From binacb at gmail.com Mon Nov 1 02:20:35 2010 From: binacb at gmail.com (Bina C.Balakrishnan) Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2010 22:50:35 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Fwd: [UTSG] Transitioning countries, traffic operations and demands for expensive engineering solutions In-Reply-To: References: <320B8BAF46069042A2ACBDE32E04E84C1164426EF8@ICEXM1.ic.ac.uk> <002201cb774a$7d60eb20$7822c160$@com> Message-ID: Hi Rob, Do study the way Seoul, South Korea ripped up and discarded a complex interchange in the heart of the City, and revived an almost dead river, the Cheonggyecheon in a massive urban renewal effort- and a solution to the transport problems of Seoul. Best Bina Bina C. Balakrishnan Consultant - Sustainable Transportation Policy, Planning & Management Mumbai, India Cell: +91 98339 00108 Home: +91 22 23630572 Fax: +91 22 23692673 e-mail: binacb@gmail.com binac@rediffmail.com skype: binacb ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 3:16 PM, Paul Barter wrote: > This question (below) from the UK's UTSG list looks like a case that will > be > familiar to many sustran-discussers. Robert Bain might appreciate your > insights, references or cases. I don't think he is on this list, so cc him > if you direct your answers to sustran-discuss. > > Paul > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Robert Bain > Date: 29 October 2010 17:20 > Subject: [UTSG] Transitioning countries, traffic operations and demands for > expensive engineering solutions > To: UTSG@jiscmail.ac.uk > > Hi > > If any list member is familiar with the following situation, could you > please get in touch with me on info@robbain.com > > Two congested intersections impede the flow of traffic heading towards (and > away from) a city centre. There are local calls to grade-separate the > intersections (expensive). But effective operations at the intersections > are hampered by friction (eg. vendor stalls), uncontrolled parking, private > minibuses stopping at random etc. Addressing these issues would go a long > way to improving vehicle throughput - but local powers insist on their > grand > engineering solutions. > > There must be case-studies which have examined such situations - that could > be used to counter the arguments for big engineering solutions. Otherwise > we're not addressing the fundamental problem - and will soon face calls for > other expensive design solutions to be developed at other pinch-points on > the network. > > Any thoughts or references, any one? > > Regards, > > Rob > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > 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 Mon Nov 1 03:25:35 2010 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2010 19:25:35 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Transitioning countries, traffic operations and demands for expensive engineering solutions Message-ID: <014801cb7929$04d689e0$0e839da0$@britton@ecoplan.org> Rob, Might you share with us the identity of your city/country target? Not to be indiscrete, but I think if some of us know this, we/they will be better able to guide you. This is of course a huge fundamental issue behind these choices, namely an understanding of who exactly are the streets for. If we know the pecking order, we can then figure out at least the basics of the solution. Easily said, eh? Eric Britton From morten7an at yahoo.com Mon Nov 1 20:22:57 2010 From: morten7an at yahoo.com (Morten Lange) Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 04:22:57 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [sustran] Re: USA: The connection between transportation and social justice In-Reply-To: <4CCC803B.70707@greenidea.eu> Message-ID: <283332.25234.qm@web51006.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Thanks, Todd The idea of breaches of several types of rights of pedestrians, cyclists etc, is something that has popped up in my mind from time to time. At Velo-City conferences both Enrique Penalosa, his brother Gil and also Vandana Shiva have talked about human rights violations in conjunctions with how we as societies cater for and spend much more space and money on the destructive force (health, environment, road deaths ) that excessive use of cars are, and which in developing countries "benefit" only a minority. But the human rights angle needs more definition and support in form of articles from human rights lawyers, to be a viable path of argumentation, as I feel it. However clearly there are equity and rights issues and clearly 1,2 million are being killed on the roads each year and clearly road safety work is not carried with the view to putting the interests of pedestrians, cyclists, users of public transport first. Instead of educing speed and reigning in the elephant in the china shop, safety measures take the form of fencing off pedestrians and cyclists. Is anyone on the list aware of articles/books on these subjects, i.e. rights (possibly trying to establish them as human rights) and soft modes of transport ? I mentioned Penalosas and Shiva. Vandana Shiva talked about human rights at Velo-City Global 2010, so did Gil Penalosa. And Enrique Penalosa at Velo-City 2005. Additionally I have noticed the following, which are perhaps a bit peripheral : * "Freedom of movement" article (wikipedia) * www.bicyclinglife.com/effectiveadvocacy/TheRightToTravel.htm * http://ec.europa.eu/transport/roadsafety_library/publications/promising_deliverable_5.pdf (road safety measures are not recommendable if their restrictive nature towards pedestrians and cyclists is pronounced ) -- Regards / Kvedja Morten Lange, Reykjav?k --- On Sat, 30/10/10, Todd Edelman wrote: > From: Todd Edelman > Subject: [sustran] USA: The connection between transportation and social justice > To: NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com, "'Sustran List'" > Date: Saturday, 30 October, 2010, 21:29 > http://www.grist.org/article/2010-10-29-angela-glover-blackwell-talks-about-the-connection-between-trans > > Do the rights thing > Angela Glover Blackwell talks about the connection between > > transportation and social justice > by Sarah Goodyear 29 Oct 2010 9:51 AM > > "This issue is too important to be left to transportation > professionals," says Angela Glover Blackwell. > > Angela Glover Blackwell would like to remind you that > transportation is > a civil rights issue. > > Blackwell is the founder and chief executive officer of > PolicyLink, "a > national research and action institute advancing economic > and social > equity." Their slogan is "Lifting Up What Works." They > believe that the > people at the grassroots, closest to the nation's problems, > should be a > central part of figuring out solutions. > > Transportation has emerged as a signature issue for > PolicyLink. The > group now chairs the newly formed Equity Caucus, part of > Transportation > for America, calling on federal policymakers to see equity > and social > justice as a key part of transportation planning. > > Blackwell recently was invited to the White House, along > with many > governors, mayors, and other elected officials, to give her > perspective > on President Obama's proposed $50 billion infrastructure > plan. She was > the only public policy advocate to attend. > > She talked to us by phone about how she was able to > influence the > discussion that day, about how public transit cuts are > devastating to > low-income Americans, and about the central role that > transportation > policy has always played in the struggle for civil rights. > > Q. How was it that you came to be invited to sit at that > table with the > president? > > A. I was thrilled to be invited to the table, and I'm quite > sure that > the reason that I was invited is because just the week > before, > PolicyLink and Transportation for America launched the > Equity Caucus > [see their principles here]. > > [At] that launch that nearly 200 people attended in the > Cannon Office > Building, Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) talked about > > transportation in a way that just made it so real. There > were people > there who had tears in their eyes, I understand, from > listening to him > talk about what transportation means to elderly people > trying to get > around, to mothers trying to earn a living. > > I think that [we were invited because of] our focus on > people, our focus > on equity, our focus on public transportation, and our > determination > that this issue is too important to be left to > transportation professionals. > > Q. So there you were. Tell me what you were able to > contribute. > > A. You probably saw the list of who attended. There were > governors, > mayors, transportation secretaries past and present, labor > leaders. When > the president came in, after greeting people and saying a > couple of > opening remarks, he said, "We're going to start off this > conversation > hearing from Gov. [Ed] Rendell [D-Penn.] and from Angela." > So I was just > so pleased to see the equity perspective frame the > conversation right at > the top. > > After my remarks, several people referred back to them. In > particular, > they picked up on the people focus. I think that those > people who care > about transportation have recognized that it is too often > an insular > conversation, and the people who are impacted most by the > decisions > aren't engaged at all. > > Q. You talk about creating an awareness that there are > people who are > constituents for public transportation. Do you see that > increasing at > the grassroots level? > > A. I am definitely seeing more engagement. We're seeing > real concern in > Chicago, in St. Louis, about the cutbacks in public > transportation, what > that means for people. > > The Transportation Equity Network is organizing all over to > make sure > that grassroots people in communities -- who are concerned > about their > livelihoods and their futures, and how little they're able > to get out of > their monthly incomes -- they're really getting involved. I > think we're > beginning to see the beginning of a movement stirring all > across the > country of people making their voices heard on this issue. > > Q. Could you talk about the importance of public > transportation to > people with lower incomes, working-class people? And how > that figures > into the larger economic picture? > > A. Yes. There are a couple of things I want to point out in > that regard. > One is that the bottom fifth of the nation, the poorest > fifth of > Americans, spend 42 percent of their annual household > budget on an > automobile budget, more than twice the national average. So > for people > who are poor, owning an automobile is a burdensome thing. > > Nearly 25 percent of African-Americans do not have access > to a car, > compared that with 7 percent of non-Hispanic whites. You > have nearly the > same number of Latinos who do not have access to a car. So > this is huge, > this is not an isolated problem. For people who are > spending too much of > their income -- over 40 percent just to own a car -- > clearly this has a > devastating impact on the economy in terms of all of the > things that > people cannot do and cannot participate in. > > For people who don't have access to cars and depend on > public > transportation, the current crisis is devastating. More > than 110 cities > have public transit routes that are at risk. Children can't > get to > school; people can't get to work. 80 percent of the > nation's systems are > either considering or have recently enacted fare increases > or service cuts. > > But here's something else that Americans need to know. > Spending on > transit generates more jobs than spending on highways. If > our nation's > 20 metro areas shifted just 50 percent of their highways > funds to > transit, they would create over 1.1 million new > transit-related jobs in > over 5 years. That's without spending a single dollar > more. > > Q. It strikes me that something strange has happened in > this country, > that now when people talk about public transit, we get a > polarized > political situation where people sometimes say, "Cars are > what ordinary > folks use. Investing in public transit, that's what this > urban, > sophisticated elite wants." > > A. I have heard that. Part of the reason is because there > are two things > going on in this country at the same time. One is that we > have > continuing, entrenched urban poverty, with the communities > that have > always been left behind continuing to be left behind. > > At the same time that we have that continuing harsh > reality, we have > many enlightened people living in metropolitan areas who > recognize that > for the sake of climate, we need to get out of our cars and > use more > public transportation, we need to live in denser > communities, we need to > connect in communities that are diverse and enjoy the > cultural > activities that reflect this nation. These people are often > moving into > cities -- Chicago, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, > Manhattan in New > York -- and enjoying the fruits of urban life, looking for > safe, > efficient public transit, and wanting to live near transit > stops so that > they can be more efficient in the use of their income. > > Often this is what people see as gentrification, and people > in poor > communities often fear that if a community starts to > gentrify, they may > be pushed out of the communities. > > What we have to remember is that the majority of people who > use public > transportation in this nation are people of color, > low-income people. > That is what keeps our system going. If we are going to > begin to invest > in it, we need to invest in it leading with equity, asking, > How do we > build modern public transportation systems that serve those > people who > have been the backbone of utilizing public transportation? > Who need it, > not because it's the smart thing to do, but it's the only > thing for them > to do in order to stretch their dollars and respond to > their reality of > not having a car? This notion that public transit is [only] > for the > affluent who are looking for a different lifestyle is a > false notion. > > Q. I've heard you refer to access to transportation as a > civil rights > issue. I would like to hear you speak to that. > > A. It is interesting that transportation, in recent years, > has not been > framed as a civil rights issue, because most of the civil > rights > struggle in this country has centered around > transportation, in one way > or another, starting with Plessy v. Ferguson [in 1896]. > That had to do > with access to train cars. Then we have Rosa Parks sitting > down on a > bus. We had the Freedom Riders trying to do something to > show that black > people ought to be able to ride a bus across jurisdictions, > they ought > to be able to ride through the South on a bus without > having to go to > the back of the bus. The whole urban renewal, which people > often call > "black removal," because that's what happens, in the 60s, > was a fight > around highways coming in, going right through communities > that had been > vibrant, often destroying the financial district in an > African-American > community. > > So if you go all the way from Plessy v. Ferguson right up > to the urban > renewal, you will see that the fights have often been > around > transportation, and how transportation decisions have been > made. Also > the interstate highway system, the roads that have been > built that > allowed for the expansion from cities into suburbs, often > had a > devastating impact, as people abandoned city schools, and > moved to > suburban schools, leaving poor people of color in city > schools, with > fewer resources, less political clout, and often abandoning > the > neighborhoods and the infrastructure that made those > neighborhoods strong. > > I think one of the things that the Equity Caucus is doing > is bringing in > the civil rights movement to once again reclaim the > fairness issue > involved in transportation policy thinking. > > Q. Anticipating what the Congress is going to look like > after the > midterm elections, what do you think the prospects are for > advancing > these arguments? > > A. I have been reading the past week the book Nixonland by > Rick > Perlstein. I'm just in the first quarter of it, and I have > been struck > by how it was not a bright line between Republicans and > Democrats on > some fundamental issues. There were liberal Republicans who > were proud > to be associated with the civil rights acts that were > getting passed in > the '60s. There were liberal Republicans who were real > advocates for > civil rights, even before those civil rights. I'm sure > there were > Republicans and Democrats who always agreed -- without even > thinking > about party lines -- when we were talking about the future > of the nation > and how important its infrastructure was to it. > Infrastructure used to > be one of those issues that did not divide, but pulled > together. > > It ought to be obvious to anyone looking at the global > economy that > those nations with the infrastructure are the ones that are > going to do > the best. So while it is probably safe to assume that if > the Congress > becomes more Republican that having the support for > infrastructure > investment in public transportation will become a divisive > issue, it's > shocking to me. It shouldn't. > > Q. Well, there is a lot going on that really doesn't make > any sense. > > A. It's too true. > > *** > > Sarah Goodyear is Grist?s cities editor. You can follow > her Twitter feed > at http://twitter.com/buttermilk1. > > -- > > Todd Edelman > Green Idea Factory, > a member of the OPENbike team > > Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 > > edelman@greenidea.eu > www.greenidea.eu > todd@openbike.se > www.openbike.se > > Skype: toddedelman > > Urbanstr. 45 > 10967 Berlin > Germany > > *** > > OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! > > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > 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 binacb at gmail.com Tue Nov 2 01:05:43 2010 From: binacb at gmail.com (Bina C.Balakrishnan) Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 21:35:43 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Fwd: [UTSG] Transitioning countries, traffic operations and demands for expensive engineering solutions In-Reply-To: References: <320B8BAF46069042A2ACBDE32E04E84C1164426EF8@ICEXM1.ic.ac.uk> <002201cb774a$7d60eb20$7822c160$@com> Message-ID: Hi Rob, I have always found that discussing with the stakeholders makes a huge difference. Have you had talks with the people immediately affected by the proposed construction? Is this project funded by the local authorities? If so, I don?t think this will work, and you may have very few options. But if its by another funding agency, get them to organise a workshop which will actually be a public consultation or public participation. What I would do is: - Spend a little time and money and make sketch plans of the possible alternatives - Get visuals of other places in the world where this approach has worked (this is a very powerful tool) - Prepare a power point presentation with a comparative statement / chart with lots of visuals about the negative impact of the grade separator construction, ESPECIALLY its impact on the residents in its immediate vicinity, vis-a-vis visuals of your more environmentally friendly recommendation - Call a workshop of ALL stakeholders and present this at the workshop. You will need lots of visuals, and limited text. Invite planners, engineers, decision makers, residents, shop owners, business community, activists, Chambers of Commerce, academics, university heads, etc etc. - Make sure you have representation from all the newspapers and other media. If this place is in India, the media is very powerful. And I mean IS VERY powerful. - Make sure you include impacts on climate change, public health (esp air pollution and respiratory diseases), flooding, accidents, safety, etc etc. Include benefits to the residents. - Also include the impact of disruption during construction (plus a lot of stuff) - If this is India, it will be all over the papers the next day. This should tip the balance in your favour. We?ve used this approach in the past. Of course, we didn?t have the kind of opposition you seem to be facing, but we certainly got the people to accept what we were offering ? and very unconventional offerings too. I?m guessing the politicians would like to win the next election? Best Bina On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 3:16 PM, Paul Barter wrote: > This question (below) from the UK's UTSG list looks like a case that will > be > familiar to many sustran-discussers. Robert Bain might appreciate your > insights, references or cases. I don't think he is on this list, so cc him > if you direct your answers to sustran-discuss. > > Paul > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Robert Bain > Date: 29 October 2010 17:20 > Subject: [UTSG] Transitioning countries, traffic operations and demands for > expensive engineering solutions > To: UTSG@jiscmail.ac.uk > > Hi > > If any list member is familiar with the following situation, could you > please get in touch with me on info@robbain.com > > Two congested intersections impede the flow of traffic heading towards (and > away from) a city centre. There are local calls to grade-separate the > intersections (expensive). But effective operations at the intersections > are hampered by friction (eg. vendor stalls), uncontrolled parking, private > minibuses stopping at random etc. Addressing these issues would go a long > way to improving vehicle throughput - but local powers insist on their > grand > engineering solutions. > > There must be case-studies which have examined such situations - that could > be used to counter the arguments for big engineering solutions. Otherwise > we're not addressing the fundamental problem - and will soon face calls for > other expensive design solutions to be developed at other pinch-points on > the network. > > Any thoughts or references, any one? > > Regards, > > Rob > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > -- Bina C. Balakrishnan Consultant - Sustainable Transportation Policy, Planning & Management Mumbai, India Cell: +91 98339 00108 Home: +91 22 23630572 Fax: +91 22 23692673 e-mail: binacb@gmail.com binac@rediffmail.com web : www.binabalakrishnan.com skype: binacb From navdeep.asija at gmail.com Tue Nov 2 13:53:31 2010 From: navdeep.asija at gmail.com (Asija, Navdeep) Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2010 10:23:31 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Cars and Marriages are Made in Heaven Message-ID: Cars and Marriages are Made in Heaven * * There was a time when one out of a hundred marriages used to end in a divorce, in India. That was back then. Recent findings show that divorce rates in India have been rising alarmingly. In the capital city of India, Delhi, the divorce rates have literally doubled over the past five years. In one of the most hi-tech cities of India, like Chandigarh and Bangalore, the divorce rates have tripled in the last 3-4 years. These are pretty shocking statistics, given the fact that India used to be one of the most traditional countries with one of the lowest divorce rates in the world. This dangerous trend coincides with an increase of money in market and motorized vehicles on the roads. According to Harman Sidhu, President of Arrive Safe, Chandigarh based NGO working in the area of safe mobility and access through better transportation policies and planning, ?Indian urban lives are moving at a high RPM[1]rate because of the increase in personalized motor vehicle use for commuting?. Commuting distances have been increased three-fold by virtue of wrong transportation policies in the last few decades; the meager and inefficient public transport system has made walking and cycling in urban areas unsafe. This daily unsafe commute has generated high stress levels in the population. Our visionless urban planners believe that the numbers of vehicles on the roads are an indicator of the degree of development with country. Flyovers and expressways are the buzz words within corridors of power today. More road crash fatalities, crime on roads and road rages in our daily lives are source of the symptoms of the high stress levels in our urban life. *Rationale* Financial independence followed by temperamental and attitudinal problems are the key reasons for divorces[2]. The first investment after attaining financial independence in a family is the desire of ownership for a private motor vehicle. This is primarily because our urban planners and road engineers with their wrong planning and policies have added to the problem. This is a never ending loop; migrations of more and more people to the city followed by a never ending increase of personalized vehicles continue to this day. Even after constructing hi-tech expressways and flyovers, urban traffic is going to face complex problems because transport infrastructure has certain expansion limits and capacities. Transportation in urban cities in India are made more complex because we have heterogeneous traffic, mixed land use, unplanned traffic policies, and no holistic approach to public transport. Increased average trip length forces people to spend more time and money on roads and less with their families. This leads to high stress levels in urban life followed by temperamental issues which leads to disintegration of family life. *International Scenario[3] * Analyzing the international trends in personal relationships in highly motorized/high income developed counties it was found that 51% of women in America were living without their husbands. Four out of 10 marriages in UK end in divorce. Since a decade, divorce rates, while still fluctuating, have shown an upward trend in Australia. In China, the divorce rate is escalating at a rate of 21.2%. Although the overall divorce rate in china is still lower than in Europe or the US, but the long-term trend is tending upwards. 80% of marriages in Russia end up in divorce. *Our Indian Metro Scenario* *Delhi**[4]* ** New Delhi leads with the highest number of divorces in the country, with more than 8,000-9,000 cases every year. The number has almost doubled[5]of last four years, according to data compiled from various State courts and the Crime Records Bureau. Registered private vehicles increased by almost 100% growth in comparison to base year vehicle population in 1999. The number of private registered vehicles increases from 197181 to 244040. The modal share of cars in this increase is in the order of 22 to 25%. * * *Mumbai* The registered vehicle population of Mumbai was 15.03 lakh as on March 2007; in 1999 it was 8 lakh this account an average increase of 82 thousand motorized vehicles per year. Study conducted by Mr Ajay Kumar Singh & Dr. R K Sinha of International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai[6], revealed that there was 56% increase in the divorce rate till 2001 in Mumbai. Since 2002, the number of divorce petitions filed in the special family court in Mumbai was 20929. The situation in Thane is worse, where 23993 divorce petitions were filed during the same period. The figure is alarming as the total number of marriages that were registered in places taken together from 2002 to 2007 was 104287[7]. Jump of almost 50 per cent in the number of divorce cases filed over 2002. *Pune[8] * According to Mr Vinay Borikar, principal judge at the family courts, Pune, ? During 2006, there were an average of 150 divorce cases a month but the number went up to approximately 240 cases a month during 2007 indicating an compounding increase of 160%. In the old days Pune was a bicycle city. The registered motorized four wheelers for March 2006 were 179252; this year the registered motorized four wheeler vehicles increased to 211768 indicating an increase of 132%[9]. *Chandigarh**[10]* ** In 1997, 216 cases of divorce were filed by residents in the district courts in the 2005 the number touched 1000. This is almost a five fold increase. During the same period the motorized vehicle population increased from a total of 326,278 to 547,225 with an estimated growth of 100% per year. *Conclusion* The trends of the four Indian cities mentioned above, there is an unexpected degree of disintegration in the social structure of our cities. Personalized vehicle growth is proportionate to the divorce rate. International trends of highly motorized/high income developed nations show similar trends. All major transportation related infrastructure schemes are promoted in terms of travel time saving by the promoters, who increased the commuting distances in the first place by relocating while communities from the city to the suburbs. We need to take stock of our urban structure holistically and plan not only for today but all our future generation?s tomorrow. * * *Divorce rate and Global Warming[11] * Already proven that divorce is bad for the environment and contributing a lot to global warming; as it leads to more households with fewer people and greater consumption of water and energy, says a study published in this week's online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, United States. In the U.S. in 2005, divorced households consumed an extra *73 billion kilowatt hours* of electricity and *627 billion gallons of water*. *Thirty-eight million* extra rooms required heating and lighting that same year, costing $6.9 billion in additional utility costs, plus a further $3.6 billion for water, and other costs such as land use. The study concluded that a married household uses resources more efficiently than a divorced household because people watch the same television, share air conditioning and heat, and use the same refrigerator. http://navdeepasija.blogspot.com/2008/05/cars-and-marriages-are-made-in-heaven.html ------------------------------ [1]Revolution Per Minutes [2]Singh, Ajay Kumar Singh & Sinha (Dr) R K (2005) ?Growing Incidence of Divorce in Indian Cities: A Study of Mumbai, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India [3] http://pooja.instablogs.com/entry/is-marriage-a-dying-institution/ [4] http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070717/main2.htm [5] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi_Times/Whatmakes_Delhi_the_divorce_capital/articleshow/2253106.cms [6] http://iussp2005.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=50689 [7] http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jan262008/national2008012648685.asp [8] http://www.medindia.net/news/Divorce-Rates-Shooting-Up-in-Pune-in-Western-India-31612-1.htm [9] http://pune360.com/News/2007/05/07/pune-gets-into-fast-lane-to-don-city-of-cars-mantle/ [10] http://chandigarh.nic.in/owin.htm?id="http://chdtransport.gov.in/chk_reg.asp " [11] http://www.desmogblog.com/soaring-divorce-rates-cited-as-factor-in-global-warming-environmental-stress From edelman at greenidea.eu Thu Nov 4 06:10:54 2010 From: edelman at greenidea.eu (Todd Edelman) Date: Wed, 03 Nov 2010 22:10:54 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Carvertising comes to India Message-ID: <4CD1CFDE.2050301@greenidea.eu> from http://www.springwise.com/marketing_advertising/cashurdrive/ There are few things we love more here at Springwise than seeing a good idea spread. So we couldn't resist mentioning CASHurDrive, a new carvertising initiative in India. We've covered carvertising numerous times over the years, including ? most recently ? Singapore's GottaGetGas effort, which rewards consumers with gas for affixing an advertiser-provided decal to their car. Along very similar lines, India's CASHurDrive rewards owners with cash or petrol vouchers for displaying advertisements on their vehicles. Participating advertisers can choose from among 3-, 6-, 9- and 12-month campaigns with CASHurDrive. Drivers are screened and monitored for minimum monthly mileage requirements, in particular. The carvertising train appears to be making its way around the globe. Who will be first to reap the rewards in your neck of the woods...? (Related: Marketplace for consumers willing to wrap their cars in ads for cash.) Website: www.cashurdrive.com Contact: info@cashurdrive.com -- Todd Edelman Green Idea Factory, a member of the OPENbike team Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 edelman@greenidea.eu www.greenidea.eu todd@openbike.se www.openbike.se Skype: toddedelman Urbanstr. 45 10967 Berlin Germany *** OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! From paulbarter at nus.edu.sg Thu Nov 4 11:40:37 2010 From: paulbarter at nus.edu.sg (Paul Barter) Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2010 10:40:37 +0800 Subject: [sustran] FW: Calcutta's on-street parking "extortion rackets" Message-ID: <6F850E42E4589F45AE2799F34B645C3601BE2FD06C@MBX06.stf.nus.edu.sg> This item from Reinventing Parking might be of interest (http://www.reinventingparking.org/). I would be keen to know if this kind of thing is happening in your city too. Paul *** Calcutta's on-street parking "extortion rackets" *** When the "parking meters" are human beings, they actually notice for themselves when the parking is saturated. As you might expect, this makes raising prices rather tempting. Indeed, something like this is happening in the streets of India's large cities. If you are a Shoupista, then it sounds perfect to adjust prices when the parking is full. Shoupistas are supporters of Prof Donald Shoup's parking policy ideas, which include performance-pricing for on-street parking spaces. There is just one problem. Raising the prices is against the law. Here is a current example from Calcutta (Kolkata) in India, as reported in The Telegraph (Calcutta) newspaper. The outcomes are far from perfect. (Note that currently US$1 = Rs 44 or so): Extortion rackets thrive in broad daylight across the city in the name of car parking. The rackets ? run by cooperatives issued licences by the civic body, in collusion with police and local goons ? force car owners to shell out exorbitant sums... Metro visited three such parking zones where owners have to pay between Rs 20 and Rs 50 per hour for parking their cars. The hourly rates fixed by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation are Rs 7 for cars and Rs 3 for motorcycles. There are more details in the rather breathless report. Sadly, the nasty side-effects here certainly outweigh any benefits from 'rational pricing'. ? The 'human parking meters' (employees of the cooperatives with contracts to run the parking) have become criminals. ? The report alleges that the local police have also been corrupted and even count cars in order to estimate their cut. ? Presumably the agency overseeing the parking contracts has also been compromised by graft. ? Since these extra parking payments have no legal sanction, only some not-so-subtle intimidation persuades motorists to pay. There is potential for real nastiness that would make the Parking Wars TV show look tame. ? Finally, most of the money paid is rewarding crime rather than helping to pay for much-needed services. These are not good outcomes! The journalist seems to see think better enforcement is the answer. Good luck with that when all the incentives point towards the corrupt outcome that he so vividly reports. Maybe a better way would be to reduce the temptation to corruptly raise prices? But how? ... Read more at http://www.reinventingparking.org/2010/11/calcuttas-on-street-parking-extortion.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Thu Nov 4 16:50:43 2010 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2010 08:50:43 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Fair transport for an aging society Message-ID: <015c01cb7bf4$fd9fdc20$f8df9460$@britton@ecoplan.org> My friend, Associate Professor Nobuaki Ohmori from The University of Tokyo, is doing some I believe important work on fair transport for an aging society, and in this respect he has honored me by asking me the following question. If anyone here can help him (or perhaps via any of your lists), it would be much appreciated. With kind thanks, Eric Britton -----Original Message----- From: Nobuaki OHMORI [mailto:nobuaki@ut.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp] Sent: Thursday, 04 November, 2010 02:16 To: eric.britton@ecoplan.org Subject: ask for your help: Nobu from Tokyo Dear Eric, This is Nobuaki Ohmori from Tokyo. How have you been? Today I would like to ask for your help on the following two matters: . . . 2. I have also been conducting a research on "accessible cities and transportation for children and parents." As you know, Japan has been facing an aging society with fewer children and Japanese government has been tackling a problem of declining birthrate. The attached file was made by Japanese government and explains related policies in Japan. I would like to review such policies to cope with the declining birthrate and accessible cities and transportation for children and parents in advanced European countries such as France, Sweden, UK, etc. Do you know where I will be able to access to such information? Do you know some persons who are responsible for or know much about this matter? I would much appreciate it if you could help me in the above two matters. Best regards, Nobuaki ************************************************* Nobuaki OHMORI, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Urban Engineering The University of Tokyo 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan TEL: +81-3-5841-6235, +81-3-5841-6232 FAX: +81-3-5841-8527 E-mail: nobuaki@ut.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp http://www.ut.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/members/nobuaki/nobuaki-e.htm http://www.geo.uu.nl/mobilizingICT ************************************************* From: Eric Britton [mailto:eric.britton@ecoplan.org] Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2008 12:05 AM To: 'Nobuaki OHMORI' Subject: RE: City Bikes introduced in our university Congratulations Nobuaki, I am sure this will be an interesting beginning of a project for you and your colleagues. And I hope that your testing of the bikes will proceed very fast, and that you will have the full attention of some of the key government policy units so that once you have a feeling of confidence they will be prepared to move fast. The planet is in worse shape than the Nikkei and as far as the transportation component of our daily lives we know very well what to do next.? And shred bikes is not a bad way to start. With all good wishes, PS. You may have some fun with this from our carsharing work: www.carshare-lite.newmobility.org Eric Britton ??????? ???????????????????????????Carsharing rocks ??????????????????? www.carshare-lite.newmobility.org ? ????????????? ?????????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 From ianenvironmental at googlemail.com Fri Nov 5 04:12:23 2010 From: ianenvironmental at googlemail.com (Ian Perry) Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2010 19:12:23 +0000 Subject: [sustran] Re: FW: Calcutta's on-street parking "extortion rackets" In-Reply-To: <6F850E42E4589F45AE2799F34B645C3601BE2FD06C@MBX06.stf.nus.edu.sg> References: <6F850E42E4589F45AE2799F34B645C3601BE2FD06C@MBX06.stf.nus.edu.sg> Message-ID: Hi Paul, This also happens in Mexico. I witnessed this in Puebla when my friend drove me to a night club - and she told me that this practice is common. Pay or your car will be damaged... It was not just one or two people doing this, but many. As the large club was located away from residential areas, there were a lot of cars. Ian On Thu, Nov 4, 2010 at 2:40 AM, Paul Barter wrote: > This item from Reinventing Parking might be of interest ( > http://www.reinventingparking.org/). > > I would be keen to know if this kind of thing is happening in your city > too. > > Paul > > > *** Calcutta's on-street parking "extortion rackets"< > http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReinventingParking/~3/Vr67xm61ACw/calcuttas-on-street-parking-extortion.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email> > *** > > When the "parking meters" are human beings, they actually notice for > themselves when the parking is saturated. As you might expect, this makes > raising prices rather tempting. Indeed, something like this is happening in > the streets of India's large cities. > > If you are a Shoupista, then it sounds perfect to adjust prices when the > parking is full. Shoupistas are supporters of Prof Donald Shoup's parking > policy ideas, which include performance-pricing for on-street parking > spaces. > > There is just one problem. Raising the prices is against the law. > > Here is a current example< > http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101101/jsp/calcutta/story_13104176.jsp> > from Calcutta (Kolkata) in India, as reported in The Telegraph (Calcutta) > newspaper. The outcomes are far from perfect. (Note that currently US$1 = Rs > 44 or so): > > Extortion rackets thrive in broad daylight across the city in the name of > car parking. The rackets ? run by cooperatives issued licences by the civic > body, in collusion with police and local goons ? force car owners to shell > out exorbitant sums... > Metro visited three such parking zones where owners have to pay between Rs > 20 and Rs 50 per hour for parking their cars. The hourly rates fixed by the > Calcutta Municipal Corporation are Rs 7 for cars and Rs 3 for motorcycles. > > There are more details in the rather breathless report< > http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101101/jsp/calcutta/story_13104176.jsp>. > > Sadly, the nasty side-effects here certainly outweigh any benefits from > 'rational pricing'. > ? The 'human parking meters' (employees of the cooperatives with contracts > to run the parking) have become criminals. > ? The report alleges that the local police have also been corrupted and > even count cars in order to estimate their cut. > ? Presumably the agency overseeing the parking contracts has also been > compromised by graft. > ? Since these extra parking payments have no legal sanction, only some > not-so-subtle intimidation persuades motorists to pay. There is potential > for real nastiness that would make the Parking Wars TV show look tame. > ? Finally, most of the money paid is rewarding crime rather than helping to > pay for much-needed services. > > These are not good outcomes! > > The journalist seems to see think better enforcement is the answer. Good > luck with that when all the incentives point towards the corrupt outcome > that he so vividly reports. > > Maybe a better way would be to reduce the temptation to corruptly raise > prices? But how? > ... > Read more at > http://www.reinventingparking.org/2010/11/calcuttas-on-street-parking-extortion.html > > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > 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 bruun at seas.upenn.edu Fri Nov 5 05:37:03 2010 From: bruun at seas.upenn.edu (bruun at seas.upenn.edu) Date: Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:37:03 -0400 Subject: [sustran] Re: USA: The connection between transportation and social justice In-Reply-To: <4CCC803B.70707@greenidea.eu> References: <4CCC803B.70707@greenidea.eu> Message-ID: <20101104163703.738620l7qmmy2zcf@webmail.seas.upenn.edu> Some other interesting items to add to this. Rosa Parks initiated the Montgomery bus boycott, but the segregationists actually won. Rather than integrate, they just phased out the bus system all together. Montgomery, Alabama had no public transit system at all for decades. Many cities in the south have no or virtually no transit systems, even today. Most that do have them because a local college or University installed them. Even today, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia state governments give no assistance to public transport at all (but huge tax breaks to large corporations, including automotive manufacturing companies that pay low non-union wages.) It isn't just the small cities. Only 4 of the approximately 12 counties surrounding the large city of Atlanta have any public transport at all, and one county recently shut down its system entirely. Palm Beach County (West Palm Beach area) and Broward County (Fort Lauderdale area) are very prosperous but have laughably inadequate public transport systems. Eric Bruun Quoting Todd Edelman : > http://www.grist.org/article/2010-10-29-angela-glover-blackwell-talks-about-the-connection-between-trans > > Do the rights thing > Angela Glover Blackwell talks about the connection between > transportation and social justice > by Sarah Goodyear 29 Oct 2010 9:51 AM > > "This issue is too important to be left to transportation > professionals," says Angela Glover Blackwell. > > Angela Glover Blackwell would like to remind you that transportation is > a civil rights issue. > > Blackwell is the founder and chief executive officer of PolicyLink, "a > national research and action institute advancing economic and social > equity." Their slogan is "Lifting Up What Works." They believe that the > people at the grassroots, closest to the nation's problems, should be a > central part of figuring out solutions. > > Transportation has emerged as a signature issue for PolicyLink. The > group now chairs the newly formed Equity Caucus, part of Transportation > for America, calling on federal policymakers to see equity and social > justice as a key part of transportation planning. > > Blackwell recently was invited to the White House, along with many > governors, mayors, and other elected officials, to give her perspective > on President Obama's proposed $50 billion infrastructure plan. She was > the only public policy advocate to attend. > > She talked to us by phone about how she was able to influence the > discussion that day, about how public transit cuts are devastating to > low-income Americans, and about the central role that transportation > policy has always played in the struggle for civil rights. > > Q. How was it that you came to be invited to sit at that table with the > president? > > A. I was thrilled to be invited to the table, and I'm quite sure that > the reason that I was invited is because just the week before, > PolicyLink and Transportation for America launched the Equity Caucus > [see their principles here]. > > [At] that launch that nearly 200 people attended in the Cannon Office > Building, Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) talked about > transportation in a way that just made it so real. There were people > there who had tears in their eyes, I understand, from listening to him > talk about what transportation means to elderly people trying to get > around, to mothers trying to earn a living. > > I think that [we were invited because of] our focus on people, our focus > on equity, our focus on public transportation, and our determination > that this issue is too important to be left to transportation professionals. > > Q. So there you were. Tell me what you were able to contribute. > > A. You probably saw the list of who attended. There were governors, > mayors, transportation secretaries past and present, labor leaders. When > the president came in, after greeting people and saying a couple of > opening remarks, he said, "We're going to start off this conversation > hearing from Gov. [Ed] Rendell [D-Penn.] and from Angela." So I was just > so pleased to see the equity perspective frame the conversation right at > the top. > > After my remarks, several people referred back to them. In particular, > they picked up on the people focus. I think that those people who care > about transportation have recognized that it is too often an insular > conversation, and the people who are impacted most by the decisions > aren't engaged at all. > > Q. You talk about creating an awareness that there are people who are > constituents for public transportation. Do you see that increasing at > the grassroots level? > > A. I am definitely seeing more engagement. We're seeing real concern in > Chicago, in St. Louis, about the cutbacks in public transportation, what > that means for people. > > The Transportation Equity Network is organizing all over to make sure > that grassroots people in communities -- who are concerned about their > livelihoods and their futures, and how little they're able to get out of > their monthly incomes -- they're really getting involved. I think we're > beginning to see the beginning of a movement stirring all across the > country of people making their voices heard on this issue. > > Q. Could you talk about the importance of public transportation to > people with lower incomes, working-class people? And how that figures > into the larger economic picture? > > A. Yes. There are a couple of things I want to point out in that regard. > One is that the bottom fifth of the nation, the poorest fifth of > Americans, spend 42 percent of their annual household budget on an > automobile budget, more than twice the national average. So for people > who are poor, owning an automobile is a burdensome thing. > > Nearly 25 percent of African-Americans do not have access to a car, > compared that with 7 percent of non-Hispanic whites. You have nearly the > same number of Latinos who do not have access to a car. So this is huge, > this is not an isolated problem. For people who are spending too much of > their income -- over 40 percent just to own a car -- clearly this has a > devastating impact on the economy in terms of all of the things that > people cannot do and cannot participate in. > > For people who don't have access to cars and depend on public > transportation, the current crisis is devastating. More than 110 cities > have public transit routes that are at risk. Children can't get to > school; people can't get to work. 80 percent of the nation's systems are > either considering or have recently enacted fare increases or service cuts. > > But here's something else that Americans need to know. Spending on > transit generates more jobs than spending on highways. If our nation's > 20 metro areas shifted just 50 percent of their highways funds to > transit, they would create over 1.1 million new transit-related jobs in > over 5 years. That's without spending a single dollar more. > > Q. It strikes me that something strange has happened in this country, > that now when people talk about public transit, we get a polarized > political situation where people sometimes say, "Cars are what ordinary > folks use. Investing in public transit, that's what this urban, > sophisticated elite wants." > > A. I have heard that. Part of the reason is because there are two things > going on in this country at the same time. One is that we have > continuing, entrenched urban poverty, with the communities that have > always been left behind continuing to be left behind. > > At the same time that we have that continuing harsh reality, we have > many enlightened people living in metropolitan areas who recognize that > for the sake of climate, we need to get out of our cars and use more > public transportation, we need to live in denser communities, we need to > connect in communities that are diverse and enjoy the cultural > activities that reflect this nation. These people are often moving into > cities -- Chicago, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Manhattan in New > York -- and enjoying the fruits of urban life, looking for safe, > efficient public transit, and wanting to live near transit stops so that > they can be more efficient in the use of their income. > > Often this is what people see as gentrification, and people in poor > communities often fear that if a community starts to gentrify, they may > be pushed out of the communities. > > What we have to remember is that the majority of people who use public > transportation in this nation are people of color, low-income people. > That is what keeps our system going. If we are going to begin to invest > in it, we need to invest in it leading with equity, asking, How do we > build modern public transportation systems that serve those people who > have been the backbone of utilizing public transportation? Who need it, > not because it's the smart thing to do, but it's the only thing for them > to do in order to stretch their dollars and respond to their reality of > not having a car? This notion that public transit is [only] for the > affluent who are looking for a different lifestyle is a false notion. > > Q. I've heard you refer to access to transportation as a civil rights > issue. I would like to hear you speak to that. > > A. It is interesting that transportation, in recent years, has not been > framed as a civil rights issue, because most of the civil rights > struggle in this country has centered around transportation, in one way > or another, starting with Plessy v. Ferguson [in 1896]. That had to do > with access to train cars. Then we have Rosa Parks sitting down on a > bus. We had the Freedom Riders trying to do something to show that black > people ought to be able to ride a bus across jurisdictions, they ought > to be able to ride through the South on a bus without having to go to > the back of the bus. The whole urban renewal, which people often call > "black removal," because that's what happens, in the 60s, was a fight > around highways coming in, going right through communities that had been > vibrant, often destroying the financial district in an African-American > community. > > So if you go all the way from Plessy v. Ferguson right up to the urban > renewal, you will see that the fights have often been around > transportation, and how transportation decisions have been made. Also > the interstate highway system, the roads that have been built that > allowed for the expansion from cities into suburbs, often had a > devastating impact, as people abandoned city schools, and moved to > suburban schools, leaving poor people of color in city schools, with > fewer resources, less political clout, and often abandoning the > neighborhoods and the infrastructure that made those neighborhoods strong. > > I think one of the things that the Equity Caucus is doing is bringing in > the civil rights movement to once again reclaim the fairness issue > involved in transportation policy thinking. > > Q. Anticipating what the Congress is going to look like after the > midterm elections, what do you think the prospects are for advancing > these arguments? > > A. I have been reading the past week the book Nixonland by Rick > Perlstein. I'm just in the first quarter of it, and I have been struck > by how it was not a bright line between Republicans and Democrats on > some fundamental issues. There were liberal Republicans who were proud > to be associated with the civil rights acts that were getting passed in > the '60s. There were liberal Republicans who were real advocates for > civil rights, even before those civil rights. I'm sure there were > Republicans and Democrats who always agreed -- without even thinking > about party lines -- when we were talking about the future of the nation > and how important its infrastructure was to it. Infrastructure used to > be one of those issues that did not divide, but pulled together. > > It ought to be obvious to anyone looking at the global economy that > those nations with the infrastructure are the ones that are going to do > the best. So while it is probably safe to assume that if the Congress > becomes more Republican that having the support for infrastructure > investment in public transportation will become a divisive issue, it's > shocking to me. It shouldn't. > > Q. Well, there is a lot going on that really doesn't make any sense. > > A. It's too true. > > *** > > Sarah Goodyear is Grist?s cities editor. You can follow her Twitter feed > at http://twitter.com/buttermilk1. > > -- > > Todd Edelman > Green Idea Factory, > a member of the OPENbike team > > Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 > > edelman@greenidea.eu > www.greenidea.eu > todd@openbike.se > www.openbike.se > > Skype: toddedelman > > Urbanstr. 45 > 10967 Berlin > Germany > > *** > > OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! > > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > 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 Fri Nov 5 18:37:47 2010 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2010 10:37:47 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: FW: Calcutta's on-street parking "extortion rackets" In-Reply-To: References: <6F850E42E4589F45AE2799F34B645C3601BE2FD06C@MBX06.stf.nus.edu.sg> Message-ID: <013901cb7ccd$1d895330$589bf990$@britton@ecoplan.org> Hey. This happens EVERYWHERE (the circumstances permit). It is part of the human comedy. ;-) From edelman at greenidea.eu Sun Nov 7 07:52:43 2010 From: edelman at greenidea.eu (Todd Edelman) Date: Sat, 06 Nov 2010 23:52:43 +0100 Subject: [sustran] This is no model for development: the "Neoliberal Games" in India Message-ID: <4CD5DC3B.8070305@greenidea.eu> This is no model for development: the "Neoliberal Games" in India from Praful Bidwai, former senior editor of the Times of India http://www.tni.org/article/no-model-development-neoliberal-games-india /The flawed neoliberal notion behind India's hosting of the Commonwealth Games, that 'development' starts with attracting foreign capital investment - has brought only corruption and the destruction of communities to Dehli./ The Commonwealth Games have proved the Cassandras right. Every single dire forecast and dismal prediction has turned out to be correct and every dark fear has come true. The mis-planning and mismanagement of the event was gross, the scale of corruption staggering, the profligate spending on the international sports bureaucracy unparalleled, and the brutalisation of Delhi and its suburbs complete. Even for the Games' organisers and supporters, the overall balance-sheet is at best blotted and ambivalent---witness the mutual recrimination. The balance-sheet is abysmally negative for the Games' many direct victims---including the workers who toiled at near-starvation wages to complete the stadia, the one lakh families that were summarily evicted, and the beggars who were illegally incarcerated---, and the indirect victims, comprising the entire population of the Capital, which suffered acute civic distress, traffic disruption and an overbearing display of hubris and police power. India set out to impress the world as a rival to China in hosting a sports mega-spectacle. It ended up firmly etching the images of a collapsed bridge near the Nehru stadium and filthy toilet bowls and soiled bedsheets in the Games village on the minds of the international audience. These were barely relieved by the relatively smooth conduct of the Games under unprecedented surveillance. Sections of the media have tried to put a gloss on the Games' colossal failures by terming the opening ceremony a grand success and by pleading that despite numerous hitches, everything ultimately went off OK thanks to the Indian art of jugaad, for which the world grudgingly admires India. And didn't India come out Number Two in the medals ranking?! But everything didn't go off OK. Many athletes dropped out for a variety of reasons including security fears. The Games failed in their stated objective of promoting tourism and showcasing India's culture. Winning medals wasn't a goal. It was not OK to splurge the equivalent of the entire annual budget of the government's largest social programme, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.*It was not OK to further distort urban development by promoting elitist transportation *and pricey housing along Delhi's radial corridors. It was certainly not OK to threaten the survival of the Yamuna by building right in its flood-plains. Any menace to the river will imperil Delhi and scores of other cities, producing disasters that could make the 2005 Mumbai floods look like a picnic. Some people set much store by the inquiry ordered under former Comptroller and Auditor General VK Shunglu. Many hope that Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi, characterised as the villain of the piece, will be fixed. They feel encouraged at the discovery of evidence that a construction company was paid twice over for the same work. Contractors have been told not to dismantle assemblies/buildings and thus destroy evidence. So the government seemingly means business. Let's put this in perspective. The Games were approved in 2003. But nothing was done for years to lay the ground or begin construction of different facilities. This is a favourite tactic of corrupt contractors and babus: delay things till there's panic and then you can push anything through in the name of fire-fighting, somehow "getting things done"---regardless of the cost. Involved here was not just the OC, but many layers of Central and Delhi bureaucrats and municipal and other authorities. The causes and consequences of these "mother" delays and cost overruns won't be investigated. As for corruption in procurement of material, from ashtrays to earth-movers, Shunglu can at best demand to know if there was competitive bidding. He won't find it easy to refute the pre-planned answer that the time available was too short, or a particular product of quality is only made by one manufacturer. What certainly won't come to light is "hidden contracts" or "private treaty" arrangements: quiet transfers of huge sums to media houses and programming companies for publicity, with the records showing straightforward commercial deals. As for Kalmadi, he won't be easily fazed by the inquiry. He is a seasoned collector of funds for political parties and knows that the Congress would expect him to contribute to its electoral kitty soon. So we are unlikely to see many heads roll. Meanwhile, the Western (especially Anglo-Saxon) world's leadership will have lowered India's ranking by a notch or two. Not many notches, because unlike our elite, it was never going to judge India by the Games. It had low expectations of them in the first place. This corresponds to its general perception of India's dualist complex of poverty and wealth with corruption, and its experience with aggressive Indian businessmen (who too practise jugaad). The only new factor was the open plunder of money belonging to India's poor public by a rapacious contractor-bureaucrat-sports-czar mafia. With its pillage of India, the elite has inflicted further damage upon itself. -- Todd Edelman Green Idea Factory, a member of the OPENbike team Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 edelman@greenidea.eu www.greenidea.eu todd@openbike.se www.openbike.se Skype: toddedelman Urbanstr. 45 10967 Berlin Germany *** OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Tue Nov 9 01:03:02 2010 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2010 17:03:02 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Streets of the world before your eyes Message-ID: <001b01cb7f5e$70cf2c70$526d8550$@britton@ecoplan.org> If you click here -- http://picasaweb.google.com/fekbritton/WorldStreetsSocialSpaceFormat?authkey =Gv1sRgCISvgIH6-66NWQ#slideshow/5537134055263434098 -- you will be taken to a slide show concerning which we would greatly like to have your comments and suggestions. What you will see there is an eventual draft section in support of World Streets - www.WorldStreets.org -- in which we set out something like one hundred photographs of street scenes in various parts of the world, all in what we call our "social space format". I invite you to have a look at tell ...us what you think. The display is called up as a slide show. To exit and view the individual photographs, all you need to do is click . Our goal in bringing this in-process collection together is to give our readers a feel for the enormous variety of what goes on in the world's streets and the ways in which they are used (and abused). You are also invited to make use of them for your own working purposes, though we would ask you to extend credit for your sources. And if you have striking photos of street scenes in this strange 940x198 format, it would be kind if you might consider sharing them with our readers. Someone once told me that images are important too. Eric Britton From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Tue Nov 9 19:05:59 2010 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2010 11:05:59 +0100 Subject: [sustran] [India Streets] Rough trade on the streets of Bogota, much like here Message-ID: <014e01cb7ff5$b747c440$25d74cc0$@britton@ecoplan.org> Rough trade on the streets of Bogota, much like here Loved by the people for their extreme utility, abhorred by the state as a symbol of backwardness, cycle rickshaws ? or pedicabs ? are not a new phenomenon in India. Originally from Japan, the hand-drawn rickshaw was introduced in Simla in India around 1880. It was, then, a vehicle to carry the social elite. By [...] Read more of this post - http://indiastreets.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/rough-trade-on-the-streets-of-bogota-much-like-here/ From patwardhan.sujit at gmail.com Wed Nov 10 14:02:08 2010 From: patwardhan.sujit at gmail.com (Sujit Patwardhan) Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2010 10:32:08 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Car dominated "vision" - destroying our cities Message-ID: Forwarded article from HasiruUsiru, Bangalore. More information about them can be found here: http://www.esgindia.org/campaigns/Tree%20felling/Hasire%20Usiru/background.html 10 November 2010 This article from the Deccan Herald, Bangalore brings out forcefully how in many of our cities the Old Mobility Concepts continue to dominate the thinking, and planning of projects at the State and Municipal Corporation level, despite the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) that all our national leaders swear by and despite irrefutable evidence from all parts of the globe that "Car Dominated Traffic Vision" is a guaranteed prescription for urban disaster. Do read this article and oppose such outdated traffic planning concepts in your own city. Is it too much to expect any action from the Urban Development Ministry at the Centre that seems to turn a blind eye to such blatant disregards to its recommendations and continues to dole out huge funds to cities under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNuRM)? -- Sujit *Tagore underpass: Crime with impunity* Deccan Herald - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 By Vinod Vyasulu http://www.deccanherald.com/content/111426/tagore-underpass-crime-impunity.html *The citizens of Bangalore have been blessed by the gods.* They get to show the world how to survive and smile in spite of a flawed democracy that finds many ways to harass them. The Tagore circle underpass (TCU) is a wonderful example of how to harass citizens with impunity. KR Road was one of the nicest roads in Bangalore. From city market to Jayanagar, it was a beautiful stretch with old tress providing shade in summer and fresh air year round. The bureaucrats were terribly unhappy. How could such pleasant surroundings continue when they were pledged to harass all citizens round the year without fear or favour? It was simply unacceptable that people could enjoy a pleasant walk on KR Road at any time of the year. It was unacceptable to these authorities that traffic flowed smoothly from north to south and vice versa. It was evidence of humongous failure on their part. And so remedial action began. The first step was to ensure that all beautiful trees were cut. Whether the volume of traffic justified it or not, the road was to be widened in public interest. It's a matter of pride to the city corporation! Bangalore should not look like a pensioner's paradise when it was growing as the back office of the world. Look at the stretch near the National high school. From a majestic highway it was reduced to poor quality road in a few years. Bangaloreans, patient and calm, took it lying down. *Cutting trees* Some even sympathised with the authorities, saying they had a difficult job to do in managing a growing city; we should not make life difficult by raising objections over the cutting of a few trees in the Garden City. To help citizens, they took up a small project - widening the road between the post office and the police station. They cut several trees. Bangaloreans remained calm and composed. After a brief respite, they moved again. This time the target was the road opposite National College. The flyover, on a west-east direction, would go right opposite the college. The college had to shift its gate. It was unacceptable that there was no chaos when so many students went to and fro. It was unacceptable that the choultries on the stretch to Lal Bagh felt no pressure of traffic. And with great ingenuity they came up with a plan for a huge flyover. The fact that residents of the area protested was taken as an example of democracy - people had a right, almost a duty to object. The authorities were above such mundane things as consultation. It was their duty to ignore such protest in their effort to make the city dirty and dusty, on par with the dustiest cities in the world. And the flyover was built. It exceeded its cost estimates, and it took longer than planned. And Bangaloreans remained calm and composed. They took to the dust with resignation and sought 'moksha' elsewhere. The authorities had some failures too. They are human, and we must understand this. They experimented with 'magic boxes' in some areas. On the Sankey Road, they constructed magic boxes near the Place Road junction, and near Cauvery Theatre. They constructed magic boxes on Hosur Road. They were all complete failures. Learning from this failure, the authorities returned to KR Road, with a plan of a grade separator at Tagore Circle. Citizens exercised their democratic right to protest. They claimed it was not needed. They said there was no traffic disruption. There was plenty of parking. The authorities knew better. They went ahead in public interest. And so we have a mess near SV Complex and Sovereign Apartments. Now, to ensure that misery is extended widely, they have dug up the road near the Basavangudi Club. The next step is to take land away from these privileged buildings. This is an opportunity to take away land and inconvenience a large number of taxpaying citizens. A special group is senior citizens and the infirm. Earlier they had problems crossing the road. Now they are spared from walking as there are no pavements. They can remain peacefully at home. And this success will be replicated elsewhere. Perhaps in other cities of Karnataka as well. Truly the TCU is a model to be emulated! ------------------------------ http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/no-to-tagore-circle-underpass http://www.petitiononline.com/underpas/ http://www.petol.org/underpas ------------------------------ http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_bangalore-road-widening-rage-goes-online_1421805-all http://www.commonfloor.com/stories/say-no-to-bangalore-road-widening-online-506 http://www.mybangalore.com/article/0710/bbmps-road-widening-project-will-displace-over-2-lakh-people-in-the-city-.html http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/no-to-road-widening-in-bangalore http://www.petitiononline.com/roadwide/ http://petol.org/roadwide ------------------------------ http://www.thepetitionsite.com/4/say-no-to-sankey-road-widening ------------------------------ *Tagore Circle Underpass (TCU) is just another case study of the JNNURM(Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission) triggered/hastened collapse of urbania in India, Karnataka and Bangalore and it's being frenziedly replicated in Mysore in almost each and every ward, locality / area and main road.* ------------------------------ - Syed Tanveeruddin / ????? ????????????? / ????? ???????????? Member Karanji and Siddharthanagar Tax Payers' Association (KSTPA) Member Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP) ------------------------------ -- -------------------------------------------------------------------- [image: CARTRAP.jpg] *Cities need mobility, not cars.* -------------------------------------------------------------------- Sujit Patwardhan patwardhan.sujit@gmail.com sujit@parisar.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yamuna, ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007, India Tel: +91 20 25537955 Cell: +91 98220 26627 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Parisar: www.parisar.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 13377 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20101110/99e92342/attachment.jpe From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Wed Nov 10 17:33:55 2010 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:33:55 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Car dominated "vision" - destroying our cities In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <004e01cb80b2$0723c5b0$156b5110$@britton@ecoplan.org> Thanks Sujit. You know that we are presently working hard to create the working frame for India Streets, in the hope of turning it into something really useful in support of the uphill push to sustainable streets and sustainable cities across India. One of the working tools we have in the lower half of each page of the journal (Resources) is a short read-out of the latest half dozen postings to Sustran -- and of course your mention today of the Bangalore article is right there at the top. That's good. But I thought we might wish to consider something a bit more and more visible. So this morning we opened up a Bad News Dept, where as our first entry of honor you will find the Deccan Herald article only one click away. May I ask for all your views and thoughts on that? Is this a good idea? And if so, please consider this an invitation to keep us informed of 'Bad Practices" (from which incidentally I am convinced we have more to learn than from the so-called Best Practices of which we hear so much). From sutp at sutp.org Thu Nov 11 00:20:01 2010 From: sutp at sutp.org (SUTP Team) Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:50:01 +0530 Subject: [sustran] =?utf-8?Q?Don=27t_miss_GTZ=27s_latest_Module_2c_on_?= =?utf-8?Q?=E2=80=9CParking_Management=3A_A_contribution_towards_Liveable_?= =?utf-8?B?Q2l0aWVz4oCd?= Message-ID: <4CDAB821.9050809@sutp.org> Every car that is on the road needs a place to be parked: it is a key issue in almost all urban areas.In many towns and cities parking is not managed at all, mismanaged or managed only in very limited areas. The availability and cost of a parking space is an important determinant of whether or not people choose to drive to a particular destination, and also whether they choose to own a car at all. Poor parking management or unregulated parking results in traffic congestion, disruption of the usability and aesthetics of urban spaces, corruption, hindrance of pedestrian access and movement, safety concerns, inequitable usage of road space, etc. Parking controls and pricing are transport demand management measures implemented frequently by local authorities, yet little of the academic literature deals with experience of this policy, preferring instead to concentrate on the politically ?more lucrative? topic of congestion charging. This module attempts to redress that balance a little. It discusses the various definitional, operational, planning, institutional and social challenges around parking practices in cities, and how these could be overcome. The module also discusses topics like types of marking, parking demand and common myths associated with vehicle parking. The publication contains 50 fully illustrated pages and provides further reading and links on additional aspects of parking management. This new GTZ Sourcebook module on parking management is authored by Tom Rye, Professor of Transport Policy & Mobility Management in the School of Engineering and the Built Environment at Edinburgh Napier. This module offers measures to address parking problems in developing cities and is aimed primarily at stakeholders in local, regional or national governments and anybody with an interest in this issue. This includes not only traffic engineers but also policy makers, land use planners, transport planners, urban designers and in general anyone who has an interest in making parking more efficient and more sustainable. More information: http://www.sutp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2471&Itemid=1&lang=en -- SUTP Team sutp[at]sutp.org From jcmota at ua.pt Thu Nov 11 01:28:29 2010 From: jcmota at ua.pt (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Jos=E9_Carlos_Mota?=) Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:28:29 -0000 Subject: [sustran] =?iso-8859-1?Q?Questionnaire_about_cycling_habits_=7C_I?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?nqu=E9rito_sobre_h=E1bitos_cicl=E1veis?= Message-ID: <6B8BBF57D7F744C8B56D46AAB245D54C@clients.ua.pt> Questionnaire about cycling habits | Inqu?rito sobre h?bitos cicl?veis -Portuguese version: http://www.thesistools.com/web/?id=158869 -English version: http://www.thesistools.com/web/?id=158633 -French version: http://www.thesistools.com/web/?id=158624 -Spanish version: http://www.thesistools.com/web/?id=158634 Appreciate your answer! | Agradecemos a sua resposta! Research Project on Cycling Jos? Carlos Mota Sec??o Aut?noma de Ci?ncias Sociais, Jur?dicas e Pol?ticas Universidade de Aveiro 3810-197 AVEIRO | PORTUGAL email: jcmota@ua.pt | josecarlosmota@gmail.com http://planeamentoregionaleurbano.blogs.sapo.pt/ http://www.facebook.com/josecarlosmota http://twitter.com/josecarlosbmota mobile +351.919656514 phone + 351.234370230 fax +351.234372500 From edelman at greenidea.eu Thu Nov 11 20:47:19 2010 From: edelman at greenidea.eu (Todd Edelman) Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2010 12:47:19 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Vietnam to Negotiate with ADB on Metro Line Message-ID: <4CDBD7C7.7040506@greenidea.eu> http://www.railway-technology.com/news/news101562.html?WT.mc_id=DN_News The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will negotiate with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to seek funding for the $1.2bn second Metro project in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The SBV will negotiate with the ADB on behalf of the Vietnamese Government and will complete the concerned procedures with ministries in the country for the discussions. Vietnam started work on its second metro route in August this year. Upon completion, the 12km, 11-station Metro Route No 2 will run through districts 1, 3 and 10, Tan Binh and Tan Phu districts in the city, according to the Vietnam News Agency. Construction is expected to be complete in 2015 with commercial services starting in 2016. Funding is expected to be provided partly by the government and from loans from the ADB, the Overseas Development Administration and the European Investment Bank. -- Todd Edelman Green Idea Factory, a member of the OPENbike team Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 edelman@greenidea.eu www.greenidea.eu todd@openbike.se www.openbike.se Skype: toddedelman Urbanstr. 45 10967 Berlin Germany *** OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Sat Nov 13 18:29:14 2010 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 10:29:14 +0100 Subject: [sustran] India Streets invites comments on "India Steers Full Speed towards Low Carbon Transport" Message-ID: <00d101cb8315$408d6030$c1a82090$@britton@ecoplan.org> "India Steers Full Speed towards Low Carbon Transport" Posted by India Streets on 12 November 2010 "We do not normally carry media releases on projects, programs, reports or books, but today we make an exception and are gladly posting the following important announcement. We share this both here and on the Sustran Global South forum for comment and discussion. It is our firm intention to keep an eye on this and our firm hope that the money spent and technical resources brought to the job will result above all in multiplying the number of many and diverse on-street examples of how sustainable mobility works in the interest of the entire population - and not just the privileged (automotive and relatively affluent) few. As William Blake put it roughly two centuries ago: "He who would do good to another must do it in minute particulars." India Streets pledges keep as eye on the minute particulars." The full UNEP release is available both on World Streets at http://indiastreets.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/india-steers-full-speed-towards -low-carbon-transport/. Or direct on the UNEP site: http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=651&Articl eID=6829&l=en - - - - - And this is to invite your comments both here and on World Streets. And if you agree we would like to be able to take selected comments and add them directly to the main article, so that readers will have a fuller picture of the reactions to this announcement, and some thoughts and hopes for the future. We look forward with real interest to your comments. And of course we wish the greatest of success to this promising initiative. Eric Britton From edelman at greenidea.eu Sun Nov 14 03:42:56 2010 From: edelman at greenidea.eu (Todd Edelman) Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 19:42:56 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' Message-ID: <4CDEDC30.6030409@greenidea.eu> Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' http://www.thelocal.de/national/20101112-31139.html India?s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh attacked German automakers on Friday, saying driving big-engined luxury models from BMW and Mercedes-Benz in his country was ?criminal.? Expressing his wish for better fuel efficiency in India, Ramesh said people should not be encouraged to buy vehicles such as powerful German luxury cars and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. ?The luxurious growth of large-size vehicles like SUVs is really a growth of concern, use of vehicles like SUVs and BMW in countries like India is criminal,? he said at a UN function in New Delhi, according to news agency IANS. "I think we seriously need to think about fuel policy regime," he added, suggesting that these luxury models were still made because they run on subsidised diesel fuel, making the real beneficiaries the owners of "BMWs, the Benzs and Hondas," IANS reported. The country should levy extra fees and mandatory fuel efficiency standards on these cars, the minister suggested. "We cannot ask people to buy or not to buy a particular car. But through an effective fiscal policy, we can certainly have an impact," he said. A new committee on national transport plans to give recommendations for such a program in just over a year, he added. India?s auto market is among the fastest growing in the world, particularly in the luxury sector, with German carmakers expanding their operations there significantly in recent years *** See also http://www.flickr.com/photos/edelman/2163265797/in/set-72157602171242536/ -- Todd Edelman Green Idea Factory, a member of the OPENbike team Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 edelman@greenidea.eu www.greenidea.eu todd@openbike.se www.openbike.se Skype: toddedelman Urbanstr. 45 10967 Berlin Germany *** OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! From krc12353 at gmail.com Sun Nov 14 04:06:00 2010 From: krc12353 at gmail.com (Karthik Rao-Cavale) Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 14:06:00 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Re: Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' In-Reply-To: <4CDEDC30.6030409@greenidea.eu> References: <4CDEDC30.6030409@greenidea.eu> Message-ID: I think it is really important that India do two things: 1) Cutback the fuel subsidy and concentrate on subsidizing food and other essential commodities. Currently, India's National Advisory Council is drafting a national food security bill in conjunction with the national planning commission. What was originally a plan to provide universal coverage, with all nutritional needs being taken care off, has now been whittled down to a bare-bones scheme with only cereals (and maybe sugar and kerosene), because the Planning Commission thinks that we cannot afford a universal and comprehensive scheme. Now, the additional cost to make the scheme universal (thereby ensuring that no one is left out) would be about 80,000 crore rupees (800 billion rupees). The cost of the vehicle fuel subsidy itself is about 200 billion rupees - so cutting back on the fuel subsidy can make a more comprehensive food security bill possible. 2) Create legislation that will ensure that in the next few decades, personal and freight/public transport use different fuels. As long as the current regime continues, any increase in diesel prices will be impossible due to the trucking lobby, and the big-diesel-car-owners will reap the benefits. These diesel cars need to be phased out if a differential policy towards the two sectors is to succeed. On Sat, Nov 13, 2010 at 1:42 PM, Todd Edelman wrote: > Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' > http://www.thelocal.de/national/20101112-31139.html > > India?s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh attacked German automakers on > Friday, saying driving big-engined luxury models from BMW and > Mercedes-Benz in his country was ?criminal.? > > Expressing his wish for better fuel efficiency in India, Ramesh said > people should not be encouraged to buy vehicles such as powerful German > luxury cars and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. > > ?The luxurious growth of large-size vehicles like SUVs is really a > growth of concern, use of vehicles like SUVs and BMW in countries like > India is criminal,? he said at a UN function in New Delhi, according to > news agency IANS. > > "I think we seriously need to think about fuel policy regime," he added, > suggesting that these luxury models were still made because they run on > subsidised diesel fuel, making the real beneficiaries the owners of > "BMWs, the Benzs and Hondas," IANS reported. > > The country should levy extra fees and mandatory fuel efficiency > standards on these cars, the minister suggested. > > "We cannot ask people to buy or not to buy a particular car. But through > an effective fiscal policy, we can certainly have an impact," he said. > > A new committee on national transport plans to give recommendations for > such a program in just over a year, he added. > > India?s auto market is among the fastest growing in the world, > particularly in the luxury sector, with German carmakers expanding their > operations there significantly in recent years > > *** > > See also > http://www.flickr.com/photos/edelman/2163265797/in/set-72157602171242536/ > > -- > > Todd Edelman > Green Idea Factory, > a member of the OPENbike team > > Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 > > edelman@greenidea.eu > www.greenidea.eu > todd@openbike.se > www.openbike.se > > Skype: toddedelman > > Urbanstr. 45 > 10967 Berlin > Germany > > *** > > OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! > > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > -- karthik From binacb at gmail.com Sun Nov 14 11:17:52 2010 From: binacb at gmail.com (Bina C.Balakrishnan) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 07:47:52 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' In-Reply-To: <4CDEDC30.6030409@greenidea.eu> References: <4CDEDC30.6030409@greenidea.eu> Message-ID: Thats not good reporting. What the Minister said is "Use of these cars is criminal", not that German cars are criminal. That is a huge difference. I read the original article when it came out inthe Indian newspapers. I am one hundred percent with Mr. Jairam Ramesh about the use of SUVs on Indian streets - or urban streets, for that matter. These are very large vehicles, and their presence in the traffic stream does cause interference. Besides these large vehicles are not required for purposes of urban movement. And they DO consume a lot of gas. Bina C. Balakrishnan Consultant - Sustainable Transportation Policy, Planning & Management Mumbai, India Cell: +91 98339 00108 Home: +91 22 23630572 Fax: +91 22 23692673 e-mail: binacb@gmail.com binac@rediffmail.com web : www.binabalakrishnan.com skype: binacb ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 12:12 AM, Todd Edelman wrote: > Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' > http://www.thelocal.de/national/20101112-31139.html > > India?s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh attacked German automakers on > Friday, saying driving big-engined luxury models from BMW and > Mercedes-Benz in his country was ?criminal.? > > Expressing his wish for better fuel efficiency in India, Ramesh said > people should not be encouraged to buy vehicles such as powerful German > luxury cars and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. > > ?The luxurious growth of large-size vehicles like SUVs is really a > growth of concern, use of vehicles like SUVs and BMW in countries like > India is criminal,? he said at a UN function in New Delhi, according to > news agency IANS. > > "I think we seriously need to think about fuel policy regime," he added, > suggesting that these luxury models were still made because they run on > subsidised diesel fuel, making the real beneficiaries the owners of > "BMWs, the Benzs and Hondas," IANS reported. > > The country should levy extra fees and mandatory fuel efficiency > standards on these cars, the minister suggested. > > "We cannot ask people to buy or not to buy a particular car. But through > an effective fiscal policy, we can certainly have an impact," he said. > > A new committee on national transport plans to give recommendations for > such a program in just over a year, he added. > > India?s auto market is among the fastest growing in the world, > particularly in the luxury sector, with German carmakers expanding their > operations there significantly in recent years > > *** > > See also > http://www.flickr.com/photos/edelman/2163265797/in/set-72157602171242536/ > > -- > > Todd Edelman > Green Idea Factory, > a member of the OPENbike team > > Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 > > edelman@greenidea.eu > www.greenidea.eu > todd@openbike.se > www.openbike.se > > Skype: toddedelman > > Urbanstr. 45 > 10967 Berlin > Germany > > *** > > OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! > > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > 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 ashok.sreenivas at gmail.com Sun Nov 14 12:44:28 2010 From: ashok.sreenivas at gmail.com (Ashok Sreenivas) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 09:14:28 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' In-Reply-To: References: <4CDEDC30.6030409@greenidea.eu> Message-ID: Agree with Bina. I happen to have been at the "conference" where he made the statement. What he said was about the differential taxation on diesel and petrol in India promoting the use of diesel vehicles, particularly larger SUVs - which definitely needs to be curbed. Mr. Ramesh is easily one of the more respected ministers in the current Indian government and generally has progressive views. However, I must also add that in the matter of transportation, his view currently seemed to rather purely technology-centric as he spoke primarily only about fuel economy standards, better fuels, electric vehicles etc. All important no doubt, but only a (small?) part of the solution with other components such as integrated neighbourhoods, walking, cycling, very good, affordable, reliable public transport and an integration among these being much more important. I was particularly disappointed when he said that he thought that [and I paraphrase here] building cities for walking and cycling was "romantic". Ashok On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 7:47 AM, Bina C.Balakrishnan wrote: > Thats not good reporting. > > What the Minister said is "Use of these cars is criminal", not that German > cars are criminal. That is a huge difference. > > I read the original article when it came out inthe Indian newspapers. > I am one hundred percent with Mr. Jairam Ramesh about the use of SUVs on > Indian streets - or urban streets, for that matter. These are very large > vehicles, and their presence in the traffic stream does cause interference. > Besides these large vehicles are not required for purposes of urban > movement. And they DO consume a lot of gas. > > Bina C. Balakrishnan > Consultant - > Sustainable Transportation Policy, Planning & Management > Mumbai, India > > Cell: +91 98339 00108 > > Home: +91 22 23630572 > Fax: +91 22 23692673 > e-mail: binacb@gmail.com > binac@rediffmail.com > web : www.binabalakrishnan.com > skype: binacb > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 12:12 AM, Todd Edelman > wrote: > > > Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' > > http://www.thelocal.de/national/20101112-31139.html > > > > India?s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh attacked German automakers on > > Friday, saying driving big-engined luxury models from BMW and > > Mercedes-Benz in his country was ?criminal.? > > > > Expressing his wish for better fuel efficiency in India, Ramesh said > > people should not be encouraged to buy vehicles such as powerful German > > luxury cars and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. > > > > ?The luxurious growth of large-size vehicles like SUVs is really a > > growth of concern, use of vehicles like SUVs and BMW in countries like > > India is criminal,? he said at a UN function in New Delhi, according to > > news agency IANS. > > > > "I think we seriously need to think about fuel policy regime," he added, > > suggesting that these luxury models were still made because they run on > > subsidised diesel fuel, making the real beneficiaries the owners of > > "BMWs, the Benzs and Hondas," IANS reported. > > > > The country should levy extra fees and mandatory fuel efficiency > > standards on these cars, the minister suggested. > > > > "We cannot ask people to buy or not to buy a particular car. But through > > an effective fiscal policy, we can certainly have an impact," he said. > > > > A new committee on national transport plans to give recommendations for > > such a program in just over a year, he added. > > > > India?s auto market is among the fastest growing in the world, > > particularly in the luxury sector, with German carmakers expanding their > > operations there significantly in recent years > > > > *** > > > > See also > > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/edelman/2163265797/in/set-72157602171242536/ > > > > -- > > > > Todd Edelman > > Green Idea Factory, > > a member of the OPENbike team > > > > Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 > > > > edelman@greenidea.eu > > www.greenidea.eu > > todd@openbike.se > > www.openbike.se > > > > Skype: toddedelman > > > > Urbanstr. 45 > > 10967 Berlin > > Germany > > > > *** > > > > OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! > > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > > > ================================================================ > > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > > (the 'Global South'). > > > > > > -- > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > 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 schipper at wri.org Sun Nov 14 12:48:32 2010 From: schipper at wri.org (Lee Schipper) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 10:48:32 +0700 Subject: [sustran] Re: Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' In-Reply-To: References: <4CDEDC30.6030409@greenidea.eu> Message-ID: Agree with Bina and Ashok. Cheap diesel hurts and its pollution kills. The same thing with cheap diesel happened in Europe as new diesels grew in size and power much faster than new petrol cars until the higher prices for both fuels brought diesel back to its roots. Happy to circulate publications on these recent trends Lee Schipper Global Met Studies UC Berkeley Precourt En Eff Center Stanford On Nov 14, 2010, at 10:44, "Ashok Sreenivas" wrote: > Agree with Bina. I happen to have been at the "conference" where he made the > statement. What he said was about the differential taxation on diesel and > petrol in India promoting the use of diesel vehicles, particularly larger > SUVs - which definitely needs to be curbed. Mr. Ramesh is easily one of the > more respected ministers in the current Indian government and generally has > progressive views. > > However, I must also add that in the matter of transportation, his view > currently seemed to rather purely technology-centric as he spoke primarily > only about fuel economy standards, better fuels, electric vehicles etc. All > important no doubt, but only a (small?) part of the solution with other > components such as integrated neighbourhoods, walking, cycling, very good, > affordable, reliable public transport and an integration among these being > much more important. I was particularly disappointed when he said that he > thought that [and I paraphrase here] building cities for walking and cycling > was "romantic". > > Ashok > > On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 7:47 AM, Bina C.Balakrishnan wrote: > >> Thats not good reporting. >> >> What the Minister said is "Use of these cars is criminal", not that German >> cars are criminal. That is a huge difference. >> >> I read the original article when it came out inthe Indian newspapers. >> I am one hundred percent with Mr. Jairam Ramesh about the use of SUVs on >> Indian streets - or urban streets, for that matter. These are very large >> vehicles, and their presence in the traffic stream does cause interference. >> Besides these large vehicles are not required for purposes of urban >> movement. And they DO consume a lot of gas. >> >> Bina C. Balakrishnan >> Consultant - >> Sustainable Transportation Policy, Planning & Management >> Mumbai, India >> >> Cell: +91 98339 00108 >> >> Home: +91 22 23630572 >> Fax: +91 22 23692673 >> e-mail: binacb@gmail.com >> binac@rediffmail.com >> web : www.binabalakrishnan.com >> skype: binacb >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 12:12 AM, Todd Edelman >> wrote: >> >>> Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' >>> http://www.thelocal.de/national/20101112-31139.html >>> >>> India?s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh attacked German automakers on >>> Friday, saying driving big-engined luxury models from BMW and >>> Mercedes-Benz in his country was ?criminal.? >>> >>> Expressing his wish for better fuel efficiency in India, Ramesh said >>> people should not be encouraged to buy vehicles such as powerful German >>> luxury cars and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. >>> >>> ?The luxurious growth of large-size vehicles like SUVs is really a >>> growth of concern, use of vehicles like SUVs and BMW in countries like >>> India is criminal,? he said at a UN function in New Delhi, according to >>> news agency IANS. >>> >>> "I think we seriously need to think about fuel policy regime," he added, >>> suggesting that these luxury models were still made because they run on >>> subsidised diesel fuel, making the real beneficiaries the owners of >>> "BMWs, the Benzs and Hondas," IANS reported. >>> >>> The country should levy extra fees and mandatory fuel efficiency >>> standards on these cars, the minister suggested. >>> >>> "We cannot ask people to buy or not to buy a particular car. But through >>> an effective fiscal policy, we can certainly have an impact," he said. >>> >>> A new committee on national transport plans to give recommendations for >>> such a program in just over a year, he added. >>> >>> India?s auto market is among the fastest growing in the world, >>> particularly in the luxury sector, with German carmakers expanding their >>> operations there significantly in recent years >>> >>> *** >>> >>> See also >>> >> http://www.flickr.com/photos/edelman/2163265797/in/set-72157602171242536/ >>> >>> -- >>> >>> Todd Edelman >>> Green Idea Factory, >>> a member of the OPENbike team >>> >>> Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 >>> >>> edelman@greenidea.eu >>> www.greenidea.eu >>> todd@openbike.se >>> www.openbike.se >>> >>> Skype: toddedelman >>> >>> Urbanstr. 45 >>> 10967 Berlin >>> Germany >>> >>> *** >>> >>> OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! >>> >>> -------------------------------------------------------- >>> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit >>> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss >>> >>> -------------------------------------------------------- >>> If you get sustran-discuss 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. >>> >>> ================================================================ >>> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, >>> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries >>> (the 'Global South'). >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> -------------------------------------------------------- >> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit >> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss >> >> -------------------------------------------------------- >> If you get sustran-discuss 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. >> >> ================================================================ >> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, >> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries >> (the 'Global South'). >> > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > 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 schipper at wri.org Sun Nov 14 12:50:43 2010 From: schipper at wri.org (Lee Schipper) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 10:50:43 +0700 Subject: [sustran] Re: Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' In-Reply-To: References: <4CDEDC30.6030409@greenidea.eu> Message-ID: <8C5296E2-9472-4543-927D-2AEAA5BAFC08@wri.org> Would also emphasize that what Ashok wrote is particularly important. Western governments are so hung up on fuel economy as a way of dodging the more important transport issues he describes Lee Schipper Global Met Studies UC Berkeley Precourt En Eff Center Stanford On Nov 14, 2010, at 10:44, "Ashok Sreenivas" wrote: > Agree with Bina. I happen to have been at the "conference" where he made the > statement. What he said was about the differential taxation on diesel and > petrol in India promoting the use of diesel vehicles, particularly larger > SUVs - which definitely needs to be curbed. Mr. Ramesh is easily one of the > more respected ministers in the current Indian government and generally has > progressive views. > > However, I must also add that in the matter of transportation, his view > currently seemed to rather purely technology-centric as he spoke primarily > only about fuel economy standards, better fuels, electric vehicles etc. All > important no doubt, but only a (small?) part of the solution with other > components such as integrated neighbourhoods, walking, cycling, very good, > affordable, reliable public transport and an integration among these being > much more important. I was particularly disappointed when he said that he > thought that [and I paraphrase here] building cities for walking and cycling > was "romantic". > > Ashok > > On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 7:47 AM, Bina C.Balakrishnan wrote: > >> Thats not good reporting. >> >> What the Minister said is "Use of these cars is criminal", not that German >> cars are criminal. That is a huge difference. >> >> I read the original article when it came out inthe Indian newspapers. >> I am one hundred percent with Mr. Jairam Ramesh about the use of SUVs on >> Indian streets - or urban streets, for that matter. These are very large >> vehicles, and their presence in the traffic stream does cause interference. >> Besides these large vehicles are not required for purposes of urban >> movement. And they DO consume a lot of gas. >> >> Bina C. Balakrishnan >> Consultant - >> Sustainable Transportation Policy, Planning & Management >> Mumbai, India >> >> Cell: +91 98339 00108 >> >> Home: +91 22 23630572 >> Fax: +91 22 23692673 >> e-mail: binacb@gmail.com >> binac@rediffmail.com >> web : www.binabalakrishnan.com >> skype: binacb >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 12:12 AM, Todd Edelman >> wrote: >> >>> Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' >>> http://www.thelocal.de/national/20101112-31139.html >>> >>> India?s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh attacked German automakers on >>> Friday, saying driving big-engined luxury models from BMW and >>> Mercedes-Benz in his country was ?criminal.? >>> >>> Expressing his wish for better fuel efficiency in India, Ramesh said >>> people should not be encouraged to buy vehicles such as powerful German >>> luxury cars and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. >>> >>> ?The luxurious growth of large-size vehicles like SUVs is really a >>> growth of concern, use of vehicles like SUVs and BMW in countries like >>> India is criminal,? he said at a UN function in New Delhi, according to >>> news agency IANS. >>> >>> "I think we seriously need to think about fuel policy regime," he added, >>> suggesting that these luxury models were still made because they run on >>> subsidised diesel fuel, making the real beneficiaries the owners of >>> "BMWs, the Benzs and Hondas," IANS reported. >>> >>> The country should levy extra fees and mandatory fuel efficiency >>> standards on these cars, the minister suggested. >>> >>> "We cannot ask people to buy or not to buy a particular car. But through >>> an effective fiscal policy, we can certainly have an impact," he said. >>> >>> A new committee on national transport plans to give recommendations for >>> such a program in just over a year, he added. >>> >>> India?s auto market is among the fastest growing in the world, >>> particularly in the luxury sector, with German carmakers expanding their >>> operations there significantly in recent years >>> >>> *** >>> >>> See also >>> >> http://www.flickr.com/photos/edelman/2163265797/in/set-72157602171242536/ >>> >>> -- >>> >>> Todd Edelman >>> Green Idea Factory, >>> a member of the OPENbike team >>> >>> Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 >>> >>> edelman@greenidea.eu >>> www.greenidea.eu >>> todd@openbike.se >>> www.openbike.se >>> >>> Skype: toddedelman >>> >>> Urbanstr. 45 >>> 10967 Berlin >>> Germany >>> >>> *** >>> >>> OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! >>> >>> -------------------------------------------------------- >>> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit >>> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss >>> >>> -------------------------------------------------------- >>> If you get sustran-discuss 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. >>> >>> ================================================================ >>> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, >>> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries >>> (the 'Global South'). >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> -------------------------------------------------------- >> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit >> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss >> >> -------------------------------------------------------- >> If you get sustran-discuss 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. >> >> ================================================================ >> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, >> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries >> (the 'Global South'). >> > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > 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 binacb at gmail.com Sun Nov 14 13:32:48 2010 From: binacb at gmail.com (Bina C.Balakrishnan) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 10:02:48 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' In-Reply-To: References: <4CDEDC30.6030409@greenidea.eu> Message-ID: That would be a great help, Lee, if you could pass them on. Thanks and regards Bina Bina C. Balakrishnan Consultant - Sustainable Transportation Policy, Planning & Management Mumbai, India Cell: +91 98339 00108 Home: +91 22 23630572 Fax: +91 22 23692673 e-mail: binacb@gmail.com binac@rediffmail.com web : www.binabalakrishnan.com skype: binacb On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 9:18 AM, Lee Schipper wrote: > Agree with Bina and Ashok. Cheap diesel hurts and its pollution kills. The > same thing with cheap diesel happened in Europe as new diesels grew in size > and power much faster than new petrol cars until the higher prices for both > fuels brought diesel back to its roots. Happy to circulate publications on > these recent trends > > Lee Schipper > Global Met Studies UC Berkeley > Precourt En Eff Center Stanford > > > > On Nov 14, 2010, at 10:44, "Ashok Sreenivas" > wrote: > > > Agree with Bina. I happen to have been at the "conference" where he made > the > > statement. What he said was about the differential taxation on diesel and > > petrol in India promoting the use of diesel vehicles, particularly larger > > SUVs - which definitely needs to be curbed. Mr. Ramesh is easily one of > the > > more respected ministers in the current Indian government and generally > has > > progressive views. > > > > However, I must also add that in the matter of transportation, his view > > currently seemed to rather purely technology-centric as he spoke > primarily > > only about fuel economy standards, better fuels, electric vehicles etc. > All > > important no doubt, but only a (small?) part of the solution with other > > components such as integrated neighbourhoods, walking, cycling, very > good, > > affordable, reliable public transport and an integration among these > being > > much more important. I was particularly disappointed when he said that he > > thought that [and I paraphrase here] building cities for walking and > cycling > > was "romantic". > > > > Ashok > > > > On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 7:47 AM, Bina C.Balakrishnan >wrote: > > > >> Thats not good reporting. > >> > >> What the Minister said is "Use of these cars is criminal", not that > German > >> cars are criminal. That is a huge difference. > >> > >> I read the original article when it came out inthe Indian newspapers. > >> I am one hundred percent with Mr. Jairam Ramesh about the use of SUVs on > >> Indian streets - or urban streets, for that matter. These are very large > >> vehicles, and their presence in the traffic stream does cause > interference. > >> Besides these large vehicles are not required for purposes of urban > >> movement. And they DO consume a lot of gas. > >> > >> Bina C. Balakrishnan > >> Consultant - > >> Sustainable Transportation Policy, Planning & Management > >> Mumbai, India > >> > >> Cell: +91 98339 00108 > >> > >> Home: +91 22 23630572 > >> Fax: +91 22 23692673 > >> e-mail: binacb@gmail.com > >> binac@rediffmail.com > >> web : www.binabalakrishnan.com > >> skype: binacb > >> > >> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >> On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 12:12 AM, Todd Edelman > >> wrote: > >> > >>> Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' > >>> http://www.thelocal.de/national/20101112-31139.html > >>> > >>> India?s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh attacked German automakers > on > >>> Friday, saying driving big-engined luxury models from BMW and > >>> Mercedes-Benz in his country was ?criminal.? > >>> > >>> Expressing his wish for better fuel efficiency in India, Ramesh said > >>> people should not be encouraged to buy vehicles such as powerful German > >>> luxury cars and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. > >>> > >>> ?The luxurious growth of large-size vehicles like SUVs is really a > >>> growth of concern, use of vehicles like SUVs and BMW in countries like > >>> India is criminal,? he said at a UN function in New Delhi, according to > >>> news agency IANS. > >>> > >>> "I think we seriously need to think about fuel policy regime," he > added, > >>> suggesting that these luxury models were still made because they run on > >>> subsidised diesel fuel, making the real beneficiaries the owners of > >>> "BMWs, the Benzs and Hondas," IANS reported. > >>> > >>> The country should levy extra fees and mandatory fuel efficiency > >>> standards on these cars, the minister suggested. > >>> > >>> "We cannot ask people to buy or not to buy a particular car. But > through > >>> an effective fiscal policy, we can certainly have an impact," he said. > >>> > >>> A new committee on national transport plans to give recommendations for > >>> such a program in just over a year, he added. > >>> > >>> India?s auto market is among the fastest growing in the world, > >>> particularly in the luxury sector, with German carmakers expanding > their > >>> operations there significantly in recent years > >>> > >>> *** > >>> > >>> See also > >>> > >> > http://www.flickr.com/photos/edelman/2163265797/in/set-72157602171242536/ > >>> > >>> -- > >>> > >>> Todd Edelman > >>> Green Idea Factory, > >>> a member of the OPENbike team > >>> > >>> Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 > >>> > >>> edelman@greenidea.eu > >>> www.greenidea.eu > >>> todd@openbike.se > >>> www.openbike.se > >>> > >>> Skype: toddedelman > >>> > >>> Urbanstr. 45 > >>> 10967 Berlin > >>> Germany > >>> > >>> *** > >>> > >>> OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! > >>> > >>> -------------------------------------------------------- > >>> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > >>> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > >>> > >>> -------------------------------------------------------- > >>> If you get sustran-discuss 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. > >>> > >>> ================================================================ > >>> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > >>> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing > countries > >>> (the 'Global South'). > >>> > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> -------------------------------------------------------- > >> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > >> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > >> > >> -------------------------------------------------------- > >> If you get sustran-discuss 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. > >> > >> ================================================================ > >> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > >> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > >> (the 'Global South'). > >> > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > > > ================================================================ > > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > 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 anupam9gupta at gmail.com Sun Nov 14 14:06:17 2010 From: anupam9gupta at gmail.com (Anupam Gupta) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 10:36:17 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' In-Reply-To: References: <4CDEDC30.6030409@greenidea.eu> Message-ID: <000601cb83b9$adaa7910$08ff6b30$@gmail.com> Unfortunately this seems to have diverted into an India-Germany issue. This has come in today's papers: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Our-cars--outstanding---Germany-objects-to -Jairam-s-SUV-swipe/710798 -----Original Message----- From: sustran-discuss-bounces+anupam9gupta=gmail.com@list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+anupam9gupta=gmail.com@list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Bina C.Balakrishnan Sent: Sunday, November 14, 2010 10:03 AM To: Lee Schipper Cc: Sustran List Subject: [sustran] Re: Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' That would be a great help, Lee, if you could pass them on. Thanks and regards Bina Bina C. Balakrishnan Consultant - Sustainable Transportation Policy, Planning & Management Mumbai, India Cell: +91 98339 00108 Home: +91 22 23630572 Fax: +91 22 23692673 e-mail: binacb@gmail.com binac@rediffmail.com web : www.binabalakrishnan.com skype: binacb On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 9:18 AM, Lee Schipper wrote: > Agree with Bina and Ashok. Cheap diesel hurts and its pollution > kills. The same thing with cheap diesel happened in Europe as new > diesels grew in size and power much faster than new petrol cars until > the higher prices for both fuels brought diesel back to its roots. > Happy to circulate publications on these recent trends > > Lee Schipper > Global Met Studies UC Berkeley > Precourt En Eff Center Stanford > > > > On Nov 14, 2010, at 10:44, "Ashok Sreenivas" > > wrote: > > > Agree with Bina. I happen to have been at the "conference" where he > > made > the > > statement. What he said was about the differential taxation on > > diesel and petrol in India promoting the use of diesel vehicles, > > particularly larger SUVs - which definitely needs to be curbed. Mr. > > Ramesh is easily one of > the > > more respected ministers in the current Indian government and > > generally > has > > progressive views. > > > > However, I must also add that in the matter of transportation, his > > view currently seemed to rather purely technology-centric as he > > spoke > primarily > > only about fuel economy standards, better fuels, electric vehicles etc. > All > > important no doubt, but only a (small?) part of the solution with > > other components such as integrated neighbourhoods, walking, > > cycling, very > good, > > affordable, reliable public transport and an integration among these > being > > much more important. I was particularly disappointed when he said > > that he thought that [and I paraphrase here] building cities for > > walking and > cycling > > was "romantic". > > > > Ashok > > > > On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 7:47 AM, Bina C.Balakrishnan > > >wrote: > > > >> Thats not good reporting. > >> > >> What the Minister said is "Use of these cars is criminal", not that > German > >> cars are criminal. That is a huge difference. > >> > >> I read the original article when it came out inthe Indian newspapers. > >> I am one hundred percent with Mr. Jairam Ramesh about the use of > >> SUVs on Indian streets - or urban streets, for that matter. These > >> are very large vehicles, and their presence in the traffic stream > >> does cause > interference. > >> Besides these large vehicles are not required for purposes of urban > >> movement. And they DO consume a lot of gas. > >> > >> Bina C. Balakrishnan > >> Consultant - > >> Sustainable Transportation Policy, Planning & Management Mumbai, > >> India > >> > >> Cell: +91 98339 00108 > >> > >> Home: +91 22 23630572 > >> Fax: +91 22 23692673 > >> e-mail: binacb@gmail.com > >> binac@rediffmail.com > >> web : www.binabalakrishnan.com > >> skype: binacb > >> > >> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > >> On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 12:12 AM, Todd Edelman > >> > >> wrote: > >> > >>> Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' > >>> http://www.thelocal.de/national/20101112-31139.html > >>> > >>> India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh attacked German > >>> automakers > on > >>> Friday, saying driving big-engined luxury models from BMW and > >>> Mercedes-Benz in his country was "criminal." > >>> > >>> Expressing his wish for better fuel efficiency in India, Ramesh > >>> said people should not be encouraged to buy vehicles such as > >>> powerful German luxury cars and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. > >>> > >>> "The luxurious growth of large-size vehicles like SUVs is really a > >>> growth of concern, use of vehicles like SUVs and BMW in countries > >>> like India is criminal," he said at a UN function in New Delhi, > >>> according to news agency IANS. > >>> > >>> "I think we seriously need to think about fuel policy regime," he > added, > >>> suggesting that these luxury models were still made because they > >>> run on subsidised diesel fuel, making the real beneficiaries the > >>> owners of "BMWs, the Benzs and Hondas," IANS reported. > >>> > >>> The country should levy extra fees and mandatory fuel efficiency > >>> standards on these cars, the minister suggested. > >>> > >>> "We cannot ask people to buy or not to buy a particular car. But > through > >>> an effective fiscal policy, we can certainly have an impact," he said. > >>> > >>> A new committee on national transport plans to give > >>> recommendations for such a program in just over a year, he added. > >>> > >>> India's auto market is among the fastest growing in the world, > >>> particularly in the luxury sector, with German carmakers expanding > their > >>> operations there significantly in recent years > >>> > >>> *** > >>> > >>> See also > >>> > >> > http://www.flickr.com/photos/edelman/2163265797/in/set-721576021712425 > 36/ > >>> > >>> -- > >>> > >>> Todd Edelman > >>> Green Idea Factory, > >>> a member of the OPENbike team > >>> > >>> Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 > >>> > >>> edelman@greenidea.eu > >>> www.greenidea.eu > >>> todd@openbike.se > >>> www.openbike.se > >>> > >>> Skype: toddedelman > >>> > >>> Urbanstr. 45 > >>> 10967 Berlin > >>> Germany > >>> > >>> *** > >>> > >>> OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! > >>> > >>> -------------------------------------------------------- > >>> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > >>> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_s > >>> s > >>> > >>> -------------------------------------------------------- > >>> If you get sustran-discuss 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. > >>> > >>> ================================================================ > >>> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of > >>> people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus > >>> on developing > countries > >>> (the 'Global South'). > >>> > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> -------------------------------------------------------- > >> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > >> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > >> > >> -------------------------------------------------------- > >> If you get sustran-discuss 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. > >> > >> ================================================================ > >> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > >> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing > >> countries (the 'Global South'). > >> > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > > > ================================================================ > > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing > countries (the 'Global South'). > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing > countries (the 'Global South'). > -- -------------------------------------------------------- To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss -------------------------------------------------------- If you get sustran-discuss 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. ================================================================ 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 schipper at wri.org Sun Nov 14 14:54:33 2010 From: schipper at wri.org (Lee Schipper) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 12:54:33 +0700 Subject: [sustran] Re: Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' In-Reply-To: References: <4CDEDC30.6030409@greenidea.eu> Message-ID: <5610FC51-4E5F-4FFC-BDD2-9ECAA4223EB3@wri.org> I sent the papers to Bina, Ashok and the list. The list may have bounced them as too big. Lee Schipper Global Met Studies UC Berkeley Precourt En Eff Center Stanford On Nov 14, 2010, at 11:32, "Bina C.Balakrishnan" wrote: > That would be a great help, Lee, if you could pass them on. > > Thanks and regards > > Bina > Bina C. Balakrishnan > Consultant - > Sustainable Transportation Policy, Planning & Management > Mumbai, India > > Cell: +91 98339 00108 > > Home: +91 22 23630572 > Fax: +91 22 23692673 > e-mail: binacb@gmail.com > binac@rediffmail.com > web : www.binabalakrishnan.com > skype: binacb > > On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 9:18 AM, Lee Schipper wrote: > Agree with Bina and Ashok. Cheap diesel hurts and its pollution kills. The same thing with cheap diesel happened in Europe as new diesels grew in size and power much faster than new petrol cars until the higher prices for both fuels brought diesel back to its roots. Happy to circulate publications on these recent trends > > Lee Schipper > Global Met Studies UC Berkeley > Precourt En Eff Center Stanford > > > > On Nov 14, 2010, at 10:44, "Ashok Sreenivas" wrote: > > > Agree with Bina. I happen to have been at the "conference" where he made the > > statement. What he said was about the differential taxation on diesel and > > petrol in India promoting the use of diesel vehicles, particularly larger > > SUVs - which definitely needs to be curbed. Mr. Ramesh is easily one of the > > more respected ministers in the current Indian government and generally has > > progressive views. > > > > However, I must also add that in the matter of transportation, his view > > currently seemed to rather purely technology-centric as he spoke primarily > > only about fuel economy standards, better fuels, electric vehicles etc. All > > important no doubt, but only a (small?) part of the solution with other > > components such as integrated neighbourhoods, walking, cycling, very good, > > affordable, reliable public transport and an integration among these being > > much more important. I was particularly disappointed when he said that he > > thought that [and I paraphrase here] building cities for walking and cycling > > was "romantic". > > > > Ashok > > > > On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 7:47 AM, Bina C.Balakrishnan wrote: > > > >> Thats not good reporting. > >> > >> What the Minister said is "Use of these cars is criminal", not that German > >> cars are criminal. That is a huge difference. > >> > >> I read the original article when it came out inthe Indian newspapers. > >> I am one hundred percent with Mr. Jairam Ramesh about the use of SUVs on > >> Indian streets - or urban streets, for that matter. These are very large > >> vehicles, and their presence in the traffic stream does cause interference. > >> Besides these large vehicles are not required for purposes of urban > >> movement. And they DO consume a lot of gas. > >> > >> Bina C. Balakrishnan > >> Consultant - > >> Sustainable Transportation Policy, Planning & Management > >> Mumbai, India > >> > >> Cell: +91 98339 00108 > >> > >> Home: +91 22 23630572 > >> Fax: +91 22 23692673 > >> e-mail: binacb@gmail.com > >> binac@rediffmail.com > >> web : www.binabalakrishnan.com > >> skype: binacb > >> > >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >> On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 12:12 AM, Todd Edelman > >> wrote: > >> > >>> Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' > >>> http://www.thelocal.de/national/20101112-31139.html > >>> > >>> India?s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh attacked German automakers on > >>> Friday, saying driving big-engined luxury models from BMW and > >>> Mercedes-Benz in his country was ?criminal.? > >>> > >>> Expressing his wish for better fuel efficiency in India, Ramesh said > >>> people should not be encouraged to buy vehicles such as powerful German > >>> luxury cars and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. > >>> > >>> ?The luxurious growth of large-size vehicles like SUVs is really a > >>> growth of concern, use of vehicles like SUVs and BMW in countries like > >>> India is criminal,? he said at a UN function in New Delhi, according to > >>> news agency IANS. > >>> > >>> "I think we seriously need to think about fuel policy regime," he added, > >>> suggesting that these luxury models were still made because they run on > >>> subsidised diesel fuel, making the real beneficiaries the owners of > >>> "BMWs, the Benzs and Hondas," IANS reported. > >>> > >>> The country should levy extra fees and mandatory fuel efficiency > >>> standards on these cars, the minister suggested. > >>> > >>> "We cannot ask people to buy or not to buy a particular car. But through > >>> an effective fiscal policy, we can certainly have an impact," he said. > >>> > >>> A new committee on national transport plans to give recommendations for > >>> such a program in just over a year, he added. > >>> > >>> India?s auto market is among the fastest growing in the world, > >>> particularly in the luxury sector, with German carmakers expanding their > >>> operations there significantly in recent years > >>> > >>> *** > >>> > >>> See also > >>> > >> http://www.flickr.com/photos/edelman/2163265797/in/set-72157602171242536/ > >>> > >>> -- > >>> > >>> Todd Edelman > >>> Green Idea Factory, > >>> a member of the OPENbike team > >>> > >>> Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 > >>> > >>> edelman@greenidea.eu > >>> www.greenidea.eu > >>> todd@openbike.se > >>> www.openbike.se > >>> > >>> Skype: toddedelman > >>> > >>> Urbanstr. 45 > >>> 10967 Berlin > >>> Germany > >>> > >>> *** > >>> > >>> OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! > >>> > >>> -------------------------------------------------------- > >>> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > >>> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > >>> > >>> -------------------------------------------------------- > >>> If you get sustran-discuss 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. > >>> > >>> ================================================================ > >>> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > >>> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > >>> (the 'Global South'). > >>> > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> -------------------------------------------------------- > >> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > >> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > >> > >> -------------------------------------------------------- > >> If you get sustran-discuss 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. > >> > >> ================================================================ > >> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > >> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > >> (the 'Global South'). > >> > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > > > ================================================================ > > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > 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 Sun Nov 14 18:41:42 2010 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 10:41:42 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' In-Reply-To: <5610FC51-4E5F-4FFC-BDD2-9ECAA4223EB3@wri.org> References: <4CDEDC30.6030409@greenidea.eu> <5610FC51-4E5F-4FFC-BDD2-9ECAA4223EB3@wri.org> Message-ID: <001e01cb83e0$273615c0$75a24140$@britton@ecoplan.org> Lee Schipper wrote on this date: " I sent the papers to Bina, Ashok and the list. The list may have bounced them as too big. " Dear Lee, Bina, Ashok and All, I think we might be able to help out here. In two ways. File sharing/storage: We have just set up under our World Streets Forum (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldStreetsForum/) a special "file storage area" to support Sustran in cases like this. So in this case all you would bneed ot do would be to click to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldStreetsForum/files/Sustran/ and log in your files there. They then will be open to anyone who wishes to click to that area. Sustran in brief: World Streets supports Sustran in another way. Namely if you go to www.WorldStreets.org and then scroll down to the second half of the page, our Resource Section, you will see that in the third column there is a complete listing identifying each of the last ten posts to Sustran by topic, date, author , together with the first lines of each posting. We do this because we want our readers to know about the discussions that are going on here and have access to them with a single click. I hope that these sharing tools will be useful to us all, and of course we are fully open to your critical remarks and suggestions both here in public or as private transmittals. As you prefer. To sign in to the Forum. All it takes is a blank email to WorldStreetsForum@yahoogroups.com Best/Eric Britton. From patwardhan.sujit at gmail.com Sun Nov 14 22:36:59 2010 From: patwardhan.sujit at gmail.com (Sujit Patwardhan) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 19:06:59 +0530 Subject: [sustran] London to scrap Bus Lane Message-ID: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11752454 This is crazy...... they are scrapping it, then reinstating it for the Olympic Games (which means it is useful for carrying high number of passengers) but after the Olympics they plan to scrap it for good. Back to Maggie Thatcher days? Time to show Conservatives the Door if they want to put the Car back as its "head" Hope no one's going to be offended but this is not really an anti British statement. -- Sujit -- -------------------------------------------------------------------- **[image: CARTRAP.jpg] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Sujit Patwardhan patwardhan.sujit@gmail.com sujit@parisar.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yamuna, ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007, India Tel: +91 20 25537955 Cell: +91 98220 26627 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Parisar: www.parisar.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 13377 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20101114/e9555ad8/attachment.jpe From edelman at greenidea.eu Mon Nov 15 18:07:43 2010 From: edelman at greenidea.eu (Todd Edelman) Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2010 10:07:43 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Join us on Facebook: No mandatory bike helmets at Velo-city Global 2012 in Vancouver Message-ID: <4CE0F85F.6020601@greenidea.eu> No mandatory bike helmets at Velo-city Global 2012 in Vancouver We are happy and delighted that Vancouver has been selected by the European Cyclists' Federation as the host city for Velo-city Global in 2012. The administration and people of Vancouver have made great efforts to make their city become more bike-friendly and they deserve this honor and challenge. However, for a variety of reasons we oppose the mandatory all-ages helmet law of the province of British Columbia. Therefore - and by Like-ing this Page in Facebook - we announce our support for a large Mass Non-Compliance & Protest action during Velo-City in Vancouver. This will most likely be during the week's group ride, with many hundreds of participants.Participation is inclusive: People can choose to either wear helmets or not and support the action either way. Mass Non-Compliance: Participants will simply not wear a helmet on their head. They may also want to communicate their feelings in other ways, from messages on signs to clothing. (From Administrator: As I understand it the current penalty is simply a ticket for 100 dollars CAN and should not be risky for people visiting Canada etc). Protest: This is for people who feel like wearing a helmet (for any reason) but still want to protest the law. One idea for these people is to put a sign on their bike, helmet or carry a flag which says, for example "The BC bike helmet is anti-cycling" or simply "Bad Law". Will Vancouver police fine unhelmeted cyclists? Apparently compliance with the law is low and police do not enforce it much of the time. This is good, but we believe a very clear message is still warranted. People are still free to wear helmets and should not be judged either way! See you - with optional head gear - in Vancouver in June 2012! http://tinyurl.com/2dpfsz8 -- Todd Edelman Green Idea Factory, a member of the OPENbike team Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 edelman@greenidea.eu www.greenidea.eu todd@openbike.se www.openbike.se Skype: toddedelman Urbanstr. 45 10967 Berlin Germany *** OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! From bruun at seas.upenn.edu Wed Nov 17 03:24:16 2010 From: bruun at seas.upenn.edu (bruun at seas.upenn.edu) Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:24:16 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Re: Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' In-Reply-To: <8C5296E2-9472-4543-927D-2AEAA5BAFC08@wri.org> References: <4CDEDC30.6030409@greenidea.eu> <8C5296E2-9472-4543-927D-2AEAA5BAFC08@wri.org> Message-ID: <20101116132416.59291a4x4t05zuxc@webmail.seas.upenn.edu> It also occurs to me that it might be self-serving to advocate for smaller cars. Don't forget that the Indian auto industry might benefit from making foreign designs more expensive to operate. Eric Quoting Lee Schipper : > Would also emphasize that what Ashok wrote is particularly > important. Western governments are so hung up on fuel economy as a > way of dodging the more important transport issues he describes > > Lee Schipper > Global Met Studies UC Berkeley > Precourt En Eff Center Stanford > > > > On Nov 14, 2010, at 10:44, "Ashok Sreenivas" > wrote: > >> Agree with Bina. I happen to have been at the "conference" where he made the >> statement. What he said was about the differential taxation on diesel and >> petrol in India promoting the use of diesel vehicles, particularly larger >> SUVs - which definitely needs to be curbed. Mr. Ramesh is easily one of the >> more respected ministers in the current Indian government and generally has >> progressive views. >> >> However, I must also add that in the matter of transportation, his view >> currently seemed to rather purely technology-centric as he spoke primarily >> only about fuel economy standards, better fuels, electric vehicles etc. All >> important no doubt, but only a (small?) part of the solution with other >> components such as integrated neighbourhoods, walking, cycling, very good, >> affordable, reliable public transport and an integration among these being >> much more important. I was particularly disappointed when he said that he >> thought that [and I paraphrase here] building cities for walking and cycling >> was "romantic". >> >> Ashok >> >> On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 7:47 AM, Bina C.Balakrishnan >> wrote: >> >>> Thats not good reporting. >>> >>> What the Minister said is "Use of these cars is criminal", not that German >>> cars are criminal. That is a huge difference. >>> >>> I read the original article when it came out inthe Indian newspapers. >>> I am one hundred percent with Mr. Jairam Ramesh about the use of SUVs on >>> Indian streets - or urban streets, for that matter. These are very large >>> vehicles, and their presence in the traffic stream does cause interference. >>> Besides these large vehicles are not required for purposes of urban >>> movement. And they DO consume a lot of gas. >>> >>> Bina C. Balakrishnan >>> Consultant - >>> Sustainable Transportation Policy, Planning & Management >>> Mumbai, India >>> >>> Cell: +91 98339 00108 >>> >>> Home: +91 22 23630572 >>> Fax: +91 22 23692673 >>> e-mail: binacb@gmail.com >>> binac@rediffmail.com >>> web : www.binabalakrishnan.com >>> skype: binacb >>> >>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >>> On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 12:12 AM, Todd Edelman >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Indian official calls German cars 'criminal' >>>> http://www.thelocal.de/national/20101112-31139.html >>>> >>>> India?s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh attacked German automakers on >>>> Friday, saying driving big-engined luxury models from BMW and >>>> Mercedes-Benz in his country was ?criminal.? >>>> >>>> Expressing his wish for better fuel efficiency in India, Ramesh said >>>> people should not be encouraged to buy vehicles such as powerful German >>>> luxury cars and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. >>>> >>>> ?The luxurious growth of large-size vehicles like SUVs is really a >>>> growth of concern, use of vehicles like SUVs and BMW in countries like >>>> India is criminal,? he said at a UN function in New Delhi, according to >>>> news agency IANS. >>>> >>>> "I think we seriously need to think about fuel policy regime," he added, >>>> suggesting that these luxury models were still made because they run on >>>> subsidised diesel fuel, making the real beneficiaries the owners of >>>> "BMWs, the Benzs and Hondas," IANS reported. >>>> >>>> The country should levy extra fees and mandatory fuel efficiency >>>> standards on these cars, the minister suggested. >>>> >>>> "We cannot ask people to buy or not to buy a particular car. But through >>>> an effective fiscal policy, we can certainly have an impact," he said. >>>> >>>> A new committee on national transport plans to give recommendations for >>>> such a program in just over a year, he added. >>>> >>>> India?s auto market is among the fastest growing in the world, >>>> particularly in the luxury sector, with German carmakers expanding their >>>> operations there significantly in recent years >>>> >>>> *** >>>> >>>> See also >>>> >>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/edelman/2163265797/in/set-72157602171242536/ >>>> >>>> -- >>>> >>>> Todd Edelman >>>> Green Idea Factory, >>>> a member of the OPENbike team >>>> >>>> Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 >>>> >>>> edelman@greenidea.eu >>>> www.greenidea.eu >>>> todd@openbike.se >>>> www.openbike.se >>>> >>>> Skype: toddedelman >>>> >>>> Urbanstr. 45 >>>> 10967 Berlin >>>> Germany >>>> >>>> *** >>>> >>>> OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! >>>> >>>> -------------------------------------------------------- >>>> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit >>>> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss >>>> >>>> -------------------------------------------------------- >>>> If you get sustran-discuss 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. >>>> >>>> ================================================================ >>>> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, >>>> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries >>>> (the 'Global South'). >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> -------------------------------------------------------- >>> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit >>> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss >>> >>> -------------------------------------------------------- >>> If you get sustran-discuss 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. >>> >>> ================================================================ >>> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, >>> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries >>> (the 'Global South'). >>> >> -------------------------------------------------------- >> To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit >> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss >> >> -------------------------------------------------------- >> If you get sustran-discuss 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. >> >> ================================================================ >> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, >> equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing >> countries (the 'Global South'). > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > 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 yanivbin at gmail.com Fri Nov 19 03:02:06 2010 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2010 23:32:06 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Agency seeks to unify development plans, transform Delhi into a city that is friendly to pedestrians Message-ID: *Cutting red tape for urban transformation* Agency seeks to unify development plans, transform Delhi into a city that is friendly to pedestrians Cordelia Jenkins http://www.livemint.com/2010/11/16192936/Cutting-red-tape-for-urban-tra.html New Delhi: Romi Roy wasn?t planning to return to Delhi. She had a job she loved in Shanghai, China, as a senior urban designer with the engineering consultancy, Arup. She could walk to work and buy breakfast from the street hawkers outside her office. At the end of the day, she?d buy roasted vegetables from other vendors who turned up to tout their wares late into the night. ?I had a lovely life,? she says. But, back in Delhi for a holiday in December 2008, the architect and urban designer heard about the formation of a new government organization and suddenly her plans changed. ?When I heard about Uttipec, it sounded so fantastic that I almost fell off my chair,? says Roy, smiling behind small, neat glasses. Three months later, she left her private sector job in Shanghai and was back in her home city as a senior consultant at an agency with a complicated name, the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre, or Uttipec, and a daunting mandate: to transform Delhi into a pedestrian-friendly metropolis. It might sound improbable that someone with as much international experience as Roy should want to plunge into the notoriously convoluted infrastructure of the Delhi Development Authority, under which Uttipec operates. But Roy likes a challenge. More importantly, she believes in the plausibility of changing the system from within. She says she jumped at the chance of working in Uttipec because, as an organization with members from all the key transport and planning departments, she saw the potential to integrate the various plans and proposals and to work together towards a common goal. Uttipec?s multifaceted mandate includes smoothening traffic flow, environmental programmes, housing, greening the city and making the streets safer. ?That?s the beauty of Uttipec?it?s a team effort,? she says. Bringing all the planning, infrastructure and transport management bodies under one roof is a particular problem for Delhi, where planning is controlled by the Central government and transport by the state. But Roy says Uttipec bypasses the bureaucracy. ?It?s a reduction of red tape,? she says. ?You can have very open discussions because it?s a multi-disciplinary forum.? Earlier in the day, Roy met with working groups chaired by the commissioner for transport and the commissioner for planning and exchanged ideas with five or six government departments. She seems enthused by the results. ?I think people need to join the government,? she says. ?There has been such a stigma attached to it, because of the lack of coordination, which creates a mess as we have seen during the Commonwealth Games.? The Commonwealth Games, held in Delhi in October, were marred by delays in preparation and allegations of corruption. Roy, herself, does a lot to try and remove the stigma to which she alludes. As a woman coming from the private sector, and as someone with a lot of experience working internationally, she embodies a changing atmosphere in Delhi. Before Shanghai, Roy worked in San Francisco with Arup and in Berkeley, California, managing urban design projects in Moscow, Bangalore, Tunis, Dubai, Pittsburgh and Austin. She worked on rebuilding and renewal projects in Louisiana after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and she has witnessed first-hand the problems associated with America?s urban sprawl. Although she?s hesitant about applying American urban planning principles to Indian cities, she points out that the sprawl-type growth predicted for Delhi by 2021 is reminiscent of US cities. Uttipec?s aim is to put in place competent transport systems and manage their development so that growth doesn?t result in an unplanned muddle. As well as producing plans for making Delhi?s existing roads pedestrian-friendly, Uttipec is working on a scheme it calls ?transit-oriented development? to build with an eye to creating communities that can be accessed by walkers and cyclists, not just car owners. A plan to promote ?eyes on the street? encourages the replacement of boundary walls and fences with roadside windows, small shops and businesses. As well as increasing socialising and commerce, the scheme addresses street safety issues. A project to clean and renew Delhi?s polluted system of open drains is also on the slate for next year. Despite her criticism of the city?s existing infrastructure, Roy is a fiercely loyal Delhiite. ?One of my fondest childhood memories is getting onto the bus with my parents and going to see a movie,? she says. ?In those days, there was much less traffic and more space.? As Delhi grows, and its citizens buy more cars, the problem will only get worse, Roy admits. But she sees hope in the advent of the Delhi Metro and a renewed sense of optimism in government. Ultimately, Roy says, people have to get involved to make things happen, even if they don?t like the system. ?I feel like a doctor and this city is like my sick patient,? she says. ?Just because I don?t like looking at my patient doesn?t mean I don?t have to treat it.? From edelman at greenidea.eu Sat Nov 20 20:16:56 2010 From: edelman at greenidea.eu (Todd Edelman) Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2010 12:16:56 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Wanted: PT activist/actor with no fear of confronting global arms industry Message-ID: <4CE7AE28.6020604@greenidea.eu> * Please contact me off list!! * Hi, I would like some help with a public transport-oriented variation of the Cost of War website . If you have IT-skills which would enable you to build a similar website, please contact me off the list. Thanks, T -- Todd Edelman Green Idea Factory, a member of the OPENbike team Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 edelman@greenidea.eu www.greenidea.eu todd@openbike.se www.openbike.se Skype: toddedelman Urbanstr. 45 10967 Berlin Germany *** OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! From edelman at greenidea.eu Mon Nov 22 14:05:15 2010 From: edelman at greenidea.eu (Todd Edelman) Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010 06:05:15 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Green Idea Factory blog: The Conditional Surrender Message-ID: <4CE9FA0B.3040706@greenidea.eu> Excerpt: "... these days, when at its best cycling modal share is about 50% (as it is Groningen in the north of NL) and innermost parts of Amsterdam, Copenhagen etc.) is the glass half-full or half-empty? This beverage also contains collective public transport (nearly and chronically ignored in some cycle-cheerleading), but what if the non-PT and walking split is half private automobiles and half bicycles? Should we be half-happy or half-sad? It depends on who is writing or showing the history, yes? Indeed, could the private automobile lobby show a video on their You Tube channel, boasting how they have managed to hold on to a huge modal share despite the traffic jams, parking costs, "green" and health issues?" Complete post at: http://greenideafactory.blogspot.com/2010/11/another-history-of-conditional.html -- Todd Edelman Green Idea Factory, a member of the OPENbike team Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081 edelman@greenidea.eu www.greenidea.eu todd@openbike.se www.openbike.se Skype: toddedelman Urbanstr. 45 10967 Berlin Germany *** OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit! From ashok.sreenivas at gmail.com Mon Nov 22 19:37:16 2010 From: ashok.sreenivas at gmail.com (Ashok Sreenivas) Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:07:16 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Bicycles and girls education Message-ID: Excerpt from an article ( http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-mandate-for-nitish-hope-kumar/714282/0) totally unrelated to transport (it is about the results of the Bihar elections expected on Wednesday): "So, come on a drive with me to Bihar and I will show you a sight to cherish, one to light up your eyes, cheer your saddest, darkest hour, put a bounce in your step and, most of all, convince you once again that there is hope even for the worst governed, the most neglected parts of our country. It is the young girls, dozens and dozens and scores and scores of them, often in school uniforms, riding bicycles on the state?s new roads. Don?t miss the link between the roads, bicycles, uniforms, and the result this coming Wednesday. Nitish decided to attack the problem of low enrolment and large dropout rates for his state?s girls by offering a free bicycle to any girl moving to class nine. Four lakh bicycles have been distributed so far, and you already see a revolution of sorts on the wheels. Meanwhile, his high school enrolment for women has trebled." Ashok From krishkaran at gmail.com Mon Nov 22 21:58:26 2010 From: krishkaran at gmail.com (krishna gopal) Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:28:26 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Bicycles and girls education In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Ashok Please, read the following link also in conjunction with the article you have sent http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/18/stories/2010101856090200.htm Yes, the trickle effect it will have on the human development particularly in the other part of the India for moving the people towards achieving this goals of education and other( self respect and the esteem it gives when a person can look after his own mobility) I do recall, when I had walked atleast a minimum of 5 kilometers a day to my elementary school and cycle was a luxury still I completed my secondary education. Great, It is mobility for the other India, definitely a Bicycle can do a lot in this regard Regards On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 4:07 PM, Ashok Sreenivas wrote: > Excerpt from an article ( > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-mandate-for-nitish-hope-kumar/714282/0 > ) > totally unrelated to transport (it is about the results of the Bihar > elections expected on Wednesday): > > "So, come on a drive with me to Bihar and I will show you a sight to > cherish, one to light up your eyes, cheer your saddest, darkest hour, put a > bounce in your step and, most of all, convince you once again that there is > hope even for the worst governed, the most neglected parts of our country. > It is the young girls, dozens and dozens and scores and scores of them, > often in school uniforms, riding bicycles on the state?s new roads. Don?t > miss the link between the roads, bicycles, uniforms, and the result this > coming Wednesday. Nitish decided to attack the problem of low enrolment and > large dropout rates for his state?s girls by offering a free bicycle to any > girl moving to class nine. Four lakh bicycles have been distributed so far, > and you already see a revolution of sorts on the wheels. Meanwhile, his > high > school enrolment for women has trebled." > > Ashok > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > -- C.Krishnagopal Urban & Regional Planner Mobile: 91(0)9957557645 tweet http://twitter.com/krishkaran2009 ============================== "Think critically and get angry instead of resigning themselves to the "inertia" charecteristic of MODERN MAN"-JOSE SARAMAGO,Portuguese Nobel Laureate in Literature ============================== Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to -SAVE TREES SAVE EARTH From joshirutul at yahoo.co.in Mon Nov 22 22:29:59 2010 From: joshirutul at yahoo.co.in (Rutul Joshi) Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:59:59 +0530 (IST) Subject: [sustran] Re: Bicycles and girls education In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <245548.12322.qm@web137308.mail.in.yahoo.com> While talking to some of my friends, I have always encountered this phenomena in urban middle class. Empowerment and mobility are highly linked. Having a flexibility with transport has done wonders in individual families, suddenly the women in different families have had more central role to play in decision-making in otherwise patriarchal systems. However, this is more to do with motorised vehicles than the cycles. But I am sure, that cycling can also do wonders as Shekhar Gupta mentions. Of course, there is a need to make cycling safer in everyday life. Giving away cycles to the girl child has been a interesting political stunt in the South India. Once a friend working in rural Tamil Nadu told me that having a cycle with a girl child is having an asset with her out of nowhere. The boys (in the family and otherwise) see the girls as more 'privileged' - which is a rare feeling for both genders. The boys don't 'take away' these cycles because these are 'ladies' cycles and its too much for their ego to ride a 'ladies cycle'. All in all, such small interventions help more than anything. It is the cheapest way to promote cycling. However, making rural roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists is an issue. Designing 'shoulders' of the rural roads differently can also help the cause. However, students going to school or coming back ride on their cycles together and 'crowd up' the streets making the roads safer. Rutul ________________________________ From: krishna gopal To: Ashok Sreenivas Cc: PTTF General ; Sustran List Sent: Mon, 22 November, 2010 12:58:26 PM Subject: [sustran] Re: Bicycles and girls education Dear Ashok Please, read the following link also in conjunction with the article you have sent http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/18/stories/2010101856090200.htm Yes, the trickle effect it will have on the human development particularly in the other part of the India for moving the people towards achieving this goals of education and other( self respect and the esteem it gives when a person can look after his own mobility) I do recall, when I had walked atleast a minimum of 5 kilometers a day to my elementary school and cycle was a luxury still I completed my secondary education. Great, It is mobility for the other India, definitely a Bicycle can do a lot in this regard Regards On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 4:07 PM, Ashok Sreenivas wrote: > Excerpt from an article ( > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-mandate-for-nitish-hope-kumar/714282/0 > ) > totally unrelated to transport (it is about the results of the Bihar > elections expected on Wednesday): > > "So, come on a drive with me to Bihar and I will show you a sight to > cherish, one to light up your eyes, cheer your saddest, darkest hour, put a > bounce in your step and, most of all, convince you once again that there is > hope even for the worst governed, the most neglected parts of our country. > It is the young girls, dozens and dozens and scores and scores of them, > often in school uniforms, riding bicycles on the state?s new roads. Don?t > miss the link between the roads, bicycles, uniforms, and the result this > coming Wednesday. Nitish decided to attack the problem of low enrolment and > large dropout rates for his state?s girls by offering a free bicycle to any > girl moving to class nine. Four lakh bicycles have been distributed so far, > and you already see a revolution of sorts on the wheels. Meanwhile, his > high > school enrolment for women has trebled." > > Ashok > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > -- C.Krishnagopal Urban & Regional Planner Mobile: 91(0)9957557645 tweet http://twitter.com/krishkaran2009 ============================== "Think critically and get angry instead of resigning themselves to the "inertia" charecteristic of MODERN MAN"-JOSE SARAMAGO,Portuguese Nobel Laureate in Literature ============================== Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to -SAVE TREES SAVE EARTH -------------------------------------------------------- To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss -------------------------------------------------------- If you get sustran-discuss 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. ================================================================ 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 dalmaluf at yahoo.com Tue Nov 23 01:07:30 2010 From: dalmaluf at yahoo.com (Dal Maluf) Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:07:30 -0800 (PST) Subject: [sustran] Subway line in Sao Paulo, Brazil under threat In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <521154.36611.qm@web55804.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear friends, ? Brazilian largest newspaper has announced the winners of the R$ 4 billion extension of line 5 of Sao Paulo?s Subway (R$ 5 billion or US$ 3 billion total contract) 6 months before the tender was even opened. ? The journalists recorded a video describing who would win each of the 7 parts of the bid to show that all companies have discussed and agreed on prices/results before the tender and he got it 100% right. If you are interested in this story, please take a look at the following link. Although it's in Portuguese, you might be able to understand the story. ? http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/820054-resultado-de-licitacao-do-metro-de-sao-paulo-ja-era-conhecido-seis-meses-antes.shtml ? S?o Paulo?s urban network is receiving the largest investiments in the recent years if the country. Around R$ 20 billion, or US$ 12 billion, for two 2 subways lines and the purchase and maintenance of trains and communication systems. However, many international experts have been criticing these approach because metrorail projects are recieving 95% of the investments, however, more than 75% of the passenger are still on the bus systems ? Sao Paulo?s ?open? BRT. ? Sao Paulo have many different?transporation projects (specially BRTs) which?haven't yet been?done due to?changes on the?people that control transportation planning around the City/State,?which means changing the?agenda,?priorities and solutions every 2 years. ? Best, Adalberto From chhavi.dhingra at gtz.de Tue Nov 23 20:03:52 2010 From: chhavi.dhingra at gtz.de (Dhingra Chhavi GTZ IN) Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2010 12:03:52 +0100 Subject: [sustran] One-day Training Course on 'Transportation Demand Management and Financing Urban Transport' - a Pre-Event to the Urban Mobility 2010 Conference & Expo, 2nd December, New Delhi In-Reply-To: <521154.36611.qm@web55804.mail.re3.yahoo.com> References: <521154.36611.qm@web55804.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5048935C1E15754D8829948B74E666950CC3A3F35E@CLUEXCCR1.gtz.de> The Sustainable Urban Transport Project (SUTP) of the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the Urban Mass Transit Company (UMTC) Ltd., with support from Institute of Urban Transport (IUT) India, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, CAI-Asia and LTA Academy, Singapore, would like to invite you to participate in a One-day Training Course on ?Transportation Demand Management and Financing Urban Transport? to be held on 2nd December 2010 at Hotel Ambassador, Sujan Singh Park, New Delhi. The course will be a Pre-Event to the Urban Mobility 2010 Conference & Expo, which is scheduled from 3-5 December, 2010 in New Delhi. http://www.urbanmobility2010.org/ The course is mainly targeted towards policymakers/practitioners/researchers/academia and others who are working actively in the area of urban transportation planning and provision. The agenda for the course is attached with this mail. A detailed course announcement can also be viewed at the SUTP website- http://www.sutp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2477&Itemid=1&lang=en This one-day course will cover the basics of TDM and will go in depth in some of the key areas like integrated land use and transport planning, parking management, improving public transport and non-motorized transport facilities, and most importantly financing strategies and use of economic instruments for enabling TDM in developing cities. The course will also include case studies from Indian cities on financing urban transport and the challenges faced in doing so. The participation in the course is at no charge, you are welcome to nominate others from your organization to attend the course. Please do note that the maximum participants for this course is 30. Since seats are limited, please send in your confirmations for participation with your short bios no later than 30th November, 2010 to Chhavi.Dhingra@gtz.de Kind regards, Chhavi Dhingra ......................................................................................................................... Transport Specialist Sustainable Urban Transport Project (SUTP) Transport Policy Advisory Services Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH (German Technical Cooperation) S-35 A, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 100 017, INDIA T + 91 11 477 735 46 F + 91 11 477 735 55 E chhavi.dhingra@gtz.de I http://www.gtz.de/transport Sustainable Urban Transport Website: http://www.sutp.org Skype: chhavi.dhingra Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH; Sitz der Gesellschaft/Registered Office Eschborn/Taunus, Germany; Registergericht/Registered at Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Eintragungs-Nr./Registration no. HRB 12394; USt-IdNr./VAT ID no. DE 113891176; Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrates/Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Hans-Juergen Beerfeltz, Staatssekretaer/State Secretary; Geschaeftsfuehrer/Managing Directors: Dr. Bernd Eisenblaetter (Sprecher/Chairman), Dr. Christoph Beier, Dr. Hans-Joachim Preuss -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: PROG-TDM-DEL-021210-EN.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 209777 bytes Desc: PROG-TDM-DEL-021210-EN.pdf Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20101123/296821de/PROG-TDM-DEL-021210-EN-0001.pdf From dazzle_dwds at yahoo.com Fri Nov 26 16:12:45 2010 From: dazzle_dwds at yahoo.com (Roselle Leah K. Rivera) Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2010 23:12:45 -0800 (PST) Subject: [sustran] NMT in Manila, Philippines: drivers seek TRO from Supreme Court Message-ID: <620603.88295.qm@web110101.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Pedicab drivers seek TRO from SCPedicab and kuliglig (motorized pedicab) drivers in Manila asked the Supreme Court Thursday to stop the city government from implementing two executive orders issued by Mayor Alfredo Lim which would ban them from major thoroughfares and national roads. Full Story?|?http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/ inquirerheadlines/metro/view/ 20101125-305352/Pedicab- drivers-seek-TRO-from-SC? 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 at ecoplan.org Sat Nov 27 20:05:06 2010 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Sat, 27 Nov 2010 12:05:06 +0100 Subject: [sustran] The price of petrol Message-ID: <001d01cb8e22$f525f990$df71ecb0$@britton@ecoplan.org> A reminder from my friend Dirk van Dijl - Enterprise Britain WHAT ABOUT THIS FOLKS? The price of Petrol versus Printer Ink All these examples do NOT imply that petrol is cheap; it just illustrates how outrageous some prices are.... You will be really shocked by the last one! (At least, I was...) Compared with Petrol...... Think a gallon of petrol is expensive? This makes one think, and also puts things in perspective. Diet Snapple 16 oz ?1.29 .. ?10.32 per gallon Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz ?1.19 ...........?9.52 per gallon Ocean Spray 16 oz ?1.25 ......... ?10.00 per gallon Brake Fluid 12 oz ?3.15 ...... ?33.60 per gallon Vick's Nyquil 6 oz E8.35 ... ?178..13 per gallon Pepto Bismol 4 oz ?3.85 . ?123.20 per gallon Tippex 7 oz ?1.39 ....... . ?5.42 per gallon And this is the REAL KICKER... Evian water 9 oz ?1.49..?21.19 per gallon! ?21.19 for WATER and the buyers don't even know the source (Evian spelled backwards is Naive.) You don't even want to compare it with perfume or after shave. Ever wonder why printers are so cheap? So they have you hooked for the ink. Someone calculated the cost of the ink at.................(you won't believe it....but it is true........)?5,200 a gal... (five thousand two hundred pounds) So, the next time you're at the pump, be glad your car doesn't run on water, or Tippex, Pepto Bismol, Nyquil or God forbid, Printer Ink! Just a little humour to help ease the pain of your next trip to the petrol pump... And - If you don't pass this along to at least one person, your exhaust will fall off!! Dirk van Dijl Enterprise Britain The Coachhouse, 60a All Saints Street Hastings, East Sussex TN34 3BN T: 0207 1006 399 M: 07860 859 749 E: dirk@enterprisebritain.com Skype: WDvandijl From patwardhan.sujit at gmail.com Sun Nov 28 14:11:48 2010 From: patwardhan.sujit at gmail.com (Sujit Patwardhan) Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2010 10:41:48 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: The price of petrol In-Reply-To: <-722944405876951601@unknownmsgid> References: <-722944405876951601@unknownmsgid> Message-ID: Dear Eric, As a graphic designer/printer I really appreciate this. Need to hike my rates immediately...... *:-)* P.S. Thanks also to Dirk van Dijl On Sat, Nov 27, 2010 at 4:35 PM, eric britton wrote: > A reminder from my friend Dirk van Dijl - Enterprise Britain > > > > > > WHAT ABOUT THIS FOLKS? > The price of Petrol versus Printer Ink > > All these examples do NOT imply that petrol is cheap; it just illustrates > how outrageous some prices are.... > > You will be really shocked by the last one! > (At least, I was...) > > Compared with Petrol...... > > Think a gallon of petrol is expensive? > > This makes one think, and also puts things in perspective. > > Diet Snapple 16 oz ?1.29 .. ?10.32 per gallon > > Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz ?1.19 ...........?9.52 per gallon > > Ocean Spray 16 oz ?1.25 ......... ?10.00 per gallon > > Brake Fluid 12 oz ?3.15 ...... ?33.60 per gallon > > Vick's Nyquil 6 oz E8.35 ... ?178..13 per gallon > > Pepto Bismol 4 oz ?3.85 . ?123.20 per gallon > > Tippex 7 oz ?1.39 ....... . ?5.42 per gallon > > And this is the REAL KICKER... > > Evian water 9 oz ?1.49..?21.19 per gallon! ?21.19 for WATER and the > buyers don't even know the source (Evian spelled backwards is Naive.) > > You don't even want to compare it with perfume or after shave. > > Ever wonder why printers are so cheap? > > So they have you hooked for the ink. > Someone calculated the cost of the ink at.................(you won't > believe > it....but it is true........)?5,200 a gal... (five thousand two hundred > pounds) > > So, the next time you're at the pump, be glad your car doesn't run on > water, > or Tippex, Pepto Bismol, Nyquil or God forbid, Printer Ink! > > Just a little humour to help ease the pain of your next trip to the petrol > pump... > > And - If you don't pass this along to at least one person, your exhaust > will > fall off!! > Dirk van Dijl > Enterprise Britain > > The Coachhouse, 60a All Saints Street > > Hastings, East Sussex TN34 3BN > > T: 0207 1006 399 > > M: 07860 859 749 > > E: dirk@enterprisebritain.com > Skype: WDvandijl > > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss > > -------------------------------------------------------- > If you get sustran-discuss 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. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > -- -------------------------------------------------------------------- *?..each million we invest into urban motorways is an investment to destroy the city?* Mayor Hans Joachim Vogel Munich 1970 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Sujit Patwardhan patwardhan.sujit@gmail.com sujit@parisar.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yamuna, ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007, India Tel: +91 20 25537955 Cell: +91 98220 26627 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Parisar: www.parisar.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Mon Nov 29 20:05:10 2010 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (eric britton) Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2010 12:05:10 +0100 Subject: [sustran] India Streets: The Road Transport Energy Challenge in India Message-ID: <014201cb8fb5$51efbe70$f5cf3b50$@britton@ecoplan.org> The Road Transport Energy Challenge in India - Karthik Rao-Cavale, editor A few weeks ago, India Streets reported about India's plans to reduce the climate change impact from its transportation sector. However, we saw that India's plan, like many other plans out there, attempts to tackle the problem almost entirely by improving vehicle and fuel technology without adequately dealing with the most important factor - the [...] Read more of this post - www.IndiaStreets.org