[sustran] Re: Indian roads - planes, cows, elephants, mosques

[Sunny]

Yes Martin you are right but i surely doubt tht the concept of Shared 
Space to work in India. Lack of traffic regulations leads to many 
problems atleast in India. The other day in Pune I have seen a cyclist 
hit by a City Bus and the City bus did not stop.

There has to be a reinstallation of thought in Indian mindset that 
cycles, rickshaws and transit are not degraded means of transportation. 
Yes we are prioritising in India but sadly the priority goes to the cars 
or motorbikes.and We also have vulnerable road-users at the top of our 
road deaths table.

In my opinion segregation of traffic and then giving priority to Mass 
transit and Non motorised would be a start. Same time reducing the space 
available for personal "motorised" transport

We have some nice photographs on our website (link below) from 
developing countries and they might interest you in seeing how the 
situation is in India.

Sunny
Sustainable Urban Transport Project
www.sutp.org

Martin Cassini wrote:
> May I second Madhav's delightful point? As some of you know, my 
> frustration is with too much traffic regulation, which in my view is 
> counterproductive, makes roads dangerous and hostile, where the very 
> restraints - which go against the grain of human nature - set the 
> stage for conflict and congestion. I love what I see when lights are 
> out of action and there are no external controls - congestion 
> dissolving, courtesy thriving, everyone merging in a merry mix of 
> meandering movement, and the emergence of a new hierarchy, with 
> vulnerable road-users at the top. Perhaps there is an elegant 
> compromise to be found - some midway point between India and England 
> ... priority rules and regimented controls dropped in favour of 
> natural cooperation, where might is not right, and we adopt 1Q, 
> denoting single queueing and innate intelligence.
>  
> Martin
> www.goodfun.tv <http://www.goodfun.tv>
>  
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> *From:* 
> sustran-discuss-bounces+martincassini=blueyonder.co.uk at list.jca.apc.org 
> [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+martincassini=blueyonder.co.uk at list.jca.apc.org] 
> *On Behalf Of *Madhav Badami, Prof.
> *Sent:* 04 May 2007 15:00
> *To:* Global 'South' Sustainable Transport
> *Subject:* [sustran] Re: Indian roads - planes, cows, elephants, mosques
>
>     Dear Carlos,
>      
>     Once the craziness of the academic term comes to an end, I promise
>     a detailed response to Jonathan Richmond's (and others') postings
>     on the situation in India (and what we can and ought to do about
>     it). I will try and work elephants, cows and yoga  -- but not
>     planes -- into my response as well :-). Meanwhile, I will leave
>     you with this personal viewpoint ... India is like life itself --
>     joyous, sometimes sublime, and at the very same time, very messy,
>     even obscene, but never ever dull and boring. 
>      
>     Madhav
>      
>
>