[sustran] Re: Now . . . A not so short list of very bad practices

[Pascal van den Noort]

Dear Eric,

For the time being we only have best practices; there are not many people taking time to advertise bad or worst practices; we are all aware of them, but only academics can thrive on them. I don't think other people have budgets to advertise their failures.\

Greetings,

Pascal

Pascal J.W. van den Noort
Executive Director 
Velo Mondial, A Micro Multi-National

operations at velomondial.net   
 +31206270675 landline
+31627055688 mobile phone

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On 18 jul 2011, at 08:43, eric britton wrote:

> 
> Those who fail to learn history (no matter how painful) are doomed to repeat
> it *
> 
> Thank you.  The response to this request , through these lists and in
> private, to this quick weekend call for examples has been instructive,
> gratifying and has lead me to the following proposal for a small
> collaborative project, possibly  for selective publication of a certain
> number of examples on World Streets as well as via these lists.
> 
> 1.       First, we have to agree - at least some of us - that though
> inventories of and information on "good" and "best" practices can be very
> important and useful, there also is excellent reason for better and broader
> understanding not just so-so or debatably bad, but truly egregiously,
> exemplary  bad practices in our troubled sector. 
> 
> 
> 2.       Moreover, it is my long experience that if we look hard enough at
> specific  selected cases we will not only have lively stories that deserve
> to be better known (and not covered up or purposefully forgotten as so often
> is the case), but moreover that in very many of these cases there are
> lessons for policy makers and others involved that have universal
> implications.  That to my mind is the real reason that bad practices deserve
> to be better known and more widely discussed
> 
> 
> 3.       It is important that each of these incidents be understood and
> presented in a balanced manner - there is no benefit if it is taken as a
> combination witch hunt and turkey shoot.  Any such treatments should be
> authoritative (though it also is to be understood that many will be
> vigorously argued and contested - that indeed  is part of the process.)
> 
> 
> 4.       With this in view, I would now like to invite any and all here to
> consider sending on a first summary note of what they personally know about
> in their own city or country of one such exemplary bad practice/project. (My
> own linitial listing below  is, as a number of you have pointed out,
> presented in too cursory a manner and as such wide open to debate and
> misinterpretation. )
> 
> 
> 5.       Then, we could discuss how this example might be expanded into a
> short W/S article, say 300 words or so (but your call really). With
> references for those who will wish to dig deeper. 
> 
> 
> 6.       The idea is not to tie up a lot of your time. The project should be
> one you now well and on which you have information at hand. Ideally there
> will be some coverage from local news sources, etc. 
> 
> In this way, our work will be available to all.
> 
> I look forward to your ideas on this.
> 
> Eric Britton
> 
> PS. As you surely know the opening quote here is not quite right.
> Santayana's actual words in his book Reason in Common Sense were: "Those who
> cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it". But the frequent
> misquote (without my parenthetic words) is surely close enough. Pace. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> From: eric britton [mailto:eric.britton at ecoplan.org] 
> Sent: Sunday, 17 July, 2011 18:43
> Subject: a very short list of very bad practices
> 
> Dear colleagues,
> 
> For a new book just getting underway here, and which is attempting to make a
> significant contribution as a useful guide for better informed policy and
> investment in the field of sustainable transport, sustainable cities and
> sustainable lives, I am attempting to develop by way of introduction a small
> page showing some of the more typical examples of egregious thoughtlessness
> in our sector by way of setting the stage for better alternative approaches.
> 
> I think it would be effective to have a selection of examples from different
> parts of the world, all of them short and to the point, and all of them
> firmly reality-based.  It would be great if you could offer a few howlingly
> good examples from your own experience for our readers.  
> 
> Here the first handful that come to mind from here, which may or may not
> make the final cut:
> 
> .         Mexico: The decision, come hell or high water, of the mayor of
> Mexico City to create a public bicycle system for his city, or rather to
> impose a public bicycle system on his city, ready or not.
> 
> .         France: The decades-long practice of closing of local train
> stations in many smaller communities across France, (a practice of course in
> many other parts of the world as well), with all of the social, economic,
> and mobility implications that somehow never  entered into the calculus of
> the decision-makers.
> 
> .         Bangladesh The decision of the authorities in Dhaka, in cahoots
> with the Council of international consultants, to progressively extend a ban
> on the use of rickshaws, despite the fact that these wheeled vehicles are
> offering every day and at low cost massively important mobility services to
> people who need another willing to pay for them.  And further that the
> rickshaws offer a large number of economically and socially useful jobs many
> of which would disappear if they were replaced by more institutionalized
> forms of public transport.
> 
> .         United States: And finally to cap it all with something of all too
> horrible familiarity, the latest "Carmageddon" episode in Los Angeles as a
> result of the decision of the authorities there to spend an additional $1
> billion to increase the capacity of an already huge urban highway network,
> further locking in the car and making alternative solutions all the less
> possible.  (Proving once again that forecast and build transportation
> planning is not dead, despite all of the abundant proofs to the contrary.)  
> 
> .         China:  Continuing to plan and build additional infrastructure to
> serve private cars despite the fact that virtually everything that they have
> done thus far has led to increasingly poorer service for the great majority
> of all citizens.
> 
> What is to my mind most interesting about many of these bad practices, is
> that if you scratch a bit you will find that they have a number of things in
> common. And that already is very useful. And this is what we are hoping to
> point up.
> 
> The results of this work will be periodically posted and shared in a form
> that will make it available to all. As always
> 
> Thanks for your examples. And in fact maybe even more useful if you might
> post them to the group, since bad practices are, in my book at least, every
> bit as important as all those best practices inventories. And quite possibly
> even more so. 
> 
> Eric Britton
> 
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