From carlos.pardo at sutp.org Tue Apr 3 04:16:40 2007 From: carlos.pardo at sutp.org (Carlos F. Pardo SUTP) Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:16:40 -0500 Subject: [sustran] [Fwd: Busways unblock crowded cities] Message-ID: <46115698.7010304@sutp.org> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070402/4735794b/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 1620 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070402/4735794b/attachment.jpe -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 52950 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070402/4735794b/attachment-0001.jpe From edelman at greenidea.info Tue Apr 3 04:48:38 2007 From: edelman at greenidea.info (Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory) Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:48:38 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Re: [Fwd: Busways unblock crowded cities] In-Reply-To: <46115698.7010304@sutp.org> References: <46115698.7010304@sutp.org> Message-ID: <46115E16.5090109@greenidea.info> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070402/d2c5c516/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 1620 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070402/d2c5c516/attachment.jpe -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 52950 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070402/d2c5c516/attachment-0001.jpe From edelman at greenidea.info Tue Apr 3 04:58:53 2007 From: edelman at greenidea.info (Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory) Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:58:53 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Question about buses for BRT Message-ID: <4611607D.2020507@greenidea.info> Hi, Are buses used for BRT (with elevated platforms and enclosed stations) just normal articulated high-floor buses, aside from things like having no technology to collect money or stamp tickets since that is done in the station? Also, can someone tell me where I can find both photos, illustrations and line drawings of the side and front profiles of a typical high-floor bus used in BRT systems? Technical illustrations, not photos of them in use. Thanks, T -- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Director Green Idea Factory Korunn? 72 CZ-10100 Praha 10 Czech Republic ++420 605 915 970 ++420 222 517 832 Skype: toddedelman edelman@greenidea.eu http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain Green Idea Factory, a member of World Carfree Network From edelman at greenidea.info Tue Apr 3 05:06:55 2007 From: edelman at greenidea.info (Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory) Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2007 22:06:55 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Mexican officials to bike to work Message-ID: <4611625F.4020406@greenidea.info> *Officials in Mexico City have been ordered to leave their cars behind and cycle to work once a month. *Full story: -- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Director Green Idea Factory Korunn? 72 CZ-10100 Praha 10 Czech Republic ++420 605 915 970 ++420 222 517 832 Skype: toddedelman edelman@greenidea.eu http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain Green Idea Factory, a member of World Carfree Network From edelman at greenidea.info Thu Apr 5 23:47:08 2007 From: edelman at greenidea.info (Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory) Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:47:08 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Transport protests flare in Chile Message-ID: <46150BEC.8020404@greenidea.info> *Police in Chile's capital, Santiago, have arrested about 100 people in a fresh protest against a new public transport system. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6528385.stm * -- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Director Green Idea Factory Korunn? 72 CZ-10100 Praha 10 Czech Republic ++420 605 915 970 ++420 222 517 832 Skype: toddedelman edelman@greenidea.eu http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain Green Idea Factory, a member of World Carfree Network From arulgreen at yahoo.com Fri Apr 13 13:43:38 2007 From: arulgreen at yahoo.com (arul rathinam) Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 21:43:38 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sustran] Transport - the Second Master Plan for Chennai. Message-ID: <15513.64920.qm@web51102.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Dear Friends Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) published the draft version of the Second Master Plan for Chennai on 11 April 2007. Any person interested in Master Plan II could send in their suggestions to CMDA on or before 12 July 2007. We, as a NGO, wish to bring an ?Alternate? Second Master Plan for Chennai, particularly on Transport. We are planning to organize awareness campaign and consultation meetings for it. I am attaching the link to Transport Chapter from the Second Master Plan for Chennai. http://www.cmdachennai.org/design/pdfs/SMP/D_Chapt%20%20IV%20_Transportation.pdf We need your advice and support. with kind regards. R.ARUL, Secretary, PASUMAI THAAYAGAM (Green Mother Land), No. 9,(old No: 5), Lyn wood Lane, Mahalingapuram, CHENNAI -600 034, Tamil Nadu, INDIA. Email: mailtopt@gmail.com arulgreen@yahoo.com Fax: +91-44-28172122 www.p-t.in ____________________________________________________________________________________ Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit. http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097 From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Mon Apr 16 01:17:51 2007 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2007 18:17:51 +0200 Subject: [sustran] =?iso-8859-1?Q?Second_Master_Plan_for_Chennai=2E_-_requ?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?est_for_comments?= In-Reply-To: <1176628840.334.68245.m19@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: Okay Arul, I have had my first quick look at the draft chapter and a couple of things strike me that may end up being useful to you and your colleagues as you work to come up with an Alternate proposal or suggestions for your Master Planners. * Strikes me that they are doing a largely competent job in setting the stage with the usual purely transport statistics in those first pages. It?s at least a start. Of sorts. * But then they quickly veer off on old and familiar habits -- and if I were to judge it on the basis of my very fast look, it would strike me that this is basically driving them to ?more of the same?. And while there is a certain amount of comforting language about TDM, passing mentions of good Dutch, Danish and German practices, but as a clue ? on almost every place in the chapter where you see the word ?demand? it is usually prelude to a conclusion that you gotta build something to meet it. I think we have seen that before. * The Bible that my old grandmother used to carry around with her, says that a man who will steal a talon (a penny_ will steal your fortune. So I say down and ran a bunch of words through a frequency scan and here is what I came up with. * Accident ? 1. Sprawl - 1. Waiting -1. Environment ? 2. Bicycle ? 2. Maintenance ? 3. Safe/safety ? 4. TDM - 4. Congestion ? 6. Parking ? 30. * Health ? 0. Injury ? 0. Handicapped - 0, Elderly - 0, Disabled ? 0. Respiratory ? 0. Death ? 0. Life ? 0. * Children ? 0. Gender ? 0. Women ? 0. Female ? 0. * Walking ? 0. Public space ? 0. Parks - 0, Community - 0, Participation ? 0. Independent ? 0. * Ecology/ecological ? 0. Planet ? 0. CO2 ? 0. GHG ? 0. Greenhouse ? 0, * Traffic ? 46. * Roads -124 times. I guess that gives us a few clues, and while I have a number of further thoughts on this, let me get off the stage and her what the others have to offer. Eric Britton PS. May I suggest in the interests of economy that these discussions continue mainly in Sustran and the New Mobility Agenda Idea Factory, and I hope that we shall be hearing from our Gatnet friends (www.gatnet.net) on this as well? Thanks Posted by: "arul rathinam" arulgreen@yahoo.com Sat Apr 14, 2007 10:15 pm (PST) Dear Friends Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) published the draft version of the Second Master Plan for Chennai on 11 April 2007. Any person interested in Master Plan II could send in their suggestions to CMDA on or before 12 July 2007. We, as a NGO, wish to bring an ?Alternate? Second Master Plan for Chennai, particularly on Transport. We are planning to organize awareness campaign and consultation meetings for it. I am attaching the link to Transport Chapter from the Second Master Plan for Chennai. http://www.cmdachennai.org/design/pdfs/SMP/D_Chapt%20%20IV%20_Transportation .pdf We need your advice and support. with kind regards. R.ARUL, Secretary, PASUMAI THAAYAGAM (Green Mother Land), No. 9,(old No: 5), Lyn wood Lane, Mahalingapuram, CHENNAI -600 034, Tamil Nadu, INDIA. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070415/5bd16b0f/attachment.html From sunny.enie at gmail.com Mon Apr 16 01:39:50 2007 From: sunny.enie at gmail.com (Sunny) Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2007 23:39:50 +0700 Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <46225556.2020103@gmail.com> Nice comments Eric. Agree with you entirely. The following were my comments which I posted on CAI lists where I first saw this post of Chennai Master Plan ******** Dear Arul, Thanks very much for the report and it is very interesting. Dear All, After reading the report I felt that CMDA aims to strike a balance on providing the road for both cars, PT and NMT. The important factor in achieving sustainable transport is making a city transport fit for moving more people (which was stated somewhere in the report) and this can be done by increasing the importance for Public Transport. CMDA states that they will be purchasing new fleet of buses which is a good idea but wht will be the use of so many new buses when they are stuck in the traffic same like the older ones. It has to be noted by the city authorities that when buses move faster than the cars then there will surely be a increase in bus ridership. One good thing in the report is the vision for implementing bus lanes and other mass transit options. I would also suggest CMDA to look into the scope of implementing a BRT system which is way far cheaper than the LRT/ mono rail and equally efficient. I have noticed in the report that plans are being made in increasing the parking supply which I feel is not a good idea if the city wishes to achieve sustainable transport. Parking spaces in a city are a factor determining the automobile (esp. private) dependency in a city. So providing multi-storied parking will not be a solution to reduce car dependency. Coming to the topic of emissions it is very surprising to learn from the report about the emissions increase in future. For this aspect improving mass transit and NMT is very very crucial. People generally compare vehicles when they observe and often say that the bus is very polluting while my car is very clean. This statement becomes false when per capita emissions are considered. 30 people travelling in a polluted bus obviously emit less pollution than 30 people driving in 30 different cars. A city with good public transport running on alternative/cleaner fuels along with a increased importance for NMT would definitely make the air cleaner. Lastly, I was surprised to see that nothing about accidents and fatalities has been discussed in the report. If this is also shown then it would be evident to how much social cost is transport responsible. Please give your comments on the above. Kind regards Sunny For more information on improving mass transit, Bus rapid transit, non-motorised transport and, air quality management please visit our website www.sutp.org You can download our modules for free on the aforementioned topics after a free registration. In case if you have any difficulty please email me. Eric Britton wrote: > > Okay Arul, I have had my first quick look at the draft chapter and a > couple of things strike me that may end up being useful to you and > your colleagues as you work to come up with an Alternate proposal or > suggestions for your Master Planners. > > > > * Strikes me that they are doing a largely competent job in > setting the stage with the usual purely transport statistics in > those first pages. It?s at least a start. Of sorts. > > * But then they quickly veer off on old and familiar habits -- and > if I were to judge it on the basis of my very fast look, it > would strike me that this is basically driving them to ?more of > the same?. And while there is a certain amount of comforting > language about TDM, passing mentions of good Dutch, Danish and > German practices, but as a clue ? on almost every place in the > chapter where you see the word ?demand? it is usually prelude to > a conclusion that you gotta build something to meet it. I think > we have seen that before. > > > > * The Bible that my old grandmother used to carry around with her, > says that a man who will steal a talon (a penny_ will steal your > fortune. So I say down and ran a bunch of words through a > frequency scan and here is what I came up with. > > o Accident ? 1. Sprawl - 1. Waiting -1. Environment ? 2. > Bicycle ? 2. Maintenance ? 3. Safe/safety ? 4. TDM - 4. > Congestion ? 6. Parking ? 30. > > o Health ? 0. Injury ? 0. Handicapped - 0, Elderly - 0, > Disabled ? 0. Respiratory ? 0. Death ? 0. Life ? 0. > > o Children ? 0. Gender ? 0. Women ? 0. Female ? 0. > > o Walking ? 0. Public space ? 0. Parks - 0, Community - 0, > Participation ? 0. Independent ? 0. > > o Ecology/ecological ? 0. Planet ? 0. CO2 ? 0. GHG ? 0. > Greenhouse ? 0, > > > > o Traffic ? 46. > > o Roads -124 times. > > I guess that gives us a few clues, and while I have a number of > further thoughts on this, let me get off the stage and her what the > others have to offer. > > > > Eric Britton > > > > PS. May I suggest in the interests of economy that these discussions > continue mainly in Sustran and the New Mobility Agenda Idea Factory, > and I hope that we shall be hearing from our Gatnet friends > (www.gatnet.net) on this as well? Thanks > > > > > > > > > > > *Posted by: "arul rathinam" arulgreen@yahoo.com > * > > > *Sat Apr 14, 2007 10:15 pm (PST) * > > Dear Friends > > Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) > published the draft version of the Second Master Plan > for Chennai on 11 April 2007. Any person interested in > Master Plan II could send in their suggestions to CMDA > on or before 12 July 2007. > > We, as a NGO, wish to bring an ?Alternate? Second > Master Plan for Chennai, particularly on Transport. We > are planning to organize awareness campaign and > consultation meetings for it. > > I am attaching the link to Transport Chapter from the > Second Master Plan for Chennai. > > http://www.cmdachennai.org/design/pdfs/SMP/D_Chapt%20%20IV%20_Transportation.pdf > > > We need your advice and support. > > with kind regards. > > R.ARUL, > Secretary, > PASUMAI THAAYAGAM (Green Mother Land), > No. 9,(old No: 5), Lyn wood Lane, > Mahalingapuram, > CHENNAI -600 034, > Tamil Nadu, > INDIA. > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). From richmond at alum.mit.edu Mon Apr 16 02:44:29 2007 From: richmond at alum.mit.edu (Jonathan E. D. Richmond) Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2007 13:44:29 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [sustran] =?iso-8859-1?Q?Re=3A_Second_Master_Plan_for_Chennai=2E_?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?-_request_for_comments?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I am in Chennai right now. I would be amazed if anything close to planning were ever to be possible here. The city is a disgusting dump -- in fact, the whole place appears to be one big public urinal as far as I can see! The city cannot even plan public toilets: the few that exist are so sickening that people piss on the outsides of them as well as in the street everywhere. Almost everything in this city is a mass of unplanned ugliness. I don't know if there is a city bus system, as no information is available (as is usual in Indian cities, nothing is done for the consumer). There is a small rail system, served by filthy trains whose doors stay open at all times. I got off one such train last night to be landed in a deserted station with no information and filled with people sleeping rough in the middle of piles of garbage: the smell was so bad that I could hardly walk to the main road to have the opportunity of being ripped off by one of the many rickshaw wallahs who refuse to use their meters. So, how does one plan in this environment? My answer is that there is no point in planning at all, because the plans will not come to reality until institutions have changed. The existing house must be put in order before anything new can be realized -- and that is a very hard job amidst the mismanagement, corruption, and dirt that constitutes Chennai today. --Jonathan ----- Jonathan Richmond 1 (617) 395-4360 e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ From pendakur at interchange.ubc.ca Mon Apr 16 07:14:43 2007 From: pendakur at interchange.ubc.ca (Pendakur) Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2007 15:14:43 -0700 Subject: [sustran] Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20070415222133.D31552C430@mx-list.jca.ne.jp> I wish Dr. Richmond would list his favorite cities and tell us the attributes which make them great. Also, before we characterize any city, with serious problems, as a "disgusting dump", I would suggest that Dr. Richmond look up the meaning of his attributes and then evaluate, from a planning perspective, what he would suggest to improve Chennai. His diatribe below is neither positive nor should it belong in a sober discussion among professionals. SUSTRAN network is meant for professional discussion, promoting learning and exchange of ideas and knowledge. Cheers. Setty Dr. V. Setty Pendakur Professor Emeritus, University of BC Honorary Professor, China National Academy of Sciences; Director, ITDP (NY) & Secretary, ABE90-TRB President, Pacific Policy and Planning Associates 702- 1099 Marinaside Cresecent, Vancouver, BC Canada V6Z 2Z3 604-263-3576; Fax: 604-263-6493 -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org ] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 10:44 AM To: Eric Britton; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments I am in Chennai right now. I would be amazed if anything close to planning were ever to be possible here. The city is a disgusting dump -- in fact, the whole place appears to be one big public urinal as far as I can see! The city cannot even plan public toilets: the few that exist are so sickening that people piss on the outsides of them as well as in the street everywhere. Almost everything in this city is a mass of unplanned ugliness. I don't know if there is a city bus system, as no information is available (as is usual in Indian cities, nothing is done for the consumer). There is a small rail system, served by filthy trains whose doors stay open at all times. I got off one such train last night to be landed in a deserted station with no information and filled with people sleeping rough in the middle of piles of garbage: the smell was so bad that I could hardly walk to the main road to have the opportunity of being ripped off by one of the many rickshaw wallahs who refuse to use their meters. So, how does one plan in this environment? My answer is that there is no point in planning at all, because the plans will not come to reality until institutions have changed. The existing house must be put in order before anything new can be realized -- and that is a very hard job amidst the mismanagement, corruption, and dirt that constitutes Chennai today. --Jonathan ----- Jonathan Richmond 1 (617) 395-4360 e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). From carlos.pardo at sutp.org Mon Apr 16 07:29:25 2007 From: carlos.pardo at sutp.org (Carlos F. Pardo) Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 06:29:25 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments In-Reply-To: <20070415222133.D31552C430@mx-list.jca.ne.jp> References: <20070415222133.D31552C430@mx-list.jca.ne.jp> Message-ID: <4622A745.7020905@sutp.org> Hi, I would say Mr Richmond had a bad day (or days!) in Chennai and he didn't think his description would be too strong and even hurting when he wrote it. I would also like to note that, if you would like to talk about other "dumps", you can look for pictures of Bogot? in the decade of 1980 and even 1990, especially the areas of San Victorino and El Cartucho (which still remains, though 5% of what it was), where you could not go because you would just end up robbed, violated, dead or all of the above. If you would have been there, maybe you would have also said that planning of that city was impossible (what ever happened there?). Though the point about institutions can be rescued, I think you didn't provide the best introduction to your proposal. Pictures of San Victorino (before and after) are in some of SUTP's presentations and documents. Feel free to browse or to ask me for copies of them. Best regards, Carlos F. Pardo Coordinador de Proyecto- Project Coordinator GTZ - Proyecto de Transporte Sostenible (SUTP, SUTP-LAC) Cl 93A # 14-17 of 708 Bogot? D.C., Colombia Tel/fax: +57 (1) 236 2309 Mobile: +57 (3) 15 296 0662 carlos.pardo@sutp.org www.sutp.org Pendakur wrote: > I wish Dr. Richmond would list his favorite cities and tell us the > attributes which make them great. Also, before we characterize any city, > with serious problems, as a "disgusting dump", I would suggest that Dr. > Richmond look up the meaning of his attributes and then evaluate, from a > planning perspective, what he would suggest to improve Chennai. > > His diatribe below is neither positive nor should it belong in a sober > discussion among professionals. SUSTRAN network is meant for professional > discussion, promoting learning and exchange of ideas and knowledge. > > > Cheers. > > Setty > Dr. V. Setty Pendakur > Professor Emeritus, University of BC > Honorary Professor, China National Academy of Sciences; > Director, ITDP (NY) & Secretary, ABE90-TRB > > President, Pacific Policy and Planning Associates > 702- 1099 Marinaside Cresecent, Vancouver, BC > Canada V6Z 2Z3 > 604-263-3576; Fax: 604-263-6493 > > -----Original Message----- > From: sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org > [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org > ] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond > Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 10:44 AM > To: Eric Britton; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport > Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for > comments > > > I am in Chennai right now. I would be amazed if anything close to planning > were ever to be possible here. > > The city is a disgusting dump -- in fact, the whole place appears to be > one big public urinal as far as I can see! The city cannot even plan > public toilets: the few that exist are so sickening that people piss on > the outsides of them as well as in the street everywhere. > > Almost everything in this city is a mass of unplanned ugliness. I don't > know if there is a city bus system, as no information is available (as is > usual in Indian cities, nothing is done for the consumer). There is a > small rail system, served by filthy trains whose doors stay open at all > times. I got off one such train last night to be landed in a deserted > station with no information and filled with people sleeping rough in > the middle of piles of garbage: the smell was so bad that I could hardly > walk to the main road to have the opportunity of being ripped off by one > of the many rickshaw wallahs who refuse to use their meters. > > So, how does one plan in this environment? > > My answer is that there is no point in planning at all, because the plans > will not come to reality until institutions have changed. The existing > house must be put in order before anything new can be realized -- and that > is a very hard job amidst the mismanagement, corruption, and dirt that > constitutes Chennai today. > > --Jonathan > > ----- > Jonathan Richmond > > 1 (617) 395-4360 > > e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu > http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join > the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups > version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real > sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). > Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). > > > From carlos.pardo at sutp.org Mon Apr 16 07:46:17 2007 From: carlos.pardo at sutp.org (Carlos F. Pardo) Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 06:46:17 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4622AB39.3010106@sutp.org> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070416/20b0b84f/attachment.html From richmond at alum.mit.edu Mon Apr 16 13:46:34 2007 From: richmond at alum.mit.edu (Jonathan E. D. Richmond) Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 00:46:34 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments In-Reply-To: <20070415222133.D31552C430@mx-list.jca.ne.jp> References: <20070415222133.D31552C430@mx-list.jca.ne.jp> Message-ID: I am reacting to the insistence that everything is normal in an environment where corruption rules and nothing resembling planning is possible. Under these circumstances, massive institutional change is needed -- endless reports and proposals for planning will go nowhere. You ask what cities I like: the answer is that I like the State of KErala in India very much. The government there is labelled "Communist: but is actually more like old style British Labour. It is mostly honest and has brought impressive social change. There is almost 100% literacy, equality between men and women, and virtually no signs of poverty. Even unskilled workers are treated properly. They are articulate, and express their opinions. Tea pickers are guaranteed lifetime pensions. Children go to school and have open opportunities. The place is clean, and people take pride in their communities. In such an environment, p[lanning can take place and it can be successful. In a city of despair, where nobody cares about the huge number of impossibly poor people and where the rule of law means nothing, there is little that can be done --Jonathan On Sun, 15 Apr 2007, Pendakur wrote: > I wish Dr. Richmond would list his favorite cities and tell us the > attributes which make them great. Also, before we characterize any city, > with serious problems, as a "disgusting dump", I would suggest that Dr. > Richmond look up the meaning of his attributes and then evaluate, from a > planning perspective, what he would suggest to improve Chennai. > > His diatribe below is neither positive nor should it belong in a sober > discussion among professionals. SUSTRAN network is meant for professional > discussion, promoting learning and exchange of ideas and knowledge. > > > Cheers. > > Setty > Dr. V. Setty Pendakur > Professor Emeritus, University of BC > Honorary Professor, China National Academy of Sciences; > Director, ITDP (NY) & Secretary, ABE90-TRB > > President, Pacific Policy and Planning Associates > 702- 1099 Marinaside Cresecent, Vancouver, BC > Canada V6Z 2Z3 > 604-263-3576; Fax: 604-263-6493 > > -----Original Message----- > From: sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org > [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org > ] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond > Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 10:44 AM > To: Eric Britton; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport > Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for > comments > > > I am in Chennai right now. I would be amazed if anything close to planning > were ever to be possible here. > > The city is a disgusting dump -- in fact, the whole place appears to be > one big public urinal as far as I can see! The city cannot even plan > public toilets: the few that exist are so sickening that people piss on > the outsides of them as well as in the street everywhere. > > Almost everything in this city is a mass of unplanned ugliness. I don't > know if there is a city bus system, as no information is available (as is > usual in Indian cities, nothing is done for the consumer). There is a > small rail system, served by filthy trains whose doors stay open at all > times. I got off one such train last night to be landed in a deserted > station with no information and filled with people sleeping rough in > the middle of piles of garbage: the smell was so bad that I could hardly > walk to the main road to have the opportunity of being ripped off by one > of the many rickshaw wallahs who refuse to use their meters. > > So, how does one plan in this environment? > > My answer is that there is no point in planning at all, because the plans > will not come to reality until institutions have changed. The existing > house must be put in order before anything new can be realized -- and that > is a very hard job amidst the mismanagement, corruption, and dirt that > constitutes Chennai today. > > --Jonathan > > ----- > Jonathan Richmond > > 1 (617) 395-4360 > > e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu > http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join > the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups > version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real > sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). > Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). > ----- Jonathan Richmond 1 (617) 395-4360 e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ From richmond at alum.mit.edu Mon Apr 16 13:48:06 2007 From: richmond at alum.mit.edu (Jonathan E. D. Richmond) Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 00:48:06 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments In-Reply-To: <4622AB39.3010106@sutp.org> References: <4622AB39.3010106@sutp.org> Message-ID: The problem is that there is no path for a plan to become reality -- it is just words in a bound volume, that will gather dust. I have seen this in too many places. Actiuon for social and political change must come first --Jonathan On Mon, 16 Apr 2007, Carlos F. Pardo wrote: > Eric, > > This is a really interesting indicator of what is being proposed for > Chennai!! However, I have to note that, contrary to what some people may > be thinking, I'm opposed to the idea that having this chapter for the > planning of Chennai would be a waste of writing space and that it will be > very difficult to implement. When you take a look at other cities' > history and how they changed their policy, it all starts with writing > planning proposals that may be? "ahead of their time". Some years later, > some people are actually capable of implementing what had been proposed > some years back. But you always need the first draft that proposes > something, some sort of "manifesto". Of course, manifestos have to be > improved and rewritten. Would it be possible to send some comments to the > chapter and sign it as "Sustran" or "new mobility" or whatever? We did > this with Sustran-LAC for the "temporary" changes of the Quito BRT, and > had some influence in changing it. Sunny's and Eric's comments are a > start... > > Best regards, > > Carlos F. Pardo > Coordinador de Proyecto- Project Coordinator > GTZ - Proyecto de Transporte Sostenible (SUTP, SUTP-LAC) > Cl 93A # 14-17 of 708 > Bogot? D.C., Colombia > Tel/fax: +57 (1) 236 2309 Mobile: +57 (3) 15 296 0662 > carlos.pardo@sutp.org www.sutp.org > > > Eric Britton wrote: > > Okay Arul, I have had my first quick look at the draft > chapter and a couple of things strike me that may end up > being useful to you and your colleagues as you work to come > up with an Alternate proposal or suggestions for your Master > Planners. > > ? > > o Strikes me that they are doing a largely competent job in > setting the stage with the usual purely transport > statistics in those first pages. It's at least a start. > Of ?sorts. > > o But then they quickly veer off on old and familiar habits > -- and if I were to judge it on the basis of my very fast > look, it would strike me that this is basically driving > them to "more of the same". And while there is a certain > amount of comforting language about TDM, passing mentions > of good Dutch, Danish and German practices, but as a clue > - on almost every place in the chapter where you see the > word "demand" it is usually prelude to a conclusion that > you gotta build something to meet it. I think we have > seen that before. > > ? > > o The Bible that my old grandmother used to carry around > with her, says that a man who will steal a talon (a > penny_ will steal your fortune. So I say down and ran a > bunch of words through a frequency scan and here is what > I came up with. > > o Accident - 1. Sprawl - 1. Waiting ?-1. Environment - > 2. Bicycle - 2. Maintenance - 3. Safe/safety - 4. TDM > - 4. ?Congestion - 6. Parking - 30. ? > > o Health - 0. Injury - 0. Handicapped - 0, Elderly - 0, > Disabled - 0. Respiratory - 0. Death - 0. Life - 0. > > o Children - 0. Gender - 0. Women - 0. Female - 0. > > o Walking - 0. Public space - 0. Parks - 0, Community - > 0, Participation - 0. Independent - 0. > > o Ecology/ecological - 0. Planet - 0. CO2 - 0. ?GHG - > 0. Greenhouse - 0, ? > > ? > > o Traffic - 46. > > o Roads -124 times. > > I guess that gives us a few clues, and while I have a number of > further thoughts on this, let me get off the stage and her what > the others have to offer. > > ? > > Eric Britton > > ? > > PS. May I suggest in the interests of economy that these > discussions continue mainly in Sustran and the New Mobility > Agenda Idea Factory, and I hope that we shall be hearing from our > Gatnet friends (www.gatnet.net) on this as well? Thanks > > ? > > ? > > ? > > ? > > Posted by: "arul rathinam" arulgreen@yahoo.com > > Sat Apr?14,?2007 10:15?pm (PST) > > Dear Friends > > Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) > published the draft version of the Second Master Plan > for Chennai on 11 April 2007. Any person interested in > Master Plan II could send in their suggestions to CMDA > on or before 12 July 2007. > > We, as a NGO, wish to bring an `Alternate' Second > Master Plan for Chennai, particularly on Transport. We > are planning to organize awareness campaign and > consultation meetings for it. > > I am attaching the link to Transport Chapter from the > Second Master Plan for Chennai. > > http://www.cmdachennai.org/design/pdfs/SMP/D_Chapt%20%20IV%20_Transportation.pdf > > > We need your advice and support. > > with kind regards. > > R.ARUL, > Secretary, > PASUMAI THAAYAGAM (Green Mother Land), > No. 9,(old No: 5), Lyn wood Lane, > Mahalingapuram, > CHENNAI -600 034, > Tamil Nadu, > INDIA. > > ? > > ________________________________________________________________________ > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). > > > ----- Jonathan Richmond 1 (617) 395-4360 e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ From sujit at vsnl.com Mon Apr 16 14:45:00 2007 From: sujit at vsnl.com (Sujit Patwardhan) Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:15:00 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments In-Reply-To: <4cfd20aa0704152243l478bf0e8pb9fe2ac3ea31035e@mail.gmail.com> References: <20070415222133.D31552C430@mx-list.jca.ne.jp> <4cfd20aa0704152243l478bf0e8pb9fe2ac3ea31035e@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4cfd20aa0704152245m298a2547k6359cc7cf0b8aa23@mail.gmail.com> I agree with Setty and was surprised to see Jonathan's language...was looking for evidence of it all being said in a lighter vein but failed to see any. As an NGO working for sustainable Transportation (and indeed sustainable development) I feel pessimism is the best way to encourage "business as usual" attitude, and pessimism is what comes across from Jonathan's message which surprised me as my exchanges with him on Email some time back were very enlightening for me. -- Sujit Patwardhan Parisar/ PTTF Pune, India On 4/16/07, Pendakur < pendakur@interchange.ubc.ca> wrote: > > I wish Dr. Richmond would list his favorite cities and tell us the > attributes which make them great. Also, before we characterize any city, > with serious problems, as a "disgusting dump", I would suggest that Dr. > Richmond look up the meaning of his attributes and then evaluate, from a > planning perspective, what he would suggest to improve Chennai. > > His diatribe below is neither positive nor should it belong in a sober > discussion among professionals. SUSTRAN network is meant for professional > > discussion, promoting learning and exchange of ideas and knowledge. > > > Cheers. > > Setty > Dr. V. Setty Pendakur > Professor Emeritus, University of BC > Honorary Professor, China National Academy of Sciences; > Director, ITDP (NY) & Secretary, ABE90-TRB > > President, Pacific Policy and Planning Associates > 702- 1099 Marinaside Cresecent, Vancouver, BC > Canada V6Z 2Z3 > 604-263-3576; Fax: 604-263-6493 > > -----Original Message----- > From: sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org > [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org > ] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond > Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 10:44 AM > To: Eric Britton; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport > Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for > comments > > > I am in Chennai right now. I would be amazed if anything close to planning > were ever to be possible here. > > The city is a disgusting dump -- in fact, the whole place appears to be > one big public urinal as far as I can see! The city cannot even plan > public toilets: the few that exist are so sickening that people piss on > the outsides of them as well as in the street everywhere. > > Almost everything in this city is a mass of unplanned ugliness. I don't > know if there is a city bus system, as no information is available (as is > usual in Indian cities, nothing is done for the consumer). There is a > small rail system, served by filthy trains whose doors stay open at all > times. I got off one such train last night to be landed in a deserted > station with no information and filled with people sleeping rough in > the middle of piles of garbage: the smell was so bad that I could hardly > walk to the main road to have the opportunity of being ripped off by one > of the many rickshaw wallahs who refuse to use their meters. > > So, how does one plan in this environment? > > My answer is that there is no point in planning at all, because the plans > will not come to reality until institutions have changed. The existing > house must be put in order before anything new can be realized -- and that > is a very hard job amidst the mismanagement, corruption, and dirt that > constitutes Chennai today. > > --Jonathan > > ----- > Jonathan Richmond > > 1 (617) 395-4360 > > e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu > http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to > join > the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups > version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real > sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). > Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to > join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The > yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the > real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you > can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > -- ------------------------------------------------------ Sujit Patwardhan sujit@vsnl.com sujitjp@gmail.com "Yamuna", ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007 India Tel: 25537955 ----------------------------------------------------- Hon. Secretary: Parisar www.parisar.org ------------------------------------------------------ Founder Member: PTTF (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) www.pttf.net ------------------------------------------------------ -- ------------------------------------------------------ Sujit Patwardhan sujit@vsnl.com sujitjp@gmail.com "Yamuna", ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007 India Tel: 25537955 ----------------------------------------------------- Hon. Secretary: Parisar www.parisar.org ------------------------------------------------------ Founder Member: PTTF (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) www.pttf.net ------------------------------------------------------ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070416/e3690258/attachment.html From sujitjp at gmail.com Mon Apr 16 14:43:39 2007 From: sujitjp at gmail.com (Sujit Patwardhan) Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:13:39 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments In-Reply-To: <20070415222133.D31552C430@mx-list.jca.ne.jp> References: <20070415222133.D31552C430@mx-list.jca.ne.jp> Message-ID: <4cfd20aa0704152243l478bf0e8pb9fe2ac3ea31035e@mail.gmail.com> I agree with Setty and was shocked to see Jonathan's language...was looking for evidence of it all being said in a lighter vein but failed to see any. As an NGO working for sustainable Transportation (and indeed sustainable development) I feel pessimism is the best way to encourage "business as usual" attitude, and pessimism is what comes across from Jonathan's message which surprised me as my exchanges with him on Email some time back were very enlightening for me. -- Sujit Patwardhan Parisar/ PTTF Pune, India On 4/16/07, Pendakur wrote: > > I wish Dr. Richmond would list his favorite cities and tell us the > attributes which make them great. Also, before we characterize any city, > with serious problems, as a "disgusting dump", I would suggest that Dr. > Richmond look up the meaning of his attributes and then evaluate, from a > planning perspective, what he would suggest to improve Chennai. > > His diatribe below is neither positive nor should it belong in a sober > discussion among professionals. SUSTRAN network is meant for professional > discussion, promoting learning and exchange of ideas and knowledge. > > > Cheers. > > Setty > Dr. V. Setty Pendakur > Professor Emeritus, University of BC > Honorary Professor, China National Academy of Sciences; > Director, ITDP (NY) & Secretary, ABE90-TRB > > President, Pacific Policy and Planning Associates > 702- 1099 Marinaside Cresecent, Vancouver, BC > Canada V6Z 2Z3 > 604-263-3576; Fax: 604-263-6493 > > -----Original Message----- > From: sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org > [mailto: > sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org > ] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond > Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 10:44 AM > To: Eric Britton; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport > Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for > comments > > > I am in Chennai right now. I would be amazed if anything close to planning > were ever to be possible here. > > The city is a disgusting dump -- in fact, the whole place appears to be > one big public urinal as far as I can see! The city cannot even plan > public toilets: the few that exist are so sickening that people piss on > the outsides of them as well as in the street everywhere. > > Almost everything in this city is a mass of unplanned ugliness. I don't > know if there is a city bus system, as no information is available (as is > usual in Indian cities, nothing is done for the consumer). There is a > small rail system, served by filthy trains whose doors stay open at all > times. I got off one such train last night to be landed in a deserted > station with no information and filled with people sleeping rough in > the middle of piles of garbage: the smell was so bad that I could hardly > walk to the main road to have the opportunity of being ripped off by one > of the many rickshaw wallahs who refuse to use their meters. > > So, how does one plan in this environment? > > My answer is that there is no point in planning at all, because the plans > will not come to reality until institutions have changed. The existing > house must be put in order before anything new can be realized -- and that > is a very hard job amidst the mismanagement, corruption, and dirt that > constitutes Chennai today. > > --Jonathan > > ----- > Jonathan Richmond > > 1 (617) 395-4360 > > e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu > http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to > join > the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups > version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real > sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). > Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to > join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The > yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the > real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you > can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > -- ------------------------------------------------------ Sujit Patwardhan sujit@vsnl.com sujitjp@gmail.com "Yamuna", ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007 India Tel: 25537955 ----------------------------------------------------- Hon. Secretary: Parisar www.parisar.org ------------------------------------------------------ Founder Member: PTTF (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) www.pttf.net ------------------------------------------------------ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070416/c43b968e/attachment.html From edelman at greenidea.info Mon Apr 16 15:37:01 2007 From: edelman at greenidea.info (Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory) Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 08:37:01 +0200 Subject: [sustran] In pictures: India's dominant car maker Message-ID: <4623198D.6040800@greenidea.info> Mr Khattar is passionate about India's efforts to enable more of its people to buy cars. "There are 50 million two- and three-wheelers in India. They are the ones we'll need to entice," he says, suggesting the motorcycles should be "sold to those who have bicycles now". *** Just to make it clear, I will mention the word once more: "Dominant" - T p.s. The spell check on my email program suggests that I change "Khattar" to "Manhattan"... -- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Director Green Idea Factory Korunn? 72 CZ-10100 Praha 10 Czech Republic ++420 605 915 970 ++420 222 517 832 Skype: toddedelman edelman@greenidea.eu http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain Green Idea Factory, a member of World Carfree Network From martincassini at blueyonder.co.uk Mon Apr 16 19:11:41 2007 From: martincassini at blueyonder.co.uk (Martin Cassini) Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:11:41 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai - Dr Richmond References: <20070415222133.D31552C430@mx-list.jca.ne.jp> Message-ID: <002f01c7800f$a1246450$b0f02452@mc> I read Jonathan's Richmond's posting not a diatribe, but as a truthful account from a compassionate eye-witness. Martin Cassini ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pendakur" To: "'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport'" ; "'Eric Britton'" Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 11:14 PM Subject: [sustran] Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments > I wish Dr. Richmond would list his favorite cities and tell us the > attributes which make them great. Also, before we characterize any city, > with serious problems, as a "disgusting dump", I would suggest that Dr. > Richmond look up the meaning of his attributes and then evaluate, from a > planning perspective, what he would suggest to improve Chennai. > > His diatribe below is neither positive nor should it belong in a sober > discussion among professionals. SUSTRAN network is meant for professional > discussion, promoting learning and exchange of ideas and knowledge. > > > Cheers. > > Setty > Dr. V. Setty Pendakur > Professor Emeritus, University of BC > Honorary Professor, China National Academy of Sciences; > Director, ITDP (NY) & Secretary, ABE90-TRB > > President, Pacific Policy and Planning Associates > 702- 1099 Marinaside Cresecent, Vancouver, BC > Canada V6Z 2Z3 > 604-263-3576; Fax: 604-263-6493 > > -----Original Message----- > From: sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org > [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org > ] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond > Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 10:44 AM > To: Eric Britton; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport > Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for > comments > > > I am in Chennai right now. I would be amazed if anything close to planning > were ever to be possible here. > > The city is a disgusting dump -- in fact, the whole place appears to be > one big public urinal as far as I can see! The city cannot even plan > public toilets: the few that exist are so sickening that people piss on > the outsides of them as well as in the street everywhere. > > Almost everything in this city is a mass of unplanned ugliness. I don't > know if there is a city bus system, as no information is available (as is > usual in Indian cities, nothing is done for the consumer). There is a > small rail system, served by filthy trains whose doors stay open at all > times. I got off one such train last night to be landed in a deserted > station with no information and filled with people sleeping rough in > the middle of piles of garbage: the smell was so bad that I could hardly > walk to the main road to have the opportunity of being ripped off by one > of the many rickshaw wallahs who refuse to use their meters. > > So, how does one plan in this environment? > > My answer is that there is no point in planning at all, because the plans > will not come to reality until institutions have changed. The existing > house must be put in order before anything new can be realized -- and that > is a very hard job amidst the mismanagement, corruption, and dirt that > constitutes Chennai today. > > --Jonathan > > ----- > Jonathan Richmond > > 1 (617) 395-4360 > > e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu > http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join > the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups > version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real > sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). > Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). > From richmond at alum.mit.edu Tue Apr 17 01:24:22 2007 From: richmond at alum.mit.edu (Jonathan E. D. Richmond) Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 12:24:22 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai - Dr Richmond In-Reply-To: <002f01c7800f$a1246450$b0f02452@mc> References: <20070415222133.D31552C430@mx-list.jca.ne.jp> <002f01c7800f$a1246450$b0f02452@mc> Message-ID: Thank you very much! I would like to tell you more about how my consulting work has taken this approach to reality to try to achieve real change. I did say a bit about this to the list some while back, but now there is an issue of confidentiality. Let me say that if you can convince governments at any level to recognize their dysfunctionality and stop to try to do something about it, that is a large part of the battle --Jonathan On Mon, 16 Apr 2007, Martin Cassini wrote: > I read Jonathan's Richmond's posting not a diatribe, but as a truthful > account from a compassionate eye-witness. > > Martin Cassini > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Pendakur" > To: "'Global 'South' Sustainable Transport'" > ; "'Eric Britton'" > > Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 11:14 PM > Subject: [sustran] Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments > > >> I wish Dr. Richmond would list his favorite cities and tell us the >> attributes which make them great. Also, before we characterize any city, >> with serious problems, as a "disgusting dump", I would suggest that Dr. >> Richmond look up the meaning of his attributes and then evaluate, from a >> planning perspective, what he would suggest to improve Chennai. >> >> His diatribe below is neither positive nor should it belong in a sober >> discussion among professionals. SUSTRAN network is meant for professional >> discussion, promoting learning and exchange of ideas and knowledge. >> >> >> Cheers. >> >> Setty >> Dr. V. Setty Pendakur >> Professor Emeritus, University of BC >> Honorary Professor, China National Academy of Sciences; >> Director, ITDP (NY) & Secretary, ABE90-TRB >> >> President, Pacific Policy and Planning Associates >> 702- 1099 Marinaside Cresecent, Vancouver, BC >> Canada V6Z 2Z3 >> 604-263-3576; Fax: 604-263-6493 >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org >> > [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org >> ] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond >> Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 10:44 AM >> To: Eric Britton; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport >> Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for >> comments >> >> >> I am in Chennai right now. I would be amazed if anything close to planning >> were ever to be possible here. >> >> The city is a disgusting dump -- in fact, the whole place appears to be >> one big public urinal as far as I can see! The city cannot even plan >> public toilets: the few that exist are so sickening that people piss on >> the outsides of them as well as in the street everywhere. >> >> Almost everything in this city is a mass of unplanned ugliness. I don't >> know if there is a city bus system, as no information is available (as is >> usual in Indian cities, nothing is done for the consumer). There is a >> small rail system, served by filthy trains whose doors stay open at all >> times. I got off one such train last night to be landed in a deserted >> station with no information and filled with people sleeping rough in >> the middle of piles of garbage: the smell was so bad that I could hardly >> walk to the main road to have the opportunity of being ripped off by one >> of the many rickshaw wallahs who refuse to use their meters. >> >> So, how does one plan in this environment? >> >> My answer is that there is no point in planning at all, because the plans >> will not come to reality until institutions have changed. The existing >> house must be put in order before anything new can be realized -- and that >> is a very hard job amidst the mismanagement, corruption, and dirt that >> constitutes Chennai today. >> >> --Jonathan >> >> ----- >> Jonathan Richmond >> >> 1 (617) 395-4360 >> >> e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu >> http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ >> -------------------------------------------------------- >> IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via >> YAHOOGROUPS. >> >> Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to > join >> the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups >> version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real >> sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). >> Apologies for the confusing arrangement. >> >> ================================================================ >> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, >> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries >> (the 'Global South'). >> >> >> -------------------------------------------------------- >> IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. >> >> Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to > join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The > yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the > real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you > can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. >> >> ================================================================ >> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). >> > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). > ----- Jonathan Richmond 1 (617) 395-4360 e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ From richmond at alum.mit.edu Tue Apr 17 01:15:47 2007 From: richmond at alum.mit.edu (Jonathan E. D. Richmond) Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 12:15:47 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments In-Reply-To: <4cfd20aa0704152245m298a2547k6359cc7cf0b8aa23@mail.gmail.com> References: <20070415222133.D31552C430@mx-list.jca.ne.jp> <4cfd20aa0704152243l478bf0e8pb9fe2ac3ea31035e@mail.gmail.com> <4cfd20aa0704152245m298a2547k6359cc7cf0b8aa23@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: I think I startled people because I spelled out the problem in very plain language. I know that people in the business tend to be politically correct about calling a spade a spade, but you won't find politeness amongst people who live in places such as Chennai and have to endure the chaos that goes with corruption and laziness. I have had more than enough conversations to make it quite clear that people are fed up -- and that this city is in no position to plan for itself until it has cleaned up its political and administrative act. I was asked for examples of cities I liked, and I talked about the state of Kerala. HYere is another example, close to Chennai: Pondicherry. Perhaps that is not a fair comparison, because Pondicherry is an independent territory -- not a part of Tamil Nadu. It therefore has autonomy to do as it chooses -- but perhaps that is just the point. Pondicherry was formally under the French, and it has kept many French-style administrative practices. The city is the only place I have seen so far in India that is actively involved in landscaping -- and the results are astonishing. Pondicherry is a beautiful place. You turn a corner and face the police station, and are greeted by a wave of flowers. Everywhere you go, buildings are in harmony -- the type of horrific commercial development that has made so many other Indian cities soulless has been avoided here. Instead, there are flowers tumbling off walls, and the whole place feels sunny -- like a transplanted part of the Mediterranean. In an environment like this, active planning goes on every day -- and I was told that one of the most senior officials sets the tone by going around everywhere by bike... But how can planning possibly happen in a place like Chennai, which cannot even keep its public toilets clean? Where you can buy whatever you want with a bribe? Where might is right and knowledge counts for little or nothing in the face of political power? Where citizens have no concept of social obligations, and the beach on a Sunday afternoon is a trash heap of thrown food wrappers? So, this is why I am saying that planning is a waste of time in a place like this. It is very easy to write plans -- and I have seen all sorts of nice-looking plans for a variety of cities in developing countries prepared by well-meaning Western academics, which come to nothing. To plan, you first need to have a functional government. You need to get rid of corruption, you need to have a literate citizenry. Kerala is inb a position to plan. So is Pondicherry. But Tamil Nadu has a very long way to progress until it can have the maturity to think about its own destiny. Sorry if that sounds politically incorrect: but that's the way it is, and ask around the educated citizenry around here, and you won't hear flattering opinions on the ability of their government to perform. --Jonathan On Mon, 16 Apr 2007, Sujit Patwardhan wrote: > I agree with Setty and was surprised to see Jonathan's language...was > looking for evidence of it all being said in a lighter vein but failed to > see any. As an NGO working for sustainable Transportation (and indeed > sustainable development) I feel pessimism is the best way to encourage > "business as usual" attitude, and pessimism is what comes across from > Jonathan's message which surprised me as my exchanges with him on Email some > time back were very enlightening for me. > -- > Sujit Patwardhan > Parisar/ PTTF > Pune, India > > > > > > > > > On 4/16/07, Pendakur < pendakur@interchange.ubc.ca> wrote: >> >> I wish Dr. Richmond would list his favorite cities and tell us the >> attributes which make them great. Also, before we characterize any city, >> with serious problems, as a "disgusting dump", I would suggest that Dr. >> Richmond look up the meaning of his attributes and then evaluate, from a >> planning perspective, what he would suggest to improve Chennai. >> >> His diatribe below is neither positive nor should it belong in a sober >> discussion among professionals. SUSTRAN network is meant for professional >> >> discussion, promoting learning and exchange of ideas and knowledge. >> >> >> Cheers. >> >> Setty >> Dr. V. Setty Pendakur >> Professor Emeritus, University of BC >> Honorary Professor, China National Academy of Sciences; >> Director, ITDP (NY) & Secretary, ABE90-TRB >> >> President, Pacific Policy and Planning Associates >> 702- 1099 Marinaside Cresecent, Vancouver, BC >> Canada V6Z 2Z3 >> 604-263-3576; Fax: 604-263-6493 >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org >> [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org >> ] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond >> Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 10:44 AM >> To: Eric Britton; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport >> Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for >> comments >> >> >> I am in Chennai right now. I would be amazed if anything close to planning >> were ever to be possible here. >> >> The city is a disgusting dump -- in fact, the whole place appears to be >> one big public urinal as far as I can see! The city cannot even plan >> public toilets: the few that exist are so sickening that people piss on >> the outsides of them as well as in the street everywhere. >> >> Almost everything in this city is a mass of unplanned ugliness. I don't >> know if there is a city bus system, as no information is available (as is >> usual in Indian cities, nothing is done for the consumer). There is a >> small rail system, served by filthy trains whose doors stay open at all >> times. I got off one such train last night to be landed in a deserted >> station with no information and filled with people sleeping rough in >> the middle of piles of garbage: the smell was so bad that I could hardly >> walk to the main road to have the opportunity of being ripped off by one >> of the many rickshaw wallahs who refuse to use their meters. >> >> So, how does one plan in this environment? >> >> My answer is that there is no point in planning at all, because the plans >> will not come to reality until institutions have changed. The existing >> house must be put in order before anything new can be realized -- and that >> is a very hard job amidst the mismanagement, corruption, and dirt that >> constitutes Chennai today. >> >> --Jonathan >> >> ----- >> Jonathan Richmond >> >> 1 (617) 395-4360 >> >> e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu >> http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ >> -------------------------------------------------------- >> IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via >> YAHOOGROUPS. >> >> Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to >> join >> the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups >> version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real >> sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). >> Apologies for the confusing arrangement. >> >> ================================================================ >> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, >> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries >> (the 'Global South'). >> >> >> -------------------------------------------------------- >> IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via >> YAHOOGROUPS. >> >> Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to >> join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The >> yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the >> real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you >> can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. >> >> ================================================================ >> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, >> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries >> (the 'Global South'). >> > > > > -- > ------------------------------------------------------ > Sujit Patwardhan > sujit@vsnl.com > sujitjp@gmail.com > > "Yamuna", > ICS Colony, > Ganeshkhind Road, > Pune 411 007 > India > Tel: 25537955 > ----------------------------------------------------- > Hon. Secretary: > Parisar > www.parisar.org > ------------------------------------------------------ > Founder Member: > PTTF > (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) > www.pttf.net > ------------------------------------------------------ > > > -- > ------------------------------------------------------ > Sujit Patwardhan > sujit@vsnl.com > sujitjp@gmail.com > > "Yamuna", > ICS Colony, > Ganeshkhind Road, > Pune 411 007 > India > Tel: 25537955 > ----------------------------------------------------- > Hon. Secretary: > Parisar > www.parisar.org > ------------------------------------------------------ > Founder Member: > PTTF > (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) > www.pttf.net > ------------------------------------------------------ > ----- Jonathan Richmond 1 (617) 395-4360 e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ From richmond at alum.mit.edu Wed Apr 18 07:33:31 2007 From: richmond at alum.mit.edu (Jonathan E. D. Richmond) Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 18:33:31 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments In-Reply-To: References: <4622AB39.3010106@sutp.org> Message-ID: On my flight from Chennai to London today I found myself seated next to the vice-president for US operations of one of India's most significant companies. A perceptive and sophisticated individual, he provided me insight into many realities of Indian business, government, and social life. We talked about management and mismanagement -- where things work in India, where they fail. He did not mince his words in describing failings, and smiled when I told him about the response on this list to my truthtelling. My views about the tragedy of cities of despair such as Chennai are unchanged: the place is mostly a dump, as I said, people urinate in the street making large areas stink, development is ugly and disorderly, and the system of corruption that prevents changetaking place is alive and well. The poor sleep out on the streets, their children looking frail sprawled out on the pavements at night. What future can these children have without the promise of an adequate education or a government with the decency to care about them? So I continue to believe that before a city can plan for itself, it must be able to keep its public toilets clean and other basic public services running, and it must try to remove at least some of the corruption which gets in the way of productive change. Leading Indians are quite convinced of this need, and Westerners connected with development must move from futile academic thinking to facing the harsh reality of dysfunctional organizations filled with dishonest people which are in need of basic reforms. So, be unhappy about being told the truth if you like -- but understand that hiding distasteful realities helps perpetuate them. --Jonathan ----- Jonathan Richmond 1 (617) 395-4360 e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ From litman at vtpi.org Thu Apr 19 08:11:05 2007 From: litman at vtpi.org (Todd Alexander Litman) Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:11:05 -0700 Subject: [sustran] Facing the Harsh Reality of Dysfunctional Organizations In-Reply-To: References: <4622AB39.3010106@sutp.org> Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20070418151110.03a72b78@mail.islandnet.com> Victoria, British Columbia is considered one of the world's most livable cities, but it also has problems with public urination (http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=b3d6a1b2-0f66-4529-8ba7-f9b5ae55f299 ), ugly and disorderly development, homeless people crowding sidewalks, and the perception that government is inefficient due to multiple, conflicting levels of government and inefficient institutions. I've worked in developing countries and know how difficult it often seems, but such conditions also offer the greatest potential for cost-effective improvement. For example, several very poor and corrupt cities have implemented BRT systems which include both physical improvements and reforms that reduce conflicts (including violence) and corruption within the bus industry - the key is to find an ownership and payment structure that rewards operators based on service quality rather than simple volume. I was recently delighted to hear that South Africa is implementing such a system (http://itdp.org/STe/ste23/johannesburg.html ) which should significantly reduce transport problems and improve mobility for economically disadvantaged people, and we hope will inspire similar systems in other African countries. If you only see problems and negative examples you are overlooking the many, many opportunities and successes. My advice is to approach these problems with a positive attitude and apply "change management" techniques (see http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm114.htm ). An excellent resource is "Sustainable Transportation: A Sourcebook for Policy-Makers in Developing Countries," by the Sustainable Urban Transport Project (www.sutp.org), which includes modules on institutional reforms and enforcement practices, in addition to my own module on Mobility Management (available in English, Spanish and Chinese). The, admittedly substantial challenges we face make the successes even more satisfying! Best wishes, -Todd Litman At 03:33 PM 4/17/2007, Jonathan E. D. Richmond wrote: >On my flight from Chennai to London today I found myself seated next to >the vice-president for US operations of one of India's most significant >companies. A perceptive and sophisticated individual, he provided me >insight into many realities of Indian business, government, and social >life. We talked about management and mismanagement -- where things work in >India, where they fail. He did not mince his words in describing failings, >and smiled when I told him about the response on this list to my >truthtelling. > >My views about the tragedy of cities of despair such as Chennai are >unchanged: the place is mostly a dump, as I said, people urinate in the >street making large areas stink, development is ugly and disorderly, and >the system of corruption that prevents changetaking place is alive and >well. The poor sleep out on the streets, their children looking frail >sprawled out on the pavements at night. What future can these children >have without the promise of an adequate education or a government with the >decency to care about them? > >So I continue to believe that before a city can plan for itself, it must >be able to keep its public toilets clean and other basic public services >running, and it must try to remove at least some of the corruption which >gets in the way of productive change. Leading Indians are quite convinced >of this need, and Westerners connected with development must move from >futile academic thinking to facing the harsh reality of dysfunctional >organizations filled with dishonest people which are in need of basic >reforms. So, be unhappy about being told the truth if you like -- but >understand that hiding distasteful realities helps perpetuate them. > > --Jonathan > > >----- >Jonathan Richmond > >1 (617) 395-4360 > >e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu >http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ >-------------------------------------------------------- >IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. > >Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss >to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The >yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post >to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it >seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > >================================================================ >SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, >equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing >countries (the 'Global South'). Sincerely, Todd Alexander Litman Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org) litman@vtpi.org Phone & Fax 250-360-1560 1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity" -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070418/9647fba0/attachment.html From ericbruun at earthlink.net Thu Apr 19 09:11:10 2007 From: ericbruun at earthlink.net (Eric Bruun) Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:11:10 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [sustran] Re: South Africa and BRT funding Message-ID: <8622580.1176941471275.JavaMail.root@elwamui-ovcar.atl.sa.earthlink.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070418/9fc9a398/attachment.html From sri at giaspn01.vsnl.net.in Wed Apr 18 13:16:46 2007 From: sri at giaspn01.vsnl.net.in (Prof J G Krishnayya) Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 09:46:46 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments In-Reply-To: <4cfd20aa0704152245m298a2547k6359cc7cf0b8aa23@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <001d01c78170$62c47170$0e01a8c0@JGK> Most of us are very forgiving anyway, and those of us who live in India have become accustomed to the (a) level of squalor, (b) level of indifference, and (c) levels of civic incompetence that surrounds us all the time, and which is measurably increasing. In Pune, one can measure the tightening of the traffic noose with the increased number of intersections at which increasing delays are experienced, the times of day this happens, the days of the week this happens. Nothing whatever is being done about it, except the city fathers have decided to change a proposed riverside road to an elevated highway (at triple the cost, with more chance of graft). Sujit knows how the "guardian Minister" for Pune, one of the Pawar dynasty, without flickering an eyelid or a hairlock, blocked all bus traffic through an intersection where an overpass has been very badly delayed in construction. This causes workers - like from my office - taking 2 hours in the morning and in the evening, and 3 changes of bus to get to and from work. This will continue for 2 months at least. I think it is refreshing to have an outsider give us his honest experienced view (insiders would not dare "insult" their comrades by criticizing at this elevated level). Keep letting us know what you see, Jonathan! J G Krishnayya ============== Prof J G Krishnayya Director, Systems Research Institute, 17-A Gultekdi, PUNE 411037, India www.sripune.org Tel +91-20-2426-0323 jkrishnayya@yahoo.com Res 020-2636-3930 sri@giaspn01.vsnl.net.in Fax +91-20-2444-7902 -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+sri=pn1.vsnl.net.in@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+sri=pn1.vsnl.net.in@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Sujit Patwardhan Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 11:15 AM To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Subject: [sustran] Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments I agree with Setty and was surprised to see Jonathan's language...was looking for evidence of it all being said in a lighter vein but failed to see any. As an NGO working for sustainable Transportation (and indeed sustainable development) I feel pessimism is the best way to encourage "business as usual" attitude, and pessimism is what comes across from Jonathan's message which surprised me as my exchanges with him on Email some time back were very enlightening for me. -- Sujit Patwardhan Parisar/ PTTF Pune, India On 4/16/07, Pendakur < pendakur@interchange.ubc.ca> wrote: I wish Dr. Richmond would list his favorite cities and tell us the attributes which make them great. Also, before we characterize any city, with serious problems, as a "disgusting dump", I would suggest that Dr. Richmond look up the meaning of his attributes and then evaluate, from a planning perspective, what he would suggest to improve Chennai. His diatribe below is neither positive nor should it belong in a sober discussion among professionals. SUSTRAN network is meant for professional discussion, promoting learning and exchange of ideas and knowledge. Cheers. Setty Dr. V. Setty Pendakur Professor Emeritus, University of BC Honorary Professor, China National Academy of Sciences; Director, ITDP (NY) & Secretary, ABE90-TRB President, Pacific Policy and Planning Associates 702- 1099 Marinaside Cresecent, Vancouver, BC Canada V6Z 2Z3 604-263-3576; Fax: 604-263-6493 -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org [mailto: sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca@list.jca.apc.org ] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 10:44 AM To: Eric Britton; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments I am in Chennai right now. I would be amazed if anything close to planning were ever to be possible here. The city is a disgusting dump -- in fact, the whole place appears to be one big public urinal as far as I can see! The city cannot even plan public toilets: the few that exist are so sickening that people piss on the outsides of them as well as in the street everywhere. Almost everything in this city is a mass of unplanned ugliness. I don't know if there is a city bus system, as no information is available (as is usual in Indian cities, nothing is done for the consumer). There is a small rail system, served by filthy trains whose doors stay open at all times. I got off one such train last night to be landed in a deserted station with no information and filled with people sleeping rough in the middle of piles of garbage: the smell was so bad that I could hardly walk to the main road to have the opportunity of being ripped off by one of the many rickshaw wallahs who refuse to use their meters. So, how does one plan in this environment? My answer is that there is no point in planning at all, because the plans will not come to reality until institutions have changed. The existing house must be put in order before anything new can be realized -- and that is a very hard job amidst the mismanagement, corruption, and dirt that constitutes Chennai today. --Jonathan ----- Jonathan Richmond 1 (617) 395-4360 e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -- ------------------------------------------------------ Sujit Patwardhan sujit@vsnl.com sujitjp@gmail.com "Yamuna", ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007 India Tel: 25537955 ----------------------------------------------------- Hon. Secretary: Parisar www.parisar.org ------------------------------------------------------ Founder Member: PTTF (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) www.pttf.net ------------------------------------------------------ -- ------------------------------------------------------ Sujit Patwardhan sujit@vsnl.com sujitjp@gmail.com "Yamuna", ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007 India Tel: 25537955 ----------------------------------------------------- Hon. Secretary: Parisar www.parisar.org ------------------------------------------------------ Founder Member: PTTF (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) www.pttf.net ------------------------------------------------------ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070418/022636fc/attachment.html From hfabian at adb.org Thu Apr 19 20:42:39 2007 From: hfabian at adb.org (hfabian at adb.org) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 19:42:39 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Fw: [cai-asia] Updates: Efforts to Promote Bus Rapid Transit and SUT in Metro Manila (Apr 2007) Message-ID: Dear all, Apologies for cross-posting but we thought that this update would also be of interest to the group.. Please find below a short summary of efforts being undertaken to promote BRT and SUT in Metro Manila... Bert ___________ Since the first visit of Enrique Penalosa, former Mayor of Bogota, Colombia, to the Philippines in December 2004, the Partnership for Clean Air, CAI-Asia, the University of the Philippines - National Center for Transportation Studies (NCTS), the United States Agency for International Development, through its Energy and Clean Air Project,, and other organizations have been trying to promote the Bus Rapid Transit System as a viable alternative to the current public transportation system in Metro Manila and help to drastically improve air quality. CAI-Asia and the Partnership for Clean Air in cooperation with other organizations have dialogued with relevant government agencies, like DOTC including LTFRB, NEDA, and the Metro Manila Council in order to promote BRT. A training course on BRT has also been organized by CAI-Asia in November 2005 in Antipolo with support from the GTZ - Sustainable Urban Transport Project and the United Nations Centre for Regional Development. In mid-2006, the USAID-Energy and Clean Air Project has agreed to support a Pre-feasibility Study for a Bus Rapid Transit System in Greater Metro Manila. In support of this study, the DOTC has formalized a Technical Working Group to supervise and provide guidance to the conduct of the BRT Pre-FS. The UP-NCTS has been contracted by ECAP to conduct the BRT Pre-FS and they are now mid-way in its implementation. A stakeholder forum focused on public transportation operators was recently held last 12 April in UP-NCTS in order to know the sentiments and opinions of the operators in coming up with a better public transportation system in Metro Manila. Discussions focused on the need to have a stronger and unified institutional support for the regulation of public transportation in Metro Manila. The need to eradicate corrupt practices and the strict and "unbiased" enforcement of the law were also cited several times by the transport operators. The results of this stakeholder forum will be used by the UP-NCTS in identifying the gaps in the institutional set-up and coming up with recommendations on how the institutional setup in the current system can be improved especially considering the introduction of a BRT system in Metro Manila. A mid-term report will be submitted by UP-NCTS to the USAID_ECAP and a TWG meeting will be organized towards the end of this month to discuss the next steps for the BRT Pre-FS. The TWG, however, is mainly a government-led venue for policy discussion with a limited membership. We will in the future update the members of this listserv on the conduct of the Pre-FS and when a broader stakeholder dissemination workshop will be organized. In parallel, NCTS has recently completed a Capacity-Building Program for Mainstreaming Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) in Local and Metropolitan Development for mid-management staff of LGUs in Metro Manila. This was done through a series of inter-LGU consultation and strategic planning meetings and capacity-building activities aimed at mainstreaming EST objectives. A Declaration on promoting environmentally sustainable transport was signed by participants and officials of the LGUs in Metro Manila. The Declaration envisions Metro Manila to be well-coordinated and systematic in urban development and management. It seeks for the establishment of a pilot benchmarking and recognition system for best practices in Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) policies and the provision of technical assistance and technology transfer on EST strategies. The participating cities also developed action plans for promoting EST for five city clusters in Metro Manila, namely Manila-Pasay and QC (MAPA-QC), Makati-Taguig-Pateros (MATAPAT), Pasig-Mandaluyong-Marikina-San Juan (PAMAMARISAN), Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela (CAMANAVA), and Muntinlupa-Paranaque-Las Pinas (MUNTIPARLAS). Most of the action plans placed a high priority in improving the public transportation system and facilities, including Bus Rapid Transit systems, and promoting non-motorized transportation. This Capacity-Building Program was done through the Vice Mayor?s League of the Philippines ? NCR Chapter (VMLP-NCR), the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG), the UP National Center for Transportation Studies (UP-NCTS) in cooperation with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). More information is available on this link < http://www.ncts.upd.edu.ph/CBP/EST-mainstream001.html#CBP>. All in all, we hope that all these efforts contribute to the realization of implementing a BRT system and a more sustainable urban transportation system for Metro Manila. __________ Best regards, Bert Herbert G. Fabian Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities Asian Development Bank, Manila tel: + 63 2 632 4444 loc. 7666 fax: + 63 2 636 2381 e-mail: hfabian@adb.org http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia From edelman at greenidea.info Wed Apr 25 02:11:25 2007 From: edelman at greenidea.info (Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 19:11:25 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Israel's 'modesty buses' draw fire Message-ID: <462E3A3D.7040808@greenidea.info> "*The other day I was waiting for a bus in downtown Jerusalem. I was in the bustling orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Mea Sharim and the bus stop was extremely crowded.* When the Number 40 bus arrived, the most curious thing happened. Husbands left heavily pregnant wives or spouses struggling with prams and pushchairs to fend for themselves as they and all other male passengers got on at the front of the bus. Women moved towards the rear door to get on at the back. When on the bus, I tried to buck the system, moving my way towards the driver but was pushed back towards the other women. These are what orthodox Jews call "modesty buses". Full story: -- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Director Green Idea Factory Korunn? 72 CZ-10100 Praha 10 Czech Republic ++420 605 915 970 ++420 222 517 832 Skype: toddedelman edelman@greenidea.eu http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain Green Idea Factory, a member of World Carfree Network From richmond at alum.mit.edu Wed Apr 25 02:23:20 2007 From: richmond at alum.mit.edu (Jonathan E. D. Richmond) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 13:23:20 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [sustran] Re: Israel's 'modesty buses' draw fire In-Reply-To: <462E3A3D.7040808@greenidea.info> References: <462E3A3D.7040808@greenidea.info> Message-ID: I am not sure why this was posted to the list -- could you inform us? One thing we do know is that the National Union of Journalists, of which the BBC author is likely a member, has declared a boycott of Israeli goods, thereby rendering their members' integrity in reporting events concerning Israel in an impartial way highly questionable. One important fact that the article does not mention is that segregation of men and women on buses is common throughout the developing world. In India, this is the norm in many cities, with women very often packed into a set of uncomfortable bench-type seats at the front, and this reflects cultural reality. I don't like it at all -- it would be nice if men and women had enough respect for each other that such segregation, which also goes on in many other places, were not necessary. But, let us not pretend that there is something special about this taking place in Israel -- you see it everwhere where religious and cultural norms prescribe it. --Jonathan On Tue, 24 Apr 2007, Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory wrote: > "*The other day I was waiting for a bus in downtown Jerusalem. I was in > the bustling orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Mea Sharim and the bus > stop was extremely crowded.* > > When the Number 40 bus arrived, the most curious thing happened. > Husbands left heavily pregnant wives or spouses struggling with prams > and pushchairs to fend for themselves as they and all other male > passengers got on at the front of the bus. > > Women moved towards the rear door to get on at the back. > > When on the bus, I tried to buck the system, moving my way towards the > driver but was pushed back towards the other women. > > These are what orthodox Jews call "modesty buses". > > Full story: > > -- > -------------------------------------------- > > Todd Edelman > Director > Green Idea Factory > > Korunn? 72 > CZ-10100 Praha 10 > Czech Republic > > ++420 605 915 970 > ++420 222 517 832 > Skype: toddedelman > > edelman@greenidea.eu > http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain > > Green Idea Factory, > a member of World Carfree Network > > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). > ----- Jonathan Richmond 1 (617) 395-4360 e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ From edelman at greenidea.info Wed Apr 25 03:06:44 2007 From: edelman at greenidea.info (Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 20:06:44 +0200 Subject: [sustran] Re: Israel's 'modesty buses' draw fire In-Reply-To: References: <462E3A3D.7040808@greenidea.info> Message-ID: <462E4734.5080200@greenidea.info> Hi, I posted this because it presents a separated bus situation in a place which it seems is generally not thought of as having one... in Israel as an island of modernity in the Middle East, etc. I suppose that is a good segue to the impartiality issue you mention, but the article shows all sides of the story - the ultraorthodox Jews, the women and presumably others complaining about it, and so on. I would be surprised if some of my Israeli cousins would put up with it. I agree that it would have been good to mention the situation in many parts of the developing world. But the article also shows how an environment which everyone shares - in this case the inside of a public bus - shows a side of society which can possibly be avoided at other times. Also, lots of good things start on buses. I am thinking of Rosa Parks... - Tuvia ben Tomas al-Canoga Park (Los Angeles...where the so-called BRT seems to discriminate against everyone who wants a good BRT) Jonathan E. D. Richmond wrote: > > I am not sure why this was posted to the list -- could you inform us? > > One thing we do know is that the National Union of Journalists, of > which the BBC author is likely a member, has declared a boycott of > Israeli goods, thereby rendering their members' integrity in reporting > events concerning Israel in an impartial way highly questionable. > > One important fact that the article does not mention is that > segregation of men and women on buses is common throughout the > developing world. In India, this is the norm in many cities, with > women very often packed into a set of uncomfortable bench-type seats > at the front, and this reflects cultural reality. > > I don't like it at all -- it would be nice if men and women had enough > respect for each other that such segregation, which also goes on in > many other places, were not necessary. But, let us not pretend that > there is something special about this taking place in Israel -- you > see it everwhere where religious and cultural norms prescribe it. > > --Jonathan > > On Tue, 24 Apr 2007, Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory wrote: > >> "*The other day I was waiting for a bus in downtown Jerusalem. I was in >> the bustling orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Mea Sharim and the bus >> stop was extremely crowded.* >> >> When the Number 40 bus arrived, the most curious thing happened. >> Husbands left heavily pregnant wives or spouses struggling with prams >> and pushchairs to fend for themselves as they and all other male >> passengers got on at the front of the bus. >> >> Women moved towards the rear door to get on at the back. >> >> When on the bus, I tried to buck the system, moving my way towards the >> driver but was pushed back towards the other women. >> >> These are what orthodox Jews call "modesty buses". >> >> Full story: >> >> -- >> -------------------------------------------- >> >> Todd Edelman >> Director >> Green Idea Factory >> >> Korunn? 72 >> CZ-10100 Praha 10 >> Czech Republic >> >> ++420 605 915 970 >> ++420 222 517 832 >> Skype: toddedelman >> >> edelman@greenidea.eu >> http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain >> >> Green Idea Factory, >> a member of World Carfree Network >> >> -------------------------------------------------------- >> IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via >> YAHOOGROUPS. >> >> Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss >> to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The >> yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post >> to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it >> seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. >> >> ================================================================ >> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, >> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing >> countries (the 'Global South'). >> > > > ----- > Jonathan Richmond > > 1 (617) 395-4360 > > e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu > http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ -- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Director Green Idea Factory Korunn? 72 CZ-10100 Praha 10 Czech Republic ++420 605 915 970 ++420 222 517 832 Skype: toddedelman edelman@greenidea.eu http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain Green Idea Factory, a member of World Carfree Network From richmond at alum.mit.edu Wed Apr 25 19:36:05 2007 From: richmond at alum.mit.edu (Jonathan E. D. Richmond) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 06:36:05 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [sustran] Bangla Language of Government Message-ID: I don't think I sent the list my article from the Daily Star (Dhaka, Bangladesh) of Feb. 27, so here it is and I would be pleased to have comments. It reflects my belief that government has to be cleaned up before effective administration can be established in developing countries. It also reflects my great affection for Bangladesh... Best --Jonathan http://svr87.edns1.com/~starnet/2007/02/27/d70227020529.htm The Daily Star Vol. 5 No. 976 Tue. February 27, 2007 Editorial A Bangla language of government Jonathan Richmond I am writing in the middle of the night, overpowered by the emotion of the flower laying and mournful music playing at Dinajpur's Shahid Minar. Dinajpur is a good place to come to, to recognize this most significant of Bangladeshi days, for it is a community at peace with itself: walking through the streets tonight I stopped and reflected, talked and laughed with groups of Muslims and Hindus united as Bangladeshis. As a visitor to Bangladesh, it is easy to be struck by the gentleness of this nation, the warm welcome, the sense of purpose and the humour of the people. Quite apart from the lovely Bangladeshi graduates of the university where I taught in Thailand, who have done everything to make my stay sunny and memorable, the poorest of people I have encounted on journeys through rural areas have shown friendship to me, and even invited me into their homes for a cup of tea. This is one of the most endearing of nations. Observing commerce in the marketplace and even on a local bus, where a vendor with a tray of grapes boarded with a scale to ensure accurate charging for a bagful of fruit, observing labourers working hard in the fields and in the workshops, but seemingly never without a smile, it becomes apparent that Bangladeshis are an honest people, working hard to survive, and doing so with dedication to their families. Corruption is not a part of the natural language of the people of Bangladesh. It is a tongue spoken only by those at higher levels of government, who would force a cultural tyranny on the people as foreign as Urdu is to the Bangla language and culture. Just as the birth of Bangladesh launched the Bangladeshi people on a new beginning, each repetition of International Mother Language Day presents an opportunity for renewal, for moving forward with development of a Bangladeshi identity. It is a time to recognize all cultures which face repression, and to fight for their rights of survival: no outside force should damage a people's identity, and language is the soul of culture. But it is a time, also, to develop a Bangla language of government, one which represents the history and spirit of the people. The interim government is doing the right thing by clamping down on corruption. Each report on the arrest of a corrupt official, or a mobile court imposing sanctions on a dishonest company, sends a message that a privileged position is no longer an excuse for abuses. Yet, something must fill the void left by each successful eradication of abuse, or corruption will surely return and prosper while the hard-working Bangladeshi people are impoverished. The answer must come from the people of Bangladesh if it is to provide a lasting solution. If we look at the universities of Bangladesh, it is apparent that they foster much talent, both in their faculty and student bodies, but what chance do graduates have of making progress if they join a government service with tangled lines of responsibility, and procedures so intricate that any initiative is rejected while allowing the "Boksheesh Economy" to thrive? Should change in Bangladesh come from Western forces? It is easy to forget that the dysfunctional bureaucracy of Bangladesh stems from a British colonial administration which had no interest in allowing local interests to develop and thrive. International agencies, also, are often ignorant of, and insensitve to, local cultural needs, calling for economic reforms that often hurt poor people, and putting forward models of development based on Western ideas that are doomed to failure in a society with fundamentally different social as well as economic characteristics. In a course I have developed in my own field, of transport infrastructure development and management, I point out, to take one small example, that Western models which show the supposedly optimum infrastructure development based on factors such as a person's value of time are heavily biased against the poor, because a poor person's earnings are so much lower than a wealthy person's in a country like Bangladesh. Different forms of thinking must be developed for Bangladesh to prosper. Strong reforms are difficult when dysfunctional practices are so entrenched, but bureaucracy must be simplified, and organizations redesigned to streamline authority and allow initiative to flow. Government salaries should be increased to remove the temptation of corruption, but, more than that, new government organizations must be developed, and people who are willing must be sought to build a government service on one of the nation's strongest asets: its commitment to values of family, and loyalty to friends. Just as Dr. Yunus saw the way ahead in microfinance, which empowered the poorest to build productive lives and contribute effectively to the economy, so government must look to the ordinary people and build on their values, as well as represent their interests as it moves forward. A Bangla language of government will see all the people as part of one family, giving them all a voice, a Bangladeshi voice, and promoting a fair and equitable form of development in which all can participate. Jonathan Richmond has a Phd in transport planning from the Department of Civil Engineering at MIT. ----- Jonathan Richmond 1 (617) 395-4360 e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ From carlos.pardo at sutp.org Wed Apr 25 23:09:18 2007 From: carlos.pardo at sutp.org (Carlos F. Pardo) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 19:39:18 +0530 Subject: [sustran] [Fwd: Fwd: YouTube video contest to promote cycling] Message-ID: <462F610E.6060909@sutp.org> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070425/5dd5087b/attachment.html From arulgreen at yahoo.com Fri Apr 27 02:35:08 2007 From: arulgreen at yahoo.com (arul rathinam) Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 10:35:08 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sustran] Chennai: Tamil Nadu State Assembly-Government urged to go for BRTS in city Message-ID: <723770.4181.qm@web51106.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Chennai: Tamil Nadu State Assembly-Government urged to go for BRTS in city Chennai, April 20: The PMK on Friday urged the State Government to opt for Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) for the Chennai Metropolitan city as this system had been successful in many foreign countries. At present, BRTS was being implemented on an experimental basis in Delhi and Indore, while works on the project were going on in Ahmedabad, Vishakapatnam, Bhopal and Pune. Participating in a discussion on the demand for grants for the Transport Department in the state Assembly, PMK member MLA T Velmurugan said 90 percent of the commuters used only Metropolitan Transport Corporation Buses in Chennai. However, the traffic congestion caused by cars and other vehicles delayed the movement of the buses. The BRTS had been successful in many western countries and it became environment-friendly also, Velmurugan said and added that the BRT would need an exclusive road. The New India Express, 21 April 2007 Member of Legislative Assembly Mr. T. Velmurugan is a member in our Pasumai Thaayagam (Green Motherland). with kind regards. R.ARUL, Secretary, PASUMAI THAAYAGAM (Green Mother Land), No. 9,(old No: 5), Lyn wood Lane, Mahalingapuram, CHENNAI -600 034, Tamil Nadu, INDIA. Email: mailtopt@gmail.com arulgreen@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com