[sustran] Sustainable Transport E-Update

ITDP mobility at igc.org
Wed May 1 10:28:44 JST 2002


Sustainable Transport e-update
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En Español
(http://www.itdp.org/STe/STe_Espanol.html)

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Enrique Peñalosa remade Bogotá; 
Now he's Sustainable Transport Ambassador to the World:
"...the way we build our cities affects to a
large degree how our people will live 
for hundreds of years to come"
(http://socrates.berkeley.edu:7001/Events/spring2002/04-08-penalosa/index.html)

The improbable story of how Bogotá, Colombia,
became somewhere you might actually want to live
(http://www.gristmagazine.com/maindish/jones040402.asp?source=daily)

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IN THIS ISSUE
•TAKING THE "CAR" OUT OF CARTAGENA
•CENTRAL EUROPE BEGINS TO GROW SMARTER
•U.S. SENATE SACRIFICES OIL SECURITY TO INDUSTRY LOBBY
•AFRICA'S COMING TRANSIT RENAISSANCE

And more... 	 
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For full versions of each article: www.itdp.org/STe/index.html

2008 OLYMPICS: FIVE RING ROADS
Beijing has promised a green olympic games for 2008. But transit improvements look to be a distant second behind new highway construction. 
 
GUANGZHOU MAKES PEDESTRIAN AREA PERMANENT
Guangzhou's trial Beijing road pedestrian area was made permanent after proving popular with city residents, the district mayor, and the business community. Now every district is clamouring for their own pedestrian area to attract more business. The city hopes that this – along with measures to preserve several historical districts and the Jade Market – will help increase the average 'business tourist' stay from 1 to 2 days. 	 

DELHI TO GET NEW BUSWAY 
During an international workshop on High-Capacity Bus Systems in January, Delhi Transport Minister Ajay Maken green-lighted a much-delayed 20-kilometer pilot bus rapid transit line, and announced that transit officials must take buses at least once a day. While the initial stages of Delhi's costly new metro system will soon be coming on-line, improving bus services is a priority for the majority of the city's commuters. 


CNG BUS CONVERSION STILL IN A JAM 
Air pollution kills a Delhi resident every 53 minutes. Meanwhile, the mandated conversion from polluting diesel to compressed natural gas (CNG) is meeting powerful resistance. Most recently many experts are questioning the environmental benefits of CNG relative to low sulfur diesel.


LIGHT RAIL VS. BRT: SHOWDOWN IN PANAMA CITY
A controversy is emerging in Panama City as groups debate the relative merits of light rail vs. bus rapid transit. The national Ministry of Public Works is developing a French government proposal to build a light rail system. Meanwhile, local groups think that a TransMilenio-type system might afford a better alternative. 
 

TAKING THE "CAR" OUT OF CARTAGENA 
This February, international experts gathered in the coastal city of Cartagena, Colombia, to evaluate a bold experiment to turn its famed historical center into a car-free zone. Now, the zone may become permanent. The measure is part of Mayor Carlos Diaz's vision for more sustainable access and mobility throughout the city. 
 
"DÍA SIN CARRO" GOES GLOBAL
With the success of the city's TransMilenio bus system and the development of Latin America's largest cycle way network, Bogotá, Colombia is becoming a regular at making the sustainable transport headlines. To add to these successes, the city has now just completed its third annual Car Free Day (Día sin Carro). In conjunction with the Bogotá car-free day, the United Nations and the city co-hosted an international Car-Free Day seminar aimed at promoting the concept globally. 
 
CENTRAL EUROPE BEGINS TO GROW SMARTER
Over the first few months of this year, ITDP has worked to facilitate smart growth elements in new Czech planning legislation, lobby for greater regulation of out-of-town hypermarkets in Central Europe, continued its successful program of brownfield education and resource mobilization among Czech decision-makers, and begun extending the lessons of its Central European smart growth efforts into Romania. 

AFRICA'S COMING TRANSIT RENAISSANCE 
President John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana has publicly announced the prioritization of improved transit services as a central theme in his administration. Accra has ordered 80 new high-occupancy buses from Holland. Similarly, Dakar and Johannesburg are planning to unleash sizable new fleets. What can Africa's transit revival learn from Asian, US and Latin American cities that have revitalized their transit systems?

LONDON'S NEW CONGESTION PRICING
Starting February 2003, cars entering London's inner ring road will be subject to a US$7.50 charge. The Mayor, Ken Livingstone, expects the measure to reduce traffic by 10-15% in Central London and to reduce traffic queues by 25%. Despite some uproar, councils across England are now following the capitol's lead and taking up pricing to combat growing congestion.
 
U.S. SENATE SACRIFICES OIL SECURITY TO INDUSTRY LOBBY
U.S. oil dependence is expensive. It is also exacerbating the growing crisis in the Middle East; speeding the warming of our planet; increasing oil drilling in sensitive areas; and compromising U.S. national security. So why did the Senate and the Department of Transportation decide against raising vehicle fuel efficiency standards? The last time more efficient standards were denied, a Public Campaign study showed that anti-standards Senators received twice the auto lobby dollars as pro-standards Senators.
Also see the new "Maul of America" (http://www.oriononline.org/pages/oo/curmudgeon/index_curmudgeon.html)
by James Howard Kunstler. 

 
MIDDLE EAST UPDATE
Jerusalem's planned light rail system suffers the travails of a city in conflict; an Arab village tries to improve the informal transit system that has replaced the formal bus system since the first Intifada, and Tel Aviv will be prodded to consider its chances to become a "transit metropolis." 

For full versions of each article: www.itdp.org/STe/index.html

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Sustainable Transport E-Update is published by the 
Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP)  
www.itdp.org • mobility at igc.org



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