From t9802 at cc.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp Wed Nov 1 10:56:54 2000 From: t9802 at cc.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp (Mohsin J. Sarker) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 10:56:54 +0900 Subject: [sustran] Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city References: <000801c03ff3$f678f960$485836d4@oemcomputer> Message-ID: <004d01c043a7$02908900$0500a8c0@mohsin> Hi there! There is a news about banning rickshaw on roads of Dhaka city in the following URL address. http://www.nation-online.com/200010/31/n0103101.htm#BODY4 According to this news, Dhaka City Corporation have taken a strategy to solve the traffic congestion problem by banning rickshaws on roads gradually. Their main target is to make Dhaka city totally free of rickshaws. In response to this news, I wrote my opinion on the main reasons of traffic congestion in Dhaka city to the various newspapers of Bangladesh. Interested readers are welcomed to read my opinion in below. About banning rickshaw I am a doctoral course student in Utsunomiya university of Japan. I came here from Bangladesh. As I have been doing research on urban and transportation planning emphasizing on non-motorized transport (walking, cycling, rickshaw, etc) and mass transit, I have come to know various transportation strategies that are practiced in various countries worldwide, such as Japan, Europe, USA, and also in few Asian countries. Nowadays, developed countries are facing various problems, like environmental, financial, and social, due to the excessive usage of motorized private transport. These countries have already realized the drawbacks of excessive usage of automobile. As a result, they are now discouraging the usage of automobile and encouraging the usage of non-motorized transport (NMT). Instead of banning NMT on roads, they are providing facilities, such exclusive lane for cycling and footpath for walking. In Portland, USA, there are roads where automobile is banned. Only buses and NMT are allowed in these roads. They got best transport city prize in USA. My point is that developed countries are trying to promote NMT, because they already realized the problems of excessive use of automobile. On the other hand, developing countries are doing just opposite; they are discouraging NMT and encouraging automobile. The governments of developing countries as like Bangladesh blame NMT as one of the main reasons for traffic congestion. But I think from my experience in Bangladesh that management is the main problem of traffic congestion. Police in charge of traffic control neglecting their duties; they are busy in collecting illegal money from vendors for taking footpaths and even some portion of roads; They are also collecting illegal money from bus drivers, rickshaw pullers and also from the user of private vehicles for parking their buses, rickshaws and vehicles in illegal places, for taking wrong right of way, for disobeying traffic rules, for not having driving license, and also for not having fitness certificate of vehicles. Let me give you an example. May be few months ago, there was a severe traffic congestion in all roads of Dhaka city. Traffics were clogged everywhere in city. Then, the mayor of Dhaka city requested Bangladesh Army to handle this traffic congestion. After taking charge of traffic control by Army, within one or two hours, all roads became free of congestion. There was no congestion after that till the Army was in power of traffic control. But just after going back to their barracks, again traffic congestion occurred on roads of Dhaka city. Now I think the reader can realize the main reasons of traffic congestion in Dhaka city. Mohsin J. Sarker Regional Planning Utsunomiya University Email: mohsin_jp@yahoo.com From zahidul at hotmail.com Wed Nov 1 12:13:32 2000 From: zahidul at hotmail.com (Dr Kh Zahidul Hoque) Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2000 12:13:32 SGT Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city Message-ID: Dear readers, I read with much interest the opinion expressed by my fellow Bangladeshi researcher (below). No doubt he is right in pointing some of the reasons for traffic congestion in Dhaka city. Proper traffic management and implementation of the appropriate law are crucial in minimizing traffic congestion in a city like Dhaka. While I understand there would be different opinion on the issue, I feel what is necessary for Dhaka city is a proper planning and management of both motorized and non-motorized transport (NMT). Banning NMT will cause a number of socio-ecomomic problems, while keeping NMT as it is will hinder minimizing traffic congestion. Regarding exclusive lane for NMT, I thing Dhaka city is too congested to afford extra lane for NMT. What I suggest is to make provisions for NMT to ply on the minor roads such as housing estate roads, etc and keeping the main roads free from rickshaws as far as possible. There will be a need for detailed study to identify and deferenciate minor and major roads. And, of course, nothing will be effective unless it is iplemented proprtly. Some recommendations: a) Identify minor roads for NMT b) Identify major roads where NMT should not be allowed c) Strict implementation of parking regulations d) Strict control of illegal dumping on roads e) Effective coordination and proper house-keeping of road-roaks f) Rehabilitation program for NMT drivers/pullers/workers These are few of the many recommendations I think may help alleviate traffic jam in Dhaka city. Sincerely K Z Hoque, PhD, NUS Singapore *************************** >From: "Mohsin J. Sarker" >Reply-To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org >To: >CC: "Hirotaka Koike" >Subject: [sustran] Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city >Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 10:56:54 +0900 > >Hi there! > >There is a news about banning rickshaw on roads of Dhaka city in the >following URL address. > >http://www.nation-online.com/200010/31/n0103101.htm#BODY4 > >According to this news, Dhaka City Corporation have taken a strategy to >solve the traffic congestion problem by banning rickshaws on roads >gradually. Their main target is to make Dhaka city totally free of >rickshaws. In response to this news, I wrote my opinion on the main reasons >of traffic congestion in Dhaka city to the various newspapers of >Bangladesh. >Interested readers are welcomed to read my opinion in below. > >About banning rickshaw > >I am a doctoral course student in Utsunomiya university of Japan. I came >here from Bangladesh. As I have been doing research on urban and >transportation planning emphasizing on non-motorized transport (walking, >cycling, rickshaw, etc) and mass transit, I have come to know various >transportation strategies that are practiced in various countries >worldwide, >such as Japan, Europe, USA, and also in few Asian countries. Nowadays, >developed countries are facing various problems, like environmental, >financial, and social, due to the excessive usage of motorized private >transport. These countries have already realized the drawbacks of excessive >usage of automobile. As a result, they are now discouraging the usage of >automobile and encouraging the usage of non-motorized transport (NMT). >Instead of banning NMT on roads, they are providing facilities, such >exclusive lane for cycling and footpath for walking. In Portland, USA, >there >are roads where automobile is banned. Only buses and NMT are allowed in >these roads. They got best transport city prize in USA. > >My point is that developed countries are trying to promote NMT, because >they >already realized the problems of excessive use of automobile. On the other >hand, developing countries are doing just opposite; they are discouraging >NMT and encouraging automobile. The governments of developing countries as >like Bangladesh blame NMT as one of the main reasons for traffic >congestion. >But I think from my experience in Bangladesh that management is the main >problem of traffic congestion. Police in charge of traffic control >neglecting their duties; they are busy in collecting illegal money from >vendors for taking footpaths and even some portion of roads; They are also >collecting illegal money from bus drivers, rickshaw pullers and also from >the user of private vehicles for parking their buses, rickshaws and >vehicles >in illegal places, for taking wrong right of way, for disobeying traffic >rules, for not having driving license, and also for not having fitness >certificate of vehicles. Let me give you an example. May be few months ago, >there was a severe traffic congestion in all roads of Dhaka city. Traffics >were clogged everywhere in city. Then, the mayor of Dhaka city requested >Bangladesh Army to handle this traffic congestion. After taking charge of >traffic control by Army, within one or two hours, all roads became free of >congestion. There was no congestion after that till the Army was in power >of >traffic control. But just after going back to their barracks, again traffic >congestion occurred on roads of Dhaka city. Now I think the reader can >realize the main reasons of traffic congestion in Dhaka city. > > >Mohsin J. Sarker >Regional Planning >Utsunomiya University >Email: mohsin_jp@yahoo.com > > _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. From ajain at kcrc.com Wed Nov 1 13:34:07 2000 From: ajain at kcrc.com (Jain Alok) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 12:34:07 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city Message-ID: Dr Zahid wrote: > Regarding exclusive > lane for NMT, I thing Dhaka city is too congested to afford > extra lane for > NMT. All the more reason to promote NMT. Densely built areas are particularly adaptive to NMT. And I am surprised to see no mention of public transport / modal shift in any of the suggestions. Alok Jain Hong Kong From zahidul at hotmail.com Wed Nov 1 12:55:53 2000 From: zahidul at hotmail.com (Dr Kh Zahidul Hoque) Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2000 12:55:53 SGT Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city Message-ID: >Dr Zahid wrote: > > > Regarding exclusive > > lane for NMT, I thing Dhaka city is too congested to afford > > extra lane for > > NMT. Alok Jain Wrote: > >All the more reason to promote NMT. Densely built areas are particularly >adaptive to NMT. And I am surprised to see no mention of public transport / >modal shift in any of the suggestions. > >Alok Jain >Hong Kong I am very much interested to know space constraints along the roads are particularly adaptive to NMT. While the city roads are so narrow that it cannot accommodate existing vehicles and hardly there is any spare land/space for an expansion or additional lane, how an exclusive lane for NMT could be justified? Public transport/modal shift will definitely come in for detail study. Of course, when you ban NMT on the major roads, there should be sufficient public tarnsport to facilitate modal shift from those NMT. K Z Hoque Singapore _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. From t9802 at cc.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp Wed Nov 1 14:05:57 2000 From: t9802 at cc.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp (Mohsin J. Sarker) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 14:05:57 +0900 Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city References: Message-ID: <008b01c043c1$6bb75520$0500a8c0@mohsin> Yes Mr. Alok Jain, you are right with no doubt. One of the main criteria to promote or one of the main requirements to sustain NMT and mass transit is densely inhabited and mixed used land use pattern. I think Dhaka city is one of the best-suited cities in the world to promote and sustain NMT and mass transit under these criteria. So why don't we think of NMT and mass transit based transportation system for Dhaka city with NO PRIVATE VEHICLE, or at least with limited number of automobile? Look at Singapore, after building massive mass transit system along with NMT facilities in 1970s', they have imposed various Transportation Demand Management (TDM) measures to restrict automobile usage. Now Singapore has become one of the models of city transportation system in the world. Mohsin J. Sarker Regional Planning Utsunomiya University Email: mohsin_jp@yahoo.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jain Alok" To: Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 1:34 PM Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city > Dr Zahid wrote: > > > Regarding exclusive > > lane for NMT, I thing Dhaka city is too congested to afford > > extra lane for > > NMT. > > All the more reason to promote NMT. Densely built areas are particularly > adaptive to NMT. And I am surprised to see no mention of public transport / > modal shift in any of the suggestions. > > Alok Jain > Hong Kong > From t9802 at cc.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp Wed Nov 1 14:21:36 2000 From: t9802 at cc.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp (Mohsin J. Sarker) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 14:21:36 +0900 Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city References: Message-ID: <009301c043c3$9b4ef2a0$0500a8c0@mohsin> Dr. K Z Hoque Rickshaws have been banned on the main roads, not on narrow roads. You know that main roads of Dhaka city are wider enough to accommodate at least three lanes in one way. Lets consider the road from cantonment gate (Old airport) to Shahabag. This road has three lanes in one way (so far I remember. Last I went Bangladesh about three years ago). Now if we make one lane exclusive for NMT, then I think this exclusive one lane of NMT would carry more persons in unit time than two lanes of motorized transport. Mohsin J. Sarker Regional Planning Utsunomiya University Email: mohsin_jp@yahoo.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dr Kh Zahidul Hoque" To: Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 9:55 PM Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city > > >Dr Zahid wrote: > > > > > Regarding exclusive > > > lane for NMT, I thing Dhaka city is too congested to afford > > > extra lane for > > > NMT. > > Alok Jain Wrote: > > > >All the more reason to promote NMT. Densely built areas are particularly > >adaptive to NMT. And I am surprised to see no mention of public transport / > >modal shift in any of the suggestions. > > > >Alok Jain > >Hong Kong > > I am very much interested to know space constraints along the roads are > particularly adaptive to NMT. While the city roads are so narrow that it > cannot accommodate existing vehicles and hardly there is any spare > land/space for an expansion or additional lane, how an exclusive lane for > NMT could be justified? > > Public transport/modal shift will definitely come in for detail study. Of > course, when you ban NMT on the major roads, there should be sufficient > public tarnsport to facilitate modal shift from those NMT. > > K Z Hoque > Singapore > > > > _________________________________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. > > Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at > http://profiles.msn.com. > > From zahidul at hotmail.com Wed Nov 1 13:47:46 2000 From: zahidul at hotmail.com (Dr Kh Zahidul Hoque) Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2000 13:47:46 SGT Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city Message-ID: Dear Mr Mohsin, The important thing is that you cannot ban motorized transport (rather it will increase in number)due to political or other reasons. And, Dhaka does not have many three-lane or more lane roads. I think the capacity is already exhausted to accommodate existing vehicles. Now, if you intend to convert one out of the three lane for NMT, I think this won't solve the congestion problem we are discussing. I would rather suggest construct exclusive lane for NMT (rickshaw) where you have adequate space. I think the best solution for Dhaka city would be to introduce /improvement of an efficient public transport (mass transport, etc.) system with true traffic demand management. Converting existing existing lane for NMT might not be a good solution to Dhaka city. Regarding the Singapore example, so far I know Singapore does not encourage NMT (except pedestrians). It practices and implements true travel demand management. They do not say you cannot use the road. The concept is, you pay when you use the road. This is one of the successful TDMs we should look at. K Z Hoque Singapore >From: "Mohsin J. Sarker" >Reply-To: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org >To: >Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city >Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 14:21:36 +0900 > >Dr. K Z Hoque >Rickshaws have been banned on the main roads, not on narrow roads. You know >that main roads of Dhaka city are wider enough to accommodate at least >three >lanes in one way. Lets consider the road from cantonment gate (Old airport) >to Shahabag. This road has three lanes in one way (so far I remember. Last >I >went Bangladesh about three years ago). Now if we make one lane exclusive >for NMT, then I think this exclusive one lane of NMT would carry more >persons in unit time than two lanes of motorized transport. > > >Mohsin J. Sarker >Regional Planning >Utsunomiya University >Email: mohsin_jp@yahoo.com > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Dr Kh Zahidul Hoque" >To: >Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 9:55 PM >Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city > > > > > > >Dr Zahid wrote: > > > > > > > Regarding exclusive > > > > lane for NMT, I thing Dhaka city is too congested to afford > > > > extra lane for > > > > NMT. > > > > Alok Jain Wrote: > > > > > >All the more reason to promote NMT. Densely built areas are >particularly > > >adaptive to NMT. And I am surprised to see no mention of public >transport >/ > > >modal shift in any of the suggestions. > > > > > >Alok Jain > > >Hong Kong > > > > I am very much interested to know space constraints along the roads are > > particularly adaptive to NMT. While the city roads are so narrow that it > > cannot accommodate existing vehicles and hardly there is any spare > > land/space for an expansion or additional lane, how an exclusive lane >for > > NMT could be justified? > > > > Public transport/modal shift will definitely come in for detail study. >Of > > course, when you ban NMT on the major roads, there should be sufficient > > public tarnsport to facilitate modal shift from those NMT. > > > > K Z Hoque > > Singapore > > > > > > > > >_________________________________________________________________________ > > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at >http://www.hotmail.com. > > > > Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at > > http://profiles.msn.com. > > > > > _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. From howesap at saptco.com.sa Wed Nov 1 15:25:22 2000 From: howesap at saptco.com.sa (Alan Howes) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 09:25:22 +0300 Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city References: <009301c043c3$9b4ef2a0$0500a8c0@mohsin> Message-ID: <00ab01c043cc$83cfd8c0$3b646464@alanhowes> For a debate among professionals, this one is rather lacking in facts. Now I have no knowledge of Dhaka, but it seems to me that there are at least two alternative strategies (and I am assuming that basically NMT is a GOOD THING - although that depends on social and political issues, as well as transport strategy): 1. If the major roads are wide enough, establish separate lanes for NMT, or buses, or both. 2. If they are not, it may be worth segregating traffic by road, rather than by lane. Do the main roads have parallel routes (albeit perhaps on minor streets) that could be used for certain types of traffic - whether NMT, buses, or cars. But to progress the argument, you need information about capacities. What are the capacities of a single traffic lane, in persons per hour and in Dhaka conditions, for - 1. A lane exclusively occupied by NMT 2. A lane exclusively occupied by buses 3. A lane occupied by general traffic but excluding NMT 4. A lane occupied by general traffic includinhg NMT. (Of course, there are issues of whether free flow is achieved or not - problem with 1 and 2 is that unless vehicles stop, the capacity is worthless - and while busesmight only stop in bus bays, NMT will stop wherever they feel like it.) I am pretty sure that (2) will be the highest - and at normal Dhaka traffic speeds, it may well be that (1) would be higher than (3), unless (3) includes a lot of buses. Then of course, it is no good providing capacity for cars unless there is somewhere to park them at their destination - otherwise you fill the streets with cars parked, or circling looking for a parking space. I have to say though that the official policy in Dhaka reminds me of Europe and North America in the 40s and 50s, busily getting rid of trams which now they are bringing back. Not that I would like to be a rickshaw puller or rider - while it may be an ecologically sound form of transport, it is hardly something that a developed society would countenance. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mohsin J. Sarker" To: Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 8:21 AM Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city > Dr. K Z Hoque > Rickshaws have been banned on the main roads, not on narrow roads. You know > that main roads of Dhaka city are wider enough to accommodate at least three > lanes in one way. Lets consider the road from cantonment gate (Old airport) > to Shahabag. This road has three lanes in one way (so far I remember. Last I > went Bangladesh about three years ago). Now if we make one lane exclusive > for NMT, then I think this exclusive one lane of NMT would carry more > persons in unit time than two lanes of motorized transport. > > > Mohsin J. Sarker > Regional Planning > Utsunomiya University > Email: mohsin_jp@yahoo.com > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Dr Kh Zahidul Hoque" > To: > Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 9:55 PM > Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city > > > > > > >Dr Zahid wrote: > > > > > > > Regarding exclusive > > > > lane for NMT, I thing Dhaka city is too congested to afford > > > > extra lane for > > > > NMT. > > > > Alok Jain Wrote: > > > > > >All the more reason to promote NMT. Densely built areas are particularly > > >adaptive to NMT. And I am surprised to see no mention of public transport > / > > >modal shift in any of the suggestions. > > > > > >Alok Jain > > >Hong Kong > > > > I am very much interested to know space constraints along the roads are > > particularly adaptive to NMT. While the city roads are so narrow that it > > cannot accommodate existing vehicles and hardly there is any spare > > land/space for an expansion or additional lane, how an exclusive lane for > > NMT could be justified? > > > > Public transport/modal shift will definitely come in for detail study. Of > > course, when you ban NMT on the major roads, there should be sufficient > > public tarnsport to facilitate modal shift from those NMT. > > > > K Z Hoque > > Singapore > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________________ > > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. > > > > Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at > > http://profiles.msn.com. > > > > > From t9802 at cc.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp Wed Nov 1 15:56:48 2000 From: t9802 at cc.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp (Mohsin J. Sarker) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 15:56:48 +0900 Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city References: <009301c043c3$9b4ef2a0$0500a8c0@mohsin> <00ab01c043cc$83cfd8c0$3b646464@alanhowes> Message-ID: <00ab01c043d0$e83c5320$0500a8c0@mohsin> There are many buses and para-transit (like jeepney, it is called Tampoo in Bangladesh) running on the roads of Dhaka city already. But they are always overcrowded in spite of availability of rickshaws on the same roads. I also traveled by this bus and tampoo when I was in Dhaka. Often I hanged myself outside the bus by griping the edge of window or gate of this bus. While traveling in this way, often I thought that it was more enjoyable to die under the tire of bus. However, nowadays various private companies have been operating good bus services. But they are very few in number in respect of demand. In this situation, my point is that after calculating travel demand and after providing other alternative transport modes to satisfy this demand, rickshaw may be restricted(!) on certain roads. But in real field, without providing alternative modes based on demand, rickshaw has been banned by Dhaka city corporation. Mohsin J. Sarker Regional Planning Utsunomiya University Email: mohsin_jp@yahoo.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alan Howes" To: Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 3:25 PM Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city > For a debate among professionals, this one is rather lacking in facts. Now I > have no knowledge of Dhaka, but it seems to me that there are at least two > alternative strategies (and I am assuming that basically NMT is a GOOD > THING - although that depends on social and political issues, as well as > transport strategy): > > 1. If the major roads are wide enough, establish separate lanes for NMT, or > buses, or both. > > 2. If they are not, it may be worth segregating traffic by road, rather than > by lane. Do the main roads have parallel routes (albeit perhaps on minor > streets) that could be used for certain types of traffic - whether NMT, > buses, or cars. > > But to progress the argument, you need information about capacities. What > are the capacities of a single traffic lane, in persons per hour and in > Dhaka conditions, for - > > 1. A lane exclusively occupied by NMT > > 2. A lane exclusively occupied by buses > > 3. A lane occupied by general traffic but excluding NMT > > 4. A lane occupied by general traffic includinhg NMT. > > (Of course, there are issues of whether free flow is achieved or not - > problem with 1 and 2 is that unless vehicles stop, the capacity is > worthless - and while busesmight only stop in bus bays, NMT will stop > wherever they feel like it.) > > I am pretty sure that (2) will be the highest - and at normal Dhaka traffic > speeds, it may well be that (1) would be higher than (3), unless (3) > includes a lot of buses. > > Then of course, it is no good providing capacity for cars unless there is > somewhere to park them at their destination - otherwise you fill the streets > with cars parked, or circling looking for a parking space. > > I have to say though that the official policy in Dhaka reminds me of Europe > and North America in the 40s and 50s, busily getting rid of trams which now > they are bringing back. Not that I would like to be a rickshaw puller or > rider - while it may be an ecologically sound form of transport, it is > hardly something that a developed society would countenance. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Mohsin J. Sarker" > To: > Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 8:21 AM > Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city > > > > Dr. K Z Hoque > > Rickshaws have been banned on the main roads, not on narrow roads. You > know > > that main roads of Dhaka city are wider enough to accommodate at least > three > > lanes in one way. Lets consider the road from cantonment gate (Old > airport) > > to Shahabag. This road has three lanes in one way (so far I remember. Last > I > > went Bangladesh about three years ago). Now if we make one lane exclusive > > for NMT, then I think this exclusive one lane of NMT would carry more > > persons in unit time than two lanes of motorized transport. > > > > > > Mohsin J. Sarker > > Regional Planning > > Utsunomiya University > > Email: mohsin_jp@yahoo.com > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Dr Kh Zahidul Hoque" > > To: > > Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 9:55 PM > > Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city > > > > > > > > > > >Dr Zahid wrote: > > > > > > > > > Regarding exclusive > > > > > lane for NMT, I thing Dhaka city is too congested to afford > > > > > extra lane for > > > > > NMT. > > > > > > Alok Jain Wrote: > > > > > > > >All the more reason to promote NMT. Densely built areas are > particularly > > > >adaptive to NMT. And I am surprised to see no mention of public > transport > > / > > > >modal shift in any of the suggestions. > > > > > > > >Alok Jain > > > >Hong Kong > > > > > > I am very much interested to know space constraints along the roads are > > > particularly adaptive to NMT. While the city roads are so narrow that it > > > cannot accommodate existing vehicles and hardly there is any spare > > > land/space for an expansion or additional lane, how an exclusive lane > for > > > NMT could be justified? > > > > > > Public transport/modal shift will definitely come in for detail study. > Of > > > course, when you ban NMT on the major roads, there should be sufficient > > > public tarnsport to facilitate modal shift from those NMT. > > > > > > K Z Hoque > > > Singapore > > > > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________________ > > > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at > http://www.hotmail.com. > > > > > > Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at > > > http://profiles.msn.com. > > > > > > > > > > > From rajendra.aryal at undp.org Wed Nov 1 16:41:12 2000 From: rajendra.aryal at undp.org (Rajendra Aryal) Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2000 13:11:12 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city References: <009301c043c3$9b4ef2a0$0500a8c0@mohsin> <00ab01c043cc$83cfd8c0$3b646464@alanhowes> Message-ID: <39FFC918.8D9F023@undp.org> Dear friends, The issue raised by Mr. Sarkar is in fact very critical. I was in Dhaka in last May and that was my trip to Dhaka after 14 years. The first time I went to Dhaka was 1986 and I went there on a short mission as a student. Dhaka was a clean city with a lot of rickshaws. The city has now tremendoulsy changed and it is full of reconditioned cars. The traffic is terribly mixed and very often out of control. The drivers have to drive and go ahead however and wherever they get a way. Rikshaws are pollution free, cheap mode of transportation and generating employment to a lot of people. Looking at the numbers of rickshaws in Bangladesh, one could imagine how many families are supported through rickshaws. I would regret that the government wants to ban the rickshaws and instead wants to fill the roads of Dhaka with all those reconditioned cars polluting the whole city. The traffic in Dhaka is very much mixed type. I observed something very particular. At our office, I asked one of our project professionals why he needs a car. His answer was simple: he has to send his children to school and it is very risky to send it by a rickshaw. I was however not convinced with his argument. We were travelling together on a road in the mid town and a car hit a rickshaw just in front of my eyes thereby injuring the passanger badly as he was thrown out of the rickshaw. The car driver was so reckless and seemed like there exist no traffic rules for him. Traffic jam is very common in the city and I experienced it a lot. However, there should be some mechanism to keep the rickshaws on the roads of DHaka. Banning would be a very critical decision. It it is implemented, we should urge the international transport professionals supporting NMT to oppose it. There could be some strategy to keep the existing NMTs and even promote them further. But, looking at the present traffic conditions and the roads in Dhaka, having separate lanes, etc. would not be that easy. Regards. From dmaunder at trl.co.uk Wed Nov 1 17:25:33 2000 From: dmaunder at trl.co.uk (Dr D A C Maunder) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 8:25:33 +0000 Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city Message-ID: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Original Message - - - - - - - - - - - - - - There are many buses and para-transit (like jeepney, it is called Tampoo in Bangladesh) running on the roads of Dhaka city already. But they are always overcrowded in spite of availability of rickshaws on the same roads. I also traveled by this bus and tampoo when I was in Dhaka. Often I hanged myself outside the bus by griping the edge of window or gate of this bus. While traveling in this way, often I thought that it was more enjoyable to die under the tire of bus. However, nowadays various private companies have been operating good bus services. But they are very few in number in respect of demand. In this situation, my point is that after calculating travel demand and after providing other alternative transport modes to satisfy this demand, rickshaw may be restricted(!) on certain roads. But in real field, without providing alternative modes based on demand, rickshaw has been banned by Dhaka city corporation. Mohsin J. Sarker Regional Planning Utsunomiya University Email: mohsin_jp@yahoo.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alan Howes" To: Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 3:25 PM Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city > For a debate among professionals, this one is rather lacking in facts. Now I > have no knowledge of Dhaka, but it seems to me that there are at least two > alternative strategies (and I am assuming that basically NMT is a GOOD > THING - although that depends on social and political issues, as well as > transport strategy): > > 1. If the major roads are wide enough, establish separate lanes for NMT, or > buses, or both. > > 2. If they are not, it may be worth segregating traffic by road, rather than > by lane. Do the main roads have parallel routes (albeit perhaps on minor > streets) that could be used for certain types of traffic - whether NMT, > buses, or cars. > > But to progress the argument, you need information about capacities. What > are the capacities of a single traffic lane, in persons per hour and in > Dhaka conditions, for - > > 1. A lane exclusively occupied by NMT > > 2. A lane exclusively occupied by buses > > 3. A lane occupied by general traffic but excluding NMT > > 4. A lane occupied by general traffic includinhg NMT. > > (Of course, there are issues of whether free flow is achieved or not - > problem with 1 and 2 is that unless vehicles stop, the capacity is > worthless - and while busesmight only stop in bus bays, NMT will stop > wherever they feel like it.) > > I am pretty sure that (2) will be the highest - and at normal Dhaka traffic > speeds, it may well be that (1) would be higher than (3), unless (3) > includes a lot of buses. > > Then of course, it is no good providing capacity for cars unless there is > somewhere to park them at their destination - otherwise you fill the streets > with cars parked, or circling looking for a parking space. > > I have to say though that the official policy in Dhaka reminds me of Europe > and North America in the 40s and 50s, busily getting rid of trams which now > they are bringing back. Not that I would like to be a rickshaw puller or > rider - while it may be an ecologically sound form of transport, it is > hardly something that a developed society would countenance. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Mohsin J. Sarker" > To: > Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 8:21 AM > Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city > > > > Dr. K Z Hoque > > Rickshaws have been banned on the main roads, not on narrow roads. You > know > > that main roads of Dhaka city are wider enough to accommodate at least > three > > lanes in one way. Lets consider the road from cantonment gate (Old > airport) > > to Shahabag. This road has three lanes in one way (so far I remember. Last > I > > went Bangladesh about three years ago). Now if we make one lane exclusive > > for NMT, then I think this exclusive one lane of NMT would carry more > > persons in unit time than two lanes of motorized transport. > > > > > > Mohsin J. Sarker > > Regional Planning > > Utsunomiya University > > Email: mohsin_jp@yahoo.com > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Dr Kh Zahidul Hoque" > > To: > > Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 9:55 PM > > Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city > > > > > > > > > > >Dr Zahid wrote: > > > > > > > > > Regarding exclusive > > > > > lane for NMT, I thing Dhaka city is too congested to afford > > > > > extra lane for > > > > > NMT. > > > > > > Alok Jain Wrote: > > > > > > > >All the more reason to promote NMT. Densely built areas are > particularly > > > >adaptive to NMT. And I am surprised to see no mention of public > transport > > / > > > >modal shift in any of the suggestions. > > > > > > > >Alok Jain > > > >Hong Kong > > > > > > I am very much interested to know space constraints along the roads are > > > particularly adaptive to NMT. While the city roads are so narrow that it > > > cannot accommodate existing vehicles and hardly there is any spare > > > land/space for an expansion or additional lane, how an exclusive lane > for > > > NMT could be justified? > > > > > > Public transport/modal shift will definitely come in for detail study. > Of > > > course, when you ban NMT on the major roads, there should be sufficient > > > public tarnsport to facilitate modal shift from those NMT. > > > > > > K Z Hoque > > > Singapore > > > > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________________ > > > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at > http://www.hotmail.com. > > > > > > Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at > > > http://profiles.msn.com. > > > > > > > > > > > - - - - - - - - - - - - End of Original Message - - - - - - - - - - - - ______________________________________________________________ This communication contains information which is confidential and may also be privileged. It is for the exclusive use of the addressee. If you are not the addressee, please note that any distribution, copying or use of this communication, or the information therein, is prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us by reply. From adhikar at hotmail.com Thu Nov 2 05:48:20 2000 From: adhikar at hotmail.com (sumit adhikari) Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2000 20:48:20 GMT Subject: [sustran] I'm agreed Message-ID: Dear Mr. Adhikari Thank for your response and support. You sent your opinion directly to me. I will appriciate you to send this letter to sustrans discussion group, so that not only me and you, but also many other professionals, engineers and researcher all over the world can perticipate in this discussion. The email address of this sustans group is sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org If you did not subscribe here or if you cannot send this message to sustrans, then tell me. I will forward your letter to sustrans. With best regards. Mohsin Japan --- sumit adhikari wrote: >Dear Mohsin, >I'm agreed with you. But is it only the traffic >police? Is it a very single >sided view? What about the road users, I mean, trip >makers? >You know I always call it as a >physical-mental-material syndrome, you have >to think it from the demand and supply side both. >Apart from that we need a >centralised city transport authority, otherwise our >piecemeal approach to >transits, paratransits, pedestrians and so on cannot >resolve the problem >efficiently. I don't know about Dhaka, but in India >it is really one of the >main problems for an environmentally (in its widest >connotation) sound urban >transport. >I'm also on the same track, like you, finding the >best avenues for India. >So stay in touch. >Take care, >Sumit Adhikari >Department of Geography, >McGill University, >Burnside Hall, >805 Sherbrooke Street West, >Montreal, Quebec, >Canada H3A 2K6 >Tel: (514) 398-4111 >Fax:(514)398-743 > > _________________________________________________________________________ >Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at >http://www.hotmail.com. > >Share information about yourself, create your own >public profile at >http://profiles.msn.com. > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? >From homework help to love advice, Yahoo! Experts has your answer. http://experts.yahoo.com/ _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. From tk at thomaskrag.com Thu Nov 2 16:47:08 2000 From: tk at thomaskrag.com (Thomas Krag) Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2000 08:47:08 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Sv: [sustran] Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city Message-ID: <002b01c044a2$b8f30960$0e4736d4@oemcomputer> Dhaka is not the first place a ban of rickshaws is introduced. From several principal points of view it seems, as also pointed out in the discussion here, a very unadequate response to the challenge of providing a satisfactory transport system in a densily populated city. Moving from principles to realities and figures I wonder whether studies have been made on the effectiveness of transporting people and goods by rickshaws. >From what I've seen myself in Asian cities my guess would be that a rickshaw-based transport system will be relatively slow but very efficient in terms of the number of people transported per cross section. The vehicles are, compared to normal passenger cars, narrow and with a high carrying capacity in terms of number of persons per unit. And they can move in a very flexible way. In a situation with excess space the passenger car is second to none in terms of speed and comfort. In reality, however, where space is limited, cars will often be slowed down to speeds lower than what could be obtained by rickshaws. The demand for cardriving is however enormous. And to my knowledge no western city of big or medium size has solved the conflict between demand and available space satisfactory. The vision of fast moving cars (which can be demonstrated outside rush hours) seems to have a much higher impact on politicians and planners than the possibility of developing a transport system giving a satisfactory service even at peak times. This is nothing that can be changed by a few arguments or over a short time span. But actual facts on what rickshaws can actually do would be a small step in this direction. Any figures are welcome. Best regards Thomas Krag -- Thomas Krag Wilhelm Marstrands Gade 11 - DK-2100 K?benhavn ? tel +45 35 42 86 24, mobil 28 40 04 52, tk@thomaskrag.com -----Oprindelig meddelelse----- Fra: Mohsin J. Sarker Til: sustran-discuss@jca.ax.apc.org Cc: Hirotaka Koike Dato: 1. november 2000 03:23 Emne: [sustran] Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city >Hi there! > >There is a news about banning rickshaw on roads of Dhaka city in the >following URL address. > >http://www.nation-online.com/200010/31/n0103101.htm#BODY4 > >According to this news... From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Thu Nov 2 20:53:36 2000 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (ecopl@n.adsl) Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2000 12:53:36 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city In-Reply-To: <002b01c044a2$b8f30960$0e4736d4@oemcomputer> Message-ID: Before trying to make a specific contribution to this most interesting exchange on the situation in Dhaka, I would like first to offer a rough note with what I hope may be some useful perspective against which I think these discussions and decisions could be most usefully advanced on this fine forum. First a big step back: = = = = = = THE KING IS DEAD: Once upon a time, not all that many years ago, there was a particular way that many people had of thinking about how best to get about in cities which by and large dominated just about all the decisions that were made and the actions that shaped the transport systems of just about all of our cities. Looking back on the process and results with a bit of perspective, we can perhaps refer to this as the "20th century city transport model". There were a few quite interesting things about that model and the kinds of situation that it brought about in all those many places where it was put into practice. The first was that, having dominated the choir of the expert community early on in the process, it came to be generally accepted as the only responsible way to do things. The second is that as the decades passed and more and more people and places got involved, it gradually was able to take on the patina of being ever more "scientific", with the results that the ever more elaborate structures of analysis that were applied worked to render the conclusions and recommendations ever more difficult to question. The third is that lurking beneath the "rational, informed, scientific" overlay were a certain number of fundamental implicit assumptions, that were rarely questioned by the main practitioners and decision makers. The fourth, last and most surprising of all was that almost nobody seemed to realize that in the final analysis it was not the real human needs of the place in question nor the science that were driving just about all the decisions being made in the sector, but all those hidden, unacknowledged assumptions. Without wishing to take on the task here of trying to exhaust the longish list of these implicit assumptions, I think it fair to point out that central among them was the shared belief that a private car-based transport system central the central element in the formula for success. In lock step with this assumption was the broadly accepted belief that for those who could not have access to their own cars (usually assumed to be a minority), the necessary response was to build a "public transport system" for the most part based on large vehicles, centrally managed and ever more technologically enhanced, that were somehow going to do the job for the rest. (Central to this last, was the shared belief this was of course the "second class" component of the city mobility system which at best was handled on the basis of 'kind paternalism' thinking of the indulgent (car owning) upper classes and decision makers.) The old model was, we have to admit, a very American creation, not surprising of course given that country's role as the birthplace of the world car industry and all its assorted companion businesses and interests. But here too we have to be a tad sophisticated and recall not lonely that the model was American in its principal origins, but that it was fully and vigorously promulgated by the US-influenced leading edge of the international aid agencies (notably of course the World Bank) as well as the associated consultancy, research, supplier and trade groups who collectively came to shape the main thrust of policy and practice in the sector. (This was not, it needs to be noted, so much a conscious conspiracy ,as what Hannah Arandt so well called "a study in the banality of evil") Our first obligation in this respect should be to make a genuine attempt to be lucid in the face of the realities that are out there on the streets of the world's cities for all to see (and smell and suffer and feel). The first has to be to have the maturity and balance to accept that the 20th century model is marked by its overwhelming irresponsibility from a broader public policy perspective, and for its failures. This model not only has been a catastrophe for virtually all of the Third World cities, but it has also rent enormous havoc on our cities in the States, where in city after city it has led to a situation wherein the central cores have been calamitously gutted and where the majority of our citizens are forced to live in a situation of truncated access simply because their daily needs are far from best served by the car-based system. Which brings us today right smack up in front of the problems and the options that we have in making transport policy and decisions in the Third World cities, where the issues are in almost all cases in stingingly high relief. Take the mega-city of your choice - Santiago, Sao Paulo, Bangkok, Lagos, Cairo, of whatever -, consider the issues and the priorities, and then reflect on the inevitable implications of about any investment or policy that will come out of the old model. And what do you get? Simple! No matter what the old model tells us to do, the inevitable result will be a situation that will quickly become radically worse than the point of origin. The engineers' lovely new urban highways are quickly going to break down with the new traffic they generate. All those parking structures are going to being in yet more cars and traffic. That new metro project is going to tie up the city in traffic and debt for many years before coming on line, and even then will cater to no more than a few percent of the region's total mobility requirements. And what is perhaps worse yet, will lock in the unsustainable patterns of long distance daily transport. Put in others words, it is clear for all to see that the old model left us with a situation where today just about all of the most pressing problems we face in the sector are in fact and quite precisely the result of someone's old solutions. And so, if we accept that, what next? Well, the first step has to be our collective realization that the old model is more than broke and that we once and for all have to abandon it and leave it behind us. As the poet Robert Frost put it so well years ago : "No more to build on there". We have to look elsewhere and not just for some fine-tuning and band-aiding but for an entirely new approach to the issues, LONG LIVE THE QUEEN: The good news is that new model is now coming into sight, and what we now need is to encourage a massive shift in the highest and farthest reaches of the transport policy community around the world to get to work on it - the 21st century model for transport in cities. There are of course many precursors for it. Over the last twenty years there have been a growing wave of innovations and new ways of doing things that constitute important elements of the new model that is so badly needed. In parallel there have been examples of strong pattern breaks in a growing number of European cities where the role of the car (and the proportion of the urban space dedicated to them) is being consistently and wisely reduced, where much greater emphasis is being given to new ways of getting people around in groups, where provisions are ever more wisely for safe and efficient non-motorized transport, where better clustering of activities is being encouraged so as to reduce the need for unnecessary movements, and where technology is beginning to be harnessed to be the partner in the move to a more sane, efficient and equitable non-car based system. And in the Third World we are seeing signs of the needed new approaches, of which one of the most oft-cited is the Curitiba system, which has its firm base not so much in the technology and the technicity of their busway system, but in the underlying commitment to a fairer and better mobility deal for all of the city's citizens. There are other examples of course, but the fact is that for the most part until recently most of the Third World cities have continued to be victim to the old model. But if we are looking for one outstanding example of the sort of new systemic thinking that needs to be brought together within the new transport model, we can turn to the recent events in the city of Bogot?, where only last Sunday, and for the first time in the history of the Third World, the citizens of the city went to the polls to approve a policy of removing all cars from the city's traffic stream in deliberate steps, beginning already today and gradually extending it to completion by the year 2015. If you want to know more about this most important development, you can find a comprehensive base of information and background on the "Vote Bogot? 2000" site at http://ecoplan.org/votebogota2000/. My point here, dear friends, is not to try to sell any of you on the Bogot? experience per se, as to draw your attention to the implications of these events as quite possibly a major turning point in terms of transport thinking, policy and practice in cities - quite possibly the most important single landmark event of the last half century or more. It is not that the Bogot? model is as yet complete, nor that it cannot be improved in a number of its parts. But it is clear, it is already and work, and it is out there for all to see, judge and, if they wish, make use of and build on. These and a few other underlying factors combined to create a truly remarkable situation that surely we should be taking the time and care to note, both in general and in the context of this discussion of rickshaws in Dhaka. If you look at the issues through this new lens, it changes everything. Does it not? Eric Britton P.S. Criticism and comment is invited on the above. If you wish to do so, may we ask that you also copy your comments to carfreeday@egroups.com, so that they can be share with the World Car Free program as well. Thank you. ecopl@n ___ technology, economy, society ___ Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France Eric.Britton@ecoplan.org URL www.ecoplan.org Telephone +331 4326 1323 Voice/Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4) Fax + Voicemail: +1 888 522 6419 (toll free) From sustran at po.jaring.my Fri Nov 3 11:24:48 2000 From: sustran at po.jaring.my (SUSTRAN Resource Centre) Date: Fri, 03 Nov 2000 10:24:48 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city In-Reply-To: References: <002b01c044a2$b8f30960$0e4736d4@oemcomputer> Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.20001103102448.0080ba80@relay101.jaring.my> Dhaka does seem to be a rather unique place. I can't think of another city in which pedicabs play such a huge role and dominate traffic flows to such an extent. One of the best references with an enormous wealth of detail, data and careful analysis on this issue is still Gallagher, R. (1992) The Rickshaws of Bangladesh. Dhaka: University Press Limited. It may be a little dated in some minor respects but I believe that most of his observations will still hold today. Another reference that is good on NMV policy (not focused on Bangladesh): Replogle, M. (1992) Non-Motorised Vehicles in Asian Cities (World Bank Technical Paper 162). Both authors argue against undue restrictions on pedicabs. They explain the errors and faulty logic in most of the commonly heard arguments for banning pedicabs. Gallagher does acknowledge that Dhaka's transport system is out of balance. He suggests positive efforts to enhance bus transport and to encourage bicycles as ways to gradually enhance those alternatives that make most efficient use of space (which everyone agrees is at a premium in Dhaka). These efforts are also important because the rickshaw passengers are mostly middle-income or rich people (or poor people running errands for richer people). Currently the poor are walking or struggling to use the extremely deficient bus system (or driving the rickshaws to earn a living). Gallagher: "The real alternative to the rickshaw is the bicycle." (p.206) but he outlines various barriers to this, including high up-fornt cost in Bangladesh, fear of theft, . Ironically bicycles carry a stigma of being for poor people in Dhaka, when in fact the very poor cannot afford a bicycle. He also suggests various ways to popularise bicycles in Dhaka. Gallagher goes on to say: "Although the bicycle is the most efficient vehicle on the road, the bus comes a close second, and no-one would dispute that Bangladesh needs a lot more buses." (p. 215) By any standard, Dhaka is grossly under-provided with buses. I would suggest that a top priority of traffic management in Dhaka must be on improving bus movements. I wonder if centre-of-the-road bus lanes (like in Taipei, Nagoya, Kunming, Curitiba, Quito and soon Bogota) may be a possibility on the largest roads in Dhaka, since this will reduce the friction with the rickshaws and also improve safety. One crucial issue is that women in Dhaka find it very difficult to use the crowded bus system (they are regularly denied entry) as was emphasised to me last week by Ms Mashuda Khatun Shefali of the Centre for Women's Initiatives in Dhaka. This means long walking trips for poor women workers and a tendency for other women to depend much more on rickshaws than men. I would like to quote Gallagher again: " The real reasons for wanting to abolish cycle-rickshaws had nothing to do with ?efficiency? or ?humanity.? After all, rickshaw drivers were not the only undisciplined road-users. Nor were rickshaws the most wasteful users of road space. As for the ?humanitarian reasons?, the authorities cared very little about the other aspects of the pullers? lives. The real reason for wanting to do away with cycle-rickshaws was that wealthy people didn?t like them. They detracted from the modern city image that they were trying to create, and they got in the way of the motor cars." My comment: Any city in which private cars face little or no restraint or restrictions can have no justification in restricting the operations of non-motorised vehicles, including pedicabs. Private passenger cars come at the bottom of any rational list of priority when space is at a premium (as in Dhaka) being by far the least efficient users of space (both when moving and for parking space). Paul Paul BARTER (a.k.a. A. Rahman Paul Barter) SUSTRAN Resource Centre P.O. Box 11501, 50748 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia sustran@po.jaring.my Information services for the Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia and the Pacific (the SUSTRAN Network) http://www.malaysiakini.com/sustran http://www.geocities.com/sustrannet From howesap at saptco.com.sa Sat Nov 4 14:50:48 2000 From: howesap at saptco.com.sa (Alan Howes) Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2000 08:50:48 +0300 Subject: [sustran] Buses in Dhaka References: <002b01c044a2$b8f30960$0e4736d4@oemcomputer> <3.0.6.32.20001103102448.0080ba80@relay101.jaring.my> Message-ID: <001301c04623$2eeda5e0$3b646464@alanhowes> What an excellent contribution, Paul. Oh that the so-called "developed" countries of the world could do more to encourage true democracy in countries such as Bangladesh, instead of concentrating on their own selfish ends. However, I am curious as to the background to the lack of buses in Dhaka. Who administers and runs the city bus operation? (I assume there is no subsidy.) And who keeps women off the buses? I thought that sort of thing was restricted to this country (where there aren't too many poor urban women - and those there are tend not to need to travel). Mind you, I am not familiar with bus operations in Afghanistan. Cheers, Alan. -- Alan Howes, Special Advisor, Saudi Public Transport Company, Riyadh howesap@saptco.com.sa Private: alanhowes@usaksa.com Tel: +966 1 454 5000 ext 156 ----- Original Message ----- From: "SUSTRAN Resource Centre" To: Sent: Friday, November 03, 2000 5:24 AM Subject: [sustran] Re: Banning NMT (Rickshaw) on roads of Dhaka city Gallagher goes on to say: "Although the bicycle is the most efficient vehicle on the road, the bus comes a close second, and no-one would dispute that Bangladesh needs a lot more buses." (p. 215) By any standard, Dhaka is grossly under-provided with buses. I would suggest that a top priority of traffic management in Dhaka must be on improving bus movements. I wonder if centre-of-the-road bus lanes (like in Taipei, Nagoya, Kunming, Curitiba, Quito and soon Bogota) may be a possibility on the largest roads in Dhaka, since this will reduce the friction with the rickshaws and also improve safety. One crucial issue is that women in Dhaka find it very difficult to use the crowded bus system (they are regularly denied entry) as was emphasised to me last week by Ms Mashuda Khatun Shefali of the Centre for Women's Initiatives in Dhaka. This means long walking trips for poor women workers and a tendency for other women to depend much more on rickshaws than men. From jefchina at hotmail.com Mon Nov 6 01:39:31 2000 From: jefchina at hotmail.com (Jean-Francois Doulet) Date: Sun, 05 Nov 2000 16:39:31 GMT Subject: [sustran] [sustran] Suggestion welcome : Automobile Use in Chinese Cities Message-ID: Dear all, As a doctoral student, I have been working for 6 years on urban mobility in big Chinese cities. My research focuses on the impact of a rapidly increasing motorisation process (13 to 15% a year). Today, I am about to finish the writing of my PhD dissertation which highlights the shifting from bicycle-based mobility to automobile-based mobility in Beijing. With about 1.3 million automobile vehicles, the Beijing municipality accounts for 10% of the total Chinese domestic fleet. The pressure of an increasing number of cars on the streets forces the municipal authorities to make drastic choices often at the expense of the stability of the still working bicycle-based transport system. The growing influence of a new environmental-based policy for better air quality somewhat undermines pro-automobile policies. However, the use of cars is facilitated by a changing urban structure and automobile friendly road infrastructures. In order to stay aware of the professional community point of view, I would be very pleased to receive some of your comments about the Chinese case regarding motorisation process. My question is : Do you think that China has missed the opportunity to create an original worldwide experience of a dual based transport system (bicycle/automobile)? Upon request, I would be very happy to send a copy of one of my papers: - in french : Doulet, J.-F., "Structure urbaine et mobilite en Chine : l'espace bicyclette en question" (Urban Structure and Mobility in China: Bicycle Space at Stake), Transports Urbains (Urban Transports), 83 (1994): 17-26. Paper quoted in World Bank, Sustainable Transport, Washington D.C.: World Bank, 1996. Doulet, J.-F., "Espace urbain, mobilite et developpement de la voiture en Chine" (Urban Space, Mobility and Automobile Development in China) in Figueroa, O., Godard, X., and Henry, E, eds., Mobilite et politiques de transport dans les villes en developpement (Mobility and Transport Policies in Developing Cities), Actes INRETS, 55 (1997): 185-197. Doulet, J.-F., "L'automobile dans la recomposition de l'espace urbain chinois" (The Automobile in the Recomposition of Chinese Urban Space), Bulletin de l'Association de Geographes Francais (Journal of the Association of French Geographers), 1 (1999): 44-58. - in english: Doulet, J.-F., "The Urban Challenges of Automobile Development in China", FISITA World Automotive Congress 1998, Paris: September 27-October 1, 1998. Doulet, J.-F., "Suburbia on the Move. Beijing Fast-Tracks Northern Commuter Line", China Infrastructure Newsletter, September 1998: 5-6. - in chinese: Doulet, J.-F., "Zhongguo Qiche Fazhan Tiaozhan Chengshi" (The Automobile Development in China Challenges Cities), Qiche yu Shehui (Automobile and Society), October 1998: 12-16. Best regards, Jean-Francois ------------- Jean-Francois Doulet, Lecturer University of Paris X-Nanterre Department of Geography and Urban Planning 200 avenue de la Republique 92001 Nanterre Cedex - France Tel : 33-1-43316179 Fax : 33-1-45653710 Email doulet@u-paris10.fr / jefchina@hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. From Mark.Diesendorf at uts.edu.au Mon Nov 6 08:55:37 2000 From: Mark.Diesendorf at uts.edu.au (Mark Diesendorf) Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 09:55:37 +1000 Subject: [sustran] Automobile Use in Chinese Cities In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Jean-Francois Doulet and Sustran list members, Together with partners in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, I am trying to set up a project to bring automobile use in a Chinese city under some control. The method would involve least-cost planning, automobile demand management, protection and enhancement of infrastructure for bicycles and walking, and improved public transport. However, the project is stalled temporarily until we can find some external funding. In answer to your question, based on recent visits to only 4 Chinese cities + Hong Kong, I would respond: No, it is not too late, but the costs of providing more sustainable urban transport systems will increase, the longer the Chinese wait. Shanghai's plan to greatly expand its metro and to build several light rail lines is a step in the right direction, although there appears to be no plan to improve conditions for for cyclists. Incidentally, I am also concerned because the high levels of air pollution in China, mainly from motor vehicles and coal burning, will undermine the prospects for the greater use of solar energy, thus further increasing China's future greenhouse impact. Jean-Francois , I would be interested in receiving some of your papers please. I read a little French. Regards, Mark Diesendorf >Dear all, > >As a doctoral student, I have been working for 6 years on urban >mobility in big Chinese cities. My research focuses on the impact of >a rapidly increasing motorisation process (13 to 15% a year). Today, >I am about to finish the writing of my PhD dissertation which >highlights the shifting from bicycle-based mobility to >automobile-based mobility in Beijing. > >With about 1.3 million automobile vehicles, the Beijing municipality >accounts for 10% of the total Chinese domestic fleet. The pressure >of an increasing number of cars on the streets forces the municipal >authorities to make drastic choices often at the expense of the >stability of the still working bicycle-based transport system. The >growing influence of a new environmental-based policy for better air >quality somewhat undermines pro-automobile policies. However, the >use of cars is facilitated by a changing urban structure and >automobile friendly road infrastructures. > >In order to stay aware of the professional community point of view, >I would be very pleased to receive some of your comments about the >Chinese case regarding motorisation process. My question is : Do you >think that China has missed the opportunity to create an original >worldwide experience of a dual based transport system >(bicycle/automobile)? > >Upon request, I would be very happy to send a copy of one of my papers: > >- in french : > >Doulet, J.-F., "Structure urbaine et mobilite en Chine : l'espace >bicyclette en question" (Urban Structure and Mobility in China: >Bicycle Space at Stake), Transports Urbains (Urban Transports), 83 >(1994): 17-26. Paper quoted in World Bank, Sustainable Transport, >Washington D.C.: World Bank, 1996. > >Doulet, J.-F., "Espace urbain, mobilite et developpement de la >voiture en Chine" (Urban Space, Mobility and Automobile Development >in China) in Figueroa, O., Godard, X., and Henry, E, eds., Mobilite >et politiques de transport dans les villes en developpement >(Mobility and Transport Policies in Developing Cities), Actes >INRETS, 55 (1997): 185-197. > >Doulet, J.-F., "L'automobile dans la recomposition de l'espace >urbain chinois" (The Automobile in the Recomposition of Chinese >Urban Space), Bulletin de l'Association de Geographes Francais >(Journal of the Association of French Geographers), 1 (1999): 44-58. > >- in english: > >Doulet, J.-F., "The Urban Challenges of Automobile Development in >China", FISITA World Automotive Congress 1998, Paris: September >27-October 1, 1998. > >Doulet, J.-F., "Suburbia on the Move. Beijing Fast-Tracks Northern >Commuter Line", China Infrastructure Newsletter, September 1998: 5-6. > >- in chinese: > >Doulet, J.-F., "Zhongguo Qiche Fazhan Tiaozhan Chengshi" (The >Automobile Development in China Challenges Cities), Qiche yu Shehui >(Automobile and Society), October 1998: 12-16. > > >Best regards, > >Jean-Francois > >------------- > >Jean-Francois Doulet, Lecturer >University of Paris X-Nanterre >Department of Geography and Urban Planning >200 avenue de la Republique >92001 Nanterre Cedex - France >Tel : 33-1-43316179 >Fax : 33-1-45653710 >Email doulet@u-paris10.fr / jefchina@hotmail.com > >_________________________________________________________________________ >Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. > >Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at >http://profiles.msn.com. Mark Diesendorf, PhD Professor of Environmental Science and Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures University of Technology, Sydney PO Box 123, Broadway NSW 2007, Australia email: Mark.Diesendorf@uts.edu.au Web: http://www.isf.uts.edu.au phone: +61 2 9209 4350 (ISF administration); +61 2 9209 4353 (direct) fax: +61 2 9209 4351 From ganant at vsnl.com Mon Nov 6 14:01:41 2000 From: ganant at vsnl.com (ganant@vsnl.com) Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2000 10:01:41 +0500 Subject: [sustran] Re: [sustran] Suggestion welcome : Automobile Use in Chinese Cities Message-ID: <20001106044322.983561141@md2.vsnl.net.in> Chennai, India is in a similar state, with a vehicle population of 1.2 million. Over 30 per cent of all trips are made in this city using bicycles or on foot, though this percentage is decreasing. It would be interesting to read about the Chinese experience. Could I have a copy of your paper/s, dealing with bicycle based mobility and the growth of motorised transport. Many thanks G.Ananthakrishnan journalist > ** Original Subject: RE: [sustran] [sustran] Suggestion welcome : Automobile Use in Chinese Cities Download NeoPlanet at http://www.neoplanet.com From papon at inrets.fr Mon Nov 6 19:58:47 2000 From: papon at inrets.fr (Francis PAPON) Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 11:58:47 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: Suggestion welcome : Automobile Use in Chinese Cities In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hello I'd just like to give some personal impressions about Jean-Fran?ois Doulet's question: >In order to stay aware of the professional community point of view, I would >be very pleased to receive some of your comments about the Chinese case >regarding motorisation process. My question is : Do you think that China has >missed the opportunity to create an original worldwide experience of a dual >based transport system (bicycle/automobile)? > My first concern is why do you think that the appropriate original dual transport system for China is bicycle/automobile? I would think that a dual system bicycle/public transport (mainly bus based) is more sustainable, affordable, and efficient for densily populated and rapidly developping Chinese cities, as the discussion about Dhaka has already emphasized. Introducing cars in this system leads to unsafety for cyclists: even with separate cycleways, they must mix at huge junctions, and underpasses or overpasses demands a high energy cost from cyclists. But cars need always more space, and cycleways are progressively reduced for more car lanes. So cyclists are incited to use public transport or walk. Introducing cars also demand separate right of ways for public transport operations to be efficient. Building separated bus lanes is difficult as space is needed for the automobile, and expensive metros have to be built, making a much less extensive network that could have been achieved with surface buses or trams. China has a tremendous need of transport supply. Bus travel per capita in 1990 was one of the lowest in the world, twice less than North America and Africa. Bicycle travel per capita is similar to what is observed in the Netherlands or Denmark. The only way of increasing rapidly mobility for all is to develop buses without impeding the bicycle system. Instead, introducing cars for the richest will reduce the accessibility for the mass. In fact the problem in China is not so much with private cars, but with taxis and motorcycles. Taxis are more efficient than private cars (do not need parking all day), and cheaper to use in China: so it is the transport solution adopted by the upper middle class. Motorcycles are developping much more quickly than cars. But both leads to the same problems as private cars, but with less space requirements. My second point is that there is now in 2000 one unique development model in the world, which guide the entire economy, and in particular urban transportation (The United States if you forgot it). China is looking to this model, building a 40000 long highway network (the same as the interstate system), several ring roads around major cities, and privatizing state-own companies. The other potential models are overlooked: - the Soviet Union model used to be a challenger to the US, but is now buried after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, in spite the baby (a comprehensive urban public transport system) should not be thrown away with the bath water; - Japan, second world GNP, is too weak politically as a loser of Second World War to be a model; moreover, China has some ressentment against Japan not having apolodgized about the atrocities during the occupation of China; nevertheless, Japan makes huge investments in China, and Japan's rail-based urban transport are well suited to Chinese cities needs; - the European Union is also too weak politically, and with a less good economic health as the US; - Germany has developped a more balanced transport system than the United States, but its reconstruction within the Marshall Plan followed the US model; - the UK is cloning the US model; - I shall not be so presumptuous as to propose France as a model; - Hong-Kong and Singapore, with good public transport, car restraint, and coherent urban planning could be good models for China. Anyway, China growing economy is already the second in volume (power purchase parity), and will challenge the United States within 10 years. China has to develop its own model, but will use the weapons of its competitor. The future of urban transportation in Chinese cities could look like present affluent Asian cities, because of the technical need to accomodate an increasing demand in a limited space. Best regards, Francis Papon, charg? de recherche mailto:francis.papon@inrets.fr INRETS/DEST/EEM, fax +33145475606 2, av. du G?n?ral Malleret-Joinville, F-94114 Arcueil France http://www.inrets.fr/infos/centres/inrets/velo_arcueil.html From a.j.plumbe at Bradford.ac.uk Tue Nov 7 06:10:08 2000 From: a.j.plumbe at Bradford.ac.uk (Antony J Plumbe) Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 21:10:08 +0000 Subject: [sustran] Re: [sustran] Suggestion welcome : Automobile Use in Chinese Cities In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Jean-Francois, I would be very interested to read your paper available in French concerning bicycles and cars in Beijing. My mailing address is as below or you can send a pdf or asci attachment file by email. Many thanks. Tony Plumbe > > Dear all, > Upon request, I would be very happy to send a copy of one of my papers: > > - in french : > > Doulet, J.-F., "Structure urbaine et mobilite en Chine : l'espace bicyclette > en question" (Urban Structure and Mobility in China: Bicycle Space at > Stake), Transports Urbains (Urban Transports), 83 (1994): 17-26. Paper > quoted in World Bank, Sustainable Transport, Washington D.C.: World Bank, > 1996. > > Doulet, J.-F., "Espace urbain, mobilite et developpement de la voiture en > Chine" (Urban Space, Mobility and Automobile Development in China) in > Figueroa, O., Godard, X., and Henry, E, eds., Mobilite et politiques de > transport dans les villes en developpement (Mobility and Transport Policies > in Developing Cities), Actes INRETS, 55 (1997): 185-197. > > Doulet, J.-F., "L'automobile dans la recomposition de l'espace urbain > chinois" (The Automobile in the Recomposition of Chinese Urban Space), > Bulletin de l'Association de Geographes Francais (Journal of the Association > of French Geographers), 1 (1999): 44-58. > > - in english: > > Doulet, J.-F., "The Urban Challenges of Automobile Development in China", > FISITA World Automotive Congress 1998, Paris: September 27-October 1, 1998. > > Doulet, J.-F., "Suburbia on the Move. Beijing Fast-Tracks Northern Commuter > Line", China Infrastructure Newsletter, September 1998: 5-6. > > - in chinese: > > Doulet, J.-F., "Zhongguo Qiche Fazhan Tiaozhan Chengshi" (The Automobile > Development in China Challenges Cities), Qiche yu Shehui (Automobile and > Society), October 1998: 12-16. > > > Best regards, > > Jean-Francois > > ------------- > > Jean-Francois Doulet, Lecturer > University of Paris X-Nanterre > Department of Geography and Urban Planning > 200 avenue de la Republique > 92001 Nanterre Cedex - France > Tel : 33-1-43316179 > Fax : 33-1-45653710 > Email doulet@u-paris10.fr / jefchina@hotmail.com ---------------------- A. J. Plumbe, Director, Outside Programmes, Co-ordinator M.Sc. in Project Planning and Management, email: a.j.plumbe@bradford.ac.uk Fax: International: +44-1274-235280 Domestic : 01274-235280 Phone: International : +44-1274-235264 Domestic : 01274-235264 Mailing Address: DPPC, Bradford University, Richmond Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire, U.K., BD7 1DP. From sustran at po.jaring.my Tue Nov 7 11:50:37 2000 From: sustran at po.jaring.my (SUSTRAN Resource Centre) Date: Tue, 07 Nov 2000 10:50:37 +0800 Subject: [sustran] fwd: [wtpp] Bogota becomes a Car Free City Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.20001107105037.008dd100@relay101.jaring.my> >From: "ASUNTOS INTERNACIONALES" >Date: Sun, 5 Nov 2000 10:36:22 -0500 >Subject: [wtpp] Bogota becomes a Car Free City > >November 4, 2000 > >Dear Friends, > >This is to let you know that a number of announcements of the successful >passage of both Referendum articles here in Bogota have started to appear in >the press here. We are of course delighted with these results, but really >have no time to breath or relax since there is so much work to be done in >the remaining days of Mayor Enrique Pe?alosas's administration, to make sure >that our full alternative transport system based on a completely >restructured, polyvalent modern bus system, Transmilenio, and some 300 kms >of cycle paths and a huge program of creating pedestrian paths for safe >transportation continues to be advanced so that it can do its much needed >job. > >Results: >Proposition 1: >The institution of an annual Car Free Day for the city, building on the >award winning 24 February 2000 experience, passed easily with 63% votes, >well more than twice as many as voted against the measure 26%. > >Proposition 2: >Creation of a firm legal framework to support the phased elimination of all >peak hour car traffic in the city, to be completed as of 2015: 51% votes for >versus 34% against. > >The only viable alternative to "no cars" is and has to be "terrific >transportation". To help you follow this, our friends at EcoPlan and the >Commons have added a new Media section to the Vote Bogot? 2000 web site at >http://ecoplan.org/votebogota2000 They are also asking for links to or >copies of international coverage of our events, just in case you might have >something to share with us all. That would be kind. > >We shall be regularly reporting progress on the Vote Bogot? 2000 site over >the coming months, and hope that this will encourage and interest you. If >you have any particular questions that I might be able to help you with, my >full coordinates are below. > >OSCAR EDMUNDO DIAZ >Asesor en Asuntos Internacionales - Advisor on Foreign Affairs >Alcaldia Mayor - City Hall >Bogota, D.C. - City of Bogota, D.C. >COLOMBIA >Home Page: http://www.alcaldiabogota.gov.co >E-mail: consnacion@gaitana.interred.net.co > diazoe@latino.net.co From ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu Thu Nov 9 06:50:29 2000 From: ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu (Eric Bruun) Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 16:50:29 -0500 (EST) Subject: [sustran] Re: WB urban transport draft strategy ex.summ.1 In-Reply-To: <3.0.6.32.20001027163303.008d1360@relay101.jaring.my> Message-ID: RE. Paragraph xiv. I don't agree with this concern over "cross-subsidization". This comes from conservative economists who don't understand transit networks. Look what happened in the UK when they dismantled networks --- large ridership losses. The two most heavily used systems in North America, Toronto and Montreal, are "cross-subsidized". Eric Bruun From alanhowes at usaksa.com Fri Nov 10 00:03:13 2000 From: alanhowes at usaksa.com (Alan Howes) Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2000 18:03:13 +0300 Subject: [sustran] Re: WB urban transport draft strategy ex.summ.1 References: Message-ID: <009b01c04a5f$fa2437c0$5b426ad4@alanhowes> Oh whizzo! A debate! Broadly I agree with what the WB are saying - and I am neither conservative nor an economist. Of course there is scope for some cross-subsidy within transit networks - but you have to be clear where and why. Who is subsidising whom in Toronto and Montreal? (And do any routes actually make a _profit_ that's available for cross-subsidy?) If it's low-income users on high-volume lines subsidising high-income users on low-volume lines, then I would venture to suggest that something is wrong - and this is what I read the WB as saying. If anyone should bear the cross-subsidy, it should be the car users in the high-income areas - especially commuters. But cross-subsidy is a very blunt instrument compared with a proper road user charging system that, as nearly as possible, reflects the true infrastructure, operational and social costs of transport use. It might come strangely from one who works for a transport firm, but IMO one of our main problems is that [mechanised] transport is just too cheap, in just about every country of the world - and this is even more true in less-developed countries than in developed ones. (In this context, North America is less-developed!) It is certainly the case here in Saudi. If car travel is too cheap, it may be tempting to reduce transit costs to match - but all that does is to encourage travel-dependency at the expense of more rational land-use / transport patterns. (To the extent that here, for instance, there isn't even a decent postal system - people drive to pay their bills, drive to deliver messages, drive, drive, drive ...) When I worked in Glasgow in the early 80s, the residents of the highly deprived area of Easterhouse, who used buses in the absence of anything else, cross-subsidised the rail service to Milngavie and Bearsden, one of the most prosperous areas of the city! (Guess where the elected representatives lived!) And here at SAPTCO in Saudi, we make profits on the (pretty good) intercity bus network which subsidise the (lousy) urban bus services. But why should the intercity users subsidise the urban users? And it makes us less competitive - and while we in theory have a modal monopoly on intercity, (a) the theory doesn't hold good, and (b) what about the other modes? I am quite happy to accept the need for cross-subsidy across time zones within a corridor. Also, I would accept cross-subsidy between routes serving the same residential neighbourhood - e.g. a route to downtown supporting a route to a hospital. But beyond that, I need a lot of convincing. And in fact, the ridership losses in the UK were mainly a continuation of a previous trend. It's not really true that there was a dismantling of route networks - what there was was a substantial increase in fares in real terms, and a dismantling of network ticketing. Both undesirable - but not necessarily a result of reduced cross-subsidy. (In Metropolitan areas outside London, over the period 1985 to 1998, fares went up by 60% in real terms, while patronage declined by 40%. in the UK as a whole, in the period from 1950 to1985 (pre-deregulation), patronage went down by about 67%.) I have a .ppt presentation with an overview of UK experience if anyone wants it. -- Alan & Jacqui Howes, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (also Perthshire, Scotland) [MSOE] alanhowes@usaksa.com work: howesap@saptco.com.sa ----- Original Message ----- From: Eric Bruun To: Sent: Thursday, November 09, 2000 12:50 AM Subject: [sustran] Re: WB urban transport draft strategy ex.summ.1 > > > RE. Paragraph xiv. I don't agree with this concern over > "cross-subsidization". This comes from conservative economists > who don't understand transit networks. Look what happened in the > UK when they dismantled networks --- large ridership losses. > > The two most heavily used systems in North America, Toronto and Montreal, > are "cross-subsidized". From sustran at po.jaring.my Sat Nov 11 13:42:36 2000 From: sustran at po.jaring.my (SUSTRAN Resource Centre) Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2000 12:42:36 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Re: WB urban transport draft strategy ex.summ.1 In-Reply-To: <009b01c04a5f$fa2437c0$5b426ad4@alanhowes> References: Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.20001111124236.00802800@relay101.jaring.my> At 18:03 9/11/00 +0300, Alan Howes wrote: >Broadly I agree with what the WB are saying - and I am neither conservative >nor an economist. Of course there is scope for some cross-subsidy within >transit networks - but you have to be clear where and why. Who is >subsidising whom in Toronto and Montreal? (And do any routes actually make a >_profit_ that's available for cross-subsidy?) If it's low-income users on >high-volume lines subsidising high-income users on low-volume lines, then I >would venture to suggest that something is wrong - and this is what I read >the WB as saying. If anyone should bear the cross-subsidy, it should be the >car users in the high-income areas - especially commuters. But cross-subsidy >is a very blunt instrument compared with a proper road user charging system >that, as nearly as possible, reflects the true infrastructure, operational >and social costs of transport use. In fact, they ARE apparently advocating transfers between road and public transport sectors, eg by talking about integrated finance for all modes of urban transport. It will be interesting to see how strongly they are committed to this. I am sure there may be some problems in the details - which I have not yet examined carefully ... but personally I support the idea of integrated finance via an urban transport fund or such like. The following quotes are the most relevant ones from the exec summary of the review document: "xxxvii. Pricing principles for public transport modes should be determined within an integrated urban strategy, and should then reflect the extent to which road infrastructure is adequately charged. Given the high level of interaction between modes, and the prevalent undercharging of road use, no absolute value should be ascribed to covering all costs from fares, either for public transport as a whole, or for individual modes. In particular, transfers between roads and public transport services, and between modes of public transport are potentially consistent with optimal pricing strategy. However, in the interests of efficient service supply, transport operators should operate competitively, with purely commercial objectives, financial transfers being achieved through contracts between municipal authorities and operators for the supply of services. Any non-commercial objectives imposed on operators should be compensated directly and transparently, where appropriate by non-transport line agencies in whose interests they are imposed. Above all, In the absence of appropriate contracting or other support mechanisms the sustainability of public transport service should be paramount, and generally have precedence over traditional price regulation arrangements. xxxviii. Some urban transport financing principles follow. Given the interaction between modes, there is a strong case for the pooling of urban transport financial resources within an urban transport fund administered by a strategic transport authority at the municipal or metropolitan level. Inter-governmental transfers should normally be made to the fund, and should be structured to avoid distorting the efficient allocation of resources within the transport sector at the local level. Private sector financing for transport infrastructure should be raised through competitive tendering of concessions, which may be supported by public contributions, so long as these have been subject to proper cost benefit analysis." Paul Paul BARTER (a.k.a. A. Rahman Paul Barter) SUSTRAN Resource Centre P.O. Box 11501, 50748 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia sustran@po.jaring.my Information services for the Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia and the Pacific (the SUSTRAN Network) http://www.malaysiakini.com/sustran http://www.geocities.com/sustrannet From sustran at po.jaring.my Sun Nov 12 13:01:36 2000 From: sustran at po.jaring.my (SUSTRAN Resource Centre) Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2000 12:01:36 +0800 Subject: [sustran] fwd: (long) World Bank Policy on Information Disclosure Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.20001112120136.00987210@relay101.jaring.my> Here follows information on another WB policy review that will be of interest to some on this list. This is another one, in addition to the ongoing urban transport policy review. Paul >X-Sender: vir3158@pop.cais.com >X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.2.0.58 >Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2000 16:32:31 -0500 >To: sustran@po.jaring.my >From: Bryan Hantman >Subject: World Bank Policy on Information Disclosure > >As you may know, the World Bank is in the process of reviewing its Policy on Information Disclosure and has begun consulting civil society on the proposed changes. We are writing to encourage you to express your support for greater access to information at the World Bank by endorsing the "Global Call for Greater Transparency at the World Bank" (see the letter below). We also hope that you will get involved the debate and consultations concerning this crucial policy. Below, in the "What you can do" section, you will find some suggestions on how you might get involved. > >The information policy is relevant to almost every aspect of every area in which the World Bank works. Whether your interest is a particular project that is affecting a given community or policy issues related to the environment, gender or macro-economics, you cannot participate without information. > >The Bank's information policy also has significance far beyond its own work. Greater openness at the Bank will influence the practices of other international agencies and governments. Even if you do not work directly on World Bank issues, greater transparency is in the general interest of all those who advocate for open and participatory decision-making and institutions. > >Unfortunately, the changes that the Bank is proposing to the information policy are very modest and do not go far enough in addressing the urgent need for greater transparency and participation. Significant pressure from organizations around the world will be needed in order to improve the policy. It is particularly important that people put pressure on their Executive Director (each country has an Executive Director representing them) at the World Bank, and sign the "Global Call for Greater Transparency at the World Bank". > >Below are some specific actions that people can take to get involved in this important struggle, including a copy of the global sign-on letter. Some of these actions will not require very much of your time but could be important in demonstrating civil society's overwhelming agreement on the importance of greater transparency in international institutions. Please also pass this email on to other organizations that might be willing to make their voice heard on this important issue. > >While there are a number of organizations around the world that are working on this issue, if you would like further information from the Bank Information Center, please contact Graham Saul (gsaul@bicusa.org - fax: 202-737-1155 or by phone 202-624-0626). Graham will be happy to answer any questions that you have. You can also find more information on our website at: www.bicusa.org > >I'm looking forward to working with your organization on this issue, > >Bryan Hantman > >******************************************************** >Here is what you can do: >There are many ways in which you can become involved in expressing your opinion about transparency at the World Bank. Here are a few suggestions: > >I. Sign The Global Call for Greater Transparency at the World Bank: >Add your organization's name to the hundreds of others around the world, who are calling on the World Bank to improve their information policy (see below). The "Global Call" is available in French, Spanish and English at . > >II. Participate in Bank organized consultations: >On September 28, the World Bank launched its consultations with civil society organizations during its Annual General Meetings in Prague. The English, Spanish and French language versions of the proposed, new policy are now available on the Bank's website: http://www.worldbank.org/html/pic/disclosure/. Translations into Arabic, Russian and Chinese will be posted as soon as they are available. Printed copies of the policy can be obtained through a local World Bank Office/Public Information Center or by contacting the disclosure policy staff at the World Bank. The Bank will be carrying out consultations in every region in which it operates. We hope that you will choose to attend. > >For information about the regional consultations either contact us for specific locations and dates or contact the Bank directly by using the contact information below. > >Contact information for Bank officials responsible for this policy: >Tel: 202-473-8064 >Fax: 202-522-3381 >Eml: disclosure@worldbank.org >Disclosure Policy >Room U 11-003 >World Bank >1818 H Street, N.W. >Washington DC 20433 >USA > >III. Contact your Executive Director: >Your Executive Director is your representative within the World Bank and will ultimately participate in approving the final policy. It is important that they know how you feel about this issue. Ask them what their position is and share your view with them. To find out how to contact your Executive Director, visit our website at: http://www.bicusa.org/policy/execdir.htm > >IV. Contact the World Bank: >This is the first time since 1993 that the public has had the opportunity to improve this policy. It is important that individuals and organizations read the paper and send comments to the Bank. The Bank will synthesize all comments, along with their responses, and present them to the Board of Executive Directors during the final debate. It is therefore important that they hear from a wide range of sources. We also encourage you to raise your own concerns directly with the Bank. > >V. Ask other organizations in your country to get involved: >Transparency benefits all citizens and their organizations, including labour unions, religious organizations, student and academic associations and even parts of the government, that are often excluded from the World Bank's decision making process. > >To link to the Bank Information Center's initial analysis on the draft information disclosure policy, go to www.bicusa.org/action/analysis. We hope that you will find this useful when participating in consultations with the Bank. Keep in mind, however, that it is critically important to make your views known to your Executive Director. While the Bank itself still argues for secrecy, an even greater challenge appears to be at the Board level where a few powerful countries have vehemently opposed greater public disclosure and public engagement in development decisions. > >Graham Saul of the Bank Information Center is available to answer any questions that may arise in this process. He can be reached at gsaul@bicusa.org or by fax at 202-737-1155. > > >******************************************************** > > >To endorse the following letter, send an email or fax to Graham Saul at the Bank Information Center - , Fax: 202-737-1155. > > > >Global Call for Greater Transparency at the World Bank > > >Ms. Joanne Salop >Vice President >Operations Policy and Strategy >1818 H Street N.W. >Washington D.C. 20008 > >Dear Ms. Salop, > >We are writing to express our support for transparency in the largest development institution in the world and to express our concerns about the World Bank's proposed information disclosure policy. The World Bank?s increasing emphasis on participation and ?ownership? in the past few years is a welcome acknowledgement of the central role that development must accord to the very people whose economic lives are to be developed. We believe that the Bank?s information policy must reflect commitment to and trust in the principles and promises of full popular participation. > >A fundamental norm of participation, partnership and ownership is consent of the partners and those invited to participate. Consent is meaningless unless it is informed. At the World Bank, the information disclosure policy is the single most effective enabler toward development effectiveness and partnership goals. We believe there is a direct relationship between the implementation of the information disclosure policy and the ability and willingness of the public to be engaged in Bank activities. Furthermore, the information disclosure policy has allowed interested members of the public to monitor the outcomes of specific investments and has in part helped to assure that benefits reach the intended beneficiaries. > >In this new century, and with the accelerated pace of globalization the IDA Deputies and the G7 have recognized the need for more transparency at the international level. While it was not entirely voluntary, the Bank is to be commended for taking a first step toward transparency at the international level through this review of the 1993 information disclosure policy. With modern technology and an accelerated pace of change affecting even the most remote communities, information is one of the very few tools available to the poor and the public at large that allows civil society to both understand and prepare for change. Transparency is an empowerment tool for the poor. > >The draft information disclosure policy moves toward greater disclosure and as such is welcomed. There are, however, crippling limitations to the policy that must be addressed if the Bank is to foster an inclusive development model and achieve greater development effectiveness. In its current form, the policy falls far short of enabling partnership and participation. Whole categories of important information continue to be withheld from the public, including all information pertaining to structural adjustment and sectoral adjustment loans the lending that currently makes up the bulk of the Bank?s portfolio. Disappointingly, within the policy it appears that the Board of Executive Directors is not prepared to embrace basic good governance practices that begin with information disclosure. With this letter we argue for the release of: >? all Country Assistance Strategies; >? the President?s Report, Tranche Release Memorandum and project documentation relating to structural adjustment and sectoral adjustment; >? aide memoires, project status reports, policy papers and country policy and institutional assessments; >? Board Minutes or the summaries of Board discussions that relate to project and adjustment lending. > >Limitations in the New Policy > >The World Bank continues to withhold some Country Assistance Strategies from the public even though the public is increasingly asked both to participate in the development of this strategy and work with the Bank in its implementation. The inconsistency in this process should be rectified. Development is not an exclusive process, but requires multiple stakeholders to be engaged in order to be successful. The World Bank cannot expect support from donors, the poor, other development agencies or even broad borrowing country governmental support if its basic strategy for development success is not made known to the public. Currently there are two sets of standards: an open and transparent standard for poor countries and a closed and secret standard for middle income countries. We are aware of the concerns expressed by many countries regarding the availability of the CAS. The CAS, however, according to your own website, is a Bank owned document. As such, it is both the right and the responsibility of the World Bank to disclose this document. Failure to disclose the overall plan for the Bank's operations in any given country mocks the presumption in favor of disclosure that underpins the information disclosure policy. > >Macroeconomic Information > >We are deeply disappointed by the lack of progress on disclosing documents relating to structural adjustment lending. The current proposal will simply affirm existing practice of allowing a country to make information available at its own discretion. > >In Fiscal Year 1999, 63% of the World Bank?s lending operations consisted of policy-based lending (such as structural or sectoral adjustment lending). No documentation has been made available to illuminate the goals, the implementation or the outcomes of these loans. Under the proposed information policy the public will continue to be effectively excluded from participation in the bulk of the World Bank?s lending operations. Popular participation is increasingly seen as an effective way in which to foster ownership within a borrowing country. Without the basic documentation, citizens cannot be expected to participate in the development, implementation or monitoring of these lending operations. > >Structural adjustment is viewed as one of the key ways in which the World Bank is engaged in globalization a contested issue that has sparked massive protests around the world. The failure to release material related to structural adjustment will impede the public?s understanding of the Bank and fosters suspicion around the Bank's role in globalization. While the Bank has attempted to rectify the lack of openness on SAPs with a consultative process for the creation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), the two remain quite different instruments. One is a broad planning instrument and the other is an actual loan. Without access to the loan process it remains impossible for the public to track the implementation of the broad policy goals outlined in the PRSP. > >SAPs are often negotiated in a very narrow discussion that excludes relevant ministries and parliamentarians. Nevertheless, parliaments are often asked to approve the loans without access to the basic documentation and ministries are expected to implement the loans. In 1999, in Brazil, the parliament could only obtain a leaked copy of important information around specific proposed investments. Public decisions undertaken in the absence of full information often fail in the implementation stage in large part because the goals are not fully agreed upon or well understood. The development effectiveness would be greatly enhanced by public debate and broad governmental participation. In order to increase development effectiveness the President?s report, tranche release memorandum and project documentation relating to structural adjustment and sectoral adjustment loans should be released. The half-step outlined in the draft policy would only codify what is now existing practice. More importantly, the proposal blurs the line of responsibility between Bank and Borrower. It places the onus on the borrower to both take a decision about Bank generated documents and to undertake the responsibility for distribution. Again in the case of macroeconomic information, the Bank has made a proposal that is not in line with the presumption in favor of disclosure. > >Fostering Participation > >Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the proposed new policy is the argument that many documents cannot be released because disclosure would impede 'the deliberative process.' This argument is unsubstantiated within the policy and contradicts the Bank's espoused goals of participation and partnership. Neither goal can be achieved without timely information disclosure. Disclosure after a decision has been taken does not foster ownership and cannot be expected to satisfy public demands to participate in development decisions. Meaningful "participation" requires access to documents while they are still relevant to the "deliberative process," not AFTER final decisions are made. > >The Bank should release aide memoires, project status reports, policy papers and country policy and institutional assessments precisely because they inform the deliberative process. > >In its new policy the Bank argues that draft project appraisal documents (PADs) do not need to be released because relevant information is already available through the project information documents (PIDs). This argument does not stand up under close scrutiny. Draft PADs include detailed information that is normally not included in PIDs such as: the results of public consultation (in Category A projects), key performance indicators, project alternatives that have been considered, the value added of Bank support, the effectiveness conditions, technical information such as maps that actually lay out the proposed affected area, and a list of other technical documents produced for the project. Effective stakeholder participation in the project cycle requires that the Bank either release Draft PADs or radically improve and more regularly update the composition of PIDs. > >The policy also fails to address the issue of getting information especially project information into the hands of directly affected people. In particular, the policy does not address the issue of translating key documents, including the safeguard policies. The fact that the draft policy identifies ?excessive cost or logistics? as a reason for non-disclosure is troubling because it appears to provide an excuse for not getting information into the hands of the most directly concerned. > >Governance and the Board > >Over the past two years in response to shareholder and public concerns about quality and compliance issues the Bank has created two instruments to help improve both the quality of loans and the compliance rates with safeguard policies. These are the Quality Assurance Group and the Quality and Compliance Unit. The new policy notes that the materials generated from these review units will not be made available to the Board or the public. The very idea that the findings of units that have been established in direct response to shareholder and stakeholder demands are not to be disclosed to the Board or other stakeholders is disturbing. In the new policy, no rationale is given for the non-disclosure of QAG's periodic synthesis reports. There is no excuse for the Bank not to disclose this information. > >The findings of these units could be very helpful to the Board in its oversight role as they pinpoint problems in specific investments and in broader areas like monitoring and supervision. Through the Inspection Panel process the Board increasingly is confronted with problems that are also identified through the QAG and QACU. Early Board awareness could lead to more timely solutions and an avoidance of Inspection claims. If these materials were to be released to the public it would also help to improve development effectiveness. The Operations Evaluations Department and your own team have on separate occasions noted that the public spotlight has already proven to be one of the best incentives to persuade Bank personnel to administer projects more effectively. > >Lastly, we are very concerned about the Board?s lack of transparency. The World Bank has determined that good governance is an important component for development effectiveness. One of the defining criteria of good governance is transparency. It is ironic that the Board of Executive Directors would approve a condition for borrowing country governments that it is not willing to embrace in its own operations, i.e. that of transparency. Transparency in the Board would be enhanced by the disclosure of Board Minutes or the summaries of Board discussions that relate to project and adjustment lending, along with the proposed Chairman?s Summaries. It is contradictory for the Board to require and encourage borrowing countries to govern in the sunshine when it continues to labor in the dark. > >We appreciate the opportunity to share our view with you. We look forward to a revised policy that fosters transparency and empowerment for the poor. > > >To endorse this letter, send an email or fax to Graham Saul at the Bank Information Center - , Fax: 202-737-1155. > >:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: >Bryan Hantman >interns@bicusa.org ><><><><><><><><><> >Bank Information Center >733 15th Street, NW >Suite 1126 >Washington, DC 20005 ><><><><><><><><><> >phone: 202-737-7752 >fax: 202-737-1155 > >The Bank Information Center (BIC) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization that provides information and strategic support to NGOs and social movements throughout the world on the projects, policies and practices of the World Bank and other Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs). BIC advocates for greater transparency, accountability and citizen participation at the MDBs. > >BIC?s Mission is to empower citizens in developing countries to influence MDB financed development projects and policies in a manner that fosters social justice and ecological responsibility. BIC aims to democratize the International Financial Institutions to ensure citizen participation, information disclosure, full adherence to environmental and social policies and public accountability. > > From sustran at po.jaring.my Mon Nov 13 18:04:07 2000 From: sustran at po.jaring.my (SUSTRAN Resource Centre) Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 17:04:07 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Re: Buses in Dhaka In-Reply-To: <001301c04623$2eeda5e0$3b646464@alanhowes> References: <002b01c044a2$b8f30960$0e4736d4@oemcomputer> <3.0.6.32.20001103102448.0080ba80@relay101.jaring.my> Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.20001113170407.008c3e90@relay101.jaring.my> Sorry for my slow response to this. At 08:50 4/11/00 +0300, Alan wrote: .... > I am curious as to the background to the lack of buses in Dhaka. >Who administers and runs the city bus operation? (I assume there is no >subsidy.) This I am not absolutely sure. A recent interesting development in Dhaka that was presented at the CityNet/ESCAP seminar on transport and communications last week here in Kuala Lumpur was the starting up of some premium bus services with higher fares and aimed at the middle and upper-middle income groups. The new services seems to be successful so far. >And who keeps women off the buses? Based on a conversation with the head of a Dhaka-based women's NGO (Nari Uddug Kendra or NUK - or Centre for Women's Initiatives) my understanding of the situation is as follows: During the decade for women (1975 to 86?) reserved seats for women (10 seats or so at the front) were established on the buses. But if they were full then women would not be allowed to sit anywhere else so women denied entry if the womens' seats were already full. Conductors and drivers are said to think that a woman take 3 "men's" places. That is, they think they lose 2 fares if they let one woman on. They say women require more space (not being proper to squeeze in with the men, etc...). She also said levels of harrassment on the buses are extreme. Over the years there has been an increase of womens employment and in education and greater mobility by housewives to drop children, shop etc... so there is more need than ever for transport services for women. But now buses have NO reserved seats on logic of equality. She said that women are often not admitted to buses. I am not sure how pervasive this is... it seems to be a problem mainly in peak times. She did say some women are becoming more assertive and brave enough to ride the buses despite the difficulties and some are lobbying for a better deal. The alternatives, such as rickshwaws, scooters are expensive with the result that many low-income women are walking long distances. NUK has found that women tend to have to pay more for transport than the men within the same economic group. I hope I will be corrected if these comments are not completely accurate. Best wishes, Paul Paul BARTER (a.k.a. A. Rahman Paul Barter) SUSTRAN Resource Centre P.O. Box 11501, 50748 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia sustran@po.jaring.my Information services for the Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia and the Pacific (the SUSTRAN Network) http://www.malaysiakini.com/sustran http://www.geocities.com/sustrannet From litman at vtpi.org Tue Nov 14 08:56:46 2000 From: litman at vtpi.org (Todd Litman) Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 15:56:46 -0800 Subject: [sustran] Re: WB Urban Transport Strategy Comments In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.20001113155646.00e1d8f0@pop.islandnet.com> At 04:42 PM 11/8/00 -0500, you wrote: >To whet your appetites to get involved here is the contents page and >executive summary of the draft World Bank Urb Transp Strategy review paper. >http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/transport/utsr.nsf/All+Discussion+Items?OpenV iew Our institute has a strong interest in the study of optimal transportation pricing, and its role as a transportation demand management strategy. Here are my comments on "Urban Transport Pricing and Finance," chapter IX of the World Bank's "Cities on the Move; A World Bank Urban Transport Strategy Review". We endorse the conclusions and recommendations regarding pricing and financing in the Executive Summary. They should apply in developed as well as developing countries. Chapter IX defines underpricing primarily in terms of vehicle-to-vehicle traffic congestion. It is important to recognize that other costs of motor vehicle use may be of comparable magnitude, including parking costs, crash damages, delays that motor vehicle traffic imposes on non-motorized modes, pollution, and the economic costs that fuel and vehicle imports can cause to an economy (compared with consumer expenditures on domestically-produced goods). This suggests, for example, that pricing reforms that affect all automobile travel may be justified, not just under urban-peak conditions. This is not to suggest that congestion costs should be ignored, but I would suggest that the chapter begin with discussion of underpricing in general, not just as it applies to urban roadway congestion. The chapter implies that fuel taxes are the main way to charge motorists for vehicle use. I suggest adding discussion of mileage-based charges, as discussed in our paper "Distance-Based Charges; A Practical Strategy for More Optimal Vehicle Pricing", (presented at the Transportation Research Board 78th Annual Meeting (1999) and posted at http://www.vtpi.org). This shows how various types of weight-distance fees can be used to more accurately charge for roadway use, insurance/crash risk and pollution emissions, and avoids many of the problems associated with both fuel taxes and road tolls. This instrument would allow existing fixed charges (insurance and vehicle registration fees) to be prorated by mileage, giving motorists a new incentive to reduce their mileage. Section 9.22(d) suggests support for distance-based insurance and emission fees, but offers no details or references. I believe that the discussion of parking pricing should expand to mention various parking management strategies that indirectly affect parking prices. Current practices in developed countries, often copied in developing countries, favor generous amounts of off-street parking in new developments. This tends to drive parking prices down below the natural market, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of increased automobile use and increased parking demand. Parking management strategies can encourage more efficient use of existing parking supply (see the chapter on "Parking Management" in the Online TDM Encyclopedia at http://www.vtpi.org). The report suggests that all road charges and fuel tax surcharge revenue should be dedicated to regional/local transportation budgets, rather than to the central government treasury. There are several justifications for having a base fuel tax that funds general government expenses, particularly in countries that import fuel, and therefore bear a national economic burden from fuel imports. A number of studies suggest that shifting general taxes from income to the consumption of resources such as fuel can have economic development benefits (see Douglas Norland and Kim Ninassi, "Price It Right; Energy Pricing and Fundamental Tax Reform," Alliance to Save Energy, Washington DC; www.ase.org, 1998; Dr. Rainer Walz, Dr. Joachim Schleich, Regina Betz and Carsten Nathani, "A Review of Employment Effects of European Union Policies and Measures for CO2 Emission Reductions," Fraunhofer Institute, www.isst.fhg.de, May 1999.) Fuel taxes can also be considered a surrogate for pollution costs, medical costs, and consumption of a nation's natural resources. For these reasons, I suggest that the report specify that regional/local governments have the ability to impose additional fuel/road taxes, beyond the basic level established at the national level, to fund transportation improvements, but that the report not imply that fuel should be exempt from all general taxes. 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@vtpi.org Website: http://www.vtpi.org From susdev at eurofound.ie Thu Nov 16 09:25:55 2000 From: susdev at eurofound.ie (SD Online) Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 16:25:55 -0800 Subject: [sustran] SD ONLINE, Extensive free resources in support of Sustainable Development Message-ID: Dear Reader, SD ONLINE is one of the most reliable, comprehensive and up to date focal points for information on Sustainable Development . 109 new links have just been added to the Sustainable Development ONLINE databases - there are 1129 links to search and browse - all have been reviewed by our researchers. ACCESS: 310 Networks 260 Conferences 128 Tools 363 Training courses 68 SME Support initiatives. Go: http://susdev.eurofound.ie DOWNLOAD FREE REPORT Crops for Sustainable Enterprise. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2000 -92 pages. Authors: Benjamin, Yorick & Van Weenen, Hans. Go: http://susdev.eurofound.ie/download (PDF: 548k) PROMOTE YOUR SITE: 'Submit' your own SD web site (and support activities such as eco-design, industrial ecology, LCA, etc) or recommend one to SD ONLINE. It will be reviewed by our team and be available to the thousands of visitors to SD ONLINE every month. WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT: SD-ONLINE is designed and developed by EDEN B.V. on behalf of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (an autonomous publicly funded agency of the European Union). Learn more about EDEN's database driven websites and how EDEN can help you. For example, publish and edit YOUR OWN NEWSLETTER as and when you want without knowing a single line of HTML. Email: eden@antenna.nl From mobility at igc.org Thu Nov 16 05:08:17 2000 From: mobility at igc.org (ITDP) Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 15:08:17 -0500 Subject: [sustran] world bank urban transport strategy Message-ID: <3A12ED31.3E59AC3@igc.org> I've sent some comments to the author of the World Bank's new Urban Transport Strategy, generally favorable, but with a few areas of disagreement. I'm wondering if anyone has any empirical evidence regarding the issues below... I expressed the view that the current Strategy's heavy focus blaming public transit fare price controls for the deterioration of public transit in developing countries (and hence destroying services for the poor) was a bit one-sided. He notes that in many developing countries controlling public transit fares led to the deterioration of these systems and their replacement eventually with often more expensive paratransit systems, particularly in lower income neighborhoods. My contention is that the takeover of public transit systems by private paratransit systems was not entirely due to transit fare controls, and that there are no doubt cases where a) transit services did not deteriorate despite the continuation of transit fare controls, and b) transit services deteriorated anyway even though there were no transit fare controls and prices were allowed to increase. Does anyone know of documented empirical cases for these two? I would guess that transit fares in Curitiba are regulated and the services are not deteriorating, (operators are paid per km at a rate determined by the state). Does anyone have any concrete examples other than Curitiba? I would also guess that in Indonesia during the economic crisis bus fares increased recently (due to fuel price increases) yet the vehicles are still deteriorating (incomes for the system are still lower due to falling ridership because of the economic crisis). I also believe in much of Central Europe public transit systems have increased their prices closer to commericial cost recovery ratios, yet the systems continue to deteriorate. Whether they would have deteriorated more or less if fares had not increased is of course difficult to say, but a case could be made that they would have deteriorated 'about the same.' Any opinions or data on this? I promised to get back to Ken on this. Thanks Walter Hook ITDP -- Access ITDP's New Website: www.ITDP.org The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy 115 W. 30th Street - Suite 1205 - New York, NY 10001 - USA tel: (212) 629-8001 fax: (212) 629-8033 From negronpp at MAGELLAN.UMontreal.CA Thu Nov 16 06:31:52 2000 From: negronpp at MAGELLAN.UMontreal.CA (Negron Poblete Paula) Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 16:31:52 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Re: world bank urban transport strategy In-Reply-To: <3A12ED31.3E59AC3@igc.org> Message-ID: Concerning Walter Hook's request about if transport services can deteriorate even if fares are not regulated, I think of Santiago's case. In Santiago, buses have been totaly deregulated since the 80's. The authorities don't control fares at all, they're supposed to be let in "market's hands". But even if fares are not controlled, service is bad, as a consequence of the competition between buses' operators themselves. Since there's no control at all, vehicles are not in good conditions, in part because operators want to spend the minimum in order to offer the service. ___________________________ Paula NEGRON POBLETE Faculte de l'Amenagement Universite de Montreal On Wed, 15 Nov 2000, ITDP wrote: > I've sent some comments to the author of the World > Bank's new Urban Transport Strategy, generally favorable, but with a few > > areas of disagreement. I'm wondering if anyone has any empirical > evidence regarding the issues below... > > I expressed the view that the current Strategy's heavy focus blaming > public transit fare price controls for the deterioration of public > transit in developing countries (and hence destroying services for the > poor) was a bit one-sided. He notes that in many developing countries > controlling public transit fares led to the deterioration of these > systems and their replacement eventually with often more expensive > paratransit systems, particularly in lower income neighborhoods. > > My contention is that the takeover of public transit systems by private > paratransit systems was not entirely due to transit fare controls, and > that there are no doubt cases where > > a) transit services did not deteriorate despite the continuation of > transit fare controls, and > b) transit services deteriorated anyway even though there were no > transit fare controls and prices were allowed to increase. > > Does anyone know of documented empirical cases for these two? I would > guess that transit fares in Curitiba are regulated and the services are > not deteriorating, (operators are paid per km at a rate determined by > the state). Does anyone have any concrete examples other than Curitiba? > > I would also guess that in Indonesia during the economic crisis bus > fares increased recently (due to fuel price increases) yet the vehicles > are still deteriorating (incomes for the system are still lower due to > falling ridership because of the economic crisis). I also believe in > much of Central Europe public transit systems have increased their > prices closer to commericial cost recovery ratios, yet the systems > continue to deteriorate. Whether they would have deteriorated more or > less if fares had not increased is of course difficult to say, but a > case could be made that they would have deteriorated 'about the same.' > > Any opinions or data on this? I promised to get back to Ken on this. > > Thanks > Walter Hook > ITDP > > > > -- > Access ITDP's New Website: www.ITDP.org > The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy > 115 W. 30th Street - Suite 1205 - New York, NY 10001 - USA > tel: (212) 629-8001 fax: (212) 629-8033 > > From johnernst at bigfoot.com Thu Nov 16 18:34:43 2000 From: johnernst at bigfoot.com (John Ernst) Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 16:34:43 +0700 Subject: [sustran] Re: world bank urban transport strategy In-Reply-To: <3A12ED31.3E59AC3@igc.org> Message-ID: <4.2.2.20001116162939.00ab7680@pop6.attglobal.net> I am not sure, but I imagine bus fares in Singapore are regulated and the service is quite good. I'm just guessing about this because of the centralized planning generally used in Singapore. Craig Thompson is doing some research there, so perhaps he would know have some details ... or do others on this list know? John At 03:08 PM 11/15/00 -0500, you wrote: >I've sent some comments to the author of the World >Bank's new Urban Transport Strategy, generally favorable, but with a few > >areas of disagreement. I'm wondering if anyone has any empirical >evidence regarding the issues below... > >I expressed the view that the current Strategy's heavy focus blaming >public transit fare price controls for the deterioration of public >transit in developing countries (and hence destroying services for the >poor) was a bit one-sided. He notes that in many developing countries >controlling public transit fares led to the deterioration of these >systems and their replacement eventually with often more expensive >paratransit systems, particularly in lower income neighborhoods. > >My contention is that the takeover of public transit systems by private >paratransit systems was not entirely due to transit fare controls, and >that there are no doubt cases where > >a) transit services did not deteriorate despite the continuation of >transit fare controls, and >b) transit services deteriorated anyway even though there were no >transit fare controls and prices were allowed to increase. > >Does anyone know of documented empirical cases for these two? I would >guess that transit fares in Curitiba are regulated and the services are >not deteriorating, (operators are paid per km at a rate determined by >the state). Does anyone have any concrete examples other than Curitiba? > >I would also guess that in Indonesia during the economic crisis bus >fares increased recently (due to fuel price increases) yet the vehicles >are still deteriorating (incomes for the system are still lower due to >falling ridership because of the economic crisis). I also believe in >much of Central Europe public transit systems have increased their >prices closer to commericial cost recovery ratios, yet the systems >continue to deteriorate. Whether they would have deteriorated more or >less if fares had not increased is of course difficult to say, but a >case could be made that they would have deteriorated 'about the same.' > >Any opinions or data on this? I promised to get back to Ken on this. > >Thanks >Walter Hook >ITDP > > > >-- >Access ITDP's New Website: www.ITDP.org >The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy >115 W. 30th Street - Suite 1205 - New York, NY 10001 - USA >tel: (212) 629-8001 fax: (212) 629-8033 From czegras at MIT.EDU Fri Nov 17 02:48:16 2000 From: czegras at MIT.EDU (P. Christopher Zegras) Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 12:48:16 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Santiago and regulated bus fares In-Reply-To: Your message of "Fri, 17 Nov 2000 02:01:22 +0900." <200011161701.CAA52883@mail.jca.apc.org> Message-ID: <200011161748.MAA22412@department-of-alchemy.mit.edu> In response to Paula's comments on Santiago; services clearly detiorated after the initial complete deregulation of the Pinochet regime. But, this is nothing more than an example that a public transport market cannot be effectivvely completely deregulated, because of the well known problems of public goods, externalities, etc. The democratic government recognized the problems brought on by complete deregulation (unsafe driving practices, cartel behavior, excessive supply....) and has worked hard over the past decade to introduce targetted regulations within an atmosphere still dominated by chicago-boy neoliberalism. It might be fair to say that the govt does not 'control' fares, but it is not a simple caseof 'letting the market' freely decide. The process of route bidding in Santiago is a case of what the Bank would call competition for the market, as opposed to 'in the market.' while by no means perfect, it has helped de-politicize fare setting (fares can only be raised according to a detailed and transparent formula accounting for the financial inputs to bus operations); furthermore, in real terms fares have remained stable in real terms since 1992 (declining substantially after initial implementation of the scheme in 91.). Of course, wheter service is 'bad' depends on one's perspective. chileans often criticize santiago for having a 'first world' metro system, but a 3rd world bus system. The comparison is not entirely valid - the bus system far superior in service quality than that of peru or even mexico (in my humble opinion). Indeed, the high frequency and complete service coverage make the system far superior - in my view - than, for example, most U.S. cities (i know, that's not saying much). The deregulated and private sector dominated system does intorduce challenges to system improvmeents - such as fare and service integration, continued on- street competition for passengers, and formalization of the companies. Also, while operators are subject to detailed specifications regarding operating characteristics - frequencies, cleanliness, etc. - these are not necessarily easily controlled (lack of regulatory staff, poor use of advanced technologies. There are, hoever, important advances that have been made - emissions norms have been integrated into route bidding and over half the fleet now meets epa91 standards. the problem with poor quality these days stem more from a declining passenger base, not necessarily the regulatory structure. I don't think Chile offers an effective argument against deregulation per se; rather, it offers a case against complete deregulation. I would argue that Chile's recent experience with "re-regulation" actually offers a good example of what can be done and what still needs to be done. The main challenges to bus operations today is, of course, motroization and the loss of client base, and urban expansion and the subsequent increase in operating costs and decreasing revenue per km that implies. The bus lobby actually should be a logical choice for partnering in pushing for progressive changes: they benefit from road pricing, dedicated infrastrucutre and bus priority measures, and transit oriented development. They also are a powerful voice to be heard - since they still carry 45% of all travellers, they can effectively shut down the city. The challenge of course, is getting them to look beyond their short-term vision to instead focus on the underlying causes of declining passenger ridership due to motorization and getting them to focus on measures that can improve their travel time - the only way that they can effectively compete with the car that otherwise wins on service characteristics shown to be of great value to users (in Chile, based on surveys): privacy, flexibility, comfort, music, security, etc.) A simple back of the envelope user operating cost analysis shows that auto users are willing to pay more than double (after counting personal travel time savings due to auto use) for these "personal" liberties... Anyway, this has probably strayed too far off the original quesion... sorry for rambling, cz Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 16:31:52 -0500 From: Negron Poblete Paula Subject: [sustran] Re: world bank urban transport strategy Concerning Walter Hook's request about if transport services can deteriorate even if fares are not regulated, I think of Santiago's case. In Santiago, buses have been totaly deregulated since the 80's. The authorities don't control fares at all, they're supposed to be let in "market's hands". But even if fares are not controlled, service is bad, as a consequence of the competition between buses' operators themselves. Since there's no control at all, vehicles are not in good conditions, in part because operators want to spend the minimum in order to offer the service. ___________________________ Paula NEGRON POBLETE Faculte de l'Amenagement Universite de Montreal From sustran at po.jaring.my Fri Nov 17 12:58:02 2000 From: sustran at po.jaring.my (SUSTRAN info services) Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 11:58:02 +0800 Subject: [sustran] fwd: Bogota, world's first Car Free City Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.20001117115802.0084ae80@relay101.jaring.my> >From: "ASUNTOS INTERNACIONALES" >To: >Subject: Bogota, the world's first Car Free City >Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 08:20:25 -0500 >X-MSMail-Priority: Normal >X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4133.2400 >X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4133.2400 > >Excuse me if you receive this e-mail more than once > >Versi?n en Espa?ol abajo > >BOGOTA, THE WORLD?S FIRST CAR FREE CITY > > > >Bogotanos approve innovative plan for 100% peak hour private car ban > > > >On Sunday, 29 October 2000, after long and careful preparations, the Mayor of Bogota, Enrique Pe?alosa, called a referendum to gain citizen support and to establish a long term legal context for a new transportation program which promises to change the face of the city as well as to provide a new model for organizing transport in many world cities. > > > >This was the first such public consultation ever called in the city, and the mayor and many others called it "an outstanding exercise in popular democracy, which give the citizens of Bogota an opportunity to make their voice heard about the destiny of their own city". > > > >The main measure put before the public consultation was a proposal of banning car use during six peak hours daily beginning January 1st, 2015. All cars except taxis will be off the streets from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and from 4:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. during work days. The proposal received 51% of the voters? support, against 34% negative votes (the rest cast blank ballots). > > > >Annual Car Free Day also approved > > > >Bogotanos also approved at the same time a second measure establishing an annual Car Free Day, to be held the first Thursday of February of every year beginning the year 2001. In this case, the vote was 63% for versus 26% against. The exceptionally strong support for this measure can be traced to last February 24, when the city held its first complete Car Free Thursday in which the 98% of the city's activities functioned normally. The Stockholm Challenge Prize for the environment was awarded for this unique community effort. > > > >Mayor Enrique Pe?alosa says that with only 30% households presently owning cars in his city, it is still possible to avoid the advanced cities' fate of becoming spaces dedicated to cars rather than people. He emphasizes the futility of trying to solve congestion problems by continuing to build ever more new roads and highways, which it is now well known only bring on yet further traffic increases and urban sprawl. He points to the United States example, where "more than cities with highways there are highways with cities, and yet time lost in traffic jams is doubling every five years". > > > >A new transportation model > > > >The proponents of a car free Bogota during peak hours like to remind us, that a society in which most of its members drive dozens and even hundreds of kilometers daily burning non-renewable fuel is not sustainable. They believe that Bogota?s new model will not only bring considerable environmental advantages, but significant economic rewards as well. Saving billions of dollars of unnecessary taxes for excessive road construction and maintenance, as well as on fuel and cars, Bogotanos should be better able to attend to priority education, health, culture and other more humanly enriching investments. > > > >Pe?alosa believes that the city's mild temperature, averaging 15 ?C (57 ?F) all year round, high population density (210 inhabitants per hectare) and as-yet low car ownership, are advantages on which this entirely new model of city life can be built. > > > >The Mayor is keen to emphasize the social implications of the new model in a society with very high income inequalities. "The company's vice-president will sit next to the cleaning lady on the bus, and the shanty town dwellers will stand at a traffic light on his bicycle next to the upper class businessman. They will no longer be separated by the window of an expensive car". > > > >"Cars are marvelous for traveling to the countryside. But they are also the most powerful instrument of social differentiation and alienation that we have in society" says the Mayor. > > > >With 800,000 cars already on our city streets, traffic would already be at a total standstill if it were not for our traffic restraint program "Pico & Placa" (Peak & License Plate) and new transport projects. There is no way that we will be able to accommodate the additional 40,000 - 60,000 that are being added each year and still have a city which respects its architectural and historic traditions and is safe and livable. We need an entirely new transportation model to do this. > > > >The measures that have now been approved by the public consultation and are entering into effect can only be changed by new referendum, which for the moment seems hardly likely to be won by the proponents of unrestricted car use. > > > >In the meantime, the city administration is hard at work completing hundreds of kilometers of new cycle paths and pedestrian facilities for daily transport, a new high capacity busway system that is to crisscross the city (Transmilenio), and other programs which constitute the core of the new transportation system which is already in operation. > > > >Web Site: Vote Bogota 2000 at http://ecoplan.org/votebogota2000/ > >OSCAR EDMUNDO DIAZ >Advisor on Foreign Affairs >Office of the Mayor, City of Bogota, D.C., Colombia >Tels: (571) 352-1611 / (571) 337-5320 / (571) 350-6301 >Fax: (571) 352-1618 >Home Page: http://www.alcaldiabogota.gov.co >E-mail: consnacion@interred.net.co > diazoe@latino.net.co > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- > >BOGOTA, LA PRIMERA CIUDAD SIN CARROS DEL MUNDO > > > >Los bogotanos aprueban un plan innovador para la restricci?n total de veh?culos > > > >El Domingo 29 de octubre de 2000, despu?s de largas y cuidadosas preparaciones, el Alcalde Mayor de Bogot?, Enrique Pe?alosa, convoc? a una consulta popular para lograr el apoyo ciudadano y establecer un contexto legal de largo plazo para un programa de transporte que promete cambiar la ciudad, as? como proveer un nuevo modelo para organizar el transporte en muchas ciudades del mundo. > > > >Esta fue la primera consulta popular realizada en la ciudad y el Alcalde, y muchos otros, la llamaron un ejercicio incre?ble de la democracia popular, que le di? a los ciudadanos de Bogot? la oportunidad de que sus voces fueran escuchadas sobre el destino de su propia ciudad. > > > >La principal propuesta que se plante? en la consulta popular fue la de restringir diariamente el uso de veh?culos particulares durante las horas pico a partir del 1? de enero de 2015. La restricci?n abarcar? todos los autom?viles particulares exceptuando taxis y regir? los d?as laborales de 6:00 a 9:00 a.m. y de 4:30 a 7:30 p.m. La propuesta recibi? el 51% del apoyo de los votantes, contra el 34% de votaci?n negativa (el restante fueron votos en blanco). > > > >Se aprueba el D?a Sin Carro Anual > > > >Los bogotanos aprobaron, el mismo d?a, una segunda medida estableciendo la celebraci?n de un D?a Sin Carro anual, que se realizar? el primer jueves del mes de febrero de cada a?o a partir de 2001. Para este caso la votaci?n fue del 63% a favor y del 26% en contra. El apoyo excepcional a esta medida puede ser explicado por la celebraci?n del primer D?a Sin Carro que realiz? la ciudad el pasado 24 de febrero, donde el 98% de las actividades de la ciudad funcionaron normalmente. El Premio al Reto de Estocolmo (The Stockholm Challenge Award) en la categor?a de Medio Ambiente se entreg? a este esfuerzo ?nico. > > > >El Alcalde Pe?alosa afirma que, teniendo en cuenta que ?nicamente el 30% de los hogares poseen un veh?culo, a?n es posible evitar para Bogot? el destino de las ciudades desarrolladas, es decir, el de convertirse en una ciudad para los carros y no para la gente. Enfatiza la inconveniencia de intentar resolver la congesti?n vehicular con la construcci?n de m?s v?as y autopistas lo cual, ya es bien sabido, s?lo incrementa el tr?fico y la expansi?n de la ciudad. El Alcalde utiliza como ejemplo a los Estados Unidos, donde "m?s que ciudades con autopistas son autopistas con ciudad, en las que durante las ?ltimas d?cadas el tiempo perdido en trancones se est? duplicando cada cinco a?os". > > > >Un nuevo modelo de transporte > > > >Los promotores de una Bogot? sin carros nos recuerdan que una sociedad en donde la mayor?a de sus miembros conducen decenas y hasta cientos de kil?metros diarios quemando un combustible no renovable, es insostenible. Ellos creen que el nuevo modelo de Bogot? no solo traer? importantes ventajas ambientales, sino significativos beneficios econ?micos. Ahorrando billones de d?lares de impuestos innecesarios por la excesiva construcci?n de v?as y su mantenimiento, as? como en combustible y autom?viles, los bogotanos deber?an poder atender mejor temas prioritarios como la educaci?n, la salud, la cultura y otras inversiones m?s enriquecedoras para el hombre. > > > >El Alcalde Pe?alosa cree que la temperatura templada de la ciudad, en promedio de 15 ?C (57 ?F) durante todo el a?o, la alta densidad poblacional (210 habitantes por hect?rea) y la actual baja tasa de autom?viles, son ventajas sobre las cuales este nuevo modelo de ciudad puede construirse. > > > >El Alcalde Mayor enf?ticamente resalta las implicaciones sociales del nuevo modelo en una en una ciudad con grandes desigualdades en el ingreso. "El vicepresidente de una compa??a se sentar? al lado de la aseadora en el bus, y el alto ejecutivo y el habitante del barrio marginal se parar?n uno al lado del otro en los sem?foros con sus bicicletas, y no separados por el vidrio de un autom?vil de lujo ". > > > >"Los carros son fabulosos para viajar por el campo. Pero son el m?s poderoso instrumento de diferenciaci?n y alienaci?n social que tenemos en la sociedad" dice el Alcalde. > > > >Con 800.000 carros actualmente en las calles de la ciudad, el tr?fico ya estar?a bloqueado si no fuera por el programa de restricci?n vehicular "Pico y Placa" y los nuevos proyectos de transporte. No existe forma alguna de acomodar los 40.000 a 60.000 carros adicionales que entran anualmente y tener a?n una ciudad que respete sus tradiciones arquitect?nicas e hist?ricas y que sea segura y ofrezca calidad de vida. Necesitamos un modelo de transporte totalmente nuevo para poder lograrlo. > > > >Las medidas que se aprobaron a trav?s de la consulta popular y que pr?ximamente entrar?n en rigor s?lo pueden ser modificadas por una nueva consulta popular, la cual, por el momento, parece poco probable de ser aprobada por los ciudadanos dependientes del autom?vil. > > > >Mientras tanto, la administraci?n de la ciudad est? trabajando arduamente en la construcci?n de cientos de kil?metros de ciclorutas nuevas y comodidades peatonales para el transporte diario; en un nuevo sistema de buses (TransMilenio) de alta capacidad, pr?ximo a atravesar la ciudad; y en otros programas que constituyen la esencia del nuevo sistema de transporte que ya se encuentra en operaci?n. > > > >Web Site: Vote Bogot? 2000 en http://ecoplan.org/votebogota2000/ >OSCAR EDMUNDO DIAZ >Asesor en Asuntos Internacionales >Alcaldia Mayor de Bogot?, D.C., Colombia >Tels: (571) 352-1611 / (571) 337-5320 / (571) 350-6301 >Fax: (571) 352-1618 >Home Page: http://www.alcaldiabogota.gov.co >E-mail: consnacion@interred.net.co > diazoe@latino.net.co > From pascal at pop.gn.apc.org Fri Nov 17 20:12:16 2000 From: pascal at pop.gn.apc.org (Pascal Desmond) Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 11:12:16 +0000 Subject: [sustran] World Transport Policy & Practice -- quarterly announcement Message-ID: World Transport Policy & Practice, a quarterly journal edited by John Whitelegg, is available free of charge as Adobe Acrobat? PDF files on the internet at [http://www.ecoplan.org/wtpp/wt_index.htm]. This will help it to reach a wider readership, encompassing advocates and activists as well as academics and advisers. Please advise [mailto:pascal@gn.apc.org] if you no longer wish to receive these quarterly announcement. We have just placed Volume 6, Number 3, 2000 as a 147 kB PDF file on the internet at [http://www.ecoplan.org/wtpp/wt_index.htm]. You are welcome to browse the site for other back issues such as our special on transport in Israel/Palestine/the Holy Land which was our contribution this Millennium year. Contents of Volume 6, Number 3, 2000: Editorial John Whitelegg Urban hysteria & panic in the streets - the British fuel blockade September 2000 - a social interpretation Alan Hallsworth & Rodney Tolley Car Sharing for Business: The Aachen region pilot project Oscar Reutter & Susanne B?hler The Delft Low-Cost Mobility Statement Jan Herman Koster Social change & Leisure mobility Martin Lanzendorf Professional training needs for sustainable transport: a case study of those responsible for planning for cycling & walking in the UK Hugh McClintock If you have difficulty in downloading the file, please contact [mailto:eric.britton@ecoplan.org] World Transport Policy & Practice Eco-Logica Ltd., 53 Derwent Road, LANCASTER, LA1 3ES. U.K. telephone +44 1524 63175 fax +44 1524 848340 Editor: Professor John Whitelegg [mailto:ecologic@gn.apc.org] Business Manager: Pascal Desmond [mailto:pascal@gn.apc.org] http://www.ecoplan.org/wtpp/wt_index.htm From czegras at MIT.EDU Sat Nov 18 04:31:42 2000 From: czegras at MIT.EDU (czegras@MIT.EDU) Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 14:31:42 -0500 Subject: [sustran] US Auto Association "exposed" In-Reply-To: <200011171700.CAA01709@mail.jca.apc.org> Message-ID: <200011171931.OAA01105@melbourne-city-street.MIT.EDU> >http://www.nrdc.org/amicus/01win/aaa/aaa.asp > >Here's an interesting excerpt: > > John Kaehny, executive director of Transportation > Alternatives, a New York City bike and pedestrian advocacy > group, winces whenever he hears the affiliated New York Auto > Club spokespeople say, "On behalf of our 1 million members." > > "People don't join AAA for ideological reasons," says Kaehny. > "My parents are AAA members, and when I tell them what the AAA > national office does, they go, 'Oh my God, is that true?' And > that's the reaction you get from almost everyone." From ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu Sat Nov 18 11:24:35 2000 From: ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu (Eric Bruun) Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 21:24:35 -0500 (EST) Subject: [sustran] What I think is meant by cross-subsidy In-Reply-To: <009b01c04a5f$fa2437c0$5b426ad4@alanhowes> Message-ID: Alan and others: The proponents of deregulation meant that each route should stand by itself. This is very simplistic. My point is that routes are to some extent arbitrary. One can design a system with parallel lower capacity routes or fewer higher capacity routes with feeders, for example. Any given route might serve more than the community it passes through if it is chosen to be a trunk line, or if historical investments made it so. Other routes may then be somewhat isolated and perform relatively poorly. But should the affected community pay extra because of decisions that were taken for the greater good? Maintaining a minimum frequency and/or using a joint fare with a connection is just a way to provide equitable service to all, not a harmful subsidy. What was not mentioned about the UK deregulation is that ridership continued to decline at the same time that service hours increased. The network was dissolved and the "cross-subsidized" routes lost service while the "profitable" services had excess capacity. The only good thing I can see from deregulation is that some smaller buses were put on some of the lower performing routes to help maintain service, something that should have been already done under integrated networks, but for which incentives perhaps were lacking. Eric On Thu, 9 Nov 2000, Alan Howes wrote: > Oh whizzo! A debate! > > > > Broadly I agree with what the WB are saying - and I am neither conservative > nor an economist. Of course there is scope for some cross-subsidy within > transit networks - but you have to be clear where and why. Who is > subsidising whom in Toronto and Montreal? (And do any routes actually make a > _profit_ that's available for cross-subsidy?) If it's low-income users on > high-volume lines subsidising high-income users on low-volume lines, then I > would venture to suggest that something is wrong - and this is what I read > the WB as saying. If anyone should bear the cross-subsidy, it should be the > car users in the high-income areas - especially commuters. But cross-subsidy > is a very blunt instrument compared with a proper road user charging system > that, as nearly as possible, reflects the true infrastructure, operational > and social costs of transport use. > > It might come strangely from one who works for a transport firm, but IMO one > of our main problems is that [mechanised] transport is just too cheap, in > just about every country of the world - and this is even more true in > less-developed countries than in developed ones. (In this context, North > America is less-developed!) It is certainly the case > here in Saudi. If car travel is too cheap, it may be tempting to reduce > transit costs to match - but all that does is to encourage travel-dependency > at the expense of more rational land-use / transport patterns. (To the > extent that here, for instance, there isn't even a decent postal system - > people drive to pay their bills, drive to deliver messages, drive, drive, > drive ...) > > When I worked in Glasgow in the early 80s, the residents of the highly > deprived area of Easterhouse, who used buses in the absence of anything > else, cross-subsidised the rail service to Milngavie and Bearsden, one of > the most prosperous areas of the city! (Guess where the elected > representatives lived!) > > And here at SAPTCO in Saudi, we make profits on the (pretty good) intercity > bus > network which subsidise the (lousy) urban bus services. But why should the > intercity users subsidise the urban users? And it makes us less > competitive - and while we in theory have a modal monopoly on intercity, (a) > the theory doesn't hold good, and (b) what about the other modes? > > I am quite happy to accept the need for cross-subsidy across time zones > within a corridor. Also, I would accept cross-subsidy between routes serving > the same residential neighbourhood - e.g. a route to downtown supporting a > route to a hospital. But beyond that, I need a lot of convincing. > > And in fact, the ridership losses in the UK were mainly a continuation of a > previous trend. It's not really true that there was a dismantling of route > networks - what there was was a substantial increase in fares in real terms, > and a dismantling of network ticketing. Both undesirable - but not > necessarily a result of reduced cross-subsidy. (In Metropolitan areas > outside London, over the period 1985 to 1998, fares went up by 60% in real > terms, while patronage declined by 40%. in the UK as a whole, in the period > from 1950 to1985 (pre-deregulation), patronage went down by about 67%.) I > have a .ppt presentation with an overview of UK experience if anyone wants > it. > > > > -- > Alan & Jacqui Howes, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia > (also Perthshire, Scotland) [MSOE] > alanhowes@usaksa.com work: howesap@saptco.com.sa > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Eric Bruun > To: > Sent: Thursday, November 09, 2000 12:50 AM > Subject: [sustran] Re: WB urban transport draft strategy ex.summ.1 > > > > > > > > RE. Paragraph xiv. I don't agree with this concern over > > "cross-subsidization". This comes from conservative economists > > who don't understand transit networks. Look what happened in the > > UK when they dismantled networks --- large ridership losses. > > > > The two most heavily used systems in North America, Toronto and Montreal, > > are "cross-subsidized". > > > > From bfinn at singnet.com.sg Sat Nov 18 17:38:08 2000 From: bfinn at singnet.com.sg (Brendan Finn) Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 16:38:08 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Re: What I think is meant by cross-subsidy References: Message-ID: <000401c0513a$e1adf140$e0c815a5@bfinn> Dear Eric, I've just subscribed to the sustran discussion forum, but have had one or two little difficulties in getting passed the electronic gatekeepers. I thought I had figured it out yesterday and sent an e-mail in response to John Ernst's query on fares control. I didn't get a failure message, but neither did it appear in the archive list, although yours was posted later and is there now. Can you just advise whether you received my mail ? That should help me figure out whether I've entered at least the first circle ! Yours sincerely, Brendan Finn. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Eric Bruun" To: Sent: 18 November 2000 10:24 Subject: [sustran] What I think is meant by cross-subsidy ______________________________________________________ Please note new contact details as follows : Address : 28, Leonie Hill, #02-28 Leonie Towers, Singapore 239227 Mobile : +65.94332298 Tel : +65.7340260 Fax/Tel : +65.7340412 e-mail : bfinn@singnet.com.sg Website : http://www.europrojects.ie/etts From bfinn at singnet.com.sg Sun Nov 19 21:51:24 2000 From: bfinn at singnet.com.sg (Brendan Finn) Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2000 20:51:24 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Regulating fares in public transport Message-ID: <000601c05227$6d8663e0$c0c815a5@bfinn> Hi, I'm new to the group, so I don't know if there's a lot of background to messages 759-762 which include discussion on regulating fares for urban public transport. Sorry if I'm going over ground that's been well covered already or is well known by the group members - I'll get the hang of this after a while. Also, I have been having a little difficulty in getting the mail through to the group (probably my fault). My sincere apologies if you are getting this for the third or fourth time - please bear with me until I get the hang of it ! Replying specifically to the two issues in the mail of John Ernst : 1) Fares in Singapore Yes, fares are regulated here for urban public transport including Metro, LRT, Bus. However, the taxi fares have been deregulated since 1998. Public transport services here are profitable without either subvention or support for concessionary fares. However, it should be noted that major infrastructure is provided by the Land Transport Authority. While different fares exist for the various modes, fares are consistent across the bus operators. Fare level changes are proposed by the operators to the Public Transport Council. The PTC is a statutory board under the aegis of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and it is also the body which approves (or rejects) bus route proposals and regulates bus service standards. Their website is http://www.ptc.gov.sg 2) Do fare controls lead to deterioration of transit in developing countries ? I don't have any ideological problem with fare controls, and I don't think that they automatically lead to a deterioration of transit. A key characteristic of developing countries is the large number of people who are on low income, and are dependent on public transport for their work-related and personal mobility. It's reasonable for their governments or local councils to protect them against unfair tariffs and to strive for affordable transit. When the costs of providing the transport are reasonably allowed for, price regulation can be well used to balance the needs of citizens and business. For example, a maximum price rather than full specification of the tariffs for every route/operator could allow operators to make interesting pricing and service volume/quality choices. However, price control can be seriously abused, most clearly when a populist approach is taken. In this scenario, the government deliberately defers or prevents necessary increases, just to avoid public reaction or to position itself as a "friend of the masses". The effect of this is to extract cash out of the operating companies as their inputs prices continue to increase whereas their income remains static. In developing countries this is reinforced not only by regular inflation, but especially by the huge inflation in price for imported goods which are denominated in foreign currency. This includes fuel, tyres, spare parts, IT, and of course investment in replacement vehicles. (Note, a variant on this in parts of the former Soviet Union was formal linkage of the tariff to the official minimum wage which had to be approved by Parliament. Since changing this value had impacts on pensions, welfare etc., it tended to get left alone for a long while, followed by a huge increase which was a shock to the system and caused patronage loss.) The impacts are well known - without fares increases, the available cash declines, corners get cut, and there are discontinuities in essential supplies. Preventive maintenance goes by the wayside, vehicles sit idle awaiting expensive spare parts, the available vehicles are put out until they drop, and are patched up just enough to get them out again. When tariffs are finally increased, it usually only brings them up to where they should have been months before, and the cash drain begins again. The fares increase is usually huge in percentage terms, and there is a reaction and fall-off in ridership. Morale drops, and occasional delays in paying wages encourage staff to pilfer fuel and parts, or peculate the revenue, making the situation worse. On the street, the services become fewer and unreliable, leading also to overcrowding, and vehicles become dilapidated and dirty. The management of the company must choosing between abandoning chunks of the network, or spreading the resources very thinly. Either scenario is an open invitation to the emergence of low-cost private operators, usually of the owner-operator category using whatever vehicle and service type is available and understood in the local culture. While they serve a very genuine need of the citizens, they abstract revenue from the core network and build up their market share. By this stage, the cost of intervention is high. Fares need to be put up to an economic level (political cost and pain), the current costs involved in bringing the fleet back to standard must overcome the period of neglect, and the need for capital investment remains. Of course, the market balance has now shifted, and a new equilibrium is necessary. Unfortunately, in the developing or transition economies with which I am familiar, there is neither the political will nor the allocated funds to deal with the problem. Roads or rail projects get the available donor or loan funds, on the somewhat evasive basis that the market will provide for the urban public transport. You will note that I have focussed on the impacts on companies. I do this since the original equilibrium (if it exists) will almost always have formal bus companies which can become subject to regulation for political purposes. A period of disastrous fare control only has to happen once in a city's history to set the serious damage cycle in motion. Also, I feel that when people are desperate for means of transport, fare control of the private paratransit system breaks down, loopholes such as "special" or "premium" services are used to justify double or triple tariffs, and authorities are in no position to put them off the road. Incidentally, lest anyone should think that fare control only impacts on developing countries, successive Irish Governments refused any fares increases to Dublin Bus from 1991 to 2000 ! This was for a mix of populist reasons, and to try to force the company to get productivity efficiencies deals through their labour force. Subvention was already down to about 10% of total costs by 1991. While the service did not deteriorate over this period of low inflation, one wonders if the funds generated by moderate fares increases would have allowed substantial improvements in comfort, service levels and service diversity ? OK, to sum it up. I don't think that fares control is wrong in itself. But when authorities deliberately prevent or even delay needed increases, they set in place a dynamic which is seriously damaging to established bus companies. In developing countries, there is usually not the available funds to undo the damage later, and private sector paratransit is about the only practical mobility service that can emerge in locations where investment funds are not readily available. These are usually priced much higher than the original bus services. In that sense, the poor have lost out twice - the affordable transit service has deteriorated (or gone) and essential mobility is done at a high price. This means suppression of trips and of participation in society, and we all know that this always hits hardest the people who are already marginalised. Ironically, for people with some disposable income, the paratransit services may actually work out better than the fixed route bus services. I'd like to hear any opinions people have on this issue, especially with real-world examples which can illustrate either the processes involved or the impacts on the different players (operators, drivers, passengers, communities). Yours sincerely, Brendan Finn. ______________________________________________________ Please note new contact details as follows : Address : 28, Leonie Hill, #02-28 Leonie Towers, Singapore 239227 Mobile : +65.94332298 Tel : +65.7340260 Fax/Tel : +65.7340412 e-mail : bfinn@singnet.com.sg Website : http://www.europrojects.ie/etts From Mark.Diesendorf at uts.edu.au Thu Nov 23 09:07:15 2000 From: Mark.Diesendorf at uts.edu.au (Mark Diesendorf) Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 10:07:15 +1000 Subject: [sustran] Car-free day in Chengdu Message-ID: I'm forwarding the following report by Lydia Feng, who was visiting Chengdu at the time: Car-Free Day in Chengdu, PR China At 10.00 am on Saturday 14 October 2000, Chengdu City of Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China, started the first ever "Car-Free Day" of the nation. The whole activity involved the central part of the city, comprising about 14 square km in area, and included 321 streets and 51 intersections within the boundaries of the Fu and Nan Rivers. From 10.00 am, no motor vehicle was allowed to be on the roads, except for buses, taxis, tourist vehicles and vehicles for special purposes such as garbage and emergency services. Non-motor-driven vehicles, such as bicycles, rickshaws and disabled people's tricycles etc., were everywhere on the roads, not just in the bicycle lanes. According to official statistics in the local newspapers, the volume of motor vehicles passing the five major traffic junctions on that day was 65.2% less than the average volume in June this year. Another presentation of traffic data said that among the 650,000 motor vehicles in the city, only 20,000 were on the roads, and most of these were taxis. The nitrogen oxide and particulate pollutants were reported to be reduced by 35% and 29% respectively. The Mayor of Chengdu, Mr Wang Rongxuan, led a special cycling tour by UN and municipal officials to the central part of the city, the Tianfu Square. Later, other interesting events occurred on the streets: bicycle tours around the city involving 2000 aged people, rickshaw marriage floats, and free city tours offered by Nos 301 and 302 city bus lines. The streets were crowded with curious people who eagerly wanted to experience their city without motor vehicles. A public attitude survey was conducted at the Tianfu Square. Forty minutes after the starting time of the Car-Free Day, the "agree" section of the large survey form on the board was filled with people's "support" ticks. Meanwhile, a large-scale public campaign was launched among schools and university students. Students were organised to set up a number of environment protection promotion stands on the walking paths where they read out environment protection articles to the passing flow of pedestrians, taxi drivers and cyclists. At 5.00 pm, the completion and success of the whole campaign was announced. National and local media covered this event extensively, among which positive comments dominated. In a rare event, the sky above the city, showed its beautiful blessing blue on that day, leaving an unforgettable memory in the citizens' minds. Lydia Feng -------------- next part -------------- Skipped content of type text/enriched From ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu Thu Nov 23 09:33:30 2000 From: ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu (Eric Bruun) Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2000 19:33:30 -0500 (EST) Subject: [sustran] Re: WB urban transport draft strategy ex.summ.1 In-Reply-To: <3.0.6.32.20001111124236.00802800@relay101.jaring.my> Message-ID: I do not disagree with the principle that lower income communities should not subsidize higher income communities. But again this is not what the ideologues meant, if I recall the British government and World Bank white papers from the early 1980s. They thought a transfer-based network was bad because this "forced" people to transfer. They claimed that market forces would give better service. The systems with the highest annual ridership are integrated in route structure and fares. While the system as a whole requires subsidy, it varies from route to route. But my point is that you can not dissect a system this way. For example, Montreal's Metro has a higher operating cost recovery than buses on average, but if you cut out bus service, ridership on the Metro goes down too (and the social costs from increased driving go up). This is where the conservative ideology comes in --- their concern is with the network subsidy, while they don't acknowledge the avoided social and private costs of auto use. The unfairness of some communities that are wealthy getting relatively higher subsidized service is usually outweighed by the higher quality of service and reduced driving that even the low income communities get. If you want to see how the working class gets treated in an uncross-subsidized market, try taking Greyhound in the US sometime. Eric On Sat, 11 Nov 2000, SUSTRAN Resource Centre wrote: > At 18:03 9/11/00 +0300, Alan Howes wrote: > >Broadly I agree with what the WB are saying - and I am neither conservative > >nor an economist. Of course there is scope for some cross-subsidy within > >transit networks - but you have to be clear where and why. Who is > >subsidising whom in Toronto and Montreal? (And do any routes actually make a > >_profit_ that's available for cross-subsidy?) If it's low-income users on > >high-volume lines subsidising high-income users on low-volume lines, then I > >would venture to suggest that something is wrong - and this is what I read > >the WB as saying. If anyone should bear the cross-subsidy, it should be the > >car users in the high-income areas - especially commuters. But cross-subsidy > >is a very blunt instrument compared with a proper road user charging system > >that, as nearly as possible, reflects the true infrastructure, operational > >and social costs of transport use. > > In fact, they ARE apparently advocating transfers between road and public > transport sectors, eg by talking about integrated finance for all modes of > urban transport. It will be interesting to see how strongly they are > committed to this. I am sure there may be some problems in the details - > which I have not yet examined carefully ... but personally I support the > idea of integrated finance via an urban transport fund or such like. > > The following quotes are the most relevant ones from the exec summary of > the review document: > > "xxxvii. Pricing principles for public transport modes should be determined > within an integrated urban strategy, and should then reflect the extent to > which road infrastructure is adequately charged. Given the high level of > interaction between modes, and the prevalent undercharging of road use, no > absolute value should be ascribed to covering all costs from fares, either > for public transport as a whole, or for individual modes. In particular, > transfers between roads and public transport services, and between modes of > public transport are potentially consistent with optimal pricing strategy. > However, in the interests of efficient service supply, transport operators > should operate competitively, with purely commercial objectives, financial > transfers being achieved through contracts between municipal authorities > and operators for the supply of services. Any non-commercial objectives > imposed on operators should be compensated directly and transparently, > where appropriate by non-transport line agencies in whose interests they > are imposed. Above all, In the absence of appropriate contracting or other > support mechanisms the sustainability of public transport service should be > paramount, and generally have precedence over traditional price regulation > arrangements. > > xxxviii. Some urban transport financing principles follow. Given the > interaction between modes, there is a strong case for the pooling of urban > transport financial resources within an urban transport fund administered > by a strategic transport authority at the municipal or metropolitan level. > Inter-governmental transfers should normally be made to the fund, and > should be structured to avoid distorting the efficient allocation of > resources within the transport sector at the local level. Private sector > financing for transport infrastructure should be raised through competitive > tendering of concessions, which may be supported by public contributions, > so long as these have been subject to proper cost benefit analysis." > > Paul > > > Paul BARTER > (a.k.a. A. Rahman Paul Barter) > SUSTRAN Resource Centre > P.O. Box 11501, 50748 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia > sustran@po.jaring.my > > Information services for the Sustainable Transport Action Network > for Asia and the Pacific (the SUSTRAN Network) > http://www.malaysiakini.com/sustran > http://www.geocities.com/sustrannet > From mobility at igc.org Wed Nov 29 08:34:22 2000 From: mobility at igc.org (ITDP) Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2000 18:34:22 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Recycle-A-Bicycle Job Announcement Message-ID: <3A2440FE.C6A77837@igc.org> Recycle-A-Bicycle Job Announcement Positon: Shop Manager Hours: Tuesday - Friday 1-7PM Saturday 10-4PM Pay: $12/hr Responsibilities: The Shop Manager will run the Recycle-A-Bicycle retail shop located at 75 Avenue C, Manhattan. Specific tasks include handling customer repairs, making sales, preparing bicycles to sell, training and managing the work of select students, and doing inventory and supply orders. Experience: Must be an advanced bike mechanic with retail experience, and must demonstrate some level of skill as an educator. Send Resume to: Karen Overton 75 Avenue C New York, NY 10009 From sustran at po.jaring.my Wed Nov 29 11:10:00 2000 From: sustran at po.jaring.my (SUSTRAN info services) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 10:10:00 +0800 Subject: [sustran] fwd: Pavement dwellers facing eviction Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.20001129101000.007b42e0@relay101.jaring.my> >Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2000 15:27:57 +0530 >From: yuva >Organization: yuva >X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.6 [en] (Win95; I) >X-Accept-Language: en >To: yuva@vsnl.com >Subject: URGENT - HOUSING RIGHTS VIOLATION ALERT (INDIA) > >Dear Friends >We require your help urgently in forwarding the attached appeal for solidarity in relation to a proposal by the State govt. of Maharashtra to de-recognize pavement dwellers as having any right to settlement. >Please assist us by circulating the attached appeal to all groups concerned with housing rights, women's rights & child and youth rights. >We are all quite shocked at this move which in effect obliterates what we had struggled to achieve for a decade! Currently we are mobilizing communities and lobbying with ministers of the state government. We hope that housing rights networks/groups like yourselves will write in to the relevant authorities to give our campaign a boost. >To, >The Chief Minister, Maharashtra : Fax No. : (91) 712 - 539059 ; >The Chief Minister - Maharashtra, Ramgiri, Civil Lines, Nagpur; Tel : (91) 712 - 531366, 532463 >In earnest anticipation, >Lysa John >YUVA >___________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________ > > APPEAL TO PREVENT MAJOR HOUSING RIGHTS VIOLATION IN MAHARASHTRA, INDIA > SOS for Pavement Communities, Women & Children > >· 25,00,000 of the 50,00,000 slum dwellers in Mumbai face the threat of eviction >· More than 700,000 pavement dwellers in Mumbai on the verge of homelessness >· Women in pavement communities in fearful anticipation of a renewal of violent dispossesion >· Atleast 200,000 children face an abrupt end to their education >· "Double Displacement" for the large number Pavement dwellers in Mumbai who have taken refuge in the city from project related displacement in rural areas >· Proposed change in Maharashtra Slum policy would mean a drastic reversal of human rights and housing rights achievements of more than a decade > >Dear Friends, > >Thousands of slum and pavement dwellers across sixty cities and townships of Maharashtra, India face the threat of displacement and homelessness after the Chief Minister, Mr. Vilasrao Desmukh of the state, announced a new proposal to make drastic changes in the existing slum policy of the state. > >The current policy came into existence in 1995 and is a result of a concerted and arduous battle of more than a decade by housing rights groups and people's organizations. The policy spelled out provisions for the resettlement and rehabilitation of slum dwellers existing in the city before a cut-off date of January 1, 1995. An important feature of the policy was that for the very first time, it recognized PAVEMENT DWELLERS as eligible for access to social housing through provisions for >their legal recognition and their inclusion in the Slum Resettlement & Rehabilitation program. > >In a shocking contradiction of existing guarantees for security of tenure to the poor in the state, the Maharashtra State Government has announced its decision to scrap the existing policy and introduce new measures that seek to de-recognize all settlements on public lands and on pavements irrespective of their date of origin. However, while it concedes to provide resettlement to such slums that can prove its existence before the year 1995, it has declared an outright REFUSAL to >provide any form of compensation to pavement dwellers. > >In a further statement to the media on November 24, the State spokesperson has also conveyed the decision to revoke the validity of the existing 'photopass'document, which currently serves as a critical proof of residence before 1995 for slum and pavement dwellers, thus legitimizing their access to housing schemes as protection from eviction. The government is instead proposing a duplicate exercise of re-issuing 'new photopasses'. This is a move that at the very least implies a situation of heightened insecurity and repetition of a painstaking process of acquiring security of tenure for ALL slum and >pavement dwellers in Maharashtra, atleast 57,00,000 people in Mumbai itself, besides a complete disregard of the administrative process. > >IMPLICATIONS > >Housing Rights > >The Slum Policy of 1995 is the result of the prolonged struggle of activists and people's movements for the right to housing for the poor against the series of brutal evictions en masse of pavement and slums communities in Mumbai between 1985 and 1991. More than 100,000 families were rendered homeless and many more affected by the physical and >psycho-social trauma. > >The changes in the slum policy as proposed by the government of Maharashtra, led by the Democratic Front, threatens to overwrite in a single move the housing rights victory paid for with blood and toil by thousands of the poor. > >Women's Rights > >The experiences of eviction in pavement communities such as Prakash Nagar, Mahim and slum settlements such as Bhabrekar Nagar, Malad show that women experience most significantly the violence associated with dispossesion - not only during evictions but also before and after it. Physical brutality and intimidation are the weapons used against communities of the poor by evicting authorities and it is the women are both at the forefront of the violence and the resistance. Moreover when evicted communities are left to fend for themselves without access to the barest minimum of their basic needs, women face the arduous >responsibility of the survival of the family, even at the cost of their own needs or safety. > >The Slum Policy of 1995 brought a semblance of stability and hope to many women, particularly in pavement communities. Women members of the 'Bamboo Kamgar Sanghatana' (Federation of Bamboo Workers) across 500 families of marginalized bamboo workers who live and work on the streets of Sewri, Mumbai had also organized themselves into Housing Co-operatives and participated in training programs to equip themselves for their transfer into the social housing promised by the previous State government, led by the Shiv Sena - BJP combine, under the scope of the Slum Policy. > > The abrupt and outright withdrawal of all security against evictions for the pavement dwellers implies a revival of an era of violence that has already taken a significant toll on innumerable women in the city. > >Child Rights > >In December 2000, at a Child Rights Festival organized in Mumbai, Gauri, a ten-year old girl living on the pavements, shared her dream for an ideal home - that was safe and beautiful. Gauri is one of atleast 200,000 children who stand to have this dream shattered should the Democratic Front, that forms the State Government in Maharashtra succeed in its attempt to make regressive changes in the current slum policy. > >Besides the trauma of being mute spectators to the physical destruction and brutality enacted against their homes and family, children of evicted families are also affected in ways that have a determining effect on their life opportunities. The iscontinuation of education, temporarily and/or permanently, is an immediate consequence of the incidence of eviction. Other factors such as the further impoverishment of the family, loss of and/or disabilities affected on the parental/earning members of the family as a result of eviction related violence, etc. have a far reaching impact on the child's access to care and nurture, and are also known to pre-empt their role in supporting their families through labour. > >IMMEDIATE ACTION > >We urge all individuals and groups concerned with housing rights, human rights and the rights of women and children to help prevent the implementation of this adverse proposal by faxing letters of concern to The Chief Minister, Maharashtra : Fax No. : (91) 712 - 539059 ; The Chief Minister-Maharashtra, Ramgiri, Civil Lines, Nagpur; Tel : (91) 712 - 531366, 532463 > >Please write in to dissuade them from negating the rights of the poor to housing, particularly in relation to their move to dispossess the pavement dwellers. You may provide a reference of relevant national (for groups in India) and international commitments to housing to reiterate the import of the proposed move. > >Please help us in distributing this appeal as widely as possible and urge them to join in writing to condemn this move. > >Also send copies of your letters to : YSVM (Yuva Shaheri Vikas Manch / Forum for City Development) at : yuva@vsnl.com > > >This appeal has been forwarded by the Yuva Shaheri Vikas Manch, an alliance of activists, people's groups, NGOs and networks for the urban poor. Member organizations of the Yuva Shaheri Vikas Manch include: >· Footpath Rahiwasi Sangathna (Pavement Dwellers' Organization) >· Stree Manch (Forum for Women) >· Bamboo Kamgaar Sangathna (Federation of Bamboo Workers) >· Bhabrekar Nagar Sangarsh Samiti (Bhabrekar Nagar Struggle Committee) >· Manav Mukti Morcha (Human Liberation Agitation - Youth network) >· Krantikari Bhadekaru Sangathna (Revolutionary Tenants' Organization) > > Paul BARTER Contact point for SUSTRAN Network information services I am based in Malaysia and (soon) Singapore sustran@po.jaring.my http://www.geocities.com/sustrannet For other SUSTRAN Network matters contact the NEW SECRETARIAT: Dr Bambang Susantono and Ms Moekti H. Soejachmoen Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia and the Pacific (SUSTRAN Network) c/o Pelangi Indonesia, Jl. Danau Tondano No. A-4, Jakarta 10210, Indonesia. Tel. +(62 21) 573 5020, 571 9360 Fax +(62 21) 573 2503 infortrans@pelangi.or.id, kuki@pelangi.or.id, bsantono@cbn.net.id