From ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu Tue Mar 3 03:30:01 1998 From: ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu (Eric Bruun) Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 13:30:01 -0500 (EST) Subject: [sustran] South Africa's Transport Policy (or lack thereof) Message-ID: The Mail and Guardian ran an editorial on Friday 27 February about how little has actually been accomplished in the transport sector since Mandela came to power and that maybe the transport minister should be replaced. It can be seen at http://www.mg.co.za/mg/news/98feb2/27feb-maharaj.html Since the policy, or lack of policy, has consisted mostly of leaving things to the market, and with a refusal to subsidize public transportation, I would like to hear whether readers agree with the editorial. Eric Bruun From wcox at publicpurpose.com Tue Mar 3 04:28:24 1998 From: wcox at publicpurpose.com (Wendell Cox ) Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 13:28:24 -0600 (CST) Subject: [sustran] South Africa's Transport Policy (or lack thereof) Message-ID: <199803021928.NAA12107@mail1.i1.net> Some comments on The Mail and Guardian editorial.... Re: No alternative has been presented to coax motorists, many travelling alone in their cars, away from the daily traffic jams. What about the damage to the environment? Must our cities be completely choked by pollution like Mexico City or Athens before Maharaj takes any action on car emissions? Where have such alternatives worked? Perhaps SA should ensure that it follows the US lead in auto pollution technology for cars --- this is the only way that the pollution problem related to cars will be solved, and it is being solved. >Since the policy, or lack of policy, has consisted mostly of leaving >things to the market, and with a refusal to subsidize public >transportation, I would like to hear whether readers agree with >the editorial. Eric Bruun > It's not such a bad thing to leave these things to the market, especially when you consider the robust kombi-taxi industry, both in terms of its potential to move passengers (if permitted) and the entrepreneurial path that it provides to people trying to move up the economic ladder. With all of the social needs in SA --- housing, education, jobs, etc., etc., it is not surprising, nor is it necessarily inappropriate for subsidies to public transport to take a :"back seat." Best regards, Wendell Cox WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal http://www.publicpurpose.com Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA "To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost that is no higher than necessary." From mobility at igc.apc.org Tue Mar 3 05:15:31 1998 From: mobility at igc.apc.org (Institute for Transportation and Development Policy) Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 12:15:31 -0800 (PST) Subject: [sustran] South Africa's Transport Policy (or lack thereof) Message-ID: <2.2.16.19980302160450.33e759d0@pop.igc.org> RE Eric Bruun and WEndell Cox's comments on S.AFrica and the combi-taxis While the combi-taxis have done a great job creating jobs among black S.Africans even before the fall of aparteid, and provide a reasonably good service, with no subsidies (other than they highways they use, of course) the lack of route regulation has led to the equivalent of gangland violence between taxi companies competing for turf. Furthermore, the political power of the black taxi industry also made it virtually impossible for us to put in decent bicycle parking facilities at the commuter rail stations in the townships. We had the agreement of the Soweto planning office for a nice bike-and-ride strategy, but we were told in confidence that it was vetoed by the combi-taxi industry which saw it, correctly, as a threat. Unfortunately, for markets to function properly in the transport sector, some regulation appears to be required. There is some discussion at the Group for Environmental Monitoring to take up transport this year as a major area of work (after our urging them since at least 1995). Rgds, Walter Hook At 01:28 PM 3/2/98 -0600, Wendell Cox wrote: >Some comments on The Mail and Guardian editorial.... > >Re: No alternative has been presented to coax motorists, many travelling >alone in their > cars, away from the daily traffic jams. What >about the damage to the > environment? Must our cities be completely >choked by pollution like Mexico City > or Athens before Maharaj takes any action on >car emissions? > >Where have such alternatives worked? > >Perhaps SA should ensure that it follows the US lead in auto pollution >technology for cars --- this is the only way that the pollution problem >related to cars will be solved, and it is being solved. > >>Since the policy, or lack of policy, has consisted mostly of leaving >>things to the market, and with a refusal to subsidize public >>transportation, I would like to hear whether readers agree with >>the editorial. Eric Bruun >> >It's not such a bad thing to leave these things to the market, especially >when you consider the robust kombi-taxi industry, both in terms of its >potential to move passengers (if permitted) and the entrepreneurial path >that it provides to people trying to move up the economic ladder. > >With all of the social needs in SA --- housing, education, jobs, etc., etc., >it is not surprising, nor is it necessarily inappropriate for subsidies to >public transport to take a :"back seat." > >Best regards, >Wendell Cox >WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY >International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning >The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal >http://www.publicpurpose.com >Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 >P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA > >"To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by >identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost >that is no higher than necessary." > > ________________________________________________________________________________ The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) 115 West 30th Street, Suite 1205 New York, NY 10001 Tel 212-629 8001, Fax 212-629 8033 mobility@igc.apc.org From wcox at publicpurpose.com Tue Mar 3 09:06:24 1998 From: wcox at publicpurpose.com (Wendell Cox ) Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 18:06:24 -0600 (CST) Subject: [sustran] South Africa's Transport Policy (or lack thereof) Message-ID: <199803030006.SAA27794@mail1.i1.net> Aware of the gang problem with kombi-taxis. No doubt regulation is needed. But my overall point is that we are dealing with a good deal more than a transport problem here. SA does not have the luxury we have in the more affluent nations of looking at transport policy in more or less of a vacuum. Best regards, Wendell Cox >RE Eric Bruun and WEndell Cox's comments on S.AFrica and the combi-taxis > > >While the combi-taxis have done a great job creating jobs among black >S.Africans even before the fall of aparteid, and provide a reasonably good >service, with no subsidies (other than they highways they use, of course) >the lack of route regulation has led to the equivalent of gangland violence >between taxi companies competing for turf. > >Furthermore, the political power of the black taxi industry also made it >virtually impossible for us to put in decent bicycle parking facilities at >the commuter rail stations in the townships. We had the agreement of the >Soweto planning office for a nice bike-and-ride strategy, but we were told >in confidence that it was vetoed by the combi-taxi industry which saw it, >correctly, as a threat. > >Unfortunately, for markets to function properly in the transport sector, >some regulation appears to be required. > >There is some discussion at the Group for Environmental Monitoring to take >up transport this year as a major area of work (after our urging them since >at least 1995). > > >Rgds, >Walter Hook > >At 01:28 PM 3/2/98 -0600, Wendell Cox wrote: >>Some comments on The Mail and Guardian editorial.... >> >>Re: No alternative has been presented to coax motorists, many travelling >>alone in their >> cars, away from the daily traffic jams. What >>about the damage to the >> environment? Must our cities be completely >>choked by pollution like Mexico City >> or Athens before Maharaj takes any action on >>car emissions? >> >>Where have such alternatives worked? >> >>Perhaps SA should ensure that it follows the US lead in auto pollution >>technology for cars --- this is the only way that the pollution problem >>related to cars will be solved, and it is being solved. >> >>>Since the policy, or lack of policy, has consisted mostly of leaving >>>things to the market, and with a refusal to subsidize public >>>transportation, I would like to hear whether readers agree with >>>the editorial. Eric Bruun >>> >>It's not such a bad thing to leave these things to the market, especially >>when you consider the robust kombi-taxi industry, both in terms of its >>potential to move passengers (if permitted) and the entrepreneurial path >>that it provides to people trying to move up the economic ladder. >> >>With all of the social needs in SA --- housing, education, jobs, etc., etc., >>it is not surprising, nor is it necessarily inappropriate for subsidies to >>public transport to take a :"back seat." >> >>Best regards, >>Wendell Cox >>WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY >>International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning >>The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal >>http://www.publicpurpose.com >>Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 >>P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA >> >>"To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by >>identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost >>that is no higher than necessary." >> >> > >___________________________________________________________________________ _____ > > The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) > 115 West 30th Street, Suite 1205 > New York, NY 10001 > Tel 212-629 8001, Fax 212-629 8033 > mobility@igc.apc.org > > > > WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal http://www.publicpurpose.com Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA "To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost that is no higher than necessary." From tkpb at barter.pc.my Tue Mar 3 09:47:51 1998 From: tkpb at barter.pc.my (Paul Barter) Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 08:47:51 +0800 (MYT) Subject: [sustran] Advisory Meeting for Shell Sustainable Energy Initiative Message-ID: Dear sustran-discussers I have been invited to the following meeting next week in Bangkok. It is a consultation on the Shell oil company's proposed Sustainable Energy Initiative. The half-day meeting is being run by the Asia office of the International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC). I would very much appreciate any comments and ideas to help me better represent a pro-equity, pro-environment, transport-focused constituency. And to avoid being dazzled by corporate "greenwash"?! Paul. A. Rahman Paul BARTER, SUSTRAN Resource Centre c/o Asia Pacific 2000, PO Box 12544, 50782 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Fax: +603 253 2361, E-mail: The SUSTRAN Resource Centre hosts the Secretariat of SUSTRAN (the Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia & the Pacific). SUSTRAN is dedicated to promoting transport policies and investments which foster accessibility for all; social equity; ecological sustainability; health and safety; public participation; and high quality of life. >EXPERT DIALOGUES ON THE PROPOSED SHELL SUSTAINABLE ENERGY INITIATIVE > >Context >Shell International, the world's largest oil company, has recently made a >major public and internal commitment to contribute to sustainable >development. This commitment is now becoming manifest in a number of ways. >1) Operationally, Shell is working towards attaining world class standards >in reducing the environmental and social impact of its operations around >the world. >2) Shell is expanding its commercial investment in the renewable energy >arena enormously and is doing the same with its gas operations. >3) Finally, Shell International wishes to focus its program of charitable >expenditure on the promotion of sustainable development. >It is intended that a major part of this sustainable development/social >investment effort will concentrate specifically on promoting society's >efforts to advance along a "sustainable energy" path. >No final decisions have been taken on SEI, but we can identify some basic >features. >Purpose of SEI. The SEI is an articulation of Shell's commitment to >sustainable development. At this stage, the specific purpose of SEI is to >advance the development and implementation of practical measures that >enable society to achieve sustainable and ever more efficient production >and consumption of energy. This definition of the purpose of SEI will >evolve over time. >Institutional location. SEI will be a program of Shell International. >Shell International is essentially the holding company of Shell group. >Individual operating companies within the group (140 world-wide) may >choose also to participate in and support SEI. The scale and nature of >this participation in SEI by Shell operating companies is, however, not >yet determined. >Scale and duration. The core SEI will therefore be funded by Shell >International. No final figure or time period has been set but the scale >of funding and length of operation of SEI will be significant and >commensurate with Shell's global status. >Character of SEI. SEI can viewed as a social investment program by Shell, >meaning that it will involve the expenditure of Shell funds (and the >participation of Shell in other ways) on projects that promote society's >efforts to shift production and consumption onto a sustainable energy >basis. We recognize explicitly that "sustainable energy" is a subset of >the wider concerns of sustainable development . >SEI feasibility study and expert dialogues >An SEI feasibility study is underway under the direction of Kurt Hoffman. >Mr. Hoffman (who was a senior fellow at the Science Policy Research Unit >of the University of Sussex for ten years and director of its >international development program) is an independent consultant to Shell >and reports to a steering committee of senior management drawn from >Shell's group planning and external affairs department and other >divisions. >The feasibility study's purpose is to define precisely how SEI should be >focused, structured and operated. Dialogues with experts are the core >element of this feasibility study and will take place over the next six >weeks in the U.K., Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America. >Format of the Southeast Asian Regional SEI Dialogue. >The organization and conduct of the dialogue will be deliberately informal >in order to promote the fullest exchange of ideas and viewpoints. An >introductory presentation by Mr. Hoffman will place SEI within the overall >context of Shell's recent history and its public commitment to sustainable >development. But apart from the introduction there will be no formal >presentations expected from the participants. >Instead we would first ask participants to discuss and debate from the >floor what they view to be the most important issues in the field of >sustainable energy - with no reference to Shell's interests or the SEI. >The second task is for the participants to place themselves in the >position of the director of the SEI, faced with the job of designing >action programs and projects that could address specific SEI problems >within their local or national context. We thus ask participants to give >some advance thought to this topic if acceptable to participants, this >phase of the meeting will be conducted in small group sessions. At this >stage, we consider that all dimensions of the sustainable energy problem - >at the international, regional, national and local level - are legitimate >targets for SEI. >The dialogue will conclude with an open ended discussion of the >appropriate role that Shell, and other large TNCs, should play in >society's efforts to pursue a sustainable energy future - both through its >commercial operations and through its social investment programs. >For all the topics discussed, we hope, by the end of the session, to >achieve some sense of priorities of the participants in relation to the >issues raised - but without forcing consensus. >All participants will be provided with a meeting report and will have >access to meeting reports form other dialogues being conducted and will >be kept fully informed of the progress and design of SEI. > Proposed Participants >The meeting will be small, in order to facilitate a round-table type >discussion. Invitations have been sent to the following individuals: > >Dr. Wiku Adisasmito Executive Director Pelangi Indonesia >Mr. Pho Muangnalad Director Council On Renewable Energy >Dr. A. Rahman Paul Barter Director Sustainable Transport >Action Network for Asia and the Pacific >Mr. Mitsuo Sato President Asian Development Bank >Mr. Gani Sarano Vice President Philippines Rural Reconstruction >Movement >Khun Tongroj On Chan Managing Director Thailand Environment Institute >Dr. Kulthorn Silapabanleng Director Chulalongkorn Energy >Research Institute >Khun Chalongphob Sussangkarn Director Thailand Development and >Research Institute >Khun Paul Wedel Kenan Institute >Khun Kamal Malhotra Co-Director Focus on the Global South >Khun Meechai Viravaidya Managing Director Population and >Development Association >Khun Witoon Managing Director Towards Ecological Recovery and >Regional Alliance >Khun Surapong Chirarattananon Professor Asian Institute of >Technology >Dr. V.S. Pendakur Professor Institute for Transport and >Development Policy >Khun Chirapol Sintunawa Association for Development of >Environment Quality >Mr. Kim Deridder Managing Director Worldwide Fund for Nature >Khun Wattanapong Rakwichian Director Solar Energy Research and >Training Center > From j.whitelegg at lancaster.ac.uk Tue Mar 3 18:44:54 1998 From: j.whitelegg at lancaster.ac.uk (John Whitelegg) Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 09:44:54 -0000 Subject: [sustran] Advisory Meeting for Shell Sustainable Energy Initiative Message-ID: <01BD4689.19A2B780@ras-pptp-3.lancs.ac.uk> ---------- From: Paul Barter[SMTP:tkpb@barter.pc.my] Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 1998 12:47 AM To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org Subject: [sustran] Advisory Meeting for Shell Sustainable Energy Initiative Dear Paul, I know this will sound very negative but I advise caution with Shell. I was invited to take part in some UK activities as part of this initiative and refused. the behaviour of Shell with the Ogonoi people in Nigeria represents a serious ethical and moral failure. Their plans to search out and exploit oil on a global scale over the next 20-30 years is part of a global crisis of fossil fuel exploitation and its consequences for global warming. They have clear corporate goals to increase the rate of use of fossil fuel which are seriously at variance with IPCC recomendations and any meaningful interpretation of sustainable development. Their sustainable energy initiatives have to be assesed against this background. How much energy will they "save" if all their SE initiatives are successful? How does this quantity compare with the total fossil fuel output of Shell over the next 20 years. I'm afraid the whole thing is "greenwash", is part of a global PR offensive against "environmentalism" and is designed to win over the involvement of those who are active in developing an approach to energy which is characterised by things that are anathama to Shell: decentralisation and local control over energy sources serious energy reduction to stiff targets a transition from fossil fuels to the alternatives the end of motorisation and the beginning of a new paradigm physical caps on the growth of aviation One final point. Their plans for roundtable discussions are elitist and divisive and miss the whole point about equity and Local Agenda 21. If they are serious about this they should invite NGOs and residents groups from Bangkok who are fighting the destruction of that city by traffic and pollution. the end point of Shell's corporate programme is the "Bangkok-isation" (sorry) of Calcutta, Bombay, Shanghai and many more smaller places. The world as seen from the corporate HQ of Shell is very different from the dirty, dangerous world inhabited by poor people exposed to traffic pollution and traffic danger. These are the commodities being produced by Shell and they have no intention of altering that. I would be very interested in your reaction with very best wishes John Whitelegg Dear sustran-discussers I have been invited to the following meeting next week in Bangkok. It is a consultation on the Shell oil company's proposed Sustainable Energy Initiative. The half-day meeting is being run by the Asia office of the International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC). I would very much appreciate any comments and ideas to help me better represent a pro-equity, pro-environment, transport-focused constituency. And to avoid being dazzled by corporate "greenwash"?! Paul. A. Rahman Paul BARTER, SUSTRAN Resource Centre c/o Asia Pacific 2000, PO Box 12544, 50782 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Fax: +603 253 2361, E-mail: The SUSTRAN Resource Centre hosts the Secretariat of SUSTRAN (the Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia & the Pacific). SUSTRAN is dedicated to promoting transport policies and investments which foster accessibility for all; social equity; ecological sustainability; health and safety; public participation; and high quality of life. >EXPERT DIALOGUES ON THE PROPOSED SHELL SUSTAINABLE ENERGY INITIATIVE > >Context >Shell International, the world's largest oil company, has recently made a >major public and internal commitment to contribute to sustainable >development. This commitment is now becoming manifest in a number of ways. >1) Operationally, Shell is working towards attaining world class standards >in reducing the environmental and social impact of its operations around >the world. >2) Shell is expanding its commercial investment in the renewable energy >arena enormously and is doing the same with its gas operations. >3) Finally, Shell International wishes to focus its program of charitable >expenditure on the promotion of sustainable development. >It is intended that a major part of this sustainable development/social >investment effort will concentrate specifically on promoting society's >efforts to advance along a "sustainable energy" path. >No final decisions have been taken on SEI, but we can identify some basic >features. >Purpose of SEI. The SEI is an articulation of Shell's commitment to >sustainable development. At this stage, the specific purpose of SEI is to >advance the development and implementation of practical measures that >enable society to achieve sustainable and ever more efficient production >and consumption of energy. This definition of the purpose of SEI will >evolve over time. >Institutional location. SEI will be a program of Shell International. >Shell International is essentially the holding company of Shell group. >Individual operating companies within the group (140 world-wide) may >choose also to participate in and support SEI. The scale and nature of >this participation in SEI by Shell operating companies is, however, not >yet determined. >Scale and duration. The core SEI will therefore be funded by Shell >International. No final figure or time period has been set but the scale >of funding and length of operation of SEI will be significant and >commensurate with Shell's global status. >Character of SEI. SEI can viewed as a social investment program by Shell, >meaning that it will involve the expenditure of Shell funds (and the >participation of Shell in other ways) on projects that promote society's >efforts to shift production and consumption onto a sustainable energy >basis. We recognize explicitly that "sustainable energy" is a subset of >the wider concerns of sustainable development . >SEI feasibility study and expert dialogues >An SEI feasibility study is underway under the direction of Kurt Hoffman. >Mr. Hoffman (who was a senior fellow at the Science Policy Research Unit >of the University of Sussex for ten years and director of its >international development program) is an independent consultant to Shell >and reports to a steering committee of senior management drawn from >Shell's group planning and external affairs department and other >divisions. >The feasibility study's purpose is to define precisely how SEI should be >focused, structured and operated. Dialogues with experts are the core >element of this feasibility study and will take place over the next six >weeks in the U.K., Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America. >Format of the Southeast Asian Regional SEI Dialogue. >The organization and conduct of the dialogue will be deliberately informal >in order to promote the fullest exchange of ideas and viewpoints. An >introductory presentation by Mr. Hoffman will place SEI within the overall >context of Shell's recent history and its public commitment to sustainable >development. But apart from the introduction there will be no formal >presentations expected from the participants. >Instead we would first ask participants to discuss and debate from the >floor what they view to be the most important issues in the field of >sustainable energy - with no reference to Shell's interests or the SEI. >The second task is for the participants to place themselves in the >position of the director of the SEI, faced with the job of designing >action programs and projects that could address specific SEI problems >within their local or national context. We thus ask participants to give >some advance thought to this topic if acceptable to participants, this >phase of the meeting will be conducted in small group sessions. At this >stage, we consider that all dimensions of the sustainable energy problem - >at the international, regional, national and local level - are legitimate >targets for SEI. >The dialogue will conclude with an open ended discussion of the >appropriate role that Shell, and other large TNCs, should play in >society's efforts to pursue a sustainable energy future - both through its >commercial operations and through its social investment programs. >For all the topics discussed, we hope, by the end of the session, to >achieve some sense of priorities of the participants in relation to the >issues raised - but without forcing consensus. >All participants will be provided with a meeting report and will have >access to meeting reports form other dialogues being conducted and will >be kept fully informed of the progress and design of SEI. > Proposed Participants >The meeting will be small, in order to facilitate a round-table type >discussion. Invitations have been sent to the following individuals: > >Dr. Wiku Adisasmito Executive Director Pelangi Indonesia >Mr. Pho Muangnalad Director Council On Renewable Energy >Dr. A. Rahman Paul Barter Director Sustainable Transport >Action Network for Asia and the Pacific >Mr. Mitsuo Sato President Asian Development Bank >Mr. Gani Sarano Vice President Philippines Rural Reconstruction >Movement >Khun Tongroj On Chan Managing Director Thailand Environment Institute >Dr. Kulthorn Silapabanleng Director Chulalongkorn Energy >Research Institute >Khun Chalongphob Sussangkarn Director Thailand Development and >Research Institute >Khun Paul Wedel Kenan Institute >Khun Kamal Malhotra Co-Director Focus on the Global South >Khun Meechai Viravaidya Managing Director Population and >Development Association >Khun Witoon Managing Director Towards Ecological Recovery and >Regional Alliance >Khun Surapong Chirarattananon Professor Asian Institute of >Technology >Dr. V.S. Pendakur Professor Institute for Transport and >Development Policy >Khun Chirapol Sintunawa Association for Development of >Environment Quality >Mr. Kim Deridder Managing Director Worldwide Fund for Nature >Khun Wattanapong Rakwichian Director Solar Energy Research and >Training Center > begin 600 WINMAIL.DAT M>)\^(AT)`0:0" `$```````!``$``0>0!@`(````Y 0```````#H``$(@ <` M& ```$E032Y-:6-R;W-O9G0@36%I;"Y.;W1E`#$(`0V ! `"`````@`"``$$ MD 8`4 $```$````,`````P``, (````+``\.``````(!_P\!````6P`````` M``"!*Q^DOJ,0&9UN`-T!#U0"`````'-U``,P`0```!\```!S=7-T``$P`0```"$` M```G"YA<&,N;W)G)P`````"`0LP`0`` M`"0```!33510.E-54U1204XM1$E30U534T!*0T$N05@N05!#+D]21P`#```Y M``````L`0#H!`````@'V#P$````$`````````J%&`02 `0!'````4D4Z(%MS M=7-T2!-965T:6YG(&9O``@0`0```&4````M+2TM+2TM+2TM1E)/33I0 M055,0D%25$524TU44#I42U!"0$)!4E1%4E!#35E314Y4.E1515-$05DL34%2 M0T@P,RPQ.3DX,3(Z-#=!351/.E-54U1204XM1$E30U534T!*0T%!``````(! 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`#T``0````4```!213H@``````,`#33] %-P``-;-& ` end From ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu Tue Mar 3 23:40:49 1998 From: ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu (Eric Bruun) Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 09:40:49 -0500 (EST) Subject: more on [sustran] South Africa's Transport Policy (or lack thereof) In-Reply-To: <2.2.16.19980302160450.33e759d0@pop.igc.org> Message-ID: I have two additional concerns besides the violence between the combi-taxi operators, and the anti-planning policies defended by these operators: 1) Should we automatically conclude that providing no operating subsidy is the best choice, presumably because the money is needed elsewhere? Isn't mobility of people central to economic development? What if the fares are too high or service is too poor where people want to go? If the wealthy (meaning mostly white people) in South Africa can pollute freely in order to drive where ever they want, isn't this a valid reason for counter-subsidies to people that don't? Correct me if I am mistaken, but isn't part of the violence in Johannesburg rooted in the desperation of owner/operators that are in financial distress? 2) Can South Africa, with its big and dense cities, really stake its future on private cars, jitneys, and a few select comfortable bus services for commuters? Shouldn't it be investing in busways, rejuvenating its rail services, etc.? It sounds to me like the present policy is mostly just a continuation of starving the needs of the majority, just like the apartheid days. Eric On Mon, 2 Mar 1998, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy wrote: > RE Eric Bruun and WEndell Cox's comments on S.AFrica and the combi-taxis > > > While the combi-taxis have done a great job creating jobs among black > S.Africans even before the fall of aparteid, and provide a reasonably good > service, with no subsidies (other than they highways they use, of course) > the lack of route regulation has led to the equivalent of gangland violence > between taxi companies competing for turf. > > Furthermore, the political power of the black taxi industry also made it > virtually impossible for us to put in decent bicycle parking facilities at > the commuter rail stations in the townships. We had the agreement of the > Soweto planning office for a nice bike-and-ride strategy, but we were told > in confidence that it was vetoed by the combi-taxi industry which saw it, > correctly, as a threat. > > Unfortunately, for markets to function properly in the transport sector, > some regulation appears to be required. > > There is some discussion at the Group for Environmental Monitoring to take > up transport this year as a major area of work (after our urging them since > at least 1995). > > > Rgds, > Walter Hook > > At 01:28 PM 3/2/98 -0600, Wendell Cox wrote: > >Some comments on The Mail and Guardian editorial.... > > > >Re: No alternative has been presented to coax motorists, many travelling > >alone in their > > cars, away from the daily traffic jams. What > >about the damage to the > > environment? Must our cities be completely > >choked by pollution like Mexico City > > or Athens before Maharaj takes any action on > >car emissions? > > > >Where have such alternatives worked? > > > >Perhaps SA should ensure that it follows the US lead in auto pollution > >technology for cars --- this is the only way that the pollution problem > >related to cars will be solved, and it is being solved. > > > >>Since the policy, or lack of policy, has consisted mostly of leaving > >>things to the market, and with a refusal to subsidize public > >>transportation, I would like to hear whether readers agree with > >>the editorial. Eric Bruun > >> > >It's not such a bad thing to leave these things to the market, especially > >when you consider the robust kombi-taxi industry, both in terms of its > >potential to move passengers (if permitted) and the entrepreneurial path > >that it provides to people trying to move up the economic ladder. > > > >With all of the social needs in SA --- housing, education, jobs, etc., etc., > >it is not surprising, nor is it necessarily inappropriate for subsidies to > >public transport to take a :"back seat." > > > >Best regards, > >Wendell Cox > >WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY > >International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning > >The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal > >http://www.publicpurpose.com > >Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 > >P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA > > > >"To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by > >identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost > >that is no higher than necessary." > > > > > > ________________________________________________________________________________ > > The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) > 115 West 30th Street, Suite 1205 > New York, NY 10001 > Tel 212-629 8001, Fax 212-629 8033 > mobility@igc.apc.org > > > From ob110ob at IDT.NET Tue Mar 3 13:47:46 1998 From: ob110ob at IDT.NET (Obwon) Date: Mon, 02 Mar 1998 20:47:46 -0800 Subject: [sustran] South Africa's Transport Policy (or lack thereof) References: <2.2.16.19980302160450.33e759d0@pop.igc.org> Message-ID: <34FB8B5D.5903@idt.net> Institute for Transportation and Development Policy wrote: > > RE Eric Bruun and WEndell Cox's comments on S.AFrica and the combi-taxis > [...] > > Furthermore, the political power of the black taxi industry also made it > virtually impossible for us to put in decent bicycle parking facilities at > the commuter rail stations in the townships. We had the agreement of the > Soweto planning office for a nice bike-and-ride strategy, but we were told > in confidence that it was vetoed by the combi-taxi industry which saw it, > correctly, as a threat. > ========================================================================== > Unfortunately, for markets to function properly in the transport sector, > some regulation appears to be required. > ========================================================================== I'd take issue with presenting your advocacy as needed "for markets to function properly". This is specifically because I don't see the issue, in the overall, as being one of merely exercising control over or leveling the playing field between the alternative within the market sector "Transportation". I think that in so doing you are exposing your advocacy to many unnecessary challenges from that quarter "market control/amelioration etc." the controversiality of which can and does often impede the progress so desired. The real and more direct issue is safeguarding for the public, 1. breathable air, 2. Safety, 3. Wildlife habitat preservation/accomodation, 4, waste reduction. Number one on the list to be most carefully considered, most especially in light of the Asthma studies now underway, which find the So. Bronx containing the highest levels of sufferers. is of course breathable air or air-quality as it is commonly known. Since each human being takes in about 18 breaths per minute for life, there's good reason to expect that man made effluents need to be controled or else windup coating the lung of individuals with unpredictable results. Auto emmissions, unburnt fuel, noxious gases are but a primary consideration. The secondary considerations are what these emissions become after mixing with the environments elements. Sunlight! In areas recieving generous sunlight these emissions are precursors of dangerous levels of Ozone which is not directly emited. The various oxides emitted, when combined with water in areas of medium to high humidity are the precursors of acids whose microscopic droplets suspended in the air attack masonry, metals, plastics and of course flesh. Nor does it end there. There are many man-made compounds that leach into the air and that can also interact with these secondary substances to produce newer untested compounds as well. A population, therefore, is wise to constrain it's access to individual mobility from the issues of health impacts to be expected! Nor should the weathy or affluent be unconcerned. Most studies have found that body fats are the most likely tissues of the body to become reseviours of foreign compounds absorbed from the outside environment. Studies have found, however, that these reservoirs can act as concentrators and 'pumps'! During period when body fat reduces, the compounds they have stored are released into the bloodstream in ever increasing concentrations. Canibis is one example, where a 'pot' (NA slang- Marijuana) smokers can obtain a 'rush' without smoking over periods when missed meals cause body fat to decline. So that's a long term consideration, but a very real one that has to be taken into account. Surely, as the socio-economic demands of the world are presently configured due to our present technological status, individualized mobility concerns are real if not demanded by practical considerations. However, wherever it is possible, maximum considerations should be given to the applicablity and usage of cleaner if less efficient transportation alternatives. People aware of the 'possible' prices of individual mobility would be very wise indeed to limit the necessities of it to the narrowest possible ranges. I don't believe that people would choose to place lives at risk at random in order to achieve economic/recreational/social/entertainment goals, but the equation is rarely drawn that way. I believe that if people knew for instance, that haveing high levels of congestion/auto use, that older and younger people would die in greater quantity and sooner. That mature adults would suffer more diseases/afflictions and fatigue (yes, I'm almost positive that high ozone levels leads to increased fatigue, I'm certain that the increased stresses of auto congestions do as well). So it has to be drawn as an equation that people can personalize and/or internalize when judgeing their transportation requirements! To be able to guess who will suffer, approximately how much suffering will have to be borne and why it is figured that this will actually happen, will do much to ameliorate the thinkings attendant to auto advocates offers. If say pedicab usage were explained in terms of how much improved the quality of life in an area would be. In terms of how many lives would be saved, how much human suffering would decline, how much property damage would be avoided. Then the inconviences/ineffciencies attandant pale by comparison to the alternatives. It's really all about saving lives and improving the quality of life, rather than the simpler reallocation of economic benefit. Obwon From alex at sgimess.physics.upenn.edu Wed Mar 4 00:35:06 1998 From: alex at sgimess.physics.upenn.edu (Alex Welte) Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 10:35:06 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Re: South Africa's Transport Policy (or lack thereof) In-Reply-To: Eric Bruun "South Africa's Transport Policy (or lack thereof)" (Mar 2, 1:30pm) References: Message-ID: <9803031035.ZM18792@sgimess.physics.upenn.edu> > From: Wendell Cox > Reply-To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org > To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org > Subject: Re: [sustran] South Africa's Transport Policy (or lack thereof) > > Some comments on The Mail and Guardian editorial.... > > Re: No alternative has been presented to coax motorists, many travelling > alone in their > cars, away from the daily traffic jams. What > about the damage to the > environment? Must our cities be completely > choked by pollution like Mexico City > or Athens before Maharaj takes any action on > car emissions? > > Where have such alternatives worked? Where is the car lobby weak enough to allow mass transit to be managed properly ? > > Perhaps SA should ensure that it follows the US lead in auto pollution > technology for cars --- this is the only way that the pollution problem > related to cars will be solved, and it is being solved. > 'this is the only way ... ' ? nothing like categorical assertions to gloss over the need for evidence. > >Since the policy, or lack of policy, has consisted mostly of leaving > >things to the market, and with a refusal to subsidize public > >transportation, I would like to hear whether readers agree with > >the editorial. Eric Bruun > > > It's not such a bad thing to leave these things to the market, especially It isn't ? you been there and seen it aint so bad, or what ? > when you consider the robust kombi-taxi industry, both in terms of its 'robust' ? people killing each other for more business is a robust industry ? > potential to move passengers (if permitted) and the entrepreneurial path it's 'permitted' AND it's a mess - people scrape together money they'd have preferred to use for clothes and shelter so they can get to work and not starve. > that it provides to people trying to move up the economic ladder. > right out of starvation into a shanty in a squatter settlement > With all of the social needs in SA --- housing, education, jobs, etc., etc., > it is not surprising, nor is it necessarily inappropriate for subsidies to > public transport to take a :"back seat." I guess by making people pay more to be less mobile, they get around to doing their homework instead of going to school, repairing their shacks instead of getting meaningful employment, etc. Sorry I couldn't support the one about jobs - I think you're not necessarilly making sense on that one. From wcox at publicpurpose.com Wed Mar 4 02:16:10 1998 From: wcox at publicpurpose.com (Wendell Cox ) Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 11:16:10 -0600 (CST) Subject: [sustran] Re: South Africa's Transport Policy (or lack thereof) Message-ID: <199803031716.LAA05509@mail1.i1.net> Re Alex Welte Comments....> > > >> Where have such alternatives worked? > >Where is the car lobby weak enough to allow mass transit to >be managed properly ? > Are we talking about the car lobby, or are we talking about a situation in which land use patterns have emerged that make the private automobile the only answer to the great majority of urban (v.rural) passenger transport needs. Given the current situation --- which perhaps could be reverse with a century or two of public policy aimed at dismantling the suburbs and forcing people back into the inner cities --- the activities of the car lobby are at best a minor factor. What we have in the US and Europe is people making choices about how they travel based upon where they live and where they must go. For the great majority of trips no alternative form of transport is reasonably conceivable --- and most certainly not the high capital rail projects that are the current fancy in the US, which have proven themselves capable only of moving people to downtown (which already has a high public transport market share), most of whom have been attracted from buses and carpools. >> >> Perhaps SA should ensure that it follows the US lead in auto pollution >> technology for cars --- this is the only way that the pollution problem >> related to cars will be solved, and it is being solved. >> >'this is the only way ... ' ? nothing like categorical assertions to >gloss over the need for evidence. > Unless you have an alternative technology that will deal with a majority of trips then it is the only way --- and none of the presently operating technologies in the US and Europe can do the job. >> >Since the policy, or lack of policy, has consisted mostly of leaving >> >things to the market, and with a refusal to subsidize public >> >transportation, I would like to hear whether readers agree with >> >the editorial. Eric Bruun >> > >> It's not such a bad thing to leave these things to the market, especially > >It isn't ? you been there and seen it aint so bad, or what ? > Yes I have been there. The taxis carry a very large market share --- larger than the buses and larger than rail, and among backs, a considerably larger market share than autos. >> when you consider the robust kombi-taxi industry, both in terms of its > >'robust' ? people killing each other for more business is a robust >industry ? > And I suppose you are going to solve this problem by US style subsidies? Do you think for a minute that there is anything the government can do to drive the kombis out of business. Do you think that the SA treasury can afford to provide even pennies of subsidies per rider to the kombi operators? >> potential to move passengers (if permitted) and the entrepreneurial path > >it's 'permitted' AND it's a mess - people scrape together money they'd >have preferred to use for clothes and shelter so they can get to >work and not starve. > >> that it provides to people trying to move up the economic ladder. >> >right out of starvation into a shanty in a squatter settlement > >> With all of the social needs in SA --- housing, education, jobs, etc., etc., >> it is not surprising, nor is it necessarily inappropriate for subsidies to >> public transport to take a :"back seat." > >I guess by making people pay more to be less mobile, >they get around to doing their homework instead of going to school, >repairing their shacks instead of getting meaningful employment, >etc. Sorry I couldn't support the one about jobs - I think you're >not necessarilly making sense on that one. > I suppose the answer is for us Americans to export our highly successful public transport policies to SA --- why not --- we did it with religion not so long ago WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal http://www.publicpurpose.com Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA "To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost that is no higher than necessary." From litman at IslandNet.com Wed Mar 4 01:36:30 1998 From: litman at IslandNet.com (Todd Litman) Date: Tue, 03 Mar 1998 08:36:30 -0800 Subject: [sustran] Advisory Meeting for Shell Sustainable Energy Initiative In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980303083630.007ca450@IslandNet.com> A. Rahman Paul BARTER asked: >I have been invited to the following meeting next week in Bangkok. It is a >consultation on the Shell oil company's proposed Sustainable Energy >Initiative. The half-day meeting is being run by the Asia office of the >International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC). > >I would very much appreciate any comments and ideas to help me better >represent a pro-equity, pro-environment, transport-focused constituency. >And to avoid being dazzled by corporate "greenwash"?! I have three suggestions: 1. Recommend that Shell, and other energy producers, submit to an ongoing, independent environmental audit. I think that this could be considered acceptable because businesses are accustomed to having independent audits, so the concept should be understandable. Of course, this raises the question of who is qualified to be an independent environmental auditor that would be acceptable to Shell and its critics. I'm not sure. It should be a group with respectable cridentials in both camps (Maurice Strong comes to mind). 2. Argue that economic theory requires that all external costs be incorporated into price to provide "information" to the market. Shell officials should at least acknowledge this concept, even as they lobby against new taxes on their products, such as petroleum. To the degree that Shell is an energy company, not just an oil company, it should not be afaid of full-cost pricing because they can simply sell alternative energy products, including efficiency technologies. 3. I think it is important to use a wide definition of environmental issues, rather than let the discussion focus on any one, such as global warming. Make sure that sustainability includes consideration of social impacts, equity, etc. Sincerely, Todd Litman, Director Victoria Transport Policy Institute "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity" 1250 Rudlin Street Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, Canada Phone & Fax: 250-360-1560 E-mail: litman@islandnet.com Website: www.islandnet.com/~litman From raad at unixg.ubc.ca Wed Mar 4 03:13:02 1998 From: raad at unixg.ubc.ca (Tamim Raad) Date: Tue, 03 Mar 1998 10:13:02 -0800 Subject: [sustran] Re: sustran-discuss V1 #159 In-Reply-To: <199803031327.WAA08190@mail.jca.ax.apc.org> Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19980303101302.00700f10@pop.unixg.ubc.ca> Hi Brian, > In my view, 95% of "corporate sustainable anything" >initiatives are PR smoke and mirrors operations. I think in >transport, there is one glaring exception (Toyota Motors >Foundation in Japan...see me for data) but by and large, it >is all image-building. In the case of Shell, my independent Could you explain this? What exactly is Toyota doing that is so different than the rest? I know they're pouring lots of cash into 'green' cars, but they're still primarily a car company. Can you tell us exactly what types of activities the foundation engages in? Also, I may be interested in any data you might have, but would like to know what exactly types of data you have. Thanks, Tamim. ----------------------------------- Tamim Raad School of Community and Regional Planning University of British Columbia Tel: (604) 739-2146 Email: raad@unixg.ubc.ca From mobility at igc.apc.org Wed Mar 4 04:34:58 1998 From: mobility at igc.apc.org (Institute for Transportation and Development Policy) Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 11:34:58 -0800 (PST) Subject: more on [sustran] South Africa's Transport Policy (or lack thereof) Message-ID: <2.2.16.19980303152416.254f7bf6@pop.igc.org> Some further thoughts on S. Africa re Eric's comments: At 09:40 AM 3/3/98 -0500, Eric Bruun wrote: > > >I have two additional concerns besides the violence between the >combi-taxi operators, and the anti-planning policies defended >by these operators: > >1) Should we automatically conclude that providing no operating >subsidy is the best choice, presumably because the money is needed >elsewhere? The commuter rail and bus systems are already pretty heavily subsidized. The commuter rail lines need to be modernized, and this is going to take capital subsidies. There are discussions with the French I believe for some foreign aid, but I'm not sure of the conditions. Codatu in Cape Town in September should clarify this. Combis are also subsidized in that the state pays for the roads. Isn't mobility of people central to economic development? >What if the fares are too high or service is too poor where people >want to go? If the wealthy (meaning mostly white people) in South >Africa can pollute freely in order to drive where ever they want, >isn't this a valid reason for counter-subsidies to people that >don't? I agree theres a justification for subsidies. But in the case of the combi-taxis, the only way to subsidize them would be through some sort of transit vouchers. But even this system would probably require a level of regulation of the combi-business that would meet with considerable resistance from the industry itself. Lack of subsidies is the quid-pro-quo of lack of regulation, which allows them to avoid paying taxes, and avoid other sorts of regulations. Correct me if I am mistaken, but isn't part of the violence >in Johannesburg rooted in the desperation of owner/operators that >are in financial distress? I don't think so. I think its more like the conflict between drug mafias competing for turf. >2) Can South Africa, with its big and dense cities, really stake its >future on private cars, jitneys, and a few select comfortable bus >services for commuters? Shouldn't it be investing in busways, >rejuvenating its rail services, etc.? There is an HOV lane now on the major highway between Johannesburg and Soweto. They elected to use an HOV rather than a bus lane as it accommodates the combi-taxis as well. A bus lane that excluded the combis would have been political suicide I think and certainly defeated the point. Certainly more could be done in this regard. > It sounds to me like the >present policy is mostly just a continuation of starving the needs >of the majority, just like the apartheid days. I think its not a good idea to see a fire wall between housing needs and transport needs. We need to look at what is going on in housing policy as well. Last I looked into it, the housing minister had elected to give all income-eligible folks a one time capital grant for building a house, which made it virtually impossible to build multiple-unit high density housing in more central areas and virtually ensured further sprawl. Lots of ex-township folks are also moving into town into high density neighborhoods like Hillbrow, Yeoville, etc. and these parts of town are decaying rapidly. Unless some sort of housing subsidy for renters is set up, and unless the capital grants can be utilized for higher density housing develoment closer to the center, the attempts to address the housing problem will only make the mobility problem worse. We're still interested in doing policy work in S.Africa. If anyone is working there we're happy to cooperate. Rgds, Walter Hook > > > >On Mon, 2 Mar 1998, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy wrote: > >> RE Eric Bruun and WEndell Cox's comments on S.AFrica and the combi-taxis >> >> >> While the combi-taxis have done a great job creating jobs among black >> S.Africans even before the fall of aparteid, and provide a reasonably good >> service, with no subsidies (other than they highways they use, of course) >> the lack of route regulation has led to the equivalent of gangland violence >> between taxi companies competing for turf. >> >> Furthermore, the political power of the black taxi industry also made it >> virtually impossible for us to put in decent bicycle parking facilities at >> the commuter rail stations in the townships. We had the agreement of the >> Soweto planning office for a nice bike-and-ride strategy, but we were told >> in confidence that it was vetoed by the combi-taxi industry which saw it, >> correctly, as a threat. >> >> Unfortunately, for markets to function properly in the transport sector, >> some regulation appears to be required. >> >> There is some discussion at the Group for Environmental Monitoring to take >> up transport this year as a major area of work (after our urging them since >> at least 1995). >> >> >> Rgds, >> Walter Hook >> >> At 01:28 PM 3/2/98 -0600, Wendell Cox wrote: >> >Some comments on The Mail and Guardian editorial.... >> > >> >Re: No alternative has been presented to coax motorists, many travelling >> >alone in their >> > cars, away from the daily traffic jams. What >> >about the damage to the >> > environment? Must our cities be completely >> >choked by pollution like Mexico City >> > or Athens before Maharaj takes any action on >> >car emissions? >> > >> >Where have such alternatives worked? >> > >> >Perhaps SA should ensure that it follows the US lead in auto pollution >> >technology for cars --- this is the only way that the pollution problem >> >related to cars will be solved, and it is being solved. >> > >> >>Since the policy, or lack of policy, has consisted mostly of leaving >> >>things to the market, and with a refusal to subsidize public >> >>transportation, I would like to hear whether readers agree with >> >>the editorial. Eric Bruun >> >> >> >It's not such a bad thing to leave these things to the market, especially >> >when you consider the robust kombi-taxi industry, both in terms of its >> >potential to move passengers (if permitted) and the entrepreneurial path >> >that it provides to people trying to move up the economic ladder. >> > >> >With all of the social needs in SA --- housing, education, jobs, etc., etc., >> >it is not surprising, nor is it necessarily inappropriate for subsidies to >> >public transport to take a :"back seat." >> > >> >Best regards, >> >Wendell Cox >> >WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY >> >International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning >> >The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal >> >http://www.publicpurpose.com >> >Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 >> >P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA >> > >> >"To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by >> >identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost >> >that is no higher than necessary." >> > >> > >> >> ________________________________________________________________________________ >> >> The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) >> 115 West 30th Street, Suite 1205 >> New York, NY 10001 >> Tel 212-629 8001, Fax 212-629 8033 >> mobility@igc.apc.org >> >> >> > > ________________________________________________________________________________ The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) 115 West 30th Street, Suite 1205 New York, NY 10001 Tel 212-629 8001, Fax 212-629 8033 mobility@igc.apc.org From ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu Wed Mar 4 05:56:01 1998 From: ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu (Eric Bruun) Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 15:56:01 -0500 (EST) Subject: In defense of Alex [sustran] Re: South Africa In-Reply-To: <199803031716.LAA05509@mail1.i1.net> Message-ID: I am sure that Wendell will not be surprised that I am coming to the defense of Alex. I think the highway lobby is still pretty damned strong in the US, but that is a different subject than South Africa. I also disagree with Wendell's gross overgeneralizations about rail transit in the US, but again that is for another thread. In South Africa, the government could in fact support transit more by putting higher taxes on fuels, by putting luxury taxes on autos, and by other means of taxing the priviledged more. This is what makes SA so interesting. It is far richer than most countries in Africa, it just has a wildly uneven distribution of wealth. Eric On Tue, 3 Mar 1998, Wendell Cox wrote: > Re Alex Welte Comments....> > > > > > >> Where have such alternatives worked? > > > >Where is the car lobby weak enough to allow mass transit to > >be managed properly ? > > > Are we talking about the car lobby, or are we talking about a situation in > which land use patterns have emerged that make the private automobile the > only answer to the great majority of urban (v.rural) passenger transport > needs. Given the current situation --- which perhaps could be reverse with a > century or two of public policy aimed at dismantling the suburbs and forcing > people back into the inner cities --- the activities of the car lobby are at > best a minor factor. What we have in the US and Europe is people making > choices about how they travel based upon where they live and where they must > go. For the great majority of trips no alternative form of transport is > reasonably conceivable --- and most certainly not the high capital rail > projects that are the current fancy in the US, which have proven themselves > capable only of moving people to downtown (which already has a high public > transport market share), most of whom have been attracted from buses and > carpools. > > >> > >> Perhaps SA should ensure that it follows the US lead in auto pollution > >> technology for cars --- this is the only way that the pollution problem > >> related to cars will be solved, and it is being solved. > >> > >'this is the only way ... ' ? nothing like categorical assertions to > >gloss over the need for evidence. > > > Unless you have an alternative technology that will deal with a majority of > trips then it is the only way --- and none of the presently operating > technologies in the US and Europe can do the job. > > >> >Since the policy, or lack of policy, has consisted mostly of leaving > >> >things to the market, and with a refusal to subsidize public > >> >transportation, I would like to hear whether readers agree with > >> >the editorial. Eric Bruun > >> > > >> It's not such a bad thing to leave these things to the market, especially > > > >It isn't ? you been there and seen it aint so bad, or what ? > > > Yes I have been there. The taxis carry a very large market share --- larger > than the buses and larger than rail, and among backs, a considerably larger > market share than autos. > > >> when you consider the robust kombi-taxi industry, both in terms of its > > > >'robust' ? people killing each other for more business is a robust > >industry ? > > > And I suppose you are going to solve this problem by US style subsidies? Do > you think for a minute that there is anything the government can do to drive > the kombis out of business. Do you think that the SA treasury can afford to > provide even pennies of subsidies per rider to the kombi operators? > > >> potential to move passengers (if permitted) and the entrepreneurial path > > > >it's 'permitted' AND it's a mess - people scrape together money they'd > >have preferred to use for clothes and shelter so they can get to > >work and not starve. > > > >> that it provides to people trying to move up the economic ladder. > >> > >right out of starvation into a shanty in a squatter settlement > > > >> With all of the social needs in SA --- housing, education, jobs, etc., etc., > >> it is not surprising, nor is it necessarily inappropriate for subsidies to > >> public transport to take a :"back seat." > > > >I guess by making people pay more to be less mobile, > >they get around to doing their homework instead of going to school, > >repairing their shacks instead of getting meaningful employment, > >etc. Sorry I couldn't support the one about jobs - I think you're > >not necessarilly making sense on that one. > > > I suppose the answer is for us Americans to export our highly successful > public transport policies to SA --- why not --- we did it with religion not > so long ago > WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY > International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning > The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal > http://www.publicpurpose.com > Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 > P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA > > "To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by > identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost > that is no higher than necessary." > > From wcox at publicpurpose.com Wed Mar 4 06:55:01 1998 From: wcox at publicpurpose.com (Wendell Cox ) Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 15:55:01 -0600 (CST) Subject: In defense of Alex [sustran] Re: South Africa Message-ID: <199803032155.PAA20310@mail1.i1.net> Eric... we continue to disagree... but what overgeneralizations about rail? > > >I am sure that Wendell will not be surprised that I am coming >to the defense of Alex. > >I think the highway lobby is still pretty damned strong in the >US, but that is a different subject than South Africa. I also >disagree with Wendell's gross overgeneralizations about rail >transit in the US, but again that is for another thread. > >In South Africa, the government could in fact support transit >more by putting higher taxes on fuels, by putting luxury taxes >on autos, and by other means of taxing the priviledged more. >This is what makes SA so interesting. It is far richer than most >countries in Africa, it just has a wildly uneven distribution >of wealth. Eric > >On Tue, 3 Mar 1998, Wendell Cox wrote: > >> Re Alex Welte Comments....> >> > >> > >> >> Where have such alternatives worked? >> > >> >Where is the car lobby weak enough to allow mass transit to >> >be managed properly ? >> > >> Are we talking about the car lobby, or are we talking about a situation in >> which land use patterns have emerged that make the private automobile the >> only answer to the great majority of urban (v.rural) passenger transport >> needs. Given the current situation --- which perhaps could be reverse with a >> century or two of public policy aimed at dismantling the suburbs and forcing >> people back into the inner cities --- the activities of the car lobby are at >> best a minor factor. What we have in the US and Europe is people making >> choices about how they travel based upon where they live and where they must >> go. For the great majority of trips no alternative form of transport is >> reasonably conceivable --- and most certainly not the high capital rail >> projects that are the current fancy in the US, which have proven themselves >> capable only of moving people to downtown (which already has a high public >> transport market share), most of whom have been attracted from buses and >> carpools. >> >> >> >> >> Perhaps SA should ensure that it follows the US lead in auto pollution >> >> technology for cars --- this is the only way that the pollution problem >> >> related to cars will be solved, and it is being solved. >> >> >> >'this is the only way ... ' ? nothing like categorical assertions to >> >gloss over the need for evidence. >> > >> Unless you have an alternative technology that will deal with a majority of >> trips then it is the only way --- and none of the presently operating >> technologies in the US and Europe can do the job. >> >> >> >Since the policy, or lack of policy, has consisted mostly of leaving >> >> >things to the market, and with a refusal to subsidize public >> >> >transportation, I would like to hear whether readers agree with >> >> >the editorial. Eric Bruun >> >> > >> >> It's not such a bad thing to leave these things to the market, especially >> > >> >It isn't ? you been there and seen it aint so bad, or what ? >> > >> Yes I have been there. The taxis carry a very large market share --- larger >> than the buses and larger than rail, and among backs, a considerably larger >> market share than autos. >> >> >> when you consider the robust kombi-taxi industry, both in terms of its >> > >> >'robust' ? people killing each other for more business is a robust >> >industry ? >> > >> And I suppose you are going to solve this problem by US style subsidies? Do >> you think for a minute that there is anything the government can do to drive >> the kombis out of business. Do you think that the SA treasury can afford to >> provide even pennies of subsidies per rider to the kombi operators? >> >> >> potential to move passengers (if permitted) and the entrepreneurial path >> > >> >it's 'permitted' AND it's a mess - people scrape together money they'd >> >have preferred to use for clothes and shelter so they can get to >> >work and not starve. >> > >> >> that it provides to people trying to move up the economic ladder. >> >> >> >right out of starvation into a shanty in a squatter settlement >> > >> >> With all of the social needs in SA --- housing, education, jobs, etc., etc., >> >> it is not surprising, nor is it necessarily inappropriate for subsidies to >> >> public transport to take a :"back seat." >> > >> >I guess by making people pay more to be less mobile, >> >they get around to doing their homework instead of going to school, >> >repairing their shacks instead of getting meaningful employment, >> >etc. Sorry I couldn't support the one about jobs - I think you're >> >not necessarilly making sense on that one. >> > >> I suppose the answer is for us Americans to export our highly successful >> public transport policies to SA --- why not --- we did it with religion not >> so long ago >> WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY >> International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning >> The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal >> http://www.publicpurpose.com >> Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 >> P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA >> >> "To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by >> identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost >> that is no higher than necessary." >> >> > > > WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal http://www.publicpurpose.com Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA "To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost that is no higher than necessary." From owner-sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org Wed Mar 4 13:01:17 1998 From: owner-sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org (by way of tkpb@barter.pc.my Paul Barter) Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 12:01:17 +0800 (MYT) Subject: [sustran] From Eric Bruun on South Africa Message-ID: This message from Eric Bruun bounced because the majordomo software thought there was an administrative request buried in there. Sorry. Paul Barter. Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 16:16:35 -0500 (EST) From: Eric Bruun X-Sender: ebruun@niflheim.rutgers.edu To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org cc: alex@sgimess.physics.upenn.edu Subject: Re: more on [sustran] South Africa's Transport Policy (or lack thereof) In-Reply-To: <2.2.16.19980303152416.254f7bf6@pop.igc.org> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Walter: Thanks for the informative answers, but I am still puzzled, and it is one of the reasons that I asked the original question in the first place. I have heard from several quarters that most public bus >services are completely un-subsidized. Last year I met the accountant for Golden Arrow bus company who told me that neither his company nor his competitors get a dime of subsidy, either capital or operating subsidy. Another question is why the combi-taxi people so damned important to appease? Are they precluding all efforts to build up regular fixed route transit systems that don't involve operating "turfs". I hope Walter gets some work in SA, it would be very interesting indeed. Perhaps with a new Prime Minister coming in...... Eric ...... previous stuff deleted ....... From j.whitelegg at lancaster.ac.uk Wed Mar 4 17:24:26 1998 From: j.whitelegg at lancaster.ac.uk (John Whitelegg) Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 08:24:26 -0000 Subject: [sustran] Advisory Meeting for Shell Sustainable Energy Initiative Message-ID: <01BD4747.278F6140@ras-pptp-1.lancs.ac.uk> ---------- From: Todd Litman[SMTP:litman@IslandNet.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 1998 4:36 PM To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org Subject: Re: [sustran] Advisory Meeting for Shell Sustainable Energy Initiative Dear colleagues, just a quick comment on Todd's comments. There is no such thing as an independent environmental audit. Assuming that Shell would agree to such a thing I can say on the basis of dozens of audits I've seem as part of ISO14001, EMAS and BS7750 it will end up saying what a great company Shell is. Shell needs an ethical audit not an enviornmental audit and an ethical audit should be carried out by Amnesty International. best wishes John Whitelegg I have three suggestions: 1. Recommend that Shell, and other energy producers, submit to an ongoing, independent environmental audit. I think that this could be considered acceptable because businesses are accustomed to having independent audits, so the concept should be understandable. Of course, this raises the question of who is qualified to be an independent environmental auditor that would be acceptable to Shell and its critics. I'm not sure. It should be a group with respectable cridentials in both camps (Maurice Strong comes to mind). 2. Argue that economic theory requires that all external costs be incorporated into price to provide "information" to the market. Shell officials should at least acknowledge this concept, even as they lobby against new taxes on their products, such as petroleum. To the degree that Shell is an energy company, not just an oil company, it should not be afaid of full-cost pricing because they can simply sell alternative energy products, including efficiency technologies. 3. I think it is important to use a wide definition of environmental issues, rather than let the discussion focus on any one, such as global warming. Make sure that sustainability includes consideration of social impacts, equity, etc. Sincerely, Todd Litman, Director Victoria Transport Policy Institute "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity" 1250 Rudlin Street Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, Canada Phone & Fax: 250-360-1560 E-mail: litman@islandnet.com Website: www.islandnet.com/~litman begin 600 WINMAIL.DAT M>)\^(C@(`0:0" `$```````!``$``0>0!@`(````Y 0```````#H``$(@ <` M& ```$E032Y-:6-R;W-O9G0@36%I;"Y.;W1E`#$(`0V ! `"`````@`"``$$ MD 8`4 $```$````,`````P``, (````+``\.``````(!_P\!````6P`````` M``"!*Q^DOJ,0&9UN`-T!#U0"`````'-U``,P`0```!\```!S=7-T``$P`0```"$` M```G"YA<&,N;W)G)P`````"`0LP`0`` M`"0```!33510.E-54U1204XM1$E30U534T!*0T$N05@N05!#+D]21P`#```Y M``````L`0#H!`````@'V#P$````$`````````J%&`02 `0!'````4D4Z(%MS M=7-T2!-965T:6YG(&9O] M`1X`< `!````1P```%)%.B!;``@0`0```&4````M+2TM+2TM+2TM1E)/33I4 M3T1$3$E434%.4TU44#I,251-04Y 25-,04Y$3D540T]-4T5.5#I454531$%9 M+$U!4D-(,#,L,3DY.#0Z,S90351/.E-54U1204XM1$E30U534T!*``````(! M"1 !````_ 8``/@&``!+# ``3%I&=#(U-0* M"H$-L0M@;O!G,3 S%" +"A+R# $:8P! ( J%"HML:3$$.# "T6DM,30TSPWP M#- #% <&,N!;!G+!]Q)QYU8FH>H2X_ M(MM2*F4T8%LP%5T3<&1V6P0`!;!Y!= )X'0+@&>&( (0!F@W\F$$( .1"X -L'"_"? -L$)! M"? W0 -@;D(BNP= 06!U,) EH$.@0000O'5M-_)$T#I0.&5W"&#^;"/0/^ ) MT43 1&5!<$34]DD_@ .1>@GP3 -',P0@ M22(>D 2@.E$"( = +E\ZK%CP04$#\3B H%I!6Q%S.CJL_C%# MD#9 0?0CT$A(*I!/HM\>@$/11D$YLQYA9$20!)#[0" P`6)'\ 5 2;$#D0(@ M_&=O-_% -D6?1JY*L$32OT'02$-$T4+R6+9B86D$@?\)@ J%`-!F< 4P.4-8 M\#$@_S @2Z$P( N !Y 1\$5!0_'_;6$P(0-P67%)L6$Q-_)HFG],]$ V-V!+ M75_:*$1X &0)6 Y0D.0.JQ/_TPP:\$1X2J0:W,P4 0`!Y'_2X)! MD&(D3!)1L$1@1"%!D/\'0 :066))L5CQ`'!H+VD__T="!;%(0TCT>9)M>$FQ M.'3?3Z)-(0J%!0$WX&-#@4U@_TW@58(P$!8`:H%8:E(""&#_42 #\$30=M ' MD'J0'K Y0_\%`7K"!S$$( N 6^9E44K!^U*@!" H*K (<69P!@`P0)]GH4'B M=R)$8$?Q9"E;;?XR0Y '$#_Q2#0%D4101_#^8TMR-W(6`$&1@H%(- = _5"Q M>%JS`R %H# P!"!8\/MYYP6A< 6P.E!9<0N 2;$W'F"%DHV#;S= #; @(N\+ M@#@Q`,!;`B))HDN"`,!\] M.6!D8A!K9G,#*I!E.H#?`Z!%,4N!-Y 5D&)9X&SVOF<+<4%!.: 'X &0> >1 M_TM4:8!F%7'12=5.$1(``V#_.6!'X$.0(Z!+!`Q&<9UA858)YDF8+<,MLYDPA9DD0;"V+HHVC_S?R;A:5$TK3 M!W +4#>0$?#]?F)L6K5-@66T"H67V(R1OPI ,) X`0W!D8$)\&,WD'<>D5X` M%8%G")!#@#JL,_]JB%!11"&BP16A`'!G(VY2_T%P`_".D0VQ"X Z(7?T>QO_ M>>9'P4 1=M%E8TA!`Z Y8/]K4IGQ,*1WX@(0,,%"8E+"MP(@=F&8=F>58:S' M=PK _T?R0Y JL)! @'-(-# 2.1/_`Q D`#>0I:0'D6Q66O-,$O\W8)&2>>92 MH9@CB@):8)1Q_G0QH#JLN-^:\XR10^&B\/= /2.I*I!$BC$>L 6P"H7^5D&P M?#$',".0,%&"H!6AWRO@!O!!L#GB8C%T6; ZEG0B1:98+3F M[/!(4-S"V!_ M@7DB8Q88,% P4G]'0!P@`Z"%T3?!O6TJD$(B0RJ05CA6J)!2-[4JD$,`<&$J M8 J%4%B0>3F@("8A<#%0-&#"X2V;/ $D,D$=^7+\"[)ZR]^)+2Y3SM/%SX[/2T5(0#1H ,` M$! ``````P`1$ ````! ```#T``0`` 7``4```!213H@``````,`#33]-P``WO!' ` end From ob110ob at IDT.NET Wed Mar 4 11:55:37 1998 From: ob110ob at IDT.NET (Obwon) Date: Tue, 03 Mar 1998 18:55:37 -0800 Subject: [sustran] Advisory Meeting for Shell Sustainable Energy Initiative References: <9803031228.04240C@unchs57.unep.org> Message-ID: <34FCC2A9.4EF3@idt.net> Brian.Williams@unchs.org wrote: > > Dear Friends, > [...] I recall at one point, > one person reminded the audience that if it wasn't for > Daimler-Benz's financial contribution, we wouldn't be having > a dialogue on the global problems in transport and somebody > then responded, "If it wasn't for Daimler-Benz, we wouldn't > NEED this dialogue on transport!" Needless to say, they > weren't amused. Of course the meeting was not pure vitriol > and there were some good discussions of a substantive nature, > particularly on the role of technology (Daimler-Benz's > obvious agenda) as well as some other issues. > [...] > Regards to all, > > Brian Williams, Human Settlements Officer This situation is not unique to transportation problems alone, it is oft played out time and again, and it's particularly vexing to those who try (sometimes even against their own misgivings and implied co. policy, to hear and/or obtain a rational view of the othersides arguments, concerns and considerations), the net result is to make the sponsor cringe. Make them realize the predicament they are in when they get back to the office with all the 'see I told you so' ammunition placed in the hand of their own detractors to which they will now have few if any answers. Chilling thought isn't it? I find it incredibly disingenious that after so long in waiting for the automakers to come to the table, that the 'vitriol' can not be placed on a 'back burner' rather than hurled in the face of a person who so trustingly offered themselves up as a target because of their quite possibly genuine interest in achieveing some understanding. It shouldn't take much intellectual effort to realize that the person present from the other side attends at great personal risk! So why isn't the vitriol saved for later instead of just inanely hurled at the first accessible target? Probably the deepness of the feelings generated by being part of a struggle, leads one to the emotional decision to attempt to tarnish whatever opposites get within reach. You have to realize that the Automakers make the cars and they sell them because it's their business to do so. And that started long before anyone could ever surmise that the auto was not the god send it was seen to be. Auto dependency too, grew large long before we knew what it really portended. So they've had a long headstart, in an era of blissful ignorance, which allowed them to put all their chips into the pot. Those chips, clearly can not be pulled out 'on the dime'. Nor would anyone even suggest that that is a rational thing to do, even while we rail against the consequences of not doing just that! It the cognitive dissonance that aids intelligent thinking. The knowledge that there is imperfection on both sides, which serves to quell emotional outbursts and aids in the search for consensus. Even if the Automakers wanted to shutdown the plants or even slowdown the building of new ones, they have legal/fiduciary responsiblities to shareholders that would get in the way to very awful and dramatic effects. We must live in the real world where not everything or everyone is right! Where simple solutions aren't the practical ones and can often do more harm rather than the very good they were supposed to provide. Time and again we experiment with 'absolute value systems' and time and again they have not only failed but left in their wake much suffering and travesty. No smoke, no drink, no dancing, no singing! All part of a horrible world in which oppressors are king! All while the more moderate - Less smoking, less drinking, less dancing, less singing, are available to try and see what everyone else thinks. Obwon From wcox at publicpurpose.com Thu Mar 5 04:23:39 1998 From: wcox at publicpurpose.com (Wendell Cox ) Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 13:23:39 -0600 (CST) Subject: [sustran] Private Monopoly and Vested Political Interests in SA Message-ID: <199803041923.NAA05808@mail1.i1.net> To Eric and the group --- Please forgive me if a version of this arrives --- I seem to have lost a previous draft, but hopefully this will say the same thing.... The private bus companies (commuter) are highly subsidized. They also hold monpolies. There has been some competitive tendering in the past (little compared to the total private service) and much more will happen now under the Mandella government's new initiatives. Around the world private bus operators that hold monopolies have told me they are unsubsidized --- more often than not they have concocted an interesting way of defining subsidies as operating revenues. There are good reasons for "appeasing" the kombi-taxi industry ---- 1. It provides more than 40 percent of the black work trips --- a non-SOV market share not matched by any mode in western Europe or the US. 2. The kombi taxi industry has political power --- which means they must be appeased. Just like the transit unions in the US --- whose political power has routinely violated the interests of transit customers and the cities they serve by providing (shall we say rationing) services through the imposition of higher than market costs. Or take the NYC Transport Workers Union, which is standing in the way of expansion and development of the van industry, which many people find superior in terms of mobility compared to the fixed route service. It is no wonder that people seek alternatives, and begin commuting by car. All of this is to say that political reality is political reality. The kombi taxi industry has political power. The US transit unions have political power. There seems to be little in recorded history to suggest that powerful political interests are inclined to put the good of society ahead of their own interests. Too bad that in all of this the people and our cities are the victims. None of this is to retreat from my position that the kombi taxi industry represents a very important resource in SA --- it seems to me that the appropriate direction of policy is to make the best use of what is there already, while supplemnting that with things that make sense and truly improve transport in the urban areas. All of that has to be pursued in the context of the financial limitations facing the central, provincial and local governments. Best regards, Wendell Cox >Thanks for the informative answers, but I am still puzzled, and it is >one of the reasons that I asked the original question in the first >place. I have heard from several quarters that most public bus >>services are completely un-subsidized. Last year I met the accountant >for Golden Arrow bus company who told me that neither his company nor >his competitors get a dime of subsidy, either capital or operating >subsidy. > >Another question is why the combi-taxi people so damned important >to appease? Are they precluding all efforts to build up regular >fixed route transit systems that don't involve operating "turfs". > >I hope Walter gets some work in SA, it would be very interesting >indeed. Perhaps with a new Prime Minister coming in...... > >Eric > > >...... previous stuff deleted ....... > > > WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal http://www.publicpurpose.com Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA "To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost that is no higher than necessary." From ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu Thu Mar 5 06:39:35 1998 From: ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu (Eric Bruun) Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 16:39:35 -0500 (EST) Subject: [sustran] Private Monopoly and Vested Political Interests in SA In-Reply-To: <199803041923.NAA05808@mail1.i1.net> Message-ID: Wendell, thanks for the information. It would not surprise me if companies found ways to hide their subsidies. Are these commuter oriented only services for highly specific markets or are they in competition with combi-taxis in many places? About your comment about 40 percent of work trips being taken by combi-taxi: If this is MOTORIZED work trips, there are several European and Asian cities that have similar splits for transit. Not necesarily for only one mode, but for a combination of modes. It is not rare for transit-oriented cities. I agree that unions have often contributed their share to problems in improving or expanding services. Believe it or not, I am actually even fairly sympathetic to the management of SEPTA (Philadelphia region) in the impending strike by the Transit Workers Union. I think a large minority give poor service to the public and abuse the equipment they operate. Certainly, there are some unreasonable work rules. We have had the debate before about "market wages." This is about ideology. Yes, we could take advantage of the large numbers of people earning very low wages by busting unions, but there really is no such thing as a pure "market". Without unions, managements hold more of the negotiating power instead, as can be seen by declining real wages for the majority of workers in the United States as unions have disapeared. Thus, I have to support the right of people to collectively bargain. A senior driver earns about $16 per hour at most agencies. This is barely even a middle class income anymore. What I want to know is why a rich country can no longer supposedly afford to pay decent wages for work that is important to society? Eric On Wed, 4 Mar 1998, Wendell Cox wrote: > To Eric and the group --- > > Please forgive me if a version of this arrives --- I seem to have lost a > previous draft, but hopefully this will say the same thing.... > > The private bus companies (commuter) are highly subsidized. They also hold > monpolies. There has been some competitive tendering in the past (little > compared to the total private service) and much more will happen now under > the Mandella government's new initiatives. Around the world private bus > operators that hold monopolies have told me they are unsubsidized --- more > often than not they have concocted an interesting way of defining subsidies > as operating revenues. > > There are good reasons for "appeasing" the kombi-taxi industry ---- > > 1. It provides more than 40 percent of the black work trips --- a non-SOV > market share not matched by any mode in western Europe or the US. > > 2. The kombi taxi industry has political power --- which means they must be > appeased. Just like the transit unions in the US --- whose political power > has routinely violated the interests of transit customers and the cities > they serve by providing (shall we say rationing) services through the > imposition of higher than market costs. Or take the NYC Transport Workers > Union, which is standing in the way of expansion and development of the van > industry, which many people find superior in terms of mobility compared to > the fixed route service. It is no wonder that people seek alternatives, and > begin commuting by car. All of this is to say that political reality is > political reality. The kombi taxi industry has political power. The US > transit unions have political power. There seems to be little in recorded > history to suggest that powerful political interests are inclined to put the > good of society ahead of their own interests. Too bad that in all of this > the people and our cities are the victims. > > None of this is to retreat from my position that the kombi taxi industry > represents a very important resource in SA --- it seems to me that the > appropriate direction of policy is to make the best use of what is there > already, while supplemnting that with things that make sense and truly > improve transport in the urban areas. All of that has to be pursued in the > context of the financial limitations facing the central, provincial and > local governments. > > Best regards, > Wendell Cox > > > >Thanks for the informative answers, but I am still puzzled, and it is > >one of the reasons that I asked the original question in the first > >place. I have heard from several quarters that most public bus > >>services are completely un-subsidized. Last year I met the accountant > >for Golden Arrow bus company who told me that neither his company nor > >his competitors get a dime of subsidy, either capital or operating > >subsidy. > > > >Another question is why the combi-taxi people so damned important > >to appease? Are they precluding all efforts to build up regular > >fixed route transit systems that don't involve operating "turfs". > > > >I hope Walter gets some work in SA, it would be very interesting > >indeed. Perhaps with a new Prime Minister coming in...... > > > >Eric > > > > > >...... previous stuff deleted ....... > > > > > > > WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY > International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning > The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal > http://www.publicpurpose.com > Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 > P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA > > "To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by > identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost > that is no higher than necessary." > > From wcox at publicpurpose.com Thu Mar 5 11:44:47 1998 From: wcox at publicpurpose.com (Wendell Cox ) Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 20:44:47 -0600 (CST) Subject: [sustran] Private Monopoly and Vested Political Interests in SA Message-ID: <199803050244.UAA04533@mail1.i1.net> Eric... Thank you for the note.... some comments....> > >Wendell, thanks for the information. It would not surprise me >if companies found ways to hide their subsidies. Are these >commuter oriented only services for highly specific markets >or are they in competition with combi-taxis in many places? > It is my understanding that there is some competition, but the problem for the fixed route operators --- bus and rail --- is the flexibliity of the kombi services, which can provide more flexible services. Their higher market share has been taken over the years directly from the buses and commuter rail operations. >We have had the debate before about "market wages." This is >about ideology. Yes, we could take advantage of the large >numbers of people earning very low wages by busting unions, >but there really is no such thing as a pure "market". Without >unions, managements hold more of the negotiating power instead, >as can be seen by declining real wages for the majority of >workers in the United States as unions have disapeared. Thus, >I have to support the right of people to collectively bargain. >A senior driver earns about $16 per hour at most agencies. This >is barely even a middle class income anymore. What I want to >know is why a rich country can no longer supposedly afford to >pay decent wages for work that is important to society? > We'll probably never agree on most of this --- I have no problem with collective bargaining so long as there is voluntary unionism (such as in New Zealand and, if we are to believe the Liberal promises, in Australia before too long). The critical point, however, is that employees are free to collectively bargain throughout the private sector --- and many competitively tendered services are provided by drivers represented by unions. However, government provides easier prey for collective bargaining than companies in the market, which is how we get above market wages, benefits and working conditions. It's a simple economic question --- shall we get the most transit service possible for the money available --- or shall we be content to allow a good bit of the money --- I estimate 75 percent of the new money (inflation adjusted increase) --- to go to cost increases that could not occur in the market --- a good bit of that to labor. Is subsidized public transport a primarily mobility service, or is it a welfare service that provides employees with a higher standard of living than they could obtain in other employment. You cant have both --- and we dont. As you know, urban transportation is very competitive --- the auto is a strong competitor --- if public transport is to make any serious headway, then it must devote all of its resources to the task, and cannot be diverted by subsidiary goals. Of course, it has been diverted in the US, and we are paying the price. And.... why do we owe a greater obligation to transit workers than to Walmart clerks or MacDonalds employees? If some are to be paid above market, then why not all. What avout equal protection under the law (I ask this seriousiy). Anyway, I am confident that I have been no more successful in changing your view than you have been in changing mine --- but the exchange is useful. Best regards, Wendell Cox WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal http://www.publicpurpose.com Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA "To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost that is no higher than necessary." From alex at sgimess.physics.upenn.edu Thu Mar 5 21:59:34 1998 From: alex at sgimess.physics.upenn.edu (Alex Welte) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 07:59:34 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Private Monopoly and Vested Political Interests in SA In-Reply-To: Eric Bruun "Re: [sustran] Private Monopoly and Vested Political Interests in SA" (Mar 4, 4:39pm) References: Message-ID: <9803050759.ZM28980@sgimess.physics.upenn.edu> > > > To Eric and the group --- > > > > Please forgive me if a version of this arrives --- I seem to have lost a > > previous draft, but hopefully this will say the same thing.... > > > > The private bus companies (commuter) are highly subsidized. They also hold > > monpolies. There has been some competitive tendering in the past (little > > compared to the total private service) and much more will happen now under > > the Mandella government's new initiatives. Around the world private bus > > operators that hold monopolies have told me they are unsubsidized --- more > > often than not they have concocted an interesting way of defining subsidies > > as operating revenues. > > > > There are good reasons for "appeasing" the kombi-taxi industry ---- There are ? > > > > 1. It provides more than 40 percent of the black work trips --- a non-SOV > > market share not matched by any mode in western Europe or the US. > > > > 2. The kombi taxi industry has political power --- which means they must be > > appeased. Just like the transit unions in the U --- whose political power > > has routinely violated the interests of transit customers and the cities > > they serve by providing (shall we say rationing) services through the > > imposition of higher than market costs. ^^^^^^^^^^ vide infra Or take the NYC Transport Workers > > Union, which is standing in the way of expansion and development of the van > > industry, which many people find superior in terms of mobility compared to > > the fixed route service. It is no wonder that people seek alternatives, and > > begin commuting by car. All of this is to say that political reality is > > political reality. The kombi taxi industry has political power. The US > > transit unions have political power. There seems to be little in recorded > > history to suggest that powerful political interests are inclined to put the > > good of society ahead of their own interests. Too bad that in all of this > > the people and our cities are the victims. > > Lots of thugs have power - and in this forum the taxi wars have been referred to as Mafia type turf wars. I don't think people usually buy statements like "the Mafia must be appeased." You seem to regret the power of the unions and the taxi warlords, but I see nothing regreting the power of consumption driven profit generators. Perhaps we might spare a moment to note that it's too bad that our descendant are the victims of these powerful interests which constrain our choices by protecting their 'markets'. As for all this talk about 'markets' - I hardly expect a better reception than for denouncing god to a misionary - but this is all just vague talk some people are brought up on till they start speaking the same words, without comprehension or capacity to doubt. The truth is that there is no division of economic life into 'market' and 'non market' forces. Everything is competing power, appealing by various means to individual and collective power, beliefs, and motivation. This doesn't mean we should not discuss values, or promote certain ones ahead of others - but pretending that the things business owners like are 'free' and 'market' forces, while others are 'interventionist', 'statist', 'state run', 'centrally managed' or otherwise worthy of perjorative labeling is hardly accurate, nor credible in the face of detailed questioning. Profit driven planning, especially in the recent climate of 'consolidation' (monopolisation) is in fact many of the things it pretends to be the cure for, vide supra. > > None of this is to retreat from my position that the kombi taxi industry > > represents a very important resource in SA --- But this is the problem - not the solution. In a more functional society, people's best options would be better, and the constraints you cite below are not imposed by fate - they're the result of policies the ANC pursues through choice - policies we can evaluate and lobby for and against. it seems to me that the > > appropriate direction of policy is to make the best use of what is there > > already, while supplemnting that with things that make sense and truly > > improve transport in the urban areas. All of that has to be pursued in the > > context of the financial limitations facing the central, provincial and > > local governments. > > Another standard slight of hand. I asumed lobbying for changes in policy is not a foul. Yet when the prevailing 'limitations' are not unsuited to ones argument, it's easy to throw up ones hands and say one 'has to' work within the present situation. As mentioned by others, employers should pay to make their employees mobile, either through taxes, which the ANC is pathetically reluctant to impose, or by making employers pay directly for transit for their workers, with some protection to prevent them from getting it back directly by renegotiating wages downwards. Actually - the ANC is presently committing grave transgressions against the people who gave it power. There has been little more than appeasement of big business, local and international, and many people in the street will confirm this view. Another clip from the M&G: Note R1 = $0.20. Now you go and pay several rand for a taxi ride. The government and employers should make transit available FREE to workers below a reasonable threshold PERIOD. The argument for this conclusion follows: HALF OF SA LIVES IN POVERTY ABOUT 53% of South Africa's population lives below the R301 per month poverty line, according to statistics released on Wednesday at the launch of a nationwide campaign to give a voice to South Africa's poor. The Speak Out on Poverty campaign, organised by the Human Rights and Gender Equality Commissions and the South African NGO Coalition, will consist of 10 public hearings throughout the country from March 17 to June 4. The results will be submitted to Parliament and used to draw up a "poverty budget". Campaign organisers said in South Africa the ratio of a managing director's salary to that of the lowest paid worker is 100:1, compared to 7:1 in Japan. It is estimated that 65% of SA's adult population is illiterate and at least 12-million South Africans do not have access to potable water inside their dwellings or on site. From wcox at publicpurpose.com Fri Mar 6 01:23:33 1998 From: wcox at publicpurpose.com (Wendell Cox ) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 10:23:33 -0600 (CST) Subject: [sustran] Private Monopoly and Vested Political Interests in SA v.3 Message-ID: <199803051623.KAA23155@mail1.i1.net> Some notes below... >> > 1. It provides more than 40 percent of the black work trips --- a non-SOV >> > market share not matched by any mode in western Europe or the US. >> > >> > 2. The kombi taxi industry has political power --- which means they must be >> > appeased. Just like the transit unions in the U --- whose political power >> > has routinely violated the interests of transit customers and the cities >> > they serve by providing (shall we say rationing) services through the >> > imposition of higher than market costs. > ^^^^^^^^^^ vide infra > Or take the NYC Transport Workers >> > Union, which is standing in the way of expansion and development of the van >> > industry, which many people find superior in terms of mobility compared to >> > the fixed route service. It is no wonder that people seek alternatives, and >> > begin commuting by car. All of this is to say that political reality is >> > political reality. The kombi taxi industry has political power. The US >> > transit unions have political power. There seems to be little in recorded >> > history to suggest that powerful political interests are inclined to put >the >> > good of society ahead of their own interests. Too bad that in all of this >> > the people and our cities are the victims. >> > > >Lots of thugs have power - and in this forum the taxi wars have been >referred to as Mafia type turf wars. I don't think people usually >buy statements like "the Mafia must be appeased." > >You seem to regret the power of the unions and the taxi warlords, >but I see nothing regreting the power of consumption driven profit >generators. Perhaps we might spare a moment to note that it's too bad that >our descendant are the victims of these powerful interests which >constrain our choices by protecting their 'markets'. > >As for all this talk about 'markets' - I hardly expect a better reception >than for denouncing god to a misionary - but this is all just vague >talk some people are brought up on till they start speaking the same >words, without comprehension or capacity to doubt. The truth is that >there is no division of economic life into 'market' and 'non market' >forces. Everything is competing power, appealing by various means >to individual and collective power, beliefs, and motivation. This doesn't >mean we should not discuss values, or promote certain ones ahead of >others - but pretending that the things business owners like are 'free' >and 'market' forces, while others are 'interventionist', 'statist', >'state run', 'centrally managed' or otherwise worthy of perjorative >labeling is hardly accurate, nor credible in the face of detailed >questioning. Business, when scrutinized, exhibits little more passion for the market than those who outrightly oppose it. It seems to be human nature to want monopoly for ourselves and competition for others. I have intimated no preference for business owners over labor unions --- my preference is consumers over both. Profit driven planning, especially in the recent climate >of 'consolidation' (monopolisation) is in fact many of the things >it pretends to be the cure for, vide supra. Would be interested in elaboration on the consolitation/monopolisation point. Have heard that it is going on, but heard little of the impact. What is your perspective? As regards all above.... > My point is not to suggest that political power is inappropriate, or to condone the illegal activities of any --- kombi taxi, trade union, business or otherwise. It was simply to point out that vested political interests routinely subvert public purposes, and we should expect that. That should in no way dilute our commitment to maximizing public rather than private good from public expenditures. >> > None of this is to retreat from my position that the kombi taxi industry >> > represents a very important resource in SA --- > >But this is the problem - not the solution. In a more functional >society, people's best options would be better, and the constraints >you cite below are not imposed by fate - they're the result of >policies the ANC pursues through choice - policies we can evaluate >and lobby for and against. You should seek to accomplish your public policy vision just as I seek mine. My point had to do with politial reality and the fact that politics works, in general, the same everywhere. It all has to do with power, as you suggest above. > it seems to me that the >> > appropriate direction of policy is to make the best use of what is there >> > already, while supplemnting that with things that make sense and truly >> > improve transport in the urban areas. All of that has to be pursued in the >> > context of the financial limitations facing the central, provincial and >> > local governments. >> > >Another standard slight of hand. I asumed lobbying for changes in policy >is not a foul. Yet when the prevailing 'limitations' are not unsuited to >ones argument, it's easy to throw up ones hands and say one 'has to' >work within the present situation. As mentioned by others, employers should >pay to make their employees mobile, either through taxes, which the ANC >is pathetically reluctant to impose, or by making employers pay directly for >transit for their workers, with some protection to prevent them from getting >it back directly by renegotiating wages downwards. > >Actually - the ANC is presently committing grave transgressions against >the people who gave it power. There has been little more than appeasement >of big business, local and international, and many people in the street will >confirm this view. Another clip from the M&G: Note R1 = $0.20. Now you >go and pay several rand for a taxi ride. The government and employers >should make transit available FREE to workers below a reasonable >threshold PERIOD. The argument for this conclusion follows: > And now for the :"kicker" --- doubtless e-mail brimstone will rain down upon me.... Thank God the Mandella government has pursued the general market oriented policies that it has. Unfortunately the promises made in the decades before apartheid came to an end would have led to the same type of economic distress that plagues most of the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. For SA to emerge as a fully first world nation (instead of a 1/5 first world nation) will require investment and an economic "pie" that is different. Just splitting up what is there would barely raise the economic status of the poor, while nullifying any real prospect of economic growth. This is not to suggest that everything Mandella-ANC has done is right --- from this distance I obviously dont know everything they've done. But they have frankly shocked the economic and political world by the stablity they have created. South Africa's wealth could have, in effect, been wired out almost overnight. As regards 53 percent poverty... How does that compare to Mozanbique, either Congo?, etc. Why is it that South Africans seem in no hurry to emigrate to Zimbabwe or Ruanda, but the immigration pressures from the north have been substantial? Meanwhile our Republicans are searching hard for a candidate to run in 2000 against Al Gore for President. Unfortunately, our constitution requires presidents to have been born in the US --- Mandella would be a good bit better than anyone on the horizon. And to state my point on kombi-taxis in another way --- we shouldn't be paying as society (through taxes) for what we can get free. I reiterate the view that the solution, to the extent that there is one, is to use, correct and supplement the present situation. A subsidy program on its own will not necessarily improve mobility. The US experience has shown that the bulk of public transport operating subsidies have been captured by employees of the transit systems (managers and operating employees), with little incremental benefit to riders. I am confident that the recipients of subsidies in SA would be no less inventive. Best regards, Wendell Cox > > HALF OF SA LIVES IN > POVERTY ABOUT 53% > of South Africa's population > lives below the R301 per > month poverty line, > according to statistics > released on Wednesday at > the launch of a nationwide > campaign to give a voice to > South Africa's poor. The > Speak Out on Poverty > campaign, organised by the > Human Rights and Gender > Equality Commissions and > the South African NGO > Coalition, will consist of 10 > public hearings throughout > the country from March 17 > to June 4. The results will be > submitted to Parliament and > used to draw up a "poverty > budget". Campaign > organisers said in South > Africa the ratio of a > managing director's salary to > that of the lowest paid > worker is 100:1, compared to > 7:1 in Japan. It is estimated > that 65% of SA's adult > population is illiterate and at > least 12-million South > Africans do not have access > to potable water inside their > dwellings or on site. > > > > > > > WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal http://www.publicpurpose.com Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA "To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost that is no higher than necessary." From ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu Fri Mar 6 23:43:01 1998 From: ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu (Eric Bruun) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 09:43:01 -0500 (EST) Subject: [sustran] Alex one last time -- Private Monopoly and Vested Political Interests in SA v.3 (fwd) Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 08:35:09 -0500 From: Alex Welte To: Eric Bruun Subject: Re: Private Monopoly and Vested Political Interests in SA v.3 > And now for the :"kicker" --- doubtless e-mail brimstone will rain down upon > me.... Not nearly so exciting, actually. My intention is neither to change your mind or rail against your views very passionately, but I think the situation is becoming clearer than it was. Your 'public policy vision' is in fact turning out to be little more than the standard so-called free market myopia which praises 'stability' over innovative change that would take into account serious efforts to adress the problem of selective deprivation. Claiming that skewed distributions are inherent, when we know that the powerful resist change, is not deep, or true. The problem continues to be that the phraseology is such as to 'encourage' hopelesness. I cannot find an explanation for this position beyond being deeply indoctrinated, or manipulative. If we like poverty as a means to sustaining our privilege - why not just say so. If we believe deprivation and exploitation are problems to be adressed, why phrase the statement of the problem as thinly veiled advice not to try to rock the boat or else. Anyway - as I said - I think the remarks on the table so far speak for themselves, and I'm not optimistic about more progress than the little we've made thus far - at least not through a bunch of back and forth emails, but that was all I was ever up for. I happen to be from SA, and couldn't resist butting in when Eric sent me some stuff off the list. Maybe someone will tempt me back later, but I have other things to do right now which take precedence over email debating. From yuva at giasbm01.vsnl.net.in Fri Mar 6 23:22:27 1998 From: yuva at giasbm01.vsnl.net.in (yuva) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 19:52:27 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Framework of the Case Studies for the Information Management Meeting in Mumbai Message-ID: <199803070528.KAA14329@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in> Case Studies We worked out some frameworks that might be of use in writing these case studies. Community Information Management Reaching information to the communities we work with and collecting information from them in a way that would empower communities has been a constant challenge. This section is a starting point in our case. Your case study in this area could cover the following points. * Context * The need for such an effort. * Perspective and objectives * Actors involved * Phases in the process * Milestones * Information collected and tools (participatory mapping, enumeration) used * Information that is disseminated (booklets, charts, workshops and interactive methods) and the tools used * An illustration of empowerment / organising in a community that you have worked with * Impact of the process Resource / Documentation Centre Documentation resources have often provided invaluable support to work in settlements. The logistics of setting up or enhancing existing resource collections and managing them have often been overlooked because of the constant demands placed on us by the work that many of us have been involved in. Your case study in this area could focus on the following points. * Context * The need for such an effort * Perspective and objectives * Resources (books, cassettes, documentation personnel) * Actors involved * Phases in the process * Milestones * Activities * Initiatives / processes that the resources provide support to * Inter - organisational and intra - organisational linkages Information Networking In a rapidly changing global scenario, where information has become the, it has become imperative that we share our information and our resources, act concertedly, and are able to act and react swiftly. All of us have been working at different levels, - local, national, regional and global. Your case study could include these points. * Context * The need for such an effort * Perspective and objectives * Partners / constituencies * Sustaining the network * Phases in the process * Milestones * An illustration of an joint activity (capacity building, etc) and campaigns * Impact of the process From yuva at giasbm01.vsnl.net.in Fri Mar 6 23:22:21 1998 From: yuva at giasbm01.vsnl.net.in (yuva) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 19:52:21 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Programme outline of the Workshop on Information Management in Mumbai Message-ID: <199803070527.KAA20614@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in> FRAMEWORK OF THE WORKSHOP 27TH MARCH Arrival in the evening 28TH MARCH - LAYING OUR FOUNDATIONS The 28th, like the three days is divided into 2 broad halves. The morning sessions aim primarily at building the context for information sharing within the region and issues revolving around Habitat. The afternoon session looks at the role of information within settlement planning. 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. - Welcome, Overview of the Workshop, and introduction of the participants 10.30 - 11.15 a.m. - Introduction (Context Urbanisation processes in Asia) 11.15 - 11.30 a.m. - Tea Break 11.30 - 1.00 p.m. - Habitat Agenda, Settlements and Information 1.00 - 2.00 p.m. - Lunch Break 2.00 - 5.00 p.m. - Community Information Management 5.00 - 5.30 p.m - Tea Break 5.30 - 8.30 p.m - Visit to Akshara (Feminist Resource Centre) 29TH MARCH - BUILDING OUR STRUCTURES The 29th focuses on how organisations set up information centres, manage them and share the information they have within. 9.30 - 1.00 a.m. - Setting up and Managing Resource Centres - Information Storage and Processing 1.00 - 2.00 p.m. - Lunch Break 2.00 - 5.00 p.m. - Information Sharing (Visit to Centre for Education and Documentation) 5.00 - 5.30 p.m - Tea Break 5.30 - 6.30 p.m - Electronic Information Processing 30TH MARCH - REACHING TO OTHERS The first part of the last day focuses on information networking in campaigns and other joint activities. It also has a brief session on how to use the mass media for information dissemination. The second part would aim at sharing our common challenges and lay the ground for defining common agendas for action. 9.30 - 1.00 a.m. - Information Networking 1.00 - 2.00 p.m. - Lunch Break 2.00 - 4.00 p.m. - Mass Media in information Sharing 4.00 - 4.30 p.m - Tea Break 4.30 - 6.00 p.m - Challenges faced by URCs - Areas of Common Agenda From wcox at publicpurpose.com Sun Mar 8 23:48:57 1998 From: wcox at publicpurpose.com (Wendell Cox ) Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 08:48:57 -0600 (CST) Subject: [sustran] WC Final Response to Alex Message-ID: <199803081448.IAA14443@mail1.i1.net> > > >---------- Forwarded message ---------- >Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 08:35:09 -0500 >From: Alex Welte >To: Eric Bruun >Subject: Re: Private Monopoly and Vested Political Interests in SA v.3 > > My final response to Alex..... My, my.. You are certainly effective in exposing nefarious underlying motives with respect to those who disagree with you. Like you, I have other things to do --- one of them is not using phrases like "thinly veiled" etc, to characterized those who disagree with me. I prefer to believe that you, like me, believe you have the best intentions, but have simply come to a different point of view. Best regards, Wendell Cox >> And now for the :"kicker" --- doubtless e-mail brimstone will rain down upon >> me.... > >Not nearly so exciting, actually. My intention is neither to change your >mind or rail against your views very passionately, but I think the >situation is becoming clearer than it was. Your 'public policy vision' >is in fact turning out to be little more than the standard so-called >free market myopia which praises 'stability' over innovative change that >would take into account serious efforts to adress the problem of >selective deprivation. Claiming that skewed distributions are inherent, >when we know that the powerful resist change, is not deep, or true. The >problem continues to be that the phraseology is such as to 'encourage' >hopelesness. I cannot find an explanation for this position beyond being >deeply indoctrinated, or manipulative. If we like poverty as a means to >sustaining our privilege - why not just say so. If we believe deprivation and >exploitation are problems to be adressed, why phrase the statement of >the problem as thinly veiled advice not to try to rock the boat or else. > >Anyway - as I said - I think the remarks on the table so far speak for >themselves, and I'm not optimistic about more progress than the little >we've made thus far - at least not through a bunch of back and forth emails, >but that was all I was ever up for. I happen to be from SA, and couldn't >resist butting in when Eric sent me some stuff off the list. Maybe someone >will tempt me back later, but I have other things to do right now >which take precedence over email debating. > > > > > > WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal http://www.publicpurpose.com Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA "To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost that is no higher than necessary." From wcox at publicpurpose.com Mon Mar 9 00:31:27 1998 From: wcox at publicpurpose.com (Wendell Cox ) Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 09:31:27 -0600 (CST) Subject: [sustran] Critique of New Florida High Speed Rail Projections Message-ID: <199803081531.JAA20258@mail1.i1.net> Critique of New (Jan. 98) Florida High Speed Rail Projections Published by James Madison Institute Available at... http://www.publicpurpose.com/ic-fhs~1.htm May be of interest to this list because of similar projects in South Korea and Taiwan, etc. Best regards, Wendell Cox WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal http://www.publicpurpose.com Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA "To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost that is no higher than necessary." From seacow at juno.com Mon Mar 9 12:08:05 1998 From: seacow at juno.com (seacow@juno.com) Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 22:08:05 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Critique of New Florida High Speed Rail Projections References: <199803081531.JAA20258@mail1.i1.net> Message-ID: <19980308.220831.3414.0.seacow@juno.com> On Sun, 8 Mar 1998 09:31:27 -0600 (CST) wcox@publicpurpose.com (Wendell Cox ) writes: >Critique of New (Jan. 98) Florida High Speed Rail Projections >Published by James Madison Institute >Available at... > >http://www.publicpurpose.com/ic-fhs~1.htm I thought the Florida High-Speed Rail project was off. Brian Kuhl seacow@juno.com http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/6067 _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] From wcox at publicpurpose.com Tue Mar 10 02:45:08 1998 From: wcox at publicpurpose.com (Wendell Cox ) Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 11:45:08 -0600 (CST) Subject: [sustran] Critique of New Florida High Speed Rail Projections Message-ID: <199803091745.LAA16844@mail1.i1.net> No.. it is alive and kicking. > >I thought the Florida High-Speed Rail project was off. > WENDELL COX CONSULTANCY International Public Policy, Economics, Labour, Transport & Strategic Planning The Public Purpose: Internet Public Policy Journal http://www.publicpurpose.com Voice +1 618 632 8507; Fax +1 618 632 8538 P.O. Box 841- Belleville, Illinois 62222 USA "To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by identifying and implementing strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost that is no higher than necessary." From ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu Wed Mar 11 02:33:52 1998 From: ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu (Eric Bruun) Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 12:33:52 -0500 (EST) Subject: [sustran] US Senate and Kyoto Conference Message-ID: If one would like to see a typical US Senator position on the results of the Kyoto Conference, see "Roll Call" the online newspaper: http://www.rollcall.com/policybr/pbstory_d.html From tkpb at barter.pc.my Mon Mar 16 16:18:15 1998 From: tkpb at barter.pc.my (Paul Barter) Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 15:18:15 +0800 (MYT) Subject: [sustran] Moscow transport Message-ID: This appeared on another list. Sorry to those who have already seen it on alt-transp or other lists. MOSCOW'S METRO SICKENS AS PRIVATE CARS INCREASE By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW - No-one who has lived without a car in both Moscow and the West can be wholly cynical about the achievements of Soviet society. Whether it's twice-daily Sunday bus services to outlying suburbs of Sydney, or the budget-breaking, user-pays fares on the London Underground, public transport in the Western world has long been the target of governments anxious to cut their outlays and of car-makers out to clean up on people's need for transport. Urban transit policies in the USSR at least reflected social needs. The sparse traffic on Moscow streets decades ago was the subject of many jibes by foreign correspondents, but millions of people each day were travelling quickly and conveniently for small-change fares on the city's underground railway, the metro. Much of the charm of the metro remains. The stations are still clean and safe, and the interval between trains is no more than eight minutes even late at night. For a standard fare of two rubles, about 30 US cents, you can travel to any point in the system. But the ways of the West are catching up with Moscow's public transport showpiece. Rush-hour travel on the metro is now a succession of unsolicited whole-body embraces. Changing from one metro line to another often requires standing with hundreds of other people and patiently inching your way toward a single escalator. Above all, there are now huge built-up tracts in outer Moscow which are nowhere near a metro line. In Soviet times, residents of new urban regions used to grumble about the slowness of the metro in reaching them, but in those days the metro was at least usually on the way. For today's dwellers on the expanding fringes of Moscow, the approach of the metro has for practical purposes come to a halt. According to public transport planners, the current metro network of 261 kilometres is at least 100 kilometres short of the minimum needed. Big new investments are essential, but revenues from fares only approximately cover the metro's running costs. The bill for new construction and re-equipping is supposed to be met out of federal government grants. And in recent years, these grants have been cut to a fraction of the sums required. In mid-January this year the news emerged that new construction work on the Moscow metro had come to a complete halt; funds promised by the government for the first quarter of 1998 had not materialised. When the money came through, metro construction chief Nikolai Tarararov told reporters, conservation work would be carried out to ensure that work performed last year would not be wasted. The halt to metro construction has a special symbolic poignancy for many Muscovites. Even in December 1941, when Nazi forces were only a few kilometres beyond the city limits, the building of the Moscow metro continued. On the ceiling of Novokuznetskaya metro station, near the city centre, are mosaics that were executed in besieged Leningrad and transported through the fascist blockade. Symbols, however, are presumably not the prime concern of today's residents of Mitino, a raw-looking spread of high-rise apartment blocks on Moscow's north-west fringe. Every hour in the morning peak period, overcrowded buses haul 30,000 Mitino commuters to metro and rail stations inside the Moscow ring road. Promised a metro line, which is still marked as ``under construction'' on the maps in every metro carriage, the commuters have now learned they will have to wait indefinitely. If the federal government lacks money to develop public transport, might funds be found in the Moscow city budget? Here it should be pointed out that the city regime of Mayor Yury Luzhkov has found the money for a string of grandiose prestige projects, including the US$300 million reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Capitalism, however, does not exist to serve people who cram into municipal buses in order to get to work, but people who are driven to their jobs in luxury cars with smoked-glass windows. What Russia's new rich need is not affordable, convenient public transport, but quick passage on their own set of wheels. In the course of the 1990s the number of vehicles on Moscow streets has increased by several times. This is not the result of prosperity (though Moscow is far more prosperous than any other Russian city), so much as of a combination of pent-up demand and of increased availability of cars, often cheap used vehicles from the West. The traffic jams in Moscow now rival those of Mexico City, and for the people behind the smoked-glass windows, getting to downtown offices each day has become a tedious ordeal. Accordingly, there are strong pressures on the city authorities to favour the road system whenever there are funds available to be spent on transport. Alongside conventional plans for new roads and multi-level intersections is a proposal for turning Moscow's inner rail freight ring - once mooted for conversion to rail passenger use - into a highway. More patently self-serving is a plan to build a 27-kilometre, four-lane highway to a settlement in the Odintsovo region west of Moscow where high-ranking government officials and wealthy ``new Russians'' have their country houses. Although this latter plan would involve demolishing several apartment blocks and numerous small private houses, cutting down 236,000 trees, and dismantling a passenger rail line, it reportedly has the support of the Moscow mayor's office, the regional administration and the federal road service. Local residents dealt a blow against the scheme last December, when they voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to oppose closing the rail line. Votes, however, are not usually an important consideration in Moscow city politics, and in the anterooms of the mayor's office, public transport users are continuing to lose out to the private vehicle lobby. The future is easy enough to predict. As the need to replace equipment in the public transport system becomes urgent, federal and municipal authorities alike will resist allotting money. To keep the trains and buses running, fares will be raised and off-peak services slashed. Users will be told they have to pay the real cost of the services they receive. Muscovites who can afford a car will be forced to buy and drive one, reducing public transport revenues and prompting further service cuts and fare increases. The share of municipal finances spent on maintaining and expanding the overburdened road network will spiral upwards. For an efficient, unobtrusive and relatively cheap system, an expensive, polluting, city-strangling monstrosity will be substituted. Only the car firms will benefit. Moscow, in short, seems destined to repeat the experience of many cities in the West where public vision has lost out to private greed. It would not require any special radicalism for the authorities in the Russian capital to accept the new wisdom of many city planners in the West: that prioritising public transport, even if it has to be subsidised, is the cheap option in the end, and the only civilised one. But in Moscow, whose rulers lavish money on cathedrals while worshipping the market, public vision is a commodity as rare as eggs and sugar in a Soviet food store. ** End of text from cdp:headlines ** ********************************************** This material came from PeaceNet, a non-profit progressive networking service. For more information, send a message to peacenet-info@igc.apc.org ********************************************** From flyvbjerg at i4.auc.dk Wed Mar 18 04:24:27 1998 From: flyvbjerg at i4.auc.dk (Bent Flyvbjerg AAU) Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 20:24:27 +0100 Subject: [sustran] RATIONALITY AND POWER, sustran-discuss Message-ID: <350ECDEB.28DB@i4.auc.dk> Dear Colleagues. I thought you might be interested to know that my book RATIONALITY AND POWER has just been published by the University of Chicago Press. Below, please find information about the book, including pre-reviews. If this mail is of no interest to you I am sorry and apologize for any inconvenience. Also apologies for any cross posting. Sincerely, Bent Flyvbjerg, Professor Aalborg University, Dept. of Development and Planning 9220 Aalborg, Denmark email: flyvbjerg@i4.auc.dk FROM THE COVER AND PUBLISHER'S INFORMATION MATERIAL: In Rationality and Power, Bent Flyvbjerg takes the reader behind the scenes to uncover the Realpolitik--and real rationality--in an internationally acclaimed transport and city planning project in the Danish town of Aalborg, but it could be anywhere. Aalborg is to Flyvbjerg what Florence was to Machiavelli: a laboratory for understanding power. The reader witnesses, firsthand, the classic and endless drama which defines what transport and city planning are and can be. The result is a fascinating narrative that is both concrete and general, current and timeless. Flyvbjerg shows how power warps deliberation in planning and policy-making. He demonstrates how "rationality" can only be an ideal when confronted with the real rationalities involved in transport and city planning. He then elaborates on how fruitful deliberation and action can occur. "Flyvbjerg--quite wrongly fearing his account will appear as an 'obscure story from an obscure corner of the earth written by an obscure scholar'--has taken the development of a transport plan for the Danish city of Aalborg, and made it into a metaphor for our time. The question 'what to do about the buses' becomes the question 'what to do about abuse of power'. There is not a transport planner in the world who will fail to recognise the scheme's slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Best of all, there's a happy ending . . . Read this book, squirm and learn." PHIL GOODWIN, EDITOR, TRANSPORT POLICY "A milestone . . . with vigorous prose and a wonderful sense of humor . . . It is a very special and substantial contribution to understanding urban decision making." RALPH GAKENHEIMER, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY "I have read and re-read the book. It is superb, a real breakthrough. It will be a classic in its field." C. ROLAND CHRISTENSEN, HARVARD UNIVERSITY "I have not encountered a better case study of urban planning." DONALD A. SCH?N, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY "Impressive in detail and comprehensiveness--rare for an issue of this kind." ROBERT A. DAHL, YALE UNIVERSITY "A brilliant, provocative blending of empirical research and political philosophy." JOHN FRIEDMANN, UCLA AND ROYAL MELBOURNE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY "A really fine demonstration of the value of in-depth storytelling . . . I anticipate that Rationality and Power will be very widely used." PATSY HEALEY, UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE "A seminal work. [The] book is unusual (and, hence, much needed) because it points both to the ubiquity and necessity of power." AARON WILDAVSKY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY MORE INFORMATION: Ordering information at http://www.press.uchicago.edu and http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/13393.ctl Or order at: Email: custserv@press.uchicago.edu postal: The University of Chicago Press, 11030 S. Langley Ave., Chicago, IL 60628, U.S.A. phone: 1-800-621-2736 or 1-773-568-1550 fax: 1-800-621-8471/8476 or 1-773-660-2235 If you are an editor or review editor, you may obtain a review copy of Rationality and Power from: Barbara C. Fillon The University of Chicago Press 5801 Ellis Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60637-1496, USA Tel: (773) 702 7700 Fax: (773) 702-9756 e-mail: bcf@press.uchicago.edu Please feel free to forward this message to any relevant person. From vsapkota at ecel.uwa.edu.au Wed Mar 18 15:35:02 1998 From: vsapkota at ecel.uwa.edu.au (Virginia SAPKOTA - imm_staff) Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 15:35:02 Subject: [sustran] The Costs of ETC Systems Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19980318153502.0095b940@staff.ecel.uwa.edu.au> Hello Everyone! I am a PhD student at the University of Western Australia undertaking a research on the viability of congestion pricing and ETC systems as a demand management tool in medium-sized, low-density city. Currently, I am doing a literature review on the cost components of the ETC systems, namely; implementation cost, administrative cost, maintenance cost, and replacement cost. Also, the reason why a particular AVI/ETC technology is chosen. I would be glad to hear from anyone who are presently operating ETC systems, and from those who have undertaken pilot studies. I would greatly appreciate your kind assistance. Also, I would greatly appreciate if anyone knows of any paper or publication that covers the above topic. Thanking in anticipation of your kind assistance, and my apology for any cross posting. Yours sincerely _________________________________________________________________________ Virginia Sapkota Associate Lecturer Dept of Information Management & Marketing The University of Western Australia NEDLANDS WA 6907, AUSTRALIA Phone: +61 8 9380 3803 Fax: +61 8 9380 1004 mailto: vsapkota@ecel.uwa.edu.au http://www.imm.ecel.uwa.edu.au/staffdx/vsapkota/vsapkota.htm _________________________________________________________________________ From gloria at peter.petra.ac.id Thu Mar 19 13:11:33 1998 From: gloria at peter.petra.ac.id (Gloria P. G. Teknomo) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 11:11:33 +0700 Subject: [sustran] The Costs of ETC Systems Message-ID: <2.2.32.19980319041133.0069bf4c@peter.petra.ac.id> Hi, Perhaps, Road Pricing by Nigel Lewis can help you. Regards, Gloria At 03:35 PM 3/18/98, you wrote: >Hello Everyone! > >I am a PhD student at the University of Western Australia undertaking a >research on the viability of congestion pricing and ETC systems as a demand >management tool in medium-sized, low-density city. Currently, I am doing a >literature review on the cost components of the ETC systems, namely; >implementation cost, administrative cost, maintenance cost, and replacement >cost. Also, the reason why a particular AVI/ETC technology is chosen. > >I would be glad to hear from anyone who are presently operating ETC >systems, and from those who have undertaken pilot studies. I would greatly >appreciate your kind assistance. Also, I would greatly appreciate if >anyone knows of any paper or publication that covers the above topic. > >Thanking in anticipation of your kind assistance, and my apology for any >cross posting. > > > >Yours sincerely > >_________________________________________________________________________ >Virginia Sapkota >Associate Lecturer >Dept of Information Management & Marketing >The University of Western Australia >NEDLANDS WA 6907, AUSTRALIA > >Phone: +61 8 9380 3803 Fax: +61 8 9380 1004 >mailto: vsapkota@ecel.uwa.edu.au >http://www.imm.ecel.uwa.edu.au/staffdx/vsapkota/vsapkota.htm > >_________________________________________________________________________ > > Gloria G. Teknomo Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering Petra Christian University Jl. Siwalankerto 121 - 131 Surabaya, Indonesia S-mail: Jl. Asem Mulya 35 Surabaya 60182 INDONESIA (62 31) 5471922 E-mail: gloria@peter.petra.ac.id From tkpb at barter.pc.my Wed Mar 25 08:08:45 1998 From: tkpb at barter.pc.my (Paul Barter) Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 07:08:45 +0800 (MYT) Subject: [sustran] FEER infrastructure focus Message-ID: Dear sustran-discussers, The March 26 edition of the Far Eastern Economic Review (pages 37 to 50) has a "Focus on Asian Infrastructure". There is analysis and up-to-date news on the state of various large transport projects, especially in Bangkok and Indonesia. For example, on the three-tier toll road, light rail and ordinary road project in Jakarta, 'the unnofficial .. word from investment bankers is that the venture is "dead in the water" ' But in Bangkok despite the halt to real-estate construction, many big infrastructure projects, including expressways and some mass transit, are still going ahead, even if more slowly than before. From COLINPALMER at compuserve.com Fri Mar 27 07:16:44 1998 From: COLINPALMER at compuserve.com (Colin Palmer) Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 17:16:44 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Water Transport Message-ID: <199803261717_MC2-3815-3FF4@compuserve.com> Dear Sustrans Colleagues, I am very interested in the role that water transport can play in providing access for rural people and as a low energy, sustainable transport mode. At the moment I have a particular need for information on the water transport initiatives in Bangkok (to add to an article that I wrote in response to Brian William's request to sustrans members.) In the longer term, I would be interested to hear from anyone in the network who has an interest in water trasnport, or who knows of any projects or examples of situations where traditional water transport is being lost to 'modern' modes. Colin Palmer Water Transport Consultant Bristol England Please reply to c.palmer@btinternet.com From inamura at plan.civil.tohoku.ac.jp Fri Mar 27 10:18:50 1998 From: inamura at plan.civil.tohoku.ac.jp (Hajime Inamura) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 10:18:50 +0900 Subject: [sustran] Water Transport In-Reply-To: <199803261717_MC2-3815-3FF4@compuserve.com> Message-ID: <9803270118.AA03045@scorpio.plan.civil.tohoku.ac.jp> Inamura @ Tohoku Univ,, Japan wrote, Dear Mr. Colin Palmer, One of my colleague named Dr. Yordphol Tanaboriboon at Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok studied some water passenger traffic studies in Bangkok. I believe you will get some useful information from him. His E-mail address is : "Dr. Yordphol Tanaboriboon" ************************************************** >Dear Sustrans Colleagues, > >I am very interested in the role that water transport can play in providi= >ng >access for rural people and as a low energy, sustainable transport mode. > >At the moment I have a particular need for information on the water >transport initiatives in Bangkok (to add to an article that I wrote in >response to Brian William's request to sustrans members.) > >In the longer term, I would be interested to hear from anyone in the >network who has an interest in water trasnport, or who knows of any >projects or examples of situations where traditional water transport is >being lost to 'modern' modes. > >Colin Palmer > >Water Transport Consultant >Bristol >England > >Please reply to c.palmer@btinternet.com > ------------------------------------------------- Hajime INAMURA inamura@plan.civil.tohoku.ac.jp Phone:+81-22-217-7492 Facsimile:+81-22-217-7494 Web :http://www.plan.civil.tohoku.ac.jp Department of Civil Engineering, Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University, Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, JAPAN ------------------------------------------------- From chris at mailnet.rdc.cl Fri Mar 27 23:58:43 1998 From: chris at mailnet.rdc.cl (Christopher Zegras) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 10:58:43 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Smog comes early this year to Santiago Message-ID: <199803271458.KAA01174@mailnet3.rdc.cl> Courtesy of Chip News www.chip.cl -- SANTIAGO WITH PRE EMERGENCY SMOG CONDITIONS. Sixty percent of Santiago's non-catalytic automobile fleet will be restricted from traveling today and many manufacturing operations curtailed because of a sharp deterioration in air quality. Residents are also prohibited from using fireplaces, with or without double burning chambers. Non-catalytic cars with license plate numbers ending in 2, 0, 3, 4, 5, and 8 will be off the streets, or an estimated 280,000 of Santiago's 600,000 automobiles. Today's smog pre-emergency restriction is one of the earliest on record for Santiago area. Last year the first pre- emergency came on May 8. Authorities say that although air quality in the Metropolitan region is improving, they expect more "pre-emergency" declarations this year because of better monitoring devices and systems analysis. A total of seven monitoring stations are in operation this year, compared to only four last year, thus giving a more complete reading of the whole metropolitan region's smog situation. The indexes evaluating the pollution have been speeded up (taking only 24 hours to complete, rather than the 48 hours needed last year) and new laws taking effect later this month will allow authorities to declare a pre-emergency almost immediately once pollution norms have been exceeded. Christopher Zegras http://www.iiec.org /\ /^\ Instituto Internacional para la Conservacion de Energia /^\ /_o\ / \ General Flores 150, Providencia, Santiago, CHILE /^^^/_\< /^^^^^\ Tel: (56 2) 236 9232 Fax: 236 9233 / (*)/(*) \