From edelman at greenidea.eu Fri Jan 2 18:49:59 2009 From: edelman at greenidea.eu (Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory) Date: Fri, 02 Jan 2009 10:49:59 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Jatropha seeds make children ill, etc. Message-ID: <495DE347.6020200@greenidea.eu> Hi guys and gals, More on Jetropha, Sh-tropha... Forwarded from Biofuel Watch, a Yahoo! Groups group - T 1. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/22_children_hospitalised_after_consuming_jatropha_seeds_/rssarticleshow/3922068.cms 22 children hospitalised after consuming jatropha seeds 1 Jan 2009, 1454 hrs IST, IANS RAIPUR: At least 22 children, all less than eight years old, were admitted to hospital in serious condition in Chhattisgarh after consuming seeds of the poisonous jatropha plant which is being grown on a large scale to extract bio-fuel, police said Thursday. "As many as 22 children of Durg town were rushed to the district government hospital in a serious condition after they mistakenly consumed jatropha seeds grown in a local field late Wednesday," Dipanshu Kabra, district superintendent of police, said. Durg town, located some 40 km from state capital Raipur, is in Durg district.The officer said: "The kids are showing signs of improvement and doctors have said they are out of danger, but they have all been kept under observation. " Jatropha is a plant that grows up to three metres and produces inedible fruits. Several states, including Chhattisgarh, have been planting its saplings in millions in a bid to extract bio-fuel from it. Some agricultural scientists say large-scale jatropha plantations are becoming a curse for children as just two of its seeds are enough to act as a strong purgative while four to five seeds can cause death. 2. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/01/avaition-biofuel-letter Letters Bumpy take-off for aviation biofuel The Guardian, Thursday 1 January 2009 Article history In your article on the biofuel test flight (Jatropha-fuelled plane, 30 December), you rightly covered environmentalists' caution over biofuel. However, you also seem remarkably trusting of Air New Zealand's claims. You say: "The search for an environmentally friendly fuel for airplanes took a leap forward today with the world's first flight powered by a second-generation biofuel, derived from plants that do not compete with food crops ... harvested from trees grown on marginal land in India, Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania." There is nothing "second-generation" about jatropha, except that it is inedible; the oil is lipids, as with other biodiesel feedstocks. Air NZ says it requires that "the quality of the soil and climate is such that the land is not suitable for the vast majority of food crops". This could still mean that it has displaced livestock or some hardier crops. Jatropha projects are acquiring a track record of displacing existing farmsteads in Africa and south Asia, with improper treatment of local farming communities. This means that we do not know if substitution of kerosene fuel with jatropha is helping find an environmentally friendly fuel at all, in view of the competition it may be setting up with other land uses; or whether it is merely a distraction from other more worthwhile directions to take.Jim Roland, London -- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Green Idea Factory Urbanstr. 45 D-10967 Berlin Germany Skype: toddedelman Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081 Home/Office: ++49 030 7554 0001 edelman@greenidea.eu www.greenidea.eu www.flickr.com/photos/edelman Green Idea Factory is a member of World Carfree Network www.worldcarfree.net CAR is over. If you want it. "Fort mit der Autostadt und was Neues hingebaut!" - B. Brecht (with slight modification) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090102/08c24d65/attachment.html From johnernst at itdp.org Mon Jan 5 11:39:26 2009 From: johnernst at itdp.org (John Ernst) Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:39:26 +0700 Subject: [sustran] Re: Sustran-discuss Digest, Vol 64, Issue 22- cycling Xiamen In-Reply-To: <7e2a2770812302013o37ed65ddw8529b71d6187d90e@mail.gmail.com > References: <7e2a2770812302013o37ed65ddw8529b71d6187d90e@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <496172e5.1e048e0a.5f6e.6e2f@mx.google.com> Hi Cornie, It has been 10-years since I was in Xiamen, but... the bike lanes were removed about 15-years ago in the old town where road space was a premium. However, as you saw, they continued to build bike lanes along new roads -- including the new CBD. Nice to hear that Xiamen is doing something for pedestrians and cyclists. Cheers, John At 11:13 AM 12/31/2008, Cornie Huizenga wrote: >Hi all, > > >I just returned from Xiamen and I was surprised to see the message >that "since they (bicycle lanes) have completely dissappered in >Xiamen". I walked quite a lot through the city and saw dedicate >cycle lanes in many parts of the city. Also a very nice pedestrian >board walk of more than 10 kilometer along the east coast beach. > >The BRT is great and even the taxi drivers thought it was a success. > > Cornie > > > > >######################################################################## > > > >Today's Topics: > > 1. When all the Chinese have cars! Update: Xiamen plans to build > a bike traffic network (eric britton) > > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >Message: 1 >Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:28:40 +0100 >From: "eric britton" ><eric.britton@ecoplan.org> >Subject: [sustran] When all the Chinese have cars! Update: Xiamen > plans to build a bike traffic network ... From chuwasg at yahoo.com Mon Jan 5 17:41:21 2009 From: chuwasg at yahoo.com (chuwa) Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 00:41:21 -0800 (PST) Subject: [sustran] BBC NEWS: Calls for 'speed-limiting' cars Message-ID: <384909.55282.qm@web36904.mail.mud.yahoo.com> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7803997.stm Probably it is time to look into this potential- car can be auto-speed-limited. I know that can take away some fun in driving (e.g. no more night race in the city), but if it discourage those who are driving for fun, I think it is a good thing for the rest.-----------------------------------------------BBC News, Jan 3, 2009Speed-limiting devices should be fitted to cars on a voluntary basis to help save lives and cut carbon emissions, according to a new report.The government's transport advisers claim the technology would cut road accidents with injuries by 29%.The device automatically slows a car down to within the limit for the road on which it is being driven.But campaign group Safe Speed warns against its use, saying it encourages drivers to enter a "zombie mode".Ministers are planning to help councils draw up digital maps with details of the legal speed on every road.The speed-limiting devices will then use satellite positioning to check a vehicle's location and when its speed exceeds the limit, power will be reduced and the brakes applied if necessary.The Commission for Integrated Transport and the Motorists' Forum, which both advise the government, are calling on ministers to promote a wide introduction of the system.Education 'important'John Lewis, from the Motorists' Forum, told BBC Breakfast he believed the devices would help drivers obey limits and therefore keep their licences."But we believe that the system should be a voluntary system, that the drivers decide if they have fitted to their car or not, and that they decide if they want to over-ride the speed limit - that should be their choice," he said.There would also be a positive impact on emissions and fuel consumption, he added. Jon York, fleet manager for British Gas, whose vans are already limited to 70mph, told BBC Radio 5 Live the system had reduced road incidents for the company.But he said the introduction of technology had to be combined with safety education."It does aid road safety, it does reduce incidents, but it is part of a wide-ranging number of initiatives within British Gas and one of those is driver training because you have to change people's behaviour."Overtaking worriesBut Claire Armstrong, from the road safety campaign group Safe Speed, said that the devices could be dangerous.She said truck drivers using speed-limiting devices had been shown to "go into fatigue mode or zombie mode" and stopped paying attention to the road."That makes it highly dangerous in those scenarios. So you've taken the responsibility away from the driver and that is not [good] for road safety."Derek Charters, from the Motor Industry Research Association, has extensively tested speed-limiting technology.He believes that if all cars were fitted with the system, safety would be improved, and that vehicles without it present a greater danger."The last thing you need is one car to be overtaking and then pull back in, in front of the cars in front, because that braking event will then cause everybody to start to slow down, which will then compress the traffic, which then causes an incident," he said.Motoring journalist Quentin Willson said he also believed taking away driver control was a "really, really bad thing"."Remotely policing the roads from satellites in the sky - I would worry about it an awful lot."? --- On Sat, 11/15/08, chuwa wrote: From: chuwa Subject: Re: [sustran] Shocker: Speed Limits Are Useless To: eric.britton@ecoplan.org Date: Saturday, November 15, 2008, 3:40 PM Wouldn't it be nice if all future cars come with two-mode: 1) city-mode that can not exceed 30kph (or whatever the city decided) 2) highway mode that unlock the speed limit This can easily be done with existing technology, cars can be electronically "enable" to highway mode at the entrance of the highway. Such control device can also be fitted to existing cars as after market installation. What is needed is to have the law changed so that it is illegal to sell/drive cars without an automatic "city mode". Chu Wa A Commuter cyclist from Singapore --- On Sat, 11/15/08, Eric Britton wrote: > From: Eric Britton > Subject: [sustran] Shocker: Speed Limits Are Useless > To: NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com > Cc: sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org > Date: Saturday, November 15, 2008, 2:31 AM > At the end of the day, policy in this area has to be driven > by common sense > and a firm knowledge of behavioral psychology and culture. > Reinforced of > course by the crown jewels of traffic engineering and > street design. > >? > > Here is my 1 2 3 take of the foundation points on this > important issue: > >? > > 1.? ???Cars make us drivers impatient. We are also > insulated by our steel > capsule, line of vision, internal noise controls, and thus > divorced from the > real world. That is part of what cars are all about (you > just have to look > at the ads), speeding us along like a magic carpet from > place to where we > want to go. > > > > 2.? ???Thus, 9 people out of 10 - me included sorry to say- > are going to > drive pretty much as fast as they think circumstances will > "reasonably" > permit.? And this is, much of the time at least, simply too > fast in a city > situation. > > > > 3.? ???There are parts of the world, not many sadly, where > there is a 'slow > car culture', which specifically can take the form of > smilingly yielding > priority to pedestrians, cyclists and even other cars and > public transit > vehicles. I know that I for one do that just about all the > time - but the > demon of speed is still there itching in my psyche and > ready to roar out > when the circumstances permit. > > > > 4.? ???Thus, culture helps, but it's not that of the > majority - so we can > hardly count on that > > > > 5.? ???And fear of retribution helps too - but many divers > tend to "work > with that" in various ways. Not all of them > necessarily nasty per se, but > the result is very simple: they take their chances and > speed mains and > kills, no matter how pure our thoughts may be. > > > > 6.? ???And yes Martin Cassini, ill-placed traffic signals > do indeed often > make things worse. Drivers will play them, and knowing the > cycle will speed > up beyond the limit in order to make it through just in > time (or a bit later > but what the hell, eh?). > > > > 7.? ???Posted speed limits: Just part of the environment. > For most people > they are not credible, or reasonable. A vague part of the > landscape. So they > are an eventual reference point but not a heavily > determinant one. > >? > > Now that we have seen what an evil person I am - I am the > Joe Average at the > wheel - the next question is what do we do to deal with me. > >? > > Here is what I propose, building on some of the points > suggested here in the > last two days, but also on the very large body of work and > information that > is underway on this for decades, going back to Donald > Appleyard's Livable > Streets and Jane Jacob's Death and Life, and winding > all the way through the > good work that has been done by many people and places, > with a nod for sure > to our greatly regretted Hans Monderman. > >? > > 1.? ???So we know, people, most people at least, are going > to drive as fast > as they can, if they can. Even on a city street. Or at the > very least, too > fast to be safe in a world of darting children, wobbling > cyclists, old > people in dark coats, and that other driver how is also > going too fast. > > > > 2.? ???So we have to restrain them physically and > psychically - and the only > restraint that works is street architecture. We work by > shortening the > straight lines, narrowing the road way, alternating > surfaces, popping in > uncomfortable speed bumps, and using lights and visual, > aura and tactile > signals and? tricks to force slowing down. > > > > 3.? ???IT also helps greatly to have large numbers s of > pedestrians, > cyclists and playing children and chatting adults out onto > the street, so > that it comes clear to all that this is a shared space for > all. In French we > call it 'occuper le terrain", possibly "make > it ours". > > > > 4.? ???Truly English friends, the mindless propagation of > intrusive tracking > technology to handle every 21st century problem that > emerges involving > people is not an advance toward a more civilized world. > Just because we can > do it, should not be taken to mean that we should. > > > > 5.? ???But traffic police, laws and courts who strike hard > on miscreant, > parked and others are certainly part of the solution set. > >? > > There you have my rough and ready speed control toolkit. I > have observed and > worked with these issues for a long time, and I can't > get any brighter on > this than what you have here. > >? > > Eric Britton > >? > > PS I still love Robert Stussi's wonderful little Homage > to Hans Monderman > clip, at 90 seconds and you'll see it on the internal > left menu at > http://www.media.newmobility.org. And as the terrific man > on the street > being interviewed put it: "And statistically we can > prove it, dear sir". We > sure can. > > -------------------------------------------------------- > 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'). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090105/5d0c391e/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Tue Jan 6 18:21:47 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2009 10:21:47 +0100 Subject: [sustran] (no subject) Message-ID: <008801c96fe0$35f313d0$a1d93b70$@britton@ecoplan.org> I am often asked about the state of plans for extending V?lib to the neighboring cities, and if you go to the latest V?lib newsletter at http://velib.centraldoc.com/newsletter/ you will have a reasonably clear statement on how this is going to work. Again, to get a rough translation, as per the following extracts, you cut and paste the original text into http://translate.google.com/translate_t?hl=en#. No problem, eh? Eric Britton A decision of the state Friday July 11 2008, a few days before the anniversary of V?lib ', the State Council validated the legality of the amendment and defended by the City of Paris. The council of Paris voted the principle of extending V?lib 'to neighboring December 19 2007. V?lib stations' will be located in a strip of 1, 5 km from Paris, in the main lines linking common to the capital. The stations would be equipped with about 25 attachment points and supplemented stations called "relaxed". Following the establishment of this convention, working meetings were held between the municipalities, communities agglomeration and the City of Paris to study possible locations of the stations. Three questions to Patrick Lefebvre, General Engineer of Technical Services and Chief displacements City Hall of Paris. How to spend the consultations with the Commons? Collaborations between communities and the City of Paris are rich and successful. It is a work between the elected officials but also with technical society SOMUPI. The City of Paris is fortunate, because of its size, have technical specialists in very specific areas. The smaller communities have not always so fortunate. The Technical Services certain municipalities are sometimes forced to use outside firms to obtain specific plans concerning the nature of sub-soil, electrical connections possible and to make technical instructions necessary for the establishment of new stations. Our goal remains the establishment of all stations for the second quarter of 2009. How do you pending V?lib 'in the surrounding communities? There is a real enthusiasm among our partners. It is for them to offer a new means of transport to their people, thus promoting intermodality. We must not forget that 15% of annual subscribers are residents of neighboring Paris! The satisfaction survey conducted in March, which also questioned the occasional subscribers (tickets 1 day, 7 days), showed that nearly 33% of users come from the suburbs! So there is a real expectation that we, City of Paris and our partners are trying to answer. What are the selection criteria for the location of stations? A major study was conducted by a specialized body to determine the future location of such stations. The study takes into account many indicators such as employment areas, the density of the population through habitat areas, commercial activities. In a second phase of consultations were undertaken with our partners to endorse these settlements. The study was adjusted in both the total number of stations (300 maximum) and "Band 1 500 m since the territorial limits of Paris. The maximum number of attachment points on a common equals the number of stations increased by 25. For example, all stations located near the Bois de Vincennes and Boulogne, for reasons of fluidity, will double to fastening 50 points in total! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090106/702f8fb1/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Wed Jan 7 02:59:56 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2009 18:59:56 +0100 Subject: [sustran] What Does $1.67 Gasoline Mean for the Future? Message-ID: <016901c97028$9770bac0$c6523040$@britton@ecoplan.org> Dear Sustran Friends, I wonder if this way of looking at an important policy problem from both a local and broader national perspective simultaneously might have its uses in Global South situations as well. In any event what you have here is an article which I intend to publish in the panel discussions for the incoming Obama administration which are being held at http://transportation.nationaljournal.com. Should you have any comments or suggestions on this now would be a great time to have them? hope you find something of use in this. Kind regards, Eric Britton " What Does $1.67 Gasoline Mean for the Future?" [1] - by Eric Britton, 6 January 2009 New Mobility Partnerships, Paris and Los Angeles I would like to look at the usual of large swings in the price of gas at the pump from two very different perspectives. The first is that of someone born and raised in a rural small-town environment in northeastern Mississippi, which today looks a great deal different from how things were when I was a child there. The second is from the vantage of a strategic planner with a specialty in the politics of transportation from both a sustainability and international perspective. I would then like to see if we can find a way to put these two presumably polar positions together for policy purposes for the incoming administration. Let's start with the Mississippi perspective. Letter from Mississippi Today down in the lightly settled rural areas around my hometown of Amory Mississippi there are at least three unyielding realities which most of our friends and neighbors have to confront every day. First, that the time in which our town was a lively place which served to provide both the people who lived in town and surrounding communities with a wide range of goods and services all within walking or biking distances somehow disappeared in the closing decades of the last century. No one here is quite sure of how or why it happened, but it did and it was a great loss. The second harsh reality is that as the town emptied out the only possible way of getting around today is . . . if you have a car. A very American phenomenon. But there is more to it than that. The third is that most of us down there are not particularly rich, meaning that when gas prices double or triple it hits us a lot harder than the average American. We are not only one of the poorest states in the union, but today more than 20% of our neighbors live below the official poverty level. And a lot more than that if you are a rural white and sadly worse yet if you are a rural black. So as an average citizen from northeastern Mississippi I have some questions about how the new team in Washington is going to deal with the harsh realities we face both now and will surely have to face in the years ahead. This is one problem we can be sure is not going to go away by itself. Maybe I should add in closing that we have figured out that there is more to it than just cars, transportation and the price of gas at the pump. Maybe some of you up there should be telling us how we can get back to towns that offer more than an empty street and closed storefronts. That has to be part of our solution. Back in the days of the War Between the States, our part of Mississippi resisted for a long time pressure to secede from the United States. We were and are to this day proud and independent people. But what we now need from Washington are some clear signals and a good understanding of the realities we face every day. We're waiting to hear from you. >From an international perspective My eight colleagues who have already filed their information and views on this here have covered a lot of the very important bases for which I'm grateful. I would now like to take a couple of steps back from the heat of the action and share with you my thoughts on how this looks from an international and more strategic sustainability perspective. When we step back from the stove a couple of things become clear: 1. We are going to see continuous and at times violent swings in the price of petrol in 2009 and in the years ahead. This is the inescapable reality of the future. 2. At no time in the past have we seen such wide in rapid fluctuations. This suggests to me that whatever our future policy is it better be very different from the past. 3. It is my firm belief that this high volatility can be turned toward to our advantage if we tackle it in a sufficiently strategic and politically savvy manner. I and a thousand others have written in the past that "a crisis is a terrible thing to waste", and since this is an excellent case in point. I hope that we will put our brains together to make sure we don't waste this one 4. However unless there is a tidal change in our approach, the likelihood is that we are going to lurch from one to the other and in the process show ourselves as unable to assume responsibilities of good governance. This is no time for complacency and wait and see. I would say that we have done enough waiting and seeing for at least the next eight years. 5. The reality is that we have all the tools needed to engage a policy called steady and significant increases in price at the pump, which is needed for all the reasons which my colleagues here have pointed out very well and which I therefore need not repeat, while at the same time ensuring that those who today are both highly dependent on their cars will not suffer from the necessary strategic price increases. 6. So we know we have to do, and that is to work out and implement a clear game plan for these steady price increases, beginning immediately. If Europeans can live with gas at close to $10 a gallon, Americans can to. And this can be achieved moreover without a sacrifice in life quality. All we need is leadership to show the way. Eric Britton PS. I'm reading a fine book by James M. McPherson on the leadership challenges that then-new president Abraham Lincoln faced when he arrived in Washington, DC in 1861. The book, "Tried by War", which I strongly recommend to you, offers a number of striking analogies to the situation and the stresses that President-elect Obama is undoubtedly going to have to face and deal with when he takes office in just two weeks time. President Lincoln had plenty of advisors and plenty of generals, but things began to move in the right direction only when he took control of it himself. _____ [1] The following was my third invited contribution to an ongoing "insider policy discussion" sponsored by the National Journal In Washington DC , which has as its intention to provide counsel to orient and guide the incoming Obama administration on matters involving policy and investments in the transportation sector. This piece specifically in response to Discussion Topic: "What Does $1.67 Gasoline Mean for the Future?" which opens with the statement (Lisa Caruso) : "When gasoline hit $4 a gallon last summer, many Americans started driving less, buying more fuel-efficient cars and taking public transportation. But now that gas is much cheaper, Americans may make different choices. With fuel prices and consumer demand so variable, what is the best way to encourage investment in greener, more fuel-efficient alternatives, and what does this uncertainty mean for long-term infrastructure planning?" . To access the discussions http://transportation.nationaljournal.com. . Links to feeds to follow discussions. http://feeds.feedburner.com/njgroup-transportation -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090106/bce283d7/attachment.html From litman at vtpi.org Wed Jan 7 04:43:25 2009 From: litman at vtpi.org (Todd Alexander Litman) Date: Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:43:25 -0800 Subject: [sustran] VTPI News - Winter 2009 Message-ID: <20090106195721.5CA062E4EF@mx-list.jca.ne.jp> ----------- VTPI NEWS ----------- Victoria Transport Policy Institute "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity" ------------------------------------- Winter 2009 Vol. 12, No. 1 ----------------------------------- The Victoria Transport Policy Institute is an independent research organization dedicated to developing innovative solutions to transportation problems. The VTPI website (http://www.vtpi.org ) has many resources addressing a wide range of transport planning and policy issues. VTPI also provides consulting services. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NEW DOCUMENTS ============== "Transportation Cost and Benefit Analysis: Techniques, Estimates and Implications" [Second Edition] (http://www.vtpi.org/tca ) This fully-updated document is a comprehensive study of transportation benefits and costs, and a guidebook for applying this information for policy and planning analysis. It is unique in several important ways. It includes many impact categories that are often overlooked. It explains economic evaluation techniques and how to apply them. It provides extensive reference information, mostly available through the Internet. It provides costs values in a format designed to easily calculate costs and benefits in a particular situation. "Climate Change Emission Valuation for Transportation Economic Analysis" (http://www.vtpi.org/ghg_valuation.pdf ) This paper describes climate change impacts and costs, presents methods for quantifying and monetizing (measuring in monetary units) these impacts, summarizes published unit cost estimates, and explains the values used in the 'Transportation Cost and Benefit Analysis Guidebook.' "Setting Up Superstores and Climate Change" (http://www.vtpi.org/superstores.pdf ) by Jean-Marie Beauvais. This short paper describes the results of a study indicating that shopping at large, suburban 'superstores' consumes more than four times as much transportation energy and produces more than four times the carbon emissions as local grocery store shopping. "Costs and Benefits of Varying Per-Mile Insurance Premiums Based Upon Measured Risks Specific to Each Mile Driven" (http://www.vtpi.org/AG_PAYD.pdf ) by Allen Greenberg. This paper evaluates various price structures for Pay-As-You-Drive (PAYD) insurance based on actuarial accuracy and other public policy objectives such as reducing crashes and air pollution. NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA CHAPTERS ======================== "Performance Evaluation" (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm131.htm) "Transportation Demand" (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm132.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE =================== Planetizen Blogs (http://www.planetizen.com ): "Troubles In Dubai" (http://www.planetizen.com/node/36456 ) "Smart Economic Stimulation" (http://www.planetizen.com/node/36303 ) "Rethinking Transportation Safety" (http://www.planetizen.com/node/36138 ) "A Very Good Example of Very Bad Transportation Performance Evaluation" (http://www.planetizen.com/node/35979 ) UPCOMING EVENTS ================= Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting (http://www.trb.org ) takes place 11-15 January 2009 in Washington DC. The Victoria Transport Policy Institute will participate in the following TRB sessions: Workshop 117, "Developing Transportation Data Quality Standards" 11 January 2009, 9:00am to noon, Hilton, Military This workshop explores ways to improve transportation-related data quality, particularly a research program to develop international standards for data collection and distribution. For background see, "Sustainable Transportation Indicators: A Recommended Research Program For Developing Sustainable Transportation Indicators and Data" http://www.vtpi.org/sustain/sti.pdf ). 'Incorporating Social and Health Indicators into Transportation Policy and Project Evaluation' Workshop 169, "Sustainability and Social Measures for Transportation" Sunday, January 11, 2009, 1:30pm- 4:30pm, Hilton, Lincoln East This presentation will describe ways to incorporate social and health impacts into transportation policy and project evaluation. It will discuss how more comprehensive analysis of social impacts contributes to sustainable transportation planning. Evaluating Carbon Taxes as an Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction Strategy (09-3433) Session 314, "Taxing Our Way to a Greener Future?" DATE: Monday, January 12, 2009, 1:30pm- 3:15pm, Hilton, International East Carbon taxes are based on fossil fuel carbon content, and therefore tax carbon dioxide emissions. This paper evaluates this tax. (http://www.vtpi.org/carbontax.pdf ) 'Win-Win Emission Reduction Strategies: Smart Transportation Strategies Can Achieve Emission Reduction Targets And Provide Other Important Economic, Social and Environmental Benefits' Session 364, "Integration and Co-Benefits of Climate Change Mitigation Policies" Monday, January 12, 2009, 3:45pm- 5:30pm, Hilton, Monroe West Win-Win Transportation Solutions are cost-effective, technically feasible market reforms that solve transportation problems by improving mobility options and removing market distortions that cause excessive motor vehicle travel (http://www.vtpi.org/wwclimate.pdf ). Sustainable Transportation Indicators Subcommittee, ADD40(1) Tuesday, January 13, 2009, 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM, Hilton Todd Alexander Litman, Victoria Transport Policy Institute, Canada, presiding Agenda at http://www.trb.org/am/ip/assembly_detail.asp?id=14003&e=445&pre_ff= 'Sustainable Transportation Indicators: A Recommended Research Program For Developing Sustainable Transportation Indicators and Data' (http://www.vtpi.org/sustain/sti.pdf ) Session 713, "Sustainable Transportation" DATE: Wednesday, January 14, 2009, 10:15am-12:00pm, Hilton, International East This paper, developed through a cooperative effort by the Transportation Research Board's Sustainable Transportation Indicators Subcommittee (ADD40 [1]), identifies indicators that can be used for sustainable transportation evaluation. This paper describes factors to consider when selecting indicators, exemplifies specific sustainable transportation indicators, discusses issues of data quality, and identifies research needs. We hope these recommendations will be endorsed by professional organizations, leading to the development of universal sustainable transportation indicator sets. * * * * * UrbanRAIL (www.informa.com.au/urbanrail/spk ) 17th-18th March 2009, Sydney, Australia This conference will bring together government agencies, rail operators, track owners, transport consultancies and engineering companies to discuss key trends, major projects, and the future of Australasia's urban rail. VTPI Executive Director Todd Litman will speak about rail benefit evaluation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IN THE NEWS ================= "Transportation Study That Rated N.S. Highly Was Flawed - Expert," The Chronicle Herald (http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1092273.html ). Todd Litman says thanks to Clark Williams-Derry of the Sightline Institute (http://www.sightline.org ) for raising his rank from 'Sustainable Transportation Geek' to 'Sustainable Transportation Geek Overlord' in a blog concerning our critique of the Fraser Institute's transportation studies (http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2008/11/06/dont-like-reality-ignore-it ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ USEFUL RESOURCES ================= The Happy Research Team invites people to participate the 10-minute Happiness in Transport Decision Making Survey (http://www.civil.ist.utl.pt/~aduarte ) "Pay-As-You-Drive Auto Insurance: Resources for the Future Weekly Commentary," by Jason Bordoff and Pascal Noel (http://www.rff.org/Publications/WPC/Pages/12_15_08_pay-as-you-drive_insurance.aspx ) Automobile use in the United States is underpriced as motorists do not pay for the full costs of pollution, congestion, and traffic accidents when deciding how much to drive. However, there is intense opposition to gasoline taxes, peak-period congestion fees, and other policies that would reduce these externalities by raising the costs of driving. This week, Jason Bordoff and Pascal Noel discuss pay-as-you-drive insurance, which offers a novel approach for reducing automobile use, without raising the private costs of vehicle ownership and use for the majority of drivers. In an important development, MileMeter (http://www.milemeter.com) now offers Pay-As-You-Drive insurance in Texas, and plans to expand to other jurisdictions. Instead of purchasing coverage for six months or a year, a Texas motorist may purchase between 1,000 and 6,000 miles of coverage, and make additional purchases as needed. Mikhail Chester and Arpad Horvath (2008), Environmental Life-cycle Assessment of Passenger Transportation: A Detailed Methodology for Energy, Greenhouse Gas and Criteria Pollutant Inventories of Automobiles, Buses, Light Rail, Heavy Rail and Air v.2, UC Berkeley Center for Future Urban Transport, Paper vwp-2008-2; at http://repositories.cdlib.org/its/future_urban_transport/vwp-2008-2. HUD (2008), Impact Fees & Housing Affordability: A Guide for Practitioners, Office of Policy Development and Research, Department of Housing and Urban Development (www.huduser.org); at www.nmhc.org/Content/ServeFile.cfm?FileID=6877. RAND (2008), "Moving Los Angeles: Short-Term Transportation Policy Options for Improving Transportation," Rand Corporation (www.rand.org); at www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG748.pdf . This paper describes practical ways to reduce traffic congestion in large urban areas. For an excellent summary of this paper see Clark Williams-Derry's blog http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2008/12/18/fighting-congestion-rand-style?searchterm=rand%20corporation . BEAT (2008), BEAT The Path To Health, Built Environment and Active Transportation (BEAT), ActNow BC (www.physicalactivitystrategy.ca); at http://physicalactivitystrategy.ca/pdfs/BEAT_Publication.pdf . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please let us know if you have comments or questions about any information in this newsletter, or if you would like to be removed from our email list. And please pass this newsletter on to others who may find it useful. 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/20090106/a5a362d2/attachment.html From dazzle_dwds at yahoo.com Wed Jan 7 21:51:29 2009 From: dazzle_dwds at yahoo.com (Roselle Leah K. Rivera) Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2009 04:51:29 -0800 (PST) Subject: [sustran] BBC E-mail: Nigeria bikers' vegetable helmets Message-ID: <90998.89041.qm@web52203.mail.re2.yahoo.com> ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: roselle rivera To: dazzle_Dwds@yahoo.com Sent: Wednesday, January 7, 2009 8:43:07 PM Subject: BBC E-mail: Nigeria bikers' vegetable helmets roselle rivera saw this story on the BBC News website and thought you should see it. ** Nigeria bikers' vegetable helmets ** Nigerian authorities are cracking down on motorcyclists who try to dodge fines for not having a helmet by wearing dried pumpkin shells. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7813418.stm > ** BBC Daily E-mail ** Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when you want them, all in one daily e-mail < http://www.bbc.co.uk/email > ** Disclaimer ** The BBC is not responsible for the content of this e-mail, and anything written in this e-mail does not necessarily reflect the BBC's views or opinions. Please note that neither the e-mail address nor name of the sender have been verified. If you do not wish to receive such e-mails in the future or want to know more about the BBC's Email a Friend service, please read our frequently asked questions. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/4162471.stm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090107/388d0bd0/attachment.html From sudhir at cai-asia.org Thu Jan 8 10:03:44 2009 From: sudhir at cai-asia.org (Sudhir) Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 09:03:44 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Motorbikes get to use bus lanes (London) Message-ID: Readers may find this interesting ( Source - BBC) *Motorcyclists are now allowed to use some of London's bus lanes.* >From Monday, motorcyclists will be able to ride in the restricted lanes for an 18-month trial period. Transport for London (TfL) said it hoped the measure would cut accidents and traffic in the capital. The change will only apply to TfL bus lanes. Pedal cyclists, who already use the lanes, have been against the scheme claiming it would not improve safety or reduce congestion. *Vulnerable road users* The scheme is one of London Mayor Boris Johnson's election pledges. He said: "I have long been staggered that while motorcyclists can use bus lanes in many other cities and some of our boroughs they were not allowed to use the TfL routes that criss-cross the capital. "One of the ways we can ease congestion is by encouraging more people to get on their bike, whether pedal or powered, and I believe they should be able to share our bus lanes successfully and safely. " In June last year the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) presented the mayor with a 3,000-name petition asking him to reconsider the plans. In a letter to the mayor, LCC's chief executive Koy Thomson said: "While we would support measures to make motorcycling safer, such as a 20mph speed limit, there is no clear environmental, safety or congestion reason for allowing motorcycles into bus lanes." Jeff Stone, of the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF), said allowing motorcycles in bus lanes would make it safer "for all vulnerable road users". Read More : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7811062.stm & http://www.mcia.co.uk/Public/Bus.aspx?OBJ_ID=1321720 -- Sudhir Gota Transport Specialist CAI-Asia Center Unit 3510, 35th Floor, Robinsons-Equitable Tower, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City Metro Manila, Philippines 1605 Tel: +63-2-395-2843 Fax: +63-2-395-2846 http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia Skype : sudhirgota -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090108/5aa7dedb/attachment.html From sujitjp at gmail.com Thu Jan 8 14:33:59 2009 From: sujitjp at gmail.com (Sujit Patwardhan) Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 11:03:59 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Motorbikes get to use bus lanes (London) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4cfd20aa0901072133x200b8ee0pef5b544665c9f220@mail.gmail.com> >From the look of it, this is not going to be good for the cyclists. Motorcycles, Scooters AND Cars need restraint not encouragement. The statement by Boris: "One of the ways we can ease congestion is by encouraging more people to get on their bike, whether pedal or powered, and I believe they should be able to share our bus lanes successfully and safely. " shows that his focus is obviously on reducing congestion for Cars (encouraging more people to get on their bike, whether pedal or powered), and not improve safety and convenience of (pedal) cyclists, who actually need to be given the most sops. It's a pity to see years of good work by Ken Livingstone being slowly dismantled. -- Sujit On Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 6:33 AM, Sudhir wrote: > Readers may find this interesting ( Source - BBC) > > > *Motorcyclists are now allowed to use some of London's bus lanes.* > > From Monday, motorcyclists will be able to ride in the restricted lanes for > an 18-month trial period. > > Transport for London (TfL) said it hoped the measure would cut accidents > and traffic in the capital. The change will only apply to TfL bus lanes. > > Pedal cyclists, who already use the lanes, have been against the scheme > claiming it would not improve safety or reduce congestion. > > *Vulnerable road users* > > The scheme is one of London Mayor Boris Johnson's election pledges. > > He said: "I have long been staggered that while motorcyclists can use bus > lanes in many other cities and some of our boroughs they were not allowed to > use the TfL routes that criss-cross the capital. > > "One of the ways we can ease congestion is by encouraging more people to > get on their bike, whether pedal or powered, and I believe they should be > able to share our bus lanes successfully and safely. " > > In June last year the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) presented the mayor > with a 3,000-name petition asking him to reconsider the plans. > > In a letter to the mayor, LCC's chief executive Koy Thomson said: "While we > would support measures to make motorcycling safer, such as a 20mph speed > limit, there is no clear environmental, safety or congestion reason for > allowing motorcycles into bus lanes." > > Jeff Stone, of the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF), said allowing > motorcycles in bus lanes would make it safer "for all vulnerable road > users". > > Read More : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7811062.stm & > http://www.mcia.co.uk/Public/Bus.aspx?OBJ_ID=1321720 > > > -- > Sudhir Gota > Transport Specialist > CAI-Asia Center > Unit 3510, 35th Floor, Robinsons-Equitable Tower, > ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City > Metro Manila, Philippines 1605 > Tel: +63-2-395-2843 > Fax: +63-2-395-2846 > http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia > Skype : sudhirgota > > -------------------------------------------------------- > 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 sujitjp@gmail.com "Yamuna", ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007 India Tel: +91 20 25537955 Cell: +91 98220 26627 ----------------------------------------------------- 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/20090108/6b6de6e0/attachment.html From carlosfpardo at gmail.com Fri Jan 9 03:32:20 2009 From: carlosfpardo at gmail.com (Carlosfelipe Pardo) Date: Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:32:20 +0000 Subject: [sustran] Re: Motorbikes get to use bus lanes (London) In-Reply-To: <4cfd20aa0901072133x200b8ee0pef5b544665c9f220@mail.gmail.com> References: <4cfd20aa0901072133x200b8ee0pef5b544665c9f220@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <496646B4.4050707@gmail.com> Hi, I've been in London for 3 months now, and the way I see it, this new 18-month "trial" is just legitimizing what was already happening (!) I'm not sure if it's good (because they may now regulate it better) or if it's bad (because now more people on motorbikes will go on the bus lanes and thus threaten cyclists, women getting off the bus, etc). If they follow the code of conduct (see link below) that has been established (especially the issue of not using excessive speed) it may work... but in general it feels like something more negative than positive. We'll have to wait and see how it all unravels, and this first week isn't useful since only starting Monday will we see more people on the roads. There are two websites which are useful to see with more "official" info: - The TfL specific website: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/motorcyclesinbuslanes - The "Bus Lane code of conduct" from the motor cycle industry association: http://www.mcia.co.uk/Public/Bus.aspx . Two other related measures from Boris's government are: - Elimination of the western extension of the congestion charging zone as of next year (? - not sure), which would reduce revenue for public transport and raise fares... plus the obvious increase in congestion, etc. - Getting rid of the "bendy buses" (articulated) around mid 2010, on the grounds that they would be dangerous to cyclists. I have no idea if this is true, but I know that performance of the articulated buses is higher than the double decker. I'd rather think it's a nostalgic measure... But what would you expect from a mayor who was previously GQ Magazine's reviewer of sports cars? Any views from others in London are really appreciated. Despite being here, I'm not really getting too much into these issues. Best regards, Carlos. Sujit Patwardhan wrote: > > > From the look of it, this is not going to be good for the cyclists. > Motorcycles, Scooters AND Cars need restraint not encouragement. > > The statement by Boris: > > "One of the ways we can ease congestion is by encouraging more people > to get on their bike, whether pedal or powered, and I believe they > should be able to share our bus lanes successfully and safely. " > > shows that his focus is obviously on reducing congestion for Cars > (encouraging more people to get on their bike, whether pedal or > powered), and not improve safety and convenience of (pedal) cyclists, > who actually need to be given the most sops. > > It's a pity to see years of good work by Ken Livingstone being slowly > dismantled. > > -- > Sujit > > > > > > On Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 6:33 AM, Sudhir > wrote: > > Readers may find this interesting ( Source - BBC) > > > *Motorcyclists are now allowed to use some of London's bus lanes.* > > From Monday, motorcyclists will be able to ride in the restricted > lanes for an 18-month trial period. > > Transport for London (TfL) said it hoped the measure would cut > accidents and traffic in the capital. The change will only apply > to TfL bus lanes. > > Pedal cyclists, who already use the lanes, have been against the > scheme claiming it would not improve safety or reduce congestion. > > *Vulnerable road users* > > The scheme is one of London Mayor Boris Johnson's election pledges. > > He said: "I have long been staggered that while motorcyclists can > use bus lanes in many other cities and some of our boroughs they > were not allowed to use the TfL routes that criss-cross the capital. > > "One of the ways we can ease congestion is by encouraging more > people to get on their bike, whether pedal or powered, and I > believe they should be able to share our bus lanes successfully > and safely. " > > In June last year the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) presented the > mayor with a 3,000-name petition asking him to reconsider the plans. > > In a letter to the mayor, LCC's chief executive Koy Thomson said: > "While we would support measures to make motorcycling safer, such > as a 20mph speed limit, there is no clear environmental, safety or > congestion reason for allowing motorcycles into bus lanes." > > Jeff Stone, of the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF), said > allowing motorcycles in bus lanes would make it safer "for all > vulnerable road users". > > > Read More : > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7811062.stm & > http://www.mcia.co.uk/Public/Bus.aspx?OBJ_ID=1321720 > > > -- > Sudhir Gota > Transport Specialist > CAI-Asia Center > Unit 3510, 35th Floor, Robinsons-Equitable Tower, > ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City > Metro Manila, Philippines 1605 > Tel: +63-2-395-2843 > Fax: +63-2-395-2846 > http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia > Skype : sudhirgota > > -------------------------------------------------------- > 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 > sujitjp@gmail.com > > "Yamuna", > ICS Colony, > Ganeshkhind Road, > Pune 411 007 > India > Tel: +91 20 25537955 > Cell: +91 98220 26627 > ----------------------------------------------------- > Hon. Secretary: > Parisar > www.parisar.org > ------------------------------------------------------ > Founder Member: > PTTF > (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) > www.pttf.net > ------------------------------------------------------ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > -------------------------------------------------------- > 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 eric.britton at ecoplan.org Sat Jan 10 22:07:33 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:07:33 +0100 Subject: [sustran] USA - "What Are in-coming Secretary's Ray LaHood's Biggest Challenges?" Message-ID: <00fc01c97324$68c6dd90$3a5498b0$@britton@ecoplan.org> Dear colleagues, As part of my participation in the advisory panel being organized by the National Journal in Washington, DC, -- see http://transportation.nationalJournal.com -- the goal of which is to provide ideas and guidelines for the incoming administration's transportation team, I have prepared the following statement which I intend to post before the end of the weekend in response to the question to the panel: "What Are in-coming Secretary's Ray LaHood's Biggest Challenges?" I am pretty comfortable with the following by way of a working draft, but I am sure that at least some of you are going to enjoy having a look at this and also that you will have some ideas and suggestions for me on this. It would be great to have them so that I can make a firm and convincing statement on what I think is a very important issue and opportunity. Please address your comments either to the group if you feel that it's going to be useful for all of our busy colleagues, or directly to me at ericbritton@newmobility.org. If you address it to the group, I propose the best place to post it will be on the New Mobility Caf? for which the e-mail address is NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com. I very much hope you find some value in this. And sure, let's see we can change the world. Eric Britton "What Are in-coming Secretary's Ray LaHood's Biggest Challenges?" Redefining Transportation: There is not a moment of doubt in my mind that the greatest single challenge our new Secretary of Transportation faces will be to "get out of the box" of the past. Nothing less than redefining transportation. And I'm sure that this is not going to be an easy challenge for him to face because the day that he walks through the door of his new office there will be a huge number of problems, projects, details and interests clamoring for his attention. But this is quite likely to be the most important single initial decision that he can make as he assembles his new team and prepares for the four years ahead. This is the one decision that will shape all the rest. To this end I would like to propose that we here on this fine panel put our heads together and gather our ideas and recommendations on the following idea, on which I enthusiastically welcome comments and criticism. What you have here is only the raw materials of a starting place. It needs you to be turned into something that is going to be clear, convincing and operational. Proposal: I propose that we recommend that future Secretary LaHood and his team convene a high-level cross-agency review and brainstorming session which will bring together the best placed strategic thinkers from the following key related departments and agencies in order to look together at what the challenges, responses and priorities for the next four years really are. Obvious candidates include: ? Department of Health and Human Services ? Department of Housing and Urban Development ? Department of Commerce ? Department of Education ? Department of Labor ? Department of Energy ? Department of the Treasury ? Environmental Protection Agency ? Federal Communications Commission It goes without saying that this listing is personal and incomplete. And while I'm sure there are other players who should be brought into such an rethinking process, I would hope that the core group would remain relatively compact so that the key factors and players are going to really get their message through. Without wishing to presume or to jump too far ahead in this process, it is also clear that any such program will be to be supported by some kind of continuing advisory group of thinkers, doers, and communicators who can help fill in the dots and thereby ensure that the good ideas and proposals coming out of the more formal sessions actually get done. This would be an important thing to do now because here we are, not only in a new century but in the opening phase of a period of new government ideas. So now's the time to start to think far more broadly and strategically about the issues and choices in our sector. If we can self-criticize the performance and results of our transportation policy, thinking and performance over the last decades, the crux would have to be that our investment and other key choices have been made without sufficient reference to the broader context and issues that shape and are in turn shaped by decisions made in the transportation sector. This long list includes such critical under-pinnings as climate, environment, land use, energy, city and community development, public health, job creation (but the right kinds of jobs for our new century), the beauty of America, community relations, aging populations, 21st century economic realities, the special problems of the rural and urban poor, and the list goes on. Our sector and the investments that are now going to go into it can succeed only if we bring all of these factors to the table in the decision process. All of the time! This could be the beginning of a major revolution in the transportation sector which just might turn out to be every bit as fundamental as President Eisenhower's Intrastate Highway Program that reshaped America in so very many significant ways. And finally, I would hope that this can be carried out in such a striking a successful manner that it will create a template for "Redefining Transportation", at the state and local government levels across America. We need a new template, and where better to start and get the news out and from The Nation's Capital. That is the challenge that Secretary LaHood and his team now face. And all of us here should be ready to pitch in and help with the job. - - - - PS. If we look over the preceding 18 contributions in response to this question, we can see that a number of elements of the above have already been brought up by other panelists. Hardly surprising given the quality, competences and energy of this great group. That said, I thought it would be useful to try to build on their points and recommendations in this very specific way. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090110/a713c318/attachment.html From aashu.gupta20 at gmail.com Wed Jan 14 01:23:44 2009 From: aashu.gupta20 at gmail.com (Aashish Gupta) Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:53:44 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Information on transportation activity in India Message-ID: Dear All I am currently assisting Professor Sudhir Chella Rajan on a project with the aim of creating energy scenarios for India. I have the task of estimating energy use in transport (and then creating scenarios), using activity levels of different modes and their average energy intensities. I am running into some problems, hence this mail. As a part of this Project, I need to know the activity levels of cycling and walking (in BPKM) for the whole of India. I have not come across this kind of Data even for Indian Cities, and most studies mention just the modal share for cycling and walking and ownership percentages for cycles. If some study would have surveyed the average trip length by walk/cycle and also provided the total number of trips by cycle/walk (or total number of trips in a city along with modal shares of walk and cycle) it would be possible to calculate activity levels for cycling and walking. Unfortunately, I have not come across any such study. Even if such data would be available, my concern here is with the activity levels for the whole of India, not for some specific cities. It is unclear to me how I am going to do this, though assigning weights to different kinds of cities may reveal a crude estimate. That estimate will still exclude usage in rural India. Does anyone know of any study that has attempted to find answers to any of these questions? Also, has any one calculated/estimated the usage of diesel and petrol cars? Data on total travel by cars is available, but not data that differentiates between travel by diesel and petrol cars. We need this data to work out the scenarios. With thanks Aashish Aashish Gupta Student of Development Studies Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology Madras Chennai 600036 +91 9884774698 aashu.gupta20@gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090113/dd572a71/attachment.html From sudhir at cai-asia.org Wed Jan 14 09:29:37 2009 From: sudhir at cai-asia.org (Sudhir) Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:29:37 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Re: Information on transportation activity in India In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Aashish, If you are looking into City level data then you may not get all the answers in a single report. MOUD report would be a good way to begin your journey. It has average Trip length for all modes but not segregated mode wise. For getting this data you may have to collect individual level data/reports at city levels. You can access many findings on emissions at City/ Country level at @ http://www.baq2008.org/program. There are many research findings discussed during BAQ and you may enjoy that. Some of the Presentations you may be interested in are *http://www.baq2008.org/sw18-schipper* http://www.baq2008.org/sw18-saxena http://www.baq2008.org/sw18-gota We have some good numbers with us. We are currently doing research where we are examining and comparing the City and Country estimates and trying to figure out the scenarios and issues i.e. city impact on country emissions. in case you would like to discuss further we would be glad to help. best regards Sudhir Gota 2009/1/14 Aashish Gupta > Dear All > > I am currently assisting Professor Sudhir Chella Rajan on a project with > the aim of creating energy scenarios for India. I have the task of > estimating energy use in transport (and then creating scenarios), using > activity levels of different modes and their average energy intensities. > > I am running into some problems, hence this mail. > > As a part of this Project, I need to know the activity levels of cycling > and walking (in BPKM) for the whole of India. I have not come across this > kind of Data even for Indian Cities, and most studies mention just the modal > share for cycling and walking and ownership percentages for cycles. > > If some study would have surveyed the average trip length by walk/cycle and > also provided the total number of trips by cycle/walk (or total number of > trips in a city along with modal shares of walk and cycle) it would be > possible to calculate activity levels for cycling and walking. > Unfortunately, I have not come across any such study. > > Even if such data would be available, my concern here is with the activity > levels for the whole of India, not for some specific cities. It is unclear > to me how I am going to do this, though assigning weights to different kinds > of cities may reveal a crude estimate. That estimate will still exclude > usage in rural India. > > Does anyone know of any study that has attempted to find answers to any of > these questions? > > Also, has any one calculated/estimated the usage of diesel and petrol cars? > Data on total travel by cars is available, but not data that differentiates > between travel by diesel and petrol cars. We need this data to work out the > scenarios. > > With thanks > > Aashish > > Aashish Gupta > Student of Development Studies > Department of Humanities and Social Sciences > Indian Institute of Technology Madras > Chennai 600036 > +91 9884774698 > aashu.gupta20@gmail.com > -------------------------------------------------------- > 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'). > -- Sudhir Gota Transport Specialist CAI-Asia Center Unit 3510, 35th Floor, Robinsons-Equitable Tower, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City Metro Manila, Philippines 1605 Tel: +63-2-395-2843 Fax: +63-2-395-2846 http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia Skype : sudhirgota -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090114/b61ea59a/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Thu Jan 15 18:21:40 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:21:40 +0100 Subject: [sustran] What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world . . .? Message-ID: <010101c976f2$b1bb11c0$15313540$@britton@ecoplan.org> Dear World Friends (you will see why this opening in a minute), As a least some of you know there is a rather interesting project going on under the leadership of something called the National Journal in Washington, DC, where they have created an expert blog in which they've invited a couple dozen "transportation insiders" (in their words) in order to provide counseling guidelines to be transportation team of the incoming Obama administration. You can see all about it at http://transportation.nationaljournal.com. The idea is that each week the editors are asking the expert panel to respond to a question in the hope that some interesting ideas will appear there and make their way into the discussions and considerations of the incoming team at the Department of Transportation. The question that will be posted over this weekend will be the following: ?What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world in terms of transportation developments that are safe, efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable? ?We Americans often think of ourselves as sitting at the very top of the social, economic, technological, entertainment, and political pyramid. After all, we invented human flight, the Super Bowl, the Interstate Highway, the transcontinental railroad, and Rock ?n? Roll. But perhaps we?re not as advanced as we like to think. Perhaps innovations in transportation, land use, and energy consumption are much more evenly distributed around the world than we ever thought possible. Indeed, perhaps America is closer to the middle or bottom of the pyramid when it comes to transportation investments. What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world in terms of transportation developments that are safe, efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable?? Since they originally invited me to join this panel, I guess in part because they think I have something to say from an international perspective, I have had a bit of a role in getting this question onto the agenda. As those of you who know me can well imagine, I think I have something to say on this . . . however I think I have an even better idea than that, so let me share it with you. Specifically, I would like to you the chance to respond to this question terms of the following routine, if you agree: 1. Please address one and only one idea or topic either to me privately via eric.britton@newmobility.org, or if you feel it will be of interest to the group as a whole to the New Mobility Caf? at NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com (if you do this, kindly conserve the above Subject line). 2. Kindly make your point in less than 250 words. 3. Sign it in a succinct matter with your name, institutional affiliation, country, and e-mail. 4. Allow me to edit it on the understanding that I will not denature your commentary. While we don't have a lot of time for this, I for one will be extremely interested to see what kind of compilation we can make of this if we put our heads together. I just have to think that it's going to be frightfully interesting. And I'm sure it will tell the reader almost as much about ourselves as it does about the ideas we are addressing. As far as I'm concerned that's okay too. After all the solo transportation is people. Let's see what happens now. Eric Britton New Mobility Partnerships ? http://www.newmobility.org Europe: 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France T: +331 4326 1323 or +339 7044 4179 Skype: ericbritton USA: 9440 Readcrest Drive Los Angeles, CA 90210 T: +1 310 601-8468 Skype : newmobility -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090115/d82d6eff/attachment.html From sutp at sutp.org Fri Jan 16 13:09:26 2009 From: sutp at sutp.org (SUTP Team) Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:09:26 +0700 Subject: [sustran] Bus Regulation and Planning module now in Korean Message-ID: <49700876.6080209@sutp.org> The GTZ sourcebook module on "Bus Regulation and Planning" authored by Mr. Richard Meakin has been translated into Korean. The document was translated by the Kongju National University, under the guidance of Prof. Jin Young Park. The file can be downloaded from the SUTP website from the link below http://www.sutp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1360&Itemid=1 Comments and suggestions are welcome, please direct them to sutp[at]sutp.org From sujitjp at gmail.com Fri Jan 16 14:19:56 2009 From: sujitjp at gmail.com (Sujit Patwardhan) Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:49:56 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Bus Regulation and Planning module now in Korean In-Reply-To: <49700876.6080209@sutp.org> References: <49700876.6080209@sutp.org> Message-ID: <4cfd20aa0901152119w14b35f1fn5c653fb448d8be3f@mail.gmail.com> * Bus Regulation and Planning* Is this available in English? I did a search on the SUTP site but did not find it. Thank you, -- Sujit On Fri, Jan 16, 2009 at 9:39 AM, SUTP Team wrote: > The GTZ sourcebook module on "Bus Regulation and Planning" authored by > Mr. Richard Meakin has been translated into Korean. The document was > translated by the Kongju National University, under the guidance of > Prof. Jin Young Park. > > The file can be downloaded from the SUTP website from the link below > > http://www.sutp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1360&Itemid=1 > > Comments and suggestions are welcome, please direct them to > sutp[at]sutp.org > -------------------------------------------------------- > 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 sujitjp@gmail.com "Yamuna", ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007 India Tel: +91 20 25537955 Cell: +91 98220 26627 ----------------------------------------------------- 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/20090116/45573f51/attachment.html From sutp at sutp.org Fri Jan 16 15:40:05 2009 From: sutp at sutp.org (Sustainable Urban Transport Project- SUTP) Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 06:40:05 +0000 Subject: [sustran] Re: Bus Regulation and Planning module now in Korean In-Reply-To: <4cfd20aa0901152119w14b35f1fn5c653fb448d8be3f@mail.gmail.com> References: <49700876.6080209@sutp.org> <4cfd20aa0901152119w14b35f1fn5c653fb448d8be3f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <49702BC5.2000106@sutp.org> Sujit, The module in English is available in the link below (you should be registered to obtain it, as well as to do searches of all material within sutp.org): http://www.sutp.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&gid=12 Thanks for your interest! SUTP team. Sujit Patwardhan wrote: > > > > * > Bus Regulation and Planning* > > Is this available in English? > I did a search on the SUTP site but did not find it. > Thank you, > -- > Sujit > > > > On Fri, Jan 16, 2009 at 9:39 AM, SUTP Team > wrote: > > The GTZ sourcebook module on "Bus Regulation and Planning" authored by > Mr. Richard Meakin has been translated into Korean. The document was > translated by the Kongju National University, under the guidance of > Prof. Jin Young Park. > > The file can be downloaded from the SUTP website from the link below > > http://www.sutp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1360&Itemid=1 > > > Comments and suggestions are welcome, please direct them to > sutp[at]sutp.org > -------------------------------------------------------- > 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 > sujitjp@gmail.com > > "Yamuna", > ICS Colony, > Ganeshkhind Road, > Pune 411 007 > India > Tel: +91 20 25537955 > Cell: +91 98220 26627 > ----------------------------------------------------- > Hon. Secretary: > Parisar > www.parisar.org > ------------------------------------------------------ > Founder Member: > PTTF > (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) > www.pttf.net > ------------------------------------------------------ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > -------------------------------------------------------- > 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 eric.britton at ecoplan.org Sat Jan 17 00:29:18 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:29:18 +0100 Subject: [sustran] What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world . . .? Message-ID: <00c401c977ef$35e8d430$a1ba7c90$@britton@ecoplan.org> Message from India: Basics are being sidelined Worldwide basics are being sidelined, and not only in the United States. The blind application of BRT in Indian cities is an example. Some basics worth remembering - 1) Busways are warranted as per studies on routes 70-90% saturated. Bus lanes on non-saturated roads do not improve speeds as buses run fast without lanes (as road is not saturated). 2) To best inform if a road is saturated one needs a basic bus-based PT available. Many Indian cities running after BRT have symbolic (rudimentary) bus services. People are thus in personal vehicles and producing a false impression of roads being saturated. 3) Bus stops in close proximity to where people live and work save on time. BRT and Metro rails are far and few in between and do not save on journey times as people walk several minutes to get to the embarking points. It takes 8 minutes to walk 500 meters (16 if you double it to 1 km). In contrast a London or Mumbai style traditional bus service oft has stops at doorsteps. These buses may not go on dedicated median bus routes but drop you as close as possible to ones destination and in doing so keep overall travel time (by reducing time taken to walk) comparable to what BRT and Metro systems offer. 4) Speed of travel becomes important only when commutes get long. In many cities where commutes are between 8 to 15 km, doubling speed shaves of very little time (at cost of increasing risks). What the world (not just US) needs is to remember that all we ever needed to know we learnt in kindergarten - stick to the basics. Complex problems can have simple solutions. Dr. Adhiraj Joglekar, Psychiatrist, adhiraj.joglekar@googlemail.com, www.driving-india.blogspot.com, Mumbai/Pune India (and often London) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090116/c6fd3fe5/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Sat Jan 17 22:26:50 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2009 14:26:50 +0100 Subject: [sustran] What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world . . .?" Message-ID: <002401c978a7$43f808d0$cbe81a70$@britton@ecoplan.org> ?What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world . . .?? Game Plan for group project as of 16 Jan. 09 Topic: You are invited to contribute a short statement/recommendation (250 words max!!) outlining a single concept, policy, practice, project, program idea that you feel the Obama transportation team will do well to look at seriously as they prepare to lead transportation policy in America for the next four years. Organization: An informal group initiative being organized under the editorial direction of Eric Britton and the New Mobility Agenda. The idea is to tap the rich backgrounds, knowledge and imaginations of the more than two thousand colleagues and groups who regularly share information, ideas and materials under the various focus programs of the Agenda. Colleagues around the world are being invited to share their thoughts and recommendations in succinct form as a group compilation, being organized and presented by Britton who has been invited to serve as one of the panel members, with a particular responsibility for providing international coverage of perspectives. Background: Selected contributions to be posted to National Journal 2009 Transportation Expert Panel: http://transportation.nationaljournal.com/ to open up this question on Monday a.m., 26 Jan. 2009 Submittal deadline ? Friday, 23 January 2009 Subject heading: ?What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world . . .?? (kindly retain this heading exactly for Search purposes, see below) Post your proposed recommendation to: editor@newmobility.org - who will review, possibly contact you with minor editorial/layout suggestions, then post to the New Mobility Caf? where you can view all items to date via http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NewMobilityCafe/msearch?query=%22what+lessons% 22 &submit=Search&charset=ISO-8859-1 Submittal format (As below, kindly respect): 1. Message from (Country name) 2. Subject line (10 words max. to set stage for entry) 3. Text: 250 words max!!! (Yes I know it?s hard) 4. URL Ref: (As available to support your entry) 5. Signature block (3 lines, my example) Eric Britton ? eric.britton@newmobility.org New Mobility Partnerships ? www.newmobility.org Paris, France Updates: It upon reflection and/or upon reviewing the other commentaries you wish to modify your original presentation, please send your revised text to editor@newmobility.org Sharing this invitation: Please do if you have colleagues or lists whom you think may be able to come up with additional ideas and entries. Idea Joggers ? Just in case In the unlikely event that nothing comes to mind immediately, you may want to run down this list to see if you get an idea-joggers for an entry. It is cryptic and chaotic, but brings up some interesting concepts. (Additions to this rough list are very welcome). 1. "Strategies for the screamers" 2. "They are supposed to scream" 3. ?Free? public transport 4. ?Slugging? 5. ?Wrong way? bike lanes 6. Active travel directions 7. Activity nodes/clustering 8. Alternating odd/even license plates 9. Auto-free zone 10. Award & prize programs 11. Barriers to change 12. Behavior modification 13. Bicycle helmets 14. Bicycle university 15. Bike and Walk Summit 16. Bike delivery services 17. Bike/transit interface 18. Bollards 19. Blogs 20. Breathing streets (weekends and holidays) 21. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) 22. Car buy-back programs 23. Car Clubs 24. Car control strategies 25. Carfree Cities 26. Carfree Days 27. Carfree housing 28. Carfree Sundays 29. Car pool 30. Car reduction schemes 31. Car rental innovations 32. Car-like mobility (implications) 33. Carpooling 34. Carsharing 35. CarSharing - city strategies 36. CarSharing city label programs (Pairs Label Autopartage) 37. CarSharing laws or ordinances 38. Carte Orange (fare cards) 39. Change Management 40. Children's and school programs 41. Ciclovias 42. Citizen activism and dialogue 43. City cycle programs (shared use) 44. City to city projects 45. CIVITAS Forum 46. Clean vehicles and fuels (how to . . ) 47. Clear Zones 48. Climate/Transportation Initiatives 49. Co-housing 50. Community outreach 51. Community Street Audit 52. Community Transportation 53. Commuting alternatives 54. Company mobility management 55. Complete streets 56. Congestion charging 57. Congestion pricing 58. Contingency Planning 59. Continuity (of programs, people) 60. Cops on bikes 61. Cops on skates 62. Critical Mass , bike and skate "masses" 63. CURBBBB 64. Cycling access and support 65. Demand-responsive transport (DRT) 66. Dial A Ride 67. Digital hitchhiking 68. Directories/libraries of transport innovations 69. Distance work 70. Downtown revitalization support 71. Driver training 72. Dynamic transit systems 73. Economic instruments 74. Education 75. Elderly and handicapped transport 76. Electric or ecological vehicles (??) 77. ELTIS, the European Local Transport Information Service 78. Employer contributions 79. Employer transport programs 80. Enforcement Strategies 81. Enforcement technologies 82. Enforcement/penalties 83. Enforcement 84. EPOMM - European Platform on Mobility Management 85. Ethics vs. rules on the street 86. EU programs/approaches 87. Eurocities 88. e-Work 89. Exemplary cities (outstanding examples including such as Z?rich, Paris, Vauban, Strasburg, Seville, Amsterdam, etc. etc. Please add your candidates to this list.) 90. Fair Transport Labeling 91. First half-hour free 92. Flexible working hours 93. Flextime 94. Free public transport 95. Freight bicycle 96. Freight/goods movement innovations 97. Full cost pricing 98. Funding sustainable transport 99. GART (national associations of city transport planners) 100. Goods movement and delivery 101. Green streets 102. Health and Fitness 103. Hitch-hiking (Organized and other) 104. Home delivery services 105. Home zones 106. HOV strategies 107. Human transport 108. Inclusive transport (including for elderly and disabled people and others with mobility limitations) 109. Innovations in Integrated Transport and Land-use Planning 110. International institutions (how to use) 111. International peer support 112. Internship exchange programs 113. Internship programs 114. Job creation in transport sector 115. Knoogle (www.Knoogle.net) 116. Land use/New Mobility interfaces 117. Land value tax 118. Land-use strategies 119. Lane Diets 120. Leading by Example 121. Line taxis 122. Livable streets 123. Living streets 124. Local Agenda 21 125. Locational efficiency 126. London black taxis (Handicapped transport add-ons) 127. Low car diet 128. Low-occupancy vehicle (LOV) strategies 129. Media, film, audio, webcasting 130. Metros and New Mobility 131. Minibus services 132. Mixed-use 133. Mixed-use development 134. Mobil telephony interface 135. Mobilien 136. Mobility center 137. Mobility management/centers 138. Mondermans 139. Motorized two-wheelers 140. Movement substitutes 141. Multi-Modal Access Guides 142. Neighborhood initiatives 143. Neighborhood streets 144. Neighborhood/zone access restrictions 145. New carsharing applications 146. New media 147. New mobility hubs 148. New Mobility "Star" program (NMA strategies for small towns) 149. New Mobility strategies 150. New Urbanism : Clustered, Mixed-Use, Multi-Modal Neighborhood Design 151. Night taxis 152. Non-motorized transport 153. Not going there (the options) 154. Obesity strategies 155. Obesity/Mobility Summit 156. Odd/even vehicle access restrictions 157. Organizing hitchhiking 158. Paid Parking 159. Paratransit 160. Park + Ride 161. Parking management 162. Parking prices 163. Parking signage/reservation systems 164. Parking strategies 165. Parking-removal of 166. Paying for public transportation (new ways to) 167. PBS - Public bicycle systems 168. Pedestrian-friendly streets and roads 169. Pedestrianization 170. Pico y placa (odd even scheme) 171. Play streets 172. Post buses 173. Pots and paint 174. Private parking innovations and variations 175. Private sector initiatives 176. Propinquity (as policy) 177. Public art 178. Public Awareness and Behavior Change 179. Public information programs 180. Public participation 181. Public spaces 182. Public transport priority access 183. Public transport should be free 184. Public/private partnerships 185. Publications 186. Quiet streets (French) 187. Radio 188. Rail transit (where it fits in) 189. Reduce traffic controls/signals 190. Residential parking 191. Reverse commuting 192. Rickshaws, Pedicabs, and Trishaw Cycles 193. Ride-sharing 194. Road diets (lane narrowing) 195. Road pricing, tolls 196. Road safety (radical enforcement) 197. Roundabouts 198. Rural carsharing 199. Rural transport 200. Scan, select, quantify, target 201. Segregated cycle facilities 202. Selling your message to the community 203. Senior/Non-driver Local Summit 204. Shared and group taxis 205. Shared ride 206. Shared space 207. Shared Zone 208. Shared transport 209. Simulations and visual scenarios 210. Slow streets (15, 30, 50 kph) 211. Slow zones 212. Slowth 213. Slugging 214. Smart Congestion Relief 215. Smart Fare cards 216. Smart growth 217. Smart parking strategies 218. Soft transport measures 219. South/North transfers 220. Stadium transport 221. Street as a place of work 222. STREET CODE (CODE DE LA ROUTE) 223. Street furniture 224. Street life 225. Street narrowing 226. Street obstacles 227. Street people 228. Street surface modification 229. Street strategies 230. Street venders and commerce 231. Suburban solutions 232. Surveillance 233. Sustainable mobility strategies 234. Swedish Xbox 235. Task Force (local) creation 236. Taxation changes 237. Taxi innovations 238. TDM - Transportation Demand Management 239. Telecommuting 240. Television 241. Telework 242. Ten Point Pedaling Action Program 243. The Mayors' Game 244. Ticketless Public Transport 245. TOD - Transit-Oriented Development 246. Tolls 247. Traffic barriers 248. Traffic calming 249. Traffic cells 250. Traffic signal removal/rationalization 251. Traffic restraint (Demand management) 252. Traffic slowing 253. Traffic stoppers 254. Training innovations 255. Transit pass concepts 256. Transit stations and interfaces 257. Transit strikes 258. Transportation brokerage 259. Travel information systems 260. Travel plans 261. Travelchoice 262. Unified access and ticketing 263. University, campus transport strategies 264. Urban freeway removal (Seoul) 265. Urban regeneration 266. Utility cycling 267. Value capture 268. Vanpool 269. Vehicle Buy Back Program ("Trash your car", Old Car Buy Back program, Une voiture de moins, Vehicle scrappage programs) 270. Video diaries/open blog 271. VISION ZERO (Sweden, road safety) 272. Walk to school 273. Walkability audit 274. Walkability index 275. Walkable communities 276. Walking 277. Walking as transport 278. Web sites 279. Witkar 280. Women, Equity and Transport 281. Woonerfs (Woonerven) 282. xTransit (The Third Way) 283. Zero carbon projects 284. Zero Tolerance New Mobility Agenda - The Commons ? 8, rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France T: +331 4326 1323 New Mobility Partnerships - 9440 Readcrest Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90210 T: +1 310 601-8468 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090117/c2a40d93/attachment.html From dazzle_dwds at yahoo.com Sun Jan 18 19:19:33 2009 From: dazzle_dwds at yahoo.com (Roselle Leah K. Rivera) Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2009 02:19:33 -0800 (PST) Subject: [sustran] tuktuk to go project References: <002401c978a7$43f808d0$cbe81a70$@britton@ecoplan.org> Message-ID: <111652.44030.qm@web52209.mail.re2.yahoo.com> $10 Tuk Tuk To Go Project Source: www.tuktuktogo.com ROSELLE LEAH K RIVERA Faculty Department of Women and Development Studies College of Social Work and Community Development University of the Philippines Diliman Quezon City PHILIPPINES ________________________________ From: eric britton To: NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com; LotsLessCars@yahoogroups.com; WorldTransport@yahoogroups.com Cc: sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2009 9:26:50 PM Subject: [sustran] What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world . . .?" ?What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world . . .?? Game Plan for group project as of 16 Jan. 09 Topic: You are invited to contribute a short statement/recommendation (250 words max!!) outlining a single concept, policy, practice, project, program idea that you feel the Obama transportation team will do well to look at seriously as they prepare to lead transportation policy in America for the next four years. Organization: An informal group initiative being organized under the editorial direction of Eric Britton and the New Mobility Agenda. The idea is to tap the rich backgrounds, knowledge and imaginations of the more than two thousand colleagues and groups who regularly share information, ideas and materials under the various focus programs of the Agenda. Colleagues around the world are being invited to share their thoughts and recommendations in succinct form as a group compilation, being organized and presented by Britton who has been invited to serve as one of the panel members, with a particular responsibility for providing international coverage of perspectives. Background: Selected contributions to be posted to National Journal 2009 Transportation Expert Panel: http://transportation.nationaljournal.com/ to open up this question on Monday a.m., 26 Jan. 2009 Submittal deadline? Friday, 23 January 2009 Subject heading: ?What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world . . .?? (kindly retain this heading exactly for Search purposes, see below) Post your proposed recommendation to: editor@newmobility.org - who will review, possibly contact you with minor editorial/layout suggestions, then post to the New Mobility Caf? where you can view all items to date via http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NewMobilityCafe/msearch?query=%22what+lessons%22&submit=Search&charset=ISO-8859-1 Submittal format(As below, kindly respect): 1. Message from(Country name) 2. Subject line(10 words max. to set stage for entry) 3. Text: 250 words max!!! (Yes I know it?s hard) 4. URLRef: (As available to support your entry) 5. Signature block(3 lines, my example) Eric Britton ? eric.britton@newmobility.org New Mobility Partnerships ? www.newmobility.org Paris, France Updates: It upon reflection and/or upon reviewing the other commentaries you wish to modify your original presentation, please send your revised text to editor@newmobility.org Sharing this invitation:Please do if you have colleagues or lists whom you think may be able to come up with additional ideas and entries. Idea Joggers ? Just in case In the unlikely event that nothing comes to mind immediately, you may want to run down this list to see if you get an idea-joggers for an entry. It is cryptic and chaotic, but brings up some interesting concepts. (Additions to this rough list are very welcome). 1. "Strategies for the screamers" 2. "They are supposed to scream" 3. ?Free? public transport 4. ?Slugging? 5. ?Wrong way? bike lanes 6. Active travel directions 7. Activity nodes/clustering 8. Alternating odd/even license plates 9. Auto-free zone 10. Award & prize programs 11. Barriers to change 12. Behavior modification 13. Bicycle helmets 14. Bicycle university 15. Bike and Walk Summit 16. Bike delivery services 17. Bike/transit interface 18. Bollards 19. Blogs 20. Breathing streets (weekends and holidays) 21. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) 22. Car buy-back programs 23. Car Clubs 24. Car control strategies 25. Carfree Cities 26. Carfree Days 27. Carfree housing 28. Carfree Sundays 29. Car pool 30. Car reduction schemes 31. Car rental innovations 32. Car-like mobility (implications) 33. Carpooling 34. Carsharing 35. CarSharing - city strategies 36. CarSharing city label programs (Pairs Label Autopartage) 37. CarSharing laws or ordinances 38. Carte Orange (fare cards) 39. Change Management 40. Children's and school programs 41. Ciclovias 42. Citizen activism and dialogue 43. City cycle programs (shared use) 44. City to city projects 45. CIVITAS Forum 46. Clean vehicles and fuels (how to . . ) 47. Clear Zones 48. Climate/Transportation Initiatives 49. Co-housing 50. Community outreach 51. Community Street Audit 52. Community Transportation 53. Commuting alternatives 54. Company mobility management 55. Complete streets 56. Congestion charging 57. Congestion pricing 58. Contingency Planning 59. Continuity (of programs, people) 60. Cops on bikes 61. Cops on skates 62. Critical Mass, bike and skate "masses" 63. CURBBBB 64. Cycling access and support 65. Demand-responsive transport (DRT) 66. Dial A Ride 67. Digital hitchhiking 68. Directories/libraries of transport innovations 69. Distance work 70. Downtown revitalization support 71. Driver training 72. Dynamic transit systems 73. Economic instruments 74. Education 75. Elderly and handicapped transport 76. Electric or ecological vehicles (??) 77. ELTIS, the European Local Transport Information Service 78. Employer contributions 79. Employer transport programs 80. Enforcement Strategies 81. Enforcement technologies 82. Enforcement/penalties 83. Enforcement 84. EPOMM - European Platform on Mobility Management 85. Ethics vs. rules on the street 86. EU programs/approaches 87. Eurocities 88. e-Work 89. Exemplary cities (outstanding examples including such as Z?rich, Paris, Vauban, Strasburg, Seville, Amsterdam, etc. etc. Please add your candidates to this list.) 90. Fair Transport Labeling 91. First half-hour free 92. Flexible working hours 93. Flextime 94. Free public transport 95. Freight bicycle 96. Freight/goods movement innovations 97. Full cost pricing 98. Funding sustainable transport 99. GART (national associations of city transport planners) 100. Goods movement and delivery 101. Green streets 102. Health and Fitness 103. Hitch-hiking (Organized and other) 104. Home delivery services 105. Home zones 106. HOV strategies 107. Human transport 108. Inclusive transport (including for elderly and disabled people and others with mobility limitations) 109. Innovations in Integrated Transport and Land-use Planning 110. International institutions (how to use) 111. International peer support 112. Internship exchange programs 113. Internship programs 114. Job creation in transport sector 115. Knoogle (www.Knoogle.net) 116. Land use/New Mobility interfaces 117. Land value tax 118. Land-use strategies 119. Lane Diets 120. Leading by Example 121. Line taxis 122. Livable streets 123. Living streets 124. Local Agenda 21 125. Locational efficiency 126. London black taxis (Handicapped transport add-ons) 127. Low car diet 128. Low-occupancy vehicle (LOV) strategies 129. Media, film, audio, webcasting 130. Metros and New Mobility 131. Minibus services 132. Mixed-use 133. Mixed-use development 134. Mobil telephony interface 135. Mobilien 136. Mobility center 137. Mobility management/centers 138. Mondermans 139. Motorized two-wheelers 140. Movement substitutes 141. Multi-Modal Access Guides 142. Neighborhood initiatives 143. Neighborhood streets 144. Neighborhood/zone access restrictions 145. New carsharing applications 146. New media 147. New mobility hubs 148. New Mobility "Star" program (NMA strategies for small towns) 149. New Mobility strategies 150. New Urbanism: Clustered, Mixed-Use, Multi-Modal Neighborhood Design 151. Night taxis 152. Non-motorized transport 153. Not going there (the options) 154. Obesity strategies 155. Obesity/Mobility Summit 156. Odd/even vehicle access restrictions 157. Organizing hitchhiking 158. Paid Parking 159. Paratransit 160. Park + Ride 161. Parking management 162. Parking prices 163. Parking signage/reservation systems 164. Parking strategies 165. Parking-removal of 166. Paying for public transportation (new ways to) 167. PBS - Public bicycle systems 168. Pedestrian-friendly streets and roads 169. Pedestrianization 170. Pico y placa (odd even scheme) 171. Play streets 172. Post buses 173. Pots and paint 174. Private parking innovations and variations 175. Private sector initiatives 176. Propinquity (as policy) 177. Public art 178. Public Awareness and Behavior Change 179. Public information programs 180. Public participation 181. Public spaces 182. Public transport priority access 183. Public transport should be free 184. Public/private partnerships 185. Publications 186. Quiet streets (French) 187. Radio 188. Rail transit (where it fits in) 189. Reduce traffic controls/signals 190. Residential parking 191. Reverse commuting 192. Rickshaws, Pedicabs, and Trishaw Cycles 193. Ride-sharing 194. Road diets (lane narrowing) 195. Road pricing, tolls 196. Road safety (radical enforcement) 197. Roundabouts 198. Rural carsharing 199. Rural transport 200. Scan, select, quantify, target 201. Segregated cycle facilities 202. Selling your message to the community 203. Senior/Non-driver Local Summit 204. Shared and group taxis 205. Shared ride 206. Shared space 207. Shared Zone 208. Shared transport 209. Simulations and visual scenarios 210. Slow streets (15, 30, 50 kph) 211. Slow zones 212. Slowth 213. Slugging 214. Smart Congestion Relief 215. Smart Fare cards 216. Smart growth 217. Smart parking strategies 218. Soft transport measures 219. South/North transfers 220. Stadium transport 221. Street as a place of work 222. STREET CODE (CODE DE LA ROUTE) 223. Street furniture 224. Street life 225. Street narrowing 226. Street obstacles 227. Street people 228. Street surface modification 229. Street strategies 230. Street venders and commerce 231. Suburban solutions 232. Surveillance 233. Sustainable mobility strategies 234. Swedish Xbox 235. Task Force (local) creation 236. Taxation changes 237. Taxi innovations 238. TDM - Transportation Demand Management 239. Telecommuting 240. Television 241. Telework 242. Ten Point Pedaling Action Program 243. The Mayors' Game 244. Ticketless Public Transport 245. TOD - Transit-Oriented Development 246. Tolls 247. Traffic barriers 248. Traffic calming 249. Traffic cells 250. Traffic signal removal/rationalization 251. Traffic restraint (Demand management) 252. Traffic slowing 253. Traffic stoppers 254. Training innovations 255. Transit pass concepts 256. Transit stations and interfaces 257. Transit strikes 258. Transportation brokerage 259. Travel information systems 260. Travel plans 261. Travelchoice 262. Unified access and ticketing 263. University, campus transport strategies 264. Urban freeway removal (Seoul) 265. Urban regeneration 266. Utility cycling 267. Value capture 268. Vanpool 269. Vehicle Buy Back Program ("Trash your car", Old Car Buy Back program, Une voiture de moins, Vehicle scrappage programs) 270. Video diaries/open blog 271. VISION ZERO (Sweden, road safety) 272. Walk to school 273. Walkability audit 274. Walkability index 275. Walkable communities 276. Walking 277. Walking as transport 278. Web sites 279. Witkar 280. Women, Equity and Transport 281. Woonerfs (Woonerven) 282. xTransit (The Third Way) 283. Zero carbon projects 284. Zero Tolerance New Mobility Agenda - The Commons? 8, rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France T: +331 4326 1323 New Mobility Partnerships - 9440 Readcrest Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90210 T: +1 310 601-8468 -----Inline Attachment Follows----- -------------------------------------------------------- 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'). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090118/c299b57d/attachment.html From sudhir at cai-asia.org Mon Jan 19 09:44:14 2009 From: sudhir at cai-asia.org (Sudhir) Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 08:44:14 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) News Digest Vol. 6 Issue 1 Message-ID: Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) News Digest Vol. 6 Issue 1 - 16 January 2008 SUMA News Digest is a free weekly e-mail publication that features news, information, and events related to sustainable urban transportation in Asia. *** VISIT THE SUMA PAGES: http://www.cleanairnet.org/suma *** *SUMA PARTNERS ON THE MOVE! * *Sustainable Transport Award 2009*** *New York CityWins the Sustainable Transport Award 2009 * New York beat the likes of Beijing, Istanbul, Mexico City, Milan to win the 2009 Sustainable Transport Award. The Award was awarded on January 13, 2009 by a jury composed of ITDP, Embarq, CAI-Asia, GTZ, UNCRD, UITP, ICLEI and Environmental Defense. Some of the actions taken were ?implementation of PlaNYC 2030 ((http:// www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/html/home/home.shtml), its comprehensive long-term sustainability vision. The city took 49 acres of road space, traffic lanes and parking spots away from cars and gave that space back to the public for bike lanes, pedestrian areas, and public plazas. Protected on street bike lanes were part of the 140 miles (255 kilometers) of bike lanes implemented. Bike ridership has increased by 35 percent over the past year. Over 98,000 trees were planted, a select bus service was implemented, car free Sundays introduced. As part of its standard operations, the city's Department of Transport also recycles 40 percent of its asphalt. Although not successful, the city pushed for congestion charging, a first for US city and now other cities are considering it. More details at http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/120997 & http://www.itdp.org/index.php/news_events/event_detail/sustainable_transport_award_2009/ *Transforming Transportation 2009* EMBARQ, World Bank, Clean Air Initiative - Asia, Clean Air Initiative - Latin America, and the Asian Development Bank hosted the Transforming Transportation, a multi-day event featuring transport and planning experts from around the world during the previous week. This year's event focused on three topics: Bus Rapid Transit, safety and security, and climate change. The Presentations can be found at *http://www.embarq.org/transforming-transportation-2009* *NEWSREPORTS * Global: *Nations want climate plan for transport* http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view/20090116-183786/Nations_want_climate_plan_for_transport Singapore: *Coming: Electric scooter* http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73202.html Vietnam: *City residents demand better bus service* http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73207.html Japan: *Retired buses find new lives in rural areas* http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73208.html Indonesia: *Stuck in Jakarta traffic: Is the gridlock coming early?* http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73209.html Srilanka: *Fuel price reductions not being transferred to consumers* http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73205.html India: *Owning a car could get more expensive* http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73201.html Philippines: *Govt eyes two natural gas stations* http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73210.html Philippines: *Cebu City Government Passed Resolution Declaring BRTS As Policy Direction* On dec. 10, 2008, the Cebu City Council passed Resolution No. 08-1430, declaring as a policy direction of the Cebu city government, the establishment of a BRT. The process was a result of numerous discussions and push provided by various stakeholders in convincing the need for BRTS. The history of Cebu BRTS can be found at some of the news reports http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/news/view/20080902-158200/Cebu-City-takes-close-look-at-new-bus-system http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/news/view/20081215-178121/Bus-system-on-a-roll http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/letterstotheeditor/view/20081219-178864/Cebu-to-Mandaue-Back-rapid-bus-transit http://balita.ph/2008/12/20/bus-rapid-transit-advocate-offers-to-help-in-srp-design-bus-system/ http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/news/view/20081222-179386/Private-sector-role-in-BRT-mulled ** * * * INTERESTING FINDS/SEMINARS * *Policy makers must address transport demand in Europe * Transport's carbon footprint is a major obstacle to achieving a sustainable, low-carbon economy in Europe. A new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) urges policy makers to take a fresh approach to address the spiralling growth of transport, supporting "realistic" measures that include pricing schemes for unsustainable mobility and improving citizens' awareness about the environmental consequences of their shopping basket and travel choices. Read more @ http://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/policy-makers-must-address-transport-demand-in-europe *EU to exceed air pollutant limit due to growth in road transport* Despite significant emission reductions in recent years, only 11 EU Member States expect to remain within their emission limits for all four air pollutants set by the EU National Emission Ceilings Directive (NEC Directive). The nitrogen oxides ceiling remains the most difficult to comply with. This is partly due to the fact that demand for road transport has grown faster than anticipated. Read more @ http://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/eu-to-exceed-air-pollutant-limit-due-to-growth-in-road-transport *Estimates of the Full Cost of Transportation in Canada* The Full Cost Investigation project (FCI) was undertaken with a view to produce defensible estimates of the financial and social costs of transportation for Canada. It was felt that these estimates, once developed, would allow for a better understanding of the relative full costs of the different modes of transportation. The estimates represent an additional analytical tool transportation analysts can use to take into consideration a large number of impacts associated to transportation activities. Access this document at http://www.tc.gc.ca/pol/en/Report/FullCostInvestigation/Synthesis/report-final.pdf *Sustainable Urban Transport in Review - 2008* In case you would like to read the main events, news of 2008 which created the impact on Sustainable urban transport policies and actions, Please read http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73177.html * * *FOOD FOR THOUGHT * - Traffic accidents account for more than a million deaths and 50 million injuries each year worldwide; children 5 to 14 are most at risk - Fatality rates in developing countries are 25-30 per 10,000 vehicles, compared to 1 to 2 per 10,000 vehicles in rich nations - The cost of traffic deaths and injuries could be as high as 5 percent of a country's GDP (Source: World Bank: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:22032705~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html ) *CALL FOR RESEARCH PAPERS * We in CAI-Asia are looking for good analytical/research papers on Sustainable Transport and Air Pollution. If you would like your paper to be linked/ published in the CAI website, please let us know? ** * * * MARK YOUR CALENDARS* Third International Conference on Urban Transport Systems, Shanghai China,March 18-20, http://www.asce.org/files/pdf/conferences/Call-for-Papers-v2.pdf Transport Asia 2009 Exhibition, Karachi Expo Centre,28-30 March 2009 The 4th International Conference on Future Urban Transport , 19-21/4/2009 , http://www.fut.se/ eceee 2009 Summer Study , 1-6/6/2009 , http://www.eceee.org/summer_study/ Urban Transport 2009 , 22-24/6/2009 , http://www2.wessex.ac.uk/09-conferences/urban-transport-2009.html ICSUTE 2009 : "International Conference on Sustainable Urban Transport and Environment" Paris, France, June 24-26, 2009, http://www.waset.org/wcset09/paris/icsute/ Read more @ http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/propertyvalue-27089.html * * * CONTRIBUTE * * * To contribute articles, news items, or event announcements for the next issue, send an email with the complete details and URL source to suma-news-owner@googlegroups.com with subject "FOR SUMA NEWS". mailto: sudhir@cai-asia.org Past issues from March and April 2008 are found at http://groups.google.com/group/suma-news * * * ABOUT SUMA * * * The Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) program is supported by the Asian Development Bank through a grant from Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. SUMA is implemented by the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities Center (www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia), in partnership with EMBARQ - the World Resources Institute Center for Sustainable Transport (http://embarq.wri.org), GTZ Sustainable Urban Transport Project ( www.sutp.org), Interface for Cycling Expertise ( www.cycling.nl), Institute for Transportation and Development Policy ( www.itdp.org), and United Nations Center for Regional Development ( www.uncrd.or.jp/est) -- Sudhir Gota Transport Specialist CAI-Asia Center Unit 3510, 35th Floor, Robinsons-Equitable Tower, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City Metro Manila, Philippines 1605 Tel: +63-2-395-2843 Fax: +63-2-395-2846 http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia Skype : sudhirgota -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090119/f0e77ffc/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Mon Jan 19 22:14:58 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:14:58 +0100 Subject: [sustran] What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world . . .? Message-ID: <015c01c97a37$f8607230$e9215690$@britton@ecoplan.org> Message from the Netherlands Subject: Reducing Size, Weight, Power and Speed of Vehicles most urgent solution to America's oil addiction In Europe and North America car manufacturers keep themselves and consumers captive in an endless upgrading of every car model in size, power and performance. Through costly add-on technology manufacturers try to improve both fuel efficiency and performance. Nevertheless, growth trends - in all size classes - have offset most technological improvements towards energy efficiency. In Europe today's middle class family cars averaging 140 HP/1400 kg and >200 km/h top speed easily outperform classic sports cars. In three decades (two for diesel) average power levels have doubled! Not consumer demand but supply side marketing priorities ("more = better") made all size classes upgrade at least two grades. Recently, some downsizing of engine size has begun (still rising power) reducing test cycle CO2 emissions, but hardly real time fuel use. Reducing dimensions, weight, engine displacement and - most of all - less power is the most cost-effective way of reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. For America's beefy car fleet there is not substitute for downsizing! All American car and light truck model classes need reductions up to 50 percent, to start with cubic inches (engine displacement), horsepower, body dimensions and weight. Hybridizing is okay, but downsizing is a major step towards sustainability. Ahead of their time European transport ministers agreed, in ECMT's 1991 ministerial meeting, on a Resolution nr. 66 "on Power and Speed of Vehicles", proclaiming the need for less powerful and speedy cars to reduce road casualties, emissions and fuel use. Since the US are now member of ECMT's successor International Transport Forum (ITF), implementing that resolution through regulatory limiting specific HP/kg ratings, top speeds and body size/weight, is what the new US administration can do - better than EU's recent deal on (soft) new car CO2 standards. EU and US governments must act because the car industry will always be captive of competition and upgrading pressures. Returning to European performance levels and vehicle dimensions of the 70s is more cost-effective than add-on technologies in reducing oil addiction, CO2 emissions and road casualties. Martin Kroon, mc.kroon@hetnet.nl Formerly member of ECMT's Working Group on Transport and Environment Leiden, the Netherlands -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090119/e5daae5d/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Tue Jan 20 19:18:29 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:18:29 +0100 Subject: [sustran] What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world . . .?" Message-ID: <007801c97ae8$72cb0980$58611c80$@britton@ecoplan.org> This is, I absolutely promise, my last chance to solicit contributions from this lively and informed group. You have the full story below. Best/Eric Britton ?What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world . . .?? Game Plan for new mobility group project as of 16 Jan. 09 Topic: You are invited to contribute a short statement/recommendation (250 words max!!) outlining a single concept, policy, practice, project, program idea that you feel the Obama transportation team will do well to look at seriously as they prepare to lead transportation policy in America for the next four years. The question: ?What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world in terms of transportation developments that are safe, efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable? ?We Americans often think of ourselves as sitting at the very top of the social, economic, technological, entertainment, and political pyramid. After all, we invented human flight, the Super Bowl, the Interstate Highway, the transcontinental railroad, and Rock ?n? Roll. But perhaps we?re not as advanced as we like to think. Perhaps innovations in transportation, land use, and energy consumption are much more evenly distributed around the world than we ever thought possible. Indeed, perhaps America is closer to the middle or bottom of the pyramid when it comes to transportation investments. What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world in terms of transportation developments that are safe, efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable?? Organization: An informal group initiative being organized under the editorial direction of Eric Britton and the New Mobility Agenda. The idea is to tap the rich backgrounds, knowledge and imaginations of the more than two thousand colleagues and groups who regularly share information, ideas and materials under the various focus programs of the Agenda. Colleagues around the world are being invited to share their thoughts and recommendations in succinct form as a group compilation, being organized and presented by Britton who has been invited to serve as one of the panel members, with a particular responsibility for providing international coverage of perspectives. Background: Selected contributions to be posted to National Journal 2009 Transportation Expert Panel: http://transportation.nationaljournal.com/ to open up this question on Monday a.m., 26 Jan. 2009 Submittal deadline ? Friday, 23 January 2009 Subject heading: ?What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world . . .?? (kindly retain this heading exactly for Search purposes, see below) Post your proposed recommendation to: editor@newmobility.org - who will review, possibly contact you with minor editorial/layout suggestions, then post to the New Mobility Caf? where you can view all items to date via http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NewMobilityCafe/msearch?query=%22what+lessons% 22 &submit=Search&charset=ISO-8859-1 Submittal format (As below, kindly respect): 1. Message from (Country name) 2. Subject line (10 words max. to set stage for entry) 3. Text: 250 words max!!! (Yes I know it?s hard) 4. URL Ref: (As available to support your entry) 5. Signature block (3 lines, my example) Eric Britton ? eric.britton@newmobility.org New Mobility Partnerships ? www.newmobility.org Paris, France Updates: It upon reflection and/or upon reviewing the other commentaries you wish to modify your original presentation, please send your revised text to editor@newmobility.org Sharing this invitation: Please do if you have colleagues or lists whom you think may be able to come up with additional ideas and entries. Idea Joggers ? Just in case In the unlikely event that nothing comes to mind immediately, you may want to run down this list to see if you get an idea-joggers for an entry. It is cryptic and chaotic, but brings up some interesting concepts. (Additions to this rough list are very welcome). 1. "Strategies for the screamers" 2. "They are supposed to scream" 3. ?Free? public transport 4. ?Slugging? 5. ?Wrong way? bike lanes 6. Active travel directions 7. Activity nodes/clustering 8. Alternating odd/even license plates 9. Auto-free zone 10. Award & prize programs 11. Barriers to change 12. Behavior modification 13. Bicycle helmets 14. Bicycle university 15. Bike and Walk Summit 16. Bike delivery services 17. Bike/transit interface 18. Bollards 19. Blogs 20. Breathing streets (weekends and holidays) 21. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) 22. Car buy-back programs 23. Car Clubs 24. Car control strategies 25. Carfree Cities 26. Carfree Days 27. Carfree housing 28. Carfree Sundays 29. Car pool 30. Car reduction schemes 31. Car rental innovations 32. Car-like mobility (implications) 33. Carpooling 34. Carsharing 35. CarSharing - city strategies 36. CarSharing city label programs (Pairs Label Autopartage) 37. CarSharing laws or ordinances 38. Carte Orange (fare cards) 39. Change Management 40. Children's and school programs 41. Ciclovias 42. Citizen activism and dialogue 43. City cycle programs (shared use) 44. City to city projects 45. CIVITAS Forum 46. Clean vehicles and fuels (how to . . ) 47. Clear Zones 48. Climate/Transportation Initiatives 49. Co-housing 50. Community outreach 51. Community Street Audit 52. Community Transportation 53. Commuting alternatives 54. Company mobility management 55. Complete streets 56. Congestion charging 57. Congestion pricing 58. Contingency Planning 59. Continuity (of programs, people) 60. Cops on bikes 61. Cops on skates 62. Critical Mass , bike and skate "masses" 63. CURBBBB 64. Cycling access and support 65. Demand-responsive transport (DRT) 66. Dial A Ride 67. Digital hitchhiking 68. Directories/libraries of transport innovations 69. Distance work 70. Downtown revitalization support 71. Driver training 72. Dynamic transit systems 73. Economic instruments 74. Education 75. Elderly and handicapped transport 76. Electric or ecological vehicles (??) 77. ELTIS, the European Local Transport Information Service 78. Employer contributions 79. Employer transport programs 80. Enforcement Strategies 81. Enforcement technologies 82. Enforcement/penalties 83. Enforcement 84. EPOMM - European Platform on Mobility Management 85. Ethics vs. rules on the street 86. EU programs/approaches 87. Eurocities 88. e-Work 89. Exemplary cities (outstanding examples including such as Z?rich, Paris, Vauban, Strasburg, Seville, Amsterdam, etc. etc. Please add your candidates to this list.) 90. Fair Transport Labeling 91. First half-hour free 92. Flexible working hours 93. Flextime 94. Free public transport 95. Freight bicycle 96. Freight/goods movement innovations 97. Full cost pricing 98. Funding sustainable transport 99. GART (national associations of city transport planners) 100. Goods movement and delivery 101. Green streets 102. Health and Fitness 103. Hitch-hiking (Organized and other) 104. Home delivery services 105. Home zones 106. HOV strategies 107. Human transport 108. Inclusive transport (including for elderly and disabled people and others with mobility limitations) 109. Innovations in Integrated Transport and Land-use Planning 110. International institutions (how to use) 111. International peer support 112. Internship exchange programs 113. Internship programs 114. Job creation in transport sector 115. Knoogle (www.Knoogle.net) 116. Land use/New Mobility interfaces 117. Land value tax 118. Land-use strategies 119. Lane Diets 120. Leading by Example 121. Line taxis 122. Livable streets 123. Living streets 124. Local Agenda 21 125. Locational efficiency 126. London black taxis (Handicapped transport add-ons) 127. Low car diet 128. Low-occupancy vehicle (LOV) strategies 129. Media, film, audio, webcasting 130. Metros and New Mobility 131. Minibus services 132. Mixed-use 133. Mixed-use development 134. Mobil telephony interface 135. Mobilien 136. Mobility center 137. Mobility management/centers 138. Mondermans 139. Motorized two-wheelers 140. Movement substitutes 141. Multi-Modal Access Guides 142. Neighborhood initiatives 143. Neighborhood streets 144. Neighborhood/zone access restrictions 145. New carsharing applications 146. New media 147. New mobility hubs 148. New Mobility "Star" program (NMA strategies for small towns) 149. New Mobility strategies 150. New Urbanism : Clustered, Mixed-Use, Multi-Modal Neighborhood Design 151. Night taxis 152. Non-motorized transport 153. Not going there (the options) 154. Obesity strategies 155. Obesity/Mobility Summit 156. Odd/even vehicle access restrictions 157. Organizing hitchhiking 158. Paid Parking 159. Paratransit 160. Park + Ride 161. Parking management 162. Parking prices 163. Parking signage/reservation systems 164. Parking strategies 165. Parking-removal of 166. Paying for public transportation (new ways to) 167. PBS - Public bicycle systems 168. Pedestrian-friendly streets and roads 169. Pedestrianization 170. Pico y placa (odd even scheme) 171. Play streets 172. Post buses 173. Pots and paint 174. Private parking innovations and variations 175. Private sector initiatives 176. Propinquity (as policy) 177. Public art 178. Public Awareness and Behavior Change 179. Public information programs 180. Public participation 181. Public spaces 182. Public transport priority access 183. Public transport should be free 184. Public/private partnerships 185. Publications 186. Quiet streets (French) 187. Radio 188. Rail transit (where it fits in) 189. Reduce traffic controls/signals 190. Residential parking 191. Reverse commuting 192. Rickshaws, Pedicabs, and Trishaw Cycles 193. Ride-sharing 194. Road diets (lane narrowing) 195. Road pricing, tolls 196. Road safety (radical enforcement) 197. Roundabouts 198. Rural carsharing 199. Rural transport 200. Scan, select, quantify, target 201. Segregated cycle facilities 202. Selling your message to the community 203. Senior/Non-driver Local Summit 204. Shared and group taxis 205. Shared ride 206. Shared space 207. Shared Zone 208. Shared transport 209. Simulations and visual scenarios 210. Slow streets (15, 30, 50 kph) 211. Slow zones 212. Slowth 213. Slugging 214. Smart Congestion Relief 215. Smart Fare cards 216. Smart growth 217. Smart parking strategies 218. Soft transport measures 219. South/North transfers 220. Stadium transport 221. Street as a place of work 222. STREET CODE (CODE DE LA ROUTE) 223. Street furniture 224. Street life 225. Street narrowing 226. Street obstacles 227. Street people 228. Street surface modification 229. Street strategies 230. Street venders and commerce 231. Suburban solutions 232. Surveillance 233. Sustainable mobility strategies 234. Swedish Xbox 235. Task Force (local) creation 236. Taxation changes 237. Taxi innovations 238. TDM - Transportation Demand Management 239. Telecommuting 240. Television 241. Telework 242. Ten Point Pedaling Action Program 243. The Mayors' Game 244. Ticketless Public Transport 245. TOD - Transit-Oriented Development 246. Tolls 247. Traffic barriers 248. Traffic calming 249. Traffic cells 250. Traffic signal removal/rationalization 251. Traffic restraint (Demand management) 252. Traffic slowing 253. Traffic stoppers 254. Training innovations 255. Transit pass concepts 256. Transit stations and interfaces 257. Transit strikes 258. Transportation brokerage 259. Travel information systems 260. Travel plans 261. Travelchoice 262. Unified access and ticketing 263. University, campus transport strategies 264. Urban freeway removal (Seoul) 265. Urban regeneration 266. Utility cycling 267. Value capture 268. Vanpool 269. Vehicle Buy Back Program ("Trash your car", Old Car Buy Back program, Une voiture de moins, Vehicle scrappage programs) 270. Video diaries/open blog 271. VISION ZERO (Sweden, road safety) 272. Walk to school 273. Walkability audit 274. Walkability index 275. Walkable communities 276. Walking 277. Walking as transport 278. Web sites 279. Witkar 280. Women, Equity and Transport 281. Woonerfs (Woonerven) 282. xTransit (The Third Way) 283. Zero carbon projects 284. Zero Tolerance -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090120/31884569/attachment.html From richmond at alum.mit.edu Wed Jan 21 01:07:10 2009 From: richmond at alum.mit.edu (Jonathan Richmond) Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:07:10 +0300 (Russian Standard Time) Subject: [sustran] Any ideas on new work possibilities? Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, I wrote to some of you last October as my assignment in Mauritius was coming to an end to seek new avenues. My little mass mailing did in fact join me up with the RTA in Dubai and I went on to complete an assignment there assisting with procurement of a consultancy to privatize the existing public bus system. All ended very well, and I had thought I would be returning to Dubai right now, but that prospect has been delayed due to Board actions and management changes, and may take a different format or even not happen at all, so I am writing once more to see if there might be prospects to join any of your teams or projects. Specialist skills I offer focus in a number of key areas, combining technical skills in transportation systems with deep knowledge of and experience of managerial, organizational and political systems which date from my time at MIT where I completed a Phd in transportation while working with with Donald Schon, who was a world leader in the area of organizational change. I have facilitated consensus-formation under trying circumstances and where others have failed, and I have also produced complex plans and Terms of Reference for both establishment of a BRT system and regulatory reform and for the development of a new Land Transport Authority. My work in Mauritius was tremendously successful, but ended on an unhappy note. I came to Mauritius to run a consensus-forming process in 2006, following fifteen years of stalemate on moving things forward in the transport arena. Too many reports had been written about Mauritius transport issues (one by myself, on an earlier World Bank contract!), but action had not been taken, so I decided I had to focus on bringing people together to move beyond the impasse. I brought together twenty major actors in transport for discussion forums. I told them that we had to agree on how to proceed if we were to have action, and I provided the structure for a negotiated consensus to be reached. The group discussed a series of policies, eliminated those where there was clear disagreement, and negotiated over the remaining ones until, finally, we had eighteen policies endorsed. The recommended actions were given to the Mauritius Cabinet, and form the basis for current transport policy. The number one problem for transport policy in Mauritius is a dysfunctionality brought about by duplicated and uncoordinated functions in three different transport agencies, which leads to competition rather than cooperation. The consensus forums group agreed that top priority should therefore be to dissolve these agencies and instead build a new Land Transport Authority based on principles of strong management and integrated transport policy making and implementation. During a return to Mauritius in the third quarter of 2007 and, during my subsequent November 2007 - November 2008 contract I developed a concept for the LTA, and prepared the Terms of Reference for an RFP to solicit consultant help in LTA implementation. My other major focus was on lifting public transport services to a new level, and I prepared the Terms of Reference for a large-scale Bus Modernization program to bring Bus Rapid Transit to Mauritius as well as overhaul the existing bus system and its regulatory mechanisms. Despite remarkable progress, working in Mauritius was overshadowed by the fact that I needed to work as part of that very dysfunctional system that I sought to reform, and pressures from managers who benefited from the unhealthy status quo led to harassment, freezing of the budget to pay me (I ended up losing over $18,000), and a political decision not to renew my contract. Perhaps someone who must, by the very nature of the job, touch raw nerves on a daily basis should not expect otherwise. I would rather look on the positive side, and recognize the great deal that has been accomplished in transforming inertia into action. I hope the government will build on the strong foundations I have established. Prior to working in Mauritius, I served as adviser to the Government of Singapore, where I participated in discussions of priorities for a rethink of transport policy and publication of a new White Paper (Earlier in my career, I was also adviser to the Chair of the then Los Angeles County Transportation Authority). Before the Singapore appointment, I had a teaching assignment in Thailand, where I developed new approaches to teaching professionalism to Asian students wishing to enter the transportation profession. I am also well-known for my work in the area of transit privatization (I wrote a book on the subject) and for my contributions in project evaluation methodology assessment. I am equally at home working in developed and developing country environments. I am available for a wide variety of assignments. I have had strong recent interests not only in BRT but also in overhauling transit system planning and management and finding innovative ways to improve services while controlling costs. I have had to write complex and far-ranging technical documents, and am flexible enough to work in a wide variety of areas. My interests go beyond public transport to strategic planning in the transport arena in general and, in particular, to developing complex plans for balanced comprehensive action. My other strong interests are in the area of governance and reform as well as in organizational design. I have had striking success bringing people together -- and that is certainly sorely needed in many contexts. If you have projects that involve a need for helping people to come together, to think, and to decide in a manner that requires both creativity and tact, I could be the right person for you. I will also welcome work geared to designing effective new organizations. Not only did I conduct work on organizational issues as part of my Phd in transportation planning at MIT and participate in the merger of two major transport organizations when working as a transport adviser in Los Angeles, but my recent experience in Mauritius has exposed me to the needs of the full range of functions that need proper design, including planning and policymaking, programming and other financial functions, human resources, government relations, public communications and executive requirements. Work in the broad area of organizational development (including in areas outside transportation) would be appropriate for me. To mention my continuing interests in education: it is vital that tomorrow's professionals are trained not only in technical areas but in how to become relective practitioners who can think rigorously and change their own assumptions. Education is needed not only in the university, but also in the professional workplace. Any projects in this area would also be of great interest. I will look forward to hearing any ideas you might have -- noting that I am flexible as to location and would be available for long-term assignments in Asia and Africa as well as for opportunities in Europe and the States. I am a United States Permanent Resident (Green Card holder) as well as a British Citizen, so can legally work in many places. I can send my cv or work samples to anyone interested. Thanks for any ideas you might have and best regards, --Jonathan! ----- Jonathan Richmond +230 707-1134 (Mauritius mobile: most reliable way to reach me) +1 (617) 395-4360 (US phone number rings at home -- call me in Mauritius for the price of a call to the US). e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ ----- Jonathan Richmond +230 707-1134 (Mauritius mobile: most reliable way to reach me) +1 (617) 395-4360 (US phone number rings at home -- call me in Mauritius for the price of a call to the US). e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ From prj at ruf.dk Wed Jan 21 17:49:41 2009 From: prj at ruf.dk (Palle R Jensen) Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:49:41 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world .. .? References: <015c01c97a37$f8607230$e9215690$@britton@ecoplan.org> Message-ID: <42972A623483438DA77FEC4F847BFDA7@DELL2006> Message from Denmark In Denmark a completely new transport concept has been developed. It is a dualmode system called RUF (Rapid Urban Flexible, www.ruf.dk) The only realistic way to change the american infrastructure, is if an improvement can be made at the same time as sustainability can be obtained. This cannot be done within the current concepts, INNOVATION is needed. RUF is based upon the dualmode principle. This means that all vehicles can drive in two modes: either using the roads or using a special triangular monorail. On the road it drives as an electric vehicle with small batteries (range > 50 km). On the monorail the vehicles drive as small automated trains. A ruf car on the monorail has a very low rolling resistance and the air resistance is lowered by coupling the vehicles in small trains (up to 10). This means that the car is 3 times more efficient than a comparable electric car and the range is potentially unlimited. This combination means that the user will be able to avoid congestion, he will be able to recharge batteries on-line and he can relax or work while his seat is moved either in an individual vehicle (ruf) or in a public transport vehicle (maxi-ruf). See also: www.ruf.dk/qa.pdf and www.ruf.dk/rufclimate.pdf The concept has been tested in Copenhagen and has been supported by Danish Governmental sources as wel as EU research money and private sponsors (2 million EUROs in total). The concept will be demonstrated at the climate summit in December 2009 in Copenhagen. Ref.: www.ruf.dk Palle R Jensen, MScEE, prj@ruf.dk Appointed by CNN as one of the "Principal Voices" in transport Copenhagen University-College of Engineering, Denmark -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090121/067b67d6/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Thu Jan 22 15:27:37 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:27:37 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Message from USA: Resuming full service . Message-ID: <008b01c97c5a$8754eb00$95fec100$@britton@ecoplan.org> Dear World: We, the United States of America, your top quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service. The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4. Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional on January 20. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage. We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come. We thank you for your patience and understanding, Sincerely, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA From dino.teddyputra at gmail.com Thu Jan 22 16:22:15 2009 From: dino.teddyputra at gmail.com (Dino Teddyputra) Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:22:15 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Re: What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world .. .? In-Reply-To: <42972A623483438DA77FEC4F847BFDA7@DELL2006> References: <42972A623483438DA77FEC4F847BFDA7@DELL2006> Message-ID: Message from USA/Germany/Indonesia... Just my 2 cents, since I also believe there are still a lot of things that America could benefit from international experiences (and certainly vice versa) in terms of sustainable transport development. I would recommend doing comparative studies between the US and the Western European countries since the two geographic areas are comparable in terms of income level, but have huge differences in terms of transportations service levels especially in land transport modes: rail, public transport and non-motorized transport. Though some of the western European concepts made it to be quite popular in the US (like traffic calming which is originally from Holland/Germany, I think), there are sill many other transport concepts that could be used to improve the transport sector in the US. Public Transport One thing that strikes me most just from my casual observation is that how slow improvements are made in the public transport sector in the US. In San Francisco I still see the same Muni buses and Bart trains that I probably saw 16 years a go when I went there as a backpacker. The Caltrain train system that connects San Francisco and San Jose still uses the old-style diesel-electric technology which makes them very slow to accelerate and decelerate (actually quite ironic for the high-tech area of Silicon-Valley that it's servicing). And the the T-Line here in Boston breaks down too often and its subway stations still look dark and dusty like storage rooms though they're constantly under renovation. If one compares this situation to cities in Western Europe like Berlin or Hamburg, where you can see visible improvements in public transport every five years or so (such as modernized subway stations, new trains/buses, real-time arrival/departure information system etc...), the difference is quite dramatic considering their similarly high income levels. So there must be something behind it in terms of public transport sector management that can be learned from the more successful examples. Bike Transport The other thing that I miss while living in the US is good bike facility. One would notice that the bike facilities here are far from adequate, esp. for little children and elderly cyclists, even in places like Palo Alto or Standford campus that have the highest bike use in the country. >From my car-less living in Berlin for 15 years as a cyclist, I consider myself as an experienced utilitarian cyclist. But I wouldn't dare riding my bike on many streets in SF or here in Boston where the effective clearance for cyclists on bike lanes are often reduced to one foot wide due to the moving traffic, debris along the curb, parked cars or simply poor design. I read those news articles when cyclists died from getting doored by a parked car or having to merge with the fast moving traffic and got hit by a reckless driver. Personally, my partner and I almost got killed by speeding cars when riding our bikes to the Pumpkin Festival in Halfmoon Bay through a street that was displayed as a "bike route" on a map; We were so traumatized that we had to hire a pick up truck and transport our bikes on the truck to avoid that killer street on our way back home. Anyways, extensive studies, development policies, design manuals on bike transport have been made and applied successfully in Western Europe, and they could be studied for its application in the US context. Other areas that came to my mind that the US could pursue towards more sustainable transport: - Transportations Impact Control (e.g. in California quite loose and general, esp as required by CEQA vs. more stringent and comprehensive in Germany which includes not only traffic impacts, but sometimes also air pollution impacts and often noise impacts to make sure that developments are inline with the federal "immision protection law"), - Land use planning process towards land use pattern that is more NMT and public transport friendly (e.g. more mixed land use and mix-use buildings), - More integrated transportation planning practice, incl. providing more "integrated transportation planning" majors at Universities (Many practicing transportation planners in the US that I encountered seemed to have traffic engineering or civil engineering background as opposed to a more multi-disciplinary background that includes sociology, psychology, economics etc. within the realms of transport). I find transferring experience from one place to another as very interesting. Obviously, due to different economic systems, land-use patterns, people's preferences etc. some things would be harder, but some are easier to try out or implement. Also language can be a barrier, which is probably the reason why there seems to be less transfer from the non-English speaking European countries to the US as the other way round. But you're lucky in the US because Americans are generally quite open to new ideas, which is an asset. I am currently working for an aid agency assisting several cities in Indonesia implementing improvements learned from other cities within and outside the country. So good luck in this exciting time of change! Hopefully the on-coming stimulus plan would include a substantial amount of sustainable transport projects that would really bring a real change in the transport field. Cheers, Dino Dr.-Ing. Dino Teddyputra Traffic and Transportation Planning Engineer Brookline, MA 02245 USA Fax: +1(530) 618 5041 Phone: +1 (617) 365 7846 Germany: +49-174-840 2131 Indonesia: +62-859-3535 2227 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090122/a20aecd5/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Thu Jan 22 17:02:39 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:02:39 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Last call for your entry for "What lessons can America learn . . . " Message-ID: <005e01c97c67$e97b2fd0$bc718f70$@britton@ecoplan.org> Good morning and last call: We need to hear from you with your recommendation by MID-NIGHT TONIGHT. This will give me just enough time to do my best to cobble all the great ideas that we are receiving into a coherent and striking piece for our friends at the DOT. Thanks for all your support on this, and if you have not yet gotten your candidate in ? ONE IDEA, CONCEPT, APPROACH IN 250 WORDS OR LESS ? now is the time to do it. Make sure that there is at least one idea from your country for us. Think of it as a gift for Obama. You can do it! Kind thanks and best from a gray Paris (and when by the way is your city going to have thousands of free bikes and safe cycling?) Eric Britton ?What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world . . .?? Game Plan for new mobility group project as of 22 Jan. 09 Topic: You are invited to contribute a short statement/recommendation (250 words max!!) OUTLINING A SINGLE CONCEPT, POLICY, PRACTICE, PROJECT, PROGRAM IDEA that you feel the Obama transportation team will do well to look at seriously as they prepare to lead transportation policy in America for the next four years. The question: ?What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world in terms of transportation developments that are safe, efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable? ?We Americans often think of ourselves as sitting at the very top of the social, economic, technological, entertainment, and political pyramid. After all, we invented human flight, the Super Bowl, the Interstate Highway, the transcontinental railroad, and Rock ?n? Roll. But perhaps we?re not as advanced as we like to think. Perhaps innovations in transportation, land use, and energy consumption are much more evenly distributed around the world than we ever thought possible. Indeed, perhaps America is closer to the middle or bottom of the pyramid when it comes to transportation investments. What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world in terms of transportation developments that are safe, efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable?? Organization: An informal group initiative being organized under the editorial direction of Eric Britton and the New Mobility Agenda. The idea is to tap the rich backgrounds, knowledge and imaginations of the more than two thousand colleagues and groups who regularly share information, ideas and materials under the various focus programs of the Agenda. Colleagues around the world are being invited to share their thoughts and recommendations in succinct form as a group compilation, being organized and presented by Britton who has been invited to serve as one of the panel members, with a particular responsibility for providing international coverage of perspectives. Background: Selected contributions to be posted to National Journal 2009 Transportation Expert Panel: http://transportation.nationaljournal.com/ to open up this question on Monday a.m., 26 Jan. 2009 Submittal deadline ? Friday, 23 January 2009 Subject heading: ?What lessons can America learn from the rest of the world . . .?? (kindly retain this heading exactly for Search purposes, see below) Post your proposed recommendation to: editor@newmobility.org - who will review, possibly contact you with minor editorial/layout suggestions, then post to the New Mobility Caf? where you can view all items to date via http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NewMobilityCafe/msearch?query=%22what+lessons% 22 &submit=Search&charset=ISO-8859-1 Submittal format (As below, kindly respect): 1. Message from (Country name) 2. Subject line (10 words max. to set stage for entry) 3. Text: 250 words max!!! (Yes I know it?s hard) 4. URL Ref: (As available to support your entry) 5. Signature block (3 lines, my example) Eric Britton ? eric.britton@newmobility.org New Mobility Partnerships ? www.newmobility.org Paris, France Updates: It upon reflection and/or upon reviewing the other commentaries you wish to modify your original presentation, please send your revised text to editor@newmobility.org Sharing this invitation: Please do if you have colleagues or lists whom you think may be able to come up with additional ideas and entries. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090122/ae65e3d2/attachment.html From sudhir at cai-asia.org Fri Jan 23 08:23:14 2009 From: sudhir at cai-asia.org (Sudhir) Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2009 07:23:14 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Dan's book In-Reply-To: <7e2a2770901221501x2043cb81r2cdbf2b598074ca6@mail.gmail.com> References: <7e2a2770901221501x2043cb81r2cdbf2b598074ca6@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: We are pleased to announce that *Two Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainability*, by ITS-Davis director Daniel Sperling and Deborah Gordon, has recently been published. This new book explains the challenges presented by increasing vehicle use, oil consumption, and GHG emissions, and discusses strategies for transforming vehicles, fuels, and mobility. Much of the work is based on Dan's 17 years of leadership and research at ITS-Davis. It includes a foreword by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. For more information or to order, please see Oxford University Press, Amazon.com, or your local bookstore. The retail price is $25. Also, on NPR's Fresh Airprogram today, Terry Gross and Dave Davies will interview Dan Sperling regarding the book. Listen in if you'd like. Institute of Transportation Studies University of California, Davis One Shields Avenue Davis, California 95616 http://www.its.ucdavis.edu its@ucdavis.edu -- Sudhir Gota Transport Specialist CAI-Asia Center Unit 3510, 35th Floor, Robinsons-Equitable Tower, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City Metro Manila, Philippines 1605 Tel: +63-2-395-2843 Fax: +63-2-395-2846 http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia Skype : sudhirgota -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090123/09f80ad9/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 61976 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090123/09f80ad9/attachment.jpe From yanivbin at gmail.com Thu Jan 22 17:10:30 2009 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:40:30 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Fwd Bangalore Cycling Workshop - revised schedule Message-ID: <86b8a7050901220010u63262026m48a73e26fd3270c3@mail.gmail.com> FYI ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Pradeep B V Date: Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 12:17 PM Dear Friends, The Cycle Inclusive planning workshop has been rescheduled and is now being held on 31st Jan 2009. Please find attached the invitation for the workshop. The Agenda, schedule and the related details are also attached for kind perusal. Please forward this invite to others who you think will be interested and willing to participate. Please RSVP contact@rideacycle.org if you plan to attend the workshop. This workshop is open for all and has no entry fee. Workshop related details are available here: http://rideacycle.org/?page_id=53 Thanks & Regards Pradeep B V RideACycle Foundation Bangalore www.rideacycle.org +91 94498 23772 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Citizens' Action Forum" group. To post to this group, send email to citizens-action-forum@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to citizens-action-forum+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/citizens-action-forum?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090122/e527bf76/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: sponsers and partners.doc Type: application/msword Size: 41984 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090122/e527bf76/sponsersandpartners-0001.doc From yanivbin at gmail.com Fri Jan 23 16:17:07 2009 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:47:07 +0530 Subject: [sustran] 40,000 new buses to boost urban transport thru JNNURM ? In-Reply-To: <86b8a7050901212034w5eba1c3ap750ab019ab4a49a1@mail.gmail.com> References: <86b8a7050901212034w5eba1c3ap750ab019ab4a49a1@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <86b8a7050901222317l393d00b5va5d9a995ff9655f5@mail.gmail.com> Guidelines and reforms proposed are attached no list is provided of who was consulted for preparing the same! 40,000 new buses to boost urban transport *Gunjan Pradhan Sinha* Posted online: Jan 21, 2009 at 0305 hrs *New Delhi : * The government has decided to procure 40,000 buses as a part of the urban development ministry's scheme to upgrade and expand urban transport at an investment Rs 300 crore. The urban development ministry is working in a fast-track mode to work out the nitty gritty for the scheme announced a few weeks ago. The ministry of road transport has also been roped in for consultation and the money will come from Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Misiion (JNNURM) funds. "The two ministries are meeting today to discuss the matter and get it through as soon as possible," a senior government official said. These newly purchased buses will be assigned to all the states and union territories depending on the size of their existing fleet and the population that the fleet services. "A special section of buses will also be bought to facilitate travel of handicapped persons and senior citizens, which is part of the JNNURM mandate. About 20 per cent of the new buses will be low floor buses, which will be given to states on the above mentioned criteria," the official said. Low floor buses are being currently used by the Delhi government. The government is rather keen to give the go-ahead to the proposal before the election mode sets in for the UPA regime. The proposal is likely to be sent to the Cabinet this week once the concerned ministries and departments have given their views. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090123/baa7cbd8/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Fri Jan 23 17:13:16 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:13:16 +0100 Subject: [sustran] 40,000 new buses to boost urban transport thru JNNURM ? In-Reply-To: <86b8a7050901222317l393d00b5va5d9a995ff9655f5@mail.gmail.com> References: <86b8a7050901212034w5eba1c3ap750ab019ab4a49a1@mail.gmail.com> <86b8a7050901222317l393d00b5va5d9a995ff9655f5@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <002001c97d32$7474d3a0$5d5e7ae0$@britton@ecoplan.org> A splendid idea. 40,000 new buses. But will they be 40,000 new buses stuck in traffic? Someone has pointed out that the only way that they will be able to move in traffic and be useful buses will be if they have access to some former reserve right-of-way. Will be "government" which is apparently "rather keen" take this next step? Otherwise Vinay, I am afraid they are flushing your hard earned taxpayer rupees write-down the wherever you flush things. But of course I may have this entirely wrong, and if so my apologies. Kind regards, Eric Britton Holiday greetings from the New Mobility Partnerships cid:image001.jpg@01C95F73.E1ECA570 Technology transforms time and space . . . and our minds The New Mobility Agenda - http://www.invent.newmobility.org Europe: 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France T: +331 4326 1323 or +339 7044 4179 Skype: ericbritton New Mobility Partnerships - http://partners.newmobility.org USA: 9440 Readcrest Drive Los Angeles, CA 90210 T: +1 310 601-8468 Skype : newmobility -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090123/41058556/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 34463 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090123/41058556/attachment.jpe From kanthikannan at gmail.com Fri Jan 23 17:57:49 2009 From: kanthikannan at gmail.com (Kanthi Kannan) Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:27:49 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: 40, 000 new buses to boost urban transport thru JNNURM ? In-Reply-To: <002001c97d32$7474d3a0$5d5e7ae0$@britton@ecoplan.org> Message-ID: <497986b0.20018e0a.7e54.ffffd87c@mx.google.com> Basically the whole exercise is bound to fail unless access paths (footpaths and pedestrian crossings) are provided for people to get to the bus stops. The idea seems more with the elections due in April / May both at the centre as well as several states. It is indeed sad that decisions that involve several thousand crores of rupees are taken without the whole project being thought through. There should be as all of us have been saying a single authority that governs the mobility in the city. This authority should be capable of taking decisions and getting the project implemented. In Hyderabad, even the responsibility of the footpath ownership is still not clear. Regards Kanthi Kannan The Right to Walk Foundation _____ From: sustran-discuss-bounces+kanthikannan=gmail.com@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+kanthikannan=gmail.com@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of eric britton Sent: 23 January 2009 13:43 To: sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org Subject: [sustran] 40,000 new buses to boost urban transport thru JNNURM ? A splendid idea. 40,000 new buses. But will they be 40,000 new buses stuck in traffic? Someone has pointed out that the only way that they will be able to move in traffic and be useful buses will be if they have access to some former reserve right-of-way. Will be "government" which is apparently "rather keen" take this next step? Otherwise Vinay, I am afraid they are flushing your hard earned taxpayer rupees write-down the wherever you flush things. But of course I may have this entirely wrong, and if so my apologies. Kind regards, Eric Britton Holiday greetings from the New Mobility Partnerships cid:image001.jpg@01C95F73.E1ECA570 Technology transforms time and space . . . and our minds The New Mobility Agenda - http://www.invent.newmobility.org Europe: 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France T: +331 4326 1323 or +339 7044 4179 Skype: ericbritton New Mobility Partnerships - http://partners.newmobility.org USA: 9440 Readcrest Drive Los Angeles, CA 90210 T: +1 310 601-8468 Skype : newmobility -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090123/e9326ac0/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 34463 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090123/e9326ac0/attachment.jpe From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Fri Jan 23 18:25:00 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:25:00 +0100 Subject: [sustran] 40,000 new buses to boost urban transport thru JENNER ? In-Reply-To: <497986b0.20018e0a.7e54.ffffd87c@mx.google.com> References: <002001c97d32$7474d3a0$5d5e7ae0$@britton@ecoplan.org> <497986b0.20018e0a.7e54.ffffd87c@mx.google.com> Message-ID: <002f01c97d3c$78f8f0a0$6aead1e0$@britton@ecoplan.org> Might one of you wonderful people write a recommendation to the incoming Obama transport team, pointing this up as a NON EXAMPLE. A wonderful exemplary bad idea - and what is needed to turn it into a good one. That would be a wonderful contrition. Thanks for even thinking about it. Eric Britton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090123/891a86a1/attachment.html From carlosfpardo at gmail.com Sat Jan 24 03:51:23 2009 From: carlosfpardo at gmail.com (Carlosfelipe Pardo) Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:51:23 +0000 Subject: [sustran] =?iso-8859-1?Q?Qu=E9_lecciones_puede_aprender_Am=E9rica?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?_=28Estados_Unidos=29_del_resto_del_mundo=3F?= Message-ID: <497A11AB.6030609@gmail.com> Eric Britton ha hecho la pregunta que aparece en el asunto de este correo para ser respondida por personas de todo el mundo. Se espera una contribuci?n de 250 palabras m?ximo, asumo que ser?a mejor en ingl?s aunque no creo que haya problema con enviar una que otra en espa?ol. Sugiero que env?en su contribuci?n a alguna de estas listas con copia a eric.britton@ecoplan.org La pregunta original: What lessons can America learn from the rest of the World? (en este caso "America" es Estados Unidos). Cordialmente, Carlosfelipe Pardo Coordinador de Proyecto- Project Coordinator GTZ - Proyecto de Transporte Sostenible (SUTP, SUTP-LAC) Mobile: +44 (0) 7954 251 709 carlos.pardo@gtz.de www.gtz.de (carlos.pardo@sutp.org www.sutp.org ) skype: carlosfpardo From carlosfpardo at gmail.com Sat Jan 24 03:53:38 2009 From: carlosfpardo at gmail.com (Carlosfelipe Pardo) Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:53:38 +0000 Subject: Apologies Re: [sustran] =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Qu=E9_lecciones_puede?= =?ISO-8859-1?Q?_aprender_Am=E9rica_=28Estados_Unidos=29_del_?= =?ISO-8859-1?Q?resto_del_mundo=3F?= In-Reply-To: <497A11AB.6030609@gmail.com> References: <497A11AB.6030609@gmail.com> Message-ID: <497A1232.7010809@gmail.com> Sorry, this below was not intended for sustran but sustranlac list. Apologies for the mistake. Carlos. Carlosfelipe Pardo wrote: > Eric Britton ha hecho la pregunta que aparece en el asunto de este > correo para ser respondida por personas de todo el mundo. Se espera una > contribuci?n de 250 palabras m?ximo, asumo que ser?a mejor en ingl?s > aunque no creo que haya problema con enviar una que otra en espa?ol. > Sugiero que env?en su contribuci?n a alguna de estas listas con copia a > eric.britton@ecoplan.org > > La pregunta original: What lessons can America learn from the rest of > the World? > > (en este caso "America" es Estados Unidos). > > Cordialmente, > > Carlosfelipe Pardo > Coordinador de Proyecto- Project Coordinator > GTZ - Proyecto de Transporte Sostenible (SUTP, SUTP-LAC) > Mobile: +44 (0) 7954 251 709 > carlos.pardo@gtz.de www.gtz.de > (carlos.pardo@sutp.org www.sutp.org ) > skype: carlosfpardo > > -------------------------------------------------------- > 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'). > > > __________ NOD32 3791 (20090122) Information __________ > > This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. > http://www.eset.com > > > > From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Sat Jan 24 16:54:16 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2009 08:54:16 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Denis Baupin - A driving force to change Paris Message-ID: <008701c97df8$f9baa550$ed2feff0$@britton@ecoplan.org> http://img.iht.com/images/2009/01/23/23wbspot550.jpg Denis Baupin, deputy mayor for the environment, spearheaded the creation of the city's bicycle-sharing program. (Pierre-Emmanuel Weck) A driving force to change Paris http://img.iht.com/images/dot_h.gif By Robert P. Walzer Published: January 23, 2009 http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/22/business/wbspot24.1-411196.php http://img.iht.com/images/dot_h.gif PARIS: For his efforts to reduce the privilege of car drivers in Paris, Denis Baupin has been saddled with nasty nicknames, including "Monsieur Embouteillages" (Mr. Traffic Jam), Khmer Vert and worse. As the transportation chief of the French capital for seven years, Baupin, who has written a book called "All Cars, No Future," was the force behind the development of Paris's hugely successful bicycle-sharing program, V?lib'. He introduced a tramway, minibuses, rider subsidies, more bus lanes and faster bus speeds. He reduced auto speed limits to 30 kilometers an hour, or just under 19 miles an hour, from 50 kilometers an hour on 1,000 streets and closed many to cars altogether. In short, Baupin has changed the face of mobility in Paris, making it, by most accounts, easier for users of public transportation, pedestrians and bikers, and less accessible to car drivers. Since March 2008, the Green Party member has had a new but related charge: fighting climate change. Under his plan, ?2 billion, or $2.6 billion, of taxpayers' money will go towards renovating a quarter of the city's 220,000 subsidized apartments to receive better insulation and more efficient heating. The program would eventually extend to all of Paris's 3,000 public and 100,000 private buildings, nearly half of them built before 1915. Today in Business with Reuters Financing for the plan has not been set, though Baupin is in talks with the Caisse des D?p?ts et Consignations, the French state-owned bank. "The challenge is how we can devise a mechanism to finance this work using the energy economy of tomorrow with the money of today," Baupin said. Baupin is expanding the city's car-sharing program, even as his boss, Mayor Bertrand Delano?, prepares a competing plan to place 2,000 electric cars throughout the city in 2010. Baupin happens to oppose the mayor's AutoLib' idea and fears its ease of use will prompt residents to abandon public transportation. "The idea of car-sharing is you use it when you have no alternative," Baupin said. "With Autolib' the risk is people will use it every day." Baupin is also beseeching Parisians through educational campaigns to reduce the waste stream by, for example, halting the purchase of bottled water and using fewer plastic shopping bags. For all his efforts, Baupin, 46, has become a pacesetter for urban environmental progressivism worldwide. He travels the globe meeting other urban planners and coordinating initiatives. "You have to judge Denis in terms of what he's done so far, which is to create a magnificent model of a city coming to grips with its mobility issues in a very interesting way," said Eric Britton, the Paris-based managing director of New Mobility Partnerships, a nongovernment agency. "Yes, you can look at Copenhagen or Amsterdam and say they are better for bicyclists. But they've been doing it for 100 years. Paris, in short order, has become a model for other cities." At the end of 2008, Baupin was in New York to discuss V?lib' with the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He also spoke in Tokyo at a meeting of the C40, a group of cities that lobbies to reduce carbon dioxide gases. "Everybody came up to me and asked me about V?lib'," Baupin said in a recent interview. "It shows that what we are doing in Paris is an example to the world." Baupin's efforts come as climate-related ethos is ascendant. In 2007, the administration of President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed to emissions-reducing targets as part of the so-called Environmental Grenelle, or roundtable. The French Senate is set to debate the measures this year. Paris, with Baupin's guidance, has set even more stringent targets, following an audit of carbon emissions from buildings, transportation and industry. The city plans to reduce its emissions 30 percent below 2004 levels by 2020. Baupin, intense, driven, a workaholic, tends to be viewed by his critics as unyielding and radical. In reality, his views are more nuanced. For example, he is opposed to imitating London's congestion charge for drivers' entering the city, because he feels it is unfair to low-income drivers, especially those who live outside Paris. But he favors highway tolls, including one for the Paris beltway, to shift more of the cost of polluting to drivers. Cars would be able to enter Paris without cost on slower routes. "Our political positions have more to do with reducing pollution and getting people to use public transportation," Baupin said. "London has instituted what they specifically call a congestion charge, not a pollution charge. So, people who can afford it can actually use their cars more easily than before. That's not our objective." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090124/f8d0acd2/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 29563 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090124/f8d0acd2/attachment.jpe -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090124/f8d0acd2/attachment.gif From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Sat Jan 24 16:54:16 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2009 08:54:16 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Denis Baupin - A driving force to change Paris Message-ID: <009301c97df8$fd533560$f7f9a020$@britton@ecoplan.org> http://img.iht.com/images/2009/01/23/23wbspot550.jpg Denis Baupin, deputy mayor for the environment, spearheaded the creation of the city's bicycle-sharing program. (Pierre-Emmanuel Weck) A driving force to change Paris http://img.iht.com/images/dot_h.gif By Robert P. Walzer Published: January 23, 2009 http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/22/business/wbspot24.1-411196.php http://img.iht.com/images/dot_h.gif PARIS: For his efforts to reduce the privilege of car drivers in Paris, Denis Baupin has been saddled with nasty nicknames, including "Monsieur Embouteillages" (Mr. Traffic Jam), Khmer Vert and worse. As the transportation chief of the French capital for seven years, Baupin, who has written a book called "All Cars, No Future," was the force behind the development of Paris's hugely successful bicycle-sharing program, V?lib'. He introduced a tramway, minibuses, rider subsidies, more bus lanes and faster bus speeds. He reduced auto speed limits to 30 kilometers an hour, or just under 19 miles an hour, from 50 kilometers an hour on 1,000 streets and closed many to cars altogether. In short, Baupin has changed the face of mobility in Paris, making it, by most accounts, easier for users of public transportation, pedestrians and bikers, and less accessible to car drivers. Since March 2008, the Green Party member has had a new but related charge: fighting climate change. Under his plan, ?2 billion, or $2.6 billion, of taxpayers' money will go towards renovating a quarter of the city's 220,000 subsidized apartments to receive better insulation and more efficient heating. The program would eventually extend to all of Paris's 3,000 public and 100,000 private buildings, nearly half of them built before 1915. Today in Business with Reuters Financing for the plan has not been set, though Baupin is in talks with the Caisse des D?p?ts et Consignations, the French state-owned bank. "The challenge is how we can devise a mechanism to finance this work using the energy economy of tomorrow with the money of today," Baupin said. Baupin is expanding the city's car-sharing program, even as his boss, Mayor Bertrand Delano?, prepares a competing plan to place 2,000 electric cars throughout the city in 2010. Baupin happens to oppose the mayor's AutoLib' idea and fears its ease of use will prompt residents to abandon public transportation. "The idea of car-sharing is you use it when you have no alternative," Baupin said. "With Autolib' the risk is people will use it every day." Baupin is also beseeching Parisians through educational campaigns to reduce the waste stream by, for example, halting the purchase of bottled water and using fewer plastic shopping bags. For all his efforts, Baupin, 46, has become a pacesetter for urban environmental progressivism worldwide. He travels the globe meeting other urban planners and coordinating initiatives. "You have to judge Denis in terms of what he's done so far, which is to create a magnificent model of a city coming to grips with its mobility issues in a very interesting way," said Eric Britton, the Paris-based managing director of New Mobility Partnerships, a nongovernment agency. "Yes, you can look at Copenhagen or Amsterdam and say they are better for bicyclists. But they've been doing it for 100 years. Paris, in short order, has become a model for other cities." At the end of 2008, Baupin was in New York to discuss V?lib' with the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He also spoke in Tokyo at a meeting of the C40, a group of cities that lobbies to reduce carbon dioxide gases. "Everybody came up to me and asked me about V?lib'," Baupin said in a recent interview. "It shows that what we are doing in Paris is an example to the world." Baupin's efforts come as climate-related ethos is ascendant. In 2007, the administration of President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed to emissions-reducing targets as part of the so-called Environmental Grenelle, or roundtable. The French Senate is set to debate the measures this year. Paris, with Baupin's guidance, has set even more stringent targets, following an audit of carbon emissions from buildings, transportation and industry. The city plans to reduce its emissions 30 percent below 2004 levels by 2020. Baupin, intense, driven, a workaholic, tends to be viewed by his critics as unyielding and radical. In reality, his views are more nuanced. For example, he is opposed to imitating London's congestion charge for drivers' entering the city, because he feels it is unfair to low-income drivers, especially those who live outside Paris. But he favors highway tolls, including one for the Paris beltway, to shift more of the cost of polluting to drivers. Cars would be able to enter Paris without cost on slower routes. "Our political positions have more to do with reducing pollution and getting people to use public transportation," Baupin said. "London has instituted what they specifically call a congestion charge, not a pollution charge. So, people who can afford it can actually use their cars more easily than before. That's not our objective." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090124/64620661/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 29563 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090124/64620661/attachment.jpe -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090124/64620661/attachment.gif From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Sat Jan 24 16:54:16 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2009 08:54:16 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Denis Baupin - A driving force to change Paris Message-ID: <009901c97df9$001562a0$004027e0$@britton@ecoplan.org> http://img.iht.com/images/2009/01/23/23wbspot550.jpg Denis Baupin, deputy mayor for the environment, spearheaded the creation of the city's bicycle-sharing program. (Pierre-Emmanuel Weck) A driving force to change Paris http://img.iht.com/images/dot_h.gif By Robert P. Walzer Published: January 23, 2009 http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/22/business/wbspot24.1-411196.php http://img.iht.com/images/dot_h.gif PARIS: For his efforts to reduce the privilege of car drivers in Paris, Denis Baupin has been saddled with nasty nicknames, including "Monsieur Embouteillages" (Mr. Traffic Jam), Khmer Vert and worse. As the transportation chief of the French capital for seven years, Baupin, who has written a book called "All Cars, No Future," was the force behind the development of Paris's hugely successful bicycle-sharing program, V?lib'. He introduced a tramway, minibuses, rider subsidies, more bus lanes and faster bus speeds. He reduced auto speed limits to 30 kilometers an hour, or just under 19 miles an hour, from 50 kilometers an hour on 1,000 streets and closed many to cars altogether. In short, Baupin has changed the face of mobility in Paris, making it, by most accounts, easier for users of public transportation, pedestrians and bikers, and less accessible to car drivers. Since March 2008, the Green Party member has had a new but related charge: fighting climate change. Under his plan, ?2 billion, or $2.6 billion, of taxpayers' money will go towards renovating a quarter of the city's 220,000 subsidized apartments to receive better insulation and more efficient heating. The program would eventually extend to all of Paris's 3,000 public and 100,000 private buildings, nearly half of them built before 1915. Today in Business with Reuters Financing for the plan has not been set, though Baupin is in talks with the Caisse des D?p?ts et Consignations, the French state-owned bank. "The challenge is how we can devise a mechanism to finance this work using the energy economy of tomorrow with the money of today," Baupin said. Baupin is expanding the city's car-sharing program, even as his boss, Mayor Bertrand Delano?, prepares a competing plan to place 2,000 electric cars throughout the city in 2010. Baupin happens to oppose the mayor's AutoLib' idea and fears its ease of use will prompt residents to abandon public transportation. "The idea of car-sharing is you use it when you have no alternative," Baupin said. "With Autolib' the risk is people will use it every day." Baupin is also beseeching Parisians through educational campaigns to reduce the waste stream by, for example, halting the purchase of bottled water and using fewer plastic shopping bags. For all his efforts, Baupin, 46, has become a pacesetter for urban environmental progressivism worldwide. He travels the globe meeting other urban planners and coordinating initiatives. "You have to judge Denis in terms of what he's done so far, which is to create a magnificent model of a city coming to grips with its mobility issues in a very interesting way," said Eric Britton, the Paris-based managing director of New Mobility Partnerships, a nongovernment agency. "Yes, you can look at Copenhagen or Amsterdam and say they are better for bicyclists. But they've been doing it for 100 years. Paris, in short order, has become a model for other cities." At the end of 2008, Baupin was in New York to discuss V?lib' with the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He also spoke in Tokyo at a meeting of the C40, a group of cities that lobbies to reduce carbon dioxide gases. "Everybody came up to me and asked me about V?lib'," Baupin said in a recent interview. "It shows that what we are doing in Paris is an example to the world." Baupin's efforts come as climate-related ethos is ascendant. In 2007, the administration of President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed to emissions-reducing targets as part of the so-called Environmental Grenelle, or roundtable. The French Senate is set to debate the measures this year. Paris, with Baupin's guidance, has set even more stringent targets, following an audit of carbon emissions from buildings, transportation and industry. The city plans to reduce its emissions 30 percent below 2004 levels by 2020. Baupin, intense, driven, a workaholic, tends to be viewed by his critics as unyielding and radical. In reality, his views are more nuanced. For example, he is opposed to imitating London's congestion charge for drivers' entering the city, because he feels it is unfair to low-income drivers, especially those who live outside Paris. But he favors highway tolls, including one for the Paris beltway, to shift more of the cost of polluting to drivers. Cars would be able to enter Paris without cost on slower routes. "Our political positions have more to do with reducing pollution and getting people to use public transportation," Baupin said. "London has instituted what they specifically call a congestion charge, not a pollution charge. So, people who can afford it can actually use their cars more easily than before. That's not our objective." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090124/8a5283b2/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 29563 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090124/8a5283b2/attachment.jpe -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090124/8a5283b2/attachment.gif From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Sat Jan 24 19:36:12 2009 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2009 11:36:12 +0100 Subject: [sustran] =?iso-8859-1?Q?Qu=E9_lecciones_puede_aprender_Am=E9rica?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?_=28Estados_Unidos=29_del_resto_del_mundo=3F?= In-Reply-To: <497A11AB.6030609@gmail.com> References: <497A11AB.6030609@gmail.com> Message-ID: <00fd01c97e0f$96a9f620$c3fde260$@britton@ecoplan.org> Gracias Carlos por pasar mi mensaje. Y esto es s?lo para recordar a todos ustedes que su respuesta puede ser en espa?ol o portugu?s (despu?s de todo lo que es "Am?rica"). Y que siempre que tengo antes del jueves 29, ser?n muy bien .. La referencia web para el grupo de transporte l?deres reunidos por la revista National Journal es http://transportation.nationaljournal.com/ Y si usted desea ver el estado actual de las entradas parece, vaya a http://www.nj5.newmobility.org (Todos en Ingl?s hasta la fecha, pero romper el patr?n y escribir en la lengua de su elecci?n. Necesitamos sus ideas.) Eric Britton, Eric.britton@newmobility.org The New Mobility Agenda ? http://www.invent.newmobility.org Paris France PS. Por su contribuci?n, por favor: un t?tulo corto (menos de diez palabras), el texto principal (m?ximo 250 palabras), y, por ?ltimo, firmar en tres l?neas por debajo de mi firma. Gracias. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090124/c41f04b6/attachment.html From krc12353 at gmail.com Thu Jan 29 01:39:00 2009 From: krc12353 at gmail.com (Karthik Rao Cavale) Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:09:00 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Mumbai Rail Commuter Survey Message-ID: <1effb6e50901280839g5874fe00lc795b7a80539371d@mail.gmail.com> Hi, On the results of the Mumbai Rail Commuter Survey, I can see at least two differing opinions in newspapers (which amazes me to no small extent. how can you have such diverging conclusions on what data says?) http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai/88_passengers_train_gun_on_a_cool_trip/articleshow/4039026.cms and http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/jan/180109-air-conditioned-locals-expensive-second-class-commuters-Mumbai-News-refusals.htm Can somebody clear the air? (figuratively, apologies to Sudhir Gota) Personally, Mid-day's report sounds more plausible. ToI claims that 79% of the commuters travel first-class (in a fact-box that is not available in the e-version) - if that is the result of a survey, then MVRC is just a bad surveyor. I would like to mention that I am inclined to support those who are against the AC coaches. Where there is already so much demand, it is of prime importance that the existing users are given some semblance of comfort before bringing in AC coaches. There is a real danger that these AC coaches will go the Bangalore volvo way. No one would benefit. Warm Regards, karthik -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090128/7cfd33bd/attachment.html From sudhir at cai-asia.org Thu Jan 29 08:43:45 2009 From: sudhir at cai-asia.org (Sudhir) Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:43:45 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Re: Mumbai Rail Commuter Survey In-Reply-To: <1effb6e50901280839g5874fe00lc795b7a80539371d@mail.gmail.com> References: <1effb6e50901280839g5874fe00lc795b7a80539371d@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Karthik, Thanks for bringing this important aspect to forefront. I agree with your judgment on Midday. First the rates charged for AC facilities are too high for a normal middle class person. Paying 3500 bucks for only his travel would make a big hole in his monthly budget hence they would not like to travel in AC facilities with "High Rates". But the issue is why the public transportation cannot provide comfort at low rates considering the environmental good they are doing? Why should we expect people to travel like 'animals' ( I hope people must have seen how animals are transported ) just because they don't travel in their own vehicles? When we spend billions subsidizing fuel for vehicle owners, provide free parking, interchanges and flyovers.... why cannot we provide good transport at affordable rates? Why do people believe that owning vehicle is the solution and not the problem? We often try to remove cycle rickshaws, pedestrians and slow modes of transport from roads considering that they cause traffic jams :-) Everybody wants the other person to travel in overcrowded public transport, walk and cycle and reap the environmental benefits out of it while travelling in a own vehicle :-( In the previous weeks we have seen the media reporting on BRTS on Parliamentary Committee Report. The less said the better! best regards Sudhir Gota 2009/1/29 Karthik Rao Cavale > Hi, > > On the results of the Mumbai Rail Commuter Survey, I can see at least two > differing opinions in newspapers (which amazes me to no small extent. how > can you have such diverging conclusions on what data says?) > > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai/88_passengers_train_gun_on_a_cool_trip/articleshow/4039026.cms > > and > > > http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/jan/180109-air-conditioned-locals-expensive-second-class-commuters-Mumbai-News-refusals.htm > > Can somebody clear the air? (figuratively, apologies to Sudhir Gota) > > Personally, Mid-day's report sounds more plausible. ToI claims that 79% of > the commuters travel first-class (in a fact-box that is not available in the > e-version) - if that is the result of a survey, then MVRC is just a bad > surveyor. I would like to mention that I am inclined to support those who > are against the AC coaches. Where there is already so much demand, it is of > prime importance that the existing users are given some semblance of comfort > before bringing in AC coaches. > > There is a real danger that these AC coaches will go the Bangalore volvo > way. No one would benefit. > > Warm Regards, > karthik > > -------------------------------------------------------- > 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'). > -- Sudhir Gota Transport Specialist CAI-Asia Center Unit 3510, 35th Floor, Robinsons-Equitable Tower, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City Metro Manila, Philippines 1605 Tel: +63-2-395-2843 Fax: +63-2-395-2846 http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia Skype : sudhirgota -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090129/4b7e7473/attachment.html From yanivbin at gmail.com Sat Jan 31 23:42:48 2009 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:12:48 +0530 Subject: [sustran] India Expert Committee on estimating investment -----Meeting on Urban Transportation Message-ID: <86b8a7050901310642s10be7990kc3711249877ec2f2@mail.gmail.com> High Powered Expert Committee Meeting on Urban Transportation http://www.niua.org/upcoming%20seminars/hpec/hpec_transport/hpec_transport.htm *T*he High Powered Expert Committee (HPEC) on estimating investment requirements in urban infrastructure met on January 20, 2009. Focus of this meeting was on urban transportation. It was chaired by Dr. Isher Ahluwalia. Mr. Anil Baijal, Former Secretary (UD) and Mr. O.P.Agarwal, Executive Director, IL&FS, were special invitees to this meeting. Mr. O.P.Agarwal made a presentation on, "Investments needed for Sustainable Urban Transportation in India". He brought out various issues, initiatives taken and possible approaches for improved urban transportation system in India. The focus of the National Urban Transport Policy is moving people and not vehicles. This will require that public transport should be more attractive to use. Working Group Report on Urban Transport for XIth Five Year Plan has estimated investment requirement of Rs. 1,32,50,00 crore (including modern buses). Challenge for improved bus transport is to provide good quality service at an affordable price. It is important to evaluate alternative public transport technologies in the context of city characteristics. The public transport options vary between low cost buses to high cost rail metros. He said that several initiatives have been taken in India: - Many cities have prepared Comprehensive Mobility Plans; - 15 cities have planned to introduce modern bus services; - Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) is coming up in 11 cities; - Six City Planning new metro rail systems; and - Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities have been set up in two cities. There is need for undertaking a major capacity building program in the sector. Moreover, the present initiatives have overlooked that simple low cost traffic improvement measures can improve the traffic situation. In addition, improvement or modernization of the existing bus systems as well as improved facilities for pedestrian and cyclists are missing. He added that bus systems can be improved through provision of better buses, improved information system and prioritization of bus flows through dedicated bus lane. The key message from the review of urban transport sector in India is that the proposed approach has to be comprehensive and serve a range of human needs. Finally, urban transport planning is more an art than science. There was extensive discussion on the subject after the presentation. Chairperson said that the presentation and discussions will help HPEC in addressing the issues of urban transport. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090131/a4c0dd56/attachment.html From yanivbin at gmail.com Sat Jan 31 23:45:11 2009 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:15:11 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Pedestrians in peril Message-ID: <86b8a7050901310645l5a44d3d1h4a06ffe17f6a9aac@mail.gmail.com> http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20090213260308600.htm *Pedestrians in peril * JAYATI GHOSH * They are forced to negotiate their passage in direct competition, and often confrontation, with speeding vehicles. * K.V. Srinivasan * Destroying footpaths and pavements is part of urban development in India. Here, a scene in Chennai. * THERE are probably as many definitions of underdevelopment as there are developing countries. So let me offer another definition that may be appropriate for the early 21st century: a developing country is one with few places where urban residents can walk safely. This need not be a reflection of crime rates but may simply be a matter of inadequate facilities for pedestrians. The almost complete lack of safe and continuous pavements and footpaths that is so typical of the many urban sprawls across the developing world is almost as notable as the extensive provision of these in, say, cities and towns of western Europe. Indeed, those cities of the developing world where pedestrians are given some attention and civic space are generally in the more developed parts: Singapore, Malaysia, Argentina, for example. Developing countries currently have rapid rates of rural-urban migration, and it is estimated that already more than half of the population of the developing world consists of urban residents. Yet the provision of basic infrastructure has lagged far behind the movement of people. The shortage of basic amenities in urban areas especially in the slums is well known. The problems of inadequate supply of safe water and electricity, poor sanitation, environmental pollution and congestion have been widely studied. The shortage of space, with cramped and crowded living and working conditions, no playgrounds for children and few parks for residents, has been noted. Increasingly, there is also recognition of the ecological footprint of urbanisation. Generally, towns and cities in developing countries have a lower per capita energy consumption than those in the developed world. Even so, developing-country urban sprawls cast adverse environmental shadows on the surrounding region through the generation of solid waste and air pollution, the contamination of water sources, the using up or degradation of what used to be prime agricultural land and the destruction of natural vegetation. These eventually affect environmental conditions in the urban spaces themselves and have an impact on the quality of urban life, especially for the less privileged residents who cannot protect themselves from the negative impacts. These issues are now commonplace in discussions on the urban condition. But one very crucial aspect of city life in developing countries is missed out in most such discussions ? the importance of having safe, continuous and usable walking spaces. This is evident in India even though rates of urbanisation in India are lower than in most of the developing world. In general, urban development in India is engaged in the process of destroying footpaths and pavements. It seems to be that most municipalities rarely accommodate footpaths in urban planning exercises, or if they do, they subsequently turn a blind eye to breaches of plans that destroy walking spaces. Congested nightmares As a result, cities that even a decade ago used to be seen as pleasant havens with leafy walkways are now congested nightmares, with paved roads for vehicles taking precedence and reducing or even removing the spaces available to pedestrians. The problem is not confined to the rapidly expanding metros but spreads across almost all urban conglomerations. As a result, pedestrians walk at their peril, typically having to share the road with unregulated traffic involving all sorts of vehicles and without access to any separate protected space. To take only one example, consider Hyderabad, a city that has grown rapidly in the last decade not only in population but even more in geographical spread. Two aspects of Hyderabad's growth make it even more instructive as an example with wider significance. First, urban development in Hyderabad has raised property prices so sharply that land has become a major source of both accumulation and speculation. This in turn has given rise to numerous scams around land-grabbing and insider deals, of which the one related to Satyam/Maytas is only the latest. Second, both the current State government and the previous one emphasised the "beautification" of the city and the creation of "world class" urban infrastructure. So what are the "world class" facilities that Hyderabad now delivers its residents? Mostly, the new urban development consists of some major new urban road arteries, the widening of existing roads, the spanking new Shamshabad airport (which is almost desolate in its distance and imitative grandeur) and the usual paraphernalia of contemporary metropolitana: shopping malls and high-rise apartments. Much of this has predictably excluded the majority of residents, and the lack of emphasis on basics such as adequate sanitation or clean and affordable housing for the poor is only too evident in the continuing chaos and growing congestion of much of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The road expansion, in particular, has had another effect: the almost complete destruction of pavements and walking spaces in large parts of the twin cities. Wherever roads have been widened, the assumption seems to have been that no one will ever need to walk along them but will simply use mechanised transport to traverse them even for short distances. There is no other way to understand why in many places no apparent attempt has been made to create any pavement, and pedestrians are forced to negotiate their passage in direct competition (and often confrontation) with speeding cars, buses and two- and three-wheelers. Since vehicular traffic in India is almost universally aggressive in its attitude to pedestrians, this does not make for easy or safe journeys on foot. And the problem is compounded by the various animals that are usually to be found on our streets. On those streets where some minor concession to pedestrians remains in the form of a few limited pavements, these are little more than complicated and often malicious obstacle courses. The narrow pavements are usually uneven, poorly paved and apparently never cleaned. They tend to be punctuated with trees, electric poles, stumps of open live wires, heaps of rubbish and sludge, broken glass and other discarded items ? forcing those trying to use them to jump off them and on to the crowded roads. All this makes it difficult enough for healthy adults to walk on the roads. Imagine the problems of old people, small children, pregnant women, people with some physical disability or those carrying heavy and bulky burdens. The simple act of perambulation becomes not just arduous but something fraught with risk, a near-impossible task. Since urban planning in India also apparently ignores the obvious need for public conveniences for ordinary people, and Hyderabad appears to be no exception to this rule, public toilets are few and far between. They are certainly hard to find on most major roads or even in most markets and other crowded urban spaces. This creates huge problems for women who are forced to be in such public spaces for long periods, but the male of the species is typically not constrained by such a lack of facilities. Therefore, the pavements tend to have another, less dangerous but often more unpleasant, feature: the pervasive stench of urine. Combine all this with other sources of unease for hapless pedestrians: noise pollution because of the constant honking of car horns and the rumble of engines; atmospheric pollution because of the emissions from the vast diversity of vehicles of every size and age; and the difficulty of crossing streets even when there are traffic lights because of so many transgressions by vehicles. Street life is nasty and brutish not just for the poorest of the poor, who are forced to live on the streets, but even for those who have to walk on them for a short while. I have picked on Hyderabad as an example, but clearly the problem is not unique to this city. From Mumbai to Kolkata, from Pune to Chennai, from Bangalore to Amritsar, we are destroying urban spaces and making them dirty, difficult and dangerous for most people to use. What is extraordinary is that much of this is done in the name of making our cities "world class"! Perhaps, if we stopped thinking of the world and started thinking of the needs of most of our own urban residents, we might actually begin to make our cities liveable. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20090131/e2e648e6/attachment.html