[sustran] 2008 Sustainable Urban Transport Award announced in Washington DC

[SUTP Team]

*LONDON, PARIS EDGE OUT GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA; EUGENE, OREGON; AND 
PEREIRA, COLOMBIA FOR 2008 SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT AWARD* 

/Finalists to be honored tonight in Washington, DC for cutting traffic 
and air pollution, fighting climate change to create high-quality public 
spaces/

(Washington, DC – January 14, 2008) London and Paris edged out Guatemala 
City, Guatemala; Eugene, Oregon; and Pereira, Colombia to win the 2008 
Sustainable Transport Award. These cities were nominated for the 4th 
annual international honor for enhancing the sustainability and 
livability of their community or region by adopting innovative 
transportation strategies that lessen the impact of climate change by 
reducing transportation greenhouse and air pollution emissions. 

"All of these cities took politically risky decisions that made a huge 
contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making their 
cities more livable," said selection committee member Dr. Walter Hook, 
executive director of the Institute for Transportation and Development 
Policy. “With their success, dozens of mayors around the world are now 
finding the courage to take similar steps.  We are proud to honor these 
cities tonight.” 

*London* is the largest city to adopt congestion pricing and its success 
has inspired cities in the United States, such as *New York City* and 
*San Francisco*, to consider implementing it. Cities in developing 
countries such as Shenzen, P.R. China also see congestion pricing as a 
meaningful instrument to address the problems associated with the rapid 
growth in vehicles. In 2007, London expanded on the success of its 
groundbreaking 2003 congestion pricing plan with a doubling of the 
congestion zone, increased fees for motor vehicles, and new city-wide 
emission-based tolls that are spurring more rapid adoption of cleaner, 
fuel efficient vehicles. 

“London is providing the political cover for major cities like New York 
to adopt congestion pricing because --once it's implemented -- it’s 
popular with most voters, even with those who initially oppose it,” said 
selection committee member Michael Replogle, transportation director for 
Environmental Defense and a former consultant for the U.S. Federal 
Highway Administration. “Congestion pricing is a superior gridlock and 
pollution solution because it has a financial incentive that discourages 
driving, encourages mass transit and funds it.” 

Prior to the charge, London drivers spent 50 percent of their time in 
traffic jams, costing the city between

£2–4 million ($4–8 million) every week.  Now, congestion has dropped 21 
percent in 2007.  About 70,000 fewer vehicles enter the extended 
congestion pricing zone on a daily basis, reducing global warming carbon 
dioxide emissions by 16 percent.  Each year more than £123 million ($243 
million) are raised for public transport improvements. Bus ridership has 
increased 45 percent as people are switching to bus transportation in 
London because their travel time has decreased due to congestion 
pricing.  Bike use has increased by 43 percent. Emission-based toll 
incentives further boost environmental benefits. 

*Paris* revolutionized bike sharing programs of the past to create an 
individualized mass transit system called Vélib (“Freedom Bikes”).  
People pay a low fee to use the bikes from one of the many bike parking 
stations located in the city and they can return the bikes to any 
station they wish.  By the end of 2007, Vélib had more than 1,200 
stations and 15,000 bikes in the system.  “Freedom bikes” in Paris fill 
the streets, proving more popular than anticipated.  As of November 
2007, more than 11 million trips have been made on these bikes. 

Vélib is just one component of Paris’ new mobility plan that uses 
transportation innovation to revitalize community life in public 
spaces.  Paris is prioritizing pedestrians by renovating public squares 
and plazas, widening sidewalks, and adding new landscaping and raised 
crosswalks.  Paris has built more than 314 kilometers (195 miles) of 
bike lanes, and bicycling has increased 48 percent during the past five 
years.  Three corridors of the new bus rapid transit system also opened 
in 2007.  These improvements led to a decrease in private vehicle 
traffic by 20 percent and a nine percent reduction in carbon dioxide 
emissions.  

“Paris is a great example of how a city can transform by implementing a 
package of measures, like Vélib or the Quartiers Verts, that all aim to 
improve transport in the city and quality of life for its citizens,” 
said selection committee member Manfred Breithaupt from GTZ, the German 
Technical Cooperation. 

“Paris and London have demonstrated that effective leadership can result 
in real change,” said selection committee member Cornie Huizenga, 
executive director of the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities 
(CAI-Asia) Center. “Asian city authorities should carefully look at the 
experience of Paris and London and decide what can be replicated in 
their cities. We hope that this will help to bring back the award to 
Asia in the near future."

*Guatemala City, Guatemala* won an honorable mention for implementing 
TransMetro, the first bus rapid transit system in Central America.  The 
first 11 kilometers of dedicated median busways with on-level boarding 
have reduced travel times by 20 percent, as well as significantly 
reducing air pollution and traffic accidents.  The first corridor 
carries 145,000 passengers a day and by the end of the year more than 50 
million people will have taken the new service.  TransMetro is part of a 
grander vision of Mayor Arzú to create “A City for Living.”  This plan 
focuses on sustainable development for the fastest growing city in the 
region, as well as bringing social cohesion to Guatemala City after 
suffering 30 years of civil war.   

*Eugene, Oregon* won an honorable mention for opening one of the first 
full bus rapid transit systems in the United States using 
diesel-electric hybrid articulated buses.  The Green Line of the Emerald 
Express Rapid Transit system (EmX) has dedicated busways and on-level 
boarding, as well as having a parallel bicycle lane along the corridor.  
The buses were also designed so people can bring their bikes onto the 
buses with them.  Since opening, bus ridership has doubled on the 
corridor, surpassing projections. More corridors are being planned 
because EmX has shown that it is politically possible to take traffic 
lanes in the United States from private cars for a high-quality, 
lower-cost rapid transit system.

*Pereira, Colombia* garnered an honorable mention by continuing to be a 
leading city in the country for coordinating land use development and 
transport planning.  Megabus, its bus rapid transit system and one of 
the key elements to this development strategy, was appropriately 
designed according to the local conditions and financial capacity, and 
carries 155,000 passengers per day. In the narrow streets of downtown 
Pereira, Megabus makes a clear statement of the importance of giving 
priority to bus users, rather than the users of private vehicles.  It is 
also well coordinated with the improvement of pedestrian facilities in 
downtown, the redevelopment of the old marketplace area into large 
plazas, and redevelopment of the city center. 

The award presentation for the two winning and three honorable mention 
cities will take place tonight, 6pm-7:30pm, at the Washington Hilton in 
Washington, DC as part of the international Transportation Research 
Board Annual Conference, which is expected to attract 10,000 
transportation professionals from around the world. 

The award selection committee includes the most respected experts and 
organizations working internationally on sustainable transportation. It 
includes representatives from the Institute for Transportation and 
Development Policy, Environmental Defense, the Transportation Research 
Board Committee on Transportation in Developing Countries, the Clean Air 
Initiatives for Asia, Latin America, and Africa, GTZ (Deutsche 
Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit), and the United Nations’ 
Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD). For more information, photos, 
and videos about the award and its current and past winners, visit 
http://www.itdp.org/index.php/news_events/event_detail/sustainable_transport_award/. 


_Contacts_:

Sean Crowley, Environmental Defense, +1-202-550-6524, scrowley at ed.org 
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Aimee Gauthier, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, 
+1-212-629-8001, agauthier at itdp.org This e-mail address is being 
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Cornie Huizenga, Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) 
Center, cornie.huizenga at cai-asia.org This e-mail address is being 
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Carlosfelipe Pardo, German Technical Cooperation, carlos.pardo at sutp.org 
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