[sustran] Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) News Digest 18 January 2008

[Au ABLES]

Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) News Digest

Vol. 5 Issue 1
18 January 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 .

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

EU: Cleaner trucks and buses: Tighter limits for nitrogen oxides and
particulate matter (Euro VI)
The Commission has proposed to reduce emissions from trucks and busses of
nitrogen oxides by 80% and particulate matter by 66% compared to the Euro V
stage. The new 'Euro VI' standard will significantly contribute to a further
improvement of air quality in Europe. It will also be a step forward towards
global harmonisation as it foresees limit values similar to those of the
United States of America.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72330.html

INDIA: Delhi to curb diesel pollution
The Delhi government has announced plans to cut diesel emissions in the
national capital region in the wake of strong public concerns about rising
numbers of diesel vehicles and diesel related pollutants in the city's
ambient air. The plan recently approved by the Cabinet proposes an
Environment Cess on diesel fuel. The revenue from this cess will be used to
create a fund to finance Delhi's clean air action plan. Delhi Chief minister
Sheila Dikshit has also written to the Union government to introduce Euro IV
diesel fuels and standards in the National Capital Region by 2008-09.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/channel.html

INDIA: 'World's Cheapest Car Environmentally Costly'
16 January 2008 By Praful Bidwai, IPS (Credit:Tata Motors)
Nothing has generated as much hyperbole in the global automobile industry in
recent years as the unveiling, last week, of an ultra-cheap bare-bones car
made by the Tatas, India's steel and engineering giant.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72345.html

CANADA: Canada seen setting new car efficiency standards
16 January 2008 4:26pm EST, Reuters
Canadian Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon is planning an environmental
announcement at an international auto show on Thursday, with one industry
observer saying it was to announce new car efficiency standards.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72346.html

BERLIN, GERMANY: Germany begins ban on polluting cars in city centers
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view_article.php?article_id=109905
02 January 2008 8:17 GMT+8 Agence France-Presse, inquirer.net
Three German cities, including the capital Berlin, began implementing a new
air pollution system on Tuesday that bans the dirtiest vehicles from their
centers.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72326.html

BEIJING, PR CHINA: Beijing introduces cleaner fuel standards
01 January 2008 8:33pm EST Reuters
China has introduced cleaner fuel standards in its capital Beijing, its
latest effort to curb the city's notorious pollution ahead of the Olympic
Games in August. Under the new standards, retailers will be required to
supply gasoline and diesel equivalent to the Euro IV standard, a move that
will cut emissions of acid rain-causing sulphur dioxide by 1,840 tonnes, the
China Daily said on Wednesday, citing Beijing's Environmental Protection
Bureau.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72328.html

For more news on China see also Ms. Li Shuang and Ms. XiaoJia Bao's CAI-Asia
Project e-newsletter,
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-69329.html

More air quality and sustainable mobility news at
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/propertyvalue-14783.html

* * * * *
INTERESTING FINDS

*UPDATED* Emission Standards for New Light-Duty Vehicles (as of 8 January
2008)
CAI-Asia Center has updated its chart on emission standards for light-duty
vehicles. See which countries in Asia are going for Euro 2, 3, or 4.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-58969.html

BRT Planning Guide (2007)
The BRT Planning Guide is co-edited by Lloyd Wright, Executive Director of
Viva; and Walter Hook, Executive Director of the Institute for
Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP). It was developed through
support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Global
Environment Facility/United Nations Environment Programme, and Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72340.html

Two-wheeled Vehicle Ownership Trends and Issues in the Asian Region (2003)
Yumiko NAGAI, Atsushi FUKUDA, Yuka OKADA, and Yoshihiko HASHINO analyze the
characteristics of two-wheeled vehicle ownership and four-wheeled vehicle
ownership in Asia, especially Thailand for both macroscopic and microscopic
points of view. The results of their study show that ownership for both
kinds of vehicles are highly dependent on income levels. It also shows that
ownership of two-wheeled vehicles tends to be suppressed in the presence of
public transport in the urban area. However, ownership of two-wheeled
vehicles increase accordingly with the economic condition of the economic
area even if alternative public transportation was introduced. The study is
published in the Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation
Studies, Vol.5, October, 2003.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72350.html

Transport and GHG Emissions (2007)
Presentation by J. Short at the Transportation and Climate Policy. 11th
Biennial Conference on Transportation, Energy and Environmental Policy,
Pacific Grove, California, 21-24 August 2007
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72329.html

* * * * *
MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Better Air Quality (BAQ) Workshop 2008
12-14 November 2008 Bangkok, Thailand
Call for Abstracts ongoing
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72312.html

TRB 87th Annual Meeting
13-17 Jan 2008 Washington, DC
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72251.html

Transforming Transportation 2008
13-18 January 2008 Washington, DC
http://embarq.wri.org/en/ConferencesDetail.aspx?ID=55

JARI China Round Table 2008
19 January 2008 Shanghai, China
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72316.html

The Art Center Summit 2008: Systems, Cities, and Sustainable Mobility
February 5–7, 2008 Pasadena, California, USA
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72347.html

Third Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Forum
17-19 Mar 2008 Singapore
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72269.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 Li Shuang, XiaoJia Bao, Keiko Hirota, 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