[sustran] Re: Guangzhou joins the list of cities in China with a quota for new vehicles

[Cornie Huizenga]

Hi Eric,

I am a geographer - not an economist :-)

I see the manner in which Chinese cities approach this as an important
development in the evolution of urban transport policy. Initially,  the
general mood was that additional road construction could resolve mobility
problems – a phase that is now finalizing in many countries in the
developed and developing world. Following this a new approach has been
gaining ground where the emphasis has been placed on the expansion of
public transport infrastructure and services (metro, BRT, busses) combined
in some cases with improvement of Non-motorized transport. This has now
become known as the general “sustainable urban transport” thinking and is
promoted heavily in many cities and countries around the world with
positive impacts in environment, economy and society.


However, it is now becoming clear that also this second approach is not
able to ensure sustainable access to goods and services in rapidly growing
cities. A good example is that of Mexico City where the benefits of 4 BRT
corridors and expansion of the metro were negated by an annual increase of
about 500,000 private vehicles over the last years. In China the same could
be seen in Beijing.  Based on this one can argue that a third phase is
required in which the re-orientation towards sustainable transport from the
second phase is combined with a pro-active Travel Demand Management policy
under which the number of Kilometers traveled by private cars is limited
through various economic and other types of instruments, including
limitations in the registration of the number of new vehicles, congestion
charging, parking policies and fuel pricing policies among various others.


Vehicle quota's might be one of the easiest to implement.  Living in
Shanghai where there has been a vehicle quota in place for the last 15
years its positive impact on traffic congestion and also for example the
emissions of GHGs is evident.


The argument against vehicle quota's, especially those which are auction
based, often mention that these benefit the rich and discriminate against
the poor.  Being in a position that I could well afford a car here in
Shanghai but that I prefer to use public transport or to cycle or walk
(both subsidized with proceeds of the license plate action) I do not buy
into that argument.


So I guess that you will understand that I do not agree with your question
whether there is a dumber way to get the job done.  You will have to come
up with more/better arguments to convince me.


Cornie


On Tue, Jul 3, 2012 at 2:47 PM, eric britton <eric.britton at ecoplan.org>wrote:

> Oh dear, is that supposed to be good news?
>
> Economists of course do not love quotas. And while they are certainly not
> right all the time, there is often good sense in what they have to propose
> in the many similar circumstances.
>
> But let me ask you all this? Can you possibly tell me a worse way, a more
> primitive way, a dumber way to get this particular job done? I would very
> much like to see your list.
>
> And once we have that out of the way, what about making up a list of the
> many good ways that are available and proven that will get this
> demand/supply disequilibrium into better balance for the environment,
> society, the economy and life quality of all concerned.
>
> Now THAT is an interesting question.
>
> Eric Britton
>
>
>
>
>
> PS.  Please note new addresses and phone numbers as of 24 April 2012
>
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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