[sustran] Re: Pedestrian Budget

[Cornie Huizenga]

Jane,

This is a very eloquent argument against the elevated foot bridges. I never
fully appreciated the implications for cyclists.

Cornie

On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 4:58 PM, jane. <voodikon at yahoo.com> wrote:

> This does not answer the budget question, but here in Chengdu, China, over
> the course of the past three months dozens of these pedestrian overpasses
> have been installed at the city's major intersections. They appear to be
> hurriedly constructed and installed (reinforcements were being made weeks
> after they were put up), the surface is steep and slippery (will be
> extremely difficult even for young, fully mobile people to navigate during
> the rainy season that is coming up), and while some sides have ramps, other
> sides are stair-only. But I think in any case the ramps are too steep and
> narrow for wheelchair access; I think they are meant for bicycles. And when
> cyclists bring their bikes up, they, combined with the merchants who have
> taken to laying out their wares on the bridges, make for a massive human
> traffic jam. Also, for those who are transporting heavy cargo by bicycle,
> now the only choice is to go about a kilometer farther to a street-level
> crossing. Even under the best circumstances, I (reasonably fit, in my 20s,
> with no leg or foot injuries), find it a drag to climb the 15 or so meters.
> So I've been surprised to hear a number of non-driving friends praise these
> things; they perceive them as "safer" and also "more convenient" because
> they don't have to wait for the light to change.
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* JasonChang <skchang at ntu.edu.tw>
> *To:* Cornie Huizenga <cornie.huizenga at slocatpartnership.org>; Sudhir <
> sudhir at cai-asia.org>
> *Cc:* Kanchan <kittykanchan at gmail.com>; Salil Bijur <salilb at gmail.com>;
> Global 'South' Sustainable Transport <sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org>
> *Sent:* Wed, March 10, 2010 11:51:33 PM
>
> *Subject:* [sustran] Re: Pedestrian Budget
>
> Dear Sudhir and Friends,
>
> I got something from the 2010 Budget Plan of Taipei City Government:
>
> Total Budget of Taipei City Government (2010): US$5,246.06 million
>
> Budget for Pedestrians
> (1) Side walk improvement: US$8.07 million
> (2) Pedestrian access facilities to waterfront: US$9.71 million
> (3) Pedestrian signal and related devices: US$0.1 million
> (4) Others (e.g., access facilities connecting public transport,
> maintenance, ...): 2.0 million (approximated)
>
> Jason
>
> --------------
> 張學孔博士 台大土木系教授
> Dr. S. K. Jason CHANG (ZHANG Xue-kong)
> Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
> National Taiwan University
> Visiting Professor
> China Academy of Transportation Sciences, MOT China
> Visiting Professor
> Tongji University, Shanghai China
> #1 Roosevelt Road, Section 4
> Taipei, 10617, Taiwan
> voice:+886-935178543 fax:+886-223639990
> skchang at ntu.edu.tw  skchang2020 at yahoo.com.tw
> http://ce11012.ce.ntu.edu.tw
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sustran-discuss-bounces+skchang=ccms.ntu.edu.tw at list.jca.apc.org[mailto:
> sustran-discuss-bounces+skchang <sustran-discuss-bounces%2Bskchang>=
> ccms.ntu.edu.tw at list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Cornie Huizenga
> Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2010 8:29 PM
> To: Sudhir
> Cc: Salil Bijur; Kanchan; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport
> Subject: [sustran] Re: Pedestrian Budget
>
> Dear Sudhir and others,
>
> I think that it is important, desirable and possible to assess whether
> pedestrian $$ are spend in a empowering manner for pedestrians, whether
> they
> are neutral or whether they are (as Sujit might put it) hidden incentives
> for cars.
>
> I agree that i some cases, elevated walkways can make sense if they are
> done
> in a structured and systematic manner. E.g. Hong Kong, Bangkok or in parts
> of Makati. The reason these work is that they have moved the grade from
> ground level to one story up in the air. In the case of  Hong Kong and
> Bangkok they are directly linked to public transport. In other cases, as in
> other parts of metro Manila they are done so that pedestrians are out of
> the
> way of the cars. Sometimes in a very inconvenient manner - the one at Edsa
> and Ortigas avenue is constructed for midgets only. When I passed there I
> had to crunch in order not too lose my head!!
>
> Cornie
>
> On Sun, Mar 7, 2010 at 6:20 PM, Sudhir <sudhir at cai-asia.org> wrote:
>
> > Dear Sujit,
> >
> > Coming from Bangalore, a city of flyovers which has just started massive
> > pedestrian crossings in the air .. i cannot agree more. But i would also
> > suggest that if you can have a context sensitive design in place.. it may
> > work in few places as shown in Makati in Manila. One  cannot just
> retrofit
> > staircases everywhere.
> >
> > We are about to complete a project for ADB which looks extensively at the
> > issues pertaining to walkability. We are looking at around 10 cities. We
> > partnered with local universities and local NGO's from CAI partnership in
> > taking this challenge and doing small scale walkability surveys which
> > includes infrastructure assessment and pedestrian interviews ( we have
> > approx 2000 Asians suggesting their requirements as to what they need
> from
> > policymakers) . We hope to keep this alive with annual surveys and media
> > campaign and you would be seeing more local level pressure being exerted
> in
> > coming days.
> >
> > we would circulate more in coming weeks...
> >
> > lets hope for the best..
> >
> > thanks
> > Sudhir
> >
> > On 7 March 2010 17:55, Sujit Patwardhan <patwardhan.sujit at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > 7 March 2010
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Dear Sudhir,
> > > We are doing an analysis of the PMC Budget - passed a few days back.
> The
> > > percentage of all Pedestrian and non motorised infrastructure is very
> > small
> > > though by including totally unnecessary and horrendous structures like
> > the
> > > Sky-Walk (another name for Pedestrian Over bridges where pedestrians
> are
> > > made to climb up many steps) under the head -  "pedestrian facilities"
> >  the
> > > budgets gives a misleading picture. These Sky-Walks just like most
> > Flyovers
> > > are nothing but opportunities for high kick backs and white elephant
> > > projects for the agencies and contractors apart from acting as one more
> > stab
> > > in the back for pedestrians whose miserable life (having to walk on
> most
> > > roads with poor condition of pavements) is already so painful that it
> is
> > not
> > > right to make him climb up many steps just to make the road free for
> auto
> > > vehicles. In fact the impetus for the sky-walks comes from two sources
> -
> > > first is corruption, and the second from the belief that roads are
> meant
> > > mainly for auto-mobiles and getting the pedestrians off the roads is a
> > good
> > > idea for improving traffic.
> > >
> > > We feel auto vehicles must stop as often and as long as necessary for
> the
> > > pedestrians to cross roads at grade. If on account of the high number
> of
> > > pedestrians the timing for cars to stop is too long  - that is a proof
> > that
> > > the road is ripe for pedestrians only treatment. The automobile then
> > needs
> > > to be banned or severely restricted through TDM measures.
> > >
> > > As usual I have been liberal in answering your question but I thought
> one
> > > could get a wrong picture by taking too narrow a focus while looking at
> > the
> > > budget.
> > > We will share our findings about the Pune Municipal Corporation Budget
> > with
> > > you. Should take about three weeks I guess.
> > >
> > > With warm regards,
> > > --
> > > Sujit
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Sun, Mar 7, 2010 at 9:52 AM, Sudhir <sudhir at cai-asia.org> wrote:
> > >
> > >> Dear all,
> > >>
> > >> We are searching for % of Budget allocated for pedestrians in our
> cities
> > >> and
> > >> unfortunately could not find many Asian cities.
> > >>
> > >> Do you know how much % of money authorities are planning  to invest on
> > >> pedestrians in your city?
> > >>
> > >> thanks,
> > >> 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
> > >> Visit our new portal: www.cleanairinitiative.org
> > >> Skype : sudhirgota
> > >> --------------------------------------------------------
> > >>
> > >> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit
> > >> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss
> > >>
> > >> --------------------------------------------------------
> > >> If you get sustran-discuss via YAHOOGROUPS, please go to
> > >> http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the
> > real
> > >> sustran-discuss and get full membership rights.
> > >>
> > >> ================================================================
> > >> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred,
> > >> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing
> countries
> > >> (the 'Global South').
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > --------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > “..each million we invest into urban motorways is an investment
> > > to destroy the city“
> > >
> > > Mayor Hans Joachim Vogel
> > > Munich 1970
> > >
> > > --------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > >
> > > Sujit Patwardhan
> > > patwardhan.sujit at gmail.com
> > > sujitjp at gmail.com
> > >
> > >
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > Yamuna, ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007, India
> > > Tel: +91 20 25537955
> > > Cell: +91 98220 26627
> > >
> > >
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > Parisar: www.parisar.org
> > >
> > >
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > 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
> > Visit our new portal: www.cleanairinitiative.org
> > Skype : sudhirgota
> > --------------------------------------------------------
> > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit
> > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------------
> > If you get sustran-discuss via YAHOOGROUPS, please go to
> > http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real
> > sustran-discuss and get full membership rights.
> >
> > ================================================================
> > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred,
> > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries
> > (the 'Global South').
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Cornie Huizenga
> Joint Convener
> Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport
> Mobile: +86 13901949332
> cornie.huizenga at slocatpartnership.org
> www.slocat.net
> --------------------------------------------------------
> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit
> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
> If you get sustran-discuss via YAHOOGROUPS, please go to
> http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real
> sustran-discuss and get full membership rights.
>
> ================================================================
> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred,
> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries
> (the 'Global South').
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit
> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
> If you get sustran-discuss via YAHOOGROUPS, please go to
> http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real
> sustran-discuss and get full membership rights.
>
> ================================================================
> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred,
> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries
> (the 'Global South').
>
>


-- 
Cornie Huizenga
Joint Convener
Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport
Mobile: +86 13901949332
cornie.huizenga at slocatpartnership.org
www.slocat.net