From zvi at inro.ca Fri Sep 1 04:39:11 2006 From: zvi at inro.ca (Zvi Leve) Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 15:39:11 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Re: Driving in Bangalore In-Reply-To: <20060825121650.32365.qmail@web26013.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> References: <20060825121650.32365.qmail@web26013.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <44F73ADF.2030701@inro.ca> Many years ago I did some work on traffic safety and I happened to come across a very interesting article about "inexplicable" run-off-road accidents in Jordan. It was found that on the better quality roads, there were actually /more/ incidents of cars just "randomly" going off the road! The author decided that this could only be due to what he called the "magic carpet phenomenom": most Jordanian drivers (at the time at least) had very limited driving experience, and the car was very much considered a miracle device. The better the road quality, the more likely they were to feel that the car will "just drive itself" - a magic carpet if you will! Anyway, I think that this concept applies in many rapidly developing areas where there are huge number of new drivers, as well as other road users who now have to contend with all these "miracle devices" zooming about everywhere. Surely education and standards are necessary, but there is no replacement for experience! And a bit of humour along the way certainly helps. I once asked an Iranian colleague about his perspective on the accident rates in Teheran and his reply was: "If you physically cannot get from point A to point B, who really cares about road safety!" Which brings us back to the basic point of the new mobility agenda: what is the point of mobility, and can our needs be met with less mobility? At the end of the day, we are arguing about "quality of life", not quality of mobility. Cheers, Zvi Alan Howes wrote: > I find that Indians, unlike some others, have an excellent sense of > humour and know not to take themselves too seriously. > > Though how one brings about an improvement in the awful driving > standards here, which result in very high accident rates, is another > matter. > > Regards, Alan (contact details in sig, currently in Dharavi bus depot, > Mumbai, next to Asia's biggest slum ...) > > > > From Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk Fri Sep 1 13:27:56 2006 From: Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk (Alan Howes) Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 05:27:56 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: Driving in Bangalore References: <20060825121650.32365.qmail@web26013.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> <44F73ADF.2030701@inro.ca> Message-ID: <324DCD7680954F468CF306EE5404F00102136F9E@mail01.cbuchanan.co.uk> Certainly, one of the reasons there are not more road injuries and deaths here than there are is that, the roads being so bad, speeds are relatively low. And with all the pot-holes, there's not much chance of drifting off to sleep! So I can well believe that in Jordan (and here) acc rates are higher on better roads. The thing that really frightens me here are two-wheelers. Often carrying whole families (including the baby), none with crash helmets, women usually riding side-saddle. And in the maelstrom of trucks, buses, auto-rickshaws, taxis and cars they look very vulnerable. Today's paper carried an account of a hit-and-run which left a motor-cyclist dead - only news, I suspect, because the victim was an assistant to a Bollywood film-maker. I'm afraid, though, that life is not accorded as high a value here as in "the west". Perhaps to improve things the economic argument might be more convincing ... Alan (still in Mumbai) -- Alan Howes Associate Transport Planner Colin Buchanan 4 St Colme Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6AA Tel: +44 131 226 4693 Mobile: +44 7952 464335 email: alan.howes@cbuchanan.co.uk www: http:/www.cbuchanan.co.uk/ ________________________________ From: sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org on behalf of Zvi Leve Sent: Thu 31/08/2006 20:39 To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Subject: [sustran] Re: Driving in Bangalore Many years ago I did some work on traffic safety and I happened to come across a very interesting article about "inexplicable" run-off-road accidents in Jordan. It was found that on the better quality roads, there were actually /more/ incidents of cars just "randomly" going off the road! The author decided that this could only be due to what he called the "magic carpet phenomenom": most Jordanian drivers (at the time at least) had very limited driving experience, and the car was very much considered a miracle device. The better the road quality, the more likely they were to feel that the car will "just drive itself" - a magic carpet if you will! Anyway, I think that this concept applies in many rapidly developing areas where there are huge number of new drivers, as well as other road users who now have to contend with all these "miracle devices" zooming about everywhere. Surely education and standards are necessary, but there is no replacement for experience! And a bit of humour along the way certainly helps. I once asked an Iranian colleague about his perspective on the accident rates in Teheran and his reply was: "If you physically cannot get from point A to point B, who really cares about road safety!" Which brings us back to the basic point of the new mobility agenda: what is the point of mobility, and can our needs be met with less mobility? At the end of the day, we are arguing about "quality of life", not quality of mobility. Cheers, Zvi Alan Howes wrote: > I find that Indians, unlike some others, have an excellent sense of > humour and know not to take themselves too seriously. > > Though how one brings about an improvement in the awful driving > standards here, which result in very high accident rates, is another > matter. > > Regards, Alan (contact details in sig, currently in Dharavi bus depot, > Mumbai, next to Asia's biggest slum ...) > > > > -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 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Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 8003 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060901/9cd76561/attachment.bin From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Fri Sep 1 14:11:06 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 07:11:06 +0200 Subject: [sustran] The future of motoring Message-ID: <001901c6cd85$082fe9a0$6501a8c0@Home> Dear Friends, If you think it is important to have lots less cars in cities, and not only in your own pristine mental space, you must, in a pluralistic democratic society at any rate, be aware of the full range of needs and attitudes of all the very different kinds of people who make up our societies. Which means that anyone who seems her/himself as an agent of change must also be a good listener. In this context I found this item from something called ?WhatCar: Helping you buy better? a good reminder of the sales job that needs to be done if we are ever to make this much needed transition. As someone here pointed out a long time ago, car owners and drivers are our customers. Not our enemies. Makes sense if you consider that they are also in very many cases also us. Eric Britton on the morning of the launch of the New Mobility Advisory/Briefs. Light a candle for us. Your say: The future of motoring 31 August 2006 ? Whatcar.com readers have their say ? Send us your opinions ? Read selection of readers' views Recently we ran a story on why various groups believe the cost of motoring is about to soar because of road charging, rising fuel costs and tax increases. Motoring costs due to soar We asked for your opinions on the future of motoring, and below are a selection of the views we have received so far. You can still send us your views by clicking this e-mail link Click on this e-mail link to tell us what you think. - - - - - - - - - 'I'm the Association of British Drivers' Policy Director and I don't own a car. I don't want to either. Owning a car in modern Britain is overtaxed, over-controlled and over-legislated. If I try to drive somewhere, because of council-caused congestion, I get there late and frazzled. If I fill a tank I get charged 85% tax. If I try to park I get rogered for parking charges that go up every year like a rocket. If I exceed a recently lowered speed limit by a few MPH I get slapped. I now cycle or ride a motorcycle. Public transport is a joke ? we have a major client in Leeds, and to travel cattle-class we have to pay ?100 each for the ticket. How, in a modern society, where mobility is key, does that work?! I get on the motorcycle instead.' Mark McArthur-Christie Director of Policy The Association of British Drivers - - - -- - 'Why does this seem like a surprise? The government wants to force us out of our cars but knows that the British car driver pays millions towards their tea fund! It's sickening that we get shafted whichever way we go. Greener cars still get hit! Get gas guzzlers get hit even harder. Paying tolls? What a joke! Why should I have to pay to use a piece of road when I already pay through the nose in road tax, fuel and insurance? It's a case of rip off Britain at its best.' Mark Mortimer 'Motoring journalists should stop winding up the 4x4 lobby into a frenzy about additional costs as a vehicle such as a Jaguar XJS or similar saloon does exactly the same damage to the environment as an average 4x4, which is transport but using fuel in a greedy fashion. Greedy use of fuel is not down to just 4x4s. Take the Honda CRV 2.2 CDTI for example, as it will perform very well in comparison to most small family cars, so can you please relate vehicles into the following: Unreasonable at any cost band= ?3600 per year (any exotic sports or daft 4x4) Uneconomical band = ?1800 per year (BMW X5, Discovery or any V6 engine powered car) Reasonable = ?250 per year (band D carbon emissions) Economical ?150 (band C carbon emissions) Very economical ?100 (You've probably got the idea) Then the real issue of someone owning an uneconomically car can be discussed effectively.' - - - - - - Robert Hedges 'How can road charging possibly be the best way to tackle congestion? Are those in government so far removed from the day-to-day life of most Britons that they believe we're sat in our cars on weekday mornings and evenings simply for the fun of it? I am often in London and use public transport for that kind of journey. This is not always practical or possible though, especially when travelling long distance or to areas that are not well supported by public transport. Additional tax hikes and charges do nothing other than line the pockets of the Treasury because most people have no alternative other than their car. The car should have a place in this country as a method of transport, however until public transport improves and changes (e.g. try using the tube at 8am with a child and a baby in a buggy ) people won't be discouraged out of it and the environmental line the government sells is fraudulent.' Daniel Jeffery 'Presently I travel from Harrogate to Bradford by car. I do carshare with a fellow colleague. There is no direct public transport between the towns so this is not an option. I fear with the increased costs which would also hit my wife badly as she has a similar issue with public transport and her work place, we will both be forced to either find other work closer to home - which has already proved very difficult in a small town like Harrogate or our son's future will suffer badly as a consequence. It seems the government is happy to keep taking more and more tax but is doing nothing to offer reasonable alternative modes of transport. While it's a real problem that we all have to deal with, the only solution I see being offered is to increase tax to prevent people travelling but no alternative to the travel. We have to work for a living and we have to get to our work places.' David Booth 'I refuse to let any featherbedded politician decide what I can and can't do with regard to my motoring requirements. If I want to buy a 4x4 or any other large car then I shall do my utmost to afford it. It's OK for politicians to come up with these grand ideas as long as we continue to pay their inflated salaries and expenses. Voters should question their MP as to where they stand on these issues and vote accordingly. At the moment this country is like a communist state!' Frederick Humphrey 'The Labour Government is supposed to be there for the working man. All they seem to be doing is making driving a rich man's sport. We need our cars to survive, but not under Blair's hypocritical corrupt Government. Prescott was offered a free Prius, but did he show the country what was needed of them? No, he turned it down because he was too important to drive something like that. Does the cabinet show us, the voting public, how to drive more economically? No, it votes itself ?50,000 Jaguars for each and every one of them. Then it has the audacity to tell us that we need to drive smaller cars, or it will force us to by pricing motoring out of our reach, but still forcing us to pay for Prescott and his cronies to cruise around in absolute luxury, one car for him and another for his lunch. It makes me sick to my stomach.' R Cleal 'The government needs to start giving motorists value for money. Motorists are voters and we are getting a very raw deal. Roads are falling apart, the motorway network is failing and despite the massive tax motoring rakes in, little is re-invested. The car is essential to the economy and considering how much it contributes already to the government's income any suggested increase feels like a kick in the stomach.' Tony Foote 'I have been looking at new cars and I'm torn between a higher performance car with undoubtedly bigger bills or a economical one that will hopefully not bankrupt me. I think if company car drivers actually paid the true cost of their vehicles then perhaps such draconian measures may have been avoidable.' Lisa Boyd 'As usual the government are considering reactive measures to deal with a problem they caused. I think they need to look at why most households need two cars. Most families need two cars because both parents have to work in order to keep the household running. In recent years hikes in council tax, fuel and energy prices, national insurance and interest rate rises add to the problem. Both my wife and I require a car to do our job, but neither employer offers us a company car. Its not possible to get to work using public transport. The proposals are outrageous and unsustainable and would destroy our economy. They should be financially encouraging scientists to come up with a viable alternative solution to oil. They have known for decades that there was only a finite amount of oil available. What will we do when the world's oil runs out? Answer: We won?t have a road crisis and everyone will have to buy a horse problem solved - everyone buy a 4x4!' John R.J. Prescott -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060901/37352c05/attachment.html From ericbruun at earthlink.net Sat Sep 2 05:23:44 2006 From: ericbruun at earthlink.net (Eric Bruun) Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 16:23:44 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [sustran] Re: The future of motoring Message-ID: <18417402.1157142225070.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060901/6d1cd009/attachment.html From ericbruun at earthlink.net Sat Sep 2 05:23:44 2006 From: ericbruun at earthlink.net (Eric Bruun) Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 16:23:44 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [sustran] Re: The future of motoring Message-ID: <18417402.1157142225070.JavaMail.root@elwamui-royal.atl.sa.earthlink.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060901/6d1cd009/attachment-0001.html From roadnotes at freenet.de Tue Sep 5 19:37:28 2006 From: roadnotes at freenet.de (Robert Bartlett) Date: Tue, 05 Sep 2006 12:37:28 +0200 Subject: [sustran] India: innovations in rickshaws (document) Message-ID: <44FD5368.6080205@freenet.de> Hallo I've just worked up a document on this topic together with Mr. CP Bhatnagar. It's another in the series of short documents on modes of transport in different countries. Anyone interested in a (free) copy is welcome to write to me directly - and as usual, comments are welcome, as are offers of collaboration from persons and groups who would like to produce a similar document. I'd also much welcome any comments people might have on the other documents in this series as reported to this network Regards Robert Bartlett From whook at itdp.org Wed Sep 6 01:35:57 2006 From: whook at itdp.org (Walter Hook) Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 12:35:57 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Re: India: innovations in rickshaws (document) In-Reply-To: <44FD5368.6080205@freenet.de> Message-ID: <000501c6d109$609d7300$3601a8c0@DFJLYL81> In my opinion, CP Bhatnagar is not a respected authority on this subject. I have had the pleasure of observing several of the 'innovations' he has developed, and in practice they were impossible to operationalize. I don't believe any the vehicles he has designed are currently operational, or if there are a few their numbers are very small. I would suggest that you contact Shreya Gadepalli d_ziner2k@yahoo.co.in, who's modern cycle rickshaw design has now spread to about 9 Indian cities, and been copied by manufacturers throughout the country, selling some 200,000 vehicles to date. Walter Hook -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Robert Bartlett Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 6:37 AM To: sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org Subject: [sustran] India: innovations in rickshaws (document) Hallo I've just worked up a document on this topic together with Mr. CP Bhatnagar. It's another in the series of short documents on modes of transport in different countries. Anyone interested in a (free) copy is welcome to write to me directly - and as usual, comments are welcome, as are offers of collaboration from persons and groups who would like to produce a similar document. I'd also much welcome any comments people might have on the other documents in this series as reported to this network Regards Robert Bartlett -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). From jbs at u.washington.edu Wed Sep 6 03:45:40 2006 From: jbs at u.washington.edu (Jerry Schneider) Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 11:45:40 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sustran] Book Review: Future Tech: Innovations in Transportation In-Reply-To: <001101c6c88f$e434c560$0200a8c0@archibaldo> References: <001101c6c88f$e434c560$0200a8c0@archibaldo> Message-ID: Review now available at http://faculty.washington.edu/jbs/itrans/futuretechreview.htm Available from Amazon.com, $19.77, 192 pages, paperback - Jerry Schneider, Prof. Emeritus - Innovative Transportation Technologies website: http://faculty.washington.edu/~jbs/itrans From aables at adb.org Tue Sep 5 21:24:36 2006 From: aables at adb.org (aables at adb.org) Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 20:24:36 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Re: India: innovations in rickshaws (document) In-Reply-To: <44FD5368.6080205@freenet.de> Message-ID: Hi Robert, Kindly send me a copy of the document. Thanks. Right now I'm looking at the different scenarios for non-motorized transport in Asian and Western contexts in preparation for a presentation at BAQ 2006 and would likewise welcome inputs/possible collaborations on this. Best regards, Au Aurora Fe Ables Transport Researcher Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) Asian Development Bank Tel (632) 632-4444 ext. 70820 Fax (632) 636-2198 Email aables@adb.org http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia www.adb.org Robert Bartlett Sent by: sustran-discuss-bounces+aables=adb.org@list.jca.apc.org 09/05/2006 06:37 PM Please respond to Global 'South' Sustainable Transport To sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org cc Subject [sustran] India: innovations in rickshaws (document) Hallo I've just worked up a document on this topic together with Mr. CP Bhatnagar. It's another in the series of short documents on modes of transport in different countries. Anyone interested in a (free) copy is welcome to write to me directly - and as usual, comments are welcome, as are offers of collaboration from persons and groups who would like to produce a similar document. I'd also much welcome any comments people might have on the other documents in this series as reported to this network Regards Robert Bartlett -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060905/78c95603/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 1763 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060905/78c95603/attachment.gif From aables at adb.org Wed Sep 6 12:40:27 2006 From: aables at adb.org (aables at adb.org) Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 11:40:27 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Fw: [cai-asia] Sustainable Bio-technology and Bio-fuels in ASEAN (18-20 September 2006, Hanoi, Vietnam) Message-ID: FYI Aurora Fe Ables Transport Researcher Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) Asian Development Bank Tel (632) 632-4444 ext. 70820 Fax (632) 636-2198 Email aables@adb.org http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia www.adb.org ----- Forwarded by Aurora Ables/Consultants/ADB on 09/06/2006 11:37 AM ----- mrco@adb.org 09/05/2006 05:46 PM Please respond to cai-asia@lists.worldbank.org To "Clean Air Initiative -- Asia" cc Subject [cai-asia] Sustainable Bio-technology and Bio-fuels in ASEAN (18-20 September 2006, Hanoi, Vietnam) Capacity Building in Clean Technologies for Industry and Transport - Sustainable Bio-technology and Bio-fuels in ASEAN 18-20 September 2006, Hanoi, Vietnam We are pleased to invite you as a delegate to a regional conference on "Capacity Building in Clean Technologies for Industry and Transport - Sustainable Bio-technology and Bio-fuels in ASEAN" from 18 - 20 September 2006 at the Melia Hanoi Hotel in Vietnam. This is an extremely important event covering fields of renewable and sustainable energy so if you and your organisation have an interest in this theme please take the time to register now as places at the conference are limited. Countries covered: Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Philipines, Thailand, and Vietnam. For more details including background papers, project manuals, speakers background, and on-line registration please visit our website at http://ctit-eu.britcham.or.id/index.php. To locate the on-line registration click on "events" then "CTIT Conference (Hanoi)" then "Registration". Contact person: Gary Andrews Exexcutive Director BritCham Fax: +62 21 5279135 Email: gary@britcham.or.id --- You are currently subscribed to cai-asia as: aables@adb.org. To view archived messages, go to http://vx.worldbank.org/read/?forum=cai-asia. Important note: This is a moderated listserv. If you encounter problems, email Mike Co (mrco@adb.org). Please do not email your complaints directly to the listserv. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060906/b3a790c2/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 1763 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060906/b3a790c2/attachment.gif From joshuaodeleye at yahoo.com Wed Sep 6 23:30:28 2006 From: joshuaodeleye at yahoo.com (joshua odeleye) Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 07:30:28 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sustran] Re: Sustran-discuss Digest, Vol 36, Issue 27 In-Reply-To: <20060830030103.7F5EB2C3EB@mx-list.jca.ne.jp> Message-ID: <20060906143028.93231.qmail@web31805.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Dear All, What a coincident?Commercial motorcycles operation which happened to be a major means of urban transport in Nigerian cities have just been restricted within the hour of 6.00am-7.00pm in the city of Lagos..This is as a result of the nefarious activities of some of the operatives who aid and abbet crimes,particularly at night.While the enforcement last, majority of people, i.e the urban poor,who depend largely on this means of transport feel the pain most.They have resulted to long distance trekking.Could someone tell me if this approach in addressing an aspect of urban crime is Sustainable? Regards, JOSHUA ODELEYE. NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY, ZARIA,NIGERIA. sustran-discuss-request@list.jca.apc.org wrote: Send Sustran-discuss mailing list submissions to sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to sustran-discuss-request@list.jca.apc.org You can reach the person managing the list at sustran-discuss-owner@list.jca.apc.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Sustran-discuss digest..." ######################################################################## Sustran-discuss Mailing List Digest IMPORTANT NOTE: When replying please do not include the whole digest in your reply - just include the relevant part of the specific message that you are responding to. Many thanks. About this mailing list see: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss ######################################################################## Today's Topics: 1. Motorbike ban - Kigali (Eric Britton) 2. Keep Driving... (Eric Britton) 3. Re: Keep Driving... (chuwa) 4. Re: [LotsLessCars] Keep Driving... (Carlos F. Pardo SUTP) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 09:45:25 +0200 From: "Eric Britton" Subject: [sustran] Motorbike ban - Kigali To: , , Cc: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk Message-ID: <010f01c6cb3f$1ff20250$6501a8c0@Home> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Motorbike ban long overdue By Oscar Kimanuka It is now official. No more commercial motorcyclists, commonly known as boda boda or "motor," will be allowed in Kigali's city centre. The decision was arrived at after consultations between the City Council, Ministry of Infrastructure, and Local Government and the police. The decision has been welcomed by many Kigali residents, who for some time have viewed the motorcyclists as a nuisance. The cyclists have been blamed for the increasing number of thefts in a city that has a reputation for being one of the safest in the region. It is hoped that the directive from city authorities will be sustainable and not one of those episodic, knee-jerk responses that are soon ignored. One of the major reasons advanced by the Kigali city fathers for the ban was the sharp rise in accidents, thefts, harassment and other related petty crimes. Motorcycles are only allowed in designated areas outside the city. The motor cycle sector in Kigali has provided employment to many young people who have found it easy to operate owing to the reasonably low cost of investment. A secondhand motorcycle, for example, cost $1,000 or less. However, the operator of the motorcycle is not usually the owner. He acquires the motorcycle on a loan and raises the money through daily collections to pay back pay off the debt. The original owner buys another bike, and through this reproductive system, the population of "motors" on Kigali streets has grown phenomenally. Incidentally, this practice is not confined to Kigali. This is common in many African cities, including Kampala, where there are thousands of boda bodas that have become a convenient mode of transport for passengers who are tired of the traffic jams on many of the city roads. These boda bodas, however, have neither regard for traffic rules nor respect for other people. I am not sure of anyone, particularly a car owner who has ever encountered a disciplined or polite motorcyclist. Now what is remaining is the enforcement of this new regulation for the safety of residents of Kigali. To begin with a "motor" regulatory task-force should be established to oversee enforcement of this regulation. Oscar Kimanuka is a commentator on social and economic issues based in Kigali. Email: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk Source: http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/Opinion/Opinion2808064.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060829/edbd402f/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 12:11:20 +0200 From: "Eric Britton" Subject: [sustran] Keep Driving... To: , Cc: Sustran-discuss@jca.apc.org Message-ID: <014201c6cb53$7b962780$6501a8c0@Home> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Anzir Boodoo On 29 Aug 2006, at 07:02, Jo?o Lacerda wrote: > I am very curious to know some thoughts of our British friends > concerning this issue. (see article below) Jo?o, So, it's OK to use your car as much as you want, because it's now carbon neutral. So there is no environmental reason to stop using your car... Problems: 1. Carbon emission offsets are no longer considered environmentally equivalent to burning less fuel in the first place 2. An average aggregate of CO2 emitted takes no account of whether the car burning the fuel is a Prius or a Hummer 3. Likewise, emissions in urban areas with heavy traffic probably have much higher direct impacts than in open rural areas where they can dissipate quickly. Of course, this is also ignoring the interaction between emissions and atmospheric conditions... the impact of a unit of CO2 emission can vary depending on where it is emitted. 4. This also ignores CO, NOx and SOx. So even if you are carbon neutral, CO is not friendly, and NOx and SOx are still not neutral. 5. If a significant number of people signed up to this, would there be enough space to plant the trees? GBP 20 a year seems far too low to me... I assume saplings (small trees) do not soak up huge amounts of CO2, so it will take many years for the full effect of the "carbon sink" to work... in this period of years, what happens to the CO2 that is in the atmosphere, and is it recoverable by the trees in 10-20 years from now? 6. How does this work in terms of Kyoto? Or is everyone quietly forgetting that now (forgive me for being rude and actually being bothered about the whole thing...) 7. If everybody is happy to drive their cars when and where they want (since it's now "carbon neutral"), will people ignore the effects of traffic (not just pollution, but stress and wasted time)? I think it's an interesting start, but is it starting us in the right direction? After all, I assume BP only has a certain amount of fuel, which is going to run out soon... BP Launches Carbon Neutral Scheme for Drivers > http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=37818 UK: August 24, 2006 LONDON - British motorists will be able to neutralise their CO2 emissions by paying an average 20 pounds a year towards offsetting their pollution after oil company BP launched a new Internet scheme on Wednesday. Drivers will be able to calculate their annual CO2 emissions using the www.targetneutral.com Web site and help fund environmental projects like wind farms. An average car, driven 10,000 miles a year, will generate about four tonnes of CO2, about enough to fill a medium-sized hot air balloon. To neutralise this amount of carbon emissions would cost about 20 pounds. "Targetneutral is a practical and straightforward step that BP is taking to enable drivers to help the environment," said BP's UK Director Peter Mather. "BP is taking the lead because our extensive research shows that there is a huge consumer demand for such a scheme, but a general feeling from customers that they 'don't know where to start,'" he added in a statement. Motorists' money from the targetneutral scheme, excluding VAT and payment transaction costs, will be used to buy CO2 emission reductions via the purchase of carbon credits. BP, which has provided the start-up funding and will pay for running costs, will not receive any money. The company will also make a direct contribution to targetneutral when motorists using the scheme buy BP petrol using a Nectar loyalty card. The money generated from targetneutral will be used for a range of environmental projects including alternative and renewable energy -- such as biomass, wind farms and methane capture schemes. Offsetting schemes have become increasingly popular in recent years, but some environmentalists are critical of them, saying reducing emissions should be the top priority. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060829/9a073c30/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 05:03:35 -0700 (PDT) From: chuwa Subject: [sustran] Re: Keep Driving... To: eric.britton@ecoplan.org, Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Message-ID: <20060829120335.53740.qmail@web36915.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" I am more than happy to pay 25 pounds or more a year to stop anyone driving around my house. The money should go to improve facilities for non-motorized transport. Eric Britton wrote: Anzir Boodoo On 29 Aug 2006, at 07:02, Jo?o Lacerda wrote: > I am very curious to know some thoughts of our British friends > concerning this issue. (see article below) Jo?o, So, it's OK to use your car as much as you want, because it's now carbon neutral. So there is no environmental reason to stop using your car... Problems: 1. Carbon emission offsets are no longer considered environmentally equivalent to burning less fuel in the first place 2. An average aggregate of CO2 emitted takes no account of whether the car burning the fuel is a Prius or a Hummer 3. Likewise, emissions in urban areas with heavy traffic probably have much higher direct impacts than in open rural areas where they can dissipate quickly. Of course, this is also ignoring the interaction between emissions and atmospheric conditions... the impact of a unit of CO2 emission can vary depending on where it is emitted. 4. This also ignores CO, NOx and SOx. So even if you are carbon neutral, CO is not friendly, and NOx and SOx are still not neutral. 5. If a significant number of people signed up to this, would there be enough space to plant the trees? GBP 20 a year seems far too low to me... I assume saplings (small trees) do not soak up huge amounts of CO2, so it will take many years for the full effect of the "carbon sink" to work... in this period of years, what happens to the CO2 that is in the atmosphere, and is it recoverable by the trees in 10-20 years from now? 6. How does this work in terms of Kyoto? Or is everyone quietly forgetting that now (forgive me for being rude and actually being bothered about the whole thing...) 7. If everybody is happy to drive their cars when and where they want (since it's now "carbon neutral"), will people ignore the effects of traffic (not just pollution, but stress and wasted time)? I think it's an interesting start, but is it starting us in the right direction? After all, I assume BP only has a certain amount of fuel, which is going to run out soon... BP Launches Carbon Neutral Scheme for Drivers > http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=37818 UK: August 24, 2006 LONDON - British motorists will be able to neutralise their CO2 emissions by paying an average 20 pounds a year towards offsetting their pollution after oil company BP launched a new Internet scheme on Wednesday. Drivers will be able to calculate their annual CO2 emissions using the www.targetneutral.com Web site and help fund environmental projects like wind farms. An average car, driven 10,000 miles a year, will generate about four tonnes of CO2, about enough to fill a medium-sized hot air balloon. To neutralise this amount of carbon emissions would cost about 20 pounds. "Targetneutral is a practical and straightforward step that BP is taking to enable drivers to help the environment," said BP's UK Director Peter Mather. "BP is taking the lead because our extensive research shows that there is a huge consumer demand for such a scheme, but a general feeling from customers that they 'don't know where to start,'" he added in a statement. Motorists' money from the targetneutral scheme, excluding VAT and payment transaction costs, will be used to buy CO2 emission reductions via the purchase of carbon credits. BP, which has provided the start-up funding and will pay for running costs, will not receive any money. The company will also make a direct contribution to targetneutral when motorists using the scheme buy BP petrol using a Nectar loyalty card. The money generated from targetneutral will be used for a range of environmental projects including alternative and renewable energy -- such as biomass, wind farms and methane capture schemes. Offsetting schemes have become increasingly popular in recent years, but some environmentalists are critical of them, saying reducing emissions should be the top priority. -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060829/0e7336dc/attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 17:55:56 -0500 From: "Carlos F. Pardo SUTP" Subject: [sustran] Re: [LotsLessCars] Keep Driving... To: , "'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport'" , Message-ID: <01fc01c6cbbe$4c6db200$0200a8c0@archibaldo> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" But, from what I understand, the environment is not the only reason to stop using cars (or to use them less). There?s also accidents, inequity, excessive use of roadspace, etc. Thus, even if a car is zero-emissions, it would still pose problems! Best regards, Carlos F. Pardo Coordinador de Proyecto GTZ - Proyecto de Transporte Sostenible (SUTP, SUTP-LAC) Cl 125bis # 41-28 of 404 Bogot? D.C., Colombia Tel: +57 (1) 215 7812 Fax: +57 (1) 236 2309 Mobile: +57 (3) 15 296 0662 e-mail: carlos.pardo@sutp.org P?gina: www.sutp.org _____ De: LotsLessCars@yahoogroups.com [mailto:LotsLessCars@yahoogroups.com] En nombre de Anzir Boodoo Enviado el: Martes, 29 de Agosto de 2006 04:45 a.m. Para: LotsLessCars@yahoogroups.com Asunto: Re: [LotsLessCars] Keep Driving... Jo?o, On 29 Aug 2006, at 07:02, Jo?o Lacerda wrote: > I am very curious to know some thoughts of our british friends > concerning this issue. (below) So, it's OK to use your car as much as you want, because it's now carbon neutral. So there is no environmental reason to stop using your car... Problems: 1. Carbon emission offsets are no longer considered environmentally equivalent to burning less fuel in the first place 2. An average aggregate of CO2 emitted takes no account of whether the car burning the fuel is a Prius or a Hummer 3. Likewise, emissions in urban areas with heavy traffic probably have much higher direct impacts than in open rural areas where they can dissipate quickly. Of course, this is also ignoring the interaction between emissions and atmospheric conditions... the impact of a unit of CO2 emission can vary depending on where it is emitted. 4. This also ignores CO, NOx and SOx. So even if you are carbon neutral, CO is not friendly, and NOx and SOx are still not neutral. 5. If a significant number of people signed up to this, would there be enough space to plant the trees? GBP 20 a year seems far too low to me... I assume saplings (small trees) do not soak up huge amounts of CO2, so it will take many years for the full effect of the "carbon sink" to work... in this period of years, what happens to the CO2 that is in the atmosphere, and is it recoverable by the trees in 10-20 years from now? 6. How does this work in terms of Kyoto? Or is everyone quietly forgetting that now (forgive me for being rude and actually being bothered about the whole thing...) 7. If everybody is happy to drive their cars when and where they want (since it's now "carbon neutral"), will people ignore the effects of traffic (not just pollution, but stress and wasted time)? I think it's an interesting start, but is it starting us in the right direction? After all, I assume BP only has a certain amount of fuel, which is going to run out soon... > BP Launches Carbon Neutral Scheme for Drivers > http://www.planetar k.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=37818 > > > BP Launches Carbon Neutral Scheme for Drivers > > LONDON - British motorists will be able to neutralise their CO2 > emissions by paying an average 20 pounds a year towards offsetting > their pollution after oil company BP launched a new Internet scheme > on Wednesday. > > Drivers will be able to calculate their annual CO2 emissions using > the www.targetneutral.com Web site and help fund environmental > projects like wind farms. > > An average car, driven 10,000 miles a year, will generate about > four tonnes of CO2, about enough to fill a medium-sized hot air > balloon. To neutralise this amount of carbon emissions would cost > about 20 pounds. > > "Targetneutral is a practical and straightforward step that BP is > taking to enable drivers to help the environment," said BP's UK > Director Peter Mather. > > "BP is taking the lead because our extensive research shows that > there is a huge consumer demand for such a scheme, but a general > feeling from customers that they 'don't know where to start,'" he > added in a statement. > > Motorists' money from the targetneutral scheme, excluding VAT and > payment transaction costs, will be used to buy CO2 emission > reductions via the purchase of carbon credits. BP, which has > provided the start-up funding and will pay for running costs, will > not receive any money. > > The company will also make a direct contribution to targetneutral > when motorists using the scheme buy BP petrol using a Nectar > loyalty card. > > The money generated from targetneutral will be used for a range of > environmental projects including alternative and renewable energy > -- such as biomass, wind farms and methane capture schemes. > > Offsetting schemes have become increasingly popular in recent > years, but some environmentalists are critical of them, saying > reducing emissions should be the top priority. > > Story Date: 24/8/2006 __._,_.___ Messages 2BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEwMjU5MTAEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNjAwNzI0ODc0BG1zZ0lkAzgyMQR zZWMDZnRyBHNsawN2dHBjBHN0aW1lAzExNTY4NDUzMjAEdHBjSWQDODIw> in this topic (2) k3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEwMjU5MTAEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNjAwNzI0ODc0BG1zZ0lkAzgyMQRzZWMDZn RyBHNsawNycGx5BHN0aW1lAzExNTY4NDUzMjA-?act=reply&messageNum=821> Reply (via web post) | Start k3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEwMjU5MTAEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNjAwNzI0ODc0BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA250cG === message truncated === --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2?/min or less. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060906/007e6650/attachment.html From whook at itdp.org Thu Sep 7 00:12:16 2006 From: whook at itdp.org (Walter Hook) Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 11:12:16 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Re: Sustran-discuss Digest, Vol 36, Issue 27 In-Reply-To: <20060906143028.93231.qmail@web31805.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <011e01c6d1c6$d76b6fb0$3601a8c0@DFJLYL81> This will have disastrous social consequences in both cities. I suppose over time the system will adapt with the increase in paratransit services (also hardly free from criminal behaviors!) and perhaps bicycles, but in the short term hundreds of thousands if not millions of people will face longer commutes and loss of income, and the loss of a valuable asset?s value (the motorbike itself). Surely if the problem is crime they should attack the crime problem, and not intervene in the traffic system. I am sure criminals will be able to afford vans next time. w. -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of joshua odeleye Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 10:30 AM To: sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org Subject: [sustran] Re: Sustran-discuss Digest, Vol 36, Issue 27 Dear All, What a coincident?Commercial motorcycles operation which happened to be a major means of urban transport in Nigerian cities have just been restricted within the hour of 6.00am-7.00pm in the city of Lagos..This is as a result of the nefarious activities of some of the operatives who aid and abbet crimes,particularly at night.While the enforcement last, majority of people, i.e the urban poor,who depend largely on this means of transport feel the pain most.They have resulted to long distance trekking.Could someone tell me if this approach in addressing an aspect of urban crime is Sustainable? Regards, JOSHUA ODELEYE. NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY, ZARIA,NIGERIA. sustran-discuss-request@list.jca.apc.org wrote: Send Sustran-discuss mailing list submissions to sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to sustran-discuss-request@list.jca.apc.org You can reach the person managing the list at sustran-discuss-owner@list.jca.apc.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Sustran-discuss digest..." ######################################################################## Sustran-discuss Mailing List Digest IMPORTANT NOTE: When replying please do not include the whole digest in your reply - just include the relevant part of the specific message that you are responding to. Many thanks. About this mailing list see: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss ######################################################################## Today's Topics: 1. Motorbike ban - Kigali (Eric Britton) 2. Keep Driving... (Eric Britton) 3. Re: Keep Driving... (chuwa) 4. Re: [LotsLessCars] Keep Driving... (Carlos F. Pardo SUTP) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 09:45:25 +0200 From: "Eric Britton" Subject: [sustran] Motorbike ban - Kigali To: , , Cc: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk Message-ID: <010f01c6cb3f$1ff20250$6501a8c0@Home> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Motorbike ban long overdue By Oscar Kimanuka It is now official. No more commercial motorcyclists, commonly known as boda boda or "motor," will be allowed in Kigali's city centre. The decision was arrived at after consultations between the City Council, Ministry of Infrastructure, and Local Government and the police. The decision has been welcomed by many Kigali residents, who for some time have viewed the motorcyclists as a nuisance. The cyclists have been blamed for the increasing number of thefts in a city that has a reputation for being one of the safest in the region. It is hoped that the directive from city authorities will be sustainable and not one of those episodic, knee-jerk responses that are soon ignored. One of the major reasons advanced by the Kigali city fathers for the ban was the sharp rise in accidents, thefts, harassment and other related petty crimes. Motorcycles are only allowed in designated areas outside the city. The motor cycle sector in Kigali has provided employment to many young people who have found it easy to operate owing to the reasonably low cost of investment. A secondhand motorcycle, for example, cost $1,000 or less. However, the operator of the motorcycle is not usually the owner. He acquires the motorcycle on a loan and raises the money through daily collections to pay back pay off the debt. The original owner buys another bike, and through this reproductive system, the population of "motors" on Kigali streets has grown phenomenally. Incidentally, this practice is not confined to Kigali. This is common in many African cities, including Kampala, where there are thousands of boda bodas that have become a convenient mode of transport for passengers who are tired of the traffic jams on many of the city roads. These boda bodas, however, have neither regard for traffic rules nor respect for other people. I am not sure of anyone, particularly a car owner who has ever encountered a disciplined or polite motorcyclist. Now what is remaining is the enforcement of this new regulation for the safety of residents of Kigali. To begin with a "motor" regulatory task-force should be established to oversee enforcement of this regulation. Oscar Kimanuka is a commentator on social and economic issues based in Kigali. Email: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk Source: http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/Opinion/Opinion2808064.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060829/edbd402f /attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 12:11:20 +0200 From: "Eric Britton" Subject: [sustran] Keep Driving... To: , Cc: Sustran-discuss@jca.apc.org Message-ID: <014201c6cb53$7b962780$6501a8c0@Home> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Anzir Boodoo On 29 Aug 2006, at 07:02, Jo?o Lacerda wrote: > I am very curious to know some thoughts of our British friends > concerning this issue. (see article below) Jo?o, So, it's OK to use your car as much as you want, because it's now carbon neutral. So there is no environmental reason to stop using your car... Problems: 1. Carbon emission offsets are no longer considered environmentally equivalent to burning less fuel in the first place 2. An average aggregate of CO2 emitted takes no account of whether the car burning the fuel is a Prius or a Hummer 3. Likewise, emissions in urban areas with heavy traffic probably have much higher direct impacts than in open rural areas where they can dissipate quickly. Of course, this is also ignoring the interaction between emissions and atmospheric conditions... the impact of a unit of CO2 emission can vary depending on where it is emitted. 4. This also ignores CO, NOx and SOx. So even if you are carbon neutral, CO is not friendly, and NOx and SOx are still not neutral. 5. If a significant number of people signed up to this, would there be enough space to plant the trees? GBP 20 a year seems far too low to me... I assume saplings (small trees) do not soak up huge amounts of CO2, so it will take many years for the full effect of the "carbon sink" to work... in this period of years, what happens to the CO2 that is in the atmosphere, and is it recoverable by the trees in 10-20 years from now? 6. How does this work in terms of Kyoto? Or is everyone quietly forgetting that now (forgive me for being rude and actually being bothered about the whole thing...) 7. If everybody is happy to drive their cars when and where they want (since it's now "carbon neutral"), will people ignore the effects of traffic (not just pollution, but stress and wasted time)? I think it's an interesting start, but is it starting us in the right direction? After all, I assume BP only has a certain amount of fuel, which is going to run out soon... BP Launches Carbon Neutral Scheme for Drivers > http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=37818 UK: August 24, 2006 LONDON - British motorists will be able to neutralise their CO2 emissions by paying an average 20 pounds a year towards offsetting their pollution after oil company BP launched a new Internet scheme on Wednesday. Drivers will be able to calculate their annual CO2 emissions using the www.targetneutral.com Web site and help fund environmental projects like wind farms. An average car, driven 10,000 miles a year, will generate about four tonnes of CO2, about enough to fill a medium-sized hot air balloon. To neutralise this amount of carbon emissions would cost about 20 pounds. "Targetneutral is a practical and straightforward step that BP is taking to enable drivers to help the environment," said BP's UK Director Peter Mather. "BP is taking the lead because our extensive research shows that there is a huge consumer demand for such a scheme, but a general feeling from customers that they 'don't know where to start,'" he added in a statement. Motorists' money from the targetneutral scheme, excluding VAT and payment transaction costs, will be used to buy CO2 emission reductions via the purchase of carbon credits. BP, which has provided the start-up funding and will pay for running costs, will not receive any money. The company will also make a direct contribution to targetneutral when motorists using the scheme buy BP petrol using a Nectar loyalty card. The money generated from targetneutral will be used for a range of environmental projects including alternative and renewable energy -- such as biomass, wind farms and methane capture schemes. Offsetting schemes have become increasingly popular in recent years, but some environmentalists are critical of them, saying reducing emissions should be the top priority. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060829/9a073c30 /attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 05:03:35 -0700 (PDT) From: chuwa Subject: [sustran] Re: Keep Driving... To: eric.britton@ecoplan.org, Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Message-ID: <20060829120335.53740.qmail@web36915.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" I am more than happy to pay 25 pounds or more a year to stop anyone driving around my house. The money should go to improve facilities for non-motorized transport. Eric Britton wrote: Anzir Boodoo On 29 Aug 2006, at 07:02, Jo?o Lacerda wrote: > I am very curious to know some thoughts of our British friends > concerning this issue. (see article below) Jo?o, So, it's OK to use your car as much as you want, because it's now carbon neutral. So there is no environmental reason to stop using your car... Problems: 1. Carbon emission offsets are no longer considered environmentally equivalent to burning less fuel in the first place 2. An average aggregate of CO2 emitted takes no account of whether the car burning the fuel is a Prius or a Hummer 3. Likewise, emissions in urban areas with heavy traffic probably have much higher direct impacts than in open rural areas where they can dissipate quickly. Of course, this is also ignoring the interaction between emissions and atmospheric conditions... the impact of a unit of CO2 emission can vary depending on where it is emitted. 4. This also ignores CO, NOx and SOx. So even if you are carbon neutral, CO is not friendly, and NOx and SOx are still not neutral. 5. If a significant number of people signed up to this, would there be enough space to plant the trees? GBP 20 a year seems far too low to me... I assume saplings (small trees) do not soak up huge amounts of CO2, so it will take many years for the full effect of the "carbon sink" to work... in this period of years, what happens to the CO2 that is in the atmosphere, and is it recoverable by the trees in 10-20 years from now? 6. How does this work in terms of Kyoto? Or is everyone quietly forgetting that now (forgive me for being rude and actually being bothered about the whole thing...) 7. If everybody is happy to drive their cars when and where they want (since it's now "carbon neutral"), will people ignore the effects of traffic (not just pollution, but stress and wasted time)? I think it's an interesting start, but is it starting us in the right direction? After all, I assume BP only has a certain amount of fuel, which is going to run out soon... BP Launches Carbon Neutral Scheme for Drivers > http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=37818 UK: August 24, 2006 LONDON - British motorists will be able to neutralise their CO2 emissions by paying an average 20 pounds a year towards offsetting their pollution after oil company BP launched a new Internet scheme on Wednesday. Drivers will be able to calculate their annual CO2 emissions using the www.targetneutral.com Web site and help fund environmental projects like wind farms. An average car, driven 10,000 miles a year, will generate about four tonnes of CO2, about enough to fill a medium-sized hot air balloon. To neutralise this amount of carbon emissions would cost about 20 pounds. "Targetneutral is a practical and straightforward step that BP is taking to enable drivers to help the environment," said BP's UK Director Peter Mather. "BP is taking the lead because our extensive research shows that there is a huge consumer demand for such a scheme, but a general feeling from customers that they 'don't know where to start,'" he added in a statement. Motorists' money from the targetneutral scheme, excluding VAT and payment transaction costs, will be used to buy CO2 emission reductions via the purchase of carbon credits. BP, which has provided the start-up funding and will pay for running costs, will not receive any money. The company will also make a direct contribution to targetneutral when motorists using the scheme buy BP petrol using a Nectar loyalty card. The money generated from targetneutral will be used for a range of environmental projects including alternative and renewable energy -- such as biomass, wind farms and methane capture schemes. Offsetting schemes have become increasingly popular in recent years, but some environmentalists are critical of them, saying reducing emissions should be the top priority. -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060829/0e7336dc /attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 17:55:56 -0500 From: "Carlos F. Pardo SUTP" Subject: [sustran] Re: [LotsLessCars] Keep Driving... To: , "'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport'" , Message-ID: <01fc01c6cbbe$4c6db200$0200a8c0@archibaldo> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" But, from what I understand, the environment is not the only reason to stop using cars (or to use them less). There?s also accidents, inequity, excessive use of roadspace, etc. Thus, even if a car is zero-emissions, it would still pose problems! Best regards, Carlos F. Pardo Coordinador de Proyecto GTZ - Proyecto de Transporte Sostenible (SUTP, SUTP-LAC) Cl 125bis # 41-28 of 404 Bogot? D.C., Colombia Tel: +57 (1) 215 7812 Fax: +57 (1) 236 2309 Mobile: +57 (3) 15 296 0662 e-mail: carlos.pardo@sutp.org P?gina: www.sutp.org _____ De: LotsLessCars@yahoogroups.com [mailto:LotsLessCars@yahoogroups.com] En nombre de Anzir Boodoo Enviado el: Martes, 29 de Agosto de 2006 04:45 a.m. Para: LotsLessCars@yahoogroups.com Asunto: Re: [LotsLessCars] Keep Driving... Jo?o, On 29 Aug 2006, at 07:02, Jo?o Lacerda wrote: > I am very curious to know some thoughts of our british friends > concerning this issue. (below) So, it's OK to use your car as much as you want, because it's now carbon neutral. So there is no environmental reason to stop using your car... Problems: 1. Carbon emission offsets are no longer considered environmentally equivalent to burning less fuel in the first place 2. An average aggregate of CO2 emitted takes no account of whether the car burning the fuel is a Prius or a Hummer 3. Likewise, emissions in urban areas with heavy traffic probably have much higher direct impacts than in open rural areas where they can dissipate quickly. Of course, this is also ignoring the interaction between emissions and atmospheric conditions... the impact of a unit of CO2 emission can vary depending on where it is emitted. 4. This also ignores CO, NOx and SOx. So even if you are carbon neutral, CO is not friendly, and NOx and SOx are still not neutral. 5. If a significant number of people signed up to this, would there be enough space to plant the trees? GBP 20 a year seems far too low to me... I assume saplings (small trees) do not soak up huge amounts of CO2, so it will take many years for the full effect of the "carbon sink" to work... in this period of years, what happens to the CO2 that is in the atmosphere, and is it recoverable by the trees in 10-20 years from now? 6. How does this work in terms of Kyoto? Or is everyone quietly forgetting that now (forgive me for being rude and actually being bothered about the whole thing...) 7. If everybody is happy to drive their cars when and where they want (since it's now "carbon neutral"), will people ignore the effects of traffic (not just pollution, but stress and wasted time)? I think it's an interesting start, but is it starting us in the right direction? After all, I assume BP only has a certain amount of fuel, which is going to run out soon... > BP Launches Carbon Neutral Scheme for Drivers > http://www.planetar k.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=37818 > > > BP Launches Carbon Neutral Scheme for Drivers > > LONDON - British motorists will be able to neutralise their CO2 > emissions by paying an average 20 pounds a year towards offsetting > their pollution after oil company BP launched a new Internet scheme > on Wednesday. > > Drivers will be able to calculate their annual CO2 emissions using > the www.targetneutral.com Web site and help fund environmental > projects like wind farms. > > An average car, driven 10,000 miles a year, will generate about > four tonnes of CO2, about enough to fill a medium-sized hot air > balloon. To neutralise this amount of carbon emissions would cost > about 20 pounds. > > "Targetneutral is a practical and straightforward step that BP is > taking to enable drivers to help the environment," said BP's UK > Director Peter Mather. > > "BP is taking the lead because our extensive research shows that > there is a huge consumer demand for such a scheme, but a general > feeling from customers that they 'don't know where to start,'" he > added in a statement. > > Motorists' money from the targetneutral scheme, excluding VAT and > payment transaction costs, will be used to buy CO2 emission > reductions via the purchase of carbon credits. BP, which has > provided the start-up funding and will pay for running costs, will > not receive any money. > > The company will also make a direct contribution to targetneutral > when motorists using the scheme buy BP petrol using a Nectar > loyalty card. > > The money generated from targetneutral will be used for a range of > environmental projects including alternative and renewable energy > -- such as biomass, wind farms and methane capture schemes. > > Offsetting schemes have become increasingly popular in recent > years, but some environmentalists are critical of them, saying > reducing emissions should be the top priority. > > Story Date: 24/8/2006 __._,_.___ Messages 2BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEwMjU5MTAEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNjAwNzI0ODc0BG1zZ0lkAzgyMQR zZWMDZnRyBHNsawN2dHBjBHN0aW1lAzExNTY4NDUzMjAEdHBjSWQDODIw> in this topic (2) k3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEwMjU5MTAEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNjAwNzI0ODc0BG1zZ0lkAzgyMQRzZWMDZn RyBHNsawNycGx5BHN0aW1lAzExNTY4NDUzMjA-?act=reply&messageNum=821> Reply (via web post) | Start k3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEwMjU5MTAEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNjAwNzI0ODc0BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA250cG === message truncated === _____ Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2?/min or less. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060906/672dc9c2/attachment.html From sksunny at gmail.com Thu Sep 7 00:41:42 2006 From: sksunny at gmail.com (Sunny) Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2006 22:41:42 +0700 Subject: [sustran] Re: Sustran-discuss Digest, Vol 36, Issue 27 In-Reply-To: <011e01c6d1c6$d76b6fb0$3601a8c0@DFJLYL81> References: <011e01c6d1c6$d76b6fb0$3601a8c0@DFJLYL81> Message-ID: <44FEEC36.9030203@gmail.com> yes I agree with Walter. The thing i dont understand is tht when the crime rates are high in the nights why stop bikes in the mornings and tht too during the working hours as Walter said it would surely make many lose income. I dont know if they have a courier service in Nigeria but if this is done in India it would affect many big companies as their letters are couriered locally and the delivery people use bikes. In my opinion bike reduction or mobility management programs should be gradually introduced while increasing other modes. On the long run sudden restraint programs could lead to 2 scenarios. One would be increased car usage or the other would be increased public transit usage (which i guess everyone here favours). Ah... forgot abt the real question "Will this approach solve the crime problem?" my answer would be NO it would divert the criminals to use cars. Sunny Walter Hook wrote: > > This will have disastrous social consequences in both cities. I > suppose over time the system will adapt with the increase in > paratransit services (also hardly free from criminal behaviors!) and > perhaps bicycles, but in the short term hundreds of thousands if not > millions of people will face longer commutes and loss of income, and > the loss of a valuable asset's value (the motorbike itself).  Surely > if the problem is crime they should attack the crime problem, and not > intervene in the traffic system.  I am sure criminals will be able to > afford vans next time. > > w. > > -----Original Message----- > *From:* sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org > [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] *On > Behalf Of *joshua odeleye > *Sent:* Wednesday, September 06, 2006 10:30 AM > *To:* sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org > *Subject:* [sustran] Re: Sustran-discuss Digest, Vol 36, Issue 27 > > Dear All, > > What a coincident?Commercial motorcycles operationwhich happened to be > a major means of urban transport in Nigerian cities have just been > restricted within the hour of 6.00am-7.00pm in thecity of Lagos..This > is as a result of the nefarious activities of some of the operatives > who aid and abbet crimes,particularly at night.While the enforcement > last, majority of people, i.e the urban poor,who depend largely on > this means of transport feel the pain most.They have resulted to long > distance trekking.Could someone tell me if this approach in addressing > an aspect ofurban crimeis Sustainable? > > Regards, > > JOSHUA ODELEYE. > > NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY, > > ZARIA,NIGERIA. > > *//* > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060906/19ead28e/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Thu Sep 7 00:52:38 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 17:52:38 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos In-Reply-To: <011e01c6d1c6$d76b6fb0$3601a8c0@DFJLYL81> Message-ID: <011f01c6d1cc$7c479f40$6501a8c0@Home> As Walter put it so well, they are playing with fire in the streets of Lagos today. For the reasons that he and Joshua mention, but also because - and this is something that transport planners often simply do not take into consideration since they try to 'solve' their problems within a very partial systems analysis in a broadly and relentlessly systemic world - they either have no memory or no knowledge of what happens when you mess with the 'small details' of people's lives. In this case as Walter points out, actually millions of people. History is strewn with the bodies of specialists who proposed 'transportation solutions' to inconvenient problems, only to see a fast and massive reaction on the streets that has toppled governments in very many cases. (It's really quite a long list and at some point we might all sit down and draw it up as a sweet reminder. Transportation is indeed dynamite!) And oh yes, I have not forgotten in this that push from the law enforcement side for whatever reasons. My best guess is though that the transport guys were just looking for good excuse to get these guys out of circulation. This leaves us at the end of the day, however, with what is among the most 'inconvenient truths' of transport planning and policies in cities across the Global South today - those damn motorized two-wheelers. Certainly an enormous problem, but a far more subtle and astute response is called for. Eric Britton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060906/f4540e5b/attachment.html From ericbruun at earthlink.net Thu Sep 7 04:41:38 2006 From: ericbruun at earthlink.net (Eric Bruun) Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 15:41:38 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos Message-ID: <24076427.1157571698985.JavaMail.root@elwamui-milano.atl.sa.earthlink.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060906/fd71f4f7/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Thu Sep 7 18:22:14 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2006 11:22:14 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos In-Reply-To: <24076427.1157571698985.JavaMail.root@elwamui-milano.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Message-ID: <012f01c6d25f$27b642e0$6501a8c0@Home> "Like I keep saying, massive numbers of motorcycles and mopeds is a symptom of neglect of public transport. If the rich can drive, are the masses really going to do without mobility if they can afford it? How could you persuade them otherwise? Eric Bruun" Och Laddie, there's the beastie. Dear Eric Bruun and all of us who are following this thread. Not to be disrespectful Eric, and I know you are well aware of this, but please give me a moment more on this to see if I can make a positive contribution here to what after all is an extremely important matter - in the knowledge that if we here are not able to develop a common vocabulary and broadly shared vision of the solution set, then the old mobility guys are going to continue to rule the day. Our choice of words is ever dangerous, since it can in a single sweep narrow the field of thought and choice, and in the process leave out of sight what just may be our best solutions. Thus when we see that time-blessed word "mass" (just after its good and often partner "rich") and then that other one "public transport" we suddenly are swept into a mental architecture, a far too narrow room, which in my view simply does not help us in the world in which we live. Here it is dear friends, suddenly a first clumsy step into the 21st century -- and with the fury of economic and technological development the patterns of travel have exploded in time and space we find ourselves living in a world which is very different from the old days. And the old vocabulary. The same old vocabulary that looked so good and so prescient back when Uncle Karl was sitting there in the warmth of the Reading Room of the British Library scratching out the vocabulary that dominated thinking and policy in many places for the century ahead. But hey! it's 2006 and when we look out on the streets we simply do not see all that many long lines of workers, lunch pails in hand and docilely waiting to get to the factory or mine gates by opening time. Some yes, but there's a lot more to it than that. Let's sep back and remind ourselves what is actually going on out there on our streets. (And yes of course I know all you know this, but it just may serve as a quick reminder, because clearly there are an awful lot of very handsome people making policy decisions in the sector who apparently do not fully understand the problematique.) So I went over to out little Global South video library this morning (http://www.youtube.com/group/globalsouth) and picked out a handful of one minute clips showing street action in cities in India, China, Bangladesh and Vietnam - in an attempt to see if I might get the general idea across in a few vivid minutes. I then popped in a little introduction and labeled the whole thing with the following immortal prose: "Mass Transport" in the Global South. You tell me. Where are these people going? And when do they want to go there? Will traditional public transport do the job for all of them? Certainly no, and in many cases not only on the grounds of the origin, destination and timing of travel, but also on cost grounds. Should this be taken to mean that there is no room for fixed route scheduled services in our cities in 2006? Of course there is, but the demand patterns have changed and so must the supply. Probably the biggest conundrum for planners and policy makers, above all in the cities of the Global South. You can catch it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jcy2rBxesY &feature=PlayList&p=0ABE0A9AB3E4C5FA&index=0&playnext=1 And by the way if you look at the last clip showing Ho Chi Minh street in Saigon, you will in addition to hundreds of motorized two and three wheelers a bus. Slow down the image and count the number of people you see on the bus. I guess that's what we mean by "mass". ;-) Eric Britton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060907/a5189a5c/attachment.html From whook at itdp.org Thu Sep 7 05:29:38 2006 From: whook at itdp.org (Walter Hook) Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 16:29:38 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos In-Reply-To: <24076427.1157571698985.JavaMail.root@elwamui-milano.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Message-ID: <018401c6d1f3$2d398400$3601a8c0@DFJLYL81> We need to be careful here. Not all transportation is 'urban', and in Africa lack of access to basic mobility constitutes a fundamental barrier to economic development, access to employment, health care, schools, etc. A number of thoughtful articles by John Howe and other experts indicate that the introduction of motorcycles has had enormous economic benefits in those few African cities where they have been introduced, and of course a few unfortunate externalities like more pollution, accidents, etc. The problem of the 'missing middle' in Africa, meaning the absence of vehicle options between land rovers and women headloading, is a key component of the basic economic underdevelopment of Africa. When a woman spends 60 hours a week taking care of basic mobility needs, how in the hell is she supposed to do much else? When your country is very poor, the economic effects are extremely critical. We're doing good work introducing better bicycles, which are of course not controversial, but all the industry related problems are the same, and the economic benefits of introducing cleaner, cheapter, higher quality motorcycles would be important also. There is no such thing as 'public transportation' in Africa at this point, there are only paratransit services. A lot of African cities are very low density, and motorcycles are a reasonable option. Ambient air pollution becomes a problem only with a certain amount of concentration of the pollutants. The safety issues are better addressed by designing roads for slower speeds. What to do about motorcycles is certainly a critical issue. Banning them in Africa is certainly not the solution. Best Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Eric Bruun Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 3:42 PM To: eric.britton@ecoplan.org; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport; 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Cc: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk; 'joshua odeleye' Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos Like I keep saying, massive numbers of motorcycles and mopeds is a symptom of neglect of public transport. If the rich can drive, are the masses really going to do without mobility if they can afford it? How could you persuade them otherwise? Eric Bruun -----Original Message----- From: Eric Britton Sent: Sep 6, 2006 11:52 AM To: 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Cc: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk, 'joshua odeleye' Subject: [sustran] Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos As Walter put it so well, they are playing with fire in the streets of Lagos today. For the reasons that he and Joshua mention, but also because - and this is something that transport planners often simply do not take into consideration since they try to 'solve' their problems within a very partial systems analysis in a broadly and relentlessly systemic world - they either have no memory or no knowledge of what happens when you mess with the 'small details' of people's lives. In this case as Walter points out, actually millions of people. History is strewn with the bodies of specialists who proposed 'transportation solutions' to inconvenient problems, only to see a fast and massive reaction on the streets that has toppled governments in very many cases. (It's really quite a long list and at some point we might all sit down and draw it up as a sweet reminder. Transportation is indeed dynamite!) And oh yes, I have not forgotten in this that push from the law enforcement side for whatever reasons. My best guess is though that the transport guys were just looking for good excuse to get these guys out of circulation. This leaves us at the end of the day, however, with what is among the most 'inconvenient truths' of transport planning and policies in cities across the Global South today - those damn motorized two-wheelers. Certainly an enormous problem, but a far more subtle and astute response is called for. Eric Britton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060906/8063d20a/attachment.html From etts at indigo.ie Fri Sep 8 01:14:05 2006 From: etts at indigo.ie (etts at indigo.ie) Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2006 12:14:05 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos Message-ID: <380-2200694716145265@M2W011.mail2web.com> Dear all, As I recall, this thread started as banning commercial motorcyles in Lagos. Three observations : 1) Lagos is most definitely urban. 2) What is being banned is commercial lift-giving, not personal use of motorcycles. 3) The issue is about banning them in Lagos, not about banning them in Africa I think we should focus the discussion on that or terminate the thread. If people wish to discuss personal motorcycle use in cities, or commercial motorcycles in smaller cities and rural areas, then better start a different thread to do so. With best wishes, Brendan Finn. Original Message: ----------------- From: Walter Hook whook@itdp.org Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 16:29:38 -0400 To: ericbruun@earthlink.net, sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org, eric.britton@ecoplan.org, oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk, joshuaodeleye@yahoo.com Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos We need to be careful here. Not all transportation is 'urban', and in Africa lack of access to basic mobility constitutes a fundamental barrier to economic development, access to employment, health care, schools, etc. A number of thoughtful articles by John Howe and other experts indicate that the introduction of motorcycles has had enormous economic benefits in those few African cities where they have been introduced, and of course a few unfortunate externalities like more pollution, accidents, etc. The problem of the 'missing middle' in Africa, meaning the absence of vehicle options between land rovers and women headloading, is a key component of the basic economic underdevelopment of Africa. When a woman spends 60 hours a week taking care of basic mobility needs, how in the hell is she supposed to do much else? When your country is very poor, the economic effects are extremely critical. We're doing good work introducing better bicycles, which are of course not controversial, but all the industry related problems are the same, and the economic benefits of introducing cleaner, cheapter, higher quality motorcycles would be important also. There is no such thing as 'public transportation' in Africa at this point, there are only paratransit services. A lot of African cities are very low density, and motorcycles are a reasonable option. Ambient air pollution becomes a problem only with a certain amount of concentration of the pollutants. The safety issues are better addressed by designing roads for slower speeds. What to do about motorcycles is certainly a critical issue. Banning them in Africa is certainly not the solution. Best Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Eric Bruun Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 3:42 PM To: eric.britton@ecoplan.org; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport; 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Cc: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk; 'joshua odeleye' Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos Like I keep saying, massive numbers of motorcycles and mopeds is a symptom of neglect of public transport. If the rich can drive, are the masses really going to do without mobility if they can afford it? How could you persuade them otherwise? Eric Bruun -----Original Message----- From: Eric Britton Sent: Sep 6, 2006 11:52 AM To: 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Cc: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk, 'joshua odeleye' Subject: [sustran] Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos As Walter put it so well, they are playing with fire in the streets of Lagos today. For the reasons that he and Joshua mention, but also because - and this is something that transport planners often simply do not take into consideration since they try to 'solve' their problems within a very partial systems analysis in a broadly and relentlessly systemic world - they either have no memory or no knowledge of what happens when you mess with the 'small details' of people's lives. In this case as Walter points out, actually millions of people. History is strewn with the bodies of specialists who proposed 'transportation solutions' to inconvenient problems, only to see a fast and massive reaction on the streets that has toppled governments in very many cases. (It's really quite a long list and at some point we might all sit down and draw it up as a sweet reminder. Transportation is indeed dynamite!) And oh yes, I have not forgotten in this that push from the law enforcement side for whatever reasons. My best guess is though that the transport guys were just looking for good excuse to get these guys out of circulation. This leaves us at the end of the day, however, with what is among the most 'inconvenient truths' of transport planning and policies in cities across the Global South today - those damn motorized two-wheelers. Certainly an enormous problem, but a far more subtle and astute response is called for. Eric Britton -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . From roryer at yahoo.com Fri Sep 8 01:35:25 2006 From: roryer at yahoo.com (Rory McMullan) Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2006 17:35:25 +0100 (BST) Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos Message-ID: <20060907163525.97170.qmail@web31706.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Eric, To reply to your comments on two wheelers. You stated that: "This leaves us at the end of the day, however, with what is among the most 'inconvenient truths' of transport planning and policies in cities across the Global South today - those damn motorized two-wheelers. Certainly an enormous problem, but a far more subtle and astute response is called for. " I don't see powered two-wheelers as a problem but in fact beleive they can be seen as a major part of the answer to achieving sustainable transport for the developing world. It is the automobile which takes up too much space in what for the most part in the developing world are very high density mixed use urban areas, perfect examples of smart growth. Scooters are very space effcient, and provide flexible personal mobility over a radius of 30 miles at a very low cost. However currently motorcycles do cause problems on several levels, having spent a considerable amount of time in Taichung where there is a large number of scooters, my observations are based on experiences there and may not apply in all cases: 1. Saftey: it is the mixing with other traffic cars, buses and trucks that causes most of the serious accidents. Pedestrians do not have a high risk of serious injury from the low powered slow moving scooters than make up the bulk of the two-wheeled traffic. I have been hit by a scooter doing 30kmph while walking, it hurt, but the guy on the scooter was more seriously injured than me. 2. Parking: often parked on sidewalks they take space away from pedestrians. 3. Pollution: noise and air pollution can be worse from two-wheelers than four. The soultions should be fairly simple: In cities that already have a large number of scooters, policies should be put in place to discourage car transport, some roads should be made two wheel only, and two wheel only lanes introduced on major arterials. Parking restrictions should be enforced and cars and scooters parking illegally towed away. Pollution controls should be enforced with offending machines confiscated and destroyed. Engine size should be limited to 100cc. Electric powered scooters should receive higher government subsidies and petrol scooters phased out. Regards, Rory --------------------------------- All new Yahoo! Mail "The new Interface is stunning in its simplicity and ease of use." - PC Magazine -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060907/9e2c89f0/attachment.html From Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk Fri Sep 8 14:15:52 2006 From: Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk (Alan Howes) Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2006 06:15:52 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Mixed vehicle sizes [was: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos] References: <20060907163525.97170.qmail@web31706.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <324DCD7680954F468CF306EE5404F00102136FDC@mail01.cbuchanan.co.uk> [Note careful thread re-titling!] I have not followed this thread throughout, but would commend Rory for an excellent summing up of the situation as I see it, especially here in Mumbai. But it's not as easy as reducing the number of cars, to make it easier / safer for 2-wheelers. What about buses and trucks, let alone taxis and auto-rickshaws? Are you going to give each of these their own lane? (I can just see the Mumbai police enforcing this!) I'm not sure what the answer is - Rory has some of them, but the obvious thing that is missing is better driving (and pedestrian!) discipline through highway / footway design, management, education and enforcement. I can only speak for India, where, for example, although there are signals at many intersections, there are no stop lines and at complex junctions no-one seems to know which traffic streams correspond to which signals. So it becomes a free-for-all. And the ptw riders are most vulnerable. Regards, Alan (leaving Mumbai tonight after 4 weeks of good company but awful roads) -- Alan Howes Associate Transport Planner Colin Buchanan 4 St Colme Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6AA Tel: +44 131 226 4693 Mobile: +44 7952 464335 email: alan.howes@cbuchanan.co.uk www: http:/www.cbuchanan.co.uk/ ________________________________ From: sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org on behalf of Rory McMullan Sent: Thu 07/09/2006 17:35 To: Sustran-discuss@jca.apc.org Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos Eric, To reply to your comments on two wheelers. You stated that: "This leaves us at the end of the day, however, with what is among the most 'inconvenient truths' of transport planning and policies in cities across the Global South today - those damn motorized two-wheelers. Certainly an enormous problem, but a far more subtle and astute response is called for. " I don't see powered two-wheelers as a problem but in fact beleive they can be seen as a major part of the answer to achieving sustainable transport for the developing world. It is the automobile which takes up too much space in what for the most part in the developing world are very high density mixed use urban areas, perfect examples of smart growth. Scooters are very space effcient, and provide flexible personal mobility over a radius of 30 miles at a very low cost. However currently motorcycles do cause problems on several levels, having spent a considerable amount of time in Taichung where there is a large number of scooters, my observations are based on experiences there and may not apply in all cases: 1. Saftey: it is the mixing with other traffic cars, buses and trucks that causes most of the serious accidents. Pedestrians do not have a high risk of serious injury from the low powered slow moving scooters than make up the bulk of the two-wheeled traffic. I have been hit by a scooter doing 30kmph while walking, it hurt, but the guy on the scooter was more seriously injured than me. 2. Parking: often parked on sidewalks they take space away from pedestrians. 3. Pollution: noise and air pollution can be worse from two-wheelers than four. The soultions should be fairly simple: In cities that already have a large number of scooters, policies should be put in place to discourage car transport, some roads should be made two wheel only, and two wheel only lanes introduced on major arterials. Parking restrictions should be enforced and cars and scooters parking illegally towed away. Pollution controls should be enforced with offending machines confiscated and destroyed. Engine size should be limited to 100cc. Electric powered scooters should receive higher government subsidies and petrol scooters phased out. Regards, Rory ________________________________ All new Yahoo! 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Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 10073 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060908/0c13894f/attachment.bin From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Fri Sep 8 14:45:40 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2006 07:45:40 +0200 Subject: [sustran] motorcycles shut down in Lagos In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <000001c6d30a$08cbb760$6501a8c0@Home> Dear Simon, It is always such a real pleasure to exchange these ideas with you. The situation in many cities of the Global South as far as mortised two/three wheelers is - and in particular with reference to convention bus and public transport services is concerned -nothing if not surprising, anomalous and quite confusing in our tradition-laden North context. The trick line is here: For many people it is not only faster and more convenient to buy a banger and head out into the traffic stream, but it is also a whole lot cheaper. Ouch! This is real tough competition and if you look at the short films posted yesterday you will see where the on-street action is. There is nothing, zero, surprise in this. And as to what we call "xTransit" (and how sometimes I regret this bit of cleverness), the idea there is to open up the spectrum to a wide range of services, that will in part, no doubt, replace some of the less effective main line publicly run and subsidized traditional bus, etc. services. IF I sound like an enemy of waiting for that red bus in the rain, please excuse me. There is a real future for all those services too -- but in a radically different context. The motorized two/three wheeler is what one long time observer has called the Great White Whale of transport in the cities of the Global South. But the next time you go to London, have a look. They are out on the street there too, more in number and more anomalous every day. While the mainline transportation fraternity continues to look the other way. Ain't life very surprising in its insistence simply to not stand still for us? Eric Britton On Behalf Of Simon Norton Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 6:08 PM To: lotslesscars@yahoogroups.com Subject: [LotsLessCars] RE: motorcycles shut down in Lagos I don't understand what Eric means by saying that traditional public transport may be unsuitable on cost grounds, the context being the Global South. This is a disease of rich countries, where demand has been abstracted away from public transport by uncontrolled car ownership and usage, where staff have to be paid at the prevailing rates, and where the demand for high tech systems and safety and disability requirements may have pushed costs up. One thing is certain: if conventional public transport is too expensive, there is no way that xTransit can substitute. Its role is where there is a need for transport intermediate between buses and taxis, or where demand is insufficient to support a conventional bus service. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060908/140216e0/attachment.html From service at youtube.com Fri Sep 8 18:43:42 2006 From: service at youtube.com (YouTube Service) Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2006 02:43:42 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sustran] fekbritton sent you a video! Message-ID: <20060908094342.6FBD6184F1@linux.local> fekbritton wants to share the following video with you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_g_X7U-Phg Video Description Para incentivar el ciclismo urbano en el Perú Personal Message We look at transport in cities in place after place around the world, and oh dear yes indeed, there can be many reasons to lose hope in our collective ability to cope. But you know it's a big world out there and there is a great deal going on that gives at least some of grounds for hope. Fortunately there are many people in many places with ideas and the ability to make them work. So in this spirit I invite you to brush up your Spanish and spend five minutes to get a feel for how this one group is pushing to provide incentive for the development of cycling in Peru. Peru? Yes, lesson from Lima: No matter where you are don't lose hope and keep on pedaling with your own projects. One by one by one, and then all of a sudden we have them surrounded. Eric Britton. To accept my friend request, click here: http://www.youtube.com/signup_login?ci=5C2A008E993E0FE7 To respond to fekbritton, click on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/outbox?to_user=fekbritton Thanks, fekbritton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060908/edf35817/attachment.html From joshuaodeleye at yahoo.com Sat Sep 9 19:58:47 2006 From: joshuaodeleye at yahoo.com (joshua odeleye) Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 03:58:47 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos In-Reply-To: <018401c6d1f3$2d398400$3601a8c0@DFJLYL81> Message-ID: <20060909105847.98265.qmail@web31809.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Dear Walter, In the Global North, motorcycle may not necessarily be a part of "urban transportation".But in the Global South particlarly Sub-Sahara Africa,motorcycle is a sub-system of the urban transport.For instances,it takes care of a subtiantial percentage of the travel demand, in most cities that are bedevilled by traffic congestion.As a result,it has been able to bridge the gap of long distance and short neighbourhood trekking,headloading which are still a major challenge of rural transport in this part of the world. Bicycle is a wonderful alternative to motorbike,apart from the fact that the infrastructure for a safe ride is not available in most countries,socially people in cities may want to despise it,but if infrastructure like bicycle paths could be provided in cities prior funding and or distribution of bicycle,i am of the opinion that more people across gender would embrace it.But, it is unfortunate that in this part of the world nobody has ever thought of providing this infrastucture,meanwhile they want all to shift to bicycle.This may be difficult to accomplish.I will be glad if anyone can point out extensive of bicycle path infrastructure provision in West Africa as well as other part of the global south. Regards, JOSHUA ODELEYE. NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY, ZARIA,NIGEIA Walter Hook wrote: We need to be careful here. Not all transportation is ?urban?, and in Africa lack of access to basic mobility constitutes a fundamental barrier to economic development, access to employment, health care, schools, etc. A number of thoughtful articles by John Howe and other experts indicate that the introduction of motorcycles has had enormous economic benefits in those few African cities where they have been introduced, and of course a few unfortunate externalities like more pollution, accidents, etc. The problem of the ?missing middle? in Africa, meaning the absence of vehicle options between land rovers and women headloading, is a key component of the basic economic underdevelopment of Africa. When a woman spends 60 hours a week taking care of basic mobility needs, how in the hell is she supposed to do much else? When your country is very poor, the economic effects are extremely critical. We?re doing good work introducing better bicycles, which are of course not controversial, but all the industry related problems are the same, and the economic benefits of introducing cleaner, cheapter, higher quality motorcycles would be important also. There is no such thing as ?public transportation? in Africa at this point, there are only paratransit services. A lot of African cities are very low density, and motorcycles are a reasonable option. Ambient air pollution becomes a problem only with a certain amount of concentration of the pollutants. The safety issues are better addressed by designing roads for slower speeds. What to do about motorcycles is certainly a critical issue. Banning them in Africa is certainly not the solution. Best Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Eric Bruun Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 3:42 PM To: eric.britton@ecoplan.org; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport; 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Cc: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk; 'joshua odeleye' Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos Like I keep saying, massive numbers of motorcycles and mopeds is a symptom of neglect of public transport. If the rich can drive, are the masses really going to do without mobility if they can afford it? How could you persuade them otherwise? Eric Bruun -----Original Message----- From: Eric Britton Sent: Sep 6, 2006 11:52 AM To: 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Cc: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk, 'joshua odeleye' Subject: [sustran] Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos As Walter put it so well, they are playing with fire in the streets of Lagos today. For the reasons that he and Joshua mention, but also because ? and this is something that transport planners often simply do not take into consideration since they try to ?solve? their problems within a very partial systems analysis in a broadly and relentlessly systemic world ? they either have no memory or no knowledge of what happens when you mess with the ?small details? of people?s lives. In this case as Walter points out, actually millions of people. History is strewn with the bodies of specialists who proposed ?transportation solutions? to inconvenient problems, only to see a fast and massive reaction on the streets that has toppled governments in very many cases. (It?s really quite a long list and at some point we might all sit down and draw it up as a sweet reminder. Transportation is indeed dynamite!) And oh yes, I have not forgotten in this that push from the law enforcement side for whatever reasons. My best guess is though that the transport guys were just looking for good excuse to get these guys out of circulation. This leaves us at the end of the day, however, with what is among the most ?inconvenient truths? of transport planning and policies in cities across the Global South today ? those damn motorized two-wheelers. Certainly an enormous problem, but a far more subtle and astute response is called for. Eric Britton --------------------------------- All-new Yahoo! Mail - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060909/21b8496a/attachment.html From etts at indigo.ie Sat Sep 9 22:56:54 2006 From: etts at indigo.ie (etts at indigo.ie) Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 09:56:54 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos Message-ID: <380-2200696913565478@M2W011.mail2web.com> In my opinion, we have three separate issues here : 1) Bicycle use, and the general failure to provide even the barest minimum safe environment for cyclists or their protection, let alone an attractive environment to make it a mode of choice. I agree with Joshua about the lack of suitable infrastructure. Some people are trying to change this, but typically they are dealing with city councils whose limited resources are dealing with drainage, waste disposal, pothole repair, street lighting and other basics that Global North takes for granted. In some cities - and I think Lagos and Accra could be included here - there is the further complication of streetside vendors and traders who occupy the pavements and curbsides, and hawkers who sell in the roadspace between the slow-moving lanes. Any cycle facilities become occupied and the cyclist faces a new adversary even among the traffic. 2) Motorcycles for personal use. I think there is general agreement that this is a significant mode, and often both a commercial and social lifeline in many cities, towns and rural areas throughout Africa and Asia. There is, of course, disagreement both about the safety aspects (e.g. in Thailand) and where they are used in substantial numbers in urban areas (often in conflict with cyclists). Nonetheless, I think it is a mode to be nudged in the right direction rather than to be suppressed or heavily controlled. 3) Motorcycles for commercial passenger use. In my opinion, these have a role in areas where there is a lack of alternatives, but not in the busier parts of cities. We have long ago agreed that buses are the most efficient users of road space. Why on earth should we then agree to thousands of single-passenger two-wheelers on the busiest arteries of a major city like Lagos? Is it because we feel that anything that gives work to the poor can't be touched, even if it seriously damages the mobility of all citizens? Besides, it would be interesting to know how many of the workers actually own the motorcycle they drive, and how many are paying a rental to an owner and then fighting aggressively for work to cover their fuel costs and enough to eat at the end of the day. When we debate motorcycles and bicycles, I think it is important to keep focus on which strand we are discussing. With best wishes, Brendan Finn. Original Message: ----------------- From: joshua odeleye joshuaodeleye@yahoo.com Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 03:58:47 -0700 (PDT) To: sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos Dear Walter, In the Global North, motorcycle may not necessarily be a part of "urban transportation".But in the Global South particlarly Sub-Sahara Africa,motorcycle is a sub-system of the urban transport.For instances,it takes care of a subtiantial percentage of the travel demand, in most cities that are bedevilled by traffic congestion.As a result,it has been able to bridge the gap of long distance and short neighbourhood trekking,headloading which are still a major challenge of rural transport in this part of the world. Bicycle is a wonderful alternative to motorbike,apart from the fact that the infrastructure for a safe ride is not available in most countries,socially people in cities may want to despise it,but if infrastructure like bicycle paths could be provided in cities prior funding and or distribution of bicycle,i am of the opinion that more people across gender would embrace it.But, it is unfortunate that in this part of the world nobody has ever thought of providing this infrastucture,meanwhile they want all to shift to bicycle.This may be difficult to accomplish.I will be glad if anyone can point out extensive of bicycle path infrastructure provision in West Africa as well as other part of the global south. Regards, JOSHUA ODELEYE. NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY, ZARIA,NIGEIA Walter Hook wrote: We need to be careful here. Not all transportation is ?urban?, and in Africa lack of access to basic mobility constitutes a fundamental barrier to economic development, access to employment, health care, schools, etc. A number of thoughtful articles by John Howe and other experts indicate that the introduction of motorcycles has had enormous economic benefits in those few African cities where they have been introduced, and of course a few unfortunate externalities like more pollution, accidents, etc. The problem of the ?missing middle? in Africa, meaning the absence of vehicle options between land rovers and women headloading, is a key component of the basic economic underdevelopment of Africa. When a woman spends 60 hours a week taking care of basic mobility needs, how in the hell is she supposed to do much else? When your country is very poor, the economic effects are extremely critical. We?re doing good work introducing better bicycles, which are of course not controversial, but all the industry related problems are the same, and the economic benefits of introducing cleaner, cheapter, higher quality motorcycles would be important also. There is no such thing as ?public transportation? in Africa at this point, there are only paratransit services. A lot of African cities are very low density, and motorcycles are a reasonable option. Ambient air pollution becomes a problem only with a certain amount of concentration of the pollutants. The safety issues are better addressed by designing roads for slower speeds. What to do about motorcycles is certainly a critical issue. Banning them in Africa is certainly not the solution. Best Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Eric Bruun Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 3:42 PM To: eric.britton@ecoplan.org; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport; 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Cc: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk; 'joshua odeleye' Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos Like I keep saying, massive numbers of motorcycles and mopeds is a symptom of neglect of public transport. If the rich can drive, are the masses really going to do without mobility if they can afford it? How could you persuade them otherwise? Eric Bruun -----Original Message----- From: Eric Britton Sent: Sep 6, 2006 11:52 AM To: 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Cc: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk, 'joshua odeleye' Subject: [sustran] Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos As Walter put it so well, they are playing with fire in the streets of Lagos today. For the reasons that he and Joshua mention, but also because ? and this is something that transport planners often simply do not take into consideration since they try to ?solve? their problems within a very partial systems analysis in a broadly and relentlessly systemic world ? they either have no memory or no knowledge of what happens when you mess with the ?small details? of people?s lives. In this case as Walter points out, actually millions of people. History is strewn with the bodies of specialists who proposed ?transportation solutions? to inconvenient problems, only to see a fast and massive reaction on the streets that has toppled governments in very many cases. (It?s really quite a long list and at some point we might all sit down and draw it up as a sweet reminder. Transportation is indeed dynamite!) And oh yes, I have not forgotten in this that push from the law enforcement side for whatever reasons. My best guess is though that the transport guys were just looking for good excuse to get these guys out of circulation. This leaves us at the end of the day, however, with what is among the most ?inconvenient truths? of transport planning and policies in cities across the Global South today ? those damn motorized two-wheelers. Certainly an enormous problem, but a far more subtle and astute response is called for. Eric Britton --------------------------------- All-new Yahoo! Mail - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster. -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . From intlbike at ibike.org Sat Sep 9 23:17:38 2006 From: intlbike at ibike.org (David Mozer) Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 07:17:38 -0700 Subject: [sustran] Bike infrastructure - Africa In-Reply-To: <20060909105847.98265.qmail@web31809.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <001501c6d41a$b500bb00$0400a8c0@domain.actdsltmp> Dear Joshua, At least as of a few years ago, Ouagadougou had the best bicycle infrastructure in West Africa. Accra is probably second. There are bits and piece of bicycle facilities in other major cities, but not connected enough to really significantly improve bicycle safety. Regards, David Mozer International Bicycle Fund - www.ibike.org Promoting sustainable transport and understanding worldwide. A non-profit organization. -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+intlbike=ibike.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+intlbike=ibike.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of joshua odeleye Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2006 3:59 AM To: sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos Dear Walter, In the Global North, motorcycle may not necessarily be a part of "urban transportation".But in the Global South particlarly Sub-Sahara Africa,motorcycle is a sub-system of the urban transport.For instances,it takes care of a subtiantial percentage of the travel demand, in most cities that are bedevilled by traffic congestion.As a result,it has been able to bridge the gap of long distance and short neighbourhood trekking,headloading which are still a major challenge of rural transport in this part of the world. Bicycle is a wonderful alternative to motorbike,apart from the fact that the infrastructure for a safe ride is not available in most countries,socially people in cities may want to despise it,but if infrastructure like bicycle paths could be provided in cities prior funding and or distribution of bicycle,i am of the opinion that more people across gender would embrace it.But, it is unfortunate that in this part of the world nobody has ever thought of providing this infrastucture,meanwhile they want all to shift to bicycle.This may be difficult to accomplish.I will be glad if anyone can point out extensive of bicycle path infrastructure provision in West Africa as well as other part of the global south. Regards, JOSHUA ODELEYE. NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY, ZARIA,NIGEIA Walter Hook wrote: We need to be careful here. Not all transportation is 'urban', and in Africa lack of access to basic mobility constitutes a fundamental barrier to economic development, access to employment, health care, schools, etc. A number of thoughtful articles by John Howe and other experts indicate that the introduction of motorcycles has had enormous economic benefits in those few African cities where they have been introduced, and of course a few unfortunate externalities like more pollution, accidents, etc. The problem of the 'missing middle' in Africa, meaning the absence of vehicle options between land rovers and women headloading, is a key component of the basic economic underdevelopment of Africa. When a woman spends 60 hours a week taking care of basic mobility needs, how in the hell is she supposed to do much else? When your country is very poor, the economic effects are extremely critical. We're doing good work introducing better bicycles, which are of course not controversial, but all the industry related problems are the same, and the economic benefits of introducing cleaner, cheapter, higher quality motorcycles would be important also. There is no such thing as 'public transportation' in Africa at this point, there are only paratransit services. A lot of African cities are very low density, and motorcycles are a reasonable option. Ambient air pollution becomes a problem only with a certain amount of concentration of the pollutants. The safety issues are better addressed by designing roads for slower speeds. What to do about motorcycles is certainly a critical issue. Banning them in Africa is certainly not the solution. Best Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Eric Bruun Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 3:42 PM To: eric.britton@ecoplan.org; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport; 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Cc: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk; 'joshua odeleye' Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos Like I keep saying, massive numbers of motorcycles and mopeds is a symptom of neglect of public transport. If the rich can drive, are the masses really going to do without mobility if they can afford it? How could you persuade them otherwise? Eric Bruun -----Original Message----- From: Eric Britton Sent: Sep 6, 2006 11:52 AM To: 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Cc: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk, 'joshua odeleye' Subject: [sustran] Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos As Walter put it so well, they are playing with fire in the streets of Lagos today. For the reasons that he and Joshua mention, but also because - and this is something that transport planners often simply do not take into consideration since they try to 'solve' their problems within a very partial systems analysis in a broadly and relentlessly systemic world - they either have no memory or no knowledge of what happens when you mess with the 'small details' of people's lives. In this case as Walter points out, actually millions of people. History is strewn with the bodies of specialists who proposed 'transportation solutions' to inconvenient problems, only to see a fast and massive reaction on the streets that has toppled governments in very many cases. (It's really quite a long list and at some point we might all sit down and draw it up as a sweet reminder. Transportation is indeed dynamite!) And oh yes, I have not forgotten in this that push from the law enforcement side for whatever reasons. My best guess is though that the transport guys were just looking for good excuse to get these guys out of circulation. This leaves us at the end of the day, however, with what is among the most 'inconvenient truths' of transport planning and policies in cities across the Global South today - those damn motorized two-wheelers. Certainly an enormous problem, but a far more subtle and astute response is called for. Eric Britton _____ All-new Yahoo! Mail - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060909/208cac5f/attachment.html From richmond at alum.mit.edu Sun Sep 10 16:31:30 2006 From: richmond at alum.mit.edu (Jonathan E. D. Richmond) Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 03:31:30 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) Subject: [sustran] Busway Operation Message-ID: If anyone is an expert in busway implementation and operation and can help with the following question, could they please be in touch with me. The specific question I am trying to answer is "What is the difference in capacity and operational viability and efficiency of an open as against a closed busway." On an open busway, buses may enter and leave at various points. With a closed busway, buses are isolated on the busway itself, and do not enter or leave for distribution at teh residential or city centre end. Thanks! --Jonathan! ----- Jonathan Richmond Transport Adviser to the Government of Mauritius Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping Level 4 New Government Centre Port Louis Mauritius 1 (617) 395-4360 (for voicemail) e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ From etts at indigo.ie Sun Sep 10 19:35:28 2006 From: etts at indigo.ie (etts at indigo.ie) Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 06:35:28 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Message-ID: <380-220069010103528203@M2W024.mail2web.com> Dear Jonathon, Just to add a complication, there is at least one other definition of open and closed busways. Some consider that a busway is 'closed' when the use of the busway is limited to specific routes - normally the ones with the high quality buses. A designated route could join part way long the busway, or begin further out than the buway and then run straight onto it, avoiding the need for passengers to transfer. By contrast, in that definition, an 'open' busway is one that allows many other routes with regular buses to also use the busway. Of course, there would be a minimum quality or capacity standard for who can use the busway. In my opinion, an open busway - regardless of wich definition we use - will always have higher capacity and productivity because more buses will use it. However, an open busway carries the risk of operational disorder due to bunching of vehicles, queuing at platforms etc. This can be mitigated or entirely overcome by having passing lanes - e.g. I observed Seoul's median lane bus lanes with flows of 250 buses per hour each way - or by advanced operations management techniques to effectively allocate 'slots'. It is very important to plan from this at the outset and put in place the organisational and technical supports. Also in my opinion, a closed busway which has only the route going the length of the busway has the least advantage for passengers, since it requires a high percentage of the passengers to interchange. This loses the greatest advantage of a busway compared to rail-based solutions - that the bus can act as feeder/distributor both in the suburbs and downtown, and then become the rapid trunk mode in the middle without forcing the passenger to interchange. There are some excellent publications including the SUTP/GTZ handbook and some of the TRB and TCRP reports that have good data and arguments. Please also feel free to contact me directly with some specific questions. With best wishes, Brendan Finn. Original Message: ----------------- From: Jonathan E. D. Richmond richmond@alum.mit.edu Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 03:31:30 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) To: Sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org Subject: [sustran] Busway Operation If anyone is an expert in busway implementation and operation and can help with the following question, could they please be in touch with me. The specific question I am trying to answer is "What is the difference in capacity and operational viability and efficiency of an open as against a closed busway." On an open busway, buses may enter and leave at various points. With a closed busway, buses are isolated on the busway itself, and do not enter or leave for distribution at teh residential or city centre end. Thanks! --Jonathan! ----- Jonathan Richmond Transport Adviser to the Government of Mauritius Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping Level 4 New Government Centre Port Louis Mauritius 1 (617) 395-4360 (for voicemail) e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Mon Sep 11 16:15:30 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:15:30 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Motorcycles in cities In-Reply-To: <20060911030121.AFD732DC73@mx-list.jca.ne.jp> Message-ID: <014301c6d572$11f33f60$6501a8c0@Home> Motorcycles in cities: The text of this entry is identical to another posed to the group today: Cycling in cities I don't know if this is going to work, but for archival and retrieval purposes I very much hope so. As Brendan Finn suggests we will do well to introduce a certain order in our discussions, not least because our two very different topics present very different sets of problems to planners, policy makers and ordinary citizens in our cities, South and North as it happens. To this end, I intend in the coming days to do a bit of housekeeping in Lots Less Cars in Cities and will go back into a number of our recent messages on these two topics and see if I can sort them out and put the various communications under the principal headings. This will involve some repeated reference if not reading for you, but since these are important issues and since delete is but a click away, I do not worry overly about the inconvenience. The two subject lines which I hope we shall be able to adhere to in the future are: o Cycling in cities o Motorcycles in cities. The idea is that the first of these categories will be mainly given over to information and discussions concerning 'cycling as daily transport '. And if this is currently going for the most part to be about the challenges of improving the role and performance of cycling in cities, in some cases there may be entries about some longer distance and rural uses. All the better I would say. The "motorcycles" category will I hope be mainly about these vehicles in and around towns and cities, with a focus on the problems they create on the one hand, the many rich contradictions they bring up when we finally start to confront them, and without for one moment losing track of their importance for many people in their daily lives, both as a means of getting around and also an important source of employment and family support. It extends of course to three wheelers, Rickshaws and all the wide range of variants thereof. Brendan brings up one point about the street infrastructure out there in many cities in the Global South that we need always to keep in out sights, and that is all those people who live and work in those same streets. Traders, vendors, hawkers and people just lying, sitting and sleeping. Finally, I will try to improve the organization in our informal video libraries currently under http://www.youtube.com/group/globalsouth and http://www.youtube.com/group/carfree so that if nothing else we have the cram on top of the milk. I hope this is going to work for you. (And that it might also be useful for Sustran as a small but potentially useful organizing and reference device). Eric Britton \ * * * * * * * * * * Message of Sat Sep 9, 2006 - On Behalf Of etts@indigo.ie In my opinion, we have three separate issues here : 1) Bicycle use, and the general failure to provide even the barest minimum safe environment for cyclists or their protection, let alone an attractive environment to make it a mode of choice. I agree with Joshua about the lack of suitable infrastructure. Some people are trying to change this, but typically they are dealing with city councils whose limited resources are dealing with drainage, waste disposal, pothole repair, street lighting and other basics that Global North takes for granted. In some cities - and I think Lagos and Accra could be included here - there is the further complication of streetside vendors and traders who occupy the pavements and curbsides, and hawkers who sell in the roadspace between the slow-moving lanes. Any cycle facilities become occupied and the cyclist faces a new adversary even among the traffic. 2) Motorcycles for personal use. I think there is general agreement that this is a significant mode, and often both a commercial and social lifeline in many cities, towns and rural areas throughout Africa and Asia. There is, of course, disagreement both about the safety aspects (e.g. in Thailand) and where they are used in substantial numbers in urban areas (often in conflict with cyclists). Nonetheless, I think it is a mode to be nudged in the right direction rather than to be suppressed or heavily controlled. 3) Motorcycles for commercial passenger use. In my opinion, these have a role in areas where there is a lack of alternatives, but not in the busier parts of cities. We have long ago agreed that buses are the most efficient users of road space. Why on earth should we then agree to thousands of single-passenger two-wheelers on the busiest arteries of a major city like Lagos? Is it because we feel that anything that gives work to the poor can't be touched, even if it seriously damages the mobility of all citizens? Besides, it would be interesting to know how many of the workers actually own the motorcycle they drive, and how many are paying a rental to an owner and then fighting aggressively for work to cover their fuel costs and enough to eat at the end of the day. When we debate motorcycles and bicycles, I think it is important to keep focus on which strand we are discussing. With best wishes, Brendan Finn. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060911/b4740f34/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Mon Sep 11 16:26:59 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:26:59 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Cycling in cities Message-ID: <015101c6d573$acb44b10$6501a8c0@Home> Let's get the nation riding bicycles - http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2006/09/10/2003327004 By Chang Hsin-wen ?i???? Sunday, Sep 10, 2006,Page 8 Premier Su Tseng-chang (???s??) has proposed a plan to construct 1,000km of bike trails and 10,000km of walking paths. Media reports have also said that the Ministry of Education is drawing up a plan to encourage students to walk to school and use bicycles around campus. It's wonderful that politicians have taken notice of bicycles, because not only do they improve one's health, but in a new world of environmental protection and energy conservation, they are also a green form of personal transportation. Bicycles have been around for a long time, but they are still relevant to lifestyles today. In the early 18th century, they were fashionable toys for European nobility. By the end of the 19th century, they had become a worldwide craze. In the 1930s, the British believed that the bicycle gave their country a new kind of outdoor culture. Bicycling is not only safe for the environment, but also good for people's physical and psychological health. They bring communities down to a more personal and human scale, allowing people to have meaningful interaction with one another, whereas driving cars limits chances for human contact. Government agencies should look at the bigger picture and consider expanding the use of environmentally friendly bicycles. At a conference in the US earlier this year, I met an engineer from the Georgia Department of Transportation named David. His research showed that 30 years ago, 66 percent of children in the US walked or rode a bike to school. With parents concerned that increasing traffic has made the roads unsafe for their children, now only 13 percent of children walk or ride a bike to school. This change has led to problems such as traffic congestion and increased pollution in school areas, as well as child obesity. US health and education experts believe that walking or riding a bicycle to school helps children get to know their community, develop social skills and foster a sense of responsibility and independence -- all the while giving them a chance to exercise. In Britain, a sizeable private organization called Sustrans is promoting "Goal 2012." Its aim is to establish bike and walking trails around the River Thames in preparation for the 2012 Olympics. This organization is also pushing to create safe bicycle tracks which children can use to ride to school. To encourage children to ride their bicycles to school, the group has developed a comprehensive plan that combines practical measures with education. In addition, the Royal Society announced in 1993 that environmental considerations required less driving and a quadrupling of bicycle riding. The British government began a plan in 1947 to improve bicycle riding skills across the country by providing training to children nine and 10 years old. Then in 1993 it established the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, and each year 300,000 children -- about 40 percent of children that age -- began receiving training in how to ride a bike. Local governments are responsible for carrying out the program through road safety bureaus and volunteers. The curriculum includes riding skills, emergency braking procedures and what to look for when crossing the road. After the classes, there is a riding test as well as a written test on traffic laws. Academics in Norway have investigated the relationship between the age at which children first learn to ride bicycles and the instances of injury. A sample survey of 1,200 children between four and 15 years old found that children who began riding when they were seven and eight years old had the lowest injury rate. The research suggested that children should not start learning at four or five, but instead wait until turning seven or eight. Taiwan manufactures bicycles, but as they are mainly for export, Taiwanese themselves ride very little. As Taiwan has become more wealthy, cars and motorscooters have became more widespread. As these replaced walking as the preferred form of transportation, the number of cars and scooters has risen to 6 million and 12 million respectively in a country of 23 million people. As people searched for faster ways to acquire wealth, automobiles became inseparable from the Taiwanese way of life and a staple of its economy. Because of their mobility, convenience and easy parking, scooters became the most common feature of Taiwanese traffic. Because streets are mostly constructed with cars in mind, they are now the kings of the road. Although scooters aren't as dominant as cars, they are still a mainstream form of transportation. The problem is that most riders are scared off by the danger of being engulfed in chaotic traffic. Since bicycles don't have any rights on the road in practical terms, they have gradually been abandoned. However, with so many people living in such a small place, Taiwan needs to consider the use of bicycles on its roads as soon as possible. It needs to develop new traffic regulations and decide how to use its land based on the needs of pedestrians and cyclists. If Taiwan wants to ensure that children can safely walk or ride a bike to school, it must first review land use policies and the state of the road network. The energy crisis in the 1970s forced Western countries to re-examine the role that bikes play in traffic and transportation. This included the race to build bicycle-friendly cities. Northern European countries have a thriving bicycle culture and have made many feel that riding bikes is a part of life. Copenhagen, Denmark, has even put forward plans to make bicycles available in cities for free. Traffic and transportation planning firms in the US have dispatched experts to northern Europe to study bicycle culture as they try to develop their own networks. Facing the possible exhaustion of gas and oil energy, the US is once again turning to biking, walking and mass transportation as developmental options. Because bicycle use is low in Taiwan, appropriate laws are inadequate: Bicycles come under the same category as scooters and motorcycles. When it comes to creating a bicycle-friendly environment, Taiwan must improve its game. Chang Hsin-wen is a lecturer at Chung Hua University's Department of Leisure and Recreational Management. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060911/ac683ca3/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Mon Sep 11 16:26:59 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:26:59 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Cycling in cities Message-ID: <015601c6d573$ad2cfd80$6501a8c0@Home> Cycling in cities: The text of this entry is identical to another posed to the group today: Motorcycles in cities I don't know if this is going to work, but for archival and retrieval purposes I very much hope so. As Brendan Finn suggests we will do well to introduce a certain order in our discussions, not least because our two very different topics present very different sets of problems to planners, policy makers and ordinary citizens in our cities, South and North as it happens. To this end, I intend in the coming days to do a bit of housekeeping in Lots Less Cars in Cities and will go back into a number of our recent messages on these two topics and see if I can sort them out and put the various communications under the principal headings. This will involve some repeated reference if not reading for you, but since these are important issues and since delete is but a click away, I do not worry overly about the inconvenience. The two subject lines which I hope we shall be able to adhere to in the future are: o Cycling in cities o Motorcycles in cities. The idea is that the first of these categories will be mainly given over to information and discussions concerning 'cycling as daily transport '. And if this is currently going for the most part to be about the challenges of improving the role and performance of cycling in cities, in some cases there may be entries about some longer distance and rural uses. All the better I would say. The "motorcycles" category will I hope be mainly about these vehicles in and around towns and cities, with a focus on the problems they create on the one hand, the many rich contradictions they bring up when we finally start to confront them, and without for one moment losing track of their importance for many people in their daily lives, both as a means of getting around and also an important source of employment and family support. It extends of course to three wheelers, Rickshaws and all the wide range of variants thereof. Brendan brings up one point about the street infrastructure out there in many cities in the Global South that we need always to keep in out sights, and that is all those people who live and work in those same streets. Traders, vendors, hawkers and people just lying, sitting and sleeping. Finally, I will try to improve the organization in our informal video libraries currently under http://www.youtube.com/group/globalsouth and http://www.youtube.com/group/carfree so that if nothing else we have the cram on top of the milk. I hope this is going to work for you. (And that it might also be useful for Sustran as a small but potentially useful organizing and reference device). Eric Britton \ * * * * * * * * * * Message of Sat Sep 9, 2006 - On Behalf Of etts@indigo.ie In my opinion, we have three separate issues here : 1) Bicycle use, and the general failure to provide even the barest minimum safe environment for cyclists or their protection, let alone an attractive environment to make it a mode of choice. I agree with Joshua about the lack of suitable infrastructure. Some people are trying to change this, but typically they are dealing with city councils whose limited resources are dealing with drainage, waste disposal, pothole repair, street lighting and other basics that Global North takes for granted. In some cities - and I think Lagos and Accra could be included here - there is the further complication of streetside vendors and traders who occupy the pavements and curbsides, and hawkers who sell in the roadspace between the slow-moving lanes. Any cycle facilities become occupied and the cyclist faces a new adversary even among the traffic. 2) Motorcycles for personal use. I think there is general agreement that this is a significant mode, and often both a commercial and social lifeline in many cities, towns and rural areas throughout Africa and Asia. There is, of course, disagreement both about the safety aspects (e.g. in Thailand) and where they are used in substantial numbers in urban areas (often in conflict with cyclists). Nonetheless, I think it is a mode to be nudged in the right direction rather than to be suppressed or heavily controlled. 3) Motorcycles for commercial passenger use. In my opinion, these have a role in areas where there is a lack of alternatives, but not in the busier parts of cities. We have long ago agreed that buses are the most efficient users of road space. Why on earth should we then agree to thousands of single-passenger two-wheelers on the busiest arteries of a major city like Lagos? Is it because we feel that anything that gives work to the poor can't be touched, even if it seriously damages the mobility of all citizens? Besides, it would be interesting to know how many of the workers actually own the motorcycle they drive, and how many are paying a rental to an owner and then fighting aggressively for work to cover their fuel costs and enough to eat at the end of the day. When we debate motorcycles and bicycles, I think it is important to keep focus on which strand we are discussing. With best wishes, Brendan Finn. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060911/01d736dd/attachment.html From whook at itdp.org Mon Sep 11 23:16:26 2006 From: whook at itdp.org (Walter Hook) Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:16:26 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos In-Reply-To: <20060909105847.98265.qmail@web31809.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <00ae01c6d5ac$df0e37e0$3601a8c0@DFJLYL81> There are some good bicycle lanes in Tamale, in Ghana, some poor ones in Accra, and something you might call a bicycle lane in Dakar along the water front. There are lots of plans for more, but so far no big success. We are all still trying. Best Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of joshua odeleye Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2006 6:59 AM To: sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos Dear Walter, In the Global North, motorcycle may not necessarily be a part of "urban transportation".But in the Global South particlarly Sub-Sahara Africa,motorcycle is a sub-system of the urban transport.For instances,it takes care of a subtiantial percentage of the travel demand, in most cities that are bedevilled by traffic congestion.As a result,it has been able to bridge the gap of long distance and short neighbourhood trekking,headloading which are still a major challenge of rural transport in this part of the world. Bicycle is a wonderful alternative to motorbike,apart from the fact that the infrastructure for a safe ride is not available in most countries,socially people in cities may want to despise it,but if infrastructure like bicycle paths could be provided in cities prior funding and or distribution of bicycle,i am of the opinion that more people across gender would embrace it.But, it is unfortunate that in this part of the world nobody has ever thought of providing this infrastucture,meanwhile they want all to shift to bicycle.This may be difficult to accomplish.I will be glad if anyone can point out extensive of bicycle path infrastructure provision in West Africa as well as other part of the global south. Regards, JOSHUA ODELEYE. NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY, ZARIA,NIGEIA Walter Hook wrote: We need to be careful here. Not all transportation is 'urban', and in Africa lack of access to basic mobility constitutes a fundamental barrier to economic development, access to employment, health care, schools, etc. A number of thoughtful articles by John Howe and other experts indicate that the introduction of motorcycles has had enormous economic benefits in those few African cities where they have been introduced, and of course a few unfortunate externalities like more pollution, accidents, etc. The problem of the 'missing middle' in Africa, meaning the absence of vehicle options between land rovers and women headloading, is a key component of the basic economic underdevelopment of Africa. When a woman spends 60 hours a week taking care of basic mobility needs, how in the hell is she supposed to do much else? When your country is very poor, the economic effects are extremely critical. We're doing good work introducing better bicycles, which are of course not controversial, but all the industry related problems are the same, and the economic benefits of introducing cleaner, cheapter, higher quality motorcycles would be important also. There is no such thing as 'public transportation' in Africa at this point, there are only paratransit services. A lot of African cities are very low density, and motorcycles are a reasonable option. Ambient air pollution becomes a problem only with a certain amount of concentration of the pollutants. The safety issues are better addressed by designing roads for slower speeds. What to do about motorcycles is certainly a critical issue. Banning them in Africa is certainly not the solution. Best Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Eric Bruun Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 3:42 PM To: eric.britton@ecoplan.org; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport; 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Cc: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk; 'joshua odeleye' Subject: [sustran] Re: Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos Like I keep saying, massive numbers of motorcycles and mopeds is a symptom of neglect of public transport. If the rich can drive, are the masses really going to do without mobility if they can afford it? How could you persuade them otherwise? Eric Bruun -----Original Message----- From: Eric Britton Sent: Sep 6, 2006 11:52 AM To: 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Cc: oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk, 'joshua odeleye' Subject: [sustran] Commercial motorcycles shut-down in Lagos As Walter put it so well, they are playing with fire in the streets of Lagos today. For the reasons that he and Joshua mention, but also because - and this is something that transport planners often simply do not take into consideration since they try to 'solve' their problems within a very partial systems analysis in a broadly and relentlessly systemic world - they either have no memory or no knowledge of what happens when you mess with the 'small details' of people's lives. In this case as Walter points out, actually millions of people. History is strewn with the bodies of specialists who proposed 'transportation solutions' to inconvenient problems, only to see a fast and massive reaction on the streets that has toppled governments in very many cases. (It's really quite a long list and at some point we might all sit down and draw it up as a sweet reminder. Transportation is indeed dynamite!) And oh yes, I have not forgotten in this that push from the law enforcement side for whatever reasons. My best guess is though that the transport guys were just looking for good excuse to get these guys out of circulation. This leaves us at the end of the day, however, with what is among the most 'inconvenient truths' of transport planning and policies in cities across the Global South today - those damn motorized two-wheelers. Certainly an enormous problem, but a far more subtle and astute response is called for. Eric Britton _____ All-new Yahoo! Mail - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060911/b85f5c6d/attachment.html From whook at itdp.org Mon Sep 11 23:26:41 2006 From: whook at itdp.org (Walter Hook) Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:26:41 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <00b301c6d5ae$50c59670$3601a8c0@DFJLYL81> Dear Jonathan, It is quite possible to design a busway with buses entering and leaving the busway which has as high a capacity as a closed busway. However, it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus, it requires still having off board ticket collection along the corridor, (which implies some duplication of ticketing systems) and platform level boarding. It also requires that the streets where the normal buses operate can handle larger buses (if they are required). The problem is that this requires replacing a very large bus fleet, which is very expensive. By the way, no system like this has yet been designed, to my knowledge, but we are working on just such a system in Guangzhou. However, it is important that the system is 'closed' in the sense that not any bus can use the system, only buses conforming to a required technical specification and under a specific management authority. By this definition, this is still a 'closed' system, even if the routes involve some that operate both on trunk lines and some in mixed traffic. If you need to see the details for calculating capacity, you can for now go to a non-linked part of the itdp web site, and check the to operations chapters, at www.itdp.org/brt_guide.html. I hope to have the fully formatted new version up in a few weeks, but this will probably have the information you need. Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 3:32 AM To: Sustran List Subject: [sustran] Busway Operation If anyone is an expert in busway implementation and operation and can help with the following question, could they please be in touch with me. The specific question I am trying to answer is "What is the difference in capacity and operational viability and efficiency of an open as against a closed busway." On an open busway, buses may enter and leave at various points. With a closed busway, buses are isolated on the busway itself, and do not enter or leave for distribution at teh residential or city centre end. Thanks! --Jonathan! ----- Jonathan Richmond Transport Adviser to the Government of Mauritius Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping Level 4 New Government Centre Port Louis Mauritius 1 (617) 395-4360 (for voicemail) e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). From Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk Mon Sep 11 23:58:31 2006 From: Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk (Alan Howes) Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 15:58:31 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Message-ID: <324DCD7680954F468CF306EE5404F00102930DB0@mail01.cbuchanan.co.uk> Must have a look at that website, Walter - But is your statement that "it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus" based on the premise that buses captive to the system will have high floors and platform-level loading on the off-side, while the "intruders" will have low-level boarding on the nearside? This is one way of doing it, but not the only way. All buses could have low floors and nearside boarding - the Ottawa Transitway is not closed, and AFAIK the buses have doors on one side only. (Not sure it has any captive buses though, and you may not consider it BRT.) In general, I see what you are driving at and agree - but one of the merits of BRT is that it is a flexible concept, not "one size fits all". If you want max capacity then you need mega-buses that will have problems on ordinary roads - but if you are prepared to sacrifice some capacity then a mix of bus sizes is fine. >From my [armchair] experience, I have concluded that the main constraint on capacity is actually the stations, particularly in a CBD or the like where large proportions of the pax on a bus are getting on or off. Alan -- Alan Howes Associate Transport Planner Colin Buchanan 4 St Colme Street Edinburgh EH3 6AA Scotland email: alan.howes@cbuchanan.co.uk tel: (0)131 226 4693 (switchboard) (0)7952 464335 (mobile) fax: (0)131 220 0232 www: http:/www.cbuchanan.co.uk/ -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc. org] On Behalf Of Walter Hook Sent: 11 September 2006 15:27 To: 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Dear Jonathan, It is quite possible to design a busway with buses entering and leaving the busway which has as high a capacity as a closed busway. However, it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus, it requires still having off board ticket collection along the corridor, (which implies some duplication of ticketing systems) and platform level boarding. It also requires that the streets where the normal buses operate can handle larger buses (if they are required). The problem is that this requires replacing a very large bus fleet, which is very expensive. By the way, no system like this has yet been designed, to my knowledge, but we are working on just such a system in Guangzhou. However, it is important that the system is 'closed' in the sense that not any bus can use the system, only buses conforming to a required technical specification and under a specific management authority. By this definition, this is still a 'closed' system, even if the routes involve some that operate both on trunk lines and some in mixed traffic. If you need to see the details for calculating capacity, you can for now go to a non-linked part of the itdp web site, and check the to operations chapters, at www.itdp.org/brt_guide.html. I hope to have the fully formatted new version up in a few weeks, but this will probably have the information you need. Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 3:32 AM To: Sustran List Subject: [sustran] Busway Operation If anyone is an expert in busway implementation and operation and can help with the following question, could they please be in touch with me. The specific question I am trying to answer is "What is the difference in capacity and operational viability and efficiency of an open as against a closed busway." On an open busway, buses may enter and leave at various points. With a closed busway, buses are isolated on the busway itself, and do not enter or leave for distribution at teh residential or city centre end. Thanks! --Jonathan! ----- Jonathan Richmond Transport Adviser to the Government of Mauritius Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping Level 4 New Government Centre Port Louis Mauritius 1 (617) 395-4360 (for voicemail) e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ DISCLAIMER This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. Unless you are the named addressee, or authorised to receive it for the addressee, you may not copy or use it, or disclose it to anyone else. If you have received this email in error please contact the sender by replying to this email. Any views expressed by an individual within this email which do not constitute or record professional advice relating to the business of Colin Buchanan, do not necessarily reflect the views of the company. Any professional advice or opinion contained within this email is subject to our terms and conditions of business. We have taken precautions to minimise the risk of transmitting software viruses. We do not accept liability for any loss or damage caused by software viruses. From whook at itdp.org Tue Sep 12 00:35:27 2006 From: whook at itdp.org (Walter Hook) Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:35:27 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation In-Reply-To: <324DCD7680954F468CF306EE5404F00102930DB0@mail01.cbuchanan.co.uk> Message-ID: <00e401c6d5b7$eb7dcee0$3601a8c0@DFJLYL81> Your interpretation is correct. Of course, it depends... Many of the capacity constraint issues do not become problems until you are trying to reach capacity levels that developed country cities will rarely need to reach. Low floor buses tend to hold fewer passengers because the wheel wells occupy a lot of space inside the bus. The buses also tend to be more expensive. These issues are not so important in first world cities like Ottawa. What is the capacity in Ottawa? You can have pre-paid curb-side boarding stations like in Curitiba, and low platforms meeting low floor buses, but that means you need two stations instead of one for each station stop, which generally consumes more right of way or ends up with very narrow stations, and hence more difficulties in finding the right of way to put in a passing lane. The lower platform height constitutes less of a barrier to illegal entry to the station. It is only marginally more expensive to put doors on both sides of the bus, and the operational advantages of having the bus stop in the central median shared by both directions of traffic generally justify the additional bus expense, but of course there will be exceptions, like if the buses operate in mixed traffic only on one way streets, or conformity with ADA regs is an issue, etc. -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Alan Howes Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 10:59 AM To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Cc: Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com; Peter Lutman Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Must have a look at that website, Walter - But is your statement that "it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus" based on the premise that buses captive to the system will have high floors and platform-level loading on the off-side, while the "intruders" will have low-level boarding on the nearside? This is one way of doing it, but not the only way. All buses could have low floors and nearside boarding - the Ottawa Transitway is not closed, and AFAIK the buses have doors on one side only. (Not sure it has any captive buses though, and you may not consider it BRT.) In general, I see what you are driving at and agree - but one of the merits of BRT is that it is a flexible concept, not "one size fits all". If you want max capacity then you need mega-buses that will have problems on ordinary roads - but if you are prepared to sacrifice some capacity then a mix of bus sizes is fine. >From my [armchair] experience, I have concluded that the main constraint on capacity is actually the stations, particularly in a CBD or the like where large proportions of the pax on a bus are getting on or off. Alan -- Alan Howes Associate Transport Planner Colin Buchanan 4 St Colme Street Edinburgh EH3 6AA Scotland email: alan.howes@cbuchanan.co.uk tel: (0)131 226 4693 (switchboard) (0)7952 464335 (mobile) fax: (0)131 220 0232 www: http:/www.cbuchanan.co.uk/ -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc. org] On Behalf Of Walter Hook Sent: 11 September 2006 15:27 To: 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Dear Jonathan, It is quite possible to design a busway with buses entering and leaving the busway which has as high a capacity as a closed busway. However, it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus, it requires still having off board ticket collection along the corridor, (which implies some duplication of ticketing systems) and platform level boarding. It also requires that the streets where the normal buses operate can handle larger buses (if they are required). The problem is that this requires replacing a very large bus fleet, which is very expensive. By the way, no system like this has yet been designed, to my knowledge, but we are working on just such a system in Guangzhou. However, it is important that the system is 'closed' in the sense that not any bus can use the system, only buses conforming to a required technical specification and under a specific management authority. By this definition, this is still a 'closed' system, even if the routes involve some that operate both on trunk lines and some in mixed traffic. If you need to see the details for calculating capacity, you can for now go to a non-linked part of the itdp web site, and check the to operations chapters, at www.itdp.org/brt_guide.html. I hope to have the fully formatted new version up in a few weeks, but this will probably have the information you need. Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 3:32 AM To: Sustran List Subject: [sustran] Busway Operation If anyone is an expert in busway implementation and operation and can help with the following question, could they please be in touch with me. The specific question I am trying to answer is "What is the difference in capacity and operational viability and efficiency of an open as against a closed busway." On an open busway, buses may enter and leave at various points. With a closed busway, buses are isolated on the busway itself, and do not enter or leave for distribution at teh residential or city centre end. Thanks! --Jonathan! ----- Jonathan Richmond Transport Adviser to the Government of Mauritius Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping Level 4 New Government Centre Port Louis Mauritius 1 (617) 395-4360 (for voicemail) e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ .................................................... DISCLAIMER This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. Unless you are the named addressee, or authorised to receive it for the addressee, you may not copy or use it, or disclose it to anyone else. If you have received this email in error please contact the sender by replying to this email. Any views expressed by an individual within this email which do not constitute or record professional advice relating to the business of Colin Buchanan, do not necessarily reflect the views of the company. Any professional advice or opinion contained within this email is subject to our terms and conditions of business. We have taken precautions to minimise the risk of transmitting software viruses. We do not accept liability for any loss or damage caused by software viruses. -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). From ericbruun at earthlink.net Tue Sep 12 06:22:41 2006 From: ericbruun at earthlink.net (Eric Bruun) Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 17:22:41 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [sustran] Re: Motorcycles as separate studies Message-ID: <20198990.1158009761938.JavaMail.root@elwamui-darkeyed.atl.sa.earthlink.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060911/0a64ef0a/attachment.html From sulin at vectordesigns.org Tue Sep 12 13:15:14 2006 From: sulin at vectordesigns.org (Su-Lin Chee) Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 00:15:14 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Roads are only for Cars + Plan Bus Routes through Town Centres Message-ID: Dear all, I have just written 2 articles on 2 recent experiences and based on a recent public dialogue with RapidKL. Please do read what I have to say and comment if you will: - Roads Are Only for Cars http://transit.vectordesigns.org/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=29 - Plan Bus Routes Through Town Centres: http://transit.vectordesigns.org/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=27 Thanks!! Best wishes, Su-Lin Chee project manager klang valley public transportation information system vector designs www.vectordesigns.org 54a jalan kemuja bangsar utama 59000 kuala lumpur tel/fax +603.22826363 mobile +6016.2183363 From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Tue Sep 12 15:56:03 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 08:56:03 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Motorcycles in cities In-Reply-To: <1158010562.d53ed99a32dd15a9.29bfce34@persist.google.com> Message-ID: <036a01c6d638$865ad450$6501a8c0@Home> Uganda Not fit for a queen Sep 7th 2006 | KAMPALA >From The Economist print edition http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_SRJTNRQ The end of the road for Kampala's signature taxis LONDON has black cabs, New York its yellow ones. Bangkok has tuk-tuks and Hanoi has rickshaws. In Kampala, the boda-boda motorcycle taxi is the Ugandan capital's defining symbol. In the 1960s, entrepreneurial cyclists found that travellers would pay a few shillings to have themselves and their goods transported across the no-man's-land between the borders of Uganda and Kenya. >From border to border, the boda-boda was born. Please, your majesty, let us drive you around Since then the bikes have become motorised. For the locals, rates are fixed, but foreigners can expect to bargain hard and still pay far too much. But it is worth it: weaving between cars, dodging potholes and riding along the pavement to avoid Kampala's jams is as exhilarating as any fairground ride. And you arrive on time, if a bit dusty. But now boda-bodas are under threat-from the Commonwealth. To prepare for hosting next year's summit of the organisation in Uganda, the capital is having a makeover. A senior foreign-ministry official boasts that $300m has already been invested in ventures to spruce things up. Pitted roads are being relaid; smart new hotels will house an expected influx of 5,000 delegates. But the boda-boda is likely to be a casualty of this vast civic spring-clean. For the government says they have become a "menace and a problem to the city traffic" and wants them off the streets by January. The drivers-wont to lounge in packs on street corners, attired in a random assortment of jackets and helmets, dozing between fares and whistling at girls-say the government thinks they are too unkempt and anarchic for the image that Uganda is hoping to project. Bad news for Kampala's estimated 10,500 boda-boda drivers. They can earn up to $5 a day, whereas most rural workers earn less than a fifth of that. "This Commonwealth will throw us out," says one. "Please, you will pray for us!" he shouts as he speeds away, black smoke spewing from the exhaust of his invaluable bike of burden. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060912/5edc2890/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 25754 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060912/5edc2890/attachment.jpe From Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk Tue Sep 12 17:08:43 2006 From: Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk (Alan Howes) Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 09:08:43 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Message-ID: <324DCD7680954F468CF306EE5404F00102930E3F@mail01.cbuchanan.co.uk> Forwarding this post to transit-prof which amplifies re. Ottawa Transitway -- Alan Howes Associate Transport Planner Colin Buchanan 4 St Colme Street Edinburgh EH3 6AA Scotland email: alan.howes@cbuchanan.co.uk tel: (0)131 226 4693 (switchboard) (0)7952 464335 (mobile) fax: (0)131 220 0232 www: http:/www.cbuchanan.co.uk/ -----Original Message----- From: Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Leech, Colin Sent: 12 September 2006 05:52 To: Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com Cc: Peter Lutman; richmond@alum.mit.edu; whook@itdp.org Subject: RE: [Transit-Prof] RE: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Hi everybody, (Alan or Jonathan: Feel free to repost my replies to sustran-discuss, if you wish. I'm not a member of that list.) And hello again, Jonathan. It's always interesting to see what part of the world you will pop up from. :-) As always, I speak only for myself, not officially for my employer. That said, my employer has one of the best-developed busway networks in the world, so we have lots of experience with these types of operations. Alan is correct that our critical capacity constraint is in the downtown core where buses operate in reserved lanes, but still have to content with traffic signals at cross streets and longer dwell times at stations due to high passenger volumes. We've still managed to pump through 180-200 buses/hour/direction with 9-10,000 passengers in the peak hour in the peak direction. Once on exclusive grade-separated r-o-w the capacity issues pretty much disappear unless station space is constrained at high volume locations. It has been postulated that grade-separating the downtown section could increase the capacity to 15-20,000 pphpd. If you need more capacity than that, perhaps you should be starting to look at heavy rail subway systems rather than busways or LRT. While the bus volumes are exceedingly high for a bus lane with online stops*, it's actually not overly busy when compared to normal arterial streets which can easily carry 600-800 vph per lane depending on how much green time the lane receives at major intersections of cross streets. At places where busway traffic crosses itself (eg. entrance and exit ramps, and island-platform stations where opposing traffic streams cross over each other to circulate "wrong way" around the island), we only have stop signs not traffic signals. Signals are only used where the busway crosses other city streets at grade. The flow of through traffic is not disrupted by vehicles entering and exiting the system, nor are vehicles entering/existing unduly delayed waiting for gaps in the traffic. We have entrance/exit possibilities at numerous locations along each Transitway corridor. * The bus lane in the Lincoln Tunnel leading from New Jersey into the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City carries bus volumes many times higher than this. However, it is a dedicated freeway lane that does not have online passenger stops. The buses are distributed to over 200 individual gates inside PABT. All of the buses we use are standard urban transit buses, both high floor (older buses) and low floor buses, with doors only on the right-hand side. There are also private companies which serve outlying towns and intercity buses (Greyhound) which use various sections of the busway using their standard intercity coaches. There are no specialty vehicles dedicated solely to service on the Transitway (busway). Off-board ticketing would help reduce dwell times for passengers at the critical downtown stops, and we have looked at this (but not yet implemented it). As it is, about 70% of monthly passengers use monthly passes and we do allow boarding by all doors on articulated buses with a Proof of Payment system and roving fare inspectors. All passengers must board by the front door on standard 40 foot/12 m buses although the high pass usage rate does help speed up boarding on these buses. I haven't calculated recently what percentage of the buses travelling through downtown are artics but at a guess it's probably in the 25-35% range during peak periods. One feature worth mentioning is that most stations have passing lanes so that express and deadheading (out of service) buses can pass vehicles that do pull in to stop at the station. Lack of passing lanes would mean that the average speed of every vehicle becomes the same (lowest common denominator), whereas the average speed of our express buses is higher than the average speed of the mainline buses since the expresses typically don't stop at the smaller stations, and typically have shorter dwell times at outlying stations when they do stop for passengers. Another footnote is that the express routes do have a fare premium which discourages short-distance travel close to downtown, but even in corridors with regular fare routes the average speed does get raised by "leap frog" operation - i.e. the first bus of a platoon stops to pick up passengers, while subsequent buses in the platoon don't stop unless a passenger wishes to disembark. Looking at Walter's middle paragraph and doing a little "reading between the lines", I am reminded of horror stories from deregulated environments such as the U.K. of private bus drivers racing down city streets in order to arrive at the next stop ahead of their competitor's bus. Conceivably these sorts of things could also happen on a busway. However, that would really be a "political" problem of who is allowed to use the busway and enforcing normal driving etiquette, rather than a technical issue. Sometimes engineers wind up having to implement technical solutions (eg. closing the system entirely, or requiring buses to use a specific guidance system to access the busway) in order solve problems that are really inherently non-technical. Coming back to the OC Transpo example, the Transitway is private property which is owned by the City of Ottawa and City-owned buses (a.k.a. OC Transpo) operate on it. Other companies are allowed to operate on it, although their drivers do have to undergo a bit of training. The training isn't a huge burden because standard traffic rules apply along the length of the Transitway. The only item that is out of the ordinary is the "wrong-way" circulation around island-platform stations, but even this can be pretty much explained through standard traffic signage, although it may catch a driver off-guard the first time he encounters it. Quoting Walter: > It is quite possible to design a busway with buses entering and > leaving the busway which has as high a capacity as a closed busway. As discussed above, I do not foresee the entrances and exits being the limiting factor in terms of the capacity of the facility. > However, it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus, I don't see why this would be a requirement, and I don't see any correlation between it and the issue of whether vehicles circulate both inside and outside the busway. > it requires still having off board ticket collection along the > corridor, (which implies some duplication of ticketing systems) and platform level boarding. Both of these items would certainly speed up service and increase the capacity of the system. They would be required only for systems with extremely high passenger volumes. > It also requires that the streets where the normal buses operate can > handle larger buses (if they are required). If you are using larger buses on the busway (eg. artics or double deckers), they may cause problems on small city streets in older cities. It hasn't been a major issue for us in the North American context. > By the way, no system like this has yet been designed, to my > knowledge, What you describe sounds suspiciously like Curitiba Brazil, unless I'm misreading something. See, among others: http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp90v1_cs/Curitiba.pdf > but we are working on just such a system in Guangzhou. Given where you're working, I'm wondering if you have passenger volumes that should really be handled by high capacity heavy rail rather than busways or LRT? Quoting Alan: > one of the merits of BRT is that it is a flexible concept, not "one size fits all". Absolutely correct. Ottawa is at one end of the North American extreme - with exclusive r-o-w and nearly 100% grade separation of the original system outside of the downtown core (with subsequent extensions that aren't quite so "gold plated"). Quebec City is perhaps the other extreme, where their "Metrobus" service has done wonders to revitalize their system using only a bit of paint and a few signs to create reserved lanes on city streets (I'm not even sure if they have any significant traffic signal priority measures yet). In Curitiba they have on-street reserved lanes and double-articulated buses but also with levels of traffic signal priority unheard of in North America, and the specialized stations that improve boarding efficiency beyond the levels that we achieve here. > If you want max capacity then you need mega-buses that will have > problems on ordinary roads - but if you are prepared to sacrifice some > capacity then a mix of bus sizes is fine. One tradeoff being that you're probably running a feeder-linehaul service with the large vehicles dedicated to the busway, which then loses you one of the 'flexibility' advantages of being able to reduce transfers for passengers by using the same buses to circulate within neighbourhoods and then enter the busway. I would point out that in addition to this type of service, both Ottawa and Pittsburgh operate different types of mainline routes that operate along certain sections of the busway without necessarily travelling the full length of the busway (eg. in Ottawa routes 4, 118, and 101 (formerly 99), and the EBO line in Pittsburgh which operates along part of the East Busway but then exits to serve the Oakland area rather than continuing along the busway to downtown). All opinions are my own, not my employer's. -------------- Colin R. Leech - Transit Planner Planificateur du transport en commun OC Transpo - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 613-842-3636 ext./poste 2354 Colin.Leech@Ottawa.ca -----Original Message----- From: Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Alan Howes Sent: Mon 2006-09-11 10:58 To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Cc: Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com; Peter Lutman Subject: [Transit-Prof] RE: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Must have a look at that website, Walter - But is your statement that "it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus" based on the premise that buses captive to the system will have high floors and platform-level loading on the off-side, while the "intruders" will have low-level boarding on the nearside? This is one way of doing it, but not the only way. All buses could have low floors and nearside boarding - the Ottawa Transitway is not closed, and AFAIK the buses have doors on one side only. (Not sure it has any captive buses though, and you may not consider it BRT.) In general, I see what you are driving at and agree - but one of the merits of BRT is that it is a flexible concept, not "one size fits all". If you want max capacity then you need mega-buses that will have problems on ordinary roads - but if you are prepared to sacrifice some capacity then a mix of bus sizes is fine. >From my [armchair] experience, I have concluded that the main constraint on capacity is actually the stations, particularly in a CBD or the like where large proportions of the pax on a bus are getting on or off. Alan -- Alan Howes Associate Transport Planner Colin Buchanan 4 St Colme Street Edinburgh EH3 6AA Scotland email: alan.howes@cbuchanan.co.uk tel: (0)131 226 4693 (switchboard) (0)7952 464335 (mobile) fax: (0)131 220 0232 www: http:/www.cbuchanan.co.uk/ -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc. org] On Behalf Of Walter Hook Sent: 11 September 2006 15:27 To: 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Dear Jonathan, It is quite possible to design a busway with buses entering and leaving the busway which has as high a capacity as a closed busway. However, it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus, it requires still having off board ticket collection along the corridor, (which implies some duplication of ticketing systems) and platform level boarding. It also requires that the streets where the normal buses operate can handle larger buses (if they are required). The problem is that this requires replacing a very large bus fleet, which is very expensive. By the way, no system like this has yet been designed, to my knowledge, but we are working on just such a system in Guangzhou. However, it is important that the system is 'closed' in the sense that not any bus can use the system, only buses conforming to a required technical specification and under a specific management authority. By this definition, this is still a 'closed' system, even if the routes involve some that operate both on trunk lines and some in mixed traffic. If you need to see the details for calculating capacity, you can for now go to a non-linked part of the itdp web site, and check the to operations chapters, at www.itdp.org/brt_guide.html. I hope to have the fully formatted new version up in a few weeks, but this will probably have the information you need. Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 3:32 AM To: Sustran List Subject: [sustran] Busway Operation If anyone is an expert in busway implementation and operation and can help with the following question, could they please be in touch with me. The specific question I am trying to answer is "What is the difference in capacity and operational viability and efficiency of an open as against a closed busway." On an open busway, buses may enter and leave at various points. With a closed busway, buses are isolated on the busway itself, and do not enter or leave for distribution at teh residential or city centre end. Thanks! --Jonathan! ----- Jonathan Richmond Transport Adviser to the Government of Mauritius Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping Level 4 New Government Centre Port Louis Mauritius 1 (617) 395-4360 (for voicemail) e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ DISCLAIMER This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. Unless you are the named addressee, or authorised to receive it for the addressee, you may not copy or use it, or disclose it to anyone else. If you have received this email in error please contact the sender by replying to this email. Any views expressed by an individual within this email which do not constitute or record professional advice relating to the business of Colin Buchanan, do not necessarily reflect the views of the company. Any professional advice or opinion contained within this email is subject to our terms and conditions of business. We have taken precautions to minimise the risk of transmitting software viruses. We do not accept liability for any loss or damage caused by software viruses. ------------------------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links This e-mail originates from the City of Ottawa e-mail system. Any distribution, use or copying of this e-mail or the information it contains by other than the intended recipient(s) is unauthorized. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify me at the telephone number shown above or by return e-mail and delete this communication and any copy immediately. Thank you. Le pr?sent courriel a ?t? exp?di? par le syst?me de courriels de la Ville d'Ottawa. Toute distribution, utilisation ou reproduction du courriel ou des renseignements qui s'y trouvent par une personne autre que son destinataire pr?vu est interdite. Si vous avez re?u le message par erreur, veuillez m'en aviser par t?l?phone (au num?ro pr?cit?) ou par courriel, puis supprimer sans d?lai la version originale de la communication ainsi que toutes ses copies. Je vous remercie de votre collaboration. 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Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ DISCLAIMER This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. Unless you are the named addressee, or authorised to receive it for the addressee, you may not copy or use it, or disclose it to anyone else. If you have received this email in error please contact the sender by replying to this email. Any views expressed by an individual within this email which do not constitute or record professional advice relating to the business of Colin Buchanan, do not necessarily reflect the views of the company. Any professional advice or opinion contained within this email is subject to our terms and conditions of business. We have taken precautions to minimise the risk of transmitting software viruses. We do not accept liability for any loss or damage caused by software viruses. From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Tue Sep 12 18:31:54 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 11:31:54 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Motorcycles in cities In-Reply-To: <20198990.1158009761938.JavaMail.root@elwamui-darkeyed.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Message-ID: <046901c6d64e$49d24cf0$6501a8c0@Home> Dear Eric Bruun and others, I take your point Eric. But still as an observer, what I am seeing here is in fact an entirely 'new phenomenon': its newness being a function of the explosive growth and performance of these vehicles in the traffic stream. I am by no means trying to suggest that we give up as you say modeling their performance with the planner's ample and absolutely vital technical toolkit. But no, I very much believe that in light of the evidence motorized two and three wheelers do need to be singled out for special attention given our significant ignorance and demonstrated inability to cope. To my mind we are right in the middle here of the politics of transport, behind which there must be a sound vision and understanding. Which by all indications is greatly lacking today. Eric Britton PS. As in all these exchanges Eric, I do not want me to be right. I want US to be right. -----Original Message----- From: Eric Bruun [mailto:ericbruun@earthlink.net] Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 11:23 PM To: eric.britton@ecoplan.org; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Subject: Re: Motorcycles as separate studies Eric Britton I don't agree with the approach of segregating motorcycles from other urban transport issues, unless they have to do with technology or some specific aspect. Motorcycles should be analyzed as part of the transportation network. They have to be modeled along with autos, bicycles and public transport to see how mode choice and mode split are influenced by changes in circumstances. Historically they have been treated only as a safety problem not as a transportation mode. Eric Bruun -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060912/fb88e524/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Tue Sep 12 18:53:10 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 11:53:10 +0200 Subject: [sustran] To decongest 30 cities, Urban Development Ministry asks American firm for roadmap In-Reply-To: <7E2B9AA937E2254EA4D2FDEBBF5A91556D9FAC@exchange.Transalt.local> Message-ID: <048c01c6d651$4251f400$6501a8c0@Home> Erp! I would be most eager to have comments on this article from last week's Indian Express. It sends shivers down by back (Wilbur Smith??), but what do I know, eh? Eric Britton PS. When Sigmund Freud was trying to exit Vienna for England in the late thirties, the German officials insisted that he write a letter exonerating the SS from any bad behaviour in his case. His reply was very short, reading more or less: "Letter to anyone who might happen to require the good services of the SS. They are indeed very good at what they do." (End rough quote) To decongest 30 cities, Centre asks American firm for roadmap Maitreyee Handique - http://www.indianexpress.com/story/11223.html NEW DELHI, August 22: To decongest the traffic chaos and improve mobility in India's city roads, the Urban Development Ministry is initiating a study to develop an infrastructure model to ease traffic congestion. Wilbur Smith Associates Private Ltd (WSAPL), a subsidiary of the US-based traffic and transportation planning company, Wilbur Smith Associates, has been selected to conduct sample surveys in 30 cities, including metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata. The other cities, which were finalised yesterday, include Jaipur, Gangtok, Shimla, Ahmedabad and Surat. The report, which will be ready within a year, will cost Rs 1.32 crore. The company presented its inception report to the ministry this week. WSPL was selected among at least six bidders through a tender process four months ago, sources said. The study called Traffic Engineering & Transportation Planning will focus on creating an infrastructure model based on its research of different cities and suggest methods of traffic dispersal and creation of new corridors. The survey will become a base model for replicating in other cities in the future, sources said. The methodology will be based on traffic surveys, household interviews, as well as secondary data and sample interviews of more than 4,000 people in big cities. It will consider several parameters such as the shape of the city, population, the available public transport and per capita income. The study will also offer suggestions relating to public transportation requirement of cities. At present, dependence on public transport system in cities like Mumbai is over 70 per cent while in Delhi it's about 30-35 per cent. In Chennai, it's about 40 per cent whereas in towns like Kanpur it's as low as 5 per cent. The ministry had last conducted a study of India's traffic situation in 1998. This is the first time that the focus is being laid on infrastructure modelling to address the issue of traffic snarl-ups. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060912/37ecb695/attachment.html From Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk Tue Sep 12 19:20:44 2006 From: Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk (Alan Howes) Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 11:20:44 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: To decongest 30 cities, Urban Development Ministry asks American firm for roadmap Message-ID: <324DCD7680954F468CF306EE5404F00102930EDD@mail01.cbuchanan.co.uk> Eric says Erp, I say Aaagh! Shivery indeed. I was just thinking on the plane back from Mumbai, the basic trouble with India wrt transport planning (and plenty other developing countries) is that it's done by engineers (and I speak as one of those) whose first reaction to a problem is "what can we build?" (which is where I part company!). And this "infrastructure modelling" project seems to be exactly that. Instead of "how do we manage our way out of this problem?". Which might include building something - but not necessarily. And what is "traffic dispersal"? Equals Urban Sprawl? Does not sound like a TDM strategy. Though I can't see 1.32 crore getting them far spread over 30 cities. I hope WB is not paying for this. Though of course, it could be an excellent study, badly reported ... Alan -- Alan Howes Associate Transport Planner Colin Buchanan 4 St Colme Street Edinburgh EH3 6AA Scotland email: alan.howes@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@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc. org] On Behalf Of Eric Britton Sent: 12 September 2006 10:53 To: Sustran-discuss@jca.apc.org Subject: [sustran] To decongest 30 cities,Urban Development Ministry asks American firm for roadmap Erp! I would be most eager to have comments on this article from last week's Indian Express. It sends shivers down by back (Wilbur Smith??), but what do I know, eh? Eric Britton PS. When Sigmund Freud was trying to exit Vienna for England in the late thirties, the German officials insisted that he write a letter exonerating the SS from any bad behaviour in his case. His reply was very short, reading more or less: "Letter to anyone who might happen to require the good services of the SS. They are indeed very good at what they do." (End rough quote) To decongest 30 cities, Centre asks American firm for roadmap Maitreyee Handique - http://www.indianexpress.com/story/11223.html NEW DELHI, August 22: To decongest the traffic chaos and improve mobility in India's city roads, the Urban Development Ministry is initiating a study to develop an infrastructure model to ease traffic congestion. Wilbur Smith Associates Private Ltd (WSAPL), a subsidiary of the US-based traffic and transportation planning company, Wilbur Smith Associates, has been selected to conduct sample surveys in 30 cities, including metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata. The other cities, which were finalised yesterday, include Jaipur, Gangtok, Shimla, Ahmedabad and Surat. The report, which will be ready within a year, will cost Rs 1.32 crore. The company presented its inception report to the ministry this week. WSPL was selected among at least six bidders through a tender process four months ago, sources said. The study called Traffic Engineering & Transportation Planning will focus on creating an infrastructure model based on its research of different cities and suggest methods of traffic dispersal and creation of new corridors. The survey will become a base model for replicating in other cities in the future, sources said. The methodology will be based on traffic surveys, household interviews, as well as secondary data and sample interviews of more than 4,000 people in big cities. It will consider several parameters such as the shape of the city, population, the available public transport and per capita income. The study will also offer suggestions relating to public transportation requirement of cities. At present, dependence on public transport system in cities like Mumbai is over 70 per cent while in Delhi it's about 30-35 per cent. In Chennai, it's about 40 per cent whereas in towns like Kanpur it's as low as 5 per cent. The ministry had last conducted a study of India's traffic situation in 1998. This is the first time that the focus is being laid on infrastructure modelling to address the issue of traffic snarl-ups. ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ DISCLAIMER This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. Unless you are the named addressee, or authorised to receive it for the addressee, you may not copy or use it, or disclose it to anyone else. If you have received this email in error please contact the sender by replying to this email. Any views expressed by an individual within this email which do not constitute or record professional advice relating to the business of Colin Buchanan, do not necessarily reflect the views of the company. Any professional advice or opinion contained within this email is subject to our terms and conditions of business. We have taken precautions to minimise the risk of transmitting software viruses. We do not accept liability for any loss or damage caused by software viruses. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060912/50baacc7/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Tue Sep 12 21:07:59 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 14:07:59 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Motorcycles in cities Message-ID: <00a601c6d664$1899bcc0$6501a8c0@Home> Eric: These continuous-flow intersections of "global south" are food for thought. What seems to make them work are dynamic pathways. Please notice that whenever a rank of traffic forms, the continuous flow breaks down. Columns of traffic, on the other hand, seems beneficial. Looks like even a four-wheeled vehicle presents too much of a rank of traffic to permit continuous flow -- therefore, the preference for bicycles. Some research needs to be done to determine if a master-mind is required to make the process work -- or whether just an individually- decided rule of behavior is sufficient. I can see from the video that one individual rule of behavior is to avoid the formation of ranks. There is probably also the detriment of a vehicle too long. Eight feet is probably too long. (Three feet is probably too wide.) To increase capacity per vehicle, looks like the only way to go is up; I would think no higher than six feet without some sort of retro-jet braking/accelerating system above the ground system. To me , the question is : "Can this continuous flow be reduced to technology?" best wishes, Howard Finch hhowderd@yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060912/30342623/attachment.html From Gmenckhoff at worldbank.org Wed Sep 13 08:23:47 2006 From: Gmenckhoff at worldbank.org (Gmenckhoff at worldbank.org) Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 19:23:47 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation In-Reply-To: <00e401c6d5b7$eb7dcee0$3601a8c0@DFJLYL81> Message-ID: This has been an interesting exchange on busway operations, especially (to me) this morning's contribution on Ottawa. Perhaps it is worthwhile differentiating between the systems in North America, Europe and Australia on one side, and those in developing countries on the other. With the latter, (a) passenger volumes are much higher, (b) financial resources are more constrained, and (c) bus services are often provided by private operators without strong Government control. At this stage, most developing-country experience comes from Latin America. Here are some observations from that Region regarding the "open" versus "closed" operations. In some cases, these complement the points already made by Walter Hook. Experience with traditional "open" busways in Brazil, Bogot? (pre-2000) and Lima has demonstrated that it is difficult to control trunk-line operations under an open system, with bunching of vehicles occurring along the busway, which can severely reduce commercial speeds. In the planning of most recent BRTs, it was thus concluded that the transfer time penalty incurred under the closed system would be more than offset by the higher commercial speed along the busways. Even in Santiago and S?o Paulo?s passa-r?pido system, which operate under an open system, most trunk line buses terminate at outlying terminals where passengers can transfer to local bus services (interestingly, S?o Paulo has central busway platforms, and therefore had to install doors on both sides of many buses; Santiago has all platforms on the right side). In the Latin American context, restricting access to a limited number of bus companies has been as much a technical as a political issue. Without a deliberate control on the number of buses, busways will congest just like regular streets do when there are too many cars. Bus bunching will drastically affect commercial speeds and operating efficiency. GPS-aided operation would be impossible if bus access were not controlled. There is little doubt that the high speeds and passenger volumes observed in Latin American BRTs (over 40,000 pphpd on a 2+2 lane busway in Bogot?, 14,000 - 20,000 pphpd on 1+1 lane busways in Bogot? and elsewhere) could not have been reached with open systems. I agree with Walter that some open operation makes sense, especially with high-level platforms in the center of the busway, and normal operation in regular streets. As he and Alan say, this requires buses with high-level doors on the left, and normal step-down doors on the right. Such systems are now being implemented in two Colombian cities, Cartagena and Bucaramanga. In both cases, some of the trunk-line buses will go beyond the busway to serve corridors with a relatively low passenger demand. As somebody said: BRT is a flexible concept, not "one size fits all". Gerhard "Walter Hook" Sent by: To sustran-discuss-bou "'Global 'South' Sustainable nces+gmenckhoff=wor Transport'" ldbank.org@list.jca .apc.org cc Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com, 'Peter Lutman' 09/11/2006 11:35 AM Subject [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Please respond to Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Your interpretation is correct. Of course, it depends... Many of the capacity constraint issues do not become problems until you are trying to reach capacity levels that developed country cities will rarely need to reach. Low floor buses tend to hold fewer passengers because the wheel wells occupy a lot of space inside the bus. The buses also tend to be more expensive. These issues are not so important in first world cities like Ottawa. What is the capacity in Ottawa? You can have pre-paid curb-side boarding stations like in Curitiba, and low platforms meeting low floor buses, but that means you need two stations instead of one for each station stop, which generally consumes more right of way or ends up with very narrow stations, and hence more difficulties in finding the right of way to put in a passing lane. The lower platform height constitutes less of a barrier to illegal entry to the station. It is only marginally more expensive to put doors on both sides of the bus, and the operational advantages of having the bus stop in the central median shared by both directions of traffic generally justify the additional bus expense, but of course there will be exceptions, like if the buses operate in mixed traffic only on one way streets, or conformity with ADA regs is an issue, etc. -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Alan Howes Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 10:59 AM To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Cc: Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com; Peter Lutman Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Must have a look at that website, Walter - But is your statement that "it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus" based on the premise that buses captive to the system will have high floors and platform-level loading on the off-side, while the "intruders" will have low-level boarding on the nearside? This is one way of doing it, but not the only way. All buses could have low floors and nearside boarding - the Ottawa Transitway is not closed, and AFAIK the buses have doors on one side only. (Not sure it has any captive buses though, and you may not consider it BRT.) In general, I see what you are driving at and agree - but one of the merits of BRT is that it is a flexible concept, not "one size fits all". If you want max capacity then you need mega-buses that will have problems on ordinary roads - but if you are prepared to sacrifice some capacity then a mix of bus sizes is fine. >From my [armchair] experience, I have concluded that the main constraint on capacity is actually the stations, particularly in a CBD or the like where large proportions of the pax on a bus are getting on or off. Alan -- Alan Howes Associate Transport Planner Colin Buchanan 4 St Colme Street Edinburgh EH3 6AA Scotland email: alan.howes@cbuchanan.co.uk tel: (0)131 226 4693 (switchboard) (0)7952 464335 (mobile) fax: (0)131 220 0232 www: http:/www.cbuchanan.co.uk/ -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc. org] On Behalf Of Walter Hook Sent: 11 September 2006 15:27 To: 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Dear Jonathan, It is quite possible to design a busway with buses entering and leaving the busway which has as high a capacity as a closed busway. However, it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus, it requires still having off board ticket collection along the corridor, (which implies some duplication of ticketing systems) and platform level boarding. It also requires that the streets where the normal buses operate can handle larger buses (if they are required). The problem is that this requires replacing a very large bus fleet, which is very expensive. By the way, no system like this has yet been designed, to my knowledge, but we are working on just such a system in Guangzhou. However, it is important that the system is 'closed' in the sense that not any bus can use the system, only buses conforming to a required technical specification and under a specific management authority. By this definition, this is still a 'closed' system, even if the routes involve some that operate both on trunk lines and some in mixed traffic. If you need to see the details for calculating capacity, you can for now go to a non-linked part of the itdp web site, and check the to operations chapters, at www.itdp.org/brt_guide.html. I hope to have the fully formatted new version up in a few weeks, but this will probably have the information you need. Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 3:32 AM To: Sustran List Subject: [sustran] Busway Operation If anyone is an expert in busway implementation and operation and can help with the following question, could they please be in touch with me. The specific question I am trying to answer is "What is the difference in capacity and operational viability and efficiency of an open as against a closed busway." On an open busway, buses may enter and leave at various points. With a closed busway, buses are isolated on the busway itself, and do not enter or leave for distribution at teh residential or city centre end. Thanks! --Jonathan! ----- Jonathan Richmond Transport Adviser to the Government of Mauritius Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping Level 4 New Government Centre Port Louis Mauritius 1 (617) 395-4360 (for voicemail) e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ -------------------------------------------------------- From itdpasia at adelphia.net Tue Sep 12 10:18:20 2006 From: itdpasia at adelphia.net (John Ernst) Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 08:18:20 +0700 Subject: [sustran] Re: Fwd: PTTF Website In-Reply-To: <4cfd20aa0608181205u59611216l2a803a81dfc00d8c@mail.gmail.co m> References: <4cfd20aa0608181140k3545d176nab842d413a06d120@mail.gmail.com> <4cfd20aa0608181205u59611216l2a803a81dfc00d8c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <7.0.0.16.0.20060909070357.01a3d8d0@adelphia.net> For those who have not followed the link provided last month by Sujit Partwadhan of Pune, India, I recommend viewing the short flash presentation at >http://www.pttf.net/go/ Clicking on >"Frustrating? Take this Tour" I am not sure how many persons have web access in Pune, but it seems like an excellent way to reach out to the general public and would be a useful item to put on computers for the public at workshops and exhibits (translated as needed). A good effort.... just to start people thinking. Best, John At 03:05 PM 8/19/2006, you wrote: >18 August 2006 > >Dear Friends, > >Though it is still under construction please visit the PTTF website > >http://www.pttf.net/go/ > >Once there click on the box with photograph of the crowded road and >the words Frustrating? Take this Tour >A presentation will follow which I hope you will find interesting. >Rest of the site is under construction. >Do let me have your feedback. >With good wishes, >-- >Sujit > > > > >-- >------------------------------------------------------ >Sujit Patwardhan >sujit@vsnl.com >sujitjp@gmail.com > >"Yamuna", >ICS Colony, >Ganeshkhind Road, >Pune 411 007 >India >Tel: 25537955 >----------------------------------------------------- >Hon. Secretary: >Parisar >www.parisar.org >------------------------------------------------------ >Founder Member: >PTTF >(Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) >www.pttf.net >------------------------------------------------------ > > >-- >------------------------------------------------------ >Sujit Patwardhan >sujit@vsnl.com >sujitjp@gmail.com > >"Yamuna", >ICS Colony, >Ganeshkhind Road, >Pune 411 007 >India >Tel: 25537955 >----------------------------------------------------- >Hon. Secretary: >Parisar >www.parisar.org >------------------------------------------------------ >Founder Member: >PTTF >(Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) >www.pttf.net >------------------------------------------------------ >-------------------------------------------------------- >IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. > >Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss >to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The >yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post >to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it >seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > >================================================================ >SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, >equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing >countries (the 'Global South'). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - John Ernst - Director, Asia Region ITDP - The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy Promoting environmentally sustainable and equitable transportation worldwide Visit http://www.itdp.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From anupam.gupta at clsa.com Wed Sep 13 15:40:11 2006 From: anupam.gupta at clsa.com (Anupam Gupta, CLSA) Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 14:40:11 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Urban Transport in Mumbai Message-ID: Hi - I'm new to this group and am mailing for the first time, so do forgive me if I break any protocol. Eric Britton said >>Erp! I would be most eager to have comments on this article from last week's Indian Express. It sends shivers down by back (Wilbur Smith??), but what do I know, eh? I find it interesting that the Govt chose the very same people who'd advised Bombay in 1962. The implementations of M/S Smith's recommendations are still being carried out. Actually only one to be specific, viz. Bandra Worli Sea Link Project (BWSL). In fact, the BWSL has come under fire from environmentalists as well as architects (like Mr. Chandrashekhar Prabhu - a big critic of this project). Eric Britton - are your shivers to do with Wilbur Smith or with the idea of a transport study for cities? I'd appreciate your thoughts. Alan Howes - Given your familiarity with Mumbai I'd also appreciate your thoughts on the BWSL as well as the grand designs that the Govt has for Mumbai's transport problems. In specific - the Metro (is Skybus a cheaper and better technology). Thanks all. Anupam Gupta (http://doesmumbaimatter.blogspot.com) -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-request@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-request@list.jca.apc.org] Sent: 13 September, 2006 8:31 AM To: sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org Subject: Sustran-discuss Digest, Vol 37, Issue 10 Send Sustran-discuss mailing list submissions to sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to sustran-discuss-request@list.jca.apc.org You can reach the person managing the list at sustran-discuss-owner@list.jca.apc.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Sustran-discuss digest..." ######################################################################## Sustran-discuss Mailing List Digest IMPORTANT NOTE: When replying please do not include the whole digest in your reply - just include the relevant part of the specific message that you are responding to. Many thanks. About this mailing list see: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss ######################################################################## Today's Topics: 1. Roads are only for Cars + Plan Bus Routes through Town Centres (Su-Lin Chee) 2. Motorcycles in cities (Eric Britton) 3. Re: Busway Operation (Alan Howes) 4. Motorcycles in cities (Eric Britton) 5. To decongest 30 cities, Urban Development Ministry asks American firm for roadmap (Eric Britton) 6. Re: To decongest 30 cities, Urban Development Ministry asks American firm for roadmap (Alan Howes) 7. Motorcycles in cities (Eric Britton) 8. Re: Busway Operation (Gmenckhoff@worldbank.org) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 00:15:14 -0400 From: "Su-Lin Chee" Subject: [sustran] Roads are only for Cars + Plan Bus Routes through Town Centres To: msia-plan-transp@yahoogroups.com, Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Dear all, I have just written 2 articles on 2 recent experiences and based on a recent public dialogue with RapidKL. Please do read what I have to say and comment if you will: - Roads Are Only for Cars http://transit.vectordesigns.org/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=29 - Plan Bus Routes Through Town Centres: http://transit.vectordesigns.org/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=27 Thanks!! Best wishes, Su-Lin Chee project manager klang valley public transportation information system vector designs www.vectordesigns.org 54a jalan kemuja bangsar utama 59000 kuala lumpur tel/fax +603.22826363 mobile +6016.2183363 ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 08:56:03 +0200 From: "Eric Britton" Subject: [sustran] Motorcycles in cities To: , Message-ID: <036a01c6d638$865ad450$6501a8c0@Home> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Uganda Not fit for a queen Sep 7th 2006 | KAMPALA >From The Economist print edition http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_SRJTNRQ The end of the road for Kampala's signature taxis LONDON has black cabs, New York its yellow ones. Bangkok has tuk-tuks and Hanoi has rickshaws. In Kampala, the boda-boda motorcycle taxi is the Ugandan capital's defining symbol. In the 1960s, entrepreneurial cyclists found that travellers would pay a few shillings to have themselves and their goods transported across the no-man's-land between the borders of Uganda and Kenya. >From border to border, the boda-boda was born. Please, your majesty, let us drive you around Since then the bikes have become motorised. For the locals, rates are fixed, but foreigners can expect to bargain hard and still pay far too much. But it is worth it: weaving between cars, dodging potholes and riding along the pavement to avoid Kampala's jams is as exhilarating as any fairground ride. And you arrive on time, if a bit dusty. But now boda-bodas are under threat-from the Commonwealth. To prepare for hosting next year's summit of the organisation in Uganda, the capital is having a makeover. A senior foreign-ministry official boasts that $300m has already been invested in ventures to spruce things up. Pitted roads are being relaid; smart new hotels will house an expected influx of 5,000 delegates. But the boda-boda is likely to be a casualty of this vast civic spring-clean. For the government says they have become a "menace and a problem to the city traffic" and wants them off the streets by January. The drivers-wont to lounge in packs on street corners, attired in a random assortment of jackets and helmets, dozing between fares and whistling at girls-say the government thinks they are too unkempt and anarchic for the image that Uganda is hoping to project. Bad news for Kampala's estimated 10,500 boda-boda drivers. They can earn up to $5 a day, whereas most rural workers earn less than a fifth of that. "This Commonwealth will throw us out," says one. "Please, you will pray for us!" he shouts as he speeds away, black smoke spewing from the exhaust of his invaluable bike of burden. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060912/5edc2890 /attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 25754 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060912/5edc2890 /attachment-0001.jpe ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 09:08:43 +0100 From: "Alan Howes" Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation To: "Global 'South' Sustainable Transport" Message-ID: <324DCD7680954F468CF306EE5404F00102930E3F@mail01.cbuchanan.co.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Forwarding this post to transit-prof which amplifies re. Ottawa Transitway -- Alan Howes Associate Transport Planner Colin Buchanan 4 St Colme Street Edinburgh EH3 6AA Scotland email: alan.howes@cbuchanan.co.uk tel: (0)131 226 4693 (switchboard) (0)7952 464335 (mobile) fax: (0)131 220 0232 www: http:/www.cbuchanan.co.uk/ -----Original Message----- From: Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Leech, Colin Sent: 12 September 2006 05:52 To: Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com Cc: Peter Lutman; richmond@alum.mit.edu; whook@itdp.org Subject: RE: [Transit-Prof] RE: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Hi everybody, (Alan or Jonathan: Feel free to repost my replies to sustran-discuss, if you wish. I'm not a member of that list.) And hello again, Jonathan. It's always interesting to see what part of the world you will pop up from. :-) As always, I speak only for myself, not officially for my employer. That said, my employer has one of the best-developed busway networks in the world, so we have lots of experience with these types of operations. Alan is correct that our critical capacity constraint is in the downtown core where buses operate in reserved lanes, but still have to content with traffic signals at cross streets and longer dwell times at stations due to high passenger volumes. We've still managed to pump through 180-200 buses/hour/direction with 9-10,000 passengers in the peak hour in the peak direction. Once on exclusive grade-separated r-o-w the capacity issues pretty much disappear unless station space is constrained at high volume locations. It has been postulated that grade-separating the downtown section could increase the capacity to 15-20,000 pphpd. If you need more capacity than that, perhaps you should be starting to look at heavy rail subway systems rather than busways or LRT. While the bus volumes are exceedingly high for a bus lane with online stops*, it's actually not overly busy when compared to normal arterial streets which can easily carry 600-800 vph per lane depending on how much green time the lane receives at major intersections of cross streets. At places where busway traffic crosses itself (eg. entrance and exit ramps, and island-platform stations where opposing traffic streams cross over each other to circulate "wrong way" around the island), we only have stop signs not traffic signals. Signals are only used where the busway crosses other city streets at grade. The flow of through traffic is not disrupted by vehicles entering and exiting the system, nor are vehicles entering/existing unduly delayed waiting for gaps in the traffic. We have entrance/exit possibilities at numerous locations along each Transitway corridor. * The bus lane in the Lincoln Tunnel leading from New Jersey into the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City carries bus volumes many times higher than this. However, it is a dedicated freeway lane that does not have online passenger stops. The buses are distributed to over 200 individual gates inside PABT. All of the buses we use are standard urban transit buses, both high floor (older buses) and low floor buses, with doors only on the right-hand side. There are also private companies which serve outlying towns and intercity buses (Greyhound) which use various sections of the busway using their standard intercity coaches. There are no specialty vehicles dedicated solely to service on the Transitway (busway). Off-board ticketing would help reduce dwell times for passengers at the critical downtown stops, and we have looked at this (but not yet implemented it). As it is, about 70% of monthly passengers use monthly passes and we do allow boarding by all doors on articulated buses with a Proof of Payment system and roving fare inspectors. All passengers must board by the front door on standard 40 foot/12 m buses although the high pass usage rate does help speed up boarding on these buses. I haven't calculated recently what percentage of the buses travelling through downtown are artics but at a guess it's probably in the 25-35% range during peak periods. One feature worth mentioning is that most stations have passing lanes so that express and deadheading (out of service) buses can pass vehicles that do pull in to stop at the station. Lack of passing lanes would mean that the average speed of every vehicle becomes the same (lowest common denominator), whereas the average speed of our express buses is higher than the average speed of the mainline buses since the expresses typically don't stop at the smaller stations, and typically have shorter dwell times at outlying stations when they do stop for passengers. Another footnote is that the express routes do have a fare premium which discourages short-distance travel close to downtown, but even in corridors with regular fare routes the average speed does get raised by "leap frog" operation - i.e. the first bus of a platoon stops to pick up passengers, while subsequent buses in the platoon don't stop unless a passenger wishes to disembark. Looking at Walter's middle paragraph and doing a little "reading between the lines", I am reminded of horror stories from deregulated environments such as the U.K. of private bus drivers racing down city streets in order to arrive at the next stop ahead of their competitor's bus. Conceivably these sorts of things could also happen on a busway. However, that would really be a "political" problem of who is allowed to use the busway and enforcing normal driving etiquette, rather than a technical issue. Sometimes engineers wind up having to implement technical solutions (eg. closing the system entirely, or requiring buses to use a specific guidance system to access the busway) in order solve problems that are really inherently non-technical. Coming back to the OC Transpo example, the Transitway is private property which is owned by the City of Ottawa and City-owned buses (a.k.a. OC Transpo) operate on it. Other companies are allowed to operate on it, although their drivers do h ave to undergo a bit of training. The training isn't a huge burden because standard traffic rules apply along the length of the Transitway. The only item that is out of the ordinary is the "wrong-way" circulation around island-platform stations, but even this can be pretty much explained through standard traffic signage, although it may catch a driver off-guard the first time he encounters it. Quoting Walter: > It is quite possible to design a busway with buses entering and > leaving the busway which has as high a capacity as a closed busway. As discussed above, I do not foresee the entrances and exits being the limiting factor in terms of the capacity of the facility. > However, it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus, I don't see why this would be a requirement, and I don't see any correlation between it and the issue of whether vehicles circulate both inside and outside the busway. > it requires still having off board ticket collection along the > corridor, (which implies some duplication of ticketing systems) and platform level boarding. Both of these items would certainly speed up service and increase the capacity of the system. They would be required only for systems with extremely high passenger volumes. > It also requires that the streets where the normal buses operate can > handle larger buses (if they are required). If you are using larger buses on the busway (eg. artics or double deckers), they may cause problems on small city streets in older cities. It hasn't been a major issue for us in the North American context. > By the way, no system like this has yet been designed, to my > knowledge, What you describe sounds suspiciously like Curitiba Brazil, unless I'm misreading something. See, among others: http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp90v1_cs/Curitiba.pdf > but we are working on just such a system in Guangzhou. Given where you're working, I'm wondering if you have passenger volumes that should really be handled by high capacity heavy rail rather than busways or LRT? Quoting Alan: > one of the merits of BRT is that it is a flexible concept, not "one > size fits all". Absolutely correct. Ottawa is at one end of the North American extreme - with exclusive r-o-w and nearly 100% grade separation of the original system outside of the downtown core (with subsequent extensions that aren't quite so "gold plated"). Quebec City is perhaps the other extreme, where their "Metrobus" service has done wonders to revitalize their system using only a bit of paint and a few signs to create reserved lanes on city streets (I'm not even sure if they have any significant traffic signal priority measures yet). In Curitiba they have on-street reserved lanes and double-articulated buses but also with levels of traffic signal priority unheard of in North America, and the specialized stations that improve boarding efficiency beyond the levels that we achieve here. > If you want max capacity then you need mega-buses that will have > problems on ordinary roads - but if you are prepared to sacrifice some > capacity then a mix of bus sizes is fine. One tradeoff being that you're probably running a feeder-linehaul service with the large vehicles dedicated to the busway, which then loses you one of the 'flexibility' advantages of being able to reduce transfers for passengers by using the same buses to circulate within neighbourhoods and then enter the busway. I would point out that in addition to this type of service, both Ottawa and Pittsburgh operate different types of mainline routes that operate along certain sections of the busway without necessarily travelling the full length of the busway (eg. in Ottawa routes 4, 118, and 101 (formerly 99), and the EBO line in Pittsburgh which operates along part of the East Busway but then exits to serve the Oakland area rather than continuing along the busway to downtown). All opinions are my own, not my employer's. -------------- Colin R. Leech - Transit Planner Planificateur du transport en commun OC Transpo - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 613-842-3636 ext./poste 2354 Colin.Leech@Ottawa.ca -----Original Message----- From: Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Alan Howes Sent: Mon 2006-09-11 10:58 To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Cc: Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com; Peter Lutman Subject: [Transit-Prof] RE: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Must have a look at that website, Walter - But is your statement that "it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus" based on the premise that buses captive to the system will have high floors and platform-level loading on the off-side, while the "intruders" will have low-level boarding on the nearside? This is one way of doing it, but not the only way. All buses could have low floors and nearside boarding - the Ottawa Transitway is not closed, and AFAIK the buses have doors on one side only. (Not sure it has any captive buses though, and you may not consider it BRT.) In general, I see what you are driving at and agree - but one of the merits of BRT is that it is a flexible concept, not "one size fits all". If you want max capacity then you need mega-buses that will have problems on ordinary roads - but if you are prepared to sacrifice some capacity then a mix of bus sizes is fine. >From my [armchair] experience, I have concluded that the main >constraint on capacity is actually the stations, particularly in a CBD >or the like where large proportions of the pax on a bus are getting on >or off. Alan -- Alan Howes Associate Transport Planner Colin Buchanan 4 St Colme Street Edinburgh EH3 6AA Scotland email: alan.howes@cbuchanan.co.uk tel: (0)131 226 4693 (switchboard) (0)7952 464335 (mobile) fax: (0)131 220 0232 www: http:/www.cbuchanan.co.uk/ -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc. org] On Behalf Of Walter Hook Sent: 11 September 2006 15:27 To: 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Dear Jonathan, It is quite possible to design a busway with buses entering and leaving the busway which has as high a capacity as a closed busway. However, it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus, it requires still having off board ticket collection along the corridor, (which implies some duplication of ticketing systems) and platform level boarding. It also requires that the streets where the normal buses operate can handle larger buses (if they are required). The problem is that this requires replacing a very large bus fleet, which is very expensive. By the way, no system like this has yet been designed, to my knowledge, but we are working on just such a system in Guangzhou. However, it is important that the system is 'closed' in the sense that not any bus can use the system, only buses conforming to a required technical specification and under a specific management authority. By this definition, this is still a 'closed' system, even if the routes involve some that operate both on trunk lines and some in mixed traffic. If you need to see the details for calculating capacity, you can for now go to a non-linked part of the itdp web site, and check the to operations chapters, at www.itdp.org/brt_guide.html. I hope to have the fully formatted new version up in a few weeks, but this will probably have the information you need. Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 3:32 AM To: Sustran List Subject: [sustran] Busway Operation If anyone is an expert in busway implementation and operation and can help with the following question, could they please be in touch with me. The specific question I am trying to answer is "What is the difference in capacity and operational viability and efficiency of an open as against a closed busway." On an open busway, buses may enter and leave at various points. With a closed busway, buses are isolated on the busway itself, and do not enter or leave for distribution at teh residential or city centre end. Thanks! --Jonathan! ----- Jonathan Richmond Transport Adviser to the Government of Mauritius Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping Level 4 New Government Centre Port Louis Mauritius 1 (617) 395-4360 (for voicemail) e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ .................................................... 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If you have received this email in error please contact the sender by replying to this email. Any views expressed by an individual within this email which do not constitute or record professional advice relating to the business of Colin Buchanan, do not necessarily reflect the views of the company. Any professional advice or opinion contained within this email is subject to our terms and conditions of business. We have taken precautions to minimise the risk of transmitting software viruses. We do not accept liability for any loss or damage caused by software viruses. ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 11:31:54 +0200 From: "Eric Britton" Subject: [sustran] Motorcycles in cities To: "'Eric Bruun'" , "'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport'" Message-ID: <046901c6d64e$49d24cf0$6501a8c0@Home> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Dear Eric Bruun and others, I take your point Eric. But still as an observer, what I am seeing here is in fact an entirely 'new phenomenon': its newness being a function of the explosive growth and performance of these vehicles in the traffic stream. I am by no means trying to suggest that we give up as you say modeling their performance with the planner's ample and absolutely vital technical toolkit. But no, I very much believe that in light of the evidence motorized two and three wheelers do need to be singled out for special attention given our significant ignorance and demonstrated inability to cope. To my mind we are right in the middle here of the politics of transport, behind which there must be a sound vision and understanding. Which by all indications is greatly lacking today. Eric Britton PS. As in all these exchanges Eric, I do not want me to be right. I want US to be right. -----Original Message----- From: Eric Bruun [mailto:ericbruun@earthlink.net] Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 11:23 PM To: eric.britton@ecoplan.org; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Subject: Re: Motorcycles as separate studies Eric Britton I don't agree with the approach of segregating motorcycles from other urban transport issues, unless they have to do with technology or some specific aspect. Motorcycles should be analyzed as part of the transportation network. They have to be modeled along with autos, bicycles and public transport to see how mode choice and mode split are influenced by changes in circumstances. Historically they have been treated only as a safety problem not as a transportation mode. Eric Bruun -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060912/fb88e524 /attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 11:53:10 +0200 From: "Eric Britton" Subject: [sustran] To decongest 30 cities, Urban Development Ministry asks American firm for roadmap To: Message-ID: <048c01c6d651$4251f400$6501a8c0@Home> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Erp! I would be most eager to have comments on this article from last week's Indian Express. It sends shivers down by back (Wilbur Smith??), but what do I know, eh? Eric Britton PS. When Sigmund Freud was trying to exit Vienna for England in the late thirties, the German officials insisted that he write a letter exonerating the SS from any bad behaviour in his case. His reply was very short, reading more or less: "Letter to anyone who might happen to require the good services of the SS. They are indeed very good at what they do." (End rough quote) To decongest 30 cities, Centre asks American firm for roadmap Maitreyee Handique - http://www.indianexpress.com/story/11223.html NEW DELHI, August 22: To decongest the traffic chaos and improve mobility in India's city roads, the Urban Development Ministry is initiating a study to develop an infrastructure model to ease traffic congestion. Wilbur Smith Associates Private Ltd (WSAPL), a subsidiary of the US-based traffic and transportation planning company, Wilbur Smith Associates, has been selected to conduct sample surveys in 30 cities, including metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata. The other cities, which were finalised yesterday, include Jaipur, Gangtok, Shimla, Ahmedabad and Surat. The report, which will be ready within a year, will cost Rs 1.32 crore. The company presented its inception report to the ministry this week. WSPL was selected among at least six bidders through a tender process four months ago, sources said. The study called Traffic Engineering & Transportation Planning will focus on creating an infrastructure model based on its research of different cities and suggest methods of traffic dispersal and creation of new corridors. The survey will become a base model for replicating in other cities in the future, sources said. The methodology will be based on traffic surveys, household interviews, as well as secondary data and sample interviews of more than 4,000 people in big cities. It will consider several parameters such as the shape of the city, population, the available public transport and per capita income. The study will also offer suggestions relating to public transportation requirement of cities. At present, dependence on public transport system in cities like Mumbai is over 70 per cent while in Delhi it's about 30-35 per cent. In Chennai, it's about 40 per cent whereas in towns like Kanpur it's as low as 5 per cent. The ministry had last conducted a study of India's traffic situation in 1998. This is the first time that the focus is being laid on infrastructure modelling to address the issue of traffic snarl-ups. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060912/37ecb695 /attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 6 Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 11:20:44 +0100 From: "Alan Howes" Subject: [sustran] Re: To decongest 30 cities, Urban Development Ministry asks American firm for roadmap To: "Global 'South' Sustainable Transport" Message-ID: <324DCD7680954F468CF306EE5404F00102930EDD@mail01.cbuchanan.co.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Eric says Erp, I say Aaagh! Shivery indeed. I was just thinking on the plane back from Mumbai, the basic trouble with India wrt transport planning (and plenty other developing countries) is that it's done by engineers (and I speak as one of those) whose first reaction to a problem is "what can we build?" (which is where I part company!). And this "infrastructure modelling" project seems to be exactly that. Instead of "how do we manage our way out of this problem?". Which might include building something - but not necessarily. And what is "traffic dispersal"? Equals Urban Sprawl? Does not sound like a TDM strategy. Though I can't see 1.32 crore getting them far spread over 30 cities. I hope WB is not paying for this. Though of course, it could be an excellent study, badly reported ... Alan -- Alan Howes Associate Transport Planner Colin Buchanan 4 St Colme Street Edinburgh EH3 6AA Scotland email: alan.howes@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@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc. org] On Behalf Of Eric Britton Sent: 12 September 2006 10:53 To: Sustran-discuss@jca.apc.org Subject: [sustran] To decongest 30 cities,Urban Development Ministry asks American firm for roadmap Erp! I would be most eager to have comments on this article from last week's Indian Express. It sends shivers down by back (Wilbur Smith??), but what do I know, eh? Eric Britton PS. When Sigmund Freud was trying to exit Vienna for England in the late thirties, the German officials insisted that he write a letter exonerating the SS from any bad behaviour in his case. His reply was very short, reading more or less: "Letter to anyone who might happen to require the good services of the SS. They are indeed very good at what they do." (End rough quote) To decongest 30 cities, Centre asks American firm for roadmap Maitreyee Handique - http://www.indianexpress.com/story/11223.html NEW DELHI, August 22: To decongest the traffic chaos and improve mobility in India's city roads, the Urban Development Ministry is initiating a study to develop an infrastructure model to ease traffic congestion. Wilbur Smith Associates Private Ltd (WSAPL), a subsidiary of the US-based traffic and transportation planning company, Wilbur Smith Associates, has been selected to conduct sample surveys in 30 cities, including metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata. The other cities, which were finalised yesterday, include Jaipur, Gangtok, Shimla, Ahmedabad and Surat. The report, which will be ready within a year, will cost Rs 1.32 crore. The company presented its inception report to the ministry this week. WSPL was selected among at least six bidders through a tender process four months ago, sources said. The study called Traffic Engineering & Transportation Planning will focus on creating an infrastructure model based on its research of different cities and suggest methods of traffic dispersal and creation of new corridors. The survey will become a base model for replicating in other cities in the future, sources said. The methodology will be based on traffic surveys, household interviews, as well as secondary data and sample interviews of more than 4,000 people in big cities. It will consider several parameters such as the shape of the city, population, the available public transport and per capita income. The study will also offer suggestions relating to public transportation requirement of cities. At present, dependence on public transport system in cities like Mumbai is over 70 per cent while in Delhi it's about 30-35 per cent. In Chennai, it's about 40 per cent whereas in towns like Kanpur it's as low as 5 per cent. The ministry had last conducted a study of India's traffic situation in 1998. This is the first time that the focus is being laid on infrastructure modelling to address the issue of traffic snarl-ups. ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ .................................................... DISCLAIMER This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. 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URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060912/50baacc7 /attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 7 Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 14:07:59 +0200 From: "Eric Britton" Subject: [sustran] Motorcycles in cities To: , Message-ID: <00a601c6d664$1899bcc0$6501a8c0@Home> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Eric: These continuous-flow intersections of "global south" are food for thought. What seems to make them work are dynamic pathways. Please notice that whenever a rank of traffic forms, the continuous flow breaks down. Columns of traffic, on the other hand, seems beneficial. Looks like even a four-wheeled vehicle presents too much of a rank of traffic to permit continuous flow -- therefore, the preference for bicycles. Some research needs to be done to determine if a master-mind is required to make the process work -- or whether just an individually- decided rule of behavior is sufficient. I can see from the video that one individual rule of behavior is to avoid the formation of ranks. There is probably also the detriment of a vehicle too long. Eight feet is probably too long. (Three feet is probably too wide.) To increase capacity per vehicle, looks like the only way to go is up; I would think no higher than six feet without some sort of retro-jet braking/accelerating system above the ground system. To me , the question is : "Can this continuous flow be reduced to technology?" best wishes, Howard Finch hhowderd@yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060912/30342623 /attachment-0001.html ------------------------------ Message: 8 Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 19:23:47 -0400 From: Gmenckhoff@worldbank.org Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation To: whook@itdp.org Cc: Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com, Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 This has been an interesting exchange on busway operations, especially (to me) this morning's contribution on Ottawa. Perhaps it is worthwhile differentiating between the systems in North America, Europe and Australia on one side, and those in developing countries on the other. With the latter, (a) passenger volumes are much higher, (b) financial resources are more constrained, and (c) bus services are often provided by private operators without strong Government control. At this stage, most developing-country experience comes from Latin America. Here are some observations from that Region regarding the "open" versus "closed" operations. In some cases, these complement the points already made by Walter Hook. Experience with traditional "open" busways in Brazil, Bogot? (pre-2000) and Lima has demonstrated that it is difficult to control trunk-line operations under an open system, with bunching of vehicles occurring along the busway, which can severely reduce commercial speeds. In the planning of most recent BRTs, it was thus concluded that the transfer time penalty incurred under the closed system would be more than offset by the higher commercial speed along the busways. Even in Santiago and S?o Paulo?s passa-r?pido system, which operate under an open system, most trunk line buses terminate at outlying terminals where passengers can transfer to local bus services (interestingly, S?o Paulo has central busway platforms, and therefore had to install doors on both sides of many buses; Santiago has all platforms on the right side). In the Latin American context, restricting access to a limited number of bus companies has been as much a technical as a political issue. Without a deliberate control on the number of buses, busways will congest just like regular streets do when there are too many cars. Bus bunching will drastically affect commercial speeds and operating efficiency. GPS-aided operation would be impossible if bus access were not controlled. There is little doubt that the high speeds and passenger volumes observed in Latin American BRTs (over 40,000 pphpd on a 2+2 lane busway in Bogot?, 14,000 - 20,000 pphpd on 1+1 lane busways in Bogot? and elsewhere) could not have been reached with open systems. I agree with Walter that some open operation makes sense, especially with high-level platforms in the center of the busway, and normal operation in regular streets. As he and Alan say, this requires buses with high-level doors on the left, and normal step-down doors on the right. Such systems are now being implemented in two Colombian cities, Cartagena and Bucaramanga. In both cases, some of the trunk-line buses will go beyond the busway to serve corridors with a relatively low passenger demand. As somebody said: BRT is a flexible concept, not "one size fits all". Gerhard "Walter Hook" Sent by: To sustran-discuss-bou "'Global 'South' Sustainable nces+gmenckhoff=wor Transport'" ldbank.org@list.jca .apc.org cc Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com, 'Peter Lutman' 09/11/2006 11:35 AM Subject [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Please respond to Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Your interpretation is correct. Of course, it depends... Many of the capacity constraint issues do not become problems until you are trying to reach capacity levels that developed country cities will rarely need to reach. Low floor buses tend to hold fewer passengers because the wheel wells occupy a lot of space inside the bus. The buses also tend to be more expensive. These issues are not so important in first world cities like Ottawa. What is the capacity in Ottawa? You can have pre-paid curb-side boarding stations like in Curitiba, and low platforms meeting low floor buses, but that means you need two stations instead of one for each station stop, which generally consumes more right of way or ends up with very narrow stations, and hence more difficulties in finding the right of way to put in a passing lane. The lower platform height constitutes less of a barrier to illegal entry to the station. It is only marginally more expensive to put doors on both sides of the bus, and the operational advantages of having the bus stop in the central median shared by both directions of traffic generally justify the additional bus expense, but of course there will be exceptions, like if the buses operate in mixed traffic only on one way streets, or conformity with ADA regs is an issue, etc. -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Alan Howes Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 10:59 AM To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Cc: Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com; Peter Lutman Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Must have a look at that website, Walter - But is your statement that "it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus" based on the premise that buses captive to the system will have high floors and platform-level loading on the off-side, while the "intruders" will have low-level boarding on the nearside? This is one way of doing it, but not the only way. All buses could have low floors and nearside boarding - the Ottawa Transitway is not closed, and AFAIK the buses have doors on one side only. (Not sure it has any captive buses though, and you may not consider it BRT.) In general, I see what you are driving at and agree - but one of the merits of BRT is that it is a flexible concept, not "one size fits all". If you want max capacity then you need mega-buses that will have problems on ordinary roads - but if you are prepared to sacrifice some capacity then a mix of bus sizes is fine. >From my [armchair] experience, I have concluded that the main >constraint on capacity is actually the stations, particularly in a CBD or the like where large proportions of the pax on a bus are getting on or off. Alan -- Alan Howes Associate Transport Planner Colin Buchanan 4 St Colme Street Edinburgh EH3 6AA Scotland email: alan.howes@cbuchanan.co.uk tel: (0)131 226 4693 (switchboard) (0)7952 464335 (mobile) fax: (0)131 220 0232 www: http:/www.cbuchanan.co.uk/ -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc. org] On Behalf Of Walter Hook Sent: 11 September 2006 15:27 To: 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Dear Jonathan, It is quite possible to design a busway with buses entering and leaving the busway which has as high a capacity as a closed busway. However, it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus, it requires still having off board ticket collection along the corridor, (which implies some duplication of ticketing systems) and platform level boarding. It also requires that the streets where the normal buses operate can handle larger buses (if they are required). The problem is that this requires replacing a very large bus fleet, which is very expensive. By the way, no system like this has yet been designed, to my knowledge, but we are working on just such a system in Guangzhou. However, it is important that the system is 'closed' in the sense that not any bus can use the system, only buses conforming to a required technical specification and under a specific management authority. By this definition, this is still a 'closed' system, even if the routes involve some that operate both on trunk lines and some in mixed traffic. If you need to see the details for calculating capacity, you can for now go to a non-linked part of the itdp web site, and check the to operations chapters, at www.itdp.org/brt_guide.html. I hope to have the fully formatted new version up in a few weeks, but this will probably have the information you need. Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 3:32 AM To: Sustran List Subject: [sustran] Busway Operation If anyone is an expert in busway implementation and operation and can help with the following question, could they please be in touch with me. The specific question I am trying to answer is "What is the difference in capacity and operational viability and efficiency of an open as against a closed busway." On an open busway, buses may enter and leave at various points. With a closed busway, buses are isolated on the busway itself, and do not enter or leave for distribution at teh residential or city centre end. Thanks! --Jonathan! ----- Jonathan Richmond Transport Adviser to the Government of Mauritius Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping Level 4 New Government Centre Port Louis Mauritius 1 (617) 395-4360 (for voicemail) e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ -------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). End of Sustran-discuss Digest, Vol 37, Issue 10 *********************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------- The content of this communication is subject to CLSA Legal and Regulatory Notices, which can be viewed at https://www.clsa.com/disclaimer.html or sent to you upon request. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060913/21ba71cc/attachment.html From mrco at adb.org Wed Sep 13 15:40:43 2006 From: mrco at adb.org (mrco at adb.org) Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 14:40:43 +0800 Subject: [sustran] 2006 Asian Air Quality Management Champion Message-ID: (apologies for cross-posting) 2006 Asian Air Quality Management Champion The Search is on! Each movement needs its heroes! Who are the heroes of air quality management in Asia? For the first time in the history of BAQ, awards will be handed out to persons who have shaped air quality management in their city or country. We are looking for persons who went beyond the call of duty and who can inspire other people in Asia in taking action to improve the air quality in their city or country. If you know of a person who deserves to be crowned as the 2006 Asian Air Quality Management Champion please fill out this nomination form and send it before 1 October 2006 to Dang Agudo (mdagudo@gmail.com) with copy to Michael Co (mrco@adb.org). The BAQ 2006 Organizing Committee has set up an awards committee headed by Prof. Frank Murray of Murdoch University who will draw up a short list of 5 persons from the nominations submitted. These 5 persons will be invited to make a presentation in the plenary session of BAQ 2006 following which the BAQ 2006 participants will select the overall 2006 Asian Air Quality Management Champion. (The nomination form can also be downloaded at http://www.baq2006.org/) Cornie Huizenga (Mr) Head of Secretariat Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) Asian Development Bank Tel (632) 632-5047 chuizenga@adb.org www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia www.adb.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060913/f98d0fa2/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 1763 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060913/f98d0fa2/attachment.gif -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Champions.doc Type: application/octet-stream Size: 55296 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060913/f98d0fa2/Champions.bin From sksunny at gmail.com Wed Sep 13 16:30:11 2006 From: sksunny at gmail.com (Sunny) Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 14:30:11 +0700 Subject: [sustran] Re: Urban Transport in Mumbai In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4507B383.2010107@gmail.com> Dear Gupta, Nice to see ur comments and welcome to this forum. Being also from India and currently working in the field of sustainable transport what I feel is tht cities in India are not in the need of new infrastructure let it be Mumbai or Chennai or Bangalore. We need to streamline our existing infrastructure properly and make it efficient. the new infrastructure we build for cars is never sufficient. Instead we would want to improve the conditions of transit and other kinds of travelling modes like walking and biking in the cities. Coming to the BWSL project, surely it would not be wise to build it and partly being and environmentalist i would be against it. There are other means of reducing congestion not just building roads and i am sure many in this forum would agree with this statement. Building flyovers is like an addiction to the conventional planners. /For people who wonder abt this BWSL project please see http://www.msrdc.org/projects/bandra_worli.htm /Ah..the second one about the skybus, yes it would be a gr8 move to improve mass transit options but I am a bit sceptical of projects tht tend to put mass transit in places tht people in cars cannot see. I believe tht if the same skybus is made like a fast moving bus on the road making cars stop and letting the bus would be more effective. Taking the bus away from the road will in other words make one/two more lanes for the cars. but I agree that my opinion is arguable. At the same time there are also other technologies tht are cheaper than the skybus but running on the road and have more or less the same efficiency if properly planned like the BRT and Train for more capacities. It does not matter who is the planner let them be from America or from India itself but if proper consideration of all the stakeholders is taken into account we can surely expect an equitable and sustainable transport for our Indian cities. Carlos mentioned sometime back, with me and even on this forum i guess, if the planners go on the streets on foot before they take a decision would know the difficulties of the pedestrians and if they try to bike they would know wht the cyclists feel and same is for the wheel chairs. so thts all for now, Cheers, Sunny Anupam Gupta, CLSA wrote: > > Hi - I'm new to this group and am mailing for the first time, so do > forgive me if I break any protocol. > > Eric Britton said > >>Erp! I would be most eager to have comments on this article from > last week's Indian Express. It sends shivers down by back (Wilbur > Smith??), but what do I know, eh? > > I find it interesting that the Govt chose the very same people who'd > advised Bombay in 1962. The implementations of M/S Smith's > recommendations are still being carried out. Actually only one to be > specific, viz. Bandra Worli Sea Link Project (BWSL). In fact, the BWSL > has come under fire from environmentalists as well as architects (like > Mr. Chandrashekhar Prabhu - a big critic of this project). > > Eric Britton - are your shivers to do with Wilbur Smith or with the > idea of a transport study for cities? I'd appreciate your thoughts. > > Alan Howes - Given your familiarity with Mumbai I'd also appreciate > your thoughts on the BWSL as well as the grand designs that the Govt > has for Mumbai's transport problems. In specific - the Metro (is > Skybus a cheaper and better technology). > > Thanks all. > Anupam Gupta > (http://doesmumbaimatter.blogspot.com) > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060913/0fdc2371/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Wed Sep 13 17:46:55 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 10:46:55 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Engineering the future of transport in Indian cities In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <032701c6d711$2c72ba50$6501a8c0@Home> Dear Anupam, Thanks for asking. Here is my thinking on this. Wilbur Smith is an old mainline transportation engineering consultancy with lots of notable work in support of road development in many places, between, in and right through the middle of our cities in many places. It was among the leading engineering consultancy firms in the States as we decided to reorganize our cities for cars rather than people starting already in the fifties. As Dr. Freud pointed out, they are every good at what they do. They, if you will, "supply the market", and in this regard are in my view a prime example of what I and others call 'old mobility' thinking (see our page on this from the New Mobility Advisory/Briefs at - http://newmobilitybriefs.org clicking The Challenge/Old Moblity on the left menu). . You can check them out at http://www.wilbursmith.com/index.cfm. Now they do of late have some capabilities in non-motorized planning (you can check that out on their site), but that is I believe because there is a market there. Their main allegiance shown many times over is to infrastructure creation. Love it or leave it. You see dear Sustran friends, and as we have seen many times here, the world of real interest in and decision making in transport in cities is really divided into two not at all equal groups. There are those who are most comfortably installed and where the money is. And then there are what we call in our work the 'Principal Voices of Sustainable Transport". This latter group is a small minority but is taking form and, I am confident, are going to start to become a powerful source of new ideas and initiatives in the sector. If you go to our Briefs site given above and click the International Advisory Council you will see close to two hundred of them who are leading the charge. (And maybe you should be there too Anupam?) And while I have the podium here, I would also like to comment on Sunny's observation in a note which arrived as I was penning this one. He says: "It does not matter who is the planner let them be from America or from India itself but if proper consideration of all the stakeholders is taken into account we can surely expect an equitable and sustainable transport for our Indian cities." Dear Sunny. I could not disagree more strenuously. All transport policy advisers are not created either equal or equally balanced. You go with a firm like WS and believe me they and the interests who are closely allied to their traditional forecast-and-build agenda will end up exactly where they want to go. I promise! * * * Okay, fair enough. But it is not enough to be lucid and even right - if one is serous about all this one also should try to be effective. What difference does it make if a couple of dozen Sustran heads like us come to some sort of broad intellectual agreement that this is probably a lousy decision and action plan. I ask you: what can be done to come up with something better than will win the day? After all the combine populations of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata is more than 60 million honest hard working people who deserve a fair break Or do we just turn to the sports pages and keep reading? Eric Britton PS. Anupam, you point to WS's work done in Bombay in the sixties. Makes me think that someone should sit down and make a list of every WS contract in the Global South of the last fifty years, and give some kind of feel for what they have done. I am afraid this will be a quite long list and that if one were to summarize the impact of their recommendations there might be there some food for thought. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060913/0fbe10d5/attachment.html From Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk Wed Sep 13 17:51:43 2006 From: Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk (Alan Howes) Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 09:51:43 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Message-ID: <324DCD7680954F468CF306EE5404F001029CB173@mail01.cbuchanan.co.uk> Very interesting indeed. I may post more later when I have the time, but just for now - My interest in all this is mainly in relation to India (specifically Mumbai), where conditions are a mixture of South American and European. You have the high loadings and economic constraints of SA, but a fair bit of public control and ownership of bus services. When I say "open", I mean open to buses not captive to the system - not open to any bus operator who wishes to use it. Alan -- Alan Howes Associate Transport Planner Colin Buchanan 4 St Colme Street Edinburgh EH3 6AA Scotland email: alan.howes@cbuchanan.co.uk tel: (0)131 226 4693 (switchboard) (0)7952 464335 (mobile) fax: (0)131 220 0232 www: http:/www.cbuchanan.co.uk/ -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Gmenckhoff@worldbank.org Sent: 13 September 2006 00:24 To: whook@itdp.org Cc: Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation This has been an interesting exchange on busway operations, especially (to me) this morning's contribution on Ottawa. Perhaps it is worthwhile differentiating between the systems in North America, Europe and Australia on one side, and those in developing countries on the other. With the latter, (a) passenger volumes are much higher, (b) financial resources are more constrained, and (c) bus services are often provided by private operators without strong Government control. At this stage, most developing-country experience comes from Latin America. Here are some observations from that Region regarding the "open" versus "closed" operations. In some cases, these complement the points already made by Walter Hook. Experience with traditional "open" busways in Brazil, Bogot? (pre-2000) and Lima has demonstrated that it is difficult to control trunk-line operations under an open system, with bunching of vehicles occurring along the busway, which can severely reduce commercial speeds. In the planning of most recent BRTs, it was thus concluded that the transfer time penalty incurred under the closed system would be more than offset by the higher commercial speed along the busways. Even in Santiago and S?o Paulo?s passa-r?pido system, which operate under an open system, most trunk line buses terminate at outlying terminals where passengers can transfer to local bus services (interestingly, S?o Paulo has central busway platforms, and therefore had to install doors on both sides of many buses; Santiago has all platforms on the right side). In the Latin American context, restricting access to a limited number of bus companies has been as much a technical as a political issue. Without a deliberate control on the number of buses, busways will congest just like regular streets do when there are too many cars. Bus bunching will drastically affect commercial speeds and operating efficiency. GPS-aided operation would be impossible if bus access were not controlled. There is little doubt that the high speeds and passenger volumes observed in Latin American BRTs (over 40,000 pphpd on a 2+2 lane busway in Bogot?, 14,000 - 20,000 pphpd on 1+1 lane busways in Bogot? and elsewhere) could not have been reached with open systems. I agree with Walter that some open operation makes sense, especially with high-level platforms in the center of the busway, and normal operation in regular streets. As he and Alan say, this requires buses with high-level doors on the left, and normal step-down doors on the right. Such systems are now being implemented in two Colombian cities, Cartagena and Bucaramanga. In both cases, some of the trunk-line buses will go beyond the busway to serve corridors with a relatively low passenger demand. As somebody said: BRT is a flexible concept, not "one size fits all". Gerhard "Walter Hook" Sent by: To sustran-discuss-bou "'Global 'South' Sustainable nces+gmenckhoff=wor Transport'" ldbank.org@list.jca .apc.org cc Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com, 'Peter Lutman' 09/11/2006 11:35 AM Subject [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Please respond to Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Your interpretation is correct. Of course, it depends... Many of the capacity constraint issues do not become problems until you are trying to reach capacity levels that developed country cities will rarely need to reach. Low floor buses tend to hold fewer passengers because the wheel wells occupy a lot of space inside the bus. The buses also tend to be more expensive. These issues are not so important in first world cities like Ottawa. What is the capacity in Ottawa? You can have pre-paid curb-side boarding stations like in Curitiba, and low platforms meeting low floor buses, but that means you need two stations instead of one for each station stop, which generally consumes more right of way or ends up with very narrow stations, and hence more difficulties in finding the right of way to put in a passing lane. The lower platform height constitutes less of a barrier to illegal entry to the station. It is only marginally more expensive to put doors on both sides of the bus, and the operational advantages of having the bus stop in the central median shared by both directions of traffic generally justify the additional bus expense, but of course there will be exceptions, like if the buses operate in mixed traffic only on one way streets, or conformity with ADA regs is an issue, etc. -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Alan Howes Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 10:59 AM To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Cc: Transit-Prof@yahoogroups.com; Peter Lutman Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Must have a look at that website, Walter - But is your statement that "it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus" based on the premise that buses captive to the system will have high floors and platform-level loading on the off-side, while the "intruders" will have low-level boarding on the nearside? This is one way of doing it, but not the only way. All buses could have low floors and nearside boarding - the Ottawa Transitway is not closed, and AFAIK the buses have doors on one side only. (Not sure it has any captive buses though, and you may not consider it BRT.) In general, I see what you are driving at and agree - but one of the merits of BRT is that it is a flexible concept, not "one size fits all". If you want max capacity then you need mega-buses that will have problems on ordinary roads - but if you are prepared to sacrifice some capacity then a mix of bus sizes is fine. >From my [armchair] experience, I have concluded that the main >constraint on capacity is actually the stations, particularly in a CBD or the like where large proportions of the pax on a bus are getting on or off. Alan -- Alan Howes Associate Transport Planner Colin Buchanan 4 St Colme Street Edinburgh EH3 6AA Scotland email: alan.howes@cbuchanan.co.uk tel: (0)131 226 4693 (switchboard) (0)7952 464335 (mobile) fax: (0)131 220 0232 www: http:/www.cbuchanan.co.uk/ -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc. org] On Behalf Of Walter Hook Sent: 11 September 2006 15:27 To: 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Subject: [sustran] Re: Busway Operation Dear Jonathan, It is quite possible to design a busway with buses entering and leaving the busway which has as high a capacity as a closed busway. However, it requires a bus with doors on both sides of the bus, it requires still having off board ticket collection along the corridor, (which implies some duplication of ticketing systems) and platform level boarding. It also requires that the streets where the normal buses operate can handle larger buses (if they are required). The problem is that this requires replacing a very large bus fleet, which is very expensive. By the way, no system like this has yet been designed, to my knowledge, but we are working on just such a system in Guangzhou. However, it is important that the system is 'closed' in the sense that not any bus can use the system, only buses conforming to a required technical specification and under a specific management authority. By this definition, this is still a 'closed' system, even if the routes involve some that operate both on trunk lines and some in mixed traffic. If you need to see the details for calculating capacity, you can for now go to a non-linked part of the itdp web site, and check the to operations chapters, at www.itdp.org/brt_guide.html. I hope to have the fully formatted new version up in a few weeks, but this will probably have the information you need. Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 3:32 AM To: Sustran List Subject: [sustran] Busway Operation If anyone is an expert in busway implementation and operation and can help with the following question, could they please be in touch with me. The specific question I am trying to answer is "What is the difference in capacity and operational viability and efficiency of an open as against a closed busway." On an open busway, buses may enter and leave at various points. With a closed busway, buses are isolated on the busway itself, and do not enter or leave for distribution at teh residential or city centre end. Thanks! --Jonathan! ----- Jonathan Richmond Transport Adviser to the Government of Mauritius Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping Level 4 New Government Centre Port Louis Mauritius 1 (617) 395-4360 (for voicemail) e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ -------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 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From anupam.gupta at clsa.com Wed Sep 13 19:03:28 2006 From: anupam.gupta at clsa.com (Anupam Gupta, CLSA) Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 18:03:28 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Re: Engineering the future of transport in Indian cities Message-ID: Hi Eric - Thanks very much for the detailed reply, it was quite helpful. Unfortunately I'm not an urban traffic/planning expert and much as I would want to , I don't think I'm adequately qualified to join the New Mobility briefs organisation. The one point I did want to make to this discussion was that in Mumbai, infrastructure development is more about politics than about real development and hence the interests of the city come last in the list. In the light of this unfortunate fact, I think we're quite behind the curve in terms of new mobility ideas. You'd know that in Mumbai, transport is looked at by no less than 5 agencies - MMRDA (in charge of the road and rail development and almost all new infrastructure projects), BMC (the civic authorities in charge of maintenance of roads, sewerage, etc), BEST (in charge of buses), Railways (local trains) and MSRDC (in charge of the BWSL and the upcoming Transharbour Link). Almost all of them are pulled, pushed and manipluated by politicians and political parties. The city hence bears the brunt for short-sighted planning by people who are transferred every five years from their job. I don't think we can even start to think of qualified experts at the helm of affairs of Mumbai's crumbling infratstructure. All we have is a slap-dash bunch of Keystone Kops. To that extent I completely agree with you in your response to Sunny. Indeed, all transport advisers are not created equal or equally balanced. And with all due respect, "..if proper consideration of all the stakeholders is taken into account.." sounds like wishful thinking to me when I think of Mumbai. Do forgive me if what I've said came out as a rant. I look forward to learning more from this wonderful group. Thanks once again. Regards Anupam -----Original Message----- From: Eric Britton [mailto:eric.britton@ecoplan.org] Sent: 13 September, 2006 2:17 PM To: Sustran-discuss@jca.apc.org Cc: anupam.gupta@clsa.com; sksunny@gmail.com Subject: Engineering the future of transport in Indian cities Dear Anupam, Thanks for asking. Here is my thinking on this. Wilbur Smith is an old mainline transportation engineering consultancy with lots of notable work in support of road development in many places, between, in and right through the middle of our cities in many places. It was among the leading engineering consultancy firms in the States as we decided to reorganize our cities for cars rather than people starting already in the fifties. As Dr. Freud pointed out, they are every good at what they do. They, if you will, "supply the market", and in this regard are in my view a prime example of what I and others call 'old mobility' thinking (see our page on this from the New Mobility Advisory/Briefs at - http://newmobilitybriefs.org clicking The Challenge/Old Moblity on the left menu). . You can check them out at http://www.wilbursmith.com/index.cfm . Now they do of late have some capabilities in non-motorized planning (you can check that out on their site), but that is I believe because there is a market there. Their main allegiance shown many times over is to infrastructure creation. Love it or leave it. You see dear Sustran friends, and as we have seen many times here, the world of real interest in and decision making in transport in cities is really divided into two not at all equal groups. There are those who are most comfortably installed and where the money is. And then there are what we call in our work the 'Principal Voices of Sustainable Transport". This latter group is a small minority but is taking form and, I am confident, are going to start to become a powerful source of new ideas and initiatives in the sector. If you go to our Briefs site given above and click the International Advisory Council you will see close to two hundred of them who are leading the charge. (And maybe you should be there too Anupam?) And while I have the podium here, I would also like to comment on Sunny's observation in a note which arrived as I was penning this one. He says: "It does not matter who is the planner let them be from America or from India itself but if proper consideration of all the stakeholders is taken into account we can surely expect an equitable and sustainable transport for our Indian cities." Dear Sunny. I could not disagree more strenuously. All transport policy advisers are not created either equal or equally balanced. You go with a firm like WS and believe me they and the interests who are closely allied to their traditional forecast-and-build agenda will end up exactly where they want to go. I promise! * * * Okay, fair enough. But it is not enough to be lucid and even right - if one is serous about all this one also should try to be effective. What difference does it make if a couple of dozen Sustran heads like us come to some sort of broad intellectual agreement that this is probably a lousy decision and action plan. I ask you: what can be done to come up with something better than will win the day? After all the combine populations of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata is more than 60 million honest hard working people who deserve a fair break Or do we just turn to the sports pages and keep reading? Eric Britton PS. Anupam, you point to WS's work done in Bombay in the sixties. Makes me think that someone should sit down and make a list of every WS contract in the Global South of the last fifty years, and give some kind of feel for what they have done. I am afraid this will be a quite long list and that if one were to summarize the impact of their recommendations there might be there some food for thought. ------------------------------------------------------------- The content of this communication is subject to CLSA Legal and Regulatory Notices, which can be viewed at https://www.clsa.com/disclaimer.html or sent to you upon request. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060913/84c4fe16/attachment.html From carlos.pardo at sutp.org Wed Sep 13 23:03:43 2006 From: carlos.pardo at sutp.org (Carlos F. Pardo SUTP) Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 09:03:43 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Public vs Private transport- space efficiency Message-ID: <001c01c6d73d$6e65cca0$0200a8c0@archibaldo> Dear all, As part of the training course on public awareness and behavior change, I?ve developed a video to show space efficiency of cars vs public transport. You can see the video at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=guodaBkDPP0 . After some discussion with Eric Britton (relevant excerpts below), it would be useful to hear anybody else?s comments. Of course, bear in mind that I did this for policymakers and social scientists (and others) who will promote sustainable transport with simple and explanatory tools. Any feedback is most welcome. Best regards, Carlos F. Pardo Coordinador de Proyecto GTZ - Proyecto de Transporte Sostenible (SUTP, SUTP-LAC) Cl 125bis # 41-28 of 404 Bogot? D.C., Colombia Tel: +57 (1) 215 7812 Fax: +57 (1) 236 2309 Mobile: +57 (3) 15 296 0662 e-mail: carlos.pardo@sutp.org P?gina: www.sutp.org _____ De: Eric Britton [mailto:eric.britton@ecoplan.org] Para: 'Carlos F. Pardo SUTP' Asunto: So it's TEN times more space-efficient??? I?m not quite sure that is quite the whole story Carlos. Might we explore the bigger picture together here for a moment? 1. The clip lasts for 40 seconds ###yes. 2. It shows five lanes of urban highway in Bogot? with car traffic at close to capacity, which means average speeds I guess on the order 50/60 kph? #### no, it?s actually 10-20 km/h. 3. And then the one dedicated lane with a single TM artic, moving along at a clip a good deal faster than the cars. ### yes. 4. You suggest that the bus is full?? #### I know that bus is full. ** Just to be sure: What you are saying is that all the TM busses are pretty much full in the same rush hours that the car lanes are full 5. It is clear that whereas there is zero room for more cars in the five lanes they occupy, the reserved lane could accommodate more vehicles. ### yes, BUT that would mean oversupply, and less people per bus (I assume you mean bus by ?vehicle?). ** Not all that sure Carlos. The objective of our NewMob policy is high quality high comfort transport for all. So we have a couple of objectives .. . o The first is to get through a carrot/stick policy drivers out of all those cars and into other space-efficient transport. o TM is a great example of this last but far from the only one o Remember that we want to come as close to ?car-like mobility? (refers to direct access, waiting times, comfort, etc.) as we can. o This suggests that we need not only TM but a lot of other good (and flexible) stuff as well (we call it xTransit but call it as you will). o We also need to bear in mind that when you cram too many people on board a bus, this is not necessarily a sign of total success. In fact, what I would love to have ? and I am sure that some one must have this in hand ? would be a kind of ?thermometer of space efficiency?, which will give us a meter stick for looking at all this stuff and somehow getting it into proportion. More than that, I would; then like to see if we can somehow establish this as a new mobility measuring stick which becomes a tool of the trade. #### right, or it could be just a ?rule? that you would have, e.g. ?count the number of cars that pass by during a given time, and then divide by x to see how many buses are needed. If it is more than one lane, divide again by the amount of lanes ? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060913/196d4862/attachment.html From sujit at vsnl.com Thu Sep 14 02:15:16 2006 From: sujit at vsnl.com (Sujit Patwardhan) Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 22:45:16 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Public vs Private transport- space efficiency In-Reply-To: <001c01c6d73d$6e65cca0$0200a8c0@archibaldo> References: <001c01c6d73d$6e65cca0$0200a8c0@archibaldo> Message-ID: <4cfd20aa0609131015j1566297fyfa4d84faf88a95c5@mail.gmail.com> 13 September 2006 Thanks Carlos, Very nice and compact. -- Sujit On 9/13/06, Carlos F. Pardo SUTP wrote: > > Dear all, > > > > As part of the training course on public awareness and behavior change, > I've developed a video to show space efficiency of cars vs public transport. > You can see the video at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=guodaBkDPP0 . After > some discussion with Eric Britton (relevant excerpts below), it would be > useful to hear anybody else's comments. Of course, bear in mind that I did > this for policymakers and social scientists (and others) who will promote > sustainable transport with simple and explanatory tools. > > > > Any feedback is most welcome. Best regards, > > > > *Carlos F. Pardo* > *Coordinador de Proyecto* > GTZ - Proyecto de Transporte Sostenible (SUTP, SUTP-LAC) > Cl 125bis # 41-28 of 404 > Bogot? D.C., Colombia > *Tel:* +57 (1) 215 7812 > > *Fax:* +57 (1) 236 2309 > *Mobile*: +57 (3) 15 296 0662 > *e-mail: *carlos.pardo@sutp.org > *P?gina:* www.sutp.org > ------------------------------ > > *De:* Eric Britton [mailto:eric.britton@ecoplan.org] > *Para:* 'Carlos F. Pardo SUTP' > *Asunto:* So it's TEN times more space-efficient??? > > > > I'm not quite sure that is quite the whole story Carlos. Might we explore > the bigger picture together here for a moment? > > > > 1. The clip lasts for 40 seconds > *###yes.* > > 2. It shows five lanes of urban highway in Bogot? with car traffic > at close to capacity, which means average speeds I guess on the order 50/60 > kph? > *#### no, it's actually 10-20 km/h.* > > 3. And then the one dedicated lane with a single TM artic, moving > along at a clip a good deal faster than the cars. > *### yes.* > > *4.** *You suggest that the bus is full?? > *#### I know that bus is full.* > > *** Just to be sure: What you are saying is that all the TM busses are > pretty much full in the same rush hours that the car lanes are full* > > 5. It is clear that whereas there is zero room for more cars in the > five lanes they occupy, the reserved lane could accommodate more vehicles. > *### yes, BUT that would mean oversupply, and less people per bus (I > assume you mean bus by "vehicle").* > *** Not all that sure Carlos. The objective of our NewMob policy is high > quality high comfort transport for all. So we have a couple of objectives > *.. . > > o *The first is to get through a carrot/stick policy drivers > out of all those cars and into other space-efficient transport.* > > o *TM is a great example of this last but far from the only > one* > > o *Remember that we want to come as close to 'car-like > mobility' (refers to direct access, waiting times, comfort, etc.) as we can. > * > > o *This suggests that we need not only TM but a lot of other > good (and flexible) stuff as well (we call it xTransit but call it as you > will).* > > o *We also need to bear in mind that when you cram too many > people on board a bus, this is not necessarily a sign of total success.* > > > > In fact, what I would love to have ? and I am sure that some one must have > this in hand ? would be a kind of 'thermometer of space efficiency', which > will give us a meter stick for looking at all this stuff and somehow getting > it into proportion. > > More than that, I would; then like to see if we can somehow establish this > as a new mobility measuring stick which becomes a tool of the trade. > > * **#### right, or it could be just a "rule" that you would have, e.g. > "count the number of cars that pass by during a given time, and then divide > by x to see how many buses are needed. If it is more than one lane, divide > again by the amount of lanes?"* > > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to > join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The > yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the > real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you > can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > > > -- ------------------------------------------------------ Sujit Patwardhan sujit@vsnl.com sujitjp@gmail.com "Yamuna", ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007 India Tel: 25537955 ----------------------------------------------------- Hon. Secretary: Parisar www.parisar.org ------------------------------------------------------ Founder Member: PTTF (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) www.pttf.net ------------------------------------------------------ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060913/79847af3/attachment.html From litman at vtpi.org Fri Sep 15 01:41:55 2006 From: litman at vtpi.org (Todd Alexander Litman) Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:41:55 -0700 Subject: [sustran] VTPI NEWS - Summer 2006 Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20060914094108.060af800@mail.islandnet.com> ----------- VTPI NEWS ----------- Victoria Transport Policy Institute "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity" ------------------------------------ Summer 2006 Vol. 9, No. 3 ---------------------------------- The Victoria Transport Policy Institute is an independent research organization dedicated to developing innovative solutions to transportation problems. The VTPI website (http://www.vtpi.org ) has many resources addressing a wide range of transport planning and policy issues. VTPI also provides consulting services. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ONLINE TDM ENCYCLOPEDIA ======================== The VTPI "Online TDM Encyclopedia" (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm ) is a comprehensive information resource to help identify and evaluate innovative management solutions to transport problems, available for free on our website. We continually update and expand the Encyclopedia. As always, we appreciate feedback. Please let us know if you have suggestions for improving the Encyclopedia or our other resources. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NEW DOCUMENTS ============== "Smart Congestion Reductions: Reevaluating The Role Of Highway Expansion For Improving Urban Transportation " (http://www.vtpi.org/cong_relief.pdf ). This report investigates claims that highway capacity expansion is a cost effective and desirable solution to urban traffic congestion problems. It identifies errors in proponents' analysis that overestimate the congestion reduction impacts and economic benefits of roadway capacity expansion, overlook negative impacts of induced travel, and ignore more cost effective alternatives. "Smart Congestion Reductions II: Reevaluating The Role Of Public Transit For Improving Urban Transportation" (http://www.vtpi.org/cong_reliefII.pdf ). This report investigates the role that public transit can play in reducing traffic congestion and achieving other transportation improvement objectives. It evaluates criticism that urban transit investments are ineffective at reducing traffic congestion and wasteful. "Rethinking Malahat Solutions: Or, Why Spend A Billion Dollars If A Five-Million Dollar Solution Is Better Overall?" (http://www.vtpi.org/malahat.pdf ). This report evaluates various options for addressing traffic problems on the Malahat highway corridor, north of Victoria, British Columbia. It compares the costs and benefits of proposed highway expansion projects with an alternative that emphasizes improving vanpooling and public transit services. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UPDATED DOCUMENTS ============== "Win-Win Emission Reductions" (http://www.vtpi.org/wwclimate.pdf ) This report describes a set of smart transportation emission reduction strategies that can achieve Kyoto emission reduction targets and provide other economic, social and environmental benefits ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE Below are recently published articles. Todd Litman, "Managing Diverse Modes and Activities on Nonmotorized Facilities: Guidance for Practitioners," ITE Journal, Vol. 76, No. 6 (http://www.ite.org), June 2006, pp. 20-27. This article explores the appropriate way to manage nonmotorized facilities (sidewalks, bikelanes, paths and trails), taking into account the increasingly diverse range of potential activities and modes. It is based on the paper "Managing Personal Mobility Devices On Nonmotorized Facilities" (http://www.vtpi.org/man_nmt_fac.pdf ) by Todd Litman and Robin Blair. "Issues In Sustainable Transportation," International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, Vol. 6, No. 4 (http://www.vtpi.org/sus_iss.pdf ). This paper by Todd Litman and David Burwell discusses issues related to the definition, evaluation and implementation of sustainable transportation. Stephen Hume, "Premium, High-Quality' Transit Analyst's Idea To Boost Ridership," Vancouver Sun (http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/archives/story.html?id=fab0bad4-14ae-4c0c-a3b2-0ea1df3da8ce ), 17 June 2006. This article, based on an interview with VTPI Director Todd Litman, describes innovative ways to improve transit service and encourage transit ridership in the Vancouver region. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BEEN THERE/DONE THAT ===================== VTPI presented papers at the following events: "How to Evaluate Travel Demand Programs Taking Into Account Their Multiple Benefits, " plenary address, Southern Africa Transport Conference (http://www.up.ac.za/academic/civil/satc.html ), Pretoria, South Africa, July 2006. "Cities Connect: How Urbanity Helps Achieve Social Inclusion Objectives, " presented at the Metropolis Conference (http://www.metropolis.org ), 15 June 2006, Toronto, Canada; presentation available at www.vtpi.org/citiesconnect.pdf. "Dialogue Panel ? Energy: Location Action, Global Impact," World Urban Forum III (http://www.unhabitat.org/wuf ), Vancouver, Canada, 22 June 2006. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UPCOMING EVENTS ================ VTPI will present papers at the following events: "First International Conference on Citizens and Mobility Management" (http://www.congresomovilidad.com/eng/welcome.htm ), September 25-27, Madrid, Spain. "2006 CIVITAS Forum Annual Meeting" (http://www.civitas-initiative.org ) "Cities in motion: towards a new role for cities in European transport policy". Burgos (Spain), 25-27 September 2006 "AutoConsequences: Automobilization and its Social Implications," (http://www.sfu.ca/traffic-safety/events.html ), hosted by the Traffic Safety Project, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. "New Zealand Walking Conference," (http://www.livingstreets.org.nz/walking_2006.htm ), Christchurch, New Zealand, 3 - 4 Nov. "Best Practices in Parking Management: Symposium," Rail~Volution 2006 (http://www.railvolution.com ), Chicago, Illinois, November 5 - 8, 2006. "National Conference for Disaster Planning for the Carless Society" (http://www.carlessevacuation.org ), University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, February 8-9, 2007 (Note: The first weekend of Mardi Gras parades begin February 10th) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ USEFUL RESOURCES ================= Below are new information resources that you may find useful. "Cascadia Scorecard 2006: Focus on Sprawl and Public Health" (http://www.sightline.org/research/cascadia_scorecard/res_pubs/cs2006 ), by the Sightline Institute (previously Northwest Environment Watch). This year?s report summarizes research on the connections between the shape of cities and health. It found that: * Cities are safer than suburbs. * Residents of walkable communities are less likely to be obese and suffer from related diseases. * Simple steps that increase walking can help save billions of dollars in medical costs and lost productivity in a region. DCE, et al, "Understanding The Relationship Between Public Health And The Built Environment: A Report Prepared For The LEED-ND Core Committee," (http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=1480 )2006. This report summarizes research regarding the links between public health and neighborhood design, and provides recommendations about how this knowledge can be integrated into the LEED-ND rating system. "Plan for Active Transportation & Health" (www.nrsrcaa.org/path) This program developed transportation policy reforms suitable for Humboldt County, California and other rural communities. Bill Hillier and Ozlem Sahbaz, "High Resolution Analysis of Crime Patterns in Urban Street Networks: An Initial Statistical Sketch From An Ongoing Study Of A London Borough," University College London (www.spacesyntax.tudelft.nl/media/Long%20papers%20I/hilliersahbaz.pdf ), 2006. This paper evaluates claims that smart growth increases crime. The analysis indicates that smart growth features such as compact development and connected streets tend to increase natural surveillance and community interactions which reduce crime. Michael M'Gonigle and Justine Starke, "Planet U: Sustaining the World, Reinventing The University," New Society Publishing (http://www.newsociety.com ), 2006. This new book by researchers at the University of Victoria describes ways that campuses can be managed to achieve sustainability objectives, including increased energy efficiency, reduced vehicle travel, and improving planning practices. The authors provide numerous examples and case studies of successful campus resource management programs. "Climate Protection Manual For Mayors" (http://www.natcapsolutions.org/ClimateProtectionManual.htm ). This report provides case studies, best practices, cost/benefit analyses, legislation, and contacts to facilitate local energy conservation and emission reduction planning and program implementation. "Travel-time Maps and their Uses" (http://www.mysociety.org/2006/travel-time-maps/index.php ). This website describes how 'Travel-time Maps' can be used to indicate the time needed to travel from a particular origin to other areas, and compare accessibility by different modes. William H. Lucy and David L. Phillips, "Tomorrow's Cities, Tomorrow's Suburbs" Planners Press (http://www.planning.org/bookservice/description.htm?BCODE=ATCT ), 2006. This book examines development trends in cities and suburbs. It finds evidence of urban growth and risks of decline in suburbs. It examines popular perceptions?and misperceptions?about safety and danger in cities, suburbs, and exurbs. It also offers practical policies to create conditions in which both cities and suburbs can thrive. San Francisco Parking Policies (www.livablecity.org/campaigns/c3.html) The city of San Francisco recently implemented policies that require parking spaces be sold or leased separately from dwellings in certain types of developments (called ?unbundling?), reduces or eliminates minimum parking requirements so developers can supply parking based on market demand, requires bicycle and carshare parking, and improves parking facility design. "On Common Ground: New Urbanism Is Blooming," (http://www.realtor.org/SG3.nsf/Pages/summer06 ) is a special issue of the magazine of the National Association of Realtor which has several articles on new urbanism and smart growth. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please let us know if you have comments or questions about any information in this newsletter, or if you would like to be removed from our email list. And please pass this newsletter on to others who may find it useful. Sincerely, Todd Alexander Litman Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org) litman@vtpi.org Phone & Fax 250-360-1560 1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA ?Efficiency - Equity - Clarity? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060914/71e29e0b/attachment.html From paulbarter at nus.edu.sg Fri Sep 15 14:56:53 2006 From: paulbarter at nus.edu.sg (Paul Barter) Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 13:56:53 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Fwd: Rickshaw pullers upset over ban in Delhi's walled city Message-ID: See http://indiaenews.com/2006-09/21445-rickshaw-pullers-upset-ban-delhis-wa lled.htm Rickshaw pullers upset over ban in Delhi's walled city Thursday, September 7th, 2006 New Delhi - Is it the end of the road for 2,500-odd rickshaw pullers whose ubiquitous presence had become a symbol of the old city? Rickshaw pullers in the congested Chandni Chowk are aghast over a decision to put a stop to this cheap and popular transport in the area's labyrinthine lanes and by-lanes. Hundreds of rickshaw pullers will be affected by the decision of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) not to allow cycle-rickshaws on the arterial roads of Chandni Chowk in the walled city. The MCD informed the Delhi High Court Wednesday of its ban, which comes into effect in two months. Etc ..... And later in the article: S.K. Yadav, the officer in-charge of putting the order into effect, said the initiative was aimed at clearing the roads of the old city for free traffic movement. 'A fresh tender will be announced on Sep 18 to make alternative transportation arrangements in the area.' He said there was no plan of giving the rickshaw pullers any alternative arrangements to earn their livelihood. The MCD had proposed putting a stop to cycle rickshaws in order to de-congest the area. It asked the Central Road Research Institute to suggest ways to alleviate the traffic woes. The institute proposed introducing battery-operated CNG buses in the area. The court then directed the civic authorities to immediately start development work in Chandni Chowk as per the institute's proposal. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060915/dd60a2bd/attachment.html From whook at itdp.org Sat Sep 16 01:04:44 2006 From: whook at itdp.org (Walter Hook) Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 12:04:44 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Re: Fwd: Rickshaw pullers upset over ban in Delhi's walled city In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <012a01c6d8e0$a9ad7930$3601a8c0@DFJLYL81> Paul, Nalin sinha of itdp India is working hard on overturning this. Nalin, can you give this list serve an update from the front? Walter -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+whook=itdp.org@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Paul Barter Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 1:57 AM To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Subject: [sustran] Fwd: Rickshaw pullers upset over ban in Delhi's walled city See http://indiaenews.com/2006-09/21445-rickshaw-pullers-upset-ban-delhis-walled .htm Rickshaw pullers upset over ban in Delhi's walled city Thursday, September 7th, 2006 New Delhi - Is it the end of the road for 2,500-odd rickshaw pullers whose ubiquitous presence had become a symbol of the old city? Rickshaw pullers in the congested Chandni Chowk are aghast over a decision to put a stop to this cheap and popular transport in the area's labyrinthine lanes and by-lanes. Hundreds of rickshaw pullers will be affected by the decision of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) not to allow cycle-rickshaws on the arterial roads of Chandni Chowk in the walled city. The MCD informed the Delhi High Court Wednesday of its ban, which comes into effect in two months. Etc ... And later in the article: S.K. Yadav, the officer in-charge of putting the order into effect, said the initiative was aimed at clearing the roads of the old city for free traffic movement. 'A fresh tender will be announced on Sep 18 to make alternative transportation arrangements in the area.' He said there was no plan of giving the rickshaw pullers any alternative arrangements to earn their livelihood. The MCD had proposed putting a stop to cycle rickshaws in order to de-congest the area. It asked the Central Road Research Institute to suggest ways to alleviate the traffic woes. The institute proposed introducing battery-operated CNG buses in the area. The court then directed the civic authorities to immediately start development work in Chandni Chowk as per the institute's proposal. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060915/8d9f2243/attachment.html From richmond at alum.mit.edu Sat Sep 16 17:07:51 2006 From: richmond at alum.mit.edu (Jonathan E. D. Richmond) Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 04:07:51 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) Subject: [sustran] Transport Fund Message-ID: Could people give me arguments for and against having a government transport fund, which contains assets paid from transport taxres, reserved for planning, building and operating transport projects and for helping to achieve land-use transportation integration. I know there are plenty of measures that reserve funds for transportation purposes in the States, but does anyone know of similar systems in use in other countires, and whether they have been successful? Also, what makes transportation special to deserve such a fund? Why not funds for other sectors of the economy? Ideas appreciated! Thanks, --Jonathan ----- Jonathan Richmond Transport Adviser to the Government of Mauritius Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport and Shipping Level 4 New Government Centre Port Louis Mauritius 1 (617) 395-4360 (for voicemail) e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ From martincassini at blueyonder.co.uk Sat Sep 16 03:22:12 2006 From: martincassini at blueyonder.co.uk (Martin Cassini) Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 11:22:12 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sustran] Re: Comment on video - In Your Car No-one Can Hear You Scream! In-Reply-To: References: <000001c6c1c6$5fd0c280$6401a8c0@Home> Message-ID: <6330686.post@talk.nabble.com> Paul, In some haste, taking your points in turn: 1. In a longer version of the video (which wouldn't fit on YouTube) I spelled out the lower speed point. But my deep hunch is we don't need speed limits to drive appropriately in any event. When we can see good reasons for good behaviour, we behave well. Speed limits are rigid and can act as a red rag. Responsible adults don't need to be told what to do. Limits, like lights and priority rules, are counterproductive. You can't cover every eventuality, but you can't legislate for maniacs either. Limits and lights are no guarantee of safety. Risk is an essential part of life and learning. Seems to me that trusting human nature is positive and the least of all the other evils. Frankly, I don't give a damn about "the key sets of allies" who will only relax when all lights are permanently red and no-one can use the roads. 2. Yes and no. It sort of goes without saying that I'm referring to urban junctions, but maybe the rule applies generally, and wouldn't it be good to trial it? In my view, scrapping inhumane priority rules and restoring the democratic common law principle of first-in, first-out at junctions would do wonders for traffic flow and stress levels in towns and cities as well as the country. 3. Interesting points, and perhaps we can discuss them at more length another time. Of course traffic volume can be a problem. But in my experience volume + controls is worse than volume - controls. Until deregulation has at least BEEN TRIED, my attack on congestion charging is valid. It is entirely unjustified to inflict congestion charging (especially with its painful payment and punitive penalty system) on a city where lights cause catastrophic congestion by minimising road capacity and filtering opportunities. Bus lanes outside rush hours in my view, too, are an affront to decency and the environment, especially when they are diesel powered. In haste, BW Martin Paul Barter wrote: > > My comment on the video clip (In Your Car No-one Can Hear You Scream) is > too long for youtube comments. So will post it here and maybe Eric can > forward to the filmmaker? > > I found this clip very stimulating, confronting and thought provoking. > The footage of the same four-way intersection with and without its > traffic lights is striking and persuasive. The film promises to be a > strong missive in favour of wider application of shared space ideas. > > BUT I notice THREE PROBLEMS. > > ONE, the clip fails to sell a key benefit of shared space (at least as I > understand it, so far). This is the creation of a lower-speed street > environment in which vulnerable road users can share comfortably and > safely (including being a great boon for bikes, blades, wheelchairs and > other 'personal mobility devices'). In high speed traffic the human mind > is not capable of negotiating by eye contact. We can only do this below > 30km/h. By coming close to suggesting that speed limits are not needed > at all, the film's arguments are likely to lose a key set of allies, > namely people concerned with road danger for vulnerable road users. > > TWO, it over-reaches by not recognising the limits of the approach. > Monderman and the other shared space 'gurus' make clear that their ideas > apply only to the part of the network that can be designated as 'public > realm', where speeds should be no more than 30km/h or so. This includes > many streets where we have currently allowed traffic to dominate but it > does not include most major multi-lane arterials (main roads). In > traffic space, speeds are high and traffic engineering and control will > need to remain. In the public realm we can and should design for lower > speeds, especially at intersections, and eliminate most signs and > controls, and rely much more on common-sense and social interaction. > > THREE, the film seems to misunderstand congestion to some extent. And > therefore takes aim at some of the wrong targets, such as congestion > charging (or demand management more generally) and bus priority > measures. Again you lose some potential allies for no good reason. > Congestion will apparently not be worsened by removing many traffic > controls and unnecessary delays at off peak times can be reduced. BUT > this approach cannot magically solve peak period congestion altogether. > The peak problem will remain unless the demand side is tackled somehow. > Some kind of demand management and some kind of priority for public > transport are necessary. Shared space will have no hope politically > (since it requires a lower speed street environment) unless it is > complemented by its natural allies, which include bus priority and > demand management. Otherwise, we will keep seeing demands to expand the > traffic space and shrink the public realm as we have for the last 50 > years. > > Paul > > Paul A. Barter | Assistant Professor | LKY School of Public Policy | > National University of Singapore | 29 Heng Mui Keng Terrace | Singapore > 119620 | Tel: +65-6516 3324 | Fax: +65-6778 1020 | Email: > paulbarter@nus.edu.sg | http://www.lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/faculty/paulbarter/ > | I am speaking for myself, not for my employers. > > Perspectives on urban transport in developing countries: > http://urbantransportasia.blogspot.com/ > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to > join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The > yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to > the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like > you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > -- View this message in context: http://www.nabble.com/Comment-on-video---In-Your-Car-No-one-Can-Hear-You-Scream%21-tf2119792.html#a6330686 Sent from the SUSTRAN forum at Nabble.com. From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Sun Sep 17 21:03:29 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 14:03:29 +0200 Subject: [sustran] CHOOSE A WOMAN FOR UN Message-ID: <039d01c6da51$5cf082f0$6501a8c0@Home> Madame, Sir, M. Kofi Annan's mandate as Secretary General to the United Nations is coming to an end in December 2006. Candidates are already beginning to emerge. According to the regional rule, it is time for an Asian candidate to take over the responsibilities of this task. However, nothing is definite and the debates are only just beginning. Women represent more than half of the world population. They are becoming increasingly involved in international affairs and many form the futures of their countries. Why shouldn't one be nominated to the head of the UN? Choosing a woman as Secretary General of the UN would be a symbol of this organization's support for women's rights and would send an important message to the world. The role of Secretary General to the UN is essential in guaranteeing peace and globalisation of a more humane nature. Naming a woman to this post as Secretary General would help to shape the 21st Century into one of modernity and respect. A global initiative was launched by the association Femmes D?bat & Soci?t? to promote this issue. A website is available in three languages ( www.unefemmealonu.eu , www.chooseawomanforun.eu, www.unamujerenlaonu.eu) on which you will find a petition that has already gathered more than 2200 signatures in just a few days. Sign the petition! Send it to all those you know! Unsubscription : http://www.unefemmealonu.eu/newsletter/subscription.php?list_id=9 &op=leave&email_addr=s.coudray%40unesco.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060917/86b2f85f/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Mon Sep 18 22:45:46 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 15:45:46 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Hello. We have to eat your car. Message-ID: <00b601c6db28$c1558560$6501a8c0@Home> Hello. We have to eat your car. Hello. We have to eat your car. Hello. We have to eat your car. We are starving here and want to eat your car. Icelandic Calypso by the Bogomil, thanks to Futerra Sustainability Communications.? Since most of us speak fluent Icelandic there will be no reason for me to translate the non-English lyrics. Click here for song. - https://www.smekkleysa.net/audio/full/Bogomil%20-%20Eat%20your%20car.mp3 And click here for more on Futerra Sustainability Communications http://www.futerra.co.uk/auto.php?inc=hot &hot_id=102 Bon app?tit. . -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060918/5d49920d/attachment.html From sksunny at gmail.com Fri Sep 22 16:21:28 2006 From: sksunny at gmail.com (Sunny) Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 14:21:28 +0700 Subject: [sustran] An Article on Urban Transport in Nepal In-Reply-To: <00b601c6db28$c1558560$6501a8c0@Home> References: <00b601c6db28$c1558560$6501a8c0@Home> Message-ID: <45138EF8.1020701@gmail.com> Hope this article would be interesting. * Role of Community in Reducing Automobile Dependency for a Sustainable Kathmandu* / By SUBAS DHAKAL/ Several decades of impromptu urban sprawl within a 667 sq km area of Kathmandu Valley has sky-rocketed a demand for driving space. More than 250,000 registered vehicles (one fifth being automobiles) are now estimated to be operating within poorly maintained road infrastructure of mere 1200 km. Anticipation of any slump in automobile ownership due to the fuel price hike and environmental deterioration surely is contradictory to ubiquitous media headlines like 'recurrent traffic pandemonium' and 'double digit growth in car sales'. People within the valley must often wonder how a once peaceful, walkable & cyclable community transformed into a chaotic pile of polluting & honking automobiles. An attempt is made here to voice the need of seeking sustainable alternatives to the mounting automobile dependency at the community level. Let's begin by revisiting sustainability in the context of transportation. Ideally, safe and easy access as well as environment-friendly transportation aiming to enhance economic growth and facilitate social well-being can be considered sustainable. However, diminishing capacity of authorities to manage ever-increasing automobiles has made sustainability an ambiguous concept in the valley's context. Ironically, concerned authorities seem to be driven by a perception that prominent challenge is the helter-skelter traffic in bulk of the 'bottlenecked' intersections caused by the narrow roads. Such myopic acumen is evident from the haphazard (mis)utilization of resources to accommodate more automobiles to an extent that pedestrian have simply been stripped away from their rights to walk safely in the name of road-widening. Dire encroachment or complete disappearance of pavements within busy shopping districts (i.e. portions of NewRoad & Dillibazaar area) portrays lack of will to think beyond the car-dependent society for whatever reasons. At any cost, such deeds have contributed to retreating social well-being because root-cause of increasing automobile dependency is not the demand for vehicles itself but rather inability to meet the travel needs of commuters in realistic terms. Renowned Australian Professor, Peter Newman's years of academic research also points to the fact that increasing driving space (building new and widening existing roads) have a rather boomerang affect in easing congestion as more space becomes available for more automobiles and Kathmandu valley is no different! Increasing population and commerce have transformed once a medium-paced valley into a vibrant economy. Growing faction of the working class and their mobility needs have amplified automobile dependency in the valley where private operators dominate the public transport sector with a capricious service. Situation worsened further when the futile political leadership (elected and autocratic) with vested interest led to not only collapse of the popular and profit-making state run public transport system but also promoted imports of gas guzzling giants by providing tax breaks to the political and bureaucratic elites. It is hard to believe that bulging issue of the public transport is yet to become a priority at the policy level and any sustainable intervention, if any, must therefore be instigated by the community. Nevertheless, it's much easier said than done as community members that are fortunate enough not to own automobiles often (mis)perceive that automobile dependency provides them with increased mobility independence and save time/money compared to the usage of public transport. How valid is such perception? A simple cost and benefit analysis on automobile dependency of a reputed travel agency director (who owns an entry level compact car with a market price of 1.5 million) certainly reveals otherwise! Director spends several hours a week in unproductive traffic jams and estimates annual automobile operating cost for his personal usage (fuel, driver, insurance, state tax, minor maintenance, parking fees and so on) to be at least 180,000. In a country where average citizen earn less than US $ 240/year, annual operating cost of US $ 2,400 for an automobile worth US $ 20,000 is simply outrageous . From a business perspective, cost of automobile dependency for director must translate into everyday benefits of more than 500 rupees/day simply to break-even. Thus, director agrees that automobile dependency has become a socio-economic reverence for him rather than the actual need. Well, even from a sustainability perspective, rising fuel cost, environmental/health cost and an opportunity cost associated with the hefty upfront investment certainly outweighs the benefits for majority of working class community who want to fulfill their mobility needs using an automobile. So, what are the pragmatic alternatives for a community? * Aware those who spend hours in traffic jam as well as thousands on the fact that using public transport has additional economic, environmental and social advantages compared to the automobile dependency. * Initiate dialogue with transport operators to maintain timetable and routes that link community (ward or cluster of wards) with major hubs and promote periodic dissemination of such information through accessible medium (newspaper, radio, TV or internet). * Find ways to finance much awaited 'walkways' and 'cycle lanes' in close collaboration with the planning officials/donor agencies as major economic hubs in valley are within a walking or cycling reach. * Apply appropriate economic instruments at the community level to discourage automobile usage by a) imposing toll charges during the peak hours as there are no incentives for not driving automobiles, and b) developing a mechanism to flow-back portion of such charges to the community so that collected funds can be invested in walkways or cycle lanes. In order to reduce if not reverse the growing trend of automobile dependency for a sustainable Kathmandu , community with a collective voice must therefore take an eminent role in transforming on-hand transport services into efficient/effective means of commuting as well as adopting sustainable alternatives when possible! /(Author is a PhD candidate at Institute of Sustainability and Technology Policy, Murdoch University - Australia and can be contacted at subasdhakal@gmail.com)/ can also be found at http://www.nepalnews.com/contents/2006/englishweekly/spotlight/sep/sep22/national6.php Sunny -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060922/e7f6e896/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Fri Sep 22 16:55:06 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 09:55:06 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Good table of Euro cars/accidents stats Message-ID: <023701c6de1c$6d1856c0$6501a8c0@Home> Number of cars and death due to road accidents: 1990-2004 _____ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060922/a3026f64/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/png Size: 26464 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060922/a3026f64/attachment.png From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Sun Sep 24 20:19:19 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2006 13:19:19 +0200 Subject: [sustran] African cities must utilise environmental funds Message-ID: <010c01c6dfcb$495d8a60$6501a8c0@Home> Kenya: African cities must utilise environmental funds Nairobi, 09/23 - Cities across Africa were Thursday urged to push harder to access a growing range of global environment funds to help them finance sustainable public transport systems up to cleaner, less pollution, energy supplies. Achim Steiner, the UN under-secretary and executive director of the Nairobi-based UN Environment Programme (UNEP) made the call Thursday at the ongoing Africities Summit in Nairobi. "The streets and infrastructure of far too many of Africa`s cities are being overwhelmed by traffic leading to rising levels of health hazardous air pollution and impacts on economy," Steiner observed. An increasing number of cities in the developing countries of Asia and Latin America are starting to introduce modern 21st century, rapid bus transit systems alongside measures to boost safer cycling and walking, he cited. The GEF was established in the early 1990s to assist developing countries to achieve sustainable development and was only some weeks ago replenished to the tune of just over $3 billion. The financing of sustainable public transport systems up to cleaner, less polluting energy supplies. Meanwhile the Clean development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change offers a chance to better handle urban wastes. Gases emitted by big rubbish tips can be used to generate electricity and thus can attract new streams of funding under these carbon credit schemes. In terms of sustainable transport projects, only Dar es Salaam in Tanzania is taking advantage of GEF funding with a rapid bus transit system earmarked there. South Africa is also hoping to use GEF funding to help its cities boost sustainable public transportation for the 2010 World Cup. The UNEP boss asked Africa to consider the mistakes made by continents like Europe which indicate that trying to build your way out of the problem by constructing more and more roads can be expensive and deliver only short term benefits. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060924/3a6095f9/attachment.html From sksunny at gmail.com Mon Sep 25 14:01:27 2006 From: sksunny at gmail.com (Sunny) Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:01:27 +0700 Subject: [sustran] Barcelona Metro: On track to become the world's most user-friendly subway In-Reply-To: <010c01c6dfcb$495d8a60$6501a8c0@Home> References: <010c01c6dfcb$495d8a60$6501a8c0@Home> Message-ID: <451762A7.5090809@gmail.com> *Barcelona Metro: On track to become the world's most user-friendly subway By Gregory Qushair* *In the 81 years since its opening, the Barcelona Metro has grown to a network of six lines, spanning 86 kilometers and serving 123 stations. Backed by enormous investment and vision on the part of its parent company, /Ferrocarils/ /Metropolitans de Barcelona/ (FCMB), the city transit authority (/Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona, /TMB) and the Catalan government, the system is poised for impressive growth. Various extensions and state of the art upgrades will provide Barcelona residents with one of the most expansive and sophisticated metros in the world by the end of this decade. More of this article at http://www.sutp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=122&Itemid=41&lang=en * -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060925/d4bf0448/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Mon Sep 25 21:56:36 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:56:36 +0200 Subject: [sustran] 'elephant in the bedroom' computer game?'utsg@jiscmail.ac.uk Message-ID: <03b301c6e0a2$0b3c68f0$6501a8c0@Home> Is this true or not? The 'elephant in the bedroom' thesis of cars and cities? A key tenet of the New Mobility Agenda and the core of all that concerns us here is that there is a rather simple but ineluctable geometric conflict between cars and cities. Namely that most cities can accommodate a certain quantum of private cars in traffic and within their existing urban form and infrastructure up to a certain point - beyond which something has to give. Either (a) you adapt the city to the exigencies of an expanding population of cars - by adding capacity, expanding infrastructure, increasing vehicle speeds and throughput, etc. (the 'old mobility' approach to transport in cities.) Or alternatively you search for ways to advance and adapt the mobility system to keep within the dimensions and social and economic dynamics of the historic city. The sine quo non in both cases is that the mobility arrangements whatever they are not undermine the local economy and the overall sustainability of the city (otherwise after a bit you will have no city left, or at least one with a very different economic and life quality profile). Against this background, my question today is to ask your counsel in the following? 1. Do you know of the existence of a game which demonstrate visually the 'carrying capacity' of a city for car-based transport - and can also help us to understand what happens when you reach some kind of critical threshold and decision point? 2. It might be a board game -- or probably far better something along the lines of Sim City which can handle the variables that need to be factored in and inspected in terms of their cumulative results. 3. The ideal game to my mind would be a somewhat interactive game that would permit the player to set a certain number of parameters which reflect the situation in their city, and then so start to play with the numbers. And when we reach a decision point and decide, as has all too often happened in the past, to increase capacity, speeds etc. for the car component, it would be good to see the results of the 'space take'; of this policy. 4. And while I dream, I would also like to have some kind of ballpark estimates of performance under these various views of the city: fuel requirements, CO2 production, even accidents, something about under- or un-served groups, and a few other things. Should not be impossible, don't you think? And if such a game does not exist, might you be interested a. To participate in a project which would have as its objective first to research and define that main guidelines and parameters of such a game? b. And to look for some agency or other to help finance such an effort? It would be lovely if you would be able to share with us information on such a game and how we all can access and use it. And failing that to have your comments and ideas for this proposal (which I have to think is not original, so if we can link to something already underway along these lines, that would be just splendid. I leave you with a link to a shot of a well working old mobility system. Eric Britton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060925/a6c60e15/attachment.html From Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk Mon Sep 25 22:58:49 2006 From: Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk (Alan Howes) Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:58:49 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: 'elephant in the bedroom' computer game?'utsg@jiscmail.ac.uk Message-ID: <324DCD7680954F468CF306EE5404F00102A6D1CF@mail01.cbuchanan.co.uk> Sounds rather like what our esteemed founder Sir Colin said in 1964, in "Traffic in Towns" (and again in "I told you so" more recently). Alan -- Alan Howes Associate Transport Planner Colin Buchanan 4 St Colme Street Edinburgh EH3 6AA Scotland email: alan.howes@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@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc. org] On Behalf Of Eric Britton Sent: 25 September 2006 13:57 To: Sustran-discuss@jca.apc.org; utsg@jiscmail.ac.uk Subject: [sustran] 'elephant in the bedroom' computer game?'utsg@jiscmail.ac.uk Is this true or not? The 'elephant in the bedroom ' thesis of cars and cities? A key tenet of the New Mobility Agenda and the core of all that concerns us here is that there is a rather simple but ineluctable geometric conflict between cars and cities. Namely that most cities can accommodate a certain quantum of private cars in traffic and within their existing urban form and infrastructure up to a certain point - beyond which something has to give. Either (a) you adapt the city to the exigencies of an expanding population of cars - by adding capacity, expanding infrastructure, increasing vehicle speeds and throughput, etc. (the 'old mobility' approach to transport in cities.) Or alternatively you search for ways to advance and adapt the mobility system to keep within the dimensions and social and economic dynamics of the historic city. The sine quo non in both cases is that the mobility arrangements whatever they are not undermine the local economy and the overall sustainability of the city (otherwise after a bit you will have no city left, or at least one with a very different economic and life quality profile). Against this background, my question today is to ask your counsel in the following? 1. Do you know of the existence of a game which demonstrate visually the 'carrying capacity' of a city for car-based transport - and can also help us to understand what happens when you reach some kind of critical threshold and decision point? 2. It might be a board game -- or probably far better something along the lines of Sim City which can handle the variables that need to be factored in and inspected in terms of their cumulative results. 3. The ideal game to my mind would be a somewhat interactive game that would permit the player to set a certain number of parameters which reflect the situation in their city, and then so start to play with the numbers. And when we reach a decision point and decide, as has all too often happened in the past, to increase capacity, speeds etc. for the car component, it would be good to see the results of the 'space take'; of this policy. 4. And while I dream, I would also like to have some kind of ballpark estimates of performance under these various views of the city: fuel requirements, CO2 production, even accidents, something about under- or un-served groups, and a few other things. Should not be impossible, don't you think? And if such a game does not exist, might you be interested a. To participate in a project which would have as its objective first to research and define that main guidelines and parameters of such a game? b. And to look for some agency or other to help finance such an effort? It would be lovely if you would be able to share with us information on such a game and how we all can access and use it. And failing that to have your comments and ideas for this proposal (which I have to think is not original, so if we can link to something already underway along these lines, that would be just splendid. I leave you with a link to a shot of a well working old mobility system . Eric Britton ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ DISCLAIMER This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. Unless you are the named addressee, or authorised to receive it for the addressee, you may not copy or use it, or disclose it to anyone else. If you have received this email in error please contact the sender by replying to this email. Any views expressed by an individual within this email which do not constitute or record professional advice relating to the business of Colin Buchanan, do not necessarily reflect the views of the company. Any professional advice or opinion contained within this email is subject to our terms and conditions of business. We have taken precautions to minimise the risk of transmitting software viruses. We do not accept liability for any loss or damage caused by software viruses. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060925/0b1f2ee2/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Tue Sep 26 16:10:45 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 09:10:45 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Jakarta - Agency signals end of road for trees In-Reply-To: <1159237190.831ccc94c3601039.6b181d42@persist.google.com> Message-ID: <01d501c6e13a$e3e9a210$6501a8c0@Home> Agency signals end of road for trees on Jl. Thamrin The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The Jakarta Parks Agency plans to relocate 34 banyan trees and cut down mahogany trees along one of the city's main thoroughfares to make room for an additional fast lane for motorists. Agency head Sarwo Handayani said the 20-year-old banyan trees along Jl. Thamrin would be temporarily moved to the city's seedling center in Ragunan, South Jakarta, before being replanted in as-yet determined locations. "Those banyan trees were grown by our agency," Handayani told reporters at City Hall on Monday. The agency is now in the process of preparing the ground around the banyan trees for their safe removal. "We regularly water the ground," Handayani said. She said the banyan trees were of the bonsai variety, so the agency would not have to deal with strong and complex root systems. The city has recently seen a flurry of construction of new lanes for the busway system. As a result of this construction, many trees planted along the roads have been cut down. Authorities also plan to cut down the mahogany trees near the Mandarin Hotel in Central Jakarta, to make way for the extra fast lane along Jl. Thamrin. "We cannot remove them, so our solution is to cut them down. However, we will coordinate with the Jakarta Public Works Agency so we cut down the minimum number of trees. In compensation, we will plant mahogany trees every five meters along the pedestrian walk on Thamrin," Handayani said. She told The Jakarta Post that Governor Sutiyoso had approved the plan but the money for the work had not yet been allocated. "We will ask building owners to add greenery to their complexes," she said. Handayani added that a lack of groundwater to water the grass on the median strips and pedestrian areas along Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin had caused the grass to dry up. "We usually use pumps to get the water from the ground, which is then sprayed onto the grass through a sprinkler system. Now we have to get water from dams and recycled water from hotels," she said. Meanwhile, an official with the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), Khalisah Khalid, expressed doubt over the city's handling of the trees affected by lane expansions. Walhi opposes the construction of the additional fast lane on Jl. Thamrin, which it believes will not resolve the traffic problems. "I don't think the agency will relocate the banyan trees. Even if they are removed, it won't solve the city's problems. It will only aggravate the problem of the dire need for green areas in the city," Khalisah said Monday. "The city administration keeps violating its own pollution bylaw, which stipulates that the city must have 13 percent green area by 2010," she said. Land conversions in several areas of the city have a lot to do with the lack of water for keeping the grass healthy and green, she said. "The Jakarta administration needs to be more careful and analyze such issues 'from stream to upstream'. They cannot be impartial in handling infrastructure and environmental problems," Khalisah told the Post. (03) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060926/64883927/attachment.html From joshuaodeleye at yahoo.com Tue Sep 26 23:43:20 2006 From: joshuaodeleye at yahoo.com (joshua odeleye) Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 07:43:20 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sustran] 13TH WORLD CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION ON INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS, LONDON, 2006 Message-ID: <20060926144320.99347.qmail@web31809.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Dear All, The above mentioned conference is scheduled for 8th-12th October,2006 in London.For more information you may check www.itsworldcongress.com. My interest in ITS as an alternative means of solving traffic problem globally dated back to early year 2000.However,it is a pity that researchers and policy makers alike from developing countries rarely show interest in ITS deployment.For instance, a glance through the list of papers to be presented at the a.m congress reflect little or nothing on the preparedness of developing countries to deploy and /or the consciousness of the applicability of ITS technologies to enhance safety,efficiency,reliability etc of the transport system. What do you think is the real problem with ITS deployment in developing countries? Regards, JOSHUA ODELEYE. NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY, PM.B 1148,ZARIA,NIGERIA --------------------------------- All-new Yahoo! Mail - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060926/e9576488/attachment.html From zvi.leve at gmail.com Tue Sep 26 23:58:25 2006 From: zvi.leve at gmail.com (Zvi Leve) Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 10:58:25 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Re: 'elephant in the bedroom' Message-ID: Eric, I am not familiar with any board games which "make real" the relationship between mobility, development and land use but I would hazard to say that this relationship is far more complex than that which can realistically be represented in any kind of "game". In fact, our succes in finding and applying such "simplifying" representations of reality which can then be "optimized for greater efficiency" may perhaps be one of the primary causes leading us down our dangerous path of near-sighted mono-cultural development. Focusing on certain aspects of our cities/civilization/culture/etc. independently of all the rest blinds us to the complex tapestry of relationships which make up our world. Sure cars and urbanism don't mix well - there is nothing new there. But we started destroying our cities before the car was so ubiquitous! At the moment I am reading a fascinating book on *Preserving the World's Great Cities: The Destruction and Renewal of the Historic Metropolis*by Anthony Max Tung which describes a number of policies which have succeded [at urban preservation] in different places and at various times througout history.... It is probably more edifying (for me at least) than the 'elephant in the bedroom' rehash. I don't mean to belittle the book - it sounds interesting, but on this forum it is probably already 'preaching to the converted'. A key tenet of the New Mobility Agenda and the core of all that concerns us > here > is that there is a rather simple but ineluctable geometric conflict > between cars > and cities. Namely that most cities can accommodate a certain quantum of > private > cars in traffic and within their existing urban form and infrastructure up > to a > certain point - beyond which something has to give. Can focusing on this "rather simple but ineluctable geometric conflict between cars and cities" put urban quality of life back on the agenda? Perhaps.... Making all of the hidden subsidies to the automobile more transparent may increase people's awareness of the "true" costs of motorization, but I think that most of us prefer to live with our heads in the sand. There are implicit (and explicit) subsidies in all sorts of things (not only in transportation), and certainly no one wants to pay any more taxes! Consider for a moment how our entire culture has evolved around "instant gratification" and everything has become a commodity - we no longer develop long term relationships with anything. Can you put that in a game? The winner is not the one who "accumulates the most stuff" but rather the one who leaves behind the "best place". I hope that we can agree that at the end of the day it is "life" that is important, and not only mobility! If we are ever to find any kind of 'sustainable solution' to our problems, I think that we need to find some way to shift our perspective to the long-term. What legacy do we want to leave behind to our off-spring? Cheers, Zvi -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060926/ec02d755/attachment.html From martincassini at blueyonder.co.uk Tue Sep 26 03:07:45 2006 From: martincassini at blueyonder.co.uk (Martin Cassini) Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:07:45 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: 'elephant in the bedroom' computer game?'utsg@jiscmail.ac.uk In-Reply-To: <03b301c6e0a2$0b3c68f0$6501a8c0@Home> Message-ID: <009d01c6e0cd$80c305e0$93edc250@mc> Eric Nice idea. In our day and age it would need to be a video game, wouldn't it? I have asked Imperial College about modelling my proposals for scrapping controls and letting traffic sort itself out. It's still very much on my agenda - as soon as any funding materialises, that'll be one of the elements I will explore/commission. I wonder if a video game company would speculate with us? where we provide the elements that would go into the mix, and profitshare. But is it a commercial proposition? It could be of great value and interest to transport authorities. Maybe we could pursue a grant to help put a team together to devise something where the elements can all be tailored for different cities and circumstances ... an educational tool ... Martin www.goodfun.tv -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+martincassini=blueyonder.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+martincassini=blueyonder.co.uk@list.jca. apc.org] On Behalf Of Eric Britton Sent: 25 September 2006 13:57 To: Sustran-discuss@jca.apc.org; utsg@jiscmail.ac.uk Subject: [sustran] 'elephant in the bedroom' computer game?'utsg@jiscmail.ac.uk Is this true or not? The 'elephant in the bedroom' thesis of cars and cities? A key tenet of the New Mobility Agenda and the core of all that concerns us here is that there is a rather simple but ineluctable geometric conflict between cars and cities. Namely that most cities can accommodate a certain quantum of private cars in traffic and within their existing urban form and infrastructure up to a certain point - beyond which something has to give. Either (a) you adapt the city to the exigencies of an expanding population of cars - by adding capacity, expanding infrastructure, increasing vehicle speeds and throughput, etc. (the 'old mobility' approach to transport in cities.) Or alternatively you search for ways to advance and adapt the mobility system to keep within the dimensions and social and economic dynamics of the historic city. The sine quo non in both cases is that the mobility arrangements whatever they are not undermine the local economy and the overall sustainability of the city (otherwise after a bit you will have no city left, or at least one with a very different economic and life quality profile). Against this background, my question today is to ask your counsel in the following? 1. Do you know of the existence of a game which demonstrate visually the 'carrying capacity' of a city for car-based transport - and can also help us to understand what happens when you reach some kind of critical threshold and decision point? 2. It might be a board game -- or probably far better something along the lines of Sim City which can handle the variables that need to be factored in and inspected in terms of their cumulative results. 3. The ideal game to my mind would be a somewhat interactive game that would permit the player to set a certain number of parameters which reflect the situation in their city, and then so start to play with the numbers. And when we reach a decision point and decide, as has all too often happened in the past, to increase capacity, speeds etc. for the car component, it would be good to see the results of the 'space take'; of this policy. 4. And while I dream, I would also like to have some kind of ballpark estimates of performance under these various views of the city: fuel requirements, CO2 production, even accidents, something about under- or un-served groups, and a few other things. Should not be impossible, don't you think? And if such a game does not exist, might you be interested a. To participate in a project which would have as its objective first to research and define that main guidelines and parameters of such a game? b. And to look for some agency or other to help finance such an effort? It would be lovely if you would be able to share with us information on such a game and how we all can access and use it. And failing that to have your comments and ideas for this proposal (which I have to think is not original, so if we can link to something already underway along these lines, that would be just splendid. I leave you with a link to a shot of a well working old mobility system. Eric Britton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060925/bc4ebf41/attachment.html From etts at indigo.ie Wed Sep 27 00:51:08 2006 From: etts at indigo.ie (Brendan Finn) Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:51:08 +0100 Subject: [sustran] ITS Deployment in developing countries - what are the inhibiting factors? References: <20060926144320.99347.qmail@web31809.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <00e201c6e183$9548cf20$0401a8c0@finn> Dear Joshua, Good point, and one I've noticed for quite a few years. I'm sure someone must have researched this and have categorised the factors. Off the top of my head, I would make a short-list of the following factors inhibiting deployment of ITS in developing countries (in random order as they occur to me) : 1) Transport infrastructure is seen as the more interesting investment (in some cases for non-transportation reasons!) 2) Unwillingness to spend money on the 'soft infrastructure' 3) Lack of interest in actively managing and optimising the traffic resources 4) Lack of understanding of how ITS can greatly improve throughput and efficiency 5) Lack of money not only for the equipment, but also for planning, data set-up, calibration, training, operations, maintenance 6) Lack of basic IT in traffic authorities, bus companies etc. - i.e. PCs, databases, networks, communications 7) Lack of frameworks for integrated ITS - system architectures, comprehensive citywide data gathering, publicly available digital maps, historic data 8) Cost factor balance compared to developed countries - equipment is expensive, labour is cheap - harder to make the business case 9) Lack of ITS vision within the country, lack of champions, lack of funding programs 10) Donor agencies, lenders, international agencies don't give sufficient priority to ITS within transport investment programs 11) Lack of research institutive, universities, entrepreneurial companies who can bring the know-how and best practice to the transport sector 12) Inability to retain technical experts in public sector - anyone in the traffic or transport sector that develops the needed capability will rapidly transfer to the private sector dollar economy where they have the possibility to earn 10 to 100 times more than their (uncertain) public sector pittance. 13) In some countries, the day job is about survival - the impoverished doing the impossible with the unworkable. ITS is on a different planet. Or as they say in Louisiana - when you're up to your ass in alligators, you tend to forget you were sent in to drain the swamp. 14) Lack of national deployment funding, support programs, pilot and demonstration projects, measures to overcome legal and institutional blockages Needless to say, not all factors apply in all developing countries, and of course also it depends on what is considered a developing country. Some countries are making interesting efforts in specific sectors (e.g. fare collection systems on public transport). However, that is far short of systematic deployment across the transport sector. I would say the most significant factors relate to lack of vision and understanding that investment in infrastructure without investment in ITS is like buying a PC with only the operating system. With best wishes, Brendan Finn. _____________________________________________________________________________________ >From Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd. e-mail : etts@indigo.ie tel : +353.87.2530286 ----- Original Message ----- From: joshua odeleye To: sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 3:43 PM Subject: [sustran] 13TH WORLD CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION ON INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTSYSTEMS, LONDON, 2006 Dear All, The above mentioned conference is scheduled for 8th-12th October,2006 in London.For more information you may check www.itsworldcongress.com. My interest in ITS as an alternative means of solving traffic problem globally dated back to early year 2000.However,it is a pity that researchers and policy makers alike from developing countries rarely show interest in ITS deployment.For instance, a glance through the list of papers to be presented at the a.m congress reflect little or nothing on the preparedness of developing countries to deploy and /or the consciousness of the applicability of ITS technologies to enhance safety,efficiency,reliability etc of the transport system. What do you think is the real problem with ITS deployment in developing countries? Regards, JOSHUA ODELEYE. NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY, PM.B 1148,ZARIA,NIGERIA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ All-new Yahoo! Mail - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060926/036bb681/attachment.html From sksunny at gmail.com Wed Sep 27 02:02:24 2006 From: sksunny at gmail.com (Sunny) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 00:02:24 +0700 Subject: [sustran] Re: ITS Deployment in developing countries - what are the inhibiting factors? In-Reply-To: <00e201c6e183$9548cf20$0401a8c0@finn> References: <20060926144320.99347.qmail@web31809.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <00e201c6e183$9548cf20$0401a8c0@finn> Message-ID: <45195D20.4060606@gmail.com> Yes I agree to some extent that ITS serves a good purpose in supporting transit but some applications like reversible lanes, parking indicators actually support the car users. If ITS "debugs" these sort of traffic solutions it would be great. On the point of introducing it in developing countries, I feel that first there is an urgent need for pulling people out of their cars which are becoming more and more hi-tech and lead them towards public transit and then implementing ITS to make it easy for them would be a wise idea. I would love to be involved in any research of this kind. I have personally observed in Bangkok some of the bus stations are equipped with the ITS devices like the next bus information and taxi call service and if anyone has recently visited Pantip Plaza, famous tourist destination for computer stuff and pirated CDs, they would know that the bus stop right in front of this plaza is a ITS bus stop but is closed down and is now a shelter for motorbike taxis and sugar cane juice sellers. Similarly, another ITS bus stop in the Siam square which I thought was serving the purpose was actually showing some TV programs and occasionally displaying some bus numbers and to my surprise it was not the number of the coming bus. As I said earlier I agree with ITS' advantages but wht I try to say is tht providing proper base in terms of increasing PT ridership and the convenient facilities for these riders is the starting step. Finn was saying that basic IT in traffic authorities is lacking and I agree to tht, here in Bangkok i think the traffic police are literally confused and they operated these traffic signals manually ITS could help this. Ah while still in the topic I would like to know the others opinion on the countdown timers that they put on the traffic signals. Sunny Brendan Finn wrote: > Dear Joshua, > > Good point, and one I've noticed for quite a few years. > > I'm sure someone must have researched this and have categorised the > factors. Off the top of my head, I would make a short-list of the > following factors inhibiting deployment of ITS in developing countries > (in random order as they occur to me) : > > 1) Transport infrastructure is seen as the more interesting investment > (in some cases for non-transportation reasons!) > 2) Unwillingness to spend money on the 'soft infrastructure' > 3) Lack of interest in actively managing and optimising the traffic > resources > 4) Lack of understanding of how ITS can greatly improve throughput and > efficiency > 5) Lack of money not only for the equipment, but also for planning, > data set-up, calibration, training, operations, maintenance > 6) Lack of basic IT in traffic authorities, bus companies etc. - i.e. > PCs, databases, networks, communications > 7) Lack of frameworks for integrated ITS - system architectures, > comprehensive citywide data gathering, publicly available digital > maps, historic data > 8) Cost factor balance compared to developed countries - equipment is > expensive, labour is cheap - harder to make the business case > 9) Lack of ITS vision within the country, lack of champions, lack of > funding programs > 10) Donor agencies, lenders, international agencies don't give > sufficient priority to ITS within transport investment programs > 11) Lack of research institutive, universities, entrepreneurial > companies who can bring the know-how and best practice to the > transport sector > 12) Inability to retain technical experts in public sector - anyone in > the traffic or transport sector that develops the needed > capability will rapidly transfer to the private sector dollar economy > where they have the possibility to earn 10 to 100 times more than > their (uncertain) public sector pittance. > 13) In some countries, the day job is about survival - the > impoverished doing the impossible with the unworkable. ITS is on a > different planet. Or as they say in Louisiana - when you're up to your > ass in alligators, you tend to forget you were sent in to drain the > swamp. > 14) Lack of national deployment funding, support programs, pilot and > demonstration projects, measures to overcome legal and institutional > blockages > > Needless to say, not all factors apply in all developing countries, > and of course also it depends on what is considered a developing > country. Some countries are making interesting efforts in specific > sectors (e.g. fare collection systems on public transport). However, > that is far short of systematic deployment across the transport sector. > > I would say the most significant factors relate to lack of vision and > understanding that investment in infrastructure without investment in > ITS is like buying a PC with only the operating system. > > With best wishes, > > > Brendan Finn. > _____________________________________________________________________________________ > From Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd. e-mail : etts@indigo.ie > tel : +353.87.2530286 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060927/599b3597/attachment.html From etts at indigo.ie Wed Sep 27 04:16:00 2006 From: etts at indigo.ie (Brendan Finn) Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 20:16:00 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: ITS Deployment in developing countries - what are theinhibiting factors? References: <20060926144320.99347.qmail@web31809.mail.mud.yahoo.com><00e201c6e183$9548cf20$0401a8c0@finn> <45195D20.4060606@gmail.com> Message-ID: <012d01c6e1a0$339e57f0$0401a8c0@finn> Dear Sunny, Just to clarify, ITS is - or at least should be - just a tool, albeit a very valuable one. It is not policy, and does not set policy. It is as good or as bad as its master, and the use to which (s)he puts it. If the master has a will to promote cars and give them dominance over all other life forms in a city, then the ITS will reflect the master's nature. It the master has a will to promote public transport, restrain cars, and increase the safe environment for NMV, then the ITS will reflect that desire instead. Over the last few years I have made many presentations in which I ask people to focus on the first letter of 'ITS'. The 'I' stands for 'Intelligent', and we don't see too much of that. What we have is systems that are very good at capturing, gathering, centralising and processing information, analysing it to make complex technical decisions, and turning it into instructions for traffic and other systems. It does it very fast, and beyond the speed and capacity of humans, hence we think it is intelligent. Mostly it's not. It is electronic and good at what it does. We have 'e-transport'. What we need is ITS to support sustainable mobility, working in harmony with non-ITS and soft measures. Intelligent policy, intelligent strategies, sentient systems, self-learning tools, knowledge-based systems, AI, more use of heuristics, and ITS which can learn and adapt to do the job that really needs doing. The challenge is to evolve from 'e-transport' to 'i-transport'. With best wishes, Brendan. _____________________________________________________________________________________ >From Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd. e-mail : etts@indigo.ie tel : +353.87.2530286 ----- Original Message ----- From: Sunny To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 6:02 PM Subject: [sustran] Re: ITS Deployment in developing countries - what are theinhibiting factors? Yes I agree to some extent that ITS serves a good purpose in supporting transit but some applications like reversible lanes, parking indicators actually support the car users. If ITS "debugs" these sort of traffic solutions it would be great. On the point of introducing it in developing countries, I feel that first there is an urgent need for pulling people out of their cars which are becoming more and more hi-tech and lead them towards public transit and then implementing ITS to make it easy for them would be a wise idea. I would love to be involved in any research of this kind. I have personally observed in Bangkok some of the bus stations are equipped with the ITS devices like the next bus information and taxi call service and if anyone has recently visited Pantip Plaza, famous tourist destination for computer stuff and pirated CDs, they would know that the bus stop right in front of this plaza is a ITS bus stop but is closed down and is now a shelter for motorbike taxis and sugar cane juice sellers. Similarly, another ITS bus stop in the Siam square which I thought was serving the purpose was actually showing some TV programs and occasionally displaying some bus numbers and to my surprise it was not the number of the coming bus. As I said earlier I agree with ITS' advantages but wht I try to say is tht providing proper base in terms of increasing PT ridership and the convenient facilities for these riders is the starting step. Finn was saying that basic IT in traffic authorities is lacking and I agree to tht, here in Bangkok i think the traffic police are literally confused and they operated these traffic signals manually ITS could help this. Ah while still in the topic I would like to know the others opinion on the countdown timers that they put on the traffic signals. Sunny Brendan Finn wrote: Dear Joshua, Good point, and one I've noticed for quite a few years. I'm sure someone must have researched this and have categorised the factors. Off the top of my head, I would make a short-list of the following factors inhibiting deployment of ITS in developing countries (in random order as they occur to me) : 1) Transport infrastructure is seen as the more interesting investment (in some cases for non-transportation reasons!) 2) Unwillingness to spend money on the 'soft infrastructure' 3) Lack of interest in actively managing and optimising the traffic resources 4) Lack of understanding of how ITS can greatly improve throughput and efficiency 5) Lack of money not only for the equipment, but also for planning, data set-up, calibration, training, operations, maintenance 6) Lack of basic IT in traffic authorities, bus companies etc. - i.e. PCs, databases, networks, communications 7) Lack of frameworks for integrated ITS - system architectures, comprehensive citywide data gathering, publicly available digital maps, historic data 8) Cost factor balance compared to developed countries - equipment is expensive, labour is cheap - harder to make the business case 9) Lack of ITS vision within the country, lack of champions, lack of funding programs 10) Donor agencies, lenders, international agencies don't give sufficient priority to ITS within transport investment programs 11) Lack of research institutive, universities, entrepreneurial companies who can bring the know-how and best practice to the transport sector 12) Inability to retain technical experts in public sector - anyone in the traffic or transport sector that develops the needed capability will rapidly transfer to the private sector dollar economy where they have the possibility to earn 10 to 100 times more than their (uncertain) public sector pittance. 13) In some countries, the day job is about survival - the impoverished doing the impossible with the unworkable. ITS is on a different planet. Or as they say in Louisiana - when you're up to your ass in alligators, you tend to forget you were sent in to drain the swamp. 14) Lack of national deployment funding, support programs, pilot and demonstration projects, measures to overcome legal and institutional blockages Needless to say, not all factors apply in all developing countries, and of course also it depends on what is considered a developing country. Some countries are making interesting efforts in specific sectors (e.g. fare collection systems on public transport). However, that is far short of systematic deployment across the transport sector. I would say the most significant factors relate to lack of vision and understanding that investment in infrastructure without investment in ITS is like buying a PC with only the operating system. With best wishes, Brendan Finn. _____________________________________________________________________________________ >From Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd. e-mail : etts@indigo.ie tel : +353.87.2530286 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060926/53d21644/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Wed Sep 27 15:53:31 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 08:53:31 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Nigeria: The Ban on Okada Message-ID: <01b201c6e201$a69587e0$6501a8c0@Home> Nigeria: The Ban on Okada Daily Trust (Abuja) EDITORIAL September 26, 2006 Posted to the web September 26, 2006 The federal capital authority has joined what appears to be the road sanity train by banning the use of commercial motorcycles also known Okada. According to an agreement between the union of Okada operators and the FCT authorities, Okada operations would cease operation within the Abuja City Centre with effect from October 1. The announcement must have come as a relief to road users especially those who have had encounters with the menace of Okada operators. In most Nigerian cities, commercial motorcycles were accepted into the mass transit system to fill a vacuum created by the rural-urban drift which culminated in overpopulation and the overstretching of available transport facilities. All across the nation, the operation of commercial motorcycles have created more problems than they were envisaged to solve - causing accidents and resulting in traffic congestion. A large chunk of the motorcycles do not have registration number plates. This makes it impossible to track them in the event of accidents or use for criminal purposes. Unfortunately, it so happens that the motorcycles are used for both purposes. Okada riders flagrantly disobey traffic regulations by riding on the wrong side of the road resulting in grievous accidents. What is most intriguing is that whenever an accident occurs as a result of the recklessness of these operators, they gather around the scene beat up motorists and commuters and sometimes setting cars ablaze. Statistics have revealed a gradual rise in the number of people maimed as a result of Okada rides. Because most riders refuse to obey traffic laws, accidents involving motorcycles are usually fatal, resulting either in death or disability usually of the passengers that they carry. Efforts by the road safety authorities to organise training workshops to help enforce driving codes have yielded no useful result as majority of the Okada operators are either not unionised or fail to turn up. The few who come for such training soon lose the training they have acquired as they return to the mainstream of operation. A good number of the riders are also linked with drug use and abuse. On the crime scene, the motorcycles have been used in street crimes such as bag snatching. Robbers have been known to use Okada as getaway vehicles while carrying out their nefarious activities and in some cases, they help thieves spy on neighbourhoods while looking out for police posts as their criminal friends carry on their activities with impunity. The beauty of the Abuja ban is that for now, it is not total. Unlike other government policies, the federal authorities have mobilised over a long period to ensure that this policy does not come as a surprise. Indeed, it has met with the leaders of the motorcycle operators who have agreed to the restriction of their operations to the suburbs of the city. To fill the vacuum and reduce the impact which would result from this ban, FCT authorities have introduced mass transit buses into the city transport system. We salute the courage of the ministry of the federal capital territory for this gesture. We however advice that the new bus system is managed in such a way that it would not end up like other government policies - a flash in the pan. We also commend the operators for agreeing to withdraw from the city centre and urge them to properly organise themselves in the suburbs and keep an eye out for each other with a view to reporting the bad ones among them to the relevant authorities. Since the duty of government is to provide jobs for the citizenry, we urge the FCT authorities to go a step further by working with other relevant agencies to ensure that those whose income would be affected as a result of this decision have alternate jobs to keep body and soul together. This is premised on the realisation that an idle brain is the devil's workshop. Now that Okada is almost out of the scene, we hope that other road users would learn the discipline of obeying road signs and rebulations to increase safety, reduce the carnage on our roads and ease traffic congestion. Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200609260482.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060927/4811941c/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Wed Sep 27 17:28:29 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 10:28:29 +0200 Subject: [sustran] "The word is out. Carsharing is cool. That changes everything. Be cool!" In-Reply-To: <1159340399.344.32906.m36@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <002601c6e20e$eb72b2e0$6501a8c0@Home> I find it fascinating the way in which we collectively migrate toward certain ideas. A form of swarm intelligence, not to give it too fancy a name. This came to mind in reading the Slate article that Chris Bradshaw kindly sent on yesterday. The 'cool factor' as they call it. (Actually I do not altogether go for the author's read of what is really cool about carsharing (the BMW et al bits), but what's important is that he thinks carsharing is cool, and in that he is right. See the new top menu of http://worldcarshare.com for more.). This whole matter of coolness has been very much on the griddle around here for the last couple of years and in public sessions on carsharing I always make a point of describing it, not just one more buzz but much more importantly as part of a process of evolving individual and collective attitudes. And on top of that, everyone knows that if something is to be cool, it's because there is also something else on the screen that is . . . Uncool: The truth really begins from the other side of the coin: namely the extent to which the burdens of car ownership have so piled up in the last decades that is it only now when we start to have options that we can begin to weigh the full cost and considerable uncomfort of owning, operating and paying for your own and largely unused (95 % of the time, let's say) car. At least if you live in a city where carsharing might be an option. (As it is for most cities, BTW.) Once the new behavior pattern has set in, and most often without people's being altogether aware of it, there is a gradual underlying cultural change that takes place. Our attitude toward both getting around begins to change, and in parallel about how we do it. A certain sense of urgency and impatience, which is at the very heart of the car culture (and at the soul of most traffic accidents), gradually begins to dissipate and a new set of attitudes begin to take over. For example in quite a number of instances: "I probably will not die if I do not take my car to do this or that right now!". That's cool, wouldn't you say? For the rest I leave it to you to fill in the blanks. Eric Britton -----Original Message----- From: WorldCarShare@yahoogroups.com [mailto:WorldCarShare@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Chris Bradshaw Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 3:48 PM To: WorldCarShare@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [WorldCarShare] Slate article on carsharing The following article is very positive, but builds up the "cool" factor. It explains why the big companies compete in a few cities, but leave so many others with no service. Even economboxes and not-so-clean cars can be cool, if you want to make a statement about how ridiculous the "car culture" has become. Chris Bradshaw, Ottawa = = = = = = SELL YOUR CAR Car sharing is the ultimate pedal-to-the-metal lifestyle option for upwardly mobile, status-conscious yuppies - like me. by Paul Boutin, in San Francisco (reprinted in the _National Post_, September 19, 2006, with credit to http://www.slate. com/id/2148632/, where it appeared on September 5th in the Gearbox section, with the title, "Key Party: Zipcar makes car sharing sexy, not sorry") Carpools, hybrids, buses that run on banana peels - it's too bad car sharing gets lumped in as another save-the-Earth guilt trip. Here in San Francisco, a hybrid plastered with City CarShare logos is the only politically correct way to be seen behind the wheel by your poetry-slam buddies. Challenge CarShare members on their dubious eco-friendly stance (they're still driving, aren't they?) and they retreat to liberal high ground: "It's a nonprofit .." If only City CarShare could lose $50 million a year, it'd be as hip as public transit. The dirty secret of car sharing is that it's not just for the environmentally or economically conscious. Car sharing is the ultimate pedal-to-the-metal lifestyle option for upwardly mobile, status-conscious, free-spending yuppies like me. So far this year, I've blown close to $4,000 on Zipcar , the unabashedly for-profit counterpart to City CarShare. (Flexcar is a similar but less upmarket service available in eight locations.) I joined in January when my own vehicle needed long-term repairs. After it came back from the shop, I found myself making excuses to keep renting Zipcars instead. The company's official slogan is, "Wheels when you want them," but Zipcar's obvious appeal is, "wheels you really want." For $8.50 to $12.50 an hour - gas and insurance included - I can choose from a Mustang, a Mini (and a Mini convertible), a Mazda, three brand new BMW 325i's - silver for daytime, navy for nightlife - an Escape, a Toyota truck, even a Volvo to visit Mom. I book cars online using the company's Web 2.0-inspired scheduling application: no need to deal with unpredictable rental-agency humans. I hit zipcar.com, click my choice, then walk to the parking lot where my new silver Mustang - mine for the next five hours, at least - waits in its stall, keys hanging in plain sight inside. I place my member card on the windshield and - _fweep-beep_ - the car unlocks for me. Ten seconds later, I'm rolling. Zipcar was founded in 2000 by Robin Chase, an MIT management grad who applied an Internet mind-set to the problems of urban transportation. The economics of car sharing are simple: City dwellers love to drive themselves, but car owners who don't commute waste money and valuable real estate on vehicles that sit idle for days at a time. Car sharing shifts a smaller number of cars into a much higher duty cycle. Economies of scale kick in for everyone - fleet prices for cars, corporate rates for fuel (there's a gas card on the visor of each car), group insurance, long-term parking bought in bulk. The company handles maintenance and washing, too. But most important, car sharing turns members into automotive swingers, free from having to commit to one model. In the city, middle-class people own _a_ nice car. Rich people own _lots_ of them. Zipcar makes me feel rich. A recent week for me went like this: On Monday evening, the wife called me to pick her up after a late night at the office. I logged in and eyeballed the grid of available cars on our neighborhood lots. I could get a Mazda 3, but I saw a Mini available at 9 p.m. for a couple bucks more. Could she wait an extra 10 minutes? I rolled up in her favorite little red wagon and carted her home via the scenic route. We had to walk the last few blocks home from the lot, but it beat trying to squeeze our own car past our neighbor's in the alley at 10 p.m. When I got home, I found mail from a friend coming to town for a weekend. I reserved the red Mini - then switched to the blue convertible - for all three days. The next morning I was summoned to a meeting in another county. Zipcar's Web site showed a Prius and a Mazda a block away, but by walking a bit farther I was able to pick up my business date in a shiny new BMW. This is where Zipcar departs from standard car-share marketing. City CarShare plasters supersize logos on all of its autos. It's not just advertising, it's a way for members to flaunt their non-car-owning status. But if you're renting a Beemer to court clients, a bunch of stickers sends exactly the wrong message. That's why the pricier your Zipcar, the more low-key its branding. The econoboxes sport jaunty decals on their passenger doors . A 325i has discreet black "zipcar.com" lettering on its trunk lid but nothing on the front or sides. I drove a silver BMW from Boston to Bar Harbor and back over Memorial Day weekend. I caught plenty of guff from Mainers for my Massachusetts license plate, but not one word about the URL. My only beef with the service is they need to wash the cars more often. A rented 3 Series is cool, a dirty one is not. With a bit more bling, Zipcar could erase the stigma from car sharing once and for all. What they need is a halo car - a tastefully posh Bentley Continental GT garaged at AT&T Park for high-rolling Giants fans. How about $100 an hour? At that price, it shouldn't say Zipcar on it at all. It wouldn't need to. People would know. Paul Boutin is a Silicon Valley-based writer who also contributes to _Business Week_, _Wired_, and _Engadget_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20060927/dadd611e/attachment.html From et3 at et3.com Thu Sep 28 09:55:02 2006 From: et3 at et3.com (Daryl Oster) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 20:55:02 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Lifestyles of Lear Jet Liberals In-Reply-To: <01b201c6e201$a69587e0$6501a8c0@Home> Message-ID: <200609280055.k8S0t1MK027171@njbrsmtp2.vzwmail.net> ARTICLE: Lifestyles of Lear Jet Liberals (Global Warming) Lifestyles of Lear Jet liberals By Debra J. Saunders Monday, September 25, 2006 http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DebraJSaunders/2006/09/25/lifestyles_of_l ear_jet_liberals Limousine liberals, move over. You've been out-glammed by Lear Jet liberals who burn beaucoup fossil fuels in the sky as they soar across the globe fighting global warming. Last week, they flew to their Mecca, the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York. For the left-leaning and loaded, this is the meet that has it all -- the mega-rich paying to be seen caring about poor people and the environment, while posing for photos with former President Clinton. You see, they care so much more about the environment than President Bush because they support the Kyoto global warming pact, which they believe would save the planet from greenhouse gases, if only Bush had not rejected it. (Never mind that Clinton never asked the Senate to ratify the pact, probably because senators voted 95 to 0 for a resolution rejecting any treaty that exempted China and India.) And forget that Kyoto has the depth of a cowboy movie set. The storefronts look like a general store and saloon, but when actors walk through the door, there's nothing there. The overwhelming majority of industrialized nations that signed onto Kyoto amidst much fanfare haven't cut their greenhouse gases. In June, the United Nations reported that only two Western European signatories -- Britain and Sweden -- are on target to meet their greenhouse-gas reduction targets, which call for a worldwide reduction of 5 percent below 1990 levels in 2012. Spain is spewing more than 40 percent above its 1990 levels. Canada is 30 percent over. By comparison, Dubya's America looks good -- emitting 16 percent more greenhouse gases than in 1990. No wonder Lear Jet liberals love Kyoto: It allows them to look like they really, really care about the environment -- and have their contrails, too. The big news of the CGI was an announcement by Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, that he would donate $3 billion over 10 years -- his personal profits from his airline and train businesses -- to global warming research. That's more money than I'll ever see, or spend on R&D, so bully for Branson. Still, it should be noted that Branson said some of the money will go back to his own corporations' research. That's not quite charity. Besides, Branson hails from a country where some enviros believe flying is worse than a mega-SUV. The bishop of London recently referred to flying abroad on holiday as "a symptom of sin." Europeans are acutely aware of the effect flying has on one's carbon footprint. Flying is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases in the United Kingdom. As the Guardian reported, greenhouse gas emissions from flying more than doubled from 1990 to 2004, to 5.5 percent of the United Kingdom's emissions. It would not surprise me if someday Great Britain legislates a limit on short flights -- say, London to Edinburgh or Paris, trips you can make in a car or train about as fast as flying. That would be bad news for Virgin Express. In California, Branson has a soul mate in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Critics hit the governator for signing global-warming bills while owning four Hummers, but his biggest green sin is dibs on a private plane. Flying is my biggest item in my carbon footprint calculation, and I don't own a jet. Flying is probably the biggest personal polluter for people who take more than 10 roundtrips a year. So all those Hollywood stars who preen about their Priuses can see themselves as eco-virtuous only by ignoring their plane travel. They are in a pickle. How can they be beautiful people if they don't jet to an island for a week or two of eco-tourism? From cvegjl at nus.edu.sg Thu Sep 28 10:47:06 2006 From: cvegjl at nus.edu.sg (Guevarra, Joselito Lomada) Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 09:47:06 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Re: Lifestyles of Lear Jet Liberals In-Reply-To: <200609280055.k8S0t1MK027171@njbrsmtp2.vzwmail.net> Message-ID: <8C91742CAD38BB42B1703D7D2BD0DCB10E757E@MBX03.stf.nus.edu.sg> Ahh...the wonderful prose of journalism. It's just a pity that such rantings won't do the planet any good either...tsk tsk... Good morning everyone! jojo -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+cvegjl=nus.edu.sg@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+cvegjl=nus.edu.sg@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Daryl Oster Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2006 8:55 AM To: eric.britton@ecoplan.org; 'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport' Subject: [sustran] Lifestyles of Lear Jet Liberals ARTICLE: Lifestyles of Lear Jet Liberals (Global Warming) Lifestyles of Lear Jet liberals By Debra J. Saunders Monday, September 25, 2006 http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DebraJSaunders/2006/09/25/lifestyles_ of_l ear_jet_liberals Limousine liberals, move over. You've been out-glammed by Lear Jet liberals who burn beaucoup fossil fuels in the sky as they soar across the globe fighting global warming. Last week, they flew to their Mecca, the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York. For the left-leaning and loaded, this is the meet that has it all -- the mega-rich paying to be seen caring about poor people and the environment, while posing for photos with former President Clinton. You see, they care so much more about the environment than President Bush because they support the Kyoto global warming pact, which they believe would save the planet from greenhouse gases, if only Bush had not rejected it. (Never mind that Clinton never asked the Senate to ratify the pact, probably because senators voted 95 to 0 for a resolution rejecting any treaty that exempted China and India.) And forget that Kyoto has the depth of a cowboy movie set. The storefronts look like a general store and saloon, but when actors walk through the door, there's nothing there. The overwhelming majority of industrialized nations that signed onto Kyoto amidst much fanfare haven't cut their greenhouse gases. In June, the United Nations reported that only two Western European signatories -- Britain and Sweden -- are on target to meet their greenhouse-gas reduction targets, which call for a worldwide reduction of 5 percent below 1990 levels in 2012. Spain is spewing more than 40 percent above its 1990 levels. Canada is 30 percent over. By comparison, Dubya's America looks good -- emitting 16 percent more greenhouse gases than in 1990. No wonder Lear Jet liberals love Kyoto: It allows them to look like they really, really care about the environment -- and have their contrails, too. The big news of the CGI was an announcement by Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, that he would donate $3 billion over 10 years -- his personal profits from his airline and train businesses -- to global warming research. That's more money than I'll ever see, or spend on R&D, so bully for Branson. Still, it should be noted that Branson said some of the money will go back to his own corporations' research. That's not quite charity. Besides, Branson hails from a country where some enviros believe flying is worse than a mega-SUV. The bishop of London recently referred to flying abroad on holiday as "a symptom of sin." Europeans are acutely aware of the effect flying has on one's carbon footprint. Flying is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases in the United Kingdom. As the Guardian reported, greenhouse gas emissions from flying more than doubled from 1990 to 2004, to 5.5 percent of the United Kingdom's emissions. It would not surprise me if someday Great Britain legislates a limit on short flights -- say, London to Edinburgh or Paris, trips you can make in a car or train about as fast as flying. That would be bad news for Virgin Express. In California, Branson has a soul mate in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Critics hit the governator for signing global-warming bills while owning four Hummers, but his biggest green sin is dibs on a private plane. Flying is my biggest item in my carbon footprint calculation, and I don't own a jet. Flying is probably the biggest personal polluter for people who take more than 10 roundtrips a year. So all those Hollywood stars who preen about their Priuses can see themselves as eco-virtuous only by ignoring their plane travel. They are in a pickle. How can they be beautiful people if they don't jet to an island for a week or two of eco-tourism? -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Fri Sep 29 20:29:37 2006 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2006 13:29:37 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Taxi company for women, run by women Message-ID: <015901c6e3ba$8def24c0$6501a8c0@Home> -----Original Message----- From: anna kydd [mailto:sorrelkydd@hotmail.com] Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2006 11:06 PM To: Gender and Transport Subject: [gatnet] Taxi company for women, run by women Does anyone know of examples of taxi companies run by women for women? So far, I know of examples in London, Dubai and Iran. I am working in Guadalajara in Mexico in a consultancy company in the area of social innovation. I have been running a number of workshops with women and we have been thinking of the idea of helping a group of women set up a taxi company. We are beginning to have a very clear idea about the transport needs of women in Guadalajara but we have very little knowledge about how to actually run a taxi company! Any ideas of contacts or people who could help, would be greatly appreciated. Best wishes, Anna Kydd _________________________________________________________________