[sustran] Plan B for sustainable mobility in cities

[eric britton]

>> Sorry but I don't fully understand how the plan B works (through whom or
organization and how) to stop what the government already aimed for? Maybe
someone here can please instruct how to start ... <<

Good question, and forces me to at least start to go from the broad
conceptual level to something more concrete. Let me take a first stab at it.

The idea is to develop a procedure whereby any large and costly project
(Plan A) should be subjected to an intense independent alternatives analysis
(Plan B) the objective of which would be to show alternate ways in which
this money could be spent with greater and more democratic impacts at the
same or possibly greatly reduced costs. The analogy might be along the lines
of the now traditional environmental impact statement, but with another sets
of objectives and rules. 

Both Plan A and Plan B should be made publically available, and the decision
makers should be required to justify their final choices openly on the base
of public information and refutation.

The trick for the mega projects -- road or heavy PT -- is that the details
tend to be swept under the rug and not widely shared. Nor is the decision
process and criteria openly discussed. The fact is that such projects are
always driven for the most part by special interests who lobby silently and
often all too efficiently in the private corridors of power. The sad part is
that they always find plenty of money for payoffs -- and for high profile
public relations with the media -- and these often do the job. 

Basically we would like to see this developed and then incorporated into the
law -- or in a first instance at least into the procedures of public
institutions providing finance or other forms of support for these mega
projects.

Ideally in time and with a couple of convincing iterations and
demonstrations, the advantages of this approach would become so clear that
responsible governments would start to adapt. And if we can see this at the
leading edge, it will be less of a job to bring the less open governments
into the fold.

Or so one fondly hopes.

So . . . . Where can we start to develop a strong and highly qualified
consensus to urge the public banks and funding agencies to give this a try.
This forum can be a starting place, and certainly if we can get the 50+
members of SLoCaT behind this, we would be off to a flying start.

Next?



Eric Britton | WorldStreets.org | NewMobility.org  | Skype: newmobility  
8, rue Jospeh Bara  | Paris 75006 France | +331 7550 3788