<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"> <title></title> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> <font face="Franklin Gothic Book">Yes, Chuwa has a point. Providing free public transport will be a good option and it could be financed thru parking charges and car taxes. Just to add to the examples mentioned Perth, Australia has this service called CAT and they are like 3 different circular routes and the service is free and I was told that it is funded by the parking charges.<br> <br> Bangkok on the other hand provides free shuttle service to some of its skytrain (BTS) stations. IMO, Bangkok could also provide free NMT (rickshaws) into the small streets (sois) if this could be done the use of motorbike taxi could be reduced to a great extent.<br> <br> Singapore is definitely an example and it is also worth noting that people seldom complain of the economic instruments as they have affordable public transport and other alternatives to a car.<br> <br> So, in the end it again comes to putting more financial burden on car USERS and also to some extent on car owners. Making the car travel hard and at the same time providing affordable, safe and convenient (sustainable) public transport would be the solution. <br> <br> kind regards<br> </font> <div class="moz-signature"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; "> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12">  <link rel="themeData" href="signature_files/themedata.thmx"> <link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="signature_files/colorschememapping.xml">  <style>  </style> <div class="Section1"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; color: rgb(84, 141, 212);" lang="EN-US">Santhosh K. (Sunny) Kodukula<br> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";" lang="EN-US">Project Assistant<br> </span></b><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";" lang="EN-US">GTZ Sustainable Urban Transport Project (SUTP) <br> Room 0942, Transport Division, UN-ESCAP ESCAP UN Building <br> Rajadamnern Nok Rd. Bangkok 10200, Thailand<br> Tel: +66 (0) 2 - 288 1321<br> Fax: +66 (0) 2 - 280 6042<br> Mobile: +66 (0) 84–113-0181<br> </span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";" lang="PT-BR">e-mail: <a href="mailto:santhosh.kodukula@sutp.org">santhosh.kodukula@sutp.org</a><br> </span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";" lang="EN-US">Website: <a href="http://www.sutp.org">www.sutp.org</a><br> </span><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";">Skype: sunny_nwho<o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> </div> <br> <br> chuwa wrote: <blockquote cite="mid:394409.11911.qm@web36912.mail.mud.yahoo.com" type="cite"> <style type="text/css"></style> <div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thanks to everyone, this thread has been highly stimulating and educating for me. <br> <br> <span>I hope not to distract the discussion but just chance upon this article (<a moz-do-not-send="true" target="_blank" href="http://thetyee.ca/Views/2007/07/05/NoFares1/">http://thetyee.ca/Views/2007/07/05/NoFares1/</a>) which make a interesting connection back to the current discussion of banning cheap cars. What can be more compelling than "cheap car"? What if instead of banning "cheap car", there is someone offering free & good public buses in Mumbai? </span><br> To go all the ay, perhaps it can be a profitable business model to offer this service for free in exchange of an opportunity to be in touch with the mass. Like JCDecaux sponsor street furniture, or Google offer excellent free search engine for the world, both to capture a critical "touch point' with the mass. <br> In Singapore, there are several "free" bus routes linking large shopping malls and MRT stations. Mentioned in the article, high quality free bus service in Hasselt, Belgium has been expended 500% since it started in 1996 and now has a ridership close to 4 Millions.<br> </div> </div> <br> </blockquote> </body> </html>