl.com (kisan mehta) Date: Sat, 6 Jul 2002 19:39:50 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: SHELVE BMIC - The "Enron" Of Road Development- Press Release - July 04, 2002 References: Message-ID: <001301c224f6$cb751d40$3226020a@im.eth.net> Dear Sustran Colleagues and Leo, With reference to your contention in the press note dated 4 July "SHELVE BMIC - The "Enron" Of Road Development" that the Bangalore Mysore Highway should be shelved and instead the Government of Karnataka should take up the doubling of railway track between Bangalore and Mysore is well appreciated. The expansion of Bangalore Mysore Highway in the manner proposed by spending a huge amount is not only disastrous but hazardous. Providing unpaved side space beyond the paved four lane carriageway under any pretext is an open and permanent invitation for accidents. Non-motorised traffic and pedestrians will be the victims. Pedestrians form 81% of the number of persons killed on roads in Mumbai which has the highest road fatality.rate in the world. In any case, no road project can be financially viable and become a burden on the poor. Doubling of the railway track existing and in use for generations can be sustainable and affordable Many more people can use. If they persist on the road construction, they be made to build raised pavements on the space beyond carriageway width as our drivers are habituated and are encouraged by authorities to cut and overtake from left and right. Mumbai Pune Highway- though only 50% of the length is a highway has extremely high accident rate so much so that sober drivers are frightened to take the highway. There is a toll for use of road. Toll collected hardly covers interest costs on Rs 2,000 crores (Rs 20 billion) spent. Total burden falls on the people not having vehicles. The state owned Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation which borrowed at very high rate is ractically broke. Developing of townships on way also provided in the Mumbai Pune Highway can never by taken up because of serious financial stringency faced by the Government. It has cut down budget allocations on education and health. If the project violates the Reserve Bank guidelines, it would be worthwhile taking up the matter with the Bank and Planning Commission. The Commission is concerned about the rising public debt of the states. Institutions providing loan should be given the correct picture and ridiculed. ADB is set up for poverty amelioration and not for widening the gap between the rich and the poor. HDFC should be exposed and publicly censured. You know construction of railway facility comes under the Railway Ministry which would not take up doubling on its own. The State Govt can finance the Rlys for the doubling. Maharashtra Govt financed the total cost of a new railway line about 20 years ago. Konkan Railway is an independent authority. Now the Maharashtra Govt and Indian Railways have set up an joint stock company on 50:50 basis to support suburban railway expansion. So we should probably pursue that approach. It is necessary to create awareness on the road expansion folly. You have referred to the Enron case. You are aware that many more and larger scans have taken place recently. Priya Salvi and Kisan Mehta Save Bombay Committee ******************************** ----- Original Message from ESG Press Release - July 04, 2002 SHELVE BMIC - The "Enron" Of Road Development GoK should Immediately Implement the Expansion of SH-17 and Doubling of Railway According to recent press reports, the Government of Karnataka (GoK) has opted to expand the existing Bangalore-Mysore highway (State Highway-17) from its present 2 lanes, to a 4-lane highway at the cost of Rs. 331 crores. Karnataka Road Development Corporation (KRDCL) officials have confirmed that the expansion project has the following specifications: 2-lanes measuring 7 metres wide in either direction; a 2 metre median strip; shoulders and embankments on either side. The total "right of way" would be 45 metres. Although the width of the road and median will come to only 16 metres, it is important to note that the shoulders will allow ease of passage to pedestrians, farmers, bullock carts and the like, thus mitigating accidents and ensuring a smoother flow of traffic. Total land acquisition between Bangalore and Mysore would be only 65 acres. It is well established that the majority of accidents on the existing road are primarily due to bends that are hard to negotiate. The planned expansion, according to KRDCL officials will ensure that road geometry is also addressed and the expanded road will be straighter, safer and easier to travel. Most importantly it would require negligible acquisition of agricultural land and marginal acquisition of existing commercial zones to prevent "ribbon development". A combination of this project and the doubling of the railway line between Bangalore and Mysore (approx. a distance of 140 kms.) will be viable economically, and more acceptable environmentally and socially. In comparison to other existing proposals to develop transport corridors between the two cities, expansion of the existing highway is far more affordable. Considering this situation, the question looms as to why the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMICP) is still being considered. According to reports, the Asian Development Bank has assessed that the traffic volume between Bangalore and Mysore does not justify an expressway of the type proposed in BMICP and is significantly less than international standards for expressways. Of the options available then, to improve safe traffic flow between Bangalore and Mysore, BMICP has the greatest adverse impact, the highest financial outlay, and the most uncertain returns. Not only will it involve a 6-lane expressway which apparently requires over 7000 acres of land, but would demand the acquisition of over 14000 acres of land for 5 gated townships developed clearly to extract real estate value, so as to ensure the expressway becomes financially viable! It is very doubtful if the real estate projections of the BMICP are believable given that several similar housing, recreational and corporate facility developments in and around Bangalore have failed. In other words there is simply no demand for expensive, exclusive even, housing developments between Bangalore and Mysore. Most importantly this extravagant proposal costs over Rs. 2,000 crores. Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise, promoters of BMICP, has also failed to comply with a string of compliance conditions in the clearance issued by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Keeping this in view, we must call into question the reported commitment of HUDCO to both the expansion of SH-17 and the in-principle support to BMICP. Even if HUDCO had all the money to fund both projects, the moot point would be if it were at all required to have two new highways between Bangalore and Mysore. Such mockery of "development" cannot be sustained in the claim to delivering the objectives of wider public interest. ICICI and the consortium of financiers must consequently withdraw financial support to BMICP, as with the expansion proposal and the doubling of the railway line, the BMICP would be the "Enron" of Road Development. The Reserve Bank of India is clear that projects such as BMICP should not be easily supported by financial institutions and has even released a Circular No. IECD No. /08.12.01/2001-02 dated 20 February 2002, extracts from which state that: "In respect of infrastructure projects, where financing is by way of term loans or investment in bonds issued by government owned entities, banks/Financial Institutions should undertake due diligence on the viability and bankability of such projects to ensure efficient utilization of resources and creditworthiness of the projects financed. Banks should also ensure that the individual components of financing and returns on the project are well defined and assessed. Lending/investment decisions in such cases should be based solely on commercial judgment of banks/Financial Institutions. There should be no compromise on proper credit appraisal and close monitoring of the projects financed and banks should ensure that only projects that are intrinsically viable are financed. State Government guarantees may not be taken as a substitute for satisfactory credit appraisal and such appraisal requirements should not be diluted on the basis of any reported arrangement with the Reserve Bank of India or any bank for regular standing instructions/periodic payment instructions for servicing the loans/bonds." The BMIC project has repeatedly claimed that project financing is based on GoK guarantees. In view of the RBI circular, it would seem the GoK is supporting an economic disaster against RBI advice, to say the least. Keeping the expansion of SH-17 in view, we urge the GoK to stop investing wastefully its time and resource in being a part of the BMICP, and focus on assuring the quick implementation of the SH-17 expansion. In addition, doubling the existing railway line alongside, at a reported cost of Rs. 276 crores would help decongest Bangalore and develop Mysore while boosting the economy of Mandya and Chamrajnagar districts, thus reducing regional imbalances. Furthermore, reviving the shelved proposal of developing housing at important railway stations, will surely meet the growing demands of providing all sections of society affordable housing and safe travel options. This way Bangalore can be protected from the ugly sprawl as proposed in the BMICP. Leo F. Saldanha Nagini Prasad Rajmohan Pillai Coordinator -ESG Campaigns Coordinator Coordinator (Infrastructure Finance Research) For more information on the BMICP please visit http://www.indiatogether.org/campaigns/bmic -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/sustran-discuss/attachments/20020706/c3b7fd73/attachment.htm From ecoplan.adsl at wanadoo.fr Mon Jul 8 03:34:49 2002 From: ecoplan.adsl at wanadoo.fr (Eric Britton) Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2002 20:34:49 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Mumbai --> World Sustainable Cities Consortium: Message-ID: <005601c225e4$fa6269c0$6501a8c0@home> Dear Sustran Friends and Colleagues, More than once in this terrific and collegial list we have heard from people and projects that need some form of support or counsel in order to do battle with interests that seem to be going against the principles of sustainability and social justice to which I believe every one of us on this list are deeply attached. The tough messages that we have just received from Mumbai are but the latest case in point. Now, while I am trying to figure out how my colleagues and I might be able to be of some help in this case, I would like to draw your attention to an effort which is currently getting under way which is aiming to develop a flexible structure of long term peer support for sustainability initiatives in and around cities. We are calling the program The World Sustainable Cities Consortium: 2002-2022, and you will find full details on it at http://ngroups.com/stockholm. And if you go there you will also see how both to access and use the considerable content that is already in hand, and, if you chose to, how to add your name to the lists of Sustainability Advocates and Sustainable City Projects. You will also note that there is a slot there for 'Issue Papers' for consideration and discussion, and it is there where I think we might want to consider posting some sort of composite piece on The "Enron" Of Road Development for information and comment. If you click to http://www.ngroups.com/stockholm/index.php?body=display&showid=102477679 9-839168088 and then page down to the section entitled "Message to the Johannesburg World Summit", you will see the first in this series, which, since I had it in hand, is a piece that I have prepared to get the ball rolling. It consists of a certain number of observations and recommendations, and opens with a short section on " The 2002-2022 Sustainability Landscape in Brief " which I have sliced out and attached to this note. I would normally hesitate to bring all this to your attention, but I think it is germane both to the immediate issues at hand in Mumbai and to our work and cooperation more generally. So thanks for being patient with me on this, and I do hope that you will not only turn to the site at http://ngroups.com/stockholm when you have the chance, but that you will also decide to sign in and join us in this long term push toward sustainable cites and sustainable lives. Bear in mind though, that we are talking about the period out to 2022 for now. And when we get there we can then all take stock of the situation and decide what needs to be done next. And in the meantime and as always, With all good wishes, Eric Britton The Commons __ technology, economy, society__ Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France Day phone: +331 4326 1323 Mobile: +336 80 96 78 79 24 hour Fax/Voicemail hotline: +1 888 677-4866 http://ecoplan.org/ IP Videoconference: 81.65.50.63 Email: ecoplan.adsl@wanadoo.fr URL www.ecoplan.org = = = = = = "Message to the Johannesburg World Summit", Here are my personal draft recommendations for consideration in the context of the Message to Johannesburg. They are by no means original, I should point out. They are rather the result of my work with the city of Stockholm and all I have seen and learned on this challenging topic over all these months. They are, above all, the message which I have been able to discern from the 228 project teams and others involved in this great group learning experience. The 2002-2022 Sustainability Landscape in Brief We have some tough years ahead, there can be no doubt about that. And our sustainable cities strategy, whether at the level of a single place or project, or from a global world perspective, needs to be framed with these tough realities starkly on the screen before us as we try to figure out what and how to manage change. Here is a simple listing for now of what I regard as some of the main features of the future cities landscape - a future that is already well on us but which has as yet to be taken seriously by leaders and policy makers, if results are to be our guide: * Global Warming gets worse (a lot) * Massive overcapacity of world industry * Corruption continues to be endemic, working systematically in favor of larger projects and transactions, whether they are what is most needed or not. * Massive population migrations and pressures internationally and locally become a major menace to peace, well-being and society * International community continues lukewarm approach to world development, sustainability and social justice * Organizational and decision structures continue to be so tightly defined as to constrain best outcomes (leading instead to systematic and deleterious sub-optimization). * Unaccountable bureaucracies continue to dominate decision making, with all the downsides that this evidently entails. * 'In the box' thinking continues to dominate public sector decision making, rendering sustainable outcomes somewhere between unlikely and impossible * Technology offers enormous potentials which continue to be massively underexploited * The downside of technology continues to be systemically unaddressed * The rhetoric of development increasingly favors women, children, and the disadvantaged - but the actual decisions and acts by and large continue in the old mold. * This for better or worse is the base-line reality of the situation that our cities and towns across the planet are going to face in the years ahead. Our decision and action environment. There will thank god be exceptions to this, and these are going to need to be recognized, applauded and integrated into the new patterns which are so badly needed. Which in the meantime puts the emphasis on local initiatives of just the sort that the teams, groups and people assembling here can do something about. But to succeed, we must not only be smart, hard working and capable on our individual projects and efforts, but also ready to work together both to learn and to provide strategic support for each other at critical times. Which is precisely what this WSCC is all about. ---- piece continues from there with short sections on Observations and Recommendations to Johannesburg. --- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/sustran-discuss/attachments/20020707/7d230292/attachment.htm -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 94 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/sustran-discuss/attachments/20020707/7d230292/attachment.gif From pendakur at interchange.ubc.ca Mon Jul 8 09:19:24 2002 From: pendakur at interchange.ubc.ca (pendakur) Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2002 17:19:24 -0700 Subject: [sustran] Banaglore-Mysore Highway/India/Sustran References: <001301c224f6$cb751d40$3226020a@im.eth.net> Message-ID: <002701c22615$30853480$845d4540@novustelecom.net> The road between Bangalore and Mysore is a mess, both in terms of functional standards and quality of maintenance. If we were to cancel this project, what do you do with all the truck and passenger vehicles? Simply saying "no" may answer one question, but does not solve the problem. The improvement of the railways, as the Chinese have done, is one option for a lot of passenger transport and some goods transport. There are many structural problems in more freight through the railways. Ask the business people as why they prefer to send by "lorries" than by railway. They will tell about time delays, inefficiencies, bribes, and theft. Otherwise, where is the logic for sending most of the goods by trucks? While there are many environmental, resettlement, and other property issues that must be addressed, the simply "no" does not address the issues. One more thing. No matter how many foreigners want to solve this issue and come to the defence of "no roads" and "only railways', the only people that can redirect the finances and the energies are the local people. This would be the client governments at the national and state levels. Whatever happened to democracy in the "largest democracy into world"? Cheers. V. Setty Pendakur ----- Original Message from ESG Press Release - July 04, 2002 SHELVE BMIC - The "Enron" Of Road Development GoK should Immediately Implement the Expansion of SH-17 and Doubling of Railway According to recent press reports, the Government of Karnataka (GoK) has opted to expand the existing Bangalore-Mysore highway (State Highway-17) from its present 2 lanes, to a 4-lane highway at the cost of Rs. 331 crores. Karnataka Road Development Corporation (KRDCL) officials have confirmed that the expansion project has the following specifications: 2-lanes measuring 7 metres wide in either direction; a 2 metre median strip; shoulders and embankments on either side. The total "right of way" would be 45 metres. Although the width of the road and median will come to only 16 metres, it is important to note that the shoulders will allow ease of passage to pedestrians, farmers, bullock carts and the like, thus mitigating accidents and ensuring a smoother flow of traffic. Total land acquisition between Bangalore and Mysore would be only 65 acres. It is well established that the majority of accidents on the existing road are primarily due to bends that are hard to negotiate. The planned expansion, according to KRDCL officials will ensure that road geometry is also addressed and the expanded road will be straighter, safer and easier to travel. Most importantly it would require negligible acquisition of agricultural land and marginal acquisition of existing commercial zones to prevent "ribbon development". A combination of this project and the doubling of the railway line between Bangalore and Mysore (approx. a distance of 140 kms.) will be viable economically, and more acceptable environmentally and socially. In comparison to other existing proposals to develop transport corridors between the two cities, expansion of the existing highway is far more affordable. Considering this situation, the question looms as to why the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMICP) is still being considered. According to reports, the Asian Development Bank has assessed that the traffic volume between Bangalore and Mysore does not justify an expressway of the type proposed in BMICP and is significantly less than international standards for expressways. Of the options available then, to improve safe traffic flow between Bangalore and Mysore, BMICP has the greatest adverse impact, the highest financial outlay, and the most uncertain returns. Not only will it involve a 6-lane expressway which apparently requires over 7000 acres of land, but would demand the acquisition of over 14000 acres of land for 5 gated townships developed clearly to extract real estate value, so as to ensure the expressway becomes financially viable! It is very doubtful if the real estate projections of the BMICP are believable given that several similar housing, recreational and corporate facility developments in and around Bangalore have failed. In other words there is simply no demand for expensive, exclusive even, housing developments between Bangalore and Mysore. Most importantly this extravagant proposal costs over Rs. 2,000 crores. Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise, promoters of BMICP, has also failed to comply with a string of compliance conditions in the clearance issued by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Keeping this in view, we must call into question the reported commitment of HUDCO to both the expansion of SH-17 and the in-principle support to BMICP. Even if HUDCO had all the money to fund both projects, the moot point would be if it were at all required to have two new highways between Bangalore and Mysore. Such mockery of "development" cannot be sustained in the claim to delivering the objectives of wider public interest. ICICI and the consortium of financiers must consequently withdraw financial support to BMICP, as with the expansion proposal and the doubling of the railway line, the BMICP would be the "Enron" of Road Development. The Reserve Bank of India is clear that projects such as BMICP should not be easily supported by financial institutions and has even released a Circular No. IECD No. /08.12.01/2001-02 dated 20 February 2002, extracts from which state that: "In respect of infrastructure projects, where financing is by way of term loans or investment in bonds issued by government owned entities, banks/Financial Institutions should undertake due diligence on the viability and bankability of such projects to ensure efficient utilization of resources and creditworthiness of the projects financed. Banks should also ensure that the individual components of financing and returns on the project are well defined and assessed. Lending/investment decisions in such cases should be based solely on commercial judgment of banks/Financial Institutions. There should be no compromise on proper credit appraisal and close monitoring of the projects financed and banks should ensure that only projects that are intrinsically viable are financed. State Government guarantees may not be taken as a substitute for satisfactory credit appraisal and such appraisal requirements should not be diluted on the basis of any reported arrangement with the Reserve Bank of India or any bank for regular standing instructions/periodic payment instructions for servicing the loans/bonds." The BMIC project has repeatedly claimed that project financing is based on GoK guarantees. In view of the RBI circular, it would seem the GoK is supporting an economic disaster against RBI advice, to say the least. Keeping the expansion of SH-17 in view, we urge the GoK to stop investing wastefully its time and resource in being a part of the BMICP, and focus on assuring the quick implementation of the SH-17 expansion. In addition, doubling the existing railway line alongside, at a reported cost of Rs. 276 crores would help decongest Bangalore and develop Mysore while boosting the economy of Mandya and Chamrajnagar districts, thus reducing regional imbalances. Furthermore, reviving the shelved proposal of developing housing at important railway stations, will surely meet the growing demands of providing all sections of society affordable housing and safe travel options. This way Bangalore can be protected from the ugly sprawl as proposed in the BMICP. Leo F. Saldanha Nagini Prasad Rajmohan Pillai Coordinator -ESG Campaigns Coordinator Coordinator (Infrastructure Finance Research) For more information on the BMICP please visit http://www.indiatogether.org/campaigns/bmic -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/sustran-discuss/attachments/20020707/0ebf6fe0/attachment.htm From ecoplan.adsl at wanadoo.fr Mon Jul 8 15:18:10 2002 From: ecoplan.adsl at wanadoo.fr (Eric Britton) Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2002 08:18:10 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Mumbai --> World Sustainable Cities Consortium: In-Reply-To: <000d01c22642$a66c2f00$3226020a@im.eth.net> Message-ID: <002a01c22647$3bfd8880$6501a8c0@home> Dear Friends, Here is how we propose to do what we can to support what appears to be a much needed public laundering of the issues and choices in Mumbai. If you go to the new site of the World Sustainable Cities Consortium at http://ngroups.com/stockholm and click the rubric Projects in Peril, you will see by way of first quick entry and place holder the letter just received from Kisan Mehta and the Save Bombay Committee . The short introduction to it makes the point of what we would now like to do with this. I quote: "This is placed here temporarily as a preliminary statement of this difficult and challenged project. We are hoping with the help of those involved in the days immediately ahead to turn this into a nicely organized readable set of pieces which together make the point, including hopefully links to the Bank, alternative points of view and the media. This is a cooperative undertaking with our friends at Sustran - the Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia & the Pacific." Thus, what we need now is the further background and evidence. This I see as consisted of a series of nested pieces, short essays with background and perhaps alternative points of view, and links to more complete information, reports and media coverage. Then once we have this in place - hopefully within the days immediately ahead, we can then reach out to the several thousand people and groups around the world who regularly come into the various sites and programs of The Commons, all of which take direct aim at the underlying issues of sustainable development and social justice, including with a certain expertise in matters of transportation and cities. The subsequent discussion and development of these materials could take place in parallel perhaps on both the Sustran list and the new discussion group set up under the World Transport Policy and Practice forum (http://wTransport.org ) which you will see if you click the Focus Discussions link of the menus. I might add about this last is that this forum has been set up precisely to welcome and air alternative points of view on the issues in question, so differences of opinion are entirely welcome. It would be lovely if one or more of you might undertake the job of helping us organize all this. Also your ideas on how we might make a better job of this at this end here would be, as always, most welcome. With all good wishes, Eric Britton The Commons __ technology, economy, society__ Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France Day phone: +331 4326 1323 Mobile: +336 80 96 78 79 24 hour Fax/Voicemail hotline: +1 888 677-4866 http://ecoplan.org/ IP Videoconference: 81.65.50.63 Email: ecoplan.adsl@wanadoo.fr URL www.ecoplan.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/sustran-discuss/attachments/20020708/e68ecee9/attachment.htm From geobpa at nus.edu.sg Mon Jul 8 19:19:19 2002 From: geobpa at nus.edu.sg (Paul Barter) Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2002 18:19:19 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Re: Mumbai --> World Sustainable Cities Consortium: Message-ID: <0709A702109DA844B290CEAA959078BD103A6D@MBXSRV04.stf.nus.edu.sg> The original of this message from Kisan Mehta was too long to get through, so I have removed reduntant material (which was lengthy HTML code in the messsage to which this was a reply) and now forwarding to the list. Paul -----Original Message----- Dear Sustran Colleagues and Eric, Thank you Eric for taking interest, so instant, in our request=20 to you to advise and help us in reaching out to the World Bank=20 on Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) worked out by=20 Mumbai's transport authorities and approved by Bank on 18=20 June 2002 by sanctioning a loan of $ 850 million in the=20 estimated cost of Rs 60 billion (more than $ 1,200 million-=20 figures are unsubstantiated as we do not know the official=20 figures shown in the MUTP and amount Bank sanctioned).=20 We were anxious to take the help of our Sustran friends however=20 could not do so for reasons not anymore relevant at this juncture.=20 The MUTP by any standards is a plan for promoting motorisation=20 in a city having an average population density of 27,000 per sq=20 km (by far the highest in the world) and against the highest road=20 fatality rate in the world. Pedestrians form 81% of all dead. =20 Public road and railway transport provide 88% of total journeys=20 with motor cars accounting for 7%. The Bank has approved it. =20 Auto exhaust form 75% of total emissions in tons. Some of the pollutants = present in the air exceed national emission norms =20 that are set much higher than levels acceptable for minimum=20 public health. Incidence of cardio-vascular and cancer in=20 Mumbai is much higher than national incidence. Citizen groups prepared Community Transport Project for Mumbai (CTPM),a sustainable alternative, including good=20 MUTP components finetunined to citizen needs, and=20 adding essential components badly required for improving=20 air quality and reducing accidents resulting in cutting down=20 commuter hardship.=20 We must admit that our CPTM failed to reach the concerned=20 Sustran members and the Bank before 18 June when the Bank approved the MUTP. We vaguely know that the Bank policy provides for inviting = suggestions/objections worldwide on approved projects within 30 days. We have no specific info on this aspect at all. We are=20 frantically looking for guidance and help on the procedure for making representations, officer/department receiving objections,=20 email nos, etc so that we do not fail again to promote community cause. = We urge upon our members to guide us on highest=20 priority as there has to be a timelimit for making representations and we do not wish to miss this timelimit on a project that will=20 continue impacting for another 20 years and increase per capita=20 public debt of Rs 5,000 (slightly higher than $ 100) in a country=20 having annual per capita income of Rs 2,900. About 65% of=20 Mumbai residents staying in slums face auto exhaust directly. =20 Your prompt help will be highly appreciated by the community.=20 Best wishes. Kisan Mehta President Priya Salvi Hon Project Coordinator Save Bombay Commitee kisansbc@vcsnl.com =20 620 Jame Jamshed Road, Dadar East, Mumbai 400 014 India Tel: 00 91 22 414 9688 Fax: 00 91 22 415 5536 **************************************** ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Eric Britton=20 To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org=20 Sent: Monday, July 08, 2002 12:04 AM Subject: [sustran] Mumbai --> World Sustainable Cities Consortium: Dear Sustran Friends and Colleagues, More than once in this terrific and collegial list we have heard from = people and projects that need some form of support or counsel in order = to do battle with interests that seem to be going against the principles = of sustainability and social justice to which I believe every one of us = on this list are deeply attached. The tough messages that we have just = received from Mumbai are but the latest case in point. Now, while I am trying to figure out how my colleagues and I might be = able to be of some help in this case, I would like to draw your = attention to an effort which is currently getting under way which is = aiming to develop a flexible structure of long term peer support for = sustainability initiatives in and around cities. We are calling the = program The World Sustainable Cities Consortium: 2002-2022, and you will = find full details on it at http://ngroups.com/stockholm. And if you go = there you will also see how both to access and use the considerable = content that is already in hand, and, if you chose to, how to add your = name to the lists of Sustainability Advocates and Sustainable City = Projects. You will also note that there is a slot there for 'Issue Papers' for = consideration and discussion, and it is there where I think we might = want to consider posting some sort of composite piece on The "Enron" Of = Road Development for information and comment. If you click to = http://www.ngroups.com/stockholm/index.php? = body=3Ddisplay&showid=3D1024776799-839168088 and then page down to the = section entitled "Message to the Johannesburg World Summit", you will = see the first in this series, which, since I had it in hand, is a piece = that I have prepared to get the ball rolling. It consists of a certain = number of observations and recommendations, and opens with a short = section on "The 2002-2022 Sustainability Landscape in Brief " which I = have sliced out and attached to this note. I would normally hesitate to bring all this to your attention, but I = think it is germane both to the immediate issues at hand in Mumbai and = to our work and cooperation more generally. So thanks for being patient = with me on this, and I do hope that you will not only turn to the site = at http://ngroups.com/stockholm when you have the chance, but that you = will also decide to sign in and join us in this long term push toward = sustainable cites and sustainable lives. Bear in mind though, that we = are talking about the period out to 2022 for now. And when we get there = we can then all take stock of the situation and decide what needs to be = done next. And in the meantime and as always,=20 With all good wishes, Eric Britton The Commons __ technology, economy, society__ Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France Day phone: +331 4326 1323 Mobile: +336 80 96 78 79 24 hour Fax/Voicemail hotline: +1 888 677-4866 http://ecoplan.org/ IP Videoconference: 81.65.50.63 =20 Email: ecoplan.adsl@wanadoo.fr URL www.ecoplan.org =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D=20 "Message to the Johannesburg World Summit",=20 Here are my personal draft recommendations for consideration in the = context of the Message to Johannesburg. They are by no means original, I = should point out. They are rather the result of my work with the city of = Stockholm and all I have seen and learned on this challenging topic over = all these months. They are, above all, the message which I have been = able to discern from the 228 project teams and others involved in this = great group learning experience.=20 The 2002-2022 Sustainability Landscape in Brief=20 We have some tough years ahead, there can be no doubt about that. And = our sustainable cities strategy, whether at the level of a single place = or project, or from a global world perspective, needs to be framed with = these tough realities starkly on the screen before us as we try to = figure out what and how to manage change. Here is a simple listing for = now of what I regard as some of the main features of the future cities = landscape - a future that is already well on us but which has as yet to = be taken seriously by leaders and policy makers, if results are to be = our guide:=20 Global Warming gets worse (a lot)=20 a.. Massive overcapacity of world industry=20 b.. Corruption continues to be endemic, working systematically in = favor of larger projects and transactions, whether they are what is most = needed or not.=20 c.. Massive population migrations and pressures internationally and = locally become a major menace to peace, well-being and society=20 d.. International community continues lukewarm approach to world = development, sustainability and social justice=20 e.. Organizational and decision structures continue to be so tightly = defined as to constrain best outcomes (leading instead to systematic and = deleterious sub-optimization).=20 f.. Unaccountable bureaucracies continue to dominate decision = making, with all the downsides that this evidently entails.=20 g.. 'In the box' thinking continues to dominate public sector = decision making, rendering sustainable outcomes somewhere between = unlikely and impossible=20 h.. Technology offers enormous potentials which continue to be = massively underexploited=20 i.. The downside of technology continues to be systemically = unaddressed=20 j.. The rhetoric of development increasingly favors women, children, = and the disadvantaged - but the actual decisions and acts by and large = continue in the old mold.=20 k.. =20 This for better or worse is the base-line reality of the situation = that our cities and towns across the planet are going to face in the = years ahead. Our decision and action environment. There will thank god = be exceptions to this, and these are going to need to be recognized, = applauded and integrated into the new patterns which are so badly = needed. Which in the meantime puts the emphasis on local initiatives of = just the sort that the teams, groups and people assembling here can do = something about. But to succeed, we must not only be smart, hard working = and capable on our individual projects and efforts, but also ready to = work together both to learn and to provide strategic support for each = other at critical times. Which is precisely what this WSCC is all about. ---- piece continues from there with short sections on Observations = and Recommendations to Johannesburg. --- From esg at bgl.vsnl.net.in Tue Jul 9 15:59:33 2002 From: esg at bgl.vsnl.net.in (ESG, INDIA) Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 12:29:33 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Banaglore-Mysore Highway/India/Sustran In-Reply-To: <002701c22615$30853480$845d4540@novustelecom.net> Message-ID: Dear Pendakur, Thank you for your reaction to our note. We are certainly as worried as you are about the conditions 'in the "largest democracy into world"?'. The BMIC Project is an absolute reflection of what is wrong with our decision making processes and details are archived at www.indiatogether.org/campaigns/bmic Whilst we appreciate your supportive stand on building our railway infrastructure better, I must admit that the point about why business people prefer not to use is not very clear. Yes the freight rates were a big concern over time, but with innovative practices, such as in the Konkan Railway, where lorries climb onto to specially developed carriages for a small fee, the costs of freight transport has been found to be advantageous to all, and there is less load on the NH-17, which incidentally has had a high accident rate (sorry about this long sentence). We believe similar progressive practices on the Bangalore Mysore sector would help in reducing traffic loads and make travel safer. Finally, we are not saying NO to road development between these fast growing cities. In fact we are in support of the proposal to widen the existing road. Mr. Kisan Mehta's suggestions on this issue are well taken, and integrating raised pavements should safeguard the interests of pedestrians, cyclists, bullock carts, and a variety of other users. Clearly, India is not a country that can leapfrog into German or US standard highways, for such high involvement of private vehicle use is meaningless in our economic and cultural contexts. One may even argue that given the future of travel and transport in India is with public transport, developing expressways would only serve a very very small section of the society at the cost of everyone else. My opinions surely are antithetical to yours, I agree, but these are based on some deep reflections and analysis of being a constant road user here. Leo Saldanha -----Original Message----- From: owner-sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org [mailto:owner-sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org]On Behalf Of pendakur Sent: Monday, July 08, 2002 5:49 AM To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org Cc: In T S Reddy; In Sudarsanam Padam (h); In S L Dhingra; In Ramachander Adi; In P. K. Sikdar; In KAVenkataram Setty; In K. Sundararajan; In Geetam Tewari; In Dr. P. Anand; In Cse Anil Agarwal; In Cirt Sanjay Singh; In Chrd BCS Kumar; In Bharat Indu Singal; In Avinash Sarna Subject: [sustran] Banaglore-Mysore Highway/India/Sustran The road between Bangalore and Mysore is a mess, both in terms of functional standards and quality of maintenance. If we were to cancel this project, what do you do with all the truck and passenger vehicles? Simply saying "no" may answer one question, but does not solve the problem. The improvement of the railways, as the Chinese have done, is one option for a lot of passenger transport and some goods transport. There are many structural problems in more freight through the railways. Ask the business people as why they prefer to send by "lorries" than by railway. They will tell about time delays, inefficiencies, bribes, and theft. Otherwise, where is the logic for sending most of the goods by trucks? While there are many environmental, resettlement, and other property issues that must be addressed, the simply "no" does not address the issues. One more thing. No matter how many foreigners want to solve this issue and come to the defence of "no roads" and "only railways', the only people that can redirect the finances and the energies are the local people. This would be the client governments at the national and state levels. Whatever happened to democracy in the "largest democracy into world"? Cheers. V. Setty Pendakur ----- Original Message from ESG Press Release - July 04, 2002 SHELVE BMIC ? The "Enron" Of Road Development GoK should Immediately Implement the Expansion of SH-17 and Doubling of Railway According to recent press reports, the Government of Karnataka (GoK) has opted to expand the existing Bangalore-Mysore highway (State Highway-17) from its present 2 lanes, to a 4-lane highway at the cost of Rs. 331 crores. Karnataka Road Development Corporation (KRDCL) officials have confirmed that the expansion project has the following specifications: 2-lanes measuring 7 metres wide in either direction; a 2 metre median strip; shoulders and embankments on either side. The total "right of way" would be 45 metres. Although the width of the road and median will come to only 16 metres, it is important to note that the shoulders will allow ease of passage to pedestrians, farmers, bullock carts and the like, thus mitigating accidents and ensuring a smoother flow of traffic. Total land acquisition between Bangalore and Mysore would be only 65 acres. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/sustran-discuss/attachments/20020709/5c594a5e/attachment.htm From esg at bgl.vsnl.net.in Tue Jul 9 15:59:44 2002 From: esg at bgl.vsnl.net.in (ESG, INDIA) Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 12:29:44 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: SHELVE BMIC - The "Enron" Of Road Development- Press Release - July 04, 2002 In-Reply-To: <001301c224f6$cb751d40$3226020a@im.eth.net> Message-ID: Dear Kisan sab, Thank you for commenting on the optioins we have proposed. Your suggestions of raised pavements are well taken, and we will see if this can be integrated into the road design proposed by KRDCL. There is no reason why India should not develop its own unique mix of safe fast road travel with heavy use by local pedestrians and slow moving vehicles (as majority of our vehicles are still in this category, and will remain to be so for a long time). The length and breadth of this country is characterised by roads which require such mixed use possibilities, and our minimal resources are best used in developing roads and railways that serve the widest possible section of society. Exclusive fast travel expressives will always have very high social and environmental impacts, besides being difficult to finance and unaffordable to most. There is an active plan to propose the "annuity" scheme for development of toll based expressways in the country, and I wish to enquire if the financial implications of this scheme on the exchequer and the general population has been carefully addressed? Leo Saldanha -----Original Message----- From: owner-sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org [mailto:owner-sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org]On Behalf Of kisan mehta Sent: Saturday, July 06, 2002 7:40 PM To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org Subject: [sustran] Re: SHELVE BMIC - The "Enron" Of Road Development- Press Release - July 04, 2002 Dear Sustran Colleagues and Leo, With reference to your contention in the press note dated 4 July "SHELVE BMIC - The "Enron" Of Road Development" that the Bangalore Mysore Highway should be shelved and instead the Government of Karnataka should take up the doubling of railway track between Bangalore and Mysore is well appreciated. The expansion of Bangalore Mysore Highway in the manner proposed by spending a huge amount is not only disastrous but hazardous. Providing unpaved side space beyond the paved four lane carriageway under any pretext is an open and permanent invitation for accidents. Non-motorised traffic and pedestrians will be the victims. Pedestrians form 81% of the number of persons killed on roads in Mumbai which has the highest road fatality.rate in the world. In any case, no road project can be financially viable and become a burden on the poor. Doubling of the railway track existing and in use for generations can be sustainable and affordable Many more people can use. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/sustran-discuss/attachments/20020709/ddb37cfb/attachment.htm From geobpa at nus.edu.sg Wed Jul 10 10:15:07 2002 From: geobpa at nus.edu.sg (Paul Barter) Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 09:15:07 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Fwd: Re: Banaglore-Mysore Highway/India/Sustran Message-ID: <0709A702109DA844B290CEAA959078BD103A90@MBXSRV04.stf.nus.edu.sg> [This message from Priya Salvi and Kisan Mehta also did not get through - It was too long because of HTML formatting. Plain text is best for sustran-discuss. Also, it is best to try not to include all of the previous messages to which you are replying. If necessary, just include the few lines that are relevant. Anyway, forwarding now (minus the html code and minus the less relevant earlier messages at the bottom). Paul] -----Original Message----- From: "kisan mehta" Dear Sustran Colleagues and Mr Pendakur, To reply to your last point first `Whatever happened to democracy=20 in the "largest democracy into world"?' we can only say and that=20 too in the largest democracy that demoncracy has been put up side=20 down by the rich and the rulers. Poor people are made to suffer the=20 hardship flowing from the facilities created or to be created for the=20 rich. Would anybody say that a democracy sans granting equity to=20 all citizens to the limited resources of the earth is a just society=20 to be known as democracy? Since the time we in India have joined or forced to join the main stream = symbols of globalisation and free market access, do we really have=20 democracy - rule of the people for the people and by the people?=20 If the citizens were given a real free choice of what to choose, they=20 would certainly go for facilities that benefit the maximum number of=20 people and which they afford. Resources are admittedly limited. If we=20 had enough, we would have both doubling of tracks for improving the=20 speed and frequency of trains and the type of road that the cockeyed=20 public executives are planning. We do not unfortunately resources even = for track doubling. This is clear from the fact even for this doubling = the=20 state will have to borrow from financial institutions to be paid back=20 through the contribution of the comon man.=20 Experience in Maharashtra deserves a small thought. To create Mumbai-=20 Pune Express Highway (a misnomer as only half of the distance is=20 expressway, the other half small strieet passing through overcrowded=20 towns), and put up flyovers and elevated roads, the state created=20 liquidity by cutting down budget allocations on education and health.=20 Would Pendakor still ask for modern road for the comfort of the few=20 with high illiteracy promoting high population increase and illhealth = for=20 the majhority. It is not sometimes even the academic choice between=20 a road or a railway.=20 The toll collected on the Expressway hardly covers the interest costs,=20 what to talk of other recurring costs and repatriation of the capital = cost? =20 Govt undertaking that built the expressway is broke. Damage to the=20 environment has not been attended to. Citizen has to pay all the costs.=20 If railways are not efficient, strive for making them efficient. Many=20 new innovatios likeguaranteed arrival of cargo are operational. With the doubling this service will improve, while the benefit in faster and=20 more frequent trains would also go to the cargo. One has to see the=20 conditions in poor countries to feel the constant working of the=20 economics principle of `marginal utility'=20 =20 We have to see that scarce resouces are used for the benefit=20 of maximum number of people. Best wishes. Priya Salvi and Kisan Mehta =20 =20 ----- Original Message -----=20 From: pendakur=20 To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org=20 Cc: In T S Reddy ; In Sudarsanam Padam (h) ; In S L Dhingra ; In = Ramachander Adi ; In P. K. Sikdar ; In KAVenkataram Setty ; In K. = Sundararajan ; In Geetam Tewari ; In Dr. P. Anand ; In Cse Anil Agarwal = ; In Cirt Sanjay Singh ; In Chrd BCS Kumar ; In Bharat Indu Singal ; In = Avinash Sarna=20 Sent: Monday, July 08, 2002 5:49 AM Subject: [sustran] Banaglore-Mysore Highway/India/Sustran The road between Bangalore and Mysore is a mess, both in terms of = functional standards and quality of maintenance. If we were to cancel = this project, what do you do with all the truck and passenger vehicles? = Simply saying "no" may answer one question, but does not solve the = problem. The improvement of the railways, as the Chinese have done, is one = option for a lot of passenger transport and some goods transport. There = are many structural problems in more freight through the railways. Ask = the business people as why they prefer to send by "lorries" than by = railway. They will tell about time delays, inefficiencies, bribes, and = theft. Otherwise, where is the logic for sending most of the goods by = trucks? While there are many environmental, resettlement, and other property = issues that must be addressed, the simply "no" does not address the = issues. One more thing. No matter how many foreigners want to solve this = issue and come to the defence of "no roads" and "only railways', the = only people that can redirect the finances and the energies are the = local people. This would be the client governments at the national and = state levels. Whatever happened to democracy in the "largest democracy into world"? Cheers. =20 V. Setty Pendakur From subbuvincent at yahoo.com Wed Jul 10 10:40:03 2002 From: subbuvincent at yahoo.com (Subramaniam Vincent) Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 18:40:03 -0700 Subject: [sustran] Re: Banaglore-Mysore Highway/India/Sustran In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Dear Pendakur, I'm a resident of Bangalore, a local. Further to the points raised, saying NO to the Bangalore-Mysore expressway does not mean saying NO to road development, at all. Of course, the promoters of the BMIC project would do all they can to have citizens of the region believe that. It's a standard tactic that essentially promotes this project to be some sort of panacea, the way Enron-Dabhol was promoted by inflating power projections for Maharashtra in the early 90s. Saying NO to BMIC makes sense because cheaper and perhaps more sensible highway expansion alternatives between Bangalore-Mysore have not just been shelved in the past, but have cleverly been left out of state highway development projects to make way for BMIC. [review www.indiatogether.org/campaigns/bmic, as you probably already have] The stance of the state government concerning the cheaper road development alternatives seems to be changing at least in terms of press statements issued, if you look at the recent developments. But press statements don't mean a whole lot, if you look at the track record. Again the website above has this as well. -Subbu Vincent -----Original Message----- From: owner-sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org [mailto:owner-sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org]On Behalf Of ESG, INDIA Sent: Tuesday, July 09, 2002 12:00 AM To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org Cc: In T S Reddy; In Sudarsanam Padam (h); In S L Dhingra; In Ramachander Adi; In P. K. Sikdar; In KAVenkataram Setty; In K. Sundararajan; In Geetam Tewari; In Dr. P. Anand; In Cse Anil Agarwal; In Cirt Sanjay Singh; In Chrd BCS Kumar; In Bharat Indu Singal; In Avinash Sarna Subject: [sustran] Re: Banaglore-Mysore Highway/India/Sustran Dear Pendakur, Thank you for your reaction to our note. We are certainly as worried as you are about the conditions 'in the "largest democracy into world"?'. The BMIC Project is an absolute reflection of what is wrong with our decision making processes and details are archived at www.indiatogether.org/campaigns/bmic Whilst we appreciate your supportive stand on building our railway infrastructure better, I must admit that the point about why business people prefer not to use is not very clear. Yes the freight rates were a big concern over time, but with innovative practices, such as in the Konkan Railway, where lorries climb onto to specially developed carriages for a small fee, the costs of freight transport has been found to be advantageous to all, and there is less load on the NH-17, which incidentally has had a high accident rate (sorry about this long sentence). We believe similar progressive practices on the Bangalore Mysore sector would help in reducing traffic loads and make travel safer. Finally, we are not saying NO to road development between these fast growing cities. In fact we are in support of the proposal to widen the existing road. Mr. Kisan Mehta's suggestions on this issue are well taken, and integrating raised pavements should safeguard the interests of pedestrians, cyclists, bullock carts, and a variety of other users. Clearly, India is not a country that can leapfrog into German or US standard highways, for such high involvement of private vehicle use is meaningless in our economic and cultural contexts. One may even argue that given the future of travel and transport in India is with public transport, developing expressways would only serve a very very small section of the society at the cost of everyone else. My opinions surely are antithetical to yours, I agree, but these are based on some deep reflections and analysis of being a constant road user here. Leo Saldanha From geobpa at nus.edu.sg Thu Jul 11 20:17:24 2002 From: geobpa at nus.edu.sg (Paul Barter) Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 19:17:24 +0800 Subject: [sustran] FW: Comparative Study of the MUTP and CTPM Message-ID: <0709A702109DA844B290CEAA959078BD207904@MBXSRV04.stf.nus.edu.sg> I am forwarding this with minor editing to make it readable in plain text format (original was in HTML). Paul -----Original Message----- From: kisan mehta [mailto:kisansbc@vsnl.com] Sent: Thursday, 11 July 2002 6:56 PM To: ... Subject: Comparative Study of the MUTP and CTPM Dear Friends, The World Bank approved on 18 June 2002 a loan of $850 million for the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) formulated by authorities providing transport and related agencies of Mumbai, India. The cost of the MUTP is estimated at Rs 60 billion (slightly app $1,200 million) The MUTP is being coordinated by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. Many citizen groups found that the MUTP coming up very much on the heels of the massive construction of flyovers and elevated road would result in further deterioration of pollution, increase in road fatalites, in which pedestrians form 81% and further deterioration of public transport. So they made representations to the MMRDA and the World Bank. They formulated Community Transport project for Mumbai (CTPM), a sustainable alternative, sustainable to the citizens. The official MUTP does not provide for reduction in the number of vehicles. It does not incorporate traffic control measures that would reduce congestion, improve the environment, and reduce citizen safety. Mumbai has the highest average population density in the world (27,000 persons per sq km), has the highest road fatality rate in the world. Motorised vehicles contribute to about 80% of air pollution. We give below a comparative study of subprojects. We solicit your considered guidance. On behalf of verious signatories to the CTPM, and with best wishes, we remain Kisan Mehta, President Priya Salvi, Hon Project Coordinator priya_salvi@yahoo.com Save Bombay Committee, 620 Jame Jamshed Road, Dadar East, Mumbai 400 014 India Tel: 00 91 22 414 9688 Fax: 00 91 22 415 5536 *********************************** Comparative Study of Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) and Community Transport Project for Mumbai (CTPM) The MUTP was formulated by public agencies providing transport and related amenities while the CTPM was jointly evolved by a number of voluntary organisations and consumer groups as a viable alternative to the MUTP. For understanding the difference in approach of supporting public transport and citizen safety, it would be worthwhile studying various Subprojects proposed in the MUTP and the CTPM. Following is a comparison on the subprojects recorded in the Consolidated Environmental Assessment- Executive Summary of the MMRDA published in November 2001. The MUTP proposals are in standard series while the CTPM proposals are with an asterisk sign.... 5. Project Description 5.1 Rail Projects i Additional Pair of lines between Borivali and Virar The MUTP provides for additional pair over a length of 26 km covering car shed, bridge and 8 rakes of 9 car equivalent. *i The MUTP does not mention whether this additional pair is 5th and 6th line. The CPTM proposes that these will be 5th and 6th lines as four lines already exist. 5th and 6th lines are required to maintain uniform 3 independent pairs of lines from Churchgate to Virar for the slow and fast suburban trains and intercity trains. Question of adding car rakes is taken up as a separate subproject hereunder. ii 5th and 6th Line between Kurla and Thane The MUTP provides additional lines over 16 km length beween Kurla and Thane with 11 rakes of 9 car equivalent. *i The CTPM proposes that the 5th and 6th lines should be provided from Kurla to Kalyan. Trains proceeding to Kasara and Karjat use the CR common tracks between CST and Kalyan and bifurcate after Kalyan in two directions- Kasara and Karjat with substantial split in commuter load. For reducing crush load travel and realising quantum improvement in the suburban trains it is essential to have independent lines for slow, fast and intercity trains between VST and Kalyan. Extension upto Kalyan is technically possible and logisticswise required. Provision of car rakes taken separately hereunder. iii 5th Line between Santacruz and Borivali The MUTP provides for a single line between Santacruz and Borivali *iii The CTPM proposes 5th and 6th line between Santacruz and Borivali on technical grounds for allocating separate lines to slow and fast suburban and mail trains. Citizens cross railway tracks at various locations. Some stations do not have foot overbridges hence commuters are forced to jump over tracks. Proposed single line would be available for use by trains moving in opposite directions. Commuters jumping over the tracks would be confused on the direction of the incoming trains. To talk of a single line on the nation's busiest sector shows non-understanding of the real commuter needs. iv DC to AC Traction Conversion Project The MUTP proposes traction conversion *iv The CTPM welcomes the proposal as it is high time that we converted to more efficient system. v Optimisation of Rail Operations The MUTP proposal does not give any specific proposal on standardisation on 12 car rakes. *v The CTPM proposes that all new trains shall be 12 car rakes and all existing 9 car rakes shall be converted to 12 car rakes. All stations in the suburban zone shall be remodelled to receive 12 car rake trains. Central and Western Railway shall receive new 25 and 15 car rakes respectively. Standardisation on 12 car rakes and increase in the rake stock would increase the carrying capacity and frequency of trains. This is the only pragmatic solution for easing crush load crowding. CTPM proposals for New Railway programmes vi. Both the Western Railway and Central Railway have developed new railway termini at Bandra and Kurla in the suburbs for the convenience of the growing population in suburbs. These termini are not linked to either suburban railway or road network hence have not become popular with passengers. As they are not patronised, the CR and WR have started expanding facilities at CST and Mumbai Central, the last termini of the CR and WR in the Island City This measure would increase inconvenience to citizens. vi.a Developing Bandra as combined suburban and intercity station. This is technically possible as adequate land around Bandra suburban station is available. Bandra is a major suburban station with many CR and WR trains terminating. All suburban trains stop at Bandra. It is again on the intercity train track. Creation of a combined suburban and intercity station would provide easy train access between suburban and intercity trains. Swami Vivekanand-Western Express Highway Link Road proposed hereunder crossing the WR track at Bandra Station would provide link to road network to the Bandra combined railway station. vi.b Kurla Suburban Station would be remodelled as Combined Suburban Train Station and Intercity Train Terminus for providing easy access for railway passengers. This project is feasible as the Railways are in possession of land around Kurla Station. It is possible to add 6 upto 10 platforms for starting and terminating intercity trains. The Santacruz Chembur Link Road crossing the CR tracks at Kurla Station can provide direct connections to the road netwerok. The SVWEH and SCLR Link Roads can together provide direct rail-cum-road link to Bandra and Kurla Combined Railway Stations north of Dadar, the only link between the CR and WR trains. This link between Bandra and Kurla can reduce load on Dadar Station. 5.2.Road Expansion and Traffic Component 5.2.1. Road Widening and Extension Project i Jogeshwari- Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) The MUTP proposes 30 m wide 6 lane link road between the Western Express Highway (WEH) and Eastern Express Highway (EEH) without pavements but with road overbridges at road intersections. Road alignment is circuitous increasing the length of the link. *i The CTPM proposes 30 m wide 6 lane link road with 2 pavements 5 m wide on two sides and drops road over-bridges at road intersections. Specified width can accommodate 6 lanes conforming to Indian standards and also two 5 m wide pavements. The CTPM recommends the natural and preferred road alignment which reduces the length of the JVLR. ii Santacruz Chembur Link Road (SCLR) This MUTP is silent on the alignment and width of the SCRL. In response to enquiry, the MMRDA officials informed that the consultants have not finalised the alignment. No information available as to where the SCLR would cross the CR suburban and main line tracks. *ii .The CTPM proposes the straight and preferred road alignment for SCLR from WEH to EEH passing through Hans Bhugra Road, Hans Bhugra Chowk, CST Road and S G Barve Marg with road overbridge over railway tracks at Kurla Combined Railway Station with landing facilities. It will be 30 m wide road having 6 lanes and two 5 m wide pavements. *iii Aditional proposal in the CTPM for road project Swami Vivekanand Road-WEH Link Road-SVWEHLR The CTPM proposes a 30 m wide 6 lane and two 5m wide pavement link road to provide direct link between western suburbs and the WEH with a road overbridge over the WR tracks at Bandra Combined Railway Station. The SVWEHLR along with SCLR will additionally provide direct link between combined Bandra and Kurla Railway Stations benefitting passengers changing over from one to the other intercity and suburban railway train zone north of Dadar for the first time in the fast developing suburbs. 5.2.2. Construction of Road Overbridges (ROBs) Road Overbridges replacing existing pedestrian and vehicle level crossing of railway tracks proposed in the MUTP do not provide for pavements for pedestrians. Railways may build min 7 m high foot overbridges at some other location creating problems for mobility impaired citizens and pedestrians, non-motorised traffic. *CTPM proposes that road over-bridges shall invariably have two 3m and 5m wide pavements upto 2x2 lane and 2x3 lane road overbridges respectively i ROB at Jogeshwari (south) The MUTP provides that 2x3 lane ROB without pavements will replace two level crossings *i The CPTM provides for ROB having 2x3 lanes and two 5 m wide pavements. Only one level crossing would need to be closed as the other crossing is not a level crossing. One narrow vehicular and pedestrian subway, wrongly shown as level crossing shall be retained for use by pedestrians only as the distance between two overbridges is more than 3 km and a subway cannot slow down the speed of trains ii ROB at Jogeshwari (North) This 2x2 lane ROB claiming to link Swami Vivekanand Road and WEH shall have no pavement though it replaces two level crossings where pedestrians have a right to cross the tracks. *Ii This 2x2 lane ROB linking SV Road to Jogeshwari East (not instead of WEH) shall have two 3m wide pavements. iii ROB at Vikhroli (North) The MUTP provides for 2x2 lane ROB without pavements. *Iii The CTPM provides for ROB with 2x2 lanes and two 3 m wide pavements. 5.2.3. Area Traffic Control The MUTP provides for an adaptive area control system in the Island City comprising of state-of-the art computer controlled traffic signal system, vehicle detectors, data communication network and central control room facility supported by junction improvement *The CTPM recommends dropping of this subproject for the Island City as traffic conditions are worse in the suburbs. Installing this system in the Island Ciy will not be of use. Such a system aims assuring uninterrupted speed to motorists at the cost of citizens. It instead recommends introduction of traffic measures such as road pricing, road carnagement, entry restriction on cars and heavy vehicles in narrow roads, parking ban etc for reducing the number of vehicles on public roads and places. *Traffic measures would include elaborate programmes for safety to citizens and for eliminating unessential modes of traffic, a few of which are recorded hereunder: *All taxes, levies and charges now realised by the Government and Municipal Corporation on the BEST Undertaking shall be withdrawn to make the BEST at par with motor cars and other vehicles that are not required to pay any charges to any authority for use of roads. *The Government shall direct the BEST Undertaking to operate bus services in the metropolitan and commuting regions of Mumbai and reimburse the BEST for the shortfall suffered in operating these services. *A special fund shall be created by levying Congestion Tax and Pollution Tax at 10% each on vehicle fuel supplied to other vehicles at the petrol pump outlets. This fund shall be utilised to support BEST bus operations and setting up healthcare centres for treating auto-exhaust related respiratory diseases. *The BEST shall be directed to introduce long distance aircon and non-aircon bus routes using flyovers and elevated roads to wean away motor car owners. *Other measures for reducing the number of motor cars from Mumbai's congested roads shall be introduced. 5.2.4 Pedestrian Subways and Bridges. The MUTP proposes construction of 30 pedestrian subways at arbitrarily selected locations mainly to assure speed to vehicles. *The CTPM states that construction of pavements and inculcating traffic discipline should precede construction of subways. What is the use of subways if pavements do not exist. Locations are selected without considering needs fully. Only 30 subways cannot improve pedestrian safety as long as traffic discipline is not observed. This project can be taken up in consultation with citizens. 5.2.5 Station Area Traffic Improvement Scheme (SATIS) The MUTP recommends the SATIS in a few selected suburban stations. The SATIS as proposed are mainly provisions for foot over-bridges. *The CTPM recommends that practically every station requires remodelling hence remodelling and upgrading and should not be limited to construction of foot overbridges. Citizens should be involved in selecting stations and in designing the SATIS. Additional Programme taken up in the CTPM Construction of Pavements in Mumbai *Most of Mumbai roads do not have pavements. No study has been carried out of roads having no pavements or ones having pavements in bad shape. SPM and PM10 levels are very high. The CTPM proposes taking up of construction of pavements. Rs 10 billion may be required would be required for providing pavements throughout Mumbai. An amount of Rs 2 billion($ 40 million) should be allocated in the present project for constructing pavements on roads selected in citizen consultation. *The attempt in the CTPM is to make the project sustainable and affordable to majority of Mumbai residents and visitors. The fact remains that public rail and road transport provides 88% of daily journeys while 7% journeys are by private vehicles. This position is not expected to change in future. *Average national annual per capita income is India is Rs 2,900; of Mumbai resident Rs 5,400. The Project will add a debt of Rs 5,000 on the average Mumbai resident (Rs 49 make one $1). **************************************** From czegras at MIT.EDU Wed Jul 17 22:51:23 2002 From: czegras at MIT.EDU (Chris Zegras) Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 09:51:23 -0400 Subject: [sustran] "Eco-Friendly" Bus shelters Message-ID: <5.0.0.25.2.20020717094735.032d4080@po9.mit.edu> http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=57694 Capital Matters: New Delhi bus shelters go eco-friendly New Delhi |By Nilima Pathak | 15-07-2002 The capital's first two eco-friendly solar power bus shelters, equipped with a rain water harvesting facility have come up on Bhairon Marg opposite Pragati Maidan in Central Delhi, marking a new phase in a city that is becoming rapidly more environmentally aware. With a seating capacity of 26, the new bus stop provides an insight into the currently available eco-friendly technologies. Popularising and spreading the message of water preservation, it will enable the people to see how water can be collected and used for recharging the ground water table. Delhi Transport Corporation Manager (Civil) R.S. Ranga said, "The roof of the brightly-coloured bus stop will be used to collect rain water, which will then be transferred to the ground through a pipe and passed through a porous strata of earth to free it of all pollutants." Thus, instead of flowing into a drain, the water will be used to recharge the ground water table. However, Ranga warned, "The entire idea behind this is to educate the masses and let them understand and have the feel of the technology on water harvesting. But to say that the 200 ft-250 ft roof area of a bus stop will in any way contribute towards conserving water is aiming too high." According to him, the DTC came up with this novel idea since people do not know where to get guidance on this technology. "But that does not mean this is the only kind of bus stop that will be introduced all over Delhi now. Although we would like to have another 200 added to our list." Another unique feature of the new bus stop is that it will have provision for solar lighting and it will be properly lit throughout the night. This is being done to spread the message that alternate sources of energy need to be tapped. An additional factor is the use of perforated steel for providing sitting space. Ranga said, "The seats have a back rest for passenger comfort. But we have also made sure that only a genuine passenger avails of the facility and encroachers do not use the place." Heat-proof Although the bus shelter has a false ceiling to make it heat-proof, the official does not think that the 30-foot long roof shelter area will be broadened. Commuters have in the past complained against the lack of space under the roof as it does not provide much respite at noon or when it rains. Planned as part of the 'Clean, green and beautiful Lutyens' Delhi' the scheme of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is one of the many taking shapes. Interestingly, the bus stops are being constructed on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis by Hindustan Construction Corporation, which will also maintain them for three years. The cost incurred is double that of the previous normal ones. But DTC is not worried. "The cost is likely to be recovered in less than five years through commercial use of space," said Ranga. So far, the NDMC has also renovated several bus stops in its area under the BOT. Earlier, the scheme failed to take off and had to be withdrawn because of losses. It later decided to construct bus stops itself and generate funds for their maintenance through advertisements. From an iron bench supported on two poles and covered with an asbestos sheet, bus stops in the city have come a long way. With an eye on outdoor advertising, there was a rethink on design, incorporating elements like back lighting. Then came the swanky new bus stops with PVC seats and glossy exteriors, perfect for mounting advertisements. Rather comfortable, people started using them as night shelters. These were, thus, re-invented. The idea was to accommodate about 30 people in each bus stop. But this time the mission was also to discourage sleepers and vandals. The new ones did away with the asbestos roof and replaced the long benches with two small seats and two bars. The users then complained the bars were uncomfortable. Sitting on a pole with one's feet resting on another pole was not the best way to wait for a bus, they felt. The structure itself was firmly anchored with heavy-duty nuts and bolts. The roof of the bus stop was also much higher than the older ones. All plastic elements had been eliminated because they were easily stolen. Design wise, they met the requirement of being vandalism-proof. But complaints persisted. Users said that because of the obstructions on the road one had to wait on the road for the bus and shelters at some points were useless. Meanwhile, road traffic experts said the DTC responsible for constructing bus stops has ignored basic features of road and traffic engineering. The road at some points is narrow and a line of bus reaches up to a roundabout, which not only obstructs traffic but also poses a great danger to pedestrians. Ideally, experts say, the bus shelter should be 100 to 150 metres away from a flyover, an intersection or a roundabout. The Delhi Traffic Police support the claim. But the DTC officials have their reason. "Due to lack of space at certain points, it is not possible to have a bus bay everywhere," said Ranga. -------------------------------------------------- Christopher Zegras Research Associate MIT * Laboratory for Energy & the Environment * Room E40-468 1 Amherst Street * Cambridge, MA 02139 Tel: 617 258 6084 * Fax: 617 253 8013 From et3 at fx2.com Fri Jul 19 14:28:50 2002 From: et3 at fx2.com (Daryl ) Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 01:28:50 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Re: successes and failures of privatization of city transport In-Reply-To: <009e01c22380$80dfeca0$6501a8c0@home> Message-ID: <000001c22ee5$2b9f3dc0$63acfea9@P90CAD> Why set up a group, and invite us to join if the messages are not posted? There are 52 members and only 12 messages. I joined the group, but the messages are no longer being sent out. Obviously no one is moderating the messages. I sent a message to the group owner suggested that the owner either promote others to moderator status, or change the group settings to un-moderated. This request, and my posts to the group have been ignored, perhaps the owner is out of town - all the more reason to heed my advice to prevent this from happening in the future. Best Regards, Daryl Oster ************************************************* CEO, et3.com Inc. http://www.et3.com et3@et3.com POB 1423 Crystal River FL 34423-1423 (352) 795-5415 (mobile (352)257-8337) Our ETT patent offers 300mph transit via human power, 4000mph with MagLev. Your help is vital. ************************************************* -----Original Message----- From: owner-sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org [mailto:owner-sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org] On Behalf Of Eric Britton Sent: Thursday, July 04, 2002 1:31 PM To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org Cc: utsg@jiscmail.ac.uk; transport-partnerships@mailbase.ac.uk; setnet@mailbase.ac.uk; 'DL - Alt-Transp-Nomail Mailing List!' Subject: [sustran] successes and failures of privatization of city transport Paris, Thursday, July 04, 2002 Dear Friends, Just to let you know that there is a vigorous series of critical exchanges that are going on with the broad contact of the World Transport Policy and Practice list these days on the topic of successes and failures of privatization of city transport operations, including in but not at all limited to Britain. As a result of the first round of these exchanges the editors of the Journal have decided to open up the pages for a special edition to be devoted to providing some much needed background and perspective on this difficult topic. We see this as a process, of which the first step is this series of exchanges and proposals - for which we have set up a special group which you are invited to join at WorldTransport-Focus@yahoogroups.com. To do this, all you have to do is send a blank email to WorldTransport-Focus-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and you are on. With all good wishes, Eric Britton The Journal of World Transport Policy and Practice The Electronic Edition is at http://wTransport.org The Commons __ technology, economy, society__ Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France Day phone: +331 4326 1323 Mobile: +336 8096 7879 24 hour Fax/Voicemail hotline: +1 888 677-4866 IP Videoconference: 81.65.50.63 Email: mail@wTransport.org or ecoplan.adsl@wanadoo.fr From et3 at fx2.com Tue Jul 23 01:54:29 2002 From: et3 at fx2.com (Daryl ) Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 12:54:29 -0400 Subject: [sustran] RE: Re: successes and failures of privatization of city transport In-Reply-To: <000401c23143$50981830$6501a8c0@home> Message-ID: <000301c231a0$72b10f50$63acfea9@P90CAD> -----Original Message From: Eric Britton [mailto:ecoplan.adsl@wanadoo.fr] Subject: RE: Re: successes and failures of privatization of city transport >Dear Mr. Oster, >Sorry that you were the victim of our new anti-spam system. For the most part it -- >ChoiceMail -- is working very well and in fact we recommend it to those who are >being overloade3d these days. We recommend it. >As to your recent mails to the group, our focus is quite on policy and not technology, >so we do systematically do not include contributions from suppliers or proponents of >technology based systems. For technology projects, we recommend the excellent >site of our colleagues at Innovative Transportation Technologies which you will find >at http://faculty.washington.edu/~jbs/itrans For our part we have to be very careful >to retain focus in order to hold this group together and thank you for your >understanding. >Sincerely, >Eric Britton Eric, I am quite interested in the innovative spam filter and I do intend on looking into using it. Thank you for recommending it. Additionally, I am an active member of the transit-alternatives list. Thank you for your reply and explanation of your WorldTransport-Focus group's policy. Is everyone in the group aware of this policy? I did not see it stated on the home page of the group. My post (included below this message) to the WorldTransport-Focus group was strictly about world transport planning issues; I am surprised you rejected it. My post apparently is not in agreement with your personal ideology; but I hope for the sake of the environment and world inhabitants that you re-examine your arbitrary policy. I think that we do agree that energy and environmental sustainability is paramount. The global sustainability issues were agreed upon during the world sustainability summit in Rio. The UN agenda21 was drafted and adopted by most of the UN nations a dozen years ago. Agenda21 has been universal accepted, and massive sustainability legislation has resulted from it. The efforts precipitated by UN Agenda21 have been noticed about as much as a fart during a hurricane. Subsequent sustainability conferences have noted that the world is less sustainable now than it was a dozen years ago. Most policy makers and transportation planners do not live sustainable lives; how can they expect "everyone else" to do so? Planners and policy makers must ask ourselves: "If everyone else in the world lived exactly like I do, would it be sustainable?" Eric, how many miles have you traveled in the last year? What was the percentage by train, airplane, car, buss, bicycle, etc. The problem is that most people think: "That policy or transit system is great for everyone else; but it does not apply to me." This is the crux of the issue; the policies being adopted makes us feel good, but ARE NOT WORKING. If we keep doing what we are doing, we will keep getting what we are getting. The current trends in policy making may be environmentally and energy sustainable, but ARE NOT SOCIALLY SUSTAINABLE. Ignoring basic human nature, with regard to policy making will fail. Planning and implementing high benefit to cost transportation technologies is the only way to achieve sustainability of ecology, energy, and social issues. I am sending this to the sustran list as well, perhaps some of the worldtransport-focus members will see it, and understand that the worldtransport-focus group is apparently fitted with blinders. There is much we agree on, I hope you do not continue to exclude posts from those who suggest that there are technologies that should be considered when planning global transportation policy. If you have any reasons to suggest that my global transportation planning thesis is unsound; isn't open debate more effective than censorship? I would think that is the purpose of group discussion. On the other hand, if you have no credible arguments to counter my thesis, then your strategy of rejecting my post is your only option; and I can respect your decision to do it. I suspect though that you just haven't taken the time to examine the perspective I bring to the table. I hope you do take the time, as the planning strategy I suggest has the potential to accomplish over 80% of UN Agenda21 goals within our lifetime. Best Regards, Daryl Oster ************************************************* CEO, et3.com Inc. http://www.et3.com et3@et3.com POB 1423 Crystal River FL 34423-1423 (352) 795-5415 (mobile (352)257-8337) Our ETT patent offers 300mph transit via human power, 4000mph with MagLev. Your help is vital. ************************************************* --- In WorldTransport-Focus@y..., "p.withrington" wrote: > In 1966/7 I had the misfortune to share an office with two members of > the Railway Conversion League . They believed that the railway lines > should be removed in favour of a road surface (managed to avoid > congestion). > > I thought they were lunatics but, much to my regret, they destroyed > all my arguments over a few weeks and I had to join them. Now, I can scarcely mention rail in polite company for fear of attracting truly vitriolic criticism for railways appear to occupy a territory close to heaven in most people's minds. > > However, I risk putting the case before this forum via a series of > messages of which this is the first. The data relates almost entirely > to the UK national rail network. > > I shall show that, contrary to popular belief, motor roads managed to > avoid congestion have 3 to 4 times the capacity of equivalent rail > space at one quarter the cost while using less fuel and while > subjecting passengers to casualty costs 3 times lower than suffered by > rail passengers. [CLIP] >Paul F Withrington Daryl Oster's reply: I agree that rail has been proven to be less effective than roads. In most markets where earning power is improving, trains continue to loose market share, in spite of subsidies. While it can be shown that a fully loaded train is more energy efficient and labor efficient than trucks or cars, they have none the less proven themselves to be unsustainable due to social reasons. Attempting to force social changes contrary to basic human nature is proven to fail over and over. Planning Safe, Sustainable, High Benefit to Cost Transportation. C 2002, Daryl Oster, Crystal River FL ABSTRACT Safety of transit is dependant on the degree of isolation of the path of travel, and the kinetic and exothermic energy of the vehicle. Public safety is easily compromised when massive vehicles are hijacked. Jet aircraft represent great threat due to rapid unconstrained operation and mass of fuel. The sustainability movement is based on observations that traditional transit planning yields: global warming, acid storm runoff, wildlife harm, bad air, noise, accidents, crumbling infrastructure, and congestion. Experts see oil production peaking around 2010 (http://www.hubbertpeak.com). The prosperity from the automobile and airplane are not sustainable. A new quantum leap is needed. The "new hydrogen economy" is not sustainable, it will likely increase total energy use. Fuel cells are dirty to produce. Most Hydrogen is produced from methane; wasting a third of the energy, and releasing greenhouse gas. Producing H2 from electrolysis of water wastes 30% of the electrical energy. The "new urbanism" and "smart growth" initiatives are bids to return to old ways; they oppose social expectations of expanding affluence, this limits their success. Bicycles are sustainable, but weather exposure, meager speed, and pathetic capacity limit use; so the car gains ground. Rail systems are being proposed as sustainable transportation. Trains are appropriate vehicles to move elephant sized cargo, not humans; http://www.publicpurpose.com displays the failure of rail. Terrorists can easily derail trains. Evacuated Tube Transport (ETT), Ultra Low Power Vehicles (ULPV), and Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) are safe, sustainable transportation technologies that do not challenge social momentum. ETT is: * FAST - to 500 kph for regional use, (6000 kph international). * CONVENIENT- continuous, automated operation without delays. * EFFICIENT- a human powered ETT can achieve 500kph. * CLEAN- environmentally benign using renewable energy. * SAFE- isolated guideway eliminates collisions in any weather. * ACHIEVABLE- equipment exists to build ETT with affordable components. * SCALEABLE - capacity can be inexpensively added as demand grows. The automated, silent ETT works by removing resistance. Ultra lightweight, pressurized cabins travel in tubes on thin steel wheels, or P-MagLev. No air is in the tube to cause resistance. Energy is recovered when slowing. Propulsion fuel is not carried onboard. (See http://www.et3.com/intro.htm ) ULPVs are: * Under 5kw to minimize energy use and emissions. * Under 100kg to maximize acceleration, and minimize material use. * Enclosed for usability in varying conditions. * Streamlined to reach highway speeds. * Narrow - can double lane capacity by adding a stripe. * Low cost without subsidies. * fit in ETT capsules for fast, distant travel with personal transport convenience. Automated PRT costs 10% to build and operate verses light rail, and is twice as fast. See http://www.artwerkz.com/h/ (links to other PRT here as well). Government and industry must achieve public purpose at minimum cost. Innovative transit proposals must be compared on a benefit to cost basis with existing technology; and show capital and energy costs for low, medium, and high use factors. This will show relative risks if use fails expectations. Failure to implement safe, sustainable, high benefit to cost technologies will result in moribund economies, degrading environment, starvation, and war, as people struggle to survive without cheap energy. For a sustainable transportation plan to succeed short term it must offer; improved convenience, capacity, and speed at lower cost with greater safety. For long term, it must specify systems that offer a tenfold improvement in energy efficiency, and improve environmental conditions with tenfold reduction in emissions. Planning and funding a sustainable transit initiative using the appropriate application of high cost to benefit technologies like ETT, ULPV, and PRT will yield safe, sustainable results unobtainable any other way. Best Regards, Daryl Oster ************************************************* CEO, et3.com Inc. http://www.et3.com et3@et3.com POB 1423 Crystal River FL 34423-1423 (352) 795-5415 (mobile (352)257-8337) Our ETT patent offers 300mph transit via human power, 4000mph with MagLev. Your help is vital. ************************************************* From geobpa at nus.edu.sg Tue Jul 23 10:01:26 2002 From: geobpa at nus.edu.sg (Paul Barter) Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2002 09:01:26 +0800 Subject: [sustran] FW: World Turning to Bycycle for Mobility and Exercise Message-ID: <0709A702109DA844B290CEAA959078BD207A9A@MBXSRV04.stf.nus.edu.sg> ----- Original Message ----- From: "kisan mehta" To: "Paul Barter" ; Cc: "kisan mehta" Sent: Saturday, July 20, 2002 9:05 AM Subject: Fw: World Turning to Bycycle for Mobility and Exercise > Dear Paul, > > The following sent to sustran-discuss bounced. Would you like to put > the same in circulation? Best wishes Priya and Kisan > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "kisan mehta" > To: "sustran-discuss" > Cc: "kisan mehta" > Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 11:47 AM > Subject: Re: World Turning to Bycycle for Mobility and Exercise > > > > Dear Colleagues, > > > > We do not know whether statistics cited in the piece coauthored by > > Lester R. Brown and Janet Larsen (copied below) are of the US or > > global. Probably they refer to the US and then to roads reserved for > > cycles in other countries. Instances from developing (correctly > > poor) countries cannot be relevant as the option for the citizen is > > of getting the first mechanical mode of mobility after using walking > > for movement for ages. Increase in number of cycles in these > > countries where the option of car ownership is restricted to the > > richest few cannot give a correct of picture. In fact it is these > > poor countries that suffer the most from uncontrolled and state/big > > business/multilateral funding agencies supported explosions of > > personal motor cars. > > > > Such studies do not take us far. Even in countries where cycling is > > promoted, through special policy measures, one has to juxtapose the > > length of roads restricted to cycles with the total > > length of roads in that country. It is clear that motor cars and > > cycles cannot coexist on roads open to all modes of trafic. Even > > public road buses cannot coexist with faster mode of traffic that is > > motor car,.So roads where all traffic modes are allowed should be > > considered out of bounds for cyclists and buses even if their movement > is technically not banned. Computerised traffic > > management systems are promoted and supported by World > Bank, Asian Development Bank etc, set up for poverty removal and > > reduction, to provide uninterrupted speed to fast moving vehicle > > again the motor car. The resultant high road fatality rate in which > > (according to a WB report) individuals using motor car form only 5% > > of deaths (pedestrians/cyclists forming 95%). > > > > Another reason in decline in car purchase in the developed countries > > esp the US can be existence of already very high > > rate of car ownership to the population. There is a limit to > > car ownership for any community. For citizens residing in > > countries having very high car rate, can we not say that cycle > > ownership is a status symbol to be used by school students or > > housewives for local errands? > > > > The World Bank bemoaning very low car ownership in a > poor country now promotes motorisation claiming to provide better > mobility to the bulk of citizens. The Bank approved in June 2002 6 > lane roads sans pavements in crowded Mumbai (average population > density exceeding 27,000 per sq km) where auto exhaust forms 80% of > air pollution and public transport provides 88% of total journeys. > > > > It should obviously be the net decline in the number of cars > on road and increase in cycle ownership that can give satisfaction to > concerned citizens and environmentalists. > > > > While we appreciate the effort gone into writing the `World Turning > > to Bicycle for mobility and exercise' we can say that large scale > > and visible change over from motor cars to cycles, other non > > motorised modes and public transport can only > give the community a feeling that car owners have started caring for > the protection of the environment more than personal comforts. Best > wishes. > > > Kisan Mehta President kisansbc@vsnl.com > Priya Salvi Hon Project Coordinator priya_salvi@yahoo.com Save Bombay > Committee 620 Jame Jamshed Road, Dadar East, > Mumbai 400 014 India > Tel: 00 91 22 414 9688 > Fax: .00 91 22 415 5536 > > > *************************************** > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: > > To: > > Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 7:51 PM > > > > > Eco-Economy Update 2002-9 > > > For Immediate Release > > > Copyright Earth Policy Institute 2002 > > > July 17, 2002 > > > Sender: owner-public@lists.earth-policy.org > > > Precedence: bulk > > > > > WORLD TURNING TO BICYCLE FOR MOBILITY AND EXERCISE > > > Bicycle Sales Top 100 Million In 2000 > > > http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update13.htm > > > > > > Lester R. Brown and Janet Larsen > > > > In the year 2000, world bicycle production climbed to 101 million, > more than double the 41 million cars produced. Sales of bikes are > soaring because they provide affordable mobility for billions of > people, increase physical fitness, alleviate traffic congestion, and > do not pollute the air or emit climate-disrupting carbon dioxide. > > > > A half-century ago, it was widely expected that automobile production > would quickly exceed that of bicycles. Indeed by 1965, car production, > which had been growing rapidly since World War II, was poised to > overtake bicycle production. But it never did. Mounting environmental > concerns slowed the growth in car output and accelerated that of > bikes. Between 1969 and 1970, the year of the first Earth Day, > bike sales jumped from 25 million to 36 million. > > > > Shortly after the first Earth Day, the two oil-price shocks of the > 1970s underlined the risks of oil-dependent mobility. Car sales > stalled near 30 million from 1973 to 1983. Bicycle sales, meanwhile, > jumped from 52 million to 74 million. > http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update13_data.htm > > > > The bicycle's principal attraction is its low cost. With cars costing > easily 100 times as much, the bicycle offers mobility to billions of > people who cannot afford a car. The widely affordable bike attracted > 960 million buyers during the 1990s, compared with 370 million for the > car. > > > > The bicycle also reduces the amount of land that needs to > be paved. Six bicycles typically can fit into the road space used by > one .For parking, the advantage is even greater, with 20 bicycles > occupying the space required for a car. > > As the world automobile fleet expanded and as people > moved in droves to cities, ever worsening traffic congestion > highlighted the inherent conflict between the automobile and the city. > In London today, the average speed of a car is roughly the same as > that of a horse-drawn carriage a century ago. Each year, the average > motorist in Bangkok spends the equivalent of 44 working days sitting > in a car going nowhere. After a point, more cars mean less mobility. > Another attraction of the bicycle is that it does not contribute to > the air pollution that claims 3 million lives annually. > > > > In recent decades, the densely populated countries of northern Europe > have turned to the bicycle to alleviate traffic congestion and reduce > air pollution. In Stockholm, one of the world's wealthiest cities, car > use has declined in recent years. Railroads and buses are increasingly > linked with pedestrian and bicycle routes. In Sweden's urban areas, > roughly 10 percent of all trips are taken by bicycle, about the same > number as by public transit. Almost 40 % of trips are on foot. Only 36 > % are by car. > > > > In the Netherlands, bicycles account for up to half of all trips in > some cities. Extensive bike paths and lanes in both the Netherlands > (almost 19,000 kilometers) and Germany (over 31,000 kilometers) > connect rural and urban areas. These networks offer the cyclist > separate right-of-way, making for safer trips and less direct > competition with cars and trucks. > > In Copenhagen, one third of the population commutes to work by cycle. > By 2005, Copenhagen's innovative city-bike program will provide 3,000 > bicycles for free use within the city. Bike use there is expected to > continue growing as city planners increase already high car parking > fees by 3 % annually over the next 15 years, impose high fuel taxes > and vehicle registration costs, and concentrate future development > around rail lines. > > > > In many cities in the United States, bikes provide mobility that cars > cannot match. More than four fifths of all urban police departments > now have some of their force on bicycles. Officers on bikes can > usually reach the scene of a crime before those in squad cars, > typically making 50 percent more arrests per day. For fiscally > sensitive city managers, the low cost of operating a bicycle and the > high productivity of an officer using one is a winning combination. > > > > Urban bicycle messenger services are now common in large cities. For > firms that market on the Internet, quick delivery means more > customers.In a city like New York, where this creates an enormous > potential for the use of bicycle messengers, an estimated 300 bicycle > messenger firms compete for $700 million worth of business each year. > > > > Land scarcity is also driving the world toward the bicycle, > particularly in densely populated Asia, where half the world lives. In > heavily populated, affluent Japan, the bicycle plays a strategic role. > In Tokyo, where 90 % of workers commute by rail, 30 % use a bicycle to > reach their local rail station. > > > > When the Chinese government announced in 1994 that it was going to > develop an automobile-centered transportation system, the policy was > quickly challenged by a group of eminent scientists who produced a > white paper indicating several reasons this approach would not work. > The first reason was that China did not have enough land both to build > the roads, highways, and parking lots needed for automobiles and to > feed its people. The scientists argued instead for a > rail/bicycle-based transport system. > > > > Although some cities in China, such as Beijing and Shanghai, are > restricting bicycle use in favor of the car, bike ownership throughout > the country is still on the rise. Automobile ownership in China is > measured in the millions, but bicycle ownership is in the hundreds of > millions. > > > > > Bicycles are also used to transport goods. In rural Africa > where women use bicycles to transport farm produce to > market, the resulting market expansion has raised farm output. In > Ghana, bikes help HIV/AIDS educators reach 50 percent more people than > those on foot. > > > > For decades, the United States largely ignored the bicycle > in transport system planning as federal funds were channeled almost > exclusively into highway construction. This began to change in 1991 > when Congress passed landmark legislation recognizing the role of the > bicycle in the development of transport systems and requiring each > state to have a bicycle coordinator. From 1992 through 1997, more than > $1 billion of federal funds were invested in bicycle infrastructure. > In New Jersey, this translated into an 800-mile statewide network of > bicycle trails. > > > > This new federal commitment helped boost U.S. bike sales > from 15 million in 1991 to 21 million in 2000. When > President Clinton signed the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st > Century in 1998, he set the stage for further integration of bicycles > into transportation planning. > > Bicycles are gaining popularity in industrial countries because they > provide exercise. With half or more of adults now overweight in > countries like the United States, Russia, Germany and the United > Kingdom, obesity is one of the world's leading public health problems. > In the United States, obesity-related deaths currently total 300,000 a > year, fast approaching the 420,000 for cigarette smoking. > > > > The bicycle's role in the world transport system is expanding. Not > only does it provide low-cost mobility, but in cities it often > provides more mobility than the automobile. Because it provides > mobility and exercise, does not pollute the air or disrupt the h's > climate, and is efficient in its use of land, the bicycle is emerging > as the transport vehicle of the future. > > > > Additional data and information sources at www.earth-policy.org or > contact > jlarsen@earth-policy.org > > For reprint permission contact rjkauffman@earth-policy.org > > > > > From geobpa at nus.edu.sg Tue Jul 30 10:11:07 2002 From: geobpa at nus.edu.sg (Paul Barter) Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 09:11:07 +0800 Subject: [sustran] FW: WSSD Johannesburg - WBCSD Sustainable Mobility Event Message-ID: <0709A702109DA844B290CEAA959078BD207C33@MBXSRV04.stf.nus.edu.sg> -----Original Message----- From: mobility@wbcsd.org [mailto:mobility@wbcsd.org] Sent: Monday, 29 July 2002 11:40 PM To: Paul Barter Subject: WSSD Johannesburg - WBCSD Sustainable Mobility Event WSSD Johannesburg - Sustainable Mobility Event The WBCSD Sustainable Mobility Project is very pleased to invite you to attend the Sustainable Mobility side event during the WSSD in South Africa. The event takes place on September 2, 11:00 am-12:30 pm, at the Hilton Hotel, Johannesburg. The event features a panel discussion between leading voices from business and politics addressing the main challenges facing transportation systems worldwide and actions needed to foster sustainable mobility. Among the persons in the panel are both Mr. Philip Watts, Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of Royal Dutch/ Shell Group of Companies, and Mr. Louis Schweitzer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Renault. The Sustainable Mobility Project, sponsored by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), aims to develop a vision for sustainable mobility 2030 and possible pathways for getting there. The project is scheduled to end in December 2003. The member companies include BP, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Michelin, Nissan, Norsk Hydro, Renault, Shell, Toyota, and Volkswagen. Refreshments and food will be served. Please register online (http://www.wbcsd.org/summit/wbcsdevents.htm# ) or return the registration form to Catherine Morel at Fax: +41 22 839 3131, or email: morel@wbcsd.org. Please be aware that all participants must be registered by the United Nations in order to attend. For further information, please visit the Summit Logistics on the BASD website (http://www.basd-action.net/resources/logistics.shtml). PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO PEOPLE IN YOUR NETWORK THAT WILL BE IN JOHANNESBURG AND MIGHT HAVE AN INTEREST IN SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY. Please have a look at our "July 2002 Progress Report", that will be officially launched during the WSSD, by entering: http://www.SustainableMobility.org/publications/publications.asp where the report can be found and downloaded. For news on the project and on sustainable mobility in general, please visit: http://www.SustainableMobility.org Kristian Pladsen WBCSD Sustainable Mobility Project Communications Manager Tel: + 41 22 839 31 00 From ecologic at gn.apc.org Tue Jul 30 16:23:53 2002 From: ecologic at gn.apc.org (John Whitelegg) Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 08:23:53 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: FW: WSSD Johannesburg - WBCSD Sustainable Mobility Event References: <0709A702109DA844B290CEAA959078BD207C33@MBXSRV04.stf.nus.edu.sg> Message-ID: <001801c2379a$e7846520$718bf8d4@lancs.ac.uk> Dear Colleagues, These discussions are not much use until real people get a voice. At the very least a discussion of this kind should give a right of reply to those for whom car ownership is an impossibility eg the 1-2 million people who arrive at Calcutta's 2 main railway stations every day and struggle with the appalling road traffic environment to get to their final destination. Who is speaking for children, the elderly, the mobility disadvantaged and those who want to live a quiet life away from the noise, danger and stink of the cars produced by Renault and fuelled by Royal Dutch Shell? This meeting is part of the problem. very best wishes John Whitelegg Editor World transport Policy and Practice ----- Original Message ----- From: Paul Barter To: Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 2:11 AM Subject: [sustran] FW: WSSD Johannesburg - WBCSD Sustainable Mobility Event -----Original Message----- From: mobility@wbcsd.org [mailto:mobility@wbcsd.org] Sent: Monday, 29 July 2002 11:40 PM To: Paul Barter Subject: WSSD Johannesburg - WBCSD Sustainable Mobility Event WSSD Johannesburg - Sustainable Mobility Event The WBCSD Sustainable Mobility Project is very pleased to invite you to attend the Sustainable Mobility side event during the WSSD in South Africa. The event takes place on September 2, 11:00 am-12:30 pm, at the Hilton Hotel, Johannesburg. The event features a panel discussion between leading voices from business and politics addressing the main challenges facing transportation systems worldwide and actions needed to foster sustainable mobility. Among the persons in the panel are both Mr. Philip Watts, Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of Royal Dutch/ Shell Group of Companies, and Mr. Louis Schweitzer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Renault. The Sustainable Mobility Project, sponsored by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), aims to develop a vision for sustainable mobility 2030 and possible pathways for getting there. The project is scheduled to end in December 2003. The member companies include BP, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Michelin, Nissan, Norsk Hydro, Renault, Shell, Toyota, and Volkswagen. Refreshments and food will be served. Please register online (http://www.wbcsd.org/summit/wbcsdevents.htm# ) or return the registration form to Catherine Morel at Fax: +41 22 839 3131, or email: morel@wbcsd.org. Please be aware that all participants must be registered by the United Nations in order to attend. For further information, please visit the Summit Logistics on the BASD website (http://www.basd-action.net/resources/logistics.shtml). PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO PEOPLE IN YOUR NETWORK THAT WILL BE IN JOHANNESBURG AND MIGHT HAVE AN INTEREST IN SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY. Please have a look at our "July 2002 Progress Report", that will be officially launched during the WSSD, by entering: http://www.SustainableMobility.org/publications/publications.asp where the report can be found and downloaded. For news on the project and on sustainable mobility in general, please visit: http://www.SustainableMobility.org Kristian Pladsen WBCSD Sustainable Mobility Project Communications Manager Tel: + 41 22 839 31 00 From ecologic at gn.apc.org Tue Jul 30 16:23:53 2002 From: ecologic at gn.apc.org (John Whitelegg) Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 08:23:53 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: FW: WSSD Johannesburg - WBCSD Sustainable Mobility Event References: <0709A702109DA844B290CEAA959078BD207C33@MBXSRV04.stf.nus.edu.sg> Message-ID: <001801c2379a$e7846520$718bf8d4@lancs.ac.uk> Dear Colleagues, These discussions are not much use until real people get a voice. At the very least a discussion of this kind should give a right of reply to those for whom car ownership is an impossibility eg the 1-2 million people who arrive at Calcutta's 2 main railway stations every day and struggle with the appalling road traffic environment to get to their final destination. Who is speaking for children, the elderly, the mobility disadvantaged and those who want to live a quiet life away from the noise, danger and stink of the cars produced by Renault and fuelled by Royal Dutch Shell? This meeting is part of the problem. very best wishes John Whitelegg Editor World transport Policy and Practice ----- Original Message ----- From: Paul Barter To: Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 2:11 AM Subject: [sustran] FW: WSSD Johannesburg - WBCSD Sustainable Mobility Event -----Original Message----- From: mobility@wbcsd.org [mailto:mobility@wbcsd.org] Sent: Monday, 29 July 2002 11:40 PM To: Paul Barter Subject: WSSD Johannesburg - WBCSD Sustainable Mobility Event WSSD Johannesburg - Sustainable Mobility Event The WBCSD Sustainable Mobility Project is very pleased to invite you to attend the Sustainable Mobility side event during the WSSD in South Africa. The event takes place on September 2, 11:00 am-12:30 pm, at the Hilton Hotel, Johannesburg. The event features a panel discussion between leading voices from business and politics addressing the main challenges facing transportation systems worldwide and actions needed to foster sustainable mobility. Among the persons in the panel are both Mr. Philip Watts, Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of Royal Dutch/ Shell Group of Companies, and Mr. Louis Schweitzer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Renault. The Sustainable Mobility Project, sponsored by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), aims to develop a vision for sustainable mobility 2030 and possible pathways for getting there. The project is scheduled to end in December 2003. The member companies include BP, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Michelin, Nissan, Norsk Hydro, Renault, Shell, Toyota, and Volkswagen. Refreshments and food will be served. Please register online (http://www.wbcsd.org/summit/wbcsdevents.htm# ) or return the registration form to Catherine Morel at Fax: +41 22 839 3131, or email: morel@wbcsd.org. Please be aware that all participants must be registered by the United Nations in order to attend. For further information, please visit the Summit Logistics on the BASD website (http://www.basd-action.net/resources/logistics.shtml). PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO PEOPLE IN YOUR NETWORK THAT WILL BE IN JOHANNESBURG AND MIGHT HAVE AN INTEREST IN SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY. Please have a look at our "July 2002 Progress Report", that will be officially launched during the WSSD, by entering: http://www.SustainableMobility.org/publications/publications.asp where the report can be found and downloaded. For news on the project and on sustainable mobility in general, please visit: http://www.SustainableMobility.org Kristian Pladsen WBCSD Sustainable Mobility Project Communications Manager Tel: + 41 22 839 31 00 From czegras at MIT.EDU Wed Jul 31 03:59:23 2002 From: czegras at MIT.EDU (Chris Zegras) Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 14:59:23 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Emissions from Trucks in New Delhi Message-ID: <5.0.2.1.2.20020730145659.00bbfa40@po9.mit.edu> From the Press Release: A CSE study shows that the Supreme Court ruling on trucks and goods vehicles will make a dramatic impact on particulate pollution levels in the Capital NEW DELHI July 16, 2002: Centre for Science and Environment welcomes the recent Supreme Court ruling that prohibits the entry of polluting trucks into Delhi and mandates Euro II compliance for the city's transportation fleet. More than 65,000 trucks and other goods vehicles will be barred from entering Delhi after the Court order is enforced. Immediately after the Court ruling, CSE estimated the impact of this move on emissions from truck sources into Delhi with the help of its newly developed computer simulated vehicular emissions load model. The results are dramatic. More at: http://www.cseindia.org/html/cmp/air/press_20020716.htm From ecoplan.adsl at wanadoo.fr Wed Jul 31 05:35:04 2002 From: ecoplan.adsl at wanadoo.fr (Eric Britton) Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 22:35:04 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Emissions from Trucks in New Delhi In-Reply-To: <5.0.2.1.2.20020730145659.00bbfa40@po9.mit.edu> Message-ID: <000001c23808$962c3a90$6501a8c0@home> Chris Zegras kindly shares with us the news: "More than 65,000 trucks and other goods vehicles will be barred from entering Delhi after the Court order is enforced. " Hmm. Is this really good news? Am I the only one around here who is a priori suspicious of deus ex machina solutions? Or is this just one more example of egregious sub-optimization (the grand specialty of transportation policy all too often, I am afraid). Please someone explain to me what I am wrong (again). Eric Britton PS. Take a vacation and put your weight on what is without a doubt the right side. Pop into http://ngroups.com/stockholm and give your counsel on the survey behind the Message to Johannesburg. It will take three minutes of your time, and we need you. (And you just may need us). ;-) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/sustran-discuss/attachments/20020730/cf109df1/attachment.htm From tr_saranathan at hotmail.com Wed Jul 31 11:52:07 2002 From: tr_saranathan at hotmail.com (TR Saranathan) Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 02:52:07 +0000 Subject: [sustran] Re: Emissions from Trucks in New Delhi Message-ID: Dear Sir, Ofcourse ,it is a welcome step. But the problem of one State will be shifted to another. The firm solution lies in tackling the source i.e. the engines of the truck or alternate eco-friendly fuels and that too uniformly in the whole of the country. Dr.T.R.Saranathan Vice President, SOCLEEN >From: Chris Zegras >Reply-To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org >To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org >Subject: [sustran] Emissions from Trucks in New Delhi >Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 14:59:23 -0400 > > >From the Press Release: > >A CSE study shows that the Supreme Court ruling on trucks and goods >vehicles will make a dramatic impact on particulate pollution >levels in the Capital > >NEW DELHI July 16, 2002: Centre for Science and Environment welcomes the >recent Supreme Court ruling that prohibits the entry of polluting >trucks into Delhi and mandates Euro II compliance for the city's >transportation fleet. More than 65,000 trucks and other goods vehicles will >be barred from entering Delhi after the Court order is enforced. >Immediately after the Court ruling, CSE estimated the impact of this move >on emissions from truck sources into Delhi with the help of its newly >developed computer simulated vehicular emissions load model. The results >are dramatic. > >More at: >http://www.cseindia.org/html/cmp/air/press_20020716.htm > > _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx From tr_saranathan at hotmail.com Wed Jul 31 12:11:56 2002 From: tr_saranathan at hotmail.com (TR Saranathan) Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 03:11:56 +0000 Subject: [sustran] Re: Emissions from Trucks in New Delhi Message-ID: Dear Friends, Ofcourse it is a good news at the outset. But it is only shifting the solution from one State to other States at a higher cost. All these trucks will go via other states and the fuel will be wasted to that extent. We should take this as only a first step in the long journey. The solution lies in controlling the pollution at the source i.e the trucks using eco-friendly fuel and that too in the whole country. Hence, it is necessary to look into changes in the Engine and fuel. Dr.T.R.Saranathan >From: "Eric Britton" >Reply-To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org >To: >Subject: [sustran] Emissions from Trucks in New Delhi >Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 22:35:04 +0200 > >Chris Zegras kindly shares with us the news: "More than 65,000 trucks >and other goods vehicles will be barred from entering Delhi after the >Court order is enforced. " > > > >Hmm. Is this really good news? Am I the only one around here who is a >priori suspicious of deus ex machina solutions? Or is this just one >more example of egregious sub-optimization (the grand specialty of >transportation policy all too often, I am afraid). > > > >Please someone explain to me what I am wrong (again). > > > >Eric Britton > > > >PS. Take a vacation and put your weight on what is without a doubt the >right side. Pop into http://ngroups.com/stockholm and give your counsel >on the survey behind the Message to Johannesburg. It will take three >minutes of your time, and we need you. (And you just may need us). ;-) > _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com From dmohan at cbme.iitd.ernet.in Wed Jul 31 14:29:36 2002 From: dmohan at cbme.iitd.ernet.in (Dinesh Mohan) Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 10:59:36 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Emissions from Trucks in New Delhi References: <000001c23808$962c3a90$6501a8c0@home> Message-ID: <3D4775C0.6087655E@cbme.iitd.ernet.in> Eric's suspicions are well placed. Such decisions are based on an upper-class' concern with air not people. With mythologies, not facts and numbers. With internet shopping, not the hurly burly of trade and living. * Decision based on the assertion that 65,000 trucks will be barred from Delhi. On the first day of enforcement they could find less than 3,000 trucks to stop! * Decision based on the assertion that trucks coming from out of Delhi are dirtier than those plying in Delhi. A study released by CRRI yesterday claims the opposite! (Should be obvious - only those trucks will be used for long distance travel whose engines are in good condition. Dilapidated old trucks are good for local work. Simple capitalism at work.) * Trucks should not enter Delhi so that the decision makers have cleaner air. They don't care if the trucks pollute poorer people outside the legal boundaries of Delhi. * All "clean air" decisions in Delhi target public transport and taxis, make them more expensive and reduce their availability. Not a single decision targets car owners. In the name of freedom and sustainability neo-fascist ideologies have got more credibility after 9/11. Dinesh Mohan Eric Britton wrote: > > > Chris Zegras kindly shares with us the news: ?More than 65,000 trucks > and other goods vehicles will be barred from entering Delhi after the > Court order is enforced. ? > > > > Hmm. Is this really good news? Am I the only one around here who is > a priori suspicious of deus ex machina solutions? Or is this just one > more example of egregious sub-optimization (the grand specialty of > transportation policy all too often, I am afraid). > > > > Please someone explain to me what I am wrong (again). > > > > Eric Britton > > > > PS. Take a vacation and put your weight on what is without a doubt the > right side. Pop into http://ngroups.com/stockholm and give your > counsel on the survey behind the Message to Johannesburg. It will > take three minutes of your time, and we need you. (And you just may > need us). ;-) > -- ======================================================================= TRIPP website http://www.iitd.ac.in/tripp/ READ THE DECLARATION ON PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO SAFETY http://www.iitd.ac.in/tripp/righttosafety/rightframe.html [IMORTANT: if this server gives you trouble in sending a mail to me, you can use temporarily.] ======================================================================= Dinesh Mohan Henry Ford Professor for Biomechanics and Transportation Safety Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme Room MS 808, Main Building Indian Institute of Technology Hauz Khas New Delhi 110016 Phone: (+91 11) 659 1147 & 659 6361 FAX: (+91 11) 685 8703 & 685 1169 Home: (+91 11) 649 4910 Email: dmohan@cbme.iitd.ernet.in ======================================================================= -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/sustran-discuss/attachments/20020731/72627136/attachment.htm From ccordero at amauta.rcp.net.pe Wed Jul 31 15:20:27 2002 From: ccordero at amauta.rcp.net.pe (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Carlos_Cordero_Vel=E1squez?=) Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 01:20:27 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Re: Emissions from Trucks in New Delhi References: Message-ID: <003201c2385a$83c47e60$47b601c8@ccordero> Judicial power is not the best field to resolve transport problems deeply rooted in economic and social fabric. Judicial decisions are normally based (biased?) on people rights which is not bad, however every mandatory decision should take account of social and economic feasibilities, which not seems to be the case. Even in the common law system the mandatory sentence has a lot of problems to be implemented since there is many colateral issues to be figured out. The real outcome is a declarative decision which could help environmental activist to move forward and also to push the central or local governments to take actions. In Peru the case is exactly the opposite, every time the municipality tries to regulate public transport the small buses operators claims they have the right to work, supported by the judicial system. However in both cases this kind of situations clearly express the lack of a real policy regarding environment and transport. In this context social actors give a role to the judicial system. Carlos Cordero Velasquez ----- Original Message ----- From: TR Saranathan To: Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 10:11 PM Subject: [sustran] Re: Emissions from Trucks in New Delhi > Dear Friends, > Ofcourse it is a good news at the outset. But it is only shifting the > solution from one State to other States at a higher cost. All these trucks > will go via other states and the fuel will be wasted to that extent. > We should take this as only a first step in the long journey. The solution > lies in controlling the pollution at the source i.e the trucks using > eco-friendly fuel and that too in the whole country. Hence, it is necessary > to look into changes in the Engine and fuel. > Dr.T.R.Saranathan > > >From: "Eric Britton" > >Reply-To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org > >To: > >Subject: [sustran] Emissions from Trucks in New Delhi > >Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 22:35:04 +0200 > > > >Chris Zegras kindly shares with us the news: "More than 65,000 trucks > >and other goods vehicles will be barred from entering Delhi after the > >Court order is enforced. " > > > > > > > >Hmm. Is this really good news? Am I the only one around here who is a > >priori suspicious of deus ex machina solutions? Or is this just one > >more example of egregious sub-optimization (the grand specialty of > >transportation policy all too often, I am afraid). > > > > > > > >Please someone explain to me what I am wrong (again). > > > > > > > >Eric Britton > > > > > > > >PS. Take a vacation and put your weight on what is without a doubt the > >right side. Pop into http://ngroups.com/stockholm and give your counsel > >on the survey behind the Message to Johannesburg. It will take three > >minutes of your time, and we need you. (And you just may need us). ;-) > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com > From tr_saranathan at hotmail.com Wed Jul 31 17:00:50 2002 From: tr_saranathan at hotmail.com (TR Saranathan) Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 08:00:50 +0000 Subject: [sustran] Re: Emissions from Trucks in New Delhi Message-ID: Mr.Dinesh Mohan's observations are worth noting regarding Delhi truck pollution. However, all these may not be necessary if the source is attacked. It is necessary to upgrade vehicle engines and provide clean fuel. Until then any haphazard solutions will be of no consequence. Social and economic overtones are involved. There should be a complee plan which can be followed immaculately in the next few years. Dr.T.R.Saranathan >From: Dinesh Mohan >Reply-To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org >To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org >Subject: [sustran] Emissions from Trucks in New Delhi >Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 10:59:36 +0530 > >Eric's suspicions are well placed. Such decisions are based on an >upper-class' concern with air not people. With mythologies, not facts >and numbers. With internet shopping, not the hurly burly of trade and >living. > > * Decision based on the assertion that 65,000 trucks will be barred > from Delhi. On the first day of enforcement they could find less > than 3,000 trucks to stop! > * Decision based on the assertion that trucks coming from out of > Delhi are dirtier than those plying in Delhi. A study released by > CRRI yesterday claims the opposite! (Should be obvious - only those > trucks will be used for long distance travel whose engines are in > good condition. Dilapidated old trucks are good for local work. > Simple capitalism at work.) > * Trucks should not enter Delhi so that the decision makers have > cleaner air. They don't care if the trucks pollute poorer people > outside the legal boundaries of Delhi. > * All "clean air" decisions in Delhi target public transport and > taxis, make them more expensive and reduce their availability. Not > a single decision targets car owners. > >In the name of freedom and sustainability neo-fascist ideologies have >got more credibility after 9/11. > >Dinesh Mohan > >Eric Britton wrote: > > > > > > > Chris Zegras kindly shares with us the news: “More than 65,000 trucks > > and other goods vehicles will be barred from entering Delhi after the > > Court order is enforced. “ > > > > > > > > Hmm. Is this really good news? Am I the only one around here who is > > a priori suspicious of deus ex machina solutions? Or is this just one > > more example of egregious sub-optimization (the grand specialty of > > transportation policy all too often, I am afraid). > > > > > > > > Please someone explain to me what I am wrong (again). > > > > > > > > Eric Britton > > > > > > > > PS. Take a vacation and put your weight on what is without a doubt the > > right side. Pop into http://ngroups.com/stockholm and give your > > counsel on the survey behind the Message to Johannesburg. It will > > take three minutes of your time, and we need you. (And you just may > > need us). ;-) > > > > >-- >======================================================================= >TRIPP website http://www.iitd.ac.in/tripp/ > >READ THE DECLARATION ON PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO SAFETY >http://www.iitd.ac.in/tripp/righttosafety/rightframe.html > >[IMORTANT: if this server gives you trouble in sending a mail to me, >you can use temporarily.] >======================================================================= >Dinesh Mohan >Henry Ford Professor for Biomechanics and Transportation Safety >Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme >Room MS 808, Main Building >Indian Institute of Technology >Hauz Khas >New Delhi 110016 > >Phone: (+91 11) 659 1147 & 659 6361 >FAX: (+91 11) 685 8703 & 685 1169 >Home: (+91 11) 649 4910 >Email: dmohan@cbme.iitd.ernet.in >======================================================================= > _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com From sujit at vsnl.com Wed Jul 31 23:32:47 2002 From: sujit at vsnl.com (Sujit Patwardhan) Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 20:02:47 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Emissions from Trucks in New Delhi In-Reply-To: <3D4775C0.6087655E@cbme.iitd.ernet.in> References: <000001c23808$962c3a90$6501a8c0@home> Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20020731191206.01eb3060@202.54.10.1> 31 July 2002 Dear Sustran friends, I entirely agree with Dinesh Mohan's (and Eric's too!!) observations. The thrust of court judgments in Delhi and Mumbai target public vehicles and taxis. Not only are private vehicles largely excluded from the drive to reduce road congestion and air pollution but expensive infrastructure projects (like flyovers, expressways and multistory car parks) meant primarily for the benefit of private motor cars) are allowed to be undertaken despite public interest litigations filed by citizens' groups opposed to such wasteful expenditure which will not only NOT solve these problems, but empty the coffers of the local authority and the State Government. Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC ) has recently initiated a Traffic and Transportation Plan that is likely to repeat these mistakes. The Terms of Reference published by the PMC for the traffic plan, do not include words like "controlling growth of private vehicles", "introducing cycle tracks", "improvement of public transport", "reducing pollution and accidents" and only pays lip service to improving pedestrian pavements. The Municipal Commissioner has also announced in a most radical tone the intention to stop registration of two stroke scooters and motorcycles and diesel driven auto rickshaws in order to dramatically bring down air pollution levels, and suggested that two stroke vehicle owners should buy four stroke vehicles instead. There is also a suggestion to shift public transport buses (less than 500 buses are on the roads on any given day while the total auto vehicle population is 1.2 million vehicles -- 75% of which are two wheelers, and this is growing at the frightening rate of 90,000 vehicles each year and will require about 0.65 square miles of space each year) from diesel to CNG. Manufacturers of two wheelers will no doubt be delighted with this news which will boost their sales and achieve in one stroke what would have required millions of rupees in advertising. The only way to fight this is to mobilize citizens to see the connections between such "decisions" and their deteriorating quality of life which is increasingly threatened by policies of motorization at the cost of everything else. -- Sujit Patwardhan Parisar, Pune At 10:59 AM 7/31/2002 +0530, you wrote: >Eric's suspicions are well placed. Such decisions are based on an >upper-class' concern with air not people. With mythologies, not facts and >numbers. With internet shopping, not the hurly burly of trade and living. > * Decision based on the assertion that 65,000 trucks will be barred > from Delhi. On the first day of enforcement they could find less than > 3,000 trucks to stop! > * Decision based on the assertion that trucks coming from out of Delhi > are dirtier than those plying in Delhi. A study released by CRRI > yesterday claims the opposite! (Should be obvious - only those trucks > will be used for long distance travel whose engines are in good > condition. Dilapidated old trucks are good for local work. Simple > capitalism at work.) > * Trucks should not enter Delhi so that the decision makers have > cleaner air. They don't care if the trucks pollute poorer people outside > the legal boundaries of Delhi. > * All "clean air" decisions in Delhi target public transport and > taxis, make them more expensive and reduce their availability. Not a > single decision targets car owners. >In the name of freedom and sustainability neo-fascist ideologies have got >more credibility after 9/11. > >Dinesh Mohan > >Eric Britton wrote: >> >> >>Chris Zegras kindly shares with us the news: "More than 65,000 trucks and >>other goods vehicles will be barred from entering Delhi after the Court >>order is enforced. " >> >> >> >>Hmm. Is this really good news? Am I the only one around here who is a >>priori suspicious of deus ex machina solutions? Or is this just one more >>example of egregious sub-optimization (the grand specialty of >>transportation policy all too often, I am afraid). >> >> >> >>Please someone explain to me what I am wrong (again). >> >> >> >>Eric Britton >> >> >> >>PS. Take a vacation and put your weight on what is without a doubt the >>right side. Pop into >>http://ngroups.com/stockholm and give your >>counsel on the survey behind the Message to Johannesburg. It will take >>three minutes of your time, and we need you. (And you just may need us). ;-) > > >-- >======================================================================= >TRIPP website http://www.iitd.ac.in/tripp/ > >READ THE DECLARATION ON PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO SAFETY >http://www.iitd.ac.in/tripp/righttosafety/rightframe.html > > >[IMORTANT: if this server gives you trouble in sending a mail to me, >you can use temporarily.] >======================================================================= >Dinesh Mohan >Henry Ford Professor for Biomechanics and Transportation Safety >Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme >Room MS 808, Main Building >Indian Institute of Technology >Hauz Khas >New Delhi 110016 > >Phone: (+91 11) 659 1147 & 659 6361 >FAX: (+91 11) 685 8703 & 685 1169 >Home: (+91 11) 649 4910 >Email: dmohan@cbme.iitd.ernet.in >=================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sujit Patwardhan. PARISAR, Yamuna, ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007 Tel: 5537955 Email: sujit@vsnl.com ***************************************************************** In nature there are neither Rewards nor Punishments--- there are Consequences. ***************************************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/sustran-discuss/attachments/20020731/2ef7e5f3/attachment.htm