[sustran] Re: Carsharing for third world cities? Your reactions invited

[Gabrielle Hermann]

I completely agree with Lee.  One of the mistakes made
over and over again is that we in the North find a
solution that works for us.  Excited, and often
uninformed about realities in the South, we then go
and apply those solutions, very often creating the
very problem we were trying to avoid.  The hopeful
thing about developing country cities is that their
modal share is overwhelmingly public transit and NMT. 
The best way to keep it that way is to make public
transit and NMT more attractive an option, and adopt
measures that discourage or ban car use.  Of course,
the biggest challenge in doing these things are
political.  In other words, we want to make car use
harder not easier, and car sharing might make it
easier, especially in developing countries where many
people's incomes are not quite high enough to own
their own car.  Car-sharing might turn into a
convenient stepping-stone, as Lee pointed out.  

I think that pushing car-sharing would distract people
from keeping the modal share where it is or better. 
Only when measures for preventing private car use have
completely failed should car sharing be advocated as
an option.  

--- ecoplan.adsl at wanadoo.fr wrote:
> There are days in which you learn more than in other
> days.  For example,
> yesterday. As almost everyone on both of these lists
> knows, I am a firm
> believer in carsharing as a strategic motor into
> more sustainable and
> more socially just transport.  And as we all know,
> the action until now
> has been mainly in Europe, with North America
> advancing quite handsomely
> over the last several years.
> 
>  
> 
> Another aspect of my long term interest is the much
> needed push to more
> sustainable transportation in the developing
> countries, and in
> particular new ways of breaking the old patterns and
> adaptations from
> the advanced industrial economies who have for the
> most part done such a
> fine job in disjoining their own cities and life
> quality. And while
> carsharing has not yet made any notable headway
> there, I have
> aggressively pushed it in my own international
> consulting and advisory
> work. 
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> And while I still am a believer (I think), today was
> the day that an old
> friend and colleague walked through the virtual door
> and has given me
> something to think on the subject that I would like
> to share with you
> all and ask your comments and counsel in turn.  Lee
> Schipper, Director
> of Research, EMBARQ, the WRI Center for Transport
> and Environment wrote
> me in quick success today the following three notes
> on this topic>
> 
>  
> 
> 1.	"Funny I have thought a lot about car sharing but
> I am worried
> it moves people too fast into cars by giving them a
> cheaper buy-in."
> (And then when I answered that I had to do some
> serious cogitating on
> this, he quickly responded . . . )
> 2.	"Well, if you go into rich countries and woo
> people who normally
> would have almost instinctively owned cars, yes,
> there must be a
> results. I suspect that Zip and the others in the
> yuppie parts of
> Washington DC do that. But car sharing where there
> are no cars yet can
> serve as car boosters, likewise among  groups (like
> students in  Europe)
> who don't yet have cars. My fear is that by creating
> a mobile class even
> if they don't OWN cars they can move into a
> car-friendly
> long-distances/low density world earlier than
> otherwise 
> 3.	"Also drivers licensees are expensive. By making
> the car cheap
> on a part time bases the user has to make the
> investment in a licenses.
> After that, who wants to only drive a few hours a
> week? Anyway some
> thoughts!"
> 
>  
> 
> Which is where things stand for me this morning in
> Paris. May I invite
> your comments on this.  For myself, I have to turn
> off the lights and do
> a bit of hard thinking first.  Hmm.  Lee. Hmmm.
> 
>  
> 
> Eric Britton
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> The Commons                __ technology, economy,
> society__
> 
> Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara                75006
> Paris, France
> 
> Tel. +331 4326 1323   Fax/Voicemail hotline: +331
> 5301 2896
> 
> http://www.ecoplan.org     IP Videoconference:
> 81.65.50.149 
> 
> Personal webpage: www.EricBritton.org
> 
>  
> 
> Email: Eric.Britton at ecoplan.org or
> ecoplan.adsl at wanadoo.fr 
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> This email, and any attachments thereto, is intended
> only for the
> addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally
> privileged and/or
> confidential information. If you are not the
> intended recipient of this
> email, you are hereby notified that any
> dissemination, distribution or
> copying of this message, and any attachments
> thereto, is strictly
> prohibited. If you have received this email by
> error, please notify me
> immediately by telephone and permanently delete the
> original and any
> copy of this email including any attachments
> thereto, and any printouts
> thereof. 
> 
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.  Checked by
> Norton Anti-Virus
> 2003.  Version 9.05.15
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> 

=====
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world" - Gandhi


	
		
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - File online by April 15th
http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html