[sustran] Re: [KyotoWorldCities] - India Pune should focus on public transport

[Lee Schipper]

Story is accurate except it forgot to mention that EMBARQ and partners
in the three cities did the study, NOT ADB  or CAI per se, although
their support and inputs were invaluable.

The final report and city reports are on the CAI web site...  

Lee Schipper
Director of Research
EMBARQ, the WRI Center
for Sustainable Transport
10 G St. NE
Washington DC, 20002
+1202 729 7735
FAX +1202 7297775
www.embarq.wri.org
>>> eric.britton at ecoplan.org 12/19/06 8:58 AM >>>
Pune should focus on public transport: study

Friday, December 15, 2006 
http://www.indiaenews.com/business/20061215/32637.htm

Asian cities like Pune need to give priority to public transport that
meets
their economic requirements rather than accommodating more vehicles,
says a new
study backed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

'In many cases, the emphasis has been on adding roads or building high
cost
systems such as rail-based metros at the expense of more environmentally
sustainable modes such as non-motorised transport and lower-cost bus
systems,'
says the study 'Sustainable Urban Transport in Asia' made available
Friday.

The result is high level of pollution, says the research carried out by
the
Partnership for Sustainable Urban Transport in Asia (PSUTA), a pilot
programme
of the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia).

The study was funded by the Swedish International Development Agency and
the
Shell Foundation through ADB, and the World Resources Institute's Center
for
Transport and the Environment.

Done in partnership with three Asian cities (Hanoi in Vietnam, Pune in
India,
and Xi'an in China), the study is aimed at helping decision makers
better
understand the long term viability of the urban transport systems and
develop
more structured approaches to policy making.

'The air pollution from motor vehicles is particularly serious in Pune
but also
bad in Xi'an and in Hanoi, because roughly 50-70 percent of all trips in
these
cities are made on foot or by two or three-wheeled vehicles. Exposure of
a
majority of people to direct emissions from motor vehicles is a
problem,' the
study states.

'Vehicle fleets are doubling every five-seven years,' Bindu Lohani,
director
general of ADB's Regional and Sustainable Development Department, is
quoted in
the study as saying.

'Poor road safety, increased congestion and air pollution not only
negatively
affect the quality of life but also carry large economic and social
costs.

'An effective and sustainable transport system for people and goods is a
prerequisite for sustainable economic growth.'

The study developed a set of indicators for each of the three cities,
including
access, safety, environment, economic and social sustainability, and
governance.

The project found that based on these indicators, passenger transport is
heading
in unsustainable directions in all three cities.

'This is because the number of individual vehicles is growing more
rapidly than
public or private forces can accommodate them and is slowing all
traffic,' the
report says.

'Traffic deaths are low relative to population, but high relative to
distances
travelled. Average speeds are low, except in the outlying regions of
cities, but
there the high speeds lead to greater traffic deaths.'