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

Alan Howes Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk
Mon Mar 20 23:44:49 JST 2006


It does seem that there is scope for a lot more education of the
"opinion formers" in India on this issue.  That was obvious even from my
brief 2-week sojourn in Mumbai recently - I can't say too much about my
current project without clearance from the lead consultant, but I am
hoping the issue will be addressed as one of the outcomes of our study.

 
One of my main impressions in Mumbai is that buses are seen as part of
the transport problem, not as part of the solution - how else do you
explain all the taxes bus operators (i.e. passengers) have to pay,
compared with the "developed world" where there are all sorts of tax
breaks, and specific payments for social obligations like seniors'
discounts.
 
Re. Pune - do have any modal share info, Sujit?  I don't have the exact
figures I would like for Mumbai, but there is no doubt that considering
the proportion of road passenger trips that are carried by bus (approx
two-thirds the total, if the figures we got are right), buses get a very
small share of the road space.
 
Alan
 

  
--
Alan Howes
Associate Transport Planner
Colin Buchanan 
4 St Colme Street
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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 Sujit Patwardhan
Sent: 20 March 2006 14:13
To: Asia and the Pacific sustainable transport
Subject: [sustran] Re: Experts for more roads in city
(SeeLeeSchippercommentson this)


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more familiar with outdated traffic solutions such as building more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>  <mailto:alan.howes at cbuchanan.co.uk>
	
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	           (0)7952 464335  (mobile)
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	From:
	sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=
cbuchanan.co.uk at list.jca.apc.org
<mailto: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
	
	
	
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	SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of
people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on
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-- 

------------------------------------------------------
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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