[sustran] Re: UN "ambassador" for public transport?

[Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory]

"UN Goodwill Ambassador for Carfree Cities" works for me, but I mostly 
would like to suggest that we do not invent a new term just because of 
this request, though it is a rather important one...

- T

 Lee Schipper wrote:
> I think Eric is right. The broader concept of sustainable trsnaport has to be implanted in this office, lest it become an excuse
> for building metros at $1000/Centimeter, so to speak.
>
>   
>>>> "Eric Britton" <eric.britton at ecoplan.org> 5/13/2007 1:01:07 PM >>>
>>>>         
> This is a splendid idea Lew, Lee and all, with one possible useful
> adjustment:
>
> The problem is that turgid phrase "public transport". I am quite sure that
> we need to find a title that reaches well beyond those confines.
>
> The phrase "public transport" has been around for a long time, and it
> invariably conjures up visions of buses and rail cars. Kind of an 'old left'
> vision of what it is needed to "fix" society, a variant of the ABC (Anything
> But Cars) syndrome.  It also lacks sex appeal, and if you want proof of that
> all you have to do is check out what the various groups around the world
> that have 'public transport' in their title focus on, do, and how they do
> it. Altogether far from sufficient from dealing with the mobility and
> related life quality problem of people living and working (and trying to
> breath) in Global South cities.
>
> Of course those of you who know me are likely to guess that I will now
> propose "New Mobility", and while it really would do the job there may well
> be a problem with recognition. We do want a moniker that you don't have to
> spend allday explaining to people. And as to "Sustainable Transport", well I
> am afraid that we have all seen over the years that it has existed as a word
> that it's a very hard concept to get across.  Recognizably is important here
> too.
>
> So may I suggest that the organizers of this great idea, and maybe some of
> us as well, might do well to ponder a phrase that will do the job that needs
> to be done.
>
> Let me end with a story that elucidates a bit of all this. The other day
> over at another group on gender and transport (www.gatnet.net) in which I
> participate and which I much admire, one of the really very clever and good
> members of the group advanced in our discussions of just this, the idea that
> maybe since we were trying to sell a tough concept, we might want to
> consider calling it "fashionable transport".  The arguments behind it were
> really interesting and once you had worked your way through them really
> close to bullet proof - but at the end of the day of course the adjective
> just doesn't do the necessary job.
>
> But it's good to keep thinking, and who better than all of us, eh?.
>
> Eric Britton
>
>
>
>
> On Behalf Of Lee Schipper
> Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2007 6:15 PM
>
> Enrique Penalosa?
>
> Lee Schipper
> Director of Research
> EMBARQ, the WRI Center
> for Sustainable Transport
> 10 G St. NE
> Washington DC, 20002
> +1202 729 7735
> FAX +1202 7297775
> www.embarq.wri.org 
>
> PS. Also to note: Bruntland was pressed into service recently, I think for
> Climate.
> The time I met her in Norway at a meeting her Volvo was kept outside
> with the engine running the whole time!
>
> On Behalf Of Lew Fulton
>
> Hello all,
>
> A UN colleague of mine is interested in exploring finding someone with star
> power who is (or could logically be) an advocate for public transport and
> might be interested in becoming a "UN Ambassador" on the topic.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Lew
>
> Lew Fulton
> Program Officer, Sustainable Transport
> Division of GEF Coordination
> UN Environment Programme
> PO Box 30552-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
> tel: +254 20 762 3257 (From Europe and N. America, you can dial via Italy,
> often a better connection: +39 0831 24 3000, wait for voice then dial 124
> 3257)
> fax: +254 20 762 4041/42
> lew.fulton at unep.org 
> www.unep.org/gef 
>
>
>
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>
>   


-- 
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Todd Edelman
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