[sustran] Ahmedabad, India Wins 2010 Sustainable Transport Award

[SUTP Team]

City's Janmarg Bus Rapid Transit System Reduces Carbon Emissions, 
Dramatically Improves Residents Access

Cities in Developing World Dominate Award

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 -- The developing world is leapfrogging developed 
countries when it comes to urban transport, with the city of Ahmedabad, 
India, today announced as winner of the 2010 Sustainable Transport Award 
for the successful implementation of Janmarg, India's first full bus 
rapid transit (BRT) system.

"This year's Sustainable Transport Award nominees demonstrate the 
relevance of the developing world in the fight against climate change 
while improving citizen's quality of life and enhancing their 
international competitiveness," said Walter Hook, Executive Director of 
the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. "Cities have 
the power to significantly reduce carbon emissions by actively seeking 
ways to improve transport."

The Sustainable Transport Award is given annually to a city that uses 
transport innovations to increase mobility for all residents, while 
reducing transportation greenhouse and air pollution emissions and 
increasing cyclist and pedestrian safety and access.

Ahmedabad's Janmarg BRT system is a sustainable model for the future of 
transportation in India, where a quarter of the world's population 
lives. "BRT systems can positively impact air quality if car and 
motorbike drivers start taking trips by bus," said Sophie Punte, 
Executive Director of the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities 
(CAI-ASIA). "This is particularly important in Asian cities, where air 
pollution levels are often far above guidelines of the World Health 
Organization."

City residents have embraced their new BRT system; 18,000 daily 
passengers use Janmarg to commute to work, to school and elsewhere. In 
just a few months of operation, Janmarg has transformed the delivery of 
transit in South Asia. Janmarg uses innovative central median stations 
pulled away from the junctions. Bus stations feature passive solar 
design, an inexpensive way to keep stations naturally cool. The city is 
making continued efforts to be a leader in sustainable transport, 
including incorporating high-quality pedestrian facilities in some 
corridors, as well as bicycle lanes. Ahmedabad has initiated car-free 
days and recently announced more.

For the first time in the six-year history of the Sustainable Transport 
Award, all of the nominees are cities in developing nations. The four 
honorable mentions go to Cali, Colombia, for transforming citywide BRT 
service with MIO; Curitiba, Brazil, for opening a new BRT line and city 
park on a former federal highway; Guadalajara, Mexico, for completing a 
full BRT system in less than two years and at an affordable cost; and 
Johannesburg, South Africa, for creating Rea Vaya, Africa's first BRT 
and the first public transit system that connects Soweto to the downtown 
district.

The official award ceremony will take place tonight, January 12, 2010, 
from 6:00-7:30 pm at the Hilton Washington, 1919 Connecticut Avenue NW. 
Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, New York City Department of 
Transportation, will be the keynote speaker. The event is hosted by 
Enrique Penalosa, ITDP Board President and former Mayor of Bogota, 
Colombia. To attend, please RSVP to Claudia Gunter at cgunter at itdp.org 
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need 
JavaScript enabled to view it or +1 646 221-7288.

The cities that received honorable mentions were all recognized for 
creating new BRT systems that reduce carbon emissions and create an 
optimal environment for pedestrians and cyclists.

The city of Cali, Colombia, is revolutionizing public transit with a 
complete overhaul of its transport systems. Cali opened its BRT system, 
called MIO, introducing a new type of service that allows the buses to 
work both within and outside its dedicated corridors.

Curitiba, Brazil, continues its sustainable transport heritage to link 
land use policy to transport interventions, including not only buses but 
also cycle ways, public space and pedestrian access.

"Curitiba has laid the foundation for innovative transit," said Kathryn 
Phillips, a transportation policy expert with Environmental Defense Fund 
based in Sacramento. "Everyone recognizes it deserves to be an honorable 
mention recipient for the 2010 Sustainable Transport Award."

Guadalajara, Mexico, opened a full BRT system in just two years. This 
rapid implementation shows the city's courage and its political 
dedication to delivering public transport access to its residents.

"The Guadalajara Macrobus BRT System is an extraordinary example of 
farsighted leadership, good planning, and effective implementation," 
said Daio Hidalgo, Senior Transport Engineer, EMBARQ, The World 
Resources Institute Center for Sustainable Transport. "Macrobus is now 
fully operational just two years after the idea was embraced by the 
local authorities, with high quality and extraordinary performance."

"Nominations to three major Latin American cities (Cali, Curitiba and 
Guadalajara) for this year's Sustainable Transport Award reaffirm the 
leadership role adopted by this region of the world to develop cleaner 
and more efficient transport systems," said Sergio Sanchez, Executive 
Director of the Clean Air Institute. "Examples like these should 
enlighten other Latin American cities and elsewhere to keep moving to 
build more competitive cities, while improving air quality and reducing 
greenhouse gas emissions."

The city of Johannesburg, South Africa, opened the first full BRT in 
Africa, and completed the first mass transit investments in the city 
since the fall of apartheid. Rea Vaya is the first public transit system 
to link the previously disadvantaged Soweto area to the central business 
district.

"In under three years, Johannesburg opened a state-of-the-art BRT system 
that uses the cleanest buses on the continent," said Manfred Breithaupt 
of Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH. 
"Johannesburg's accomplishment against enormous challenges and the 
upgrading of the corridor in Soweto with lighting and sidewalks makes it 
an exceptional honorable mention."

Chosen by a selection committee that includes the most respected experts 
and organizations working internationally on sustainable transportation, 
this year's nominated cities have successfully addressed a diverse range 
of urban transport challenges. The Sustainable Transport Award selection 
committee includes the most respected experts from organizations working 
internationally on sustainable transportation. The committee members 
include:

    *

      Walter Hook, Executive Director, Institute for Transportation and
      Development Policy

    *

      Kathryn Phillips, transportation policy expert, Environmental
      Defense Fund

    *

      Ralph Gakenheimer, Chair, Transportation Research Board Committee
      on Transportation in Developing Countries

    *

      Sophie Punte, Executive Director, Clean Air Initiative for Asia
      Center

    *

      Sergio Sanchez, Clean Air Institute, Clean Air Initiative for
      Latin American Cities.


    *

      Dario Hidalgo, Senior Transport Engineer, EMBARQ, The World
      Resources Institute Center for Sustainable Transport

    *

      Manfred Breithaupt, Senior Transport Advisor, GTZ (Deutsche
      Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit)

    *

      Heather Allen, Senior Manager, Sustainable Development,
      International Association of Public Transport (UITP)

    *

      Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty, Environmental Expert, United
      Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD)


The Sustainable Transport Award is given each year during the annual 
Transportation Research Board meeting in Washington, D.C. Past winners 
include:

2009 – Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York, United States, for making bold 
moves to achieve the ambitious goals of PlaNYC 2030.

2008 – Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, Paris, France for implementing a range of 
innovative mobility solutions with vision, commitment and vigor.

Mayor Ken Livingston, London, United Kingdom for expanding London's 
congestion charge program and developing other low emissions programs 
that dramatically impacted air quality.

2007 – Mayor Jaime Nebot, Guayquil, Ecuador for revitalizing the 
downtown, creating dynamic public spaces, and instituting a new public 
transit system.

2006 – Mayor Myung-Bak Lee, Seoul, Korea for the revitalization of the 
Cheongyecheon River and the implementation of its bus rapid transit system.

2005 – Former Mayor Enrique Penalosa, Bogota, Colombia for the 
TransMilenio bus rapid transit system, bicycle integration, and public 
space reclamation.

For more information, photos, and videos about the award and a list of 
past winners, visit www.st-award.org.

For more information please contact: Claudia Gunter, Institute for 
Transportation and Development Policy, +1 646 839-6479, cgunter at itdp.org 
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JavaScript enabled to view it

SOURCE Institute for Transportation and Development Policy

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