[sustran] Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) News Digest 21 February 2008

[Au ABLES]

Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) News Digest



Vol. 5 Issue 4

21 February 2008



SUMA News Digest is a free weekly e-mail publication that features news,
information, and events related to sustainable urban transportation in Asia.



To contribute articles, news items, or event announcements for the next
issue, send an email with the complete details and URL source to
suma-news-owner at googlegroups.com with subject "FOR SUMA NEWS". mailto:
suma-news-owner at googlegroups.com?subject=FOR_SUMA_NEWS<
suma-news-owner at googlegroups.com?subject=FOR_SUMA_NEWS>.



Past issues from Feb 2007 are found at
http://groups.google.com/group/suma-news



*** VISIT THE SUMA PAGES: http://www.cleanairnet.org/suma ***



* * * * *

HEADLINES

KARACHI, PAKISTAN: 'Mass Transit System only solution to transport problems'

18 February 2008 thenews.com.pk

City Nazim, Syed Mustafa Kamal, has said that the Mass Transit System (MTS)
was the only permanent solution of the transport problems in the city on
which initial work will begin this year while a bus rapid system will also
be worked out from April with the cooperation of the Asian Development Bank.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72408.html



BEIJING, PR CHINA: Cars sold to meet new emission standards

16 February 2008 09:41 GMT+8 Xinhua

Chinese capital Beijing will ban the sale of new cars failing to meet new
emission standards equivalent to Euro IV starting from March 1, a further
move to cut air pollution and host a "green" Olympic Games.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-02/16/content_6460086.htm



INDIA: High capacity bus system and the road beyond

05 December 2007 Madhav G. Badami, The Hindu (Opinion, Leader Page article)

Bus Rapid Transit systems, like those being implemented in Delhi and other
cities, can carry significantly far more people than conventional bus
systems, and indeed, as many as some rail systems. By using road space
efficiently and with minimal conflicts between modes, these systems can help
meet mass mobility needs cost-effectively, safely, and equitably.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72404.html



More air quality and sustainable mobility news at

http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/propertyvalue-14783.html



* * * * *

INTERESTING FINDS

WTO Accession: Challenges and Opportunities for Railways in China (2007)

Asian Development Bank's new report evaluates some of the major issues for
railways in the People's Republic of China arising from World Trade
Organization accession. Key policy recommendations are commercializing the
operations and separating regulation from the enterprise functions of the
Ministry of Railways.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72403.html



Congestion to Demotorisation - A Paradigm Shift for Bangalore

Sudhir Gota and Prashant Mutalik of Secon Pvt. Ltd.- Bangalore propose
"partial-demotorization" in an attempt to decongest Bangalore. A methodology
to assess the congestion costs of Bangalore is presented in their paper.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72398.html



Presentations from International Symposium on Urban Energy and Carbon
Management: Challenges for Science and Policy and International Workshop on
Urban Energy and Carbon Modeling now available!

The back-to-back symposium and forum were held from 4-6 February 2008 at the
Asian Institute of Technology in Pathumthani, Thailand. The symposium
focused on "policy issues and the science-policy interface between knowledge
and actions in urban carbon management. The workshop is technical in nature
and is designed primarily for researchers to address urban energy and carbon
modeling." Dr. Shobhakar Dhakal from the Global Carbon Project reported that
"the events decided to establish Urban Energy and Climate Modeling Forum,
and further discussed concrete research collaboration opportunities, ways to
bridge data gaps and to make publications in established international
journals to enhance the state of knowledge in the area of urban energy and
carbon management." Read the report and access the presentations at
http://www.gcp-urcm.org/



* * * * *

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Better Air Quality (BAQ) Workshop 2008

12-14 November 2008 Bangkok, Thailand

Call for Abstracts ongoing; First Call for Pre-events

http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72312.html



Third Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Forum

17-19 Mar 2008 Singapore

http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72269.html



Travel Demand Management (TDM) Workshop/training course

19-20 March 2008 Singapore

http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72399.html



International Conference on Funding Transportation Infrastructure & la
Dixième Journée Transport

19-20 Jun 2008 Paris, France

http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72268.html



4th International Symposium on Travel Demand Management

16-18 Jul 2008 Vienna, Austria

http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72218.html



Towards Carfree Cities VIII

16-20 Jun 2008 Portland, Oregon, USA

http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72243.html



See more SUT events

http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/propertyvalue-27089.html



See CAI-Asia's events calendar

http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/propertyvalue-13577.html



* * * * THANKS * * * *

Thank you Sudhir Gota, Madhav Badami, Shobhakar Dhakal, Cornie Huizenga and
Bert Fabian for your  inputs; and to Jaja Panopio and Mike Co for uploading
the articles. – Aurora Fe Ables, Editor, SUMA News; Transport Specialist,
CAI-Asia Center



* * * ABOUT SUMA * * *

The Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) program of the Clean Air
Initiative for Asian Cities ( www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia), Asian
Development Bank ( www.adb.org), EMBARQ-the World Resources Institute Center
for Sustainable Transport ( http://embarq.wri.org ), GTZ Sustainable Urban
Transport Project ( www.sutp.org), Interface for Cycling Expertise (
www.cycling.nl), Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (
www.itdp.org), and United Nations Center for Regional Development (
www.uncrd.or.jp/est) is made possible through the generous support of the
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency ( www.sida.se).



SUMA works with Asian countries and cities to strengthen then formulation
and implementation of sustainable urban transportation policies,
specifically in (i) improving urban air quality by adopting AQM planning in
sustainable transport policies and promoting public transportation, (ii)
improving road safety by encouraging non-motorized transport and public
transport, and (iii) reducing transport's contribution to climate change by
adopting a co-benefits approach with urban air quality management.


-- 
best regards,
Au

Aurora Fe Ables, P.Chem
Transport Specialist
Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities Center
t. +63(2)395-2843 and 45
f. +63(2)395-2846
m. +63(919)237-4338
au.ables[at]cai-asia.org
au.ables[at]gmail.com
skype au.ables
www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia



-- 
best regards,
Au

Aurora Fe Ables, P.Chem
Transport Specialist
Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities Center
t. +63(2)395-2843 and 45
f. +63(2)395-2846
m. +63(919)237-4338
au.ables[at]cai-asia.org
au.ables[at]gmail.com
skype au.ables
www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia