From yanivbin at gmail.com Sun Nov 3 01:00:24 2013 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Sat, 2 Nov 2013 21:30:24 +0530 Subject: [sustran] SPV to run JNNURM buses opposed Message-ID: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/spv-to-run-jnnurm-buses-opposed/article5305358.ece?homepage=true SPV to run JNNURM buses opposed S. ANIL RADHAKRISHNAN The government is gearing up to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for operating and managing the buses procured with assistance from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) even as employees of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) have opposed the move. Five trade unions, including the Congress-backed Transport Democratic Front and the CITU-affiliated Kerala State Transport Employees Association, have opposed the move to create a special business unit within the KSRTC for operating and managing the JNNURM buses. The trade union leaders had told Minister for Transport Aryadan Mohammed at a meeting here on Monday that they were against the move as they feared it would lead to the bifurcation of the transport utility. Official sources told *The Hindu* that the Minister had told the leaders that the views would be communicated to the Cabinet. Setting up of the SPV is the main condition put forward to the Local Self-Government Department by the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) on Urban Infrastructure and Governance to get the funds from the JNNURM. With this, the government had no option left but to set up an SPV to get the first tranche of funds for purchasing 400 buses sanctioned to the State in September under the JNNURM extended scheme. States which did not set up SPV as directed by the JNNURM opted for formation of city specific transport undertakings. Kerala also preferred this option and a special bus unit (SBU) under the KSRTC was mooted in the Detailed Project Report submitted in August this year. With opposition from the KSRTC employees, the State will have to set up SPV on the lines of the Indore model for bus operations. Cities such as Bhopal, Jabalpur, Ujjain, and Raipur have set up city specific SPVs for operating bus services. The CSMC had also asked the State to notify the ?planning area? as the buses to be procured were to be operated to major towns and cities of 12 districts in the State that had been grouped under five clusters. Official sources said confusion prevailed on whether a single SPV was needed for the State or separate SPVs were needed for the five clusters proposed. It has more or less become certain that a separate SPV will be set up for Kochi and all modes of transport will be integrated. Compared to the scheme launched in 2008, Intelligent Transport System, upgrade of depots and installation of central control room will now form part of the funding. The mission will provide 80 per cent of the cost and the State will have to bear the rest. As the 400 new JNNURM buses will have to be operated and managed by the SPV, the issues of parking the buses, entry into bus depots, and filling of high speed diesel will also have to be sorted out. At present, the KSRTC is managing and operating 146 buses plying in Thiruvananthapuram and 167 in Kochi that have been purchased under the JNNURM scheme. The two cities were among the 61 JNNURM cities that had benefited from the one-time Central assistance of Rs.4,700 crore for purchase of buses. Keywords: special purpose vehicle , Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission , JNNURM buses , Kerala State Road Transport Corporation From gsbravi026 at yahoo.co.in Mon Nov 4 18:14:26 2013 From: gsbravi026 at yahoo.co.in (ravi gadepalli) Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2013 17:14:26 +0800 (SGT) Subject: [sustran] Re: SPV to run JNNURM buses opposed In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1383556466.11299.YahooMailNeo@web190303.mail.sg3.yahoo.com> Cities are finding innovative means to bypass the SPV hurdle.? Kerala can look at the Andhra Pradesh model and see if that can work from them.? What happens in Andhra is that the JNNURM cities form an SPV for bus operations with APSRTC (the KSRTC equivalent) as the majority stakeholder.? The municipal corporation, development authority and traffic police are also part of it but have roles specific to their jurisdiction like the corporation constructing bus stops, ITS management by traffic police and so on. The bus operations are still with APSRTC. In summary there is a new SPV formed, funds claimed from the centre and all agencies continue doing what they do currently.? Ravi Gadepalli, iTrans Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. ________________________________ From: Vinay Baindur To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Sent: Saturday, 2 November 2013 9:30 PM Subject: [sustran] SPV to run JNNURM buses opposed http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/spv-to-run-jnnurm-buses-opposed/article5305358.ece?homepage=true SPV to run JNNURM buses opposed S. ANIL RADHAKRISHNAN The government is gearing up to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for operating and managing the buses procured with assistance from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) even as employees of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) have opposed the move. Five trade unions, including the Congress-backed Transport Democratic Front and the CITU-affiliated Kerala State Transport Employees Association, have opposed the move to create a special business unit within the KSRTC for operating and managing the JNNURM buses. The trade union leaders had told Minister for Transport Aryadan Mohammed at a meeting here on Monday that they were against the move as they feared it would lead to the bifurcation of the transport utility. Official sources told *The Hindu* that the Minister had told the leaders that the views would be communicated to the Cabinet. Setting up of the SPV is the main condition put forward to the Local Self-Government Department by the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) on Urban Infrastructure and Governance to get the funds from the JNNURM. With this, the government had no option left but to set up an SPV to get the first tranche of funds for purchasing 400 buses sanctioned to the State in September under the JNNURM extended scheme. States which did not set up SPV as directed by the JNNURM opted for formation of city specific transport undertakings. Kerala also preferred this option and a special bus unit (SBU) under the KSRTC was mooted in the Detailed Project Report submitted in August this year. With opposition from the KSRTC employees, the State will have to set up SPV on the lines of the Indore model for bus operations. Cities such as Bhopal, Jabalpur, Ujjain, and Raipur have set up city specific SPVs for operating bus services. The CSMC had also asked the State to notify the ?planning area? as the buses to be procured were to be operated to major towns and cities of 12 districts in the State that had been grouped under five clusters. Official sources said confusion prevailed on whether a single SPV was needed for the State or separate SPVs were needed for the five clusters proposed. It has more or less become certain that a separate SPV will be set up for Kochi and all modes of transport will be integrated. Compared to the scheme launched in 2008, Intelligent Transport System, upgrade of depots and installation of central control room will now form part of the funding. The mission will provide 80 per cent of the cost and the State will have to bear the rest. As the 400 new JNNURM buses will have to be operated and managed by the SPV, the issues of parking the buses, entry into bus depots, and filling of high speed diesel will also have to be sorted out. At present, the KSRTC is managing and operating 146 buses plying in Thiruvananthapuram and 167 in Kochi that have been purchased under the JNNURM scheme. The two cities were among the 61 JNNURM cities that had benefited from the one-time Central assistance of Rs.4,700 crore for purchase of buses. Keywords: special purpose vehicle , Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission , JNNURM buses , Kerala State Road Transport Corporation -------------------------------------------------------- To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss ================================================================ 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 litman at vtpi.org Thu Nov 7 10:51:03 2013 From: litman at vtpi.org (Todd Alexander Litman) Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2013 17:51:03 -0800 Subject: [sustran] VTPI Newsletter - Autumn 2013 Message-ID: <0b9901cedb5b$d92328b0$8b697a10$@org> ----------- VTPI NEWS ----------- Victoria Transport Policy Institute "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity" ------------------------------------- Autumn 2013 Vol. 13, No. 4 ----------------------------------- The Victoria Transport Policy Institute is an independent research organization dedicated to developing innovative solutions to transportation problems. The VTPI website (http://www.vtpi.org ) has many resources addressing a wide range of transport planning and policy issues. VTPI also provides consulting services. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NEW VTPI DOCUMENTS ==================== "Safer Than You Think! Revising the Transit Safety Narrative" (http://www.vtpi.org/safer.pdf ) Public transportation is overall safe (low crash risk) and secure (low crime risk). Transit travel has about a tenth the traffic casualty (death or injury) rate as automobile travel, and residents of transit-oriented communities have about a fifth the per capita traffic fatality rate as residents of automobile-oriented communities. Transit also tends to have lower crime rates than automobile travel, and large transit-oriented cities tend to have low crime rates. However, many people consider transit dangerous and so are reluctant to use it or support transit service expansions in their communities. Public transit agencies can help create a new transit safety narrative by developing better risk evaluation tools, better communicating public transit's overall safety and health benefits, and providing better guidance concerning how transit users and communities can enhance safety and security. Also see, "Low Crime Rates In Large Cities Support Multi-Modal Planning and Smart Growth" (http://www.planetizen.com/node/65857 ). "Factors to Consider When Estimating Congestion Costs and Evaluating Potential Congestion Reduction Strategies" (http://www.vtpi.org/ITE_congestion.pdf ) Traffic congestion can be measured in various ways that result in very different conclusions about the nature of the problem and optimal solutions. This article, submitted to the ITE Journal, describes various factors that affect congestion cost estimates and the evaluation of potential congestion reduction strategies. It discusses how these factors influence planning decisions, and describes best practices for comprehensive evaluation of congestion impacts. It summarizes information from "Smart Congestion Relief: Comprehensive Analysis Of Traffic Congestion Costs and Congestion Reduction Benefits" (http://www.vtpi.org/cong_relief.pdf ) and "Congestion Costing Critique: Critical Evaluation of the 'Urban Mobility Report'" (http://www.vtpi.org/UMR_critique.pdf ) "Local Funding Options for Public Transportation" (http://www.vtpi.org/tranfund.pdf ) This report, to be published in the 'Journal of Public Transportation,' evaluates eighteen potential local public transit funding options according to eight criteria. This is a somewhat larger set of options, and more detailed and systematic evaluation, than most previous studies of this type. The study's overall conclusion is that a variety of funding options should be used to help finance the local share of transportation improvements to insure stability and distribute costs broadly. * * * * * PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE =================== "Towards More Comprehensive Multi-modal Transport Evaluation" (http://www.ltaacademy.gov.sg/journyes.htm ), JOURNEYS, publication of the LTA Academy, Singapore. This article critically evaluates current transport planning evaluation practices, and describes ways to make them more comprehensive and multi-modal. Conventional planning tends to evaluate transport system performance based primarily on automobile travel conditions. A new planning paradigm expands the range of objectives, impacts and options considered in the planning process. More comprehensive and multi-modal planning can help identify truly optimal transport improvement options, considering all impacts. "More Comprehensive Evaluation Supports More Efficient Transportation" (http://transportbeyondoil.wordpress.com/blog ), Beyond Oil Blog. The book, "Transport Beyond Oil" examines the economic, social and environmental costs of petroleum-dependent transportation, and ways to create more sustainable transport systems. This blog, by contributor Todd Litman, discusses the role that more comprehensive and multi-modal evaluation plays in transport system optimization. Recent Planetizen Blogs (http://www.planetizen.com/blog/2394 ): "Low Crime Rates In Large Cities Support Multi-Modal Planning and Smart Growth" (http://www.planetizen.com/node/65857 ). "Abu Dhabi Planning Charrette" (http://www.planetizen.com/node/65335 ) "I have a Problem With Your 'Issues'" (http://www.planetizen.com/node/65156 ) "Congestion Costing Point-Counter-Point" (http://www.planetizen.com/node/64947 ) Let's be friends. Todd Litman regularly posts on his Facebook page ( http://www.facebook.com/todd.litman ). Befriend him now! * * * * * BEEN THERE, DONE THAT ======================= "Transportation Equity and Planning: A New Paradigm," keynote speech, Oregon Public Transit Conference (http://www.oregontransit.com ), 7 October, Bend, Oregon. "Healthy and Happy Community Planning," Plan Capital 2030 Design Update (http://www.planetizen.com/node/65335 ), 18 September, Abu Dhabi, UAE. "Urban Transportation For People, Not Just Vehicles," Turkey Transport Forum, 6 September, Istanbul, Turkey. "Clean Transportation: What Will It Take?" keynote presentation, Hawai'i Clean Energy Day (http://www.hawaiienergypolicy.hawaii.edu ), 12 July, Honolulu, Hawai'i. * * * * * UPCOMING EVENTS ================== "Making the Fiscal and Economic Case for Complete Streets," Complete Streets Coalition (http://www.CompleteStreets.org ), 14 November, Washington DC. "The Value of Transit," Transit Connections 2013 Conference, 6 December, Reno, Nevada. Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting (http://www.trb.org/annualmeeting2013/annualmeeting2013.aspx ) P14-6525, "The Path Forward" (http://www.vtpi.org/avip.pdf ) Session 188, Workshop on Activity-Travel Behavioral Impacts and Travel Demand Modeling Implications of Driverless Cars Sunday, January 12, 2014, 1:30 pm-4:30 pm, Hilton Towers Hotel 14-4717, "Toward More Comprehensive and Multimodal Transport Economic Evaluation" (http://www.vtpi.org/comp_evaluation.pdf ) Session 323, Current Issues in Transportation Economics Monday, January 13, 2014, 10:45am-12:30pm, Hilton, International Center Sustainable Transportation Indicators Subcommittee, ADD40(1) Monday, January 13, 2014, 12:15pm- 1:15pm, Hilton, Du Pont P14-6109, "Valuing and Improving Transportation-Related Data Programs: Report From 2013 TRB Sessions" (http://www.vtpi.org/TRB_data.pdf ). Session 797, Understanding the Role of Benefit-Cost Analysis for Freight Transportation Wednesday, January 15, 2014, 10:15am-12:00pm, Shoreham, Diplomat The 2nd International Winter Cycling Congress (http://wintercyclingcongresswinnipeg.org ) will be held 12-13 February 2014, in Winnipeg, Canada. It will provide a venue for delegates from around the world to share their winter cycling expertise. The Call for Speakers is open until November 15, 2014. * * * * * USEFUL RESOURCES ================= Transport Day 2013 (http://www.slocat.net/event/721 ), November 17, 2013, Warsaw, Poland. The Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport and the Bridging the Gap Initiative are organizing Transport Day 2013 during the 19th UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP 19), to demonstrate the contribution that transport can make to climate change mitigation and adaptation while also supporting sustainable development. 2013 Global Report on Human Settlements: Planning and Design for Sustainable Urban Mobility (http://www.slocat.net/news/1060 ). The 300+ page report by UN-Habitat describes the current status of sustainable urban mobility, with more than 30 case studies. It emphasizes that sustainable transport supports economic and social development in addition to reducing resource consumption and pollution emissions. "Completing Our Streets: The Transition to Safe and Inclusive Transportation Networks" (http://islandpress.org/ip/books/book/islandpress/C/bo9115674.html ). This new book by Barbara McCann provides detailed information on complete streets, which are designed to be safe for people of all ages and abilities, whether they are walking, driving, bicycling, or taking the bus. The book describes how the complete streets movement united bicycle riders, transportation practitioners and agencies, public health leaders, older Americans, and smart growth advocates to reframe roadway design goals and practices. "Urban Street Design Guide" (http://nacto.org/usdg ). This new report by the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) provides guidance on how to make urban streets safe, multi-modal and attractive. "Abu Dhabi Public Realm Design Manual" (http://www.upc.gov.ae/prdm/index.asp ). This guide by the by the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC) describes how municipalities, agencies, designers and developers can create high quality public. "Road Diets: Fitter, Healthier Public Ways" (http://www.ncchpp.ca/175/publications.ccnpps?id_article=946 ). This briefing note by Quebec's National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy introduces the 'road diet,' an engineering technique that redesigns arterial roadways to control traffic speeds and better accommodate walking, cycling and public transit. Also see, "Evaluating Complete Streets" (http://www.vtpi.org/compstr.pdf ) which discusses the benefits of road diets and complete streets policies. Google Maps for Planners ( http://courses.planetizen.com/course/google-maps ) is a 40-minute online course that decribes how to select and produce specialized maps, digitize data, publish and share resulting maps, and how to embed your map in a website or integrate it with Google Earth. Better Block (http://www.betterblock.org ) helps communities revived and improve area safety, health, and economics by redeveloping local commercial areas. Better Block projects have been developed throughout the World with many of the temporary infrastructure improvements and businesses made permanent. EcoMobility World Festival ( http://www.ecomobilityfestival.org ) held in Suwon City, South Korea. This Festival highlights the creative ways that South Korea is supporting sustainable transportation. This short, well-written article describes a day in the life of a wheelchair user ( http://www.ecomobilityfestival.org/news/latest-news/news-details/?tx_ttnews% 5Btt_news%5D=136&cHash=f0a35824b163952a31a8f9557b83d983 ). It conveys an important message - that a transportation system should be evaluated based on the quality of service of the most vulnerable users. "Promoting Low Carbon Transport in India-NMT Infrastructure in India: Investment, Policy and Design" (http://account.createsend.ie/t/r-l-nyhjyid-tyqhhlihr-uj ). The report highlights appropriate policy and design interventions that can encourage non-motorized travel (NMT) in Indian cities. "What Works: Affordable Housing Initiatives in Metro Vancouver Municipalities" (www.metrovancouver.org/planning/development/housingdiversity/Pages/default. aspx ). This document identifies effective municipal measures that help increase housing affordability and diversity, including examples of affordable housing projects and programs, and discussion of lessons learned and potential next steps. "Places In The Making: How Placemaking Builds Places And Communities" (http://dusp.mit.edu/cdd/project/placemaking ) This report describes the concept of 'placemaking', identifies various placemaking indicators, and describes examples of successful placemaking. The California Active Transportation Safety Information Pages (http://www.catsip.berkeley.edu ), by the University of California, is a comprehensive source of information on walking and cycling improvements. "Evaluating Selected Costs Of Automobile-Oriented Transportation Systems >From A Sustainability Perspective" (www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210539513000059 ). This study published in the Journal of Research in Transportation Business & Management found that U.S. states with higher automobile commute mode shares also have higher rates of per capita vehicle travel, traffic fatalities, household and government transportation expenditures, and carbon emissions. Transit in Small Cities: A Primer for Planning, Siting and Designing Transit Facilities in Oregon (http://www.oregon.gov/LCD/TGM/docs/fulltransitprimer4-4-13.pdf ). This excellent report provides guidance on planning, designing, and locating transit facilities (e.g., bus shelters, signage, access-ways to transit stops, and other amenities) to support transit systems, particularly in rural communities. For a list of other excellent publications see ODOT's Growth Management Publications (http://www.oregon.gov/LCD/TGM/Pages/publications.aspx ) Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Transit Oriented Development (TOD) YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZaOlH59mqo), by Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (http://mexico.itdp.org ). It is in Spanish, select the "CC" button English translation. Also see their infographic, "Lo que nadie dice sobre el estacionamiento" ("What Nobody Says About Parking") (http://mexico.itdp.org/documentos/infografias/lo-que-nadie-dice-sobre-el-es tacionamiento ). "World Transit Research Quarterly Newsletter" (http://www.worldtransitresearch.info/newsletter ). This bi-monthly newsletter by Monash University's Institute of Transport Studies provides free access to research reports and journal articles related to public transport planning. "The Association Between Light Rail Transit And Satisfactions With Travel And Life: Evidence From Twin Cities" (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11116-013-9455-8 ). This study evaluated the effects of high quality public transit (Minneapolis' Hiawatha line) on residents' life satisfaction. It indicates that high quality transit positively influences life satisfaction through enhanced access to various activities. "Multimodal Benefit-Cost Analysis Tool" (http://tredis.com/mbca ) is a free, Internet-based calculation system for comparing the costs and user benefits of individual transportation projects. MBCA is unique in that it covers both passenger and freight transportation spanning all modes - walking, cycling, road, rail, air and marine. "Why We Drive: The Past, Present and Future of Automobiles" (http://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/3906/ ). This sweet little book by Andy Singer (www.andysinger.com ) includes numerous cartoons, photos and text that illustrate how our transportation systems became automobile dependent, the problems that result, and ways to correct them, including planning reforms and political action. The information is easy to understand but fully cited so you can find more resources on these issues. "A New Way to Go: The Transportation Apps and Vehicle-Sharing Tools that Are Giving More Americans the Freedom to Drive Less" (http://uspirg.org/sites/pirg/files/reports/A%20New%20Way%20to%20Go%20vUS1_1 .pdf ). This study investigates the degree that technology and social networking innovations are changing transportation options and behaviors, and identifies specific policy reforms to support innovation implementation. * * * * * Please let us know if you have comments or questions about any information in this newsletter, or if you would like to be removed from our email list. And please pass this newsletter on to others who may find it useful. Sincerely, Todd Litman Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org) litman@vtpi.org facebook.com/todd.litman Phone & Fax 250-360-1560 1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity" From cornie.huizenga at slocatpartnership.org Fri Nov 8 01:39:18 2013 From: cornie.huizenga at slocatpartnership.org (Cornie Huizenga) Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 23:39:18 +0700 Subject: [sustran] Seeking Endorsements for the Warsaw Statement on Low Carbon Transport and Sustainable Development Message-ID: Dear All, We are seeking your endorsements of the Warsaw Statement on Low Carbon Transport and Sustainable Development, which will be adopted at Transport Day 2013 (transport day.org) on 17 November in Warsaw. The Warsaw Statement contains recommendations on how to strengthen the integration of sustainable, low carbon transport in the UNFCCC process, especially the new global agreement on climate change. Negotiations on the new climate agreement started following agreement on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action in Durban, South Africa in 2011, where the global community decided to develop a new global climate change agreement. This document was drafted by a small committee chaired by Michael Replogle (ITDP). It was developed through a collaborative process by representatives of sustainable transport and development institutions around the world. Upon adoption, the Warsaw Statement will be sent to the UNFCCC Executive Director Christiana Figueres and the UNFCC Secretariat, the national focal points and the chairs of the main negotiating groups on Monday 18th November. It will be shared with the press and disseminated during any possible transport side events in week 2 of COP 19. The Warsaw Statement will also be widely circulated in the wider international community in respect to the development of a Sustainable Development Goal and SLoCaT?s input into the Open Working Group next January. We are asking as many groups as possible *to give their organizational endorsement of the Warsaw Statement.* They can do so by going to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/warsaw-declaration and endorse the Warsaw Statement. In addition, we also have the possibility for* individuals to endorse* the Warsaw Statement and we hope that many of you and your colleagues will also express their individual support. We intend to make active use of the Warsaw Statement in our future outreach activities on transport and climate change. It is important therefor to have broad registered support for the Warsaw Statement. We call on all to widely disseminate the Warsaw Statement and to encourage a wide range of organizations and individuals to endorse the Warsaw Statement. Please see here for full-text of the Warsaw Statement . On behalf of the Transport Day 2013 Organizers. Cornie -- Cornie Huizenga Joint Convener, SLoCaT Partnership 317 Xianxia Road, B 1811 200051 Shanghai, China www.slocat.net @SLOCATcornie +8613901949332 From sutp at sutp.org Fri Nov 8 01:37:19 2013 From: sutp at sutp.org (sutp at sutp.org) Date: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 16:37:19 +0000 Subject: [sustran] =?utf-8?Q?SUTP_Newsletter=3A_Issue_05/13_=E2=80=93_SEPT?= =?utf-8?Q?-OCT=2C_2013?= Message-ID: Dear All, Please find the attached document containing GIZ-SUTP Newsletter for the month of September-October, 2013. Best Wishes, SUTP-Team -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: NL-SUTP-September-October'13.pdf Type: application/octet-stream Size: 718123 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20131107/10f8cd45/NL-SUTP-September-October13-0001.bin From yanivbin at gmail.com Sat Nov 9 13:30:51 2013 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Sat, 9 Nov 2013 10:00:51 +0530 Subject: [sustran] A Million Road Deaths In A Decade & Climbing Message-ID: http://www.indiaspend.com/viznomics/a-million-road-deaths-in-a-decade-climbing-33413 A Million Road Deaths In A Decade & ClimbingNovember 5, 2013 Forty five people died in a horrifying road accident last week in Andhra Pradesh after a bus caught fire charring all the passengers inside. The accident once again highlighted the dangerous state of Indian roads. Here?s a look at some broad numbers. A total of over 1.2 million Indians have died due to road accidents across the country over the last decade. That?s an average of 120,00o lives every year or nearly 14 lives every day! Data released by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under the Home Ministry finds that road accidents continued to be a big killer in India. Road accidents accounted for over 37% (139,091) deaths in 2012 ? an increase from 82,262 in 2001, accounting for 35% of deaths in that year. A total of 372,022 people died in India in 2012 due to unnatural causes like road accidents, air-crash, heart attacks, snake bites, drowning and electrocution ? an increase of 58.7% from 234,368 un-natural deaths in 2001. Road accidents were followed by fire accidents, which accounted for 22,449 deaths in 2001 and 9.5% deaths in the year. In 2012, fire accidents accounted for 23,281 deaths and 6.3% last year. Drowning was also a big reason for deaths in 2012, accounting for 27,557 deaths and 7.4% deaths that year. In 2001, drowning accounted for 20,739 deaths and 8.8% that year. *Figure 1* Railway accidents, influence of alcohol, snake/animal bite, electrocution and fall from heights continue to be some other key reasons for unnatural deaths across the country. According to World Health Organisation?s Global Status Report 2013, 1.24 million people die each year on the world?s roads. And India accounts for about 10% of road crash fatalities worldwide. The death rate per 100,000 population for road accidents in 2010 for India is estimated at 18.9, better when compared to 20.5 for China but worse than Pakistan (17.4), Bangladesh (11.6) and Nepal (16). Respect for law or the lack is a key reason. *IndiaSpend* earlier reported on how drunk driving cases are reported even from ?dry? states like Gujarat. We also reported how the most dangerous roads in the country are in Ludhiana. Piyush Tewari, founder, SaveLIFE Foundation, an NGO based in New Delhi that trains volunteers to help accident victims, says the change has to start..well from the start: ?We should follow the World Health Organisation (WHO) usage of crash instead of accident. Accidents cannot be prevented while crashes can definitely be prevented,? says Tewari. Listing out the primary reasons for so many accident fatalities in India, Tewari says the broad reasons include bad road behaviour, lack of or weak enforcement of laws, bad road/vehicle engineering that leads to road user conflict (for e.g. left-most lane is reserved for buses and that?s the lane used by cyclists?.the biggest vehicle and the smallest one jostle for space?) and lack of post trauma care. ?A study by an orthopaedics association in 2006 found that at least 50% of lives i.e. 70,000 per year can be saved if accident victims are given proper post trauma care,? Tewari says. Tewari also highlights the fact that various departments involved in roads, accidents and care operate in silos and there is no effective leadership to co-ordinate the efforts to save lives. ?Over the last 10 years, 1 million Indians have died due to road accidents. And policy makers are still not able to or are not ready to accept the gravity of the situation.? He feels India needs a comprehensive Road Safety Act along with a national agency for co-ordination with all the requisite powers. ?It is time for us to follow the UN standards for vehicle manufacturing and road building, and time to adopt safe systems approach to protect lives,? he says. The Ministry of Road Transport has initiated a National Road Safety Policy to reduce mortality and morbidity resulting from road accidents. The Government is now focussed on 4 Es ? Education, Enforcement, Engineering (roads as well as vehicles) and emergency care ? to bring down mortality due to road accidents. SaveLife?s Tiwari?s is hopeful that the initiatives of some states like Andhra Pradesh, which has overhauled its licensing system and Tamil Nadu, which has implemented a comprehensive Road Accident Data Management System, will lead to better understanding and thus management of the issue. From navdeep.asija at gmail.com Sat Nov 9 16:39:17 2013 From: navdeep.asija at gmail.com (Asija, Navdeep) Date: Sat, 9 Nov 2013 13:09:17 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Punjab and Haryana High Court on Promotion of Non Motor Transport Facilities and Ecocabs Message-ID: Civil Writ Petition. No. 7500 of 2010 [O&M]. **** Court on its own motion Vs. Punjab State & Ors. *** ** Instead of complying with a simpliciter order dated 20.09.2013 for the rationalisation of sites of the rickshaw stands and to consider the viability of extending the Non-motorised Transport System in the Southern sectors of Chandigarh, the Authorities of the Chandigarh Administration and its Municipal Corporation have chosen even not to respond or give instructions to their respective counsel. [2]. Before we adversely comment upon their conduct or take any penal action against the Officers of UT Administration/Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, we deem it appropriate to direct the Secretary, Transport, UT, Chandigarh and Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh to remain present in Court on the date fixed and give explanation for the conduct bordering contempt of Court proceedings. [3]. The persistent in-action and casual approach of the States of Punjab and Haryana is also quite disappointing. We are afraid if the Authorities continue to exhibit such like irresponsible attitude towards the directions issued from time to time, *we may have to summon the Chief Secretaries of two States to ensure the meticulous compliance*. As of now, we grant one more but last opportunity to the Principal Secretaries/ Secretaries, Transport Department, Punjab and Haryana to take necessary remedial measures and file respective status reports. They shall remain present in Court on the next date of hearing. List on 29.11.2013. [ SURYA KANT ] JUDGE [ AJAY TEWARI ] JUDGE October 25, 2013. From yanivbin at gmail.com Tue Nov 19 14:15:15 2013 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 10:45:15 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Alternatives to the Automobile in the Indian City Message-ID: http://www.epw.in/commentary/alternatives-automobile-indian-city.html Alternatives to the Automobile in the Indian City Vol - XLVIII No. 47, November 23, 2013 | Henrik Valeur - Commentary While automobiles contribute significantly to pollution and environmental degradation, and affect human health, the authorities who are supposed to understand the gravity and the urgency of the problem pay no attention to the alternatives. Two cases presented in this article demonstrate that activists and experts, even high court judges, cannot change the situation, if the authorities do not want to play ball. Henrik Valeur (hv@uid.dk) is a Danish-born architect-urbanist, an independent researcher, founder and creative director of UiD. He has studied urban mobility in cities around the world and developed several projects for sustainable urban mobility, including the concept of ?green streets?, the design of the ?Bicycle Tower? and a plan to make Sector 19 in Chandigarh car-free For the past century, the automobile has captured the imagination of people around the globe and for many it still constitutes the ultimate symbol of middle-class status. According to a rapidly-growing number of academic studies, however, the automobile may have detrimental effects on human health and life quality, not least in cities where the concentration of automobiles contribute significantly to pollution, environmental degradation, social isolation, stress and physical inactivity.1 The following two cases from Bangalore and Chandigarh may not only provide inspiration for the creation of car-free environments in cities, but also reveal some of the difficulties in creating those environments. *IISc Campus* Bangalore is one of the biggest and fastest-growing cities in India. It is also home to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), which was founded by Jamsetji Tata in the early 20th century. Tata also founded what would later become India?s largest industrial conglomerate, the Tata Group, which includes Tata Motors, the manufacturer of Tata buses and Tata trucks, which are major contributors to road accidents and traffic-related noise and air pollution in Indian cities. Ironically, one of the few places in Bangalore where you would not find these vehicles is on the campus of the IISc. This is a very green campus with a healthy, honk-free environment. But as with the rest of the city, the number of cars and two-wheelers are rapidly increasing. To revert this trend, two different projects have been initiated. *Bicycle Sharing: *In August 2012, the Namma Cycle2 service was launched at the IISc campus. The idea was conceived 3-4 years earlier by an informal group of bicycle enthusiasts, including H R Murali, who had been to Paris where he had seen the then newly launched *V?lib *(short for ?bicycle freedom? in French) ? a highly advanced bicycle sharing system with about 16,000 bicycles and 1,200 bicycle stations scattered across the city. Initially, the group had thought of launching such a service at the Electronic City in Bangalore, but due to the chaotic traffic situation and lack of proper infrastructure, it was deemed unsafe there. Instead, it was launched at the IISc with a donation of 150 bicycles from the BSA bicycle manufacturer with the Center for Infrastructure Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning acting as the local anchor. The IISc had previously tried to implement a similar system, using the bicycles that students would leave behind when they graduated, but without proper management and maintenance, people would just abandon the bicycles because of a flat tyre or other technical problems and in no time the campus was littered with defunct bicycles. Today there are 75 Namma bicycles operating from five stations located at the busiest points on campus (the hostels, the canteen and the clusters of department buildings). There are two ways of using the Namma Cycle service. One is as a registered user. Registrations can be made at the stations or online and cost Rs 100 per month. As a registered user you may use the bicycles as often as you like and each time you use one, you get the first half an hour for free. If you use it for longer periods of time you pay Rs 5 for the next half an hour, Rs 10 for the next hour, and so on. The other way to use the service is ?pay as you go?. In this option, you start paying Rs 5 for the first half an hour, Rs 10 for the first hour, and so on. The progressive payment scheme is intended to encourage people to return the bicycle as soon as they are no longer using it. When asked about this, Murali says that the idea of bicycle-sharing is*sharing, not owning*. It is better to be used by more people since *Namma*, means ?ours? in the Kannada language. Lavanya Keshavamurthy, another member of the Namma Cycle team, says that, ?*the idea behind getting people to use and return a cycle within 30 minutes at zero cost, has its roots in our philosophy of holding onto resources only for the duration that we really need, thus, having enough for everyone with minimal resources?.*3?Cycling? may thus refer to both bicycling and recycling. There are about 3,000 students, faculty members and staff at the IISc, and just before the summer vacation this year, there were 300 registered users of the Namma Cycle. The statistics show an upward trend over the past year in terms of the number of daily trips (from 2-3 trips per bicycle per day in December last year to around seven trips in May this year). In total, more than 7,000 trips have been made (by July 2013) by both registered and non-registered users, and 65% of these trips were of less than half an hour?s duration. It is hoped that the number of users and bicycles will steadily increase in a positive self-reinforcing cycle, but with fees and subscriptions accounting for only 5% of total revenue, the service is, like similar services elsewhere, heavily dependent on grants, sponsorships and advertising from both private and public sources. The software used for registration and by station managers to keep track of the bicycles has been developed by Gubbi Labs and is intended as an open source software that can be used free of charge by similar services in other places. In fact, the initiative at the IISc can be seen as a pilot project, which may be implemented in other campuses and/or at a larger city-scale. But for such a service to work citywide, the authorities need to provide safe spaces for bicycling. Bangalore city recently launched another bicycle sharing service with a few small stations located at the new metro stations, but as there are no safe bicycle lanes around the stations, and very few bicycle stations in the city, this service is hardly used at all. The result of implementing such a service without properly integrating it in the planning and management of the city may be the opposite of what was intended. *E-vehicles* In addition to the Namma Cycle service, the Center for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning has also made a proposal for an ?e-mobility? service based on extra large electric golf carts that would shuttle along designated routes on campus. According to K V Gururaja, a member of the design group, the inspiration came from similar services at the historical city of Hampi and at the Infosys? hi-tech campus in Mysore. The proposal was made in response to growing concerns over the increasing numbers of motor vehicles entering campus each day. Today, motor vehicles account for about 50% of all trips on campus, while walking and bicycling make up the other 50%. Surveys indicate that even though a significant number of campus trips (one-third) are made by non-campus residents, who enter through one of the four main gates of campus, most trips (2 out of 3) are made by campus residents, between the areas where students? hostels and staff quarters are located and certain clusters of department buildings and common facilities like the canteen and library. Peak hours are indentified in the morning, around lunch and in the afternoon/evening. The fact that demand is not equally distributed over space or time constitutes a classic dilemma of transport planning, and solutions will often result in either insufficient or excessive capacity. More complex operation schedules with differentiated frequency for different time slots and different routes, and integration of the bicycle-sharing service could help solve this dilemma. Switching from (private) vehicles running on gasoline or diesel to (public) vehicles running on electricity would reduce both air and noise pollution on campus, which would be good, if for no other reason because it would have a positive effect on students? learning abilities. It would, however, not reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions, if the electricity comes from the national grid because most of the electricity in India is produced by coal, which makes electrical vehicles potentially even more harmful to the global environment than traditional motor vehicles. Therefore, it was hoped that solar panels would be installed on the roofs of the e-vehicles to make them self-sufficient with low emission electricity. The aim of the E-Mobility project was to make the campus free of polluting vehicles within the next few years.4 To achieve this, the E-Mobility and the Namma Cycle services would have to be seen as complementary rather than competing services and should ideally be planned and managed by the same entities. This could yield considerable operational benefits and make the services more user-friendly, while expanding reach and increasing connectivity. It could also help solve the capacity dilemma. Bicycles could, for instance, provide an alternative to e-vehicles during peak hours and be used to reach locations that are not served by E-Mobility, while the e-vehicles may be a convenient alternative to the bicycle when it rains or one is feeling lazy. Surveys indicate that the majority of potential users are willing to pay the proposed fare of Rs 5 per trip, which should be enough to cover operational costs. Capital costs of which the investment in e-vehicles is by far the largest may be (partly) recuperated through sponsoring and income from advertising. Parking facilities for motor vehicles would have to be constructed at the four main gates of campus, but this would happen in a later phase. In the first phase a single e-vehicle would be operated to test the system and provide user feedback. The planning of the e-mobility routes would obviously have to be adapted to the existing situation but how these routes were planned would play an important role in how the campus develops in the future as new facilities and activities will probably try to locate close to this service. E-Mobility ? if well-planned ? could therefore not only help make campus ?greener?, but also help preserve actual green spaces! Namma Cycle stations and E-Mobility stops would have to be strategically placed around campus and parking lot should be in the immediate vicinity of the four main gates of campus. E-vehicles should be solar-powered and a pollution-free system for deliveries and garbage collection on campus would have to be invented. With such an integrated solution, implemented in phases as an ongoing learning process (appropriate for a university!), the IISc campus could become a great example of how to create healthy urban environments for human development! Unfortunately, the plans for E-Mobility, that were developed by the institute?s own experts, have been trashed by the authorities of that same institute. *Car-free Sector 19* Like Bangalore, Chandigarh used to be called a garden city. It was designed in the early 1950s by a team of Indian and foreign architects headed by Le Corbusier, one of the ?fathers? of the modernist movement. The city consists of about 60 sectors, most of which have been planned according to the same principles of organisation: a market street and a green belt perpendicular to each other, dividing the sector into four equally large parts. Commercial activities are located around the market street, while public institutions and facilities are located around the green belt. Dwellings are divided into four subcategories located in each of the four ?corners? of the sector and served by secondary streets. Most sectors also have the same dimension, 800 ? 1200 m, which is ideal for walking and cycling, while the ?rational? grid of roads between the sectors is ideal for car driving though it would also be ideal for trams or a bus-rapid-transit system. But as it is, the bus system is malfunctioning, cyclists have to navigate some rather dangerous roundabouts, at each intersection of roads, and pedestrians are in many places prevented from crossing between sectors. Thus, with no other viable alternative to provide transportation between the sectors, cars have proliferated, not only on the grid roads, where they have created congestion, but also within the sectors, where the environment is deteriorating and public space is converted into parking space. The late Indian architect Aditya Prakash, who had been a member of the original design team for Chandigarh and later became the first principal of Chandigarh College of Architecture, said: ?When I was young?we could still use the street for anything that we wanted including sleeping at night. We did not realise while planning urban space that the automobile would be the greatest devastator of a city.? While Chandigarh was designed in the image of the ?modern? European city without much consideration for the qualities of the traditional Indian city, many European cities are now adopting the image of the traditional Indian city that Aditya talked about, i e, fewer cars and more human activities. And, maybe that is one of the great tragedies of our time, that despite all the means and opportunities, we are not very good at learning from each other ? one way or the other. I was invited to Chandigarh in October 2010 to give the Le Corbusier Memorial Lecture and decided to stay for six months teaching at the Chandigarh College of Architecture and working with the students on some proposals for the new master plan of the city.5 One of these proposals was to make Sector 19 car-free. Sector 19 was one of the first sectors to be developed and it was chosen because of its generic layout that would make the solutions developed here easily applicable to other sectors. The idea was quite simple. The sector has four entrance points and we proposed to construct parking lots at each of these, two above the ground and two below the ground. Because the entrance points are diametrically located, two at either end of the market street and two at either end of the green belt, the maximum walking distance from the parking lot to the home would be about 300 m. For transportation of physically disabled people, deliveries, garbage collection, etc, we proposed to have a mix of cycle rickshaws and solar-powered rickshaws. We also proposed to make bicycle lanes in the market street and through the green belt. These lanes would connect to the four entrance points, where there would be safe crossings for pedestrians and bicycles to the market street or the green belt of the next sector. The crossings would be equipped with traffic lights that would also make it possible to control traffic in the notoriously chaotic roundabouts (400 or 600 m away). At the crossings, there could be stops for trams or rapid buses, where people could conveniently get on and off. By removing all cars from the sector, a lot of space is liberated. It is estimated that about 25% of the total surface area of the sector is currently used by cars, either for driving or parking, and much of it is covered with asphalt. All of this asphalt, which contributes significantly to the overheating of the city, could be removed, and instead, eco-friendly pathways for pedestrians, bicycles, cycle- and solar-powered rickshaws could be constructed. These would be much narrower though, still providing sufficient space for emergency vehicles. The liberated space could be used for communal activities, such as playgrounds, sports fields and community kitchen gardens. Some of it could also be used to accommodate the people who work in the sector but live in villages, slum areas and rehabilitation colonies on the outskirts of the city. If the car is not parked in front of the house, but a few hundred metres away in a parking lot, much more shopping, in fact, many more activities, would take place locally. This would help reinvigorate the decaying market street, which could be made much more bazaar-like. In fact, a lot of space, which is currently used for parking in the market street, could be leased out to commercial activities and this could pay for the new parking facilities at the four entrance points of the sector. Our proposal to make Sector 19 car-free would, undoubtedly, be met with opposition from some citizens, perhaps not so much because they would have to walk a bit more, but because they would ?lose? an important, perhaps *the* most important, status symbol. Or, as one of the students put it: ?If the car is no longer parked in front of your house, why have a car at all?? We submitted the proposal to the Master Plan Commission in December 2010, and then nothing happened. At least not until September 2011, when the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, while hearing a petition to introduce so-called eco-cabs and discussing the issues of traffic congestion and pollution in the city, directed the administration to declare one of its sectors vehicle-free as a test, suggesting that it could be Sector 17.6 This is the commercial centre of the city, and may therefore be the most obvious to start with as there are many successful examples of making shopping areas car-free from around the world, including, of course, the traditional north Indian bazaar. But because the organisational principle of this sector differs from that of all the other sectors, it may be difficult to use solutions from here in other sectors. However, in a strange act of rebellion, the administration in March 2012 decided to chop down 60 grand old trees in Sector 17 to facilitate the construction of an overpass for motor transport in the middle of the sector! 7 This came only days after the same administration had told the high court that it had decided to make Sector 17 a vehicle-free zone ? in phases (!) ? and asked for more time to prepare plans for this.8 Then in July 2012, the administration told the high court that it will not be feasible to convert Sector 17 into a vehicle-free zone.9 A year later, in July 2013, a draft for the new master plan of Chandigarh 2031 was released. It does not make a single mention about making Sector 17 ? or any other sector for that matter ? car-free. Though it does adapt our idea of having bicycle lanes through the green belts, but not across through the market streets, so cyclists will, presumably, only travel straight forward.10 As for Sector 19, the municipal corporation decided to construct a small jogging path in the park there.11 *Conclusions* The distinguished British architect Lord Rogers recently predicted that: ?There will be a widespread ban on cars in London within the next 20 years?. 12 Over the past hundred years, more and more cars have been added to the streets of European cities, but because it has happened over such a relatively long span of time, drivers, planners and authorities have had time to adapt and adjust. In contrast to this, many Chinese cities have witnessed explosive growth of private motorised transportation over a much shorter period of time, which has forced authorities to react in a kind of emergency. Thus, a growing number of Chinese cities are now introducing a vehicles quota ?as public anger grows over worsening congestion and air pollution?.13 Regardless of the different political systems, in both Europe and China, it is concerned citizens, activists and experts who push the authorities to act. In many Indian cities, private motorised transportation is growing even faster than in China and the problems are in no way less severe. Several initiatives are being taken to revert this trend, but in too many cases they are met with resistance rather than with support from relevant authorities. As the cases here demonstrate, activists and experts, even high court judges, cannot change the situation if the authorities do not want to play ball. The lessons from both the East and the West are that citizens have to actively push the authorities to act. For citizens to react, however, against something that most of them see as an important symbol of status, they have to understand the gravity and the urgency of the problem, what the alternatives are and how they may be implemented. In that respect, what activists, experts and others are doing is extremely important, even if the immediate effects seem limited. *Notes* 1 http://henrikvaleur.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/ the-horrendous-costs-of-motorized-transportation-in-indian-cities/ 2 http://www.nammacycle.in/ 3 http://thealternative.in/environment/namma-cycle-hop-on-hop-off-when-nee... 4 *IISc E-Mobilty Project: Preliminary Service & Operations Plan*; CiSTUP and EMBARQ; 2012. 5 http://henrikvaleur.wordpress.com/2012/02/ 19/chandigarh-an-indian-adventure/ 6 http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ 2011-09-24/chandigarh/30197843_1_vehicle-free-ut-bench 7 http://www.dailypostindia.com/news/14219-ut-admn-punishes-activists-for-... (11 March 2012). 8 http://m.indianexpress.com/news/%22ut-to-make-sector-17-vehiclefree%22/9... (8 March 2012). 9 http://m.indianexpress.com/news/%22not-feasible-to-turn-sector-17-into-v... (7 July 2012). 10 http://chandigarh.gov.in/cmp_2031.htm 11 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Sector-19-to-get-jogg... 12 http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3816510.ece 13 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-10/ china-to-widen-car-purchase-curbs-to-fight-pollution-group-says.html From cornie.huizenga at slocatpartnership.org Thu Nov 21 14:34:02 2013 From: cornie.huizenga at slocatpartnership.org (Cornie Huizenga) Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 13:34:02 +0800 Subject: [sustran] Key outcomes Transport Day 2013 Message-ID: Dear All, After much hard work we did pull it off; to raise the attention for sustainable transport at the COP 19 meeting in Warsaw, Poland. Yesterday, representatives from SLoCaT handed over the Warsaw Statement on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport to UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figures (http://www.slocat.net/news/1102). At the time of adoption the Warsaw Statement had been endorsed by over 110 organizations and 400 individuals. Since then several more people have endorsed the document at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/warsaw-declaration. It is the intention to keep collecting endorsements till the SG's Climate Summit in September 2014. Please take a look at the Transport Day 2013 Press release. Our favourite quote comes from SG Ban Ki-moon, who in his message to the participants of transport day stated: *"**The commendable work of the Bridging the Gap Initiative and the Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport demonstrates the value of multi-stakeholder partnerships. The $175 billion voluntary commitment of the world?s eight largest development banks at Rio+20 has helped to make sustainable transport a significant feature of discussions on the post-2015 development agenda". * All presentations of Transport Day 2013 will be posted online in the coming days. A full report will be prepared by Bridging the Gap and the SLoCaT Partnership. An initial summary report of Transport Day 2013 has been prepared by IISD. They also produced a short 7 minute video on Transport Day 2013, which can be seen at http://www.slocat.net/transportday2013/media. Participants expressed their support to have a follow-up Transport Day in 2014 at COP20 in Lima, Peru. In addition, it is expected that SLoCaT and Bridging the Gap will also contribute in a significant manner to the Secretary General's Climate Summit in September. We would like to request you to disseminate these outcomes of Transport Day 2013 widely in your networks. Thank you also on behalf of Bridging the Gap. -- Cornie Huizenga Joint Convener, SLoCaT Partnership 317 Xianxia Road, B 1811 200051 Shanghai, China www.slocat.net @SLOCATcornie +8613901949332 From navdeep.asija at gmail.com Tue Nov 26 21:50:14 2013 From: navdeep.asija at gmail.com (Asija, Navdeep) Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 18:20:14 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Global-observer Reinventing the rickshaw one city at a time Message-ID: Smart Planet is a global publication focused on business, technology and design. With aim to showcase the best ideas emerging from international markets through exclusive reportage, fresh perspectives and compelling narratives. In this edition, they Published story on our Ecocabs. I can say this is the best piece of article written and published by Smart Planet on Ecocabs. Sharing with all of you. Hope you will enjoy reading. Regards, Navdeep Asija http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/global-observer/reinventing-the-rickshaw-one-city-at-a-time/ by Betwa Sharma > *DELHI -- A smile and mobile phone can boost incomes of cabbies at the > world's first dial a rickshaw* DELHI ?- With air pollution in India found to be the worst in the world, and government attempts to arrest the problem of vehicular congestion falling short, concerned civilians are now making efforts to promote clean modes of transportation. Navdeep Asija, an entrepreneur and social activist, is attempting to revive the cycle rickshaw as a trendy and green way to travel while generating employment for the urban poor and keeping cars off the road for short distances. In 2008, he launched the world's first dial-a-cab service called Ecocabs in a small town of 100,000 people called Fazilka in Punjab, on the border of India and Pakistan. In the face of environmental and health challenges, Asija popularized the three-wheeled ride by making rickshaw pullers more accessible to customers through mobile phone, a website and an Android app. The linking with technology gave the old-fashioned rickshaw a trendy image as well. ?It is about mixing a traditional transport with modern technology for digital empowerment,? said Asija. ?It is about generating eco-friendly employment for those with minimum level of skill.? In April 2010, the governments of Punjab and Haryana adopted the Ecocab model, which has now been replicated in 23 cities in both states. Other state governments in India are also exploring the option. In December 2011, Fazilka Ecocabs was awarded the National Award of Excellence in the area of Non-Motor Transport. And now Asija is planning to bring the rickshaw service to Delhi by the end of the year. With cars and buses flooding Indian roads during the past two decade, the rickshaw was pushed back into the narrow back lanes of big cities. This year, for instance, the West Bengal government banned non-motorized vehicles, leading to protests from environmentalists. In 2007, the Delhi government also limited the number of rickshaw pullers in Delhi to 99,000 to make space for cars. But India?s Supreme Court in 2012 lifted the cap. It is estimated that India currently has 10 million rickshaw pullers and 600,000 of them are in Delhi. At the same time, it is estimated India has 100 million vehicles on the road, and is expected to hit 450 million by 2020. Even the Delhi metro, launched in 2006 to reduce dependence on vehicles, hasn't stopped the city's economically mobile residents from buying cars. Delhi alone had more than 7.4 million vehicles in 2012 and it adds 1,200 more every day. Air pollution is now the fifth leading cause of death in India. ?Of course, the problem is very big but we have to start somewhere,? said Asija, who hopes to see this Ecocab service in all Indian cities. ?Today, people will take out their car even to reach the market five minutes away. This can be changed if the rickshaw puller can come quickly to your doorstep.? Ecocabs call center in Fazilka, Punjab Residents using the service in Fazilika can phone seven tea shops serving as call centers or the rickshaw puller directly. Since the majority of its clients are women and the elderly, Ecocabs gets their rickshaw pullers verified by the police to enhance security. A similar setup has been planned for Delhi starting with three upscale neighborhoods. Instead of tea shops, however, the watchman will double up as a call center to process requests. Rickshaw pullers in India earn an average salary of somewhere between 269 rupees and 179 rupees ($4.24 to $2.82) a day. The majority of them don?t own a rickshaw but rent for 30 to 50 rupees a day. The income for the 400 rickshaw pullers working for the Ecocabs service, Asija estimated, can be 25 percent more than what they were making before. This is possible especially for those rickshaw pullers who build a strong customer base by being punctual and having pleasant manners. ?Like any service, hard work is rewarded,? he said. And now fancy rickshaws equipped with FM radio, a water bottle and a newspaper stand are entering the market. These ?glamorized? rickshaws, Asija said, can even earn about 600 rupees a day. For the most part, Ecocabs has been using rickshaws and mobile phones already owned by the cyclists. But it also involves buying new rickshaws for about 13,000 rupees ($205), which are funded by donations of professionals who form the Graduate Welfare Association of Fazilka. These rickshaw pullers are expected to pay back the costs of the rickshaw over time, which works out to about 20 rupees a day -- less expensive than renting. Madan Kranti, a 42-year-old rickshaw puller, added that these new contraptions were at least 35 kilograms lighter and easier to ride, even though they accommodate four people instead of two. And more passengers means more income. ?People really like the new look and they take the rickshaw often,? he said. Kranti, who has been a rickshaw puller for 12 years, said his income has gone up from 3,000 rupees ($47) a month to 6,000 rupees ($95) since he joined Ecocab service in July. "I like it a lot. I already have three or four regular people and it's a good relationship," he said. "They tend to give 10 or 20 bucks extra even for short distances.? Shiv Kumar Mandal, another Ecocabs employee in Chandigarh, said that the new design of rickshaws had become a craze. "One day, there were four or five people fighting to get a ride. I was able to charge 40 rupees (63 cents) instead of 20 or 30," he said. "On such days, I can make almost 500 rupees ($7)." One of his regular clients, Ashok Kumar, a ward attendant at a local hospital, said that connecting with Mandal over the phone was really convenient. "Sometimes my shift finishes really late in the night but he always comes when I call. It's the best part of this whole service," he said. In bigger cities like Delhi and Chandigarh, Ecocabs also earns revenue by using the rickshaw for advertising, fetching about 1,000 rupees a month. In a commercial operation, a percentage of the revenue is given to the rickshaw pullers in cash. Ecocabs, however, uses the money to pay for their insurance and provide free medical aid up to the cost of 30,000 rupees as well as investing in a government pension scheme. And with Asija planning to bring Ecocabs to service prominent residential areas, rickshaws seem poised to leave the confines of Delhi's back lanes. ?Our larger goal is not just to provide employment but to bring dignity back into this occupation and the whole community,? he said. Photos: Ecocabs Nov 14, 2013 From patwardhan.sujit at gmail.com Fri Nov 29 18:55:15 2013 From: patwardhan.sujit at gmail.com (Sujit Patwardhan) Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 15:25:15 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Fwd: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why Your Car Hates Your Magnificent Heritage !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: 29 November 2013 Do read this article. -- Sujit http://in.news.yahoo.com/why-your-car-hates-your-magnificent-heritage-062243001.html For about 20 years, those attempting the conservation of monuments in India have struggled with one big problem: traffic. From Madurai to Pune, from Ahmedabad to Srinagar, the solutions are being fought over with varying results. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [image: Inline image 1] *Parisar* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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: 17934 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20131129/80a0b66f/attachment.jpe From navdeep.asija at gmail.com Sat Nov 30 02:41:34 2013 From: navdeep.asija at gmail.com (Asija, Navdeep) Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 23:11:34 +0530 Subject: [sustran] District Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar gets India's first Non Motor Transport Government Society Message-ID: *District Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar gets India?s first Non Motor Transport Society*. Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, a district with many distinctions has got one more reason to celebrate for being the first of its kind in the country. This time it is not for being the best administered district of Punjab with all top officials as female or where male-female sex ratio (1000: 913) is second highest among all the districts of Punjab but this time for Institutionalizing the priority for vulnerable road users like cyclist, pedestrians, cycle rickshaw and other forms of Non motor transport. Today district administration of SBS Nagar constituted ?Non Motor Transport Society? under the chairpersonship of the Deputy Commissioner with executive members like Executive Officers of all Municipal Councils of SBS District, Leading Bank Managers, Senior Police Officers, Public Works Department and experts for the non motor transport. Non motor transport is a State Subject but, as a matter of fact the same very important mode of transportations is being taken care by multiple agencies, varying from Local bodies to Animal Husbandry. No one owns the direct responsibility for Non Motor Transport and as a result, the equitable allocation of road space for non motor vs. motor transport is very biased towards motor transport. The society has been formed on the principles suggested in two important statutes, namely, *Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, 2012*, and upcoming *Non-motorized Vehicles & Pliers (Promotion, Regulation, Welfare and Conditions of service) Act, 2013*. ?*Each town and city of our country is facing urban mobility crisis, and priority for motor transport car centric development solution making it further worse for future generations. It is high time for the administration to act now, in order to achieve futuristic sustainable transport solution*? said Ms. Anindita Mitra, Deputy Commissioner and Chairperson of Non Motor Transport Society, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar. In the year 2012, 205 people died and 100 found seriously injured due to road accident in SBS Nagar District, which include large number of pedestrians and cyclists. ?*Repect for pedestrian and cyclists and more sidewalks are the symbol of any good democratic setup to tell people how much we respect our common man, who walks on the road for their bread and butter need. Our move is a step forward towards the same mission*?, she added. During her last posting as Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Patiala, she initiated the process of Training of 115 GreenCABS cycle rickshaw operators as Tourist Guides followed by free distribution of 288 cycle rickshaw trolleys from welfare funds. At present more than 2500 cycle rickshaw operators are operational in SBS Nagar district. This provides a source of livelihood of more than 13,500 urban poor. The Society will have a strong support for the promotion of cycle rickshaw as an eco friendly mode of para transit for urban and rural areas given the directives issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court related to implementation of Ecocabs in the state. As a primary function, the Society would work improve operational efficiency of Public transport system and support the livelihood people associated directly or indirectly with Non Motor Transport operations and other modes of Para transit Public transport. Society will also take care about the maintenance of footpaths and cycle tracks for safe pedestrian movement, along with promotion of cycle rickshaws and Ecocabs mainly in urban areas of district. Apart from ex-officio members, the key external members have been taken on board - Mr Ravee Ahluwalia, from Patiala GreenCABS and Mr Navdeep Asija, founder Ecocabs. Both will advise the administration regarding the different activities related to Non Motor Transport, designs of footpaths, cycle tracks and sidewalks. This is a welcoming step and will set an example for the rest of district administration in order to institutionalize the process of recognizing importance of Non Motor Transport. http://nawanshahr.nic.in/