[sustran] Re: Experts for more roads in city (See LeeSchippercommentson this)

[Sujit Patwardhan]

20 March 2006



I was present at the meeting and after the presentation by CIRT (Central
Institute of Road Transport) expressed clearly and perhaps loudly the fear
that several "observations" from CIRT's presentation would be misinterpreted
by our friends from the media who as a group are still more familiar with
outdated traffic solutions such as building more roads and flyovers. The
observations I cited were:-

-- the city has very little land area devoted to transport
(which can mean space for public transport bus depots, bus workshops, space
to enable bus lanes etc BUT the media reporters may wrongly conclude that
CIRT is recommending more, more and more roads!!!!).

THE ACTUAL FIGURE FOR ROAD AREA IN THE PRESENT PUNE CITY IS AROUND 10% AND
WE INSIST THIS IS LARGE ENOUGH FOR AN EFFECTIVE BUS BASED PUBLIC TRANSPORT
SYSTEM SUPPLEMENTED BY CYCLING AND WALKING FACILITIES. NEWLY ADDED AREA FOR
THE CITY CAN HAVE MORE SPACE FOR ROADS PROVIDED THERE IS A BUILT-IN
PROVISION TO ENSURE THAT ADDED SURFACE IS NOT USURPED BY PERSONAL AUTOS BUT
MADE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT.

-- there is extreme and growing pressure on parking
(this can be seen to be a good thing as it can ultimately and effectively do
more than half hearted vehicle restrain measures imposed by spineless
administrators or politicians 's not wanting to displease the growing
population using personal vehicles due to worsening (through neglect) public
transport performance OR it can lead to policies that make available more
space for parking usually by grabbing the meagre open spaces, lung areas,
river-beds, canals, and hills which ideally should be kept safe from the
hungry gaze of the auto vehicles and used for walking or cycling.)


-- vehicle ownership per household
(many see growing auto vehicle ownership as a sign of advancement.... India
is becoming rich and prosperous, so that's a good thing. BUT if we only look
at Singapore and European cities like Zurich, Copenhagen, Amsterdam etc it
becomes clear that less auto vehicles on roads and more space for walking,
cycling, car-free zones makes for a far more vibrant and liveable city,
offering more scope for parks, gardens, tourist sites, and safe spaces for
children and the elderly). We don't have to go through the cycle of ....
--growing auto domination
- reduction in liveability, mobility and healthy environment
- reducing auto domination through expensive measures
instead we can leapfrog and try to make our cities more liveable BEFORE they
are run over by more and more roads and autos)

There were more points but this will get too long.

Unfortunately it happened as I had feared. Lee was misquoted by one of the
papers and even if they print his clarification it will not fully undo the
damage.

This is why sometimes measured and cautious presentations by "experts" and
"academicians" need to be combined with "loud" and even disruptive
interventions from NGOs and activists.

But of course this is easier said than done.

--
Sujit

Sujit Patwardhan
Parisar/ PTTF
Pune







On 3/20/06, Lee Schipper <SCHIPPER at wri.org> wrote:
>
> I have a slide submitted with the Xian report I will try to dig out.
> basically the numbers are 15-20%. I think the 20-22 includes lots of
> parking etc..
>
> >>> Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk 3/20/2006 5:58:16 AM >>>
> Lee's comments where?
>
> 4% of urban area devoted to transport does indeed seem low, but 20-22%
> sounds excessive.  Has anyone got comparative figures for a raft of
> other cities?
>
> Alan
>
>
> --
> Alan Howes
> Associate Transport Planner
> Colin Buchanan
> 4 St Colme Street
> Edinburgh      EH3 6AA
> Scotland
> email:  alan.howes at cbuchanan.co.uk <mailto:alan.howes at cbuchanan.co.uk>
>
> tel:      (0)131 226 4693 (switchboard)
>            (0)7952 464335  (mobile)
> fax:     (0)131 220 0232
> www: http:/www.cbuchanan.co.uk/
> _______________________________
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From:
> sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk at list.jca.apc.org
> [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk at list.jca.apc.
> org] On Behalf Of Eric Britton
> Sent: 20 March 2006 10:44
> To: sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org
> Subject: [sustran] Experts for more roads in city (See Lee Schipper
> commentson this)
>
>
> Experts for more roads in city
>
>
>
> Express News Service
> <http://www.expressindia.com/about/feedback.html?mailto=vvdeshmukh@expre
>
> ssindia.com>
>
>
>
> Pune, March 17: EMBARQ, a World Research Initiative Centre for
> Transport
> and Environment, stressed on the need for the city to increase the
> percentage of land use for transport from 4 per cent to 20-22 per cent
> to stem the traffic problems. Presenting the findings before Municipal
> Commissioner Nitin Kareer on Friday before, EMBARQ's director of
> research, Lee Schipper suggested that more roads are necessary for
> tackling the traffic problems.
>
> Funded by Swedish Institute of Development Authority, EMBARQ has been
> studying traffic woes of Pune, Xian in China and Hanoi in Vietnam
> under
> the project Partnership for Sustainable Urban Transport in Asia
> (PSUTA)
> to suggest ways of coping up with increasing traffic.
>
>
>
>
>
> Schipper said that compared to the other two cities, Pune's traffic
> comprises two-wheelers, autorickshaws, buses all plying on narrow
> roads
> in downtown parts. ''Pune has less vehicle speed (12 km/hr) in
> comparison wih the two cities and the traffic fatality is minimum
> here.''
>
> He said that Nalstop and Swargate chowks have higher traffic density
> compared to Bhosari - an industrial area. EMBARQ study revealed that
> around 60 percent, is directly exposed to air pollution.
>
> Advocating Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in the city, Schipper
> blamed
> the city planners for failing to undertake any impact study to
> calculate
> the improvements done after implementations of projects.
>
> Experts from Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT) underlined
> fifty
> indicators for ascertaining a sustainable transport system and
> recommended monitoring the indicators by conducting frequent trend
> analysis to ensure transport in the city.
>
>
>
> [eb: We'd like to see (a) that list and (b) how Pune fared in it. Can
> anyway get this to the group????]
>
>
>
> Source: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=174140
>
>
>
> ================================================================
> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred,
> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries
> (the 'Global South'). Because of the history of the list, the main focus is
> on urban transport policy in Asia.
>



--

------------------------------------------------------
Sujit Patwardhan
sujit at vsnl.com
sujitjp at gmail.com

"Yamuna",
ICS Colony,
Ganeshkhind Road,
Pune 411 007
Tel: 25537955
-----------------------------------------------------
Hon. Secretary:
Parisar
www.parisar.org
------------------------------------------------------
Founder Member:
PTTF
(Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum)
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