[sustran] Re: Is Asia moving in the direction of restricting the use of private cars?

[Cornie Huizenga]

Dear Jean-Francois,

Of course transport policy will be a combination of objectives.  However
what I was trying to describe is a new development that it is the
policy/decision makers, sometimes as the national level but often at the
local level, who come to the insight that step 1 and 2 is not able to
ensure that cities are functioning smoothly and that more radical measures
are required.

I have some problems with the way that you are describing the situation in
Ho Chi Minh City: "*both cities identify 2015 as a turning point,
estimating that their public transport system will be good enough so that
restricting car use will be legitimate (emphasis added)". *This still
implies somehow that additional public transport is an alternative to
private mobility.  Examples of Beijing and Mexico city, where there has
been substantial expansion in public transport in recent years, had very
large growth figures in private transport (Beijing 700,000 cars in 2010,
before they put in place a quota of 240,000 per year in 2011, and about
500,000 in Mexico city in 2010) show that it is a fallacy that you can
build enough pubic transport capacity quickly enough to provide a
convincing alternative to private motorization.

The example of Shanghai (and Singapore for that matter) shows that you it
pays off to start early with phase 3 and put this in place simultaneously
with phase 2.  Once the genie is out of the bottle and the cars are on the
road it will be very hard to get them under control.

I agree that the change that I talk about is still in its infancy but it is
fascinating to see the growing number of news items coming up, also in the
Indian press about decision makers saying things on controlling private
motorization which a number of years were impossible.  Last week we had an
event in New York at the UN on sustainable transport with NGOs, MDB, EU,
USA and Indonesia. Guess who was the most vocal in calling for radical
solutions: "we should not build more highways and we should control the
number of cars", yes, it was the Assistant Minister for Environment from
Indonesia.

Change is in the air and we should cultivate it.

Cornie

On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 3:27 PM, <jfdoulet at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Dear Cornie,
>
> I totally agree with you. Howerver, when looking at the rationale behind
> congestion charge options in emerging Asia, we see that what you call the
> third option/phase is being legitimized by the option/phase 2: local
> governments are thinking about restricting the use of cars when they
> consider that the public transport offer is good enough.
>
> In Vietnam, both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have set up a plan to curb car
> use in the future: Hanoi, through higher parking fees and Ho Chi Minh City,
> through congestion charge. When you look into the agenda supporting those
> measures, you notice that both cities identify 2015 as a turning point,
> estimating that their public transport system will be good enough so that
> restricting car use will be legitimate. You can find more or less the same
> roadmap in other big Asian metropolis, like Jakarta.
>
> Indeed, it will make a real change if cities from emerging Asia could
> succeed in implementing transportation schemes that combine intelligently
> the three options/phases you are mentioning. The only city I know so far
> who did it is Shanghai. I am more skeptical about other cities. The pace of
> motorization is very fast all over emerging Asia and the political will to
> set up a comprehensive and strong urban transportation strategy doesn't
> seem to be very high.
>
> All the best,
>
> Jean-Francois Doulet, PhD
> Associate Professor, Paris Institute of Urban Planning
> Vice-director, Sino-French Center for Urban, Regional and Planning Studies
> +33615253328
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Cornie Huizenga <cornie.huizenga at slocatpartnership.org>
> Sender: sustran-discuss-bounces+jfdoulet=yahoo.com at list.jca.apc.org
> Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2012 09:34:40
> To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport<sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org>
> Subject: [sustran] Is Asia moving in the direction of restricting the use
> of
>        private cars?
>
> Dear All,
>
> I came across the following news article on Viet Nam:
>
> Vietnamese  *Deputy PM advocates restricted use of private vehicles*
> 15 Mar, 2012
> Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Chairman of the National Traffic
> Safety Committee, on Thursday instructed the Ministries of Finance and
> Transport to submit a proposal that will restrict use of privately owned
> vehicles by increasing toll fee, in a move to restore more traffic order
> and safety in Ho Chi Minh City.
> On Thursday afternoon, Deputy PM Phuc, Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang
> and representatives from other relevant departments and ministries met with
> City leaders to find ways to improve traffic safety and curb congestion.
>
> http://www.lookatvietnam.com/2012/03/deputy-pm-advocates-restricted-use-of-private-vehicles.html
>
> For me this fits in quite well with a recent insight that I had on the
> manner in which thinking on sustainable transport is developing in the
> Asian region.  I see three main phases in the way that governments are
> approaching transport planning: (1) built your way out of construction -
> under this approach national and city governments resort to massive
> construction programs - e.g. the 6 ring roads in Beijing, (2) when the
> first approach does not solve congestion problems governments invest in
> massive expansion of public transport, (metro, BRT, etc) and put in place
> temporary restrictions on use of cars based on plate numbers, and (3) once
> the first two methods are not working consider limiting the growth of
> vehicles (e.g Shanghai and Beijing) or the use of vehicles through
> congestion charges, urban road tolling etc.   My impression/expectation is
> that we will see more of the third approach in Asia in the coming years.
> It is interesting so far that it is governments who are in the lead on this
> and that this is not the result from extensive lobbying from international
> NGOs or development organizations who still are focused largely on phase 2
> - the creation of alternative public and NMT transport infrastructure and
> services.
>
> What do you think?
>
> Cornie
>
>
> --
> Cornie Huizenga
> Joint Convener
> Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport
> Mobile: +86 13901949332
> cornie.huizenga at slocatpartnership.org
> www.slocat.net
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-- 
Cornie Huizenga
Joint Convener
Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport
Mobile: +86 13901949332
cornie.huizenga at slocatpartnership.org
www.slocat.net