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<DIV><SPAN class=508382114-04052007>May I second Madhav's delightful point? As
some of you know, my frustration is with too much traffic regulation, which in
my view is counterproductive, makes roads dangerous and hostile, where
the very restraints - which go against the grain of human nature - set the stage
for conflict and congestion. I love what I see when lights are out of action and
there are no external controls - congestion dissolving, courtesy thriving,
everyone merging in a merry mix of meandering movement, and the emergence of a
new hierarchy, with vulnerable road-users at the top. Perhaps there is an
elegant compromise to be found - some midway point between India and England ...
priority rules and regimented controls dropped in favour of natural
cooperation, where might is not right, and we adopt 1Q, denoting single
queueing and innate intelligence. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=508382114-04052007></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=508382114-04052007>Martin</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=508382114-04052007><A
href="http://www.goodfun.tv">www.goodfun.tv</A></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=508382114-04052007></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=508382114-04052007></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
sustran-discuss-bounces+martincassini=blueyonder.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org
[mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+martincassini=blueyonder.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org]
<B>On Behalf Of </B>Madhav Badami, Prof.<BR><B>Sent:</B> 04 May 2007
15:00<BR><B>To:</B> Global 'South' Sustainable Transport<BR><B>Subject:</B>
[sustran] Re: Indian roads - planes, cows, elephants,
mosques<BR><BR></DIV></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=411434613-04052007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Dear Carlos,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=411434613-04052007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=411434613-04052007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Once the craziness of the academic term comes to an end,
I promise a detailed response to Jonathan Richmond's (and others') postings on
the situation in India (and what we can and ought to do about it). I will try
and work elephants, cows and yoga -- but not planes -- into my response
as well :-). Meanwhile, I will leave you with this personal
viewpoint ... India is like life itself -- joyous, sometimes
sublime, and at the very same time, very messy, even obscene, but never
ever dull and boring. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=411434613-04052007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=411434613-04052007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Madhav</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial
size=2>************************************************************************</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>"As for the future, your task is not
to foresee, but to enable it."<BR>Antoine de Saint-Exupery<BR> <BR>Madhav
G. Badami, PhD<BR>School of Urban Planning and McGill School of Environment
McGill University Macdonald-Harrington Building<BR>815 Sherbrooke Street
West<BR>Montreal, QC, H3A 2K6, Canada<BR> <BR>Phone: 514-398-3183 (Work);
514-486-2370 (Home)<BR>Fax: 514-398-8376; 514-398-1643<BR>URLs: <A
href="http://www.mcgill.ca/urbanplanning">www.mcgill.ca/urbanplanning</A><BR><A
href="http://www.mcgill.ca/mse">www.mcgill.ca/mse</A><BR>e-mail: <A
href="mailto:madhav.badami@mcgill.ca">madhav.badami@mcgill.ca</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B>
sustran-discuss-bounces+madhav.g.badami=mcgill.ca@list.jca.apc.org
[mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+madhav.g.badami=mcgill.ca@list.jca.apc.org]
<B>On Behalf Of </B>Carlos F. Pardo<BR><B>Sent:</B> Friday, May 04, 2007 9:42
AM<BR><B>To:</B> Global 'South' Sustainable Transport<BR><B>Subject:</B>
[sustran] Indian roads - planes, cows, elephants, mosques<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>We had the chance to be in India (Delhi, Chandigarh, Pune) last
week, working in a BRT training course with the SUTP project, ITDP and World
Bank (which was very useful). Parallel to the workshop I would go walking
around to see these cities. This news from a plane in the middle of a road
reminded me of some other issues I saw:<BR><BR>- A mosque as wide as the
sidewalk (Delhi), "blocking" the way for pedestrians,<BR>- An elephant walking
on a major arterial,<BR>- The typical cows in roundabouts or roads,<BR>- The
classic situation of the "chaotic" Indian intersection.<BR><BR>This has all
made me think deeper about the recent discussion started by J. Richmond. Is it
institutions? Is it a deeply culturally rooted characteristic of Indians? Is
it religion, yoga or whatever? I bought a book on Indian culture which I've
started reading to see if I find any answers. I would really like to hear from
people in India their point of view on why they think this happens. Being from
Colombia, I'm completely lost trying to understand this.<BR><BR>Best
regards,<BR><PRE class=moz-signature cols="72">Carlos </PRE><BR><BR>Roselle Rivera wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid:fc.0119ec9f013125a93b9aca00c6e50543.13125b9@iss.nl
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color=#000000 size=+0><B><BR>something (amusing/very bothering?) on
transport.<BR> Bad and irresponsible planning? or planned tourist
attraction?<BR></B><BR><BR><BR>** The Boeing 737 stuck in city road
**<BR>Residents of the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) are wondering how long
it will take to remove a disused Boeing 737 that has been abandoned in a
busy road.<BR>< <A
href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/6620461.stm"
target=_blank
moz-do-not-send="true">http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/6620461.stm</A> ><BR><BR><BR>**
BBC Daily E-mail **<BR>Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when
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style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: rgb(0,102,0); FONT-FAMILY: Trebuchet MS"
face="Trebuchet MS" color=#006600 size=+0><BR>ROSELLE LEAH K RIVERA<BR>PhD
Fellow<BR>Human Resource and Local Development Staff Group<BR><BR>Institute
of Social Studies<BR>Kortenaerkade 12<BR>2518 AX<BR>The Hague,
Netherlands<BR>Office Tel: +31 70 4260428<BR>Fax: +31 70 4260507<BR>Mobile:
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