[sustran] Re: Beijing to build "public transport city" + Charter of Brussels

[Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory]

re:

<http://www.beijingdaily.com.cn/beijingnews/200906/t20090612_524515.htm>


YES, thanks, Carlos... that story could have said instead  "Beijing aims 
for no more than 50% automobile modal share!" -- with little cycling or 
even walking mentioned its a half-empty cup.

This cycling or PT modal share thing is too simplistic, its not keeping 
up with development, nor language... to refer to the theme of a sister 
List, I think it's an Old Mobility way of talking about transport..

Many cities in Europe have a very high modal share of public transport 
(Around 40% in Prague) or cycling  (About 30 to 35% in Amsterdam and 
Copenhagen) but which cities have BOTH at those levels... and thus a 
very low private automobile modal share? And how about in some 
developing cities outside of Europe, where a lot of people can afford a car?

And now the flip side...

With a Europe-based mobility consultant I was discussing the "Charter of 
Brussels"  launched at the recent Velo-City 
<http://www.velo-city2009.com/charter-brussels.html> + 
<http://www.velo-city2009.com/assets/files/VC09-charter-of-brussels.pdf> 
which has one of its main features a commitment for cities which sign it 
to set a goal of a 15% modal share of cycling (or higher if that share 
is already achieved) by 2020.

The Charter makes no mention of where these cyclists will come from and 
in fact at best only mentions public transport as one of several "other 
stakeholders".

In a city with development policies, a commercial real estate industry 
and consumer behaviour which creates large - though still not 
peripheral  - shopping centres at the expense of highly distributed 
small stores, an increase of cycling could simply come at the decrease 
of walking. No achievement at all unless you are trying to sell bikes or 
get people used to moving faster. Sure, this is an extreme case.

The consultant suggested  to me - something I would call Newer Mobility 
if not quite a totally un-Old Mobility way of thinking  - that better 
would be to set a decreasing automobile modal share as the main goal. 
This would tend to create a joint project of walking, cycling, public 
transport AND dense urban planning actors - and together they could try 
to agree on goals for an increasing, composite, non-private automobile 
modal share which everyone would be happy with. Which cities or regions 
are already doing this?

Regards,
Todd Edelman,
Green Idea Factory,
Ex-Prussia and Occupied Mexico




Carlosfelipe Pardo wrote:
> Hi,
>
> An interesting question is if they in Beijing expect the future public 
> transport users to come from cars or bicycles... this is seldom answered 
> (or asked) in any of these schemes and remains a problem. In many places 
> I've asked that question and they normally say that future bicycle users 
> will come from public transport, or the opposite. And when they say that 
> bicycle or public transport users will come from cars, they have no idea 
> how this will be achieved.
>
> Beijing used to have an extremely high mode share of bicycle use some 
> years ago, and it has now fallen to pieces due to the "promotion" of 
> cars. So is promoting public transport good or bad in this scenario? I 
> mean, will they end up with no one riding bicycles and the rest in cars 
> or buses? Not sure if it's the win-win situation.
>
> Carlos.
>
> Sudhir wrote:
>   
>> /Beijing has set a target, how about other cities??/
>>
>> see http://www.beijingdaily.com.cn/beijingnews/200906/t20090612_524515.htm
>>
>> Beijing will transform into a "public transport city" by 2015. In peak 
>> hours, the minimum departure interval for subway trains will be 
>> shortened to 2 minutes; the waiting time at bus stops will be reduced 
>> to 3 to 5 minutes; public transport will account for 45 percent of the 
>> journeys in downtown areas. "Beijing's implementation plan on 
>> humanistic, technological and green transport" (from 2009 to 2015) was 
>> recently reviewed and approved by the Standing Committee of CPC 
>> Beijing Municipal Committee, unveiling the "public transport city".
>>
>> Beijing will transform into a "public transport city" by 2015.
>>
>>  Public transport will account for 45 percent of the journeys in 
>> downtown areas
>>
>> According to the plan, from 2009 to 2015, Beijing will construct a new 
>> transport system meeting the capital city's needs for development, by 
>> implementing four major projects including rail transit network project.
>>
>> By then, the public transport will become remarkably more attractive. 
>> Public transport will account for 45 percent of the journeys in 
>> downtown areas, while over 50 percent of the journeys will be via 
>> public transport during the commuting period. Rail transit will 
>> undertake around 50 percent of total passenger traffic of public 
>> transport, and the average daily passenger flow by rail transit and 
>> bus combined will be over 25 million; building a transport circle of 
>> "1-1-2" hours means that the average commuting time within the 
>> downtown area will be no more than 1 hour, the travel time from the 
>> furthest new towns to the Fifth Ring Road will be no more than 1 hour, 
>> and the travel time from Beijing to major cities in the Bohai Bay Rim 
>> economic region will be less than 2 hours. The total amount of major 
>> pollutants emitted by vehicles will be lower than that in 2008. Read 
>> More @ 
>> http://www.beijingdaily.com.cn/beijingnews/200906/t20090612_524515.htm
>>
>> -- 
>> Sudhir Gota
>> Transport Specialist
>> CAI-Asia Center
>> Unit 3510, 35th Floor, Robinsons-Equitable Tower,
>> ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
>> Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
>> Tel: +63-2-395-2843
>> Fax: +63-2-395-2846
>> http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia
>> Skype : sudhirgota
>>
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Green Idea Factory

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"Fort mit der Autostadt und was Neues hingebaut!" 
- B. Brecht (with slight modification)

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