Below is the DRAFT of an article which was published in "World Transport
Policy & Practice" Volume 3, Number 3, 1997. The author, Jai Sen, is an
independent researcher working on the dynamics of the concept of housing
rights in India. An architect and urban designer by training and first
profession, he worked as a researcher and campaigner from 1977 to 1981 with
'Unnayan' ['development' in the sense of self-realisation in Bengali], a
civil organisation based in Calcutta that works in support of the struggles
of the unintended and labouring poor to build their lives and homes. His
main work has been in the area of housing rights and of the rights of the
rickshaw pullers of Calcutta.
World Transport Policy & Practice
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'The Left Front and the Unintended City: Is a civilised transition possible?'
Jai Sen
51-B Palm Avenue, Ballygunge, Calcutta 700 019
Telephone 033/240 5698 or 0457, Fax 033/474 8172 or 7389
<mailto:jaisen@...>
Keywords
Calcutta, Rickshaws, Government, Society.
Abstract
Attempts have been made to ban hand-pulled rickshaws in Calcutta in the
past. Hand-pulled rickshaws are one of the last vestiges of feudalism and
imperialism. The lives and livelihoods of those who pull the rickshaws are
not normally considered because some politicians believe that "the poor
must suffer a little for the good of the larger community".
The recent debate in Calcutta - within the state government, the ruling
left alliance, and the media - about the future of hand-pulled rickshaws
and cycle rickshaws has been instructive and welcome. This is not a new
debate but it is good to see that this time there are some prominent people
(such as Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Home Minister) who, briefly, appeared
unwilling to take a simple-minded approach to traffic planning and city
"modernisation". They have confronted some of the awkward realities that
are contained in our social existence, of which rickshaws and
rickshaw-pulling are examples. It is good to see Ministers talking quite
openly about such issues; and it illustrates a new openness within the
Left, where it was most unusual to discuss such issues in public.
Given that we like to believe that we are living in and building a
democratic society, then this is a very important public debate - one which
is of far greater significance that might appear to be the case at first
sight. In collective terms, the debate implicitly involves the lives,
livelihoods, and futures of a huge population, straddling urban and rural
areas in Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, and Bangladesh who are among
the poorest and most exploited sections of society. It is crucial also to
recognise that the apparent standoff between Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and
Subhas Chakraborty is, fundamentally, between more civilised and democratic
planning and a more authoritarian ("I will clear them from the streets")
approach. The agenda at hand is thus much more than just "rickshaws or no
rickshaws". Indeed, precisely because rickshaws and their pullers are a
potent symbol and reminder of a feudal past (and of a continuing and
prevailing present), it is vital that the issue is understood not just by
itself but as a part of the wider and continuing struggle to fight
feudalism. Furthermore, it is important that the debate is sustained and
disseminated widely, and that a socially just and forward-looking
resolution is found, and that apparently "modern" but equally
authoritarian, neo-feudal, "planning" is not permitted.
At the time of writing, one of the more recent developments in a
fast-developing situation, is that the two Ministers in question have
buried the hatchet, and that Mr. Bhattacharya has apparently come round to
agree with Mr. Chakraborty that "rickshaws must be quickly cleared from the
city, for the good of the city"; and, it has been reported, that he
apparently agrees that "the poor must suffer a little for the good of the
larger community". There may be more between the lines than was reported,
but nevertheless it has to be said: how familiar and how sad it is to read
this - quite aside from how patently anti-Marxist this refrain is. This
position is grotesque, especially coming as it does from a government of
parties who claim to be of the Left. By recalling the history of the
present situation and thus placing it in context, and in particular by
drawing on the debate that took place in Calcutta in the early 1980s around
a similar drive to get rid of rickshaws in the name of modernisation, and
by pointing to some concrete and feasible alternatives, this article hopes
to re-open the debate towards a more meaningful process of change.
Though the debate has so far been largely focussed on the future of
hand-pulled rickshaws in Calcutta (and only to an extent, on the future of
the rickshaw pullers; there is a vital difference), we must also remind
ourselves that the West Bengal State Government's proposals may be much
wider. In what was perhaps the opening salvo, R. K. Prasannan, Transport
Secretary, announced that the government had decided that "The city will no
longer have hand-pulled and cycle rickshaws, pull carts, school vans and
other cycle-vans by the end of this year ... The decision to remove all
manual modes of transport has been finalised" (The Telegraph, August 8,
1996). The number of people who stand to lose their livelihoods, and
importantly also the range of services lost to the rest of Calcutta, is in
fact far larger than simply those involved in the rickshaw trade alone. The
hand-pulled rickshaw and the rickshaw-puller have come to symbolise this
larger question - the future of what I call "the unintended city", the city
of the poor. The question before us is: is a civilised and democratic
transition possible; and is the Left Alliance, whose constituents have
historically associated themselves with the poor, and with the struggle for
democracy, willing to address this question?
A drive for the removal of hawkers was announced simultaneously - or more
accurately, what Mr. Chakraborty has described as "encroachers" ("hawkers"
being those who move around hawking their wares, while those commonly
called "hawkers" are usually encroachers on public land such as footpaths
(Statesman, August 18, 1996)). After much deliberation CITU came out in
defence of the rights of "poor hawkers" to hawk, but not what it calls
"businessmen" (The Telegraph, October 2 ,1996). It is important to
recognise this distinction, and that established hawkers (though part of
the "informal sector") constitute a very different class and section from
rickshaw pullers. Although in simple physical planning terms, their
occupation of public space may seem to be related to road and traffic
congestion, in economic and political terms this is very different. It is
no accident that elaborate plans such as the commercial development of
Vivekananda Park in south Calcutta (The Telegraph, September 27 and 28,
1996) to "rehabilitate hawkers who will be removed" materialised within a
month, while plans for the rehabilitation of rickshaw-pullers remained at
the level of conjecture and "meetings". It is typical of officialdom to
group the two questions together - under the bureaucratic rubric of "law
and order", "traffic congestion", etc. In addition, despite his otherwise
useful distinction in relation to hawking, Mr. Chakraborty himself seems
quite happy to lump encroachers and rickshaw-pullers together. It is
disappointing that no opinion on the Left in West Bengal, other than
Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, has been voiced to make distinctions and to move
towards clearer and more strategic thinking, planning, and action -
something that has often been the hallmark of the Left.
The unintended city
Rickshaws, and rickshaw-pullers, are just one fragment of what planners,
social scientists, and international bureaucracy tend to call "the informal
sector", but which I prefer to term "the unintended city":
a society that has grown within and beside the intended city and
society (Sen, 1975).
The existence of this "city" is neither planned nor intended, either by
ruling sections and their planners or, in any collective or deliberate
sense, by its own members; nor is it intended by the richer sections that
it should disappear - for it is in their interests that "the poor" should
always be around, to service them with cheap labour. Though the debate in
question has taken place in and about Calcutta, this larger reality is
equally true of all cities and towns everywhere; and increasingly so, as
the contradictions of modern and post-modern development manifest
themselves. For example, the increasing number of street children in urban
areas of the South, and the increasing homelessness in cities of the North,
are just two manifestations.
Citizens of the unintended city are no different from the middle classes,
in that most of them come from the hinterland of the city, but the twin
forces of rejection and affinity - rejection in the form of discrimination,
exclusion, and exploitation by the urban centre, and the affinity of strong
ancestral tradition and of familiar primordial association such as language
and caste - leads these citizens to live a reality that straddles what are
called "urban" and "rural" areas. This has led to a continual and gradual,
mostly unintended, evolution of a "new" society, different from either the
conventionally or normatively "rural" or "urban", a synthesis of the
ordinary things that this mass of ordinary people is doing over generations
in their myriad struggles to survive and to prosper in a relentlessly
hostile environment. This hybrid society has specific and inherent value
especially for the poor, since it allows them to develop within their own
capacities and potentialities, to meet the demands of evolving life both in
the city and in their rural homes; and as a result, new, hybrid values are
slowly being evolved which offer them flexibility and security, both of
which are vital in an evolving situation.
So far in history, there has been little or no genuine attempt on the part
of the dominant society to accept the urban poor and disadvantaged as a
part of the city, here or anywhere else: to accept them as equal and
integral citizens; to develop also the city according to their needs as a
society different from the "dominant urban" and where their disadvantage
might be reduced; and to find ways of planning and decision-making in which
they can take equal part. At best, they are tolerated, and planning is done
for them, according to what the dominant centre thinks is best for them.
Usually, it is quite the opposite, where "planning" means what the dominant
centre thinks is best for itself, and where such people are not only
exploited for their labour but their lifestyles are also frowned upon and
their livelihoods declared illegal - and then even this "illegality" is
then exploited. In those rare instances where things have been different
and where change has taken place, it has usually come about as a result of
resistance and struggle - not out of largesse.
Rickshaws and rickshaw-pulling are a classic case in point. By the early
1980s, there were some 50-60,000 hand-pulled rickshaws plying in Calcutta,
but the number of licenses that were issued by the Calcutta Municipal
Corporation (and the ceiling on licenses, under existing law) was only
6,000. This ceiling remains the case, even today. A certain number of
licenses were also issued at that time by surrounding municipalities such
as Rajpur, but this still left something like 40,000 rickshaws which were
in use at that time, that were "unlicensed". Since each vehicle provided
employment to an average 2.2 pullers per day, this meant that nearly a lakh
(100,000) of pullers were then being forced to work "illegally".
The research which produced these figures, done by Unnayan, a civil
organisation based in Calcutta, revealed an interesting background:
* the ceiling on licenses of 6,000 had been set as far back as 1939.
This figure has not been revised upwards since then, despite the tremendous
growth in the city's population and the inevitable consequent tremendous
increase in demand for services, despite official reports recommending
increases and despite the evident reality of a huge number of "unlicensed"
vehicles - which were nearly 90 percent of the total on the streets, by the
early 1980s;
* this situation was far from being one of benign neglect. The
standard and mandatory rule for all "unlicensed" rickshaws and their
equally unlicensed pullers, was (and remains) regular bribes to both
Corporation officials and the police, adding up to a dirty grey economy
running into crores (tens of millions) of rupees, each year; and
* large numbers of these unlicensed vehicles were in fact owned by
members of the police force (Unnayan and T. H. Thomas, February 1981). In
this situation, it is only quite likely that many of these "unlicensed"
vehicles on the streets were ones that had earlier been seized by the
police, on the grounds of illegality, and were then being "recycled". So it
was a neatly tied-up economy, where the pullers were exploited by both the
owners of the vehicles and by the administrators of the city.
However, this is not to suggest that it is only policemen who own fleets of
rickshaws. Unnayan's research showed that the majority of rickshaws, both
licensed and particularly the unlicensed, were owned in small and medium
fleets (of between 2 and 20 vehicles) by individual owners, i.e. by "small
owners"; and there were only a few "large owners", having fleets of
hundreds of vehicles. Unlike the cycle rickshaw trade, where this was at
least partly the case, very few hand pullers owned the vehicles they
pulled, let alone fleets. In short, it was a highly exploitative and feudal
trade right up to the early 1980s. Dominique Lapierre portrayed part of
this feudal reality in City of Joy.
There is little to suggest much has changed since the early 1980s - except
in the important dimension of numbers, where both the number of vehicles
and pullers has gone substantially down. This reduction has taken place not
"by itself" but on account of a combination of factors since then. On the
one hand, there has been a fairly sustained - if also sporadic - process of
seizures of unlicensed vehicles by the police, and an apparently much
stricter process of issuing of licenses by the Corporation, both for
vehicles and pullers. On the other hand, the steep rise in the cost of
living over this period that the pullers have equally faced, as well as the
constantly rising level of pay-off that has had to be made to the police
(because of the dropping numbers of vehicles and inflation) has meant that
rickshaw fares have risen very sharply during this time - and that their
usage has accordingly dropped. It is a war of attrition, with a certain
inevitability about it Š the government's move suggests that it is finding
the process too slow, and therefore wants to accelerate it.
The previous round: Are there any lessons?
The currently-proposed "drive for modernisation", and the debate that has
taken place, is nothing new. The last time, in the early 1980s, when the
same Left Front government introduced a ban on "unlicensed" rickshaws in
the city - and, simultaneously, ushered in auto-rickshaws. Much publicity
was given to constables being given special rewards for seizing unlicensed
rickshaws; long lines of chained vehicles started appearing in front of the
city's police stations, followed by huge stockpiles of their broken
carcasses in dumps in the north and south of the city. Unlike this time
round, when there has been so little opposition except for a few letters in
the papers (and Bihar politicians Laloo Prasad Yadav and George Fernandes
speaking out in support of Bihari pullers), the 1981 drive was opposed and
strongly criticised by different sections of civil society in the city, and
briefly also by the Congress party. The principal critic was Unnayan, which
entirely by coincidence had just completed and published its detailed study
of the hand-pulled and cycle rickshaw trades in the city. Unnayan found the
plan to ban to be outrageous, violating the most fundamental of the
pullers' human rights and also making no planning sense at all. On the
basis of its findings, it argued that the banning of so-called "unlicensed"
rickshaws in the city would on the one hand suddenly deprive the city of a
range of important services (short-distance passenger travel, freight
carriage in dense inner-city areas, as well as specialty services such as
emergency transport for the aged and the ill especially among the majority
of the city that is low-income, and safe personalised transport for school
children). On the other hand, since no employment alternatives were
proposed for the pullers, the drive would throw nearly a lakh of pullers
out of work, as well as a significant further number who were employed in
rickshaw assembly and servicing work.
On that occasion, there was no known public opposition or debate within the
Left front. It is in fact one of the tragedies and contradictions of the
Left being in power in Bengal that the drive was, for instance, not opposed
by the Calcutta Rickshaw Pullers Union, formed by the legendary unionist
Mohammed Ali. This union had been built among the highly unorganised
pullers during the fifties, when workers in this highly feudal trade came
to be organised for the first time, and to command some respect from the
bureaucracy as well as from owners of the vehicles. But in the 1980s, when
Unnayan approached it for its views on the drive being undertaken, it found
the union to be paralysed on the question, seemingly on account of its
being tied to one of the ruling parties. Finding no constructive response
to its arguments from within unions and from within the Left (and indeed,
from one of the state's civil liberty organisations, who decided that the
matter was "a trade union matter, not a question of human rights" - a sign
of those times), Unnayan took its points to the public. Through booklets,
newspaper articles, and with the help of an arresting film called "Man
versus Man" (made by film-maker Shashi Anand based on its study), Unnayan
was able to raise a fair debate in the city - indeed, to such an extent
that the Chief Minister himself came out in public and said darkly that
"Some people are misleading the public" on the issue.
Unnayan's campaign was by no means decisive. It was only when Unnayan's
campaign came to the notice of trade unionist George Fernandes, and the
question was taken up by him - in part because a substantial proportion of
the city's pullers are from Muzaffarpur in Bihar, which was then his
constituency - that the Calcutta Rickshaw Chalak Panchayat was formed. It
was only after the matter was taken by the new union to mass meetings of
rickshaw pullers in Mohammed Ali Park (in central Calcutta) among other
places, leading to gheraos of police stations and the Corporation's
licensing office, that the 1981 drive died down.
On its part, Unnayan went further than merely opposing the drive. It
proposed that while the feudal practice and trade of rickshaw pulling
should certainly be done away with, mandatory policy prerequisites had to
be
* the provision of alternative employment opportunities for the
pullers, and
* the replacement of the most essential services that would be lost.
To achieve this most economically, Unnayan proposed the mass introduction
of what it called a "city rickshaw" and also transport and traffic planning
in the city that took such transport services into account.
The city rickshaw was not simply a fanciful idea. With the help of
volunteer designers and engineers, Unnayan took the initiative of designing
a suitable vehicle and building and testing some prototypes, including
making it available to a rickshaw drivers' co-operative in Kasba for field
testing, where it proved very popular. Basically a cycle rickshaw and just
as easily buildable, the city rickshaw was however a radical improvement.
Smaller, and with a tighter turning circle (essential for dense inner city
traffic), lower (therefore far more stable), equipped with gears and
drum-brakes for easier driving, and fitted with independent suspension for
a far more comfortable ride for passengers, the city rickshaw could have
been a very appropriate replacement for the hand-pulled rickshaw on both
the policy counts listed above. The prototypes designed and tested could
also be easily converted into an effective freight-carrying vehicle, which
is an equally essential characteristic of a vehicle in our context.
However, the government of West Bengal was not interested. Though many
individuals within government departments expressed much interest,
including in the State Planning Board and the Small Industries Department,
none of the government bodies that Unnayan approached were willing to even
provide the small grant that it requested for the research and development
work that had to be done to make the idea a reality. To the contrary, in a
previously unexpected step, but one which must have been prepared, the
state government suddenly announced the introduction - and licensing - of
auto-rickshaws in the city, even while the hand-pulled rickshaw drive was
on. Indicating that Unnayan's campaign had at least had some effect, the
Chief Minister went so far as to say in public that "The public should not
be worried about the loss of services caused by the banning of hand-pulled
rickshaws; the government is introducing auto-rickshaws, and they will
carry your kiddies to school".
The dangerous and polluted history of auto-rickshaw service in the city
over the subsequent years have shown how ironic and weak that claim was,
but far more significant are the facts that the Chief Minister failed
completely at that time to address the question of his government throwing
the poorest of toilers out of work and thereby being directly responsible
for creating only more misery and more unemployment. Instead, the situation
was used by the government to invite Bajaj, the manufacturers of
auto-rickshaws, to move into the city and displace the small assemblers who
made hand-pulled rickshaws. Just as thousands of impoverished rickshaw
pullers were put out of work, the situation was used by the government as
an opportunity to give heavily subsidised employment to an entirely
different section: Hundreds of "educated-unemployed youth", almost
certainly a convenient vote-bank, were given auto-rickshaws worth Rs
25-30,000 each in the name of bank loans that in effect never had to be
repaid - against the cost of a hand-pulled rickshaw of Rs 1,000. The bank
loans were later written off. It is also not possible to avoid the fact
that those who were subsidised in 1982-84 were Bengali, and those who were
rendered unemployed were largely non-Bengali. This communal reality was
only reflected in the response of the then state Minister of Transport,
when Unnayan approached him in 1981 about the problems being created by the
drive: "But the rickshaw pullers are only Biharis! And after all, the
government is only seizing rickshaws in order to protect law and order".
The situation that exists in Calcutta today, in 1996, is not very
different. There are however two important exceptions. One, is that for a
brief while so far at least, someone important within the government has
spoken up and has even spoken about the contribution of the pullers to the
city. For the moment, this voice seems to have been quietened. Since there
were no other changes in the situation, this has happened for reasons that
are not very clear - except that the government wanted to present a unified
face to the public, at any cost. What this writer has tried to show is that
it is of considerable importance - for a civilised society, and for the
Left - that this voice be raised once again, and that it is supported
loudly and clearly by civil society and by all democratically-minded
political parties. (The Congress party would in fact do well to recall that
one of the first points in its 1994 Election Manifesto, was "Replace
hand-pulled rickshaws by driver-owned cycle rickshaws Š In the First 100
Days" (Pioneer, March 27, 1994). The history of this point is not known.)
The second exception, or change since the 1980s, is that following the
first skirmish and then the peace treaty, and contrary to his earlier
defiant stand of "NO RICKSHAWS", Mr. Chakraborty has announced that the
state government has "begun discussions with two automobile companies,
Bajaj Auto and Telco, to design and manufacture a smaller and simpler
version of the auto-rickshaw, which can be handed over to the rickshaw- and
handcart-pullers as an alternative mode of employment" (The Telegraph,
September 24, 1996). Taken at face value, this should also be accepted as
an advance since the 1980s. But closer examination of what Mr. Chakraborty
said reveals that the government will also be holding "a meeting with
representatives of nationalised banks and state co-operative banks Š very
soon", and that "A formula will be chalked out to make money available
(sic) to rickshaw- and handcart-pullers or any other interested unemployed
person, he said" (The Telegraph, September 24, 1996). Aside from several
other problems with this proposal, this is the crunch line: the process of
supposedly giving employment alternatives to "the poor pullers" is
evidently being used once again as an entry door for "other interested
persons". History is only repeating itself.
Some conclusions
It is important to realise that the anti-rickshaw drive now being given
shape, has not suddenly materialised. There are clearly people, and
sections, within government who are determined to remove rickshaws,
whatever it takes. Recently, The Guardian in Britain carried an article
headlined "End of the road for rickshaws: Plans to modernise Calcutta will
rob 60,000 human engines of their jobs". The article quoted Ashim Burman,
Commissioner of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (who was credited as
"shaking things up since taking over last year as Calcutta's city
commissioner"), as saying: "Man pulled rickshaws have to be dispensed with
... They add to congestion, and they are humiliating" (The Guardian October
5, 1995). The article also pointed out that "Mr Burman is part of a wider
effort to reinvigorate Calcutta Š The Communist politicians who control the
West Bengal state government and its capital Calcutta have begun to turn
their backs on Marxist orthodoxy Š Travelling widely in an effort to
attract foreign investment, they have vowed that Calcutta will one day
outpace Bombay." This part of the grand plan has yet to mature.
There was no mention of alternatives for the pullers in The Guardian
article, just as it was not there in the state government's attempt in
1982-84 to ban rickshaws. That this question is now in the air, thus needs
to be considered as at least some advance, as does the forthright position
that Mr. Bhattacharya has taken - at one point - on the contribution that
rickshaw pullers make to the city. If the criticism is that men pulling
other human beings is inhuman, and that the overall objective is to
humanise society, then the question to be asked is: How can this be done?
Can the humanisation of society really be done by executive fiats from
above, or does it not require that the pullers themselves are a part of the
process? That they must be involved, and that whatever education it
requires to achieve this, must necessarily be a part of this? In formal
terms, the Left has historically always emphasised the necessity of the
emancipation of the oppressed, and the successes of many of the campaigns
and struggles it has been involved with before and after independence, has
come from this strength. But where does the Left Front government in West
Bengal stand on this question, in this present case?
Secondly, it is also very important that the public does not allow itself
to be hoodwinked and that in the name of providing employment alternatives
to "hand-rickshaw pullers and to other interested sections", that what
happens is that vehicles are introduced again, just as in 1983, and go to
strategically-placed "other sections" who would never have stooped to do
something manual like pulling a rickshaw. The state government should be
asked to categorically limit benefits of this scheme only to those who were
previously rickshaw- or handcart-pullers, and to no one else. If the scheme
is not workable with these people, then the scheme should be closed - not
simply transferred to another group of people. In addition, the government
should also be asked to keep in mind that if its scheme does not work, then
how will the services lost be replaced, and what other alternatives is it
offering to the disemployed pullers?
Thirdly, while it is good to see that the government is this time talking
of technological alternatives to the hand-pulled rickshaw, and that the
cost of the alternatives is one of the considerations, there is much reason
to think that an engine-driven, "cheaper auto-rickshaw" is neither feasible
nor the required answer to the situation; and that some variation of the
idea of a human-driven "city rickshaw" proposed by Unnayan back in 1984
still deserves serious consideration. An engine-driven vehicle, especially
if made by the likes of industries such as Bajaj and Telco, is unlikely to
be made available at a cost that the existing hand-pulled rickshaw pullers
- and not other unemployed sections - can afford to buy and repay the loan
on. On top of this, in an already dangerously polluted city such as
Calcutta, it is essential to keep in mind that more engine-powered vehicles
on the streets will only add heavily to both noise and air pollution. A
human-driven machine can, if properly organised as a scheme, overcome most
of these disadvantages. And a machine such as the one proposed by Unnayan
is no less dignified than an engine-driven machine.
Fourthly, any such plan has two basic and interrelated requirements. First,
it requires that detailed re-thinking be done in terms of traffic and
transport planning of the city. This re-thinking must take into account
both the kind of real transport needs that the different classes and
sections of the city require, in the widely-varying localities that exist
(from dense central and north Calcutta, to the more suburban areas), as
well as the amount and kinds of road-space that is available and also the
local availability of human labour power. Some amount of future planning,
attempting to predict requirements and availabilities in the future, is
also required. It also needs to be recognised that there is conflict
between slow and fast-moving vehicles - but equally, it needs to be
recognised that the resolution to this is by no means that slow-moving
vehicles should be removed. In some areas, and on some roads, it is the
movement of faster-moving vehicles which should be restricted. Zone
separation and route segmentation (of fast- and slow-moving vehicles) are
possible, and should be tried on an experimental basis in different areas
until the right balance is achieved. If it can work in other cities in the
world, there is no reason why it should not work in Calcutta. It is a
question only of there being available the necessary political vision and
will.
The second requirement is that there is a need to think beyond the level of
planning "for" people, and to move to planning "with" people. The meetings
that have been taking place with non-governmental organisations of the
intelligentsia is better than no meetings at all, but the government needs
to move beyond limiting its vision to only the middle-classes - and to
directly involve those who are bearing the brunt of the changes it is
proposing: The labouring classes, the citizens of the unintended city.
Recognising this so-far unintended, unrecognised world, involving its
members in the planning of their own futures and more generally the city,
would constitute one of the most powerful and meaningful ways to change the
present situation, and is a prerequisite for a civilised transition from
where we are today. Even if the sleight of hand (that seems planned and has
the outward appearance of progress and modernisation) simply to legislate
out the livelihoods and existence of some people, and to legislate in
favour of others can be blocked, it is no change from a backward past.
Finally, Calcutta has a very special responsibility in this field. It is
most likely the very last city in the world and hopefully in history, to
have hand-pulled rickshaws. Despite the inhumanity of man pulling man, and
despite the feudality of the trade, the jin rikisha ("man-pulled vehicle"
in Japanese - it was arguably first introduced there about 1869) has played
a memorable role in the history and culture of humankind. The struggle of
rickshaw-pullers, perhaps precisely because of the mesmerising reminder
that it offers of the real nature of human relations in society, has
figured widely in the literature of possibly all Asian cultures, certainly
in all parts of India. The rickshaw, indeed, has only operated in Asia - in
colonial Asia. It was introduced, it proliferated, and it operated as a
reflection of a time and of societies where humans became cheaper to use as
beasts of burden than animals. We are now, thankfully, moving past those
times. In almost all other contexts, including within India, the rickshaw -
and the rickshaw-puller - was simply driven out, crushed out of existence -
which, as I argue above, is just as authoritarian as the societies from
which they emerged. In this situation, Calcutta needs to do two things:
one, and beyond doubt first of all, it needs to phase out its own part in
this past in as meaningful and graceful fashion as possible - and equally,
it needs to phase in the future in a civilised and democratic way. Two, and
especially given its penchant for the unusual, Calcutta should seriously
consider establishing - and taking some liberty with the original language
- a "Museum of the Rikisha Jin and the Jin Rikisha", as a testament to the
struggle of the rickshaw-pullers of Asia, both in the past and the future.
References:
Sen, J., (1975), "The Unintended City: An Essay on the City of the Poor."
Cathedral Relief Services, Calcutta.
Thomas, T.H. and Unnayan, (1981), "Rickshaws in Calcutta." Unnayan, Calcutta.
Acknowledgement:
We are grateful for permission to reprint this article which appeared in a
similar form in "Economic and Political Weekly", Bombay, November 9-16,
1996.
With very best wishes,
Pascal Desmond
Business Manager
World Transport Policy & Practice
ISSN 1352-7614.
World Transport Policy & Practice
Eco-Logica Ltd., 53 Derwent Road, LANCASTER, LA1 3ES. U.K.
telephone +44 1524 63175 fax +44 1524 848340
Editor: Professor John Whitelegg [mailto:ecologic@...]
Business manager: Pascal Desmond [mailto:pascal@...]
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Subscribers!!
Please note that cheques/IMO MUST be made payable to Eco-Logica Ltd. A
significant number of payments have to be returned to subscribers because
they make this fundamental error.
I guess that since Kerry Wood posted this here (and for those who may not
have Kerry's notes in front of you I have (exceptionally) logged in the
whole thing below) it's cause comments and perhaps useful ideas and
reflections are in order. Let me have a shot, but first a word from our
sponsor:
Kerry, it is a splendid thing indeed to see so much good sense making its
way into halls of transport counsel (and of course better yet when they make
their way into transport practice). For a long time, these were for most
cities marginal ideas, so far out of the mainstream of what was perceived to
be possible and desirable that they never even began to get a hearing. How
rewarding it is, therefore, after a couple of decades to see such ideas
starting to shape the mainstream. We still are a bit of a way from that
accomplishment of course, but it strikes me that we are now beginning to be
well on our way. All it takes is more work, more imagination and more
examples on the ground which are just so extremely striking that they can no
longer be denied (thanks, Zurich, Curitiba and eventually hundreds of other
cities, mainly in Europe, which are starting to change the rules and our
perceptions of what works and what most evidently does not).
Observations on the draft:
1. "...speeding up ALL traffic by making public transport faster and more
efficient..."
I am afraid that a tremble at the hypothesis so stated, as I am sure you do.
But permit me to carry on for a moment on this. The advantage of putting it
this way of course is that it pre-empts the cars-first crowd, by suggesting
to them that what's good for the system will also be good for them. That may
be cagey politics but it's dangerous and I think ultimately quite wrong.
Dangerous, because it may give them more rope to go out and make THEIR
traffic hustle along even faster, which of course gives all the other modes
the short end of the stick... once again. And wrong of course because as
Wood and others have abundantly pointed out, the only way to make any sense
out of the system is to render the environment steadily, each day a little
more, somewhere between unfriendly and inimical to the good old private car.
In the sustainable city, you will see the odd solo-driver car here and there
during the day, just like you see the old Spotted Owl, and it will set you
to wondering "Whatever is THAT doing HERE?"
2. "...raise bus lanes.."
Ouch. This strikes me like a first-generation "solution", for which one can
understand all the reasons and thinking behind it but which one still needs
to pop right into the dustbin. This is not to toss out the problem of lane
clearing, which I think can be solved (later), but it is to suggest that
anything more than a thick stripe of plastic paint or whatever is both
potentially dangerous and unfriendly to others out there on the street.
They also tend to be quite ugly, even threatening, and I do think that we
already have enough ugly and threatening things in most of our cities not to
consciously opt for more.
3. "...bus gate..."
broadly as above.
To conclude: Bus lanes are a terrific way to start to organize thinking and
practice on sustainable transport in cities, because they are concrete, they
now come complete with a growing number of convincing demonstration sites
(meaning that you can just haul your politicos and traffic mavens over to a
selection of places so they can see for themselves.... perchance to dream),
because they do not require enormous gobs of hard earned taxpayer dollars,
and because it's something that any city can start to move toward, say,
beginning tomorrow morning. All you have to do is find a way to sell the
idea, and then, with proper preparation, it should simply sell itself.
A final wrinkle and observation: Think of bus lanes and all that goes with
them (including the SurfaceMetro concept, pace Curitiba) as today being
still in theory and in practice in very early stages of their evolution.
Say, the on-street equivalent of an Apple II on your desk in 1977 and just
about everyone who passes asks you why ever would you waste your time with
that. Filing recipes?
Conclusion: Let's get together and see if we can apply Moore's Law to
transport in cities. Wouldn't you say that 18 months is just about the
right amount of time to demonstrate that we too can double and half? Might
we think about that together too?
Eric Britton
P.S. If I can have the author's permission, we would like to post his
completed article as the Essay of the Month on the @Access on the Web site
at http://www.ecoplan.org/access . The idea is to encourage both
distribution of leading edge thinking on these matters, as well as
discussion. The author would be in good company, if you check it out - the
present resident of that slot being Peter Drucker.
ecopl@n ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
Eric.Britton@... URL www.ecoplan.org
Tel: +331.4326.1323 Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4)
Fax/voicemail hotline: In Europe +331 5301 2896
Fax/voicemail hotline: In North America +1 888 522 6419 (toll free)
From Kerry Wood [kerry.wood@...] on 08/01/2000
I am in the middle of a paper on speeding up ALL traffic by making public
transport faster and more efficient. Here are some bits from it (sorry, it
has diagrams which get messy on e-mail)
ISTP data shows that cities with low car use have low overall transport
costs. (I have used their figures for operating cost of non-freight
transport)
For as long as the debate is about road building for cars, it is not so much
about improving transport as about how quickly it will get worse.
Huge figures for the cost of congestion are meaningless in a policy context
because there is no prospect of realizing the savings: Mogridge (1997)
refers to 'ghost city' traffic flows. They can also be used to support any
option, and so cannot discriminate between options.
It has been known since the Buchanan report (1963) that full motorisation is
impracticable in a large city - especially if that city has a high density.
Speeding up motor traffic is self-defeating in four ways:
* If the car-carrying capacity of the road is increased, the cost curve for
cars is flattened. The result is that some passengers switch from passenger
transport to car use. More cars quickly offset the savings and costs return
to their old level (the cost curve is very steep in congested traffic, so
mode switching does not have to be on a large scale). However, passenger
transport costs increase because there are fewer passengers: fares may rise,
the operator may take off some services, or the service may even close.
Higher costs encourage more passengers to switch to car use, so car costs
rise until they reach the new passenger transport costs. When the
readjustments are complete the point where the cost curves for passenger
transport and cars cross is at a higher cost than before the capacity
increase: the road 'improvement' has increased costs for everybody.
* Capacity increase in an urban area simply releases suppressed demand.
This accounts for the common observation, first made in the 1930s, that a
new urban highway does not reduce traffic on the old route (SACTRA 1994).
SACTRA's explanation is that new capacity induces new traffic on an
important scale, which is not allowed for in most transport modelling.
* Urban design effects. For example, good car mobility allows supermarkets
to drive local stores out of business, frustrating accessibility and needing
more mobility to meet the demand created
* Buses are slowed down in four ways. They have greater difficulty in
re-entering a faster traffic stream after a stop, or in crossing fast
traffic to reach a right turn lane; they consistently miss traffic lights
set to give motor traffic a 'green wave' through several junctions, because
of the need to stop for passengers; they suffer long delays at traffic
lights set to maximise traffic capacity by using long phases; and they often
follow a more circuitous route to pick up passengers.
Suppressed demand is usually a smaller economic problem than excess demand.
SACTRA (1999) studied the economic impacts of reducing traffic, and
concluded:
"The external costs arising from road transport provide a rationale for
traffic reduction insofar as it arises from the alignment of marginal
benefit with marginal social cost. (7.125)
"..a more efficient allocation of resources might result from well?targeted
reduction measures. There is a strong case for correcting market failure
since marginal social costs appear to exceed marginal benefit on many
journeys." (7.126)
Reducing capacity also has little effect on speeds. Cairns and her
co-workers (1998) found 47 traffic reduction schemes where usable data was
available, with an average area-wide reduction of 25% of the capacity of the
altered streets. Crucially, they could not find any example of capacity
reduction causing 'traffic chaos,' beyond a short adjustment period (it will
be alright by Friday), even when there were catastrophic reductions due to
earthquakes.
Road building making the situation worse is called the Downs-Thomson effect.
Thomson (1977) describes the process like this:
"If the decision to use public or private transport is left to the free
choice of the individual commuter, an equilibrium will be reached in which
the overall attractiveness of the two systems is about equal, because if one
is faster, cheaper and more agreeable than the other there will be a shift
of passengers to it, rendering it more crowded while the other becomes less
so, until a position is reached where no?one on either system thinks there
is any advantage in changing to the other...
"Hence we derive one of the golden rules of urban transport: the quality of
peak?hour travel by car tends to equal that of public transport."
Studies of door-to-door travel speeds in several cities show that speeds on
public and private transport are remarkably similar, and studies of
household travel surveys show that about 15% of commuter cars are not used
every day: there is mode switching going on.
Zurich is one of several European cities that have pursued a policy of
improving public transport for some years. It is a particularly interesting
example because excellent results have been achieved at comparatively low
cost, with few subways and some surprisingly old vehicles. The head of VBZ,
the Zurich transport authority, claims:
"The only way to reduce traffic problems is to promote public transport
.
"Our strategy has been promoting public transport, reducing non-essential
car traffic, funneling traffic onto trunk roads, reducing parking provision
and encouraging pedestrians and cyclists." (Heierli 1996)
Cost/modal split diagrams (following Mogridge) show that speeding up
passenger transport also speeds up cars EVEN IF SPACE IS TAKEN FROM CARS TO
MAKE ROOM FOR PASSENGER TRANSPORT. This is what has been done in Zurich, as
well as many other European cities. It seems to boost rather than depress
the economy.
ISTP data includes in-vehicle speeds for private and passenger transport for
a range of cities, as well as the proportion of journeys to work by car.
Plotting these gives a clear boundary line, which seems to represent the
Downs-Thomson effect: all the cities quoted by Mogridge are on on close to
this line.
Mogridge (1997) mentions sample calculations suggesting that in central
London average traffic speeds could be doubled by favouring passenger
transport: clearly this would being major commercial benefits. Trucks have
to be considered, but they do not necessarily need more road space - they
are usually only about 10% of a traffic stream.
A common assumption is that business people need car access, but what they
really need is good access. Heierli (1996) says:
"Zurich has... succeeded in giving its public transport operators the image
of modern companies with a clear customer focus, which... results in a very
positive image. The outcome of this is that there is no stigma attached to
travelling by tram in Zurich; indeed, anyone who does not use the tram tends
to be regarded as out of touch.
"Our politicians make regular use of public transport (not just at election
times) and leading figures from economic and academic life would not
consider commuting in any other way."
References
Buchanan, C (1963) Traffic in Towns. London: HMSO
Cairns, S; Hass?Klau, C and Goodwin, P (1998) Traffic impact of highway
capacity reductions: assessment of the evidence. London: Landor.
Heierli, R (1996) European Lecture: Public transport in Zurich. Proc Instn
Civil Engineers, Transport 117, November Mogridge, MJH (1997) The
self?defeating nature of urban road capacity policy. Transport Policy 4 (1)
pp 5?23 Thomson, JM (1977) Great cities and their traffic. London: Gollancz.
Quoted in Mogridge (1997)
I like the idea of running bus lanes in the 'wrong' direction to keep cars
out of the lane. Thanks Lake.
Another approach is to raise bus lanes about 80-120 mm above the general
traffic lanes (or about 150 mm with a beveled kerb), so that motor vehicles
can use them at low speed in emergency, but not just to save a few seconds.
Brussels uses a thing like a painted broken line, but the 'paint' is
concrete and 100 mm high.
A good design for a 'bus gate' to keep other traffic out of a bus lane is a
narrow section of road, between kerbs, with a level surface where the bus
wheels go but a dip where the narrower car wheels go. It doesn't matter if
the inner wheels on the back axle of the bus are unsupported. The dip can
be enough to slow cars down, or deep enough to stop them, and a ridge (low
enough to clear the bus differential) stops them from going over the dip too
fast for their wheels to drop in. The trouble is that it is comparatively
expensive, because the dip needs separate drainage.
--
Kerry Wood MICE MIPENZ MCIT
Transport Consultant
1 McFarlane Street, Wellington 6001, New Zealand
Phone + 64 4 971 5549
- The world’s largest, fastest sustainable city transport operation to date
–
-- Kindly circulate this message --
At 6:30 in the morning on Thursday 24 February 2000, a city of 7 million
people that until now has been making do with a transportation system no
better, no worse than those of most cities in the Third World (or anywhere
else in fact), will begin a 13 hour living laboratory experiment the goal of
which is to see if the people and the institutions of their city can imagine
another better….. Bogotá.
The project, as many of you may know, is the Bogotá Car Free Day, and your
best source of information on this for now at least is the Car Free Day site
here at http://www.ecoplan.org/carfreeday/
<http://www.ecoplan.org/carfreeday/> . Since the information on the site
really is very comprehensive, there is no reason that I should take any more
of your time with further background here.
Here is our proposal to you and reason for writing this morning:
Today we are opening a “Tribune” section in which we are welcoming critical
comments and suggestions, including in essay or working paper form, from
thinkers and practitioners coming from many disciplines and parts of the
world, on this tough but in my view at least terribly courageous and
potentially useful real life experience. We welcome commentary, positive,
negative and maybe just wondering, from the following disciplines,
backgrounds and concerns:
* Transport planners and experts
* Traffic engineers
* City planners
* Environmentalists and sustainable development specialists
* Doctors, hospitals, emergency room practitioners, and public health
specialists
* Experts in local government, including new forms of governance and
participation
* Behavioral psychologists
* Social workers
* Game theorists
* The media (new and traditional)
* Representatives of the auto industry and manufacturers of public
transportation systems
* People who work with the Web and practical applications of the
Information Society
* Academics of all kinds
* Concerned citizens
* and yes, even economists…
Commentary is welcome in any language, preferably though in either Spanish
or English or any of the others (German, French, Italian, Portuguese) which
are readily handled by our Quick Translate utility.
If you yourself do not have an idea for this, may we ask you to circulate
this note to those of your most thoughtful colleagues who might have some
ideas or points of view to share with us, and of course to challenge us in
this initiative. Likewise, if you can think of any press or media contacts
who might be mobilized for this initiative – and again, we welcome coverage
whether it is favorable or rotten – please do feel free to do what you can
to bring them to the fiesta as well.
And have YOU signed the Bogotá Guest Book. Have a look at it. Some very
impressive, thoughtful people and groups have already got behind the
project. As well they should.
Thanks for joining in and helping. If this project is to succed, as it must
and will, it will be in at least a small part because of the international
support that is coming in for this great idea.
Eric Britton
(Almost an economist)
A very useful Newsletter on Car Free Day developments in Europe has just
been posted by Richard Evans of the ETA Car Free Day group. It is available
directly on this site, if you first click the UK Car Free Day link on the
menu (toward the bottom), and from thence to #31, Newsletter No. 11.
One of the primary goals of our @World Car Free Day site from the outset has
been to use the technologies at our disposal to be sure that information and
materials on our important subject are not unnecessarily isolated. There is
a basic philosophical and we think highly practical reason for doing this.
Having watched many important and quite possible sustainable transportation
innovations be held up by a combination of indifference, narrow thinking,
bureaucracy and power brokerage over the last three decades, it has been one
our driving goals not only in this program but all of our Access on the Web
sites to do whatever we can do to break out of these binding but entirely
unnecessary traps.
Hence we both make a major and continuing effort to link and network with
ALL the programs, sites and groups anywhere in the world that are trying to
advance or fill out the Car Free Day agenda, irrespective of geographic
focus, language or approach to the issues (even though we do have our own
rather firm ideas on the subject). The UK/ETA program is just one example
among many.
One of the linking devices that we are using is the Search function which
you will see at the base of the menu on the site. It captures the content of
more than a dozen of the most active related programs, world wide. Given it
a try with a couple of sample words or phrases (and if you need a few clues
as to how to get full use out of it, just click the Search/Research link at
the top of the menu for useful pointers.) And if you can think of any other
important sources of information on our topic which we are thus far missing
out, let us know and we'll try to do better.
And as I look at the Bogotá section of the site just as I sign off here, I
note that there are exactly 4 days, 20 hours, and 32 minutes left before the
world's biggest, boldest, baddest Car Free Day project to date closes off
the streets to private cars and seven million people take their first breath
of a new life.
Light a candle for Bogotá.
Eric Britton
ecopl@n ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
Eric.Britton@... URL www.ecoplan.org
Voice/Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4)
Voicemail/Fax hotline: Europe +331 5301 2896
Voicemail/Fax hotline: North America +1 888 522 6419 (toll free)
=======================Electronic Edition=======================
. .
. RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH WEEKLY #687 .
. ---February 17, 2000--- .
. HEADLINES: .
. DUMBING DOWN THE CHILDREN-PART 1 .
. ========== .
. Environmental Research Foundation .
. P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403 .
. Fax (410) 263-8944; E-mail: erf@... .
. ========== .
. All back issues are available by E-mail: send E-mail to .
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. E-mail message to info@.... .
================================================================
DUMBING DOWN THE CHILDREN-PART 1
The NEW YORK TIMES reported in 1999 that, "Federal investigators say most
states are flouting a 1989 law requiring that young children on Medicaid be
tested for lead poisoning. As a result, they say, hundreds of thousands of
children exposed to dangerously high levels of lead are neither tested nor
treated."[1]
The TIMES explained that, "The General Accounting Office [GAO], an
investigative arm of Congress, found that 'few Medicaid children are
screened for blood-lead levels,' even though the problem of lead poisoning
is concentrated among low-income children on Medicaid." Medicaid is a
federal medical insurance program for poor people. In the U.S. today, more
than 40% of all poor people are children.[2]
Today nearly a million children (983,000) in the U.S. younger than 5 are
believed to suffer from low-level lead poisoning, according to the federal
Centers for Disease Control.[3] Low-level lead poisoning can cause permanent
learning disabilities, hyperactivity, poor motor coordination, and other
developmental deficits. Indeed, reduced IQ, hearing loss and diminished
stature are associated with lead levels considerably lower than the 10
micrograms of lead per tenth-of-a-liter of blood now deemed "acceptable" by
the U.S. government.[4]
Supplementing and corroborating the GAO study, the state auditor of
California, Kurt R. Sjoberg, reached a similar conclusion about Medicaid
compliance in a separate 1999 report. "'Thousands of lead-poisoned children
have been allowed to suffer needlessly,' because California has not complied
with the federal requirement to test them for lead poisoning, Mr. Sjoberg
said," according to the TIMES.[1]
Federal rules require that children in the Medicaid program be tested for
lead poisoning at age 12 months and again at age two years. The GAO report
found that states varied considerably in their compliance with this federal
law. Washington State tested fewer than 1% of eligible children; New Jersey
tested 40%. Alabama performed best, testing the highest proportion but
still fewer than half (46%) of all eligible children.
The TIMES also reported that many states simply don't keep the necessary
records to know whether they are complying with federal law or not. "Many
states, including Connecticut [the wealthiest state in the Union] said they
did not have statewide data on testing rates or the prevalence of lead
poisoning," the TIMES reported. The question occurs, why would a state not
maintain records to assess the size of this problem and the steps being
taken to solve it?
From a state's perspective, the problem isn't one of cost. A lead
poisoning test is relatively cheap at $10 or less and besides the federal
Medicaid program pays 100% of the costs of testing. If a child is found to
have elevated lead levels, Medicaid will pay 100% of the costs of treatment.
(Medicaid will NOT pay to test water, paint or house dust to find the source
of the contamination, however.)
To summarize: An 11-year-old federal law requires all children up to age 2
in the Medicaid program to be tested for lead poisoning. Medicaid pays all
the costs. The purpose of the law is to catch signs of lead poisoning early
in hopes of limiting the damage to the child's central nervous system. Lead
poisoning, even at low levels, can leave a permanent legacy of slow
learning, hearing impairment, cardiovascular disease, behavioral problems
and delinquent behavior.2 But the states are thumbing their noses at the
federal law, thus allowing these debilitating medical conditions to develop
in tens of thousands of American children each year.
Why? Why are governments refusing to comply with a public health law
intended to protect children?
Here are a few preliminary reasons:
** Dr. Maxine D. Hayes, the acting health officer for Washington state, gave
a states-rights explanation: "We don't think it's right for the Federal
Government to dictate what states should do," she told the NEW YORK TIMES.
Dr. Hayes seems to be asserting a state's right to ignore the poisoning of
its children and to disregard federal law if it chooses to do so, a dubious
legal proposition at best (leaving aside the ethical issues it raises). The
question still remains, why would a state government choose to do such a
thing?
** Washington state does participate in the federal Medicaid program. The
state's Medicaid director gave the TIMES a different explanation: "We don't
believe we have much of a problem with lead exposure here." However, this is
speculation and the purpose of the lead-testing program is to lay such
speculation to rest by producing hard evidence. Bitter experience shows that
testing is likely to identify some lead-poisoned children who live in homes
built prior to 1978, particularly homes that have been poorly maintained.
Eighty percent of housing built before 1978 contains some lead-based paint,
which in poorly-maintained buildings is by now probably turning into a fine
powdery dust, which toddlers may get on their hands and then into their
mouths. But of course without testing, a state official is free to speculate
that his or her state is, miraculously, an exception to this general rule.
The question remains, why would a state medical officer choose to speculate
rather than acquire hard data?
** Many states have turned over their Medicaid responsibilities to health
maintenance organizations (HMOs) but have neglected to specify the full
range of services they expect HMOs to provide, so lead testing has often
slipped through the cracks. The question remains: since Uncle Sam is picking
up the tab, why don't states require lead testing when they negotiate
contracts with HMOs?
The long and the short of it seems to be that most state governments have
designed policies that assure that the lead-poisoning of children continues,
and the federal government seems paralyzed in the face of this rebellion.
The question remains, Why?
* * *
There are two major sources of lead in the environment, both of them human
in origin. The first is leaded gasoline, which was outlawed in the U.S. in
1976 but which left a residue of about 5.9 million metric tonnes (13 billion
pounds) of lead in the environment in the form of a fine, toxic dust.[2]
Much of that powdery lead is still moving around in soil and house dust.
Furthermore leaded gasoline is still being used in many countries outside
the U.S., so contamination of the atmosphere continues, producing a steady
toxic fallout.[5] Without human help, nature does produce some lead dust,
but humans now produce 19 times as much as nature produces each year-a
startling reminder of how numerous market-based decisions can add up to an
intractable problem of enormous proportions.[5]
The second major source of lead dust is lead in paint. Lead, the soft, gray
metal makes an excellent white pigment, and paint made with white lead
pigment provides a high-quality, durable protective coating. Eventually,
however, even lead-based paint deteriorates. It begins to flake, peel and
disintegrate into a fine, powdery dust, which is toxic. Lead in paint was
restricted on a voluntary basis by the paint industry in 1955, but voluntary
compliance proved ineffective so, in 1970, Congress outlawed leaded paint
for interior uses. However there is evidence that leaded paint was used
illegally inside buildings until at least 1978. Between 4 and 5 million
metric tonnes (approximately 10 billion pounds) of lead were used in paint
in the U.S. between 1889 and 1979 and much of it remains where it was
originally put, slowly deteriorating into a toxic dust. An estimated 42
million families live in homes containing an average of 140 pounds of lead
in paint. If it has not been covered, this paint is a constant danger to
toddlers who often pick up the dust on their hands, then transfer it into
their mouths.[3]
The danger of lead in paint was first identified 96 years ago when J.
Lockhart Gibson, an Australian physician, published the first report in a
medical journal describing children poisoned by lead-based paint. Gibson
specifically described the dangers to children from lead-based paint on the
walls and verandas of houses.[1] The following year Gibson urged that,
"[T]he use of lead-based paint within the reach of children should be
prohibited by law."[6] Australia finally took Gibson's advice in 1922, 50
years before the U.S. took similar action.
Unfortunately, lead is extremely toxic, especially to children whose
developing nervous systems are particularly susceptible to lead poisoning.
As little as 10 micrograms ingested daily can poison a child;[2] a microgram
is a millionth of a gram and there are 28 grams in an ounce. With 10
micrograms being a toxic daily quantity, the 10 million metric tonnes of
lead introduced into the environment by humans during the 20th century
creates an almost unbelievably large "sink" of toxic powder available in
soil and in house dust, waiting to cause brain damage in toddlers.
Lead poisoning of children in the U.S. was first described in medical
literature in 1914.[7] In 1917, a physician at Johns Hopkins University in
Baltimore suggested that, if physicians looked harder for lead poisoning in
children, they would find more of it. A pediatric textbook in 1923 described
8 cases of childhood lead poisoning: "The poisoning was caused in each
instance by the child's nibbling and swallowing the paint from his crib or
furniture."[7] In 1924 an article in the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL
ASSOCIATION said, "There are many mild cases of lead poisoning in children,
manifested by spasms or colic."[7] The article pinpointed the source of the
problem as window sills, porch railings, and crib railings coated with lead
paint. In 1926, an article in the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF DISEASES OF CHILDREN
said, "Lead poisoning is of relatively frequent occurrence in children."[7]
Jane Lin-Fu, a well-known lead researcher, summarizes the early history of
childhood lead poisoning in the U.S. this way: "By the 1920s... severe forms
of childhood lead poisoning were recognized, and it became obvious that the
illness was quite common in the U.S."[7] The federal Centers for Disease
Control concurred in 1979, saying, "Lead poisoning in children from paint
was recognized early in this century."[7] But recognizing a problem and
acting upon it are two different things.
[More next week.]
=============
[1] Robert Pear, "States Called Lax on Tests for Lead in Poor Children," NEW
YORK TIMES August 22, 1999, pg. A1.
[2] Laura E. Montgomery and others, "The Effects of Poverty, Race, and
Family Structure on US Children's Health: Data from the NHIS, 1978 through
1980 and 1989 through 1991," AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Vol. 86, No.
10 (October 1996), pgs. 1401-1405.
[3] Howard W. Mielke and Patrick L. Reagan, "Soil Is an Important Pathway of
Human Lead Exposure," ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES Vol. 106, Supplement
1 (February 1998), pgs. 217-229.
[4] Institute of Medicine (U.S.) and National Institute of Public Health
(Mexico), LEAD IN THE AMERICAS (Washington, D.C. and Cuernavaca, Morelos,
Mexico: Institute of Medicine and National Institute of Public Health,
1996), pg. 62.
[5] Jerome O. Nriagu and Jozef M. Pacyna, "Quantitative assessment of
worldwide contamination of air, water and soils by trace metals," NATURE
Vol. 333 (May 12, 1988), pgs. 134-139.
[6] Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner, "'Cater to the Children:' The Role of
the Lead Industry in a Public Health Tragedy, 1900-1955," AMERICAN JOURNAL
OF PUBLIC HEALTH Vol. 90, No. 1 (January 2000), pgs. 36-46.
[7] Richard Rabin, "Warnings Unheeded: A History of Child Lead
Poisoning," AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Vol. 79, No. 12
(December 1989), pgs. 1668-1674.}}
Descriptor terms:
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Crude but sometimes effective:
In the context of two of our more recent spirited and useful exchanges
(examples: "Brainpower needed", Negative thoughts on metro in general) we
have been asked by several people on several of these lists concerning
whether or not there might be some easy way to access all the materials that
eventually get posted here or there on a given topic. There may be several
ways to do this, but here is one that we find handy:
For example, for the two above topics, you can turn to the @Access on the
Web site at http://www.ecoplan.org/access and slither down the menu to the
Search button, where you can enter these or other key words, preferable in
quotes (for more information on Search Tips, click the Search/Research link
on the top of the menu for any of our sites where you will find full
details). This will lead you to a list of references. If it is too long,
just narrow it with a few more well chosen key words. And where it brings
you into an eGroups discussion forum, you may find it handy to sort by
Subject, which will bring up all the indicated subject titles in the same
place (more or less, since some may have "Re:" before them and others "FW:",
so you may have to thrash around a bit. Still no one claimed that this was
perfect.)
Alternatively, if you wish to see what someone, say, "Paula Negron Poblete"
or "Kerry Wood" for example, had to say on some topic, it will suffice to
run your search for their names. Or for a city... ditto.
Likewise, you will find some pretty useful search functions with quite a
large reach at our various other sites, such as for Car Free Days,
Carsharing, @ccess Mobility Solutions, etc.
Finally, if you want to search specific lists, including Sustran, utsg,
transport-Communications, Eltis, etc., this can be done quickly and easily
by going to the Search/Research page of each site.
To conclude, our objective behind this all is to develop systems which can
allow us all to make use of these exchanges beyond the first time they pop
up on our screens, since some of them, if not all, provide useful counsel
and insight indeed. It seems a great pity just to throw them away. After
all, there is a lot of information, perspective, views and, yes, even
knowledge there.
Any further comments, suggestions, or help on this will be most welcome.
All of this of course is work in progress.
Eric Britton
ecopl@n ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
Eric.Britton@... URL www.ecoplan.org
Voice/Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4)
Voicemail/Fax hotline: Europe +331 5301 2896
Voicemail/Fax hotline: North America +1 888 522 6419 (toll free)
Ain't this a grand discussion? If you take the time to pull out and review
the entire range of comments thus far received, as I have, you will I think
find a number of interesting and useful insights, and questions, on which to
build and hone your own views and choices on these matters. And since the
people on these lists are among the most important sources in the world of
advance thinking, counsel and decision support on the issues, this is, I
believe, a useful exercise indeed.
And if we are in fact moving toward a new paradigm of transport in cities
(which is where I think this is going), I guess it would not be out of place
if I chip in with a few more observations, building in part on the
communications that have thus far come in:
1. One of the more interesting points been made here is the call for
understanding our mobility options in cities as not some sort of
archi-limited bipolar choice ("public" vs. "private' transport or nothing),
but that we need instead to think in terms of the full "mobility spectrum",
behind which in turn there are a wide range of institutions, ownership and
entrepreneurial matters. Indeed, if we look around we can see that in many
places one of the main enemies of better transport in cities has been the
doctrinaire insistence that the only alternative to the private car is what
roughly amounts to soviet-style (read rudimentary, costly and uncompetitive)
"administered, deficitory public transport". May I suggest that as we take
apart the results of the Bogotá Car Free Day experiment, and then try to
piece it back together again via this collective process, we will see some
pretty important evidence in support of the idea of getting a lot better at
"in between" transport, such as new uses of "taxis", colectivos, vans,
shared vehicles of many kinds, etc.
2. And may I insist on the importance of the new technology vector here?
Most of us who have been educated to the transport field in the past tend to
think in terms of boxes on wheels and their associated physical
infrastructure. But transport in cities in the future is going to be, above
all, an information-led sector which, in fact, is the only way that we are
ever gong to be able to make our systems sustainable. However, when we begin
to take that into consideration our whole original frame of reference
collapses and an entire new range of issues and choices emerge. Thank God!
3. I hope that we are pretty much agreed that the basic argument here is not
that we need to close down the London or Hong Kong metros, but rather to be
sure that we are 100% rational, informed and unbiased when it comes to
understanding how best to spent the NEXT BILLION DOLLARS that we may be able
to get our hands on in City X. If you can make the argument for spending
that on a metro over the counter arguments that the smartest and best
informed of the people on this list, well then bravo! Do it! (But you
won't be able to. It's that simple. So, as we say so demurely: "Goodbye to
(new) metros.")
4. "Cooking the numbers:" We would certainly like to thank Duarte for
reminding us about this important point. When it comes to mega transport
projects, especially those which are to be funded one way or another by
public sector institutions and their main partners and sources of counsel
(who, let us remind ourselves, are by and large playing with someone else's
money), there is a lot of cooking and recooking that goes on. Nor is this
always in the interest of truth or the public interest. Caveat emptor.
5. If not metros, what then? Since we now know (a) that cars do not work in
cities, including foremost among other grounds for simple reasons of
geometry, (b) that Parkinson's Law of Transport in Cities will see to it
that demand will always expand first to fill and then to overfill the supply
of available infrastructure (until such time that the city just finally
gives up and dies, that is), and (c) that even if we spend that billion
dollars on our new metro that the Law will continue to prevail on the
streets of the city, it strikes me that the first step is to decide to face
the problems where they exist today, rather than try to run away from this
cruel and unrelenting reality and try to bury them somehow, for what we know
will be a few years at best.
6. This means that we have to face the facts and learn to work better, much
better, with what we have by way of our (transport's) share of the total
urban real estate in each place. Now, if such a challenge may come as
something of a disappointment to people and institutions who have long
believed that the correct course was to try to build your way out of the
problem, it nonetheless opens up a huge range of areas of innovation and
management which are new, exciting, different and potentially enormously
powerful tools in the interest of sustainability. Perhaps the most
difficult challenge comes at the very beginning here, as people and
institutions who have been trained to think and act in one way need to learn
to readjust their sights and tools. Fortunately their analytic and other
skills are going to be critical to the conversion process, so it's not like
being a 50 year old coal miner with no apparent place in the economy to go.
All those good traffic engineering and planning skills are gong to be even
more important, and more challenged, in our new transportation environment
of the 2000's.
For those of us who are concerned with matters of sustainability and
transport in cities, these are hugely exciting times. Unless of course we
choose to continue to burrow our way out of the sunlight and reason.
Yours in ready compromise,
Eric Britton
P.S. SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT REFERENDUM IN SWITZERLAND: Tomorrow, March 12, is
the day of the vote. The call is for government and its agencies there to do
whatever is needed to decrease motorized vehicle kms in the region by 50%
over the course of the next ten years. The target area is the entire Swiss
Confederation, the cantos, and the communes. For details see
http://www.actif-trafic.ch/. Whether this public initiative makes it or not
(Light a candle!), we propose that the results be carefully scrutinized in
these various discussions groups and fora, in the hope that we can learn the
lessons of this important experience in activist democracy (as opposed to
the administered brand that so many seem to prefer... see de Tocqueville for
further clarification on this one).
ecopl@n ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
Eric.Britton@... URL www.ecoplan.org
Voice/Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4)
Voicemail/Fax hotline: Europe +331 5301 2896
Voicemail/Fax hotline: North America +1 888 522 6419 (toll free)
Further to (a) yesterday's message from Kjell Dahle on the topic of the fall
of the latest Norwegian government's on the grounds of its refusal to
undermine environmental policy there and (b) yesterday's referendum in
Switzerland which garnered 21% of the votes for a proposition for steady and
massive reduction in traffic over the next ten years (and which can be seen
either as a thundering defeat or pretty encouraging first try at gaining
support for this sort of initiative depending on your point of view), we
have decided to open up a new working area under The Commons that will
attempt to provide an independent international forum for information and
discussion of these matters. You can find the rough first cut of the
Politics of Sustainability site today at http://www.ecoplan.org/politics.
In a first instance we are beginning by developing these ideas through an
exposition of available materials on and discussions of the actif-trafic
initiative, as a test case of sorts. And once we have our basic template,
we intend to push out coverage in the coming weeks so as to provide in time
a much broader base. Among the concepts that have already been targeted to
get us started: the original Zurich U-bahn referendum, the Car Free Day
approach, ISTEA, the original California LEV/ZEV legislation, and yet
others.
If you check out the site, you will note that we are trying here to stretch
considerably beyond the limits of the usual discussion lists or Web fora, to
the extent that our goal is to provide various ways in which the information
and various views and discussions can be stocked and then called up in some
convenient way when needed. You can see how we have done this in other
cases with some rather good results, including for example the Car Free Day
site at http://www.ecoplan.org/carfreeday/ and the @World carshare site at
http://www.ecoplan.org/carshare. That anyway is the general idea.
We think this could be a timely and potentially useful move. The politics of
sustainability clearly needs more work. I hope you will have a look and
give us your reactions, inputs and guidance on all this. It will be much
appreciated.
Eric Britton
ecopl@n ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
Eric.Britton@... URL www.ecoplan.org
Voice/Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4)
Voicemail/Fax hotline: Europe +331 5301 2896
Voicemail/Fax hotline: North America +1 888 522 6419 (toll free)
Dear Friends,
This is a category of decision making tools to which some of my colleagues
and I have been giving quite a bit of thought and actual practical work and
application over the last half dozen years. Behind all the shiny tools is a
simple fact and that is that we human beings (and voters) are by and large
pretty inertial creatures, and we basically fear for differences that may
threaten the quality of our daily lives Like any big, unknown, uncertain
change in our transportation system or daily movement habits and
possibilities. So, the more we can look to any such changes with a certain
level of certainty and confidence, the less likely we are to resist them
Here is where these new techniques come in, and in this context I would like
to draw your attention now to
http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/index_e.htm?/news/top/t91108_e.htm Let me say
no more about it at this point than that. The curious will have a look and
draw their own conclusions. The complacent will move on.
P.S. Is it perfect? Not likely. In fact I find their base visualization of
the future of cities, or at least their base model, pretty scary (brrrh!)
and far indeed from what I regard as desirable (far too nay pristine experts
and omniscient administrators, not nearly enough active citizens). But all
that aside the IDEA of the tool is one of enormous potential and validity,
and one that I know that many of us will continue to pursue.
Do we have a discussion here?
Eric Britton
ecopl@n ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
Eric.Britton@... URL www.ecoplan.org
Voice/Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4)
Voicemail/Fax hotline: Europe +331 5301 2896
Voicemail/Fax hotline: North America +1 888 522 6419 (toll free)
Eric Bruun writes on this date: "It seems pretty paradoxical to me that as
the world supposedly gets wealthier, and cities get larger, that the
justification for Metros gets more difficult? What would you suggest for
Athens if the decision to invest was being made today if not a metro? Eric
Bruun "
Excellent question. I have some slight advantage with this city choice
having lived and worked there on two occasions for several moths at each
time. Thanks for asking, Eric. So here's what I'd do. Step by step:
1. Ask by way of reminder to have in front of us the best estimates of costs
of the metro project as planned, with of course additional estimates for
externalities, including the cost to commerce, traffic, etc., of the
disruptions created by and during the process of construction.
2. That will yield a number... whatever it is, along with, hopefully, a very
brief summary of who is going to pay for what and when.
3. I then will ask for a brief point to point resume (say on 1-3 pages) of
what are the exact targeted benefits, to whom, when, etc.
4. I then would put these numbers and short documents before this august
group for a first set of ideas, reactions, and comments
.
5. Then I will move to Athens.
6. In parallel I will start to work with the budget which I have requested
and been given - exactly 5% of the estimated total cost (incidentally less
than the annual interest otherwise paid on the total bill) - and will go to
work to achieve a substantial proportion of the objectives within the next
two years (so as to be in time for the Olympics with our new transportation
infrastructure), along with a whole bunch of objectives and programs of my
own.
7. One of my first steps will be to organize a REAL Car Free Day (not to be
confused with the laconic variants that one sees in some places.. see
http://www.ecoplan.org/carfreeday/ for more on that) - which will not only
give ma lot of my policy and investment targets, but which will also give me
the overwhelming political base I shall need in order to get done what we
need to do.
8. I'll put up traffic cams all over the place (say a couple of hundred)
linked to the Web.
9. All of this will be posted on the world's best bilingual Web site with
all details, proposals, progress, etc. available for public information,
discussion, and international expert comment and feedback.
10. We'd then also develop the world's best All-Mode Advanced Passenger
Information System (see our first rough attempt ins Bilbao on this at
http://www.transbilbao.net)
Two years later, you'd see world level results and probably 80% of the
Athenians would want me to run for mayor. Or maybe get the Elgin (or
Parthenon, to give them their rightful name) Marbles back.
Or should we just give the money to Bechtel and all go on vacation?
With all good wishes,
Eric Britton
ecopl@n ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
Eric.Britton@... URL www.ecoplan.org
Voice/Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4)
Voicemail/Fax hotline: Europe +331 5301 2896
Voicemail/Fax hotline: North America +1 888 522 6419 (toll free)
Eric, we agree with your step by step approach to creating a new Athens. I
should update you that the FTA and a very small number of cities are now
infatuated with the City of Coritiba, Brazil and its regional approach to
people movement via triple articulated rubber wheeled buses along bus
corridors. Thank you for keeping us abreast with subtle transit issues in
the world. Let us know when you are visiting the US again. Emile and
Adrienne Gardner, Gardner Consulting Planners.
Dear Emile and Adrienne,
Thanks for your kind note. It's always good to hear from you.
For more of the latest background on Curitiba, you might want to go to
@ccess Mobility Solutions at http://www.ecoplan.org/mobility, and then click
the Curitiba link. As you can imagine there is a lot of
not-quite-information that is floating around on that system too but that
seems to be the way these thighs go. Fortunately we also have the means to
find out the truth.
And yes, let's do some good things together.
With all good wishes,
Eric Britton
ecopl@n ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
Eric.Britton@... URL www.ecoplan.org
Voice/Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4)
Voicemail/Fax hotline: Europe +331 5301 2896
Voicemail/Fax hotline: North America +1 888 522 6419 (toll free)
Please note that the @Forum components of our Web sites under The Commons
are undergoing reorganization and it may take a few days before we have them
fully back on track.
We regret any inconvenience that this might cause, but that's life on the
Web. Kind thanks for your understanding.
If we do observe, reflect and do research, if we share our knowledge and
insights with others in a limited way, is that enough? Or, as Bill Joy put
it recently in "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us"
(http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy.html ): "Knowing is not a
rationale for not acting."
In this context, I would like to draw your attention to the first article
that appears in the latest edition of @World Transport Policy and
Practice - The Electronic Edition (http://www.ecoplan.org/wtpp) - whose
publication will be shortly announced here formally by the editor in chief
Professor John Whitelegg. The authors of "Sustainable Transport in
Liverpool", Paul Trantner and Peter Lonergan, have in effect carried out
what might reasonably be called an "independent sustainable transportation
audit" of the policies and practices of that city and its surroundings. It
is, as you might guess, not all good news and glowing recommendations. Not
the sort of thing to warm the hearts of those who are presently responsible
for what is gong on there in this area - or rather in all too many cases,
not going on.
My purpose in drawing this article to your attention is two-fold. First to
draw your attention to what I regard as a particularly good and provocative
read. Second, to invite commentary not only on its contents - but further on
a proposal that I should like to put up for discussion, that such
independent, informed and balanced sustainability audits be carried out and
shared with the public in ALL of our cities and communities.
In this latter respect the Liverpool case study provides us with an
interesting concrete example which we can examine, turn over and reflect
upon. What if anything is the potential impact of such information on
policy and practice in that place? Does this independent call for action in
a number of specific areas have any potential as a grain of sand in the
political and policy process? If so, wow can its impact be extended and
deepened? Should more of us be doing the same in our communities? Etc.
So, we invite you aboard, and if you do have anything interesting to say on
this subject, you might for now wish to copy your contribution to all four
of the above lists, each of which has its own readership. (It's true that
we risk doubling up in a few cases, and indeed we continue to scratch away
at the task of finding new ways in which such laborious and potentially
irritating cross-posting can be done away with. However we are not there
yet.)
Eric Britton
ecopl@n ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
Eric.Britton@... URL www.ecoplan.org
Voice/Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4)
Voicemail/Fax hotline: Europe +331 5301 2896
Voicemail/Fax hotline: North America +1 888 522 6419 (toll free)
World Transport Policy & Practice - Latest edition now available
Paris, 04/29/00
The Journal of World Transport Policy & Practice is a quarterly which is
available free of charge under The Commons. The only practically-oriented
journal dealing with the major issues in a field of international concern,
World Transport Policy and Practice provides a high-quality medium for
original and creative ideas in world transport. We are now making it free
in an attempt to reach a wider readership, encompassing advocates and
activists as well as academics and advisers.
Volume 6, Number 1 is now available at http://ecoplan.org/wtpp/. Its
contents include:
* Editorial - John Whitelegg
* "Traffic reduction versus development pressures: Sustainable transport in
Liverpool, United Kingdom" - Paul Tranter & Peter Lonergan
* "The Ten Myths of Automobile Dependence" - Peter Newman & Jeff Kenworthy
* "Moving together - on shaping automobilisation" - J Beckmann
* "Sustainable Development & Transportation: Past Experiences and Future
Challenges" - Edward Akinyemi & Mark Zuidgeest
* Sustainable Transport - A Comparative Analysis of Israel, the Netherlands
and the United Kingdom" - Pnina O. Plaut & Deborah F. Shmueli
The Journal's Web site provides not only background information and access
to past copies, but also a number of communications tools, including a
discussion forum.. Letters to the editor and contributions are invited. The
Journal is supported by voluntary contributions. Further details and
background are available at http://www.ecoplan.org/wtpp.
Integrated Transport System.
I have been reviewing a Integrated Transport System called InTranSys.
It is a remarkable transport system design, to say the least. One I
wish others would consider.
I took to the design because it was the only one that I have been
able to find that shows the ability to completely replace todays
highways. Replacing todays highways is a must, that is if we intend
to preserve the stability of ecological and environmental resources.
This integrated transportation design however contains a great many
benefits. While it elevated form and use of electric motors does
satisfy and resolve the fragmentation of habitat and pollutions
caused by todays highways, its social and economical benefits offer
even larger incentives to carry it out.
I performed some gross calculations on the systems cost and the
benefits with an implementation over those presently incurred with
todays highways and vehicles. There are some extraordinary
differences in costs alone. The InTranSys has some large efficiencies
over todays highways.
Its major benefits in efficiencies are dramatic reductions in energy
consumption 80%, structure necessity 90%, structure and vehicle
maintenance 95%. The benefits however do not stop here. They systems
improved performance goes on to create some even larger social and
economic differences. The systems one way automated environment shows
the ability to actually end accidents completely. According to
federal studies we currently spend in the US about 200 billion on
highways but incur 400 billion in accidents and congestion. Non of
which would occur on this system.
The above efficiencies are no small matters. Their combined total
impact on the cost of transport suggest the ability to remove
probably half of transports cost whose cost make up by far the
largest part of those costs that do determine the very costs of goods
and services.
The benefits of implementing this system are nearly endless. Surely
you can see the benefits in economics with the efficiencies in
energy, structure, maintenance, and the unprecedented safety.
Some other large benefits are doubled speeds and the automated
environment. These two accomplishments promise the ability to greatly
extend our personal area of interaction from the 30 mile diameter of
today to a 450 mile area.
I have been trying to give some thought to what it would mean to
society to have such transport abilities. It is awesome to think of
all the positive changes that would come about.
I am some what amazed to find so few have taken any interest in such
a development in transport. Even though this system shows the ability
to resolve those concerns they have about todays transport their
seems little interest in supporting such a venture. Few I think take
me seriously and dismiss it as the ranting of some unrealistic
dreamer. I admit it seems ridiculous to say these kind of
efficiencies can be achieved but the fact remains that the sciences
show this ability in efficiencies.
The technologies being utilized in the design are not by any means
complicated. Both the structure capability and the electrical
propulsion components have been in existence for decades and are well
proven and documented as to their reliability of performance.
After considerable conversation in questions about the systems
performance with one of the designers, I have come to accept that the
costs and expected performances of proposed system are reasonable
expectations with an implementation.
My quest at the moment is to anticipate how an implementation may be
realized. So far attempt to interest Federal and state authorities
has not been promising. They do not appear to be capable of acting on
such a change in transport process as a complete system overhaul.
The questions at the moment Are how to secure the communities
commitment and the funds necessary to carry out the proving
implementation and the continuing implementations.
It has been my thought that perhaps. If one where to present a
community with the private provision of the system that they may be
able to commit to permit an implementation. Once one can establish
the reality of community commitment, that sufficient funding could be
secured to incrementally complete the proving implementation and its
continuations.
An implementation promises the ability to resolve a great many large
and pending community transport problems. Remember it is a truly
Integrated transport system. Meaning that it accommodates all
existing transport vehicles (personal, public, and commercial) and it
is also a superbly efficient and convenient automated mass transit
system in its own right.
It would seem that if one where to guarantee even its minimal
abilities, a community would be foolish not to commit to an
implementation on those terms considering the realizations of all the
community problems it would resolve.
To give you an indication of this systems ability over highways,
consider that its
1. Automated Mass transit capabilities
2. Unprecedented safety
3. 2 Lane elevated structure with the flow rate capacity of an18
lane highway
4. reduce transport time to 1/3 (non stop speeds of 60mph city &
150mph highway)
Do you see as I do, all the large potentials here for greatly
elevating our own levels of well-being. Ecological, environmental,
social and economical. Removing from transport the large resource
consumptions suggest the ability to then leave them then all that
more available toward other more deserving pursuits.
Hope to hear from you as I desperately need some outside observation
about the reasonability of these out comes projected.
George schrader@...
You may already know about the huge rethink and redeployment program that is
presently going on full steam in Bogotá to create and put into place what I
believe to be in effect an entirely new sustainable transport model for
Third World
mega cities. As luck would have it I have just come back from there and
have written up an independent appreciation
of what they are facing and trying to do. It's still pretty rough but if any
of you think it might be useful, let me know and I'll pipe it over.
Comments, corrections and queries of courses will be more than welcome.
With all good wishes,
Eric Britton
ecopl@n ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
Eric.Britton@... URL www.ecoplan.org
Mobile: +336 80 96 78 79
Voice/Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4)
Voicemail/Fax hotline: Europe +331 5301 2896
Voicemail/Fax hotline: North America +1 888 522 6419 (toll free)
Dear Friends,
I read with real interest that letter of Kevin Hayden (reproduced below) and
if you have an email address for him I would like to reply to him personally
with copies to this forum.
We have been struggling in a number of ways and places with the car free day
concept for almost a decade now, and if you take a real swipe at it you will
see that there are quite a range of differences of opinion and enthusiasm.
In this context, I find Mr. Hayden's attitude worthy of close attention and
serious discussion.
Awaiting that, I can report to you with pleasure that we have been selected
as finalists for the Stockholm Challenge award, together with the mayor and
city of Bogotá, for our joint work to make that car free day the biggest and
best that the world has yet seen back on February 24th of this year. For
more on that, you may wish to have a look at the Challenge site at
http://www.challenge.stockholm.se/ Next Monday evening, Mayor Peńalosa will
be joining me for the award ceremony which is taking place in Stockholm's
world famous Blue Hall (which is where they give out the Nobel Prizes). That
morning there is a conference at which we will be explaining how the car
free day concept fits into the broader scheme of sustainable transport - as
reality not theory. If you are in Stockholm that day I hope you will be
joining us.
If I were to guess, even in a place like Bogotá where ultimately some 87% of
the population surveyed the day after reported that they thought it was a
good idea, there were an awful lot of people who maintained some rather
different views on the subject. Indeed, when the project was first announced
on January 26th, barely half of those surveyed answered that it might be a
good idea. In the weeks that followed, we had to work with the Kevin Haydens
of Bogotá, and that included listening to them, giving them a chance to
sound off, and making an effort to find out if they were saying something
that we should be trying to understand and take into our plans.
As we say, if you think that organizing a car free day is going to be an
jolly romp without a lot of hard work and hard listening, then you may be in
for a disappointment.
Eric Britton
The Commons ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
Eric.Britton@... URL www.ecoplan.org
Mobile: +336 80 96 78 79
Voice/Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4)
Voicemail/Fax hotline: Europe +331 5301 2896
Voicemail/Fax hotline: North America +1 888 522 6419 (toll free
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
"Please understand that the silent majority of people are not the slightest
bit interested in your day of action. In fact many people such as me for
instance, see this "day" as further evidence of educated idiots with their
heads buried firmly in the sand, with nothing better to do than force their
idiotic views in the faces of the rest of us! I suspect that many of the
people instigating this "day" would in fact prefer life without any cars at
all!!! I can see them now, sitting around the "camp fire" congratulating
themselves on their fantastic efforts in the anti-capitalism marches.
Agreeing the virtues of this "first step" towards a carless society in which
the value of life is truly appreciated .. GARBAGE.
* i do not want a car free day
* i do not want your minority views to influence my life
* I hope you make public a list of people who voice an opposing opinion!!"
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
To: all my contacts, and members of e-groups that I believe would
have an interest in a new e-group: Advanced Transportation
http://www.egroups.com/group/advanced_transportation
From: Daryl Oster (et3@...), moderator of this new group.
Together, we learn from, and contribute to each other's knowledge
and
experience. The Advanced Transportation (AT) e-group is the place to
learn and share information about advanced transportation
technologies. It is my desire to contribute to the advancement of
transportation in any way that I can. I live in Florida USA, I
desire to travel the world more. In the next few months I will be
adding files and links relating to AT.
Advanced Transportation is needed by all. Transportation is
fundamental to survival. If we can't get to food and water; or if
food and water is not transported to us; we die. Transportation
advances allow us to live the way we do. With every advance in
transportation comes a boost in the standard of living. The roman
road doubled the standard of living in the BC era. The sailing ship
doubled the standard of living in the 15th century. In the
early 1800s the steam ship doubled the standard of living for
Americans. In the mid 1800s the train; the automobile around 1890,
the airplane in 1903,the jet in the 1950s etc. all contributed to the
lifestyle we enjoy.
We are past due for the next advance. Without another advance, our
lifestyle will suffer. This is because our current transport systems
are not
sustainable for all the worlds' population. Our existing systems
have taken us to the point where the cost is too great for the gain.
The cost of clean air, of clear water, the cost of lives of wildlife
and people. We must change, but the change must advance. Bicycles
are great for the environment, but think about it, they cannot
sustain the lifestyle we know is available.
Everyone relies on transportation for survival and communication.
Cell phones are great; "being there" is best. Television or
the
Internet cannot supply a warm hug, wet kiss, fresh mango, or bouquet
of jasmine. The world needs a quantum improvement in transportation;
so humankind may more fully experience people, things, and
environment.
Advanced Transportation is the only way, and it is available. It is
mostly in your brain, our collective brain, waiting to get out in the
form of a written idea. That idea may be the piece of the puzzle for
some one else's idea; the sharing of ideas creates better ideas.
Ideas form into plans. Plans attract action. We can and must take
the best ideas, and make plans to act to save and protect the
environment, and our wonderful lifestyles at
the same time.
The purpose of the Advanced Transportation e group is to improve world
awareness of all advanced transportation technologies. Any input is
welcome, provided it relates to the topic, and is uplifting. Other
related topics that are appropriate for discussion include energy,
environment, ecology, sustainability, manufacturing technology, etc.
as long as it relates in some way to the advancement of
transportation.
If you are not interested in this group, don't worry, I am
sending it
to moderators for possible forwarding to their group. I do not spam,
either I or your moderator thought this was appropriate for the
stated purpose of your group. I am only sending this message once,
and only to those on my personal contact list or e groups that I
belong to. Thank you for your consideration.
Daryl Oster
Paris, 6 June 2000
Dear Colleagues,
It is with immense pride, and with if anything even greater emotion, that I
am pleased to report to you that last evening in Stockholm, The Commons and
the City of Bogotá were awarded the Stockholm Challenge Award in Environment
for our collaboration on the Bogotá Car Free Day.
TO START WITH THE FACTS:
In the prestigious Blue Hall, site of the Nobel Prize awards, and before a
crowd of several hundred representatives of the ninety four outstanding
projects that had been named finalists from the 612 nominated projects
coming from more than eighty countries around the world, Enrique Peńalosa,
Mayor of Bogotá, and I were honored to receive the Stockholm Challenge Award
Trophy, no less important, the long applause of that splendid crowd of
dedicated innovators as well as the distinguished invited guests. You can
if you wish (and if your equipment permits) view a video of the entire Prize
ceremony, which is available at http://www.challenge.stockholm.se. To do
that, you will need to be able to run the latest version of RealMedia, all
of which is of course carefully documented on the site.
To demonstrate that our concept and accomplishment was perhaps not entirely
understood by all members of the working press, here is the lead line from
one release that we saw this morning: "In the Environment category the
project Bogotá Car Free Day located in Paris, France but active in Bogotá as
well as in other countries around the world, received the trophy. On March
24 they made 24,800,000 cars stay at home." What can I say to this? Well,
we are, as you know, extremely ambitious in these projects... but I had not
realized that we were quite that effective. (Happily, the information that
appears in the site itself under the categories "Finalists" and "Winners" is
accurate and quite comprehensive. Of course for the full picture, you will
need to turn to @World Car Free Day at http://ecoplan.org/carfreeday/.)
The Prize was of course neither a personal award for Mayor Peńalosa, nor for
myself. It was, I firmly believe, for three things.
THE CONCEPT:
First, and at the core of the achievements for which we were cited, the
Award is for a powerful concept which has now proven beyond the shadow of a
doubt that it can indeed serve as an instrument of increasing the awareness
for important and much needed changes for many of the felt needs, and of the
unasked questions, that are posed by the problems of transport and life
quality in cities. This is important because the car free day concept had
not before been pushed nearly as far nor obtained anywhere near the results
that have been obtained in Bogotá, and which are now actively helping that
city in its challenging hands-on conversion to if not a car-free city, at
least a car-tamed city with a transportation system that is being fast
refitted in order to offer not only greater economic viability and life
quality, but also social justice, including to the least favored of those
living in that great and growing city.
Bogotá, on February 24th, 2000, effectively went to work and proved the
concept. And from the next day on, whenever anyone anywhere in the world
wants to talk about organizing a car free day in their city, Bogotá suddenly
became their first point of reference.
THE PEOPLE OF BOGOTÁ:
If the mayor and his team took the original Thursday car free day concept,
and worked with hundreds of people in his administration and other services
of the city in an effort that ultimately involved more than ten thousand
hours of hard and smart work, it was the seven million people of Bogotá who
ultimately made it work. And it is of course they who not only are the
rightful beneficiaries of the Stockholm Challenge Prize but, even more
important, it is they who are the recipients of the considerable fruits of
their own work and, as it happens, close to endless discussions. Because
talk they did, quite literally every day in the month leading up to the
great event: among themselves, in letters and manifestation of support,
inquietude and protest to the administration, to and through the print
media, on radio and television talk shows, in their homes, schools and
places of work across the city, and out on the streets.
The Bogotá Car Free Day worked because in the final analysis everyone who
lived there got into the act. Not because they were always pleased with the
concept, but because they understood they were going to be impacted by it
and they wanted to figure out the best ways to deal with the challenges of
getting around on that one day with no cars in the city. Believe me, there
was not a single person of the seven million who did not ask themselves and
those around them many times over what was going to be the best way to
organize the Day.
As a result of these nonstop discussions and debates, the city listened and
tired where they could to deal with these fears and reactions. As a result,
something not so strange happened. When the plans for the day were
originally announced, barely half of all those polled thought it might be a
reasonable idea. But by the time that Car Free Bogotá was in progress, the
balance had shifted radically, with at the end of the day more than 87% of
the public saying it was the right thing to do. And more than half of them,
asked that the experience be repeated on a regular basis.
THE COMMONS AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY:
And here it is where many of you can be justifiably proud of yourselves.
When we first announced the Bogotá Day on the web site of The Commons and
via a number of our cooperating discussion groups and program on January
25th, we immediately began to be inundated with expressions of encouragement
and support from people around the world, who asked us to communicate their
wishes and backing to the organizers in Bogotá. In all more than two hundred
such expressions of support were received and posted on the @World Car Free
Day site at http://ecoplan.org/carfreeday.
These letters and wishes for success from leading thinkers and practitioners
working at the field, from ministers and administrators, students and
activists, and people writing as parents, teachers and citizens, proved to
be a powerful vehicle of support for the Bogotá team. We were thus able to
use the Internet as a vehicle of international collaboration and support,
creating a situation in which the local team, up to their necks in work and
criticism from many sides, were able to say to the media and the people of
Bogotá: "We are not alone. We are doing the right thing. It's not only that
we here in city Hall think so, but listen to what all these other
distinguished people and groups around the world have to say about what we
are doing". And that was how we helped.
(With any luck at all, by early 2001 the new sustainable transportation
system of Bogotá will begin to be recognizable as a model for cities, not
only in the South but also in the North. And to make sure that you know it
and can form your own views on it, we shall continue to provide in-depth
coverage and leads to local sites and sources where you see it for
yourself.)
THE EMOTION:
This last bit is entirely personal, but I am sure than many of you, had you
been there with us last night, would have experienced much the same thing.
As we heard from and learned about all those other projects that had been
selected as finalists and winners in other categories, I began to have my
doubts. I have always been convinced that the car free day approach was a
truly terrific instrument for increasing social perception and building
consensus for change, and I am proud of the daring and the accomplishments
of the people of Bogotá all the way down to my bones. But as I listened and
learned about all those other projects I had to wonder in my heart of hearts
if the judges had made the right choice. There were so many that had such
striking and strong claims to international recognition at the highest
level.
Let me share with you short notes on a couple of these by way of ever so
quick example so that you can perhaps understand my dilemma. For example
there was . . .
Mindmouse from Gothenburg Sweden:
"We have a girl in Slottsbergsgymnasiet who can't talk. We have created a
brand new system where she can control the computer with her thoughts (EEG).
We have worked together with the inventor in USA and now the system works
great. For the first time she can communicate. We are among the first in the
world managing to do this." (More at
www.slottsberg.educ.goteborg.se/data/mindmoe.htm )
Manguzi Wireless Internet in South Africa:
"Our project provides Internet access, e-mail and learning resources to
schools in a very remote area of South Africa's KwaZulu Natal province where
no telecommunications infrastructure exists utilising a unique combination
of radio and satellite broadcasting technologies." (www.csir.co.za )
Hyperstories for Blind Children, Santiago, Chile:
" The project consists of exposing poor blind children to a methodology that
uses an interactive software based on 3D sound to help them to construct
cognitive structures that allow them to represent the space through sound."
(For more: www.c5.cl/hh )
And that is only three taken from a single category of the competition
involving children. Three among six hundred and twelve projects, most being
carried out under great difficulty, with little backing, and all trying to
do something different and important.
I can tell you that as the evening passed I was troubled deeply about
whether or not the right choices had been made -- until the organizers of
the event showed us how deeply they understood and appreciated who these
splendid people are and all that they are working so hard to achieve.
Shortly after the formal presentations, several hundred of us adjourned for
a festive dinner in the city's famous Golden Hall and were enjoying
ourselves with spirited conversation and fine food, when something strange
happened. Slowly the lights dimmed, so slowly that really none of us had
recognized it, and a deep rhythmic, throbbing sound was heard. And quite
suddenly we realized that there were a hundred young people who had silently
slipped in and taken their places among us, and who then began to sing and
their voices wafted like sweet rolling waves through the great and solemn
hall. Something quite wonderful was going on.
Minutes later we were made to understand. In a quiet voice, Alfonso Molina,
chairman of the awards committee stood up to explain to us that the real
Stockholm Prize was for every person in that hall, all of those who had come
so far to be in Stockholm and who were there as a result of their concerns,
energy and achievements. At which point, ninety four trophies were brought
in and triumphally awarded to every fine project and noble team who had come
all the way to Sweden for the Stockholm Challenge Prize in the midnight sun
of that memorable night on June 5th 2000.
And the young people began to sing again and we all finally understood why
we were there.
Greetings!
I am forwarding to you the following newsletter on transport in developing
countries. I think you will find it really useful. The announcements of new
books, web sites and of new conferences are always very helpful. The
news items are short and interesting with links on where to find out more.
I find that it's a good way to keep up with this issue without being too
overwhelmed by emails.
If you want to get it regularly by email just ask Paul Barter at
the SUSTRAN Resource Centre (sustran@... or you can
look at their website http://www.malaysiakini.com/sustran).
Best wishes.
----------------------------------------
SUSTRAN NEWS FLASH #38 14 June 2000
News update on people-centred, equitable and sustainable
transport with a focus on countries in the global 'South'.
Produced for the Sustainable Transport Action Network for
Asia and the Pacific (the SUSTRAN Network)
by the SUSTRAN Resource Centre, P.O. Box 11501,
50748 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. E-mail: sustran@...,
URL: http://www.malaysiakini.com/sustran/
CONTENTS
1. Transport at CSD
2. ANNOUNCEMENT: New SUSTRAN Network Secretariat from October
3. Car Free Asian Cities on Earth Day
4. Hanoi Public Transport Plan Stalls
5. Fuel Price Woes in Nigeria and Indonesia
6. More Worry over "Ho Chi Minh Highway"
7. Japanese Victory for Accessible Transport
8. Bogotá and Ecoplan Win Stockholm Environment Prize
9. Delhi CHAOS over Ban of Old Buses
10. Australian "Safety" Plan to Discourage Cycling and Walking
11. Cycling Promotion Fund from Bicycle Industry
12. USEFUL RESOURCES AND LINKS
13. EVENTS, MEETINGS, CONFERENCES
14. Quick Quote
Did you get this News Flash from someone else? Contact
sustran@... to make sure you don't miss future editions.
Do you have your copy of "TAKING STEPS: A COMMUNITY ACTION GUIDE
TO PEOPLE-CENTRED, EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT"? See our
web site (http://www.malaysiakini.com/sustran) for information on
how to order or to download sample pages. The book is free for
relevant non-profit organisations in the South. But numbers are
limited.
1. TRANSPORT AT CSD
Transport is to be a key focus of the 9th Session of the UN
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in April 2001.
Transport is considered in Agenda 21 in the context of several
chapters, including, among others, Chapter 9 on Atmosphere and
Chapter 7 on Human Settlements. Over the next twenty years,
transportation is expected to be the major driving force behind
growing world demand for energy. It is the largest end-user of
energy in developed countries and the fastest growing one in most
developing countries. (http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/transp.htm
and http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd9/csd9_2001.htm).
2. ANNOUNCEMENT: NEW SUSTRAN NETWORK SECRETARIAT FROM OCTOBER
Starting on 1 October 2000 the Sustainable Transport Action
Network for Asia and the Pacific (the SUSTRAN Network) will have
a new host for its Secretariat. This decision was one of the
highlights of the successful SUSTRAN Network Assembly meeting in
Jakarta on 1 June. Pelangi Indonesia will be taking over from the
SUSTRAN Resource Centre in Kuala Lumpur. Dr Bambang Susantono,
Pelangi's chief transport person, will be coordinating the new
secretariat on behalf of the new Indonesian Forum on
Transportation (Infortrans), a coalition of Indonesian NGOs and
CBOs.
Congratulations to Pelangi, to Infortrans and to Bambang. The
SUSTRAN Resource Centre will continue to contribute to the
network by focusing on research and information services (such
as these News Flashes). (Contact: Dr Bambang Susantono, Pelangi
Indonesia, Jl. Danau Tondano no. A-4, Jakarta 10210, Indonesia.
Fax: +62 21 573-2503, Email: bsantono@..., Web:
http://www.pelangi.or.id)
MANY THANKS to all who made the effort to help organise and to
attend the SUSTRAN Network Assembly meeting, to Pelangi
Indonesia for hosting the meeting, to the Institute for
Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) (http://www.itdp.org)
for sponsoring several participants. Thanks also to the
organising committee of the excellent and inspiring International
Conference on Sustainable Transport and Clean Air for sponsoring
several SUSTRAN Network members to attend the conference, which
then also allowed them to be able to attend the SUSTRAN meeting.
3. CAR FREE ASIAN CITIES ON EARTH DAY
Sixteen cities in South Korea went "car-free" on April 23rd to
celebrate Earth Day. In Seoul a major thoroughfare, Sejong Street,
and the surrounding area was filled with an environmental fair,
including a bicycle parade and environmental art exhibit, to draw
attention to air pollution problems. Japan, Indonesia and Nepal
also participated in car-free days as part of an Asian focus on
air pollution.
See http://www.gnet.org/Coldfusion/News_Page2.cfm?NewsID=10000
4. HANOI PUBLIC TRANSPORT PLAN STALLS
An ambitious plan for buses to meet one-third of Hanoi's public
transport needs by the end of this year has stalled due to lack
of funds. Currently only 300 buses run in Hanoi and (partly due
to fare leakage) all three-bus companies rely on sideline
businesses such as children's toys, garaging cars and operating
maintenance workshops to help run their services. (see April 19
message on the sustran-discuss list at
http://www.malaysiakini.com/sustran/discussion.htm).
5. FUEL PRICE WOES IN NIGERIA AND INDONESIA
A 50% rise in fuel prices in NIGERIA in early June sparked riots
and a general strike across the south-western part of Nigeria.
Today the Government has relented and will now impose a much
smaller price rise. Indonesia is also struggling again with the
thorny issue of its huge subsidy on fuels. It is an enormous
drain on Government resources at a time of continuing economic
crisis. And most of the benefits of the subsidy seem to go to
the wealthier parts of the population. Yet no-one seems to have
an answer on how to phase out the subsidy without hurting the poor
and without endangering the fragile political stability. (See
messages on 3 and 14 April, 6 and 9 June 2000 on sustran-discuss
at http://www.malaysiakini.com/sustran/discussion.htm).
6. MORE WORRY OVER "HO CHI MINH HIGHWAY"
Fears over this road project and its potential impacts on Cuc
Phuong National Park (NP) were the focus of a dialogue on 17 May
at the National Environment Agency organised by the Vietnam Forum
of Environmental Journalists (VFEJ). Local environmentalists and
international organisations expressed concern over the planned
project. (Source: Nguyen Diep Hoa, Forum of Environmental
Journalists (VFEJ) and distributed by the Asia Pacific Forum of
Environmental Journalists (AFEJ) HQ. Fax:(+94-1) 826607, Email:
sobacine@..., http://www.oneworld.org/slejf also see
message on May 19, 2000 on sustran-discuss at
http://www.malaysiakini.com/sustran/discussion.htm)
7. JAPANESE VICTORY FOR ACCESSIBLE TRANSPORT
The campaign to win accessible transport for people with
disabilities scored a success in JAPAN this year. After a 12-year
struggle a "Barrier-free Transportation Act" (albeit still with
defects) will be passed in this Diet session in Japan. More
information is at http://member.nifty.ne.jp/shojin/ (this was
passed on by Topong Kulkhanchit, Access Officer, DPI-Thailand.
Email: handipro@...)
8. BOGOTÁ AND ECOPLAN WIN STOCKHOLM ENVIRONMENT PRIZE
The Commons (an initiative of Ecoplan) and the City of Bogotá
were awarded the Stockholm Challenge Award in Environment for
their collaboration on the successful Bogotá Car Free Day which
took place on Thursday, 24 February 2000 see News Flash #37
(http://www.malaysiakini.com/sustran/newsflash/2000.htm).
They were competing with 94 finalists chosen from 612 nominated
projects. Enrique Peńalosa, Mayor of Bogotá, and Eric Britton
of Ecoplan were in Stockholm to receive the award. For more
information go to "@World Car Free Day" at
http://ecoplan.org/carfreeday/.
9. DELHI CHAOS OVER BAN OF OLD BUSES
New Delhi public transport was severely disrupted in early April
when a Supreme Court Order forced the withdrawal of 1,750 Delhi
Transport Corporation (DTC) buses (the State-owned operator) and
2,100 contract buses (mostly school buses). The court order
banned all buses over 8 years old from operating in the city
unless they were converted to compressed natural gas (CNG). DTC
pressed its entire fleet of 750 inter-state buses onto city routes
but this was still grossly inadequate. Many people were stranded
during the first few days.
Environmentalists and others criticised the Delhi State Government
for not taking action in the 22 months between the court order and
its enforcement. Public transport operators and unions faulted the
government for not arguing its case for an alternative plan or
postponement well enough in court. DCT had opposed the blanket
ruling, proposing instead that Euro II emissions standards be
adopted - allowing older diesel engines to remain on the road if
they could meet the standards. It failed in a last minute attempt
to have the court postpone the order. In fact, the court has also
ordered that ALL buses in Delhi must run on CNG by April 1, 2001.
The Delhi Government in turn blamed the Central government for
failing to provide enough infrastructure for CNG refuelling in the
city.
The influential environment group, Centre for Science and
Environment (CSE) supports the Court's CNG ruling, saying that
DCT was simply stalling,. CSE says the Euro II standards are too
lax and points to the extreme particulate pollution problem with
winter PM10 levels reaching as incredibly high as 800
microgrammes per cubic meter (µg/cum).
However, most economists would point out in this situation that
it is not efficient to require specific technologies. They would
argue that policy-makers should set emissions standards and allow
manufacturers and operators to find ways to meet the target with
whatever technology can do the job. But the court has already
spoken.
(For more on this see messages in early April on sustran-discuss
at http://www.malaysiakini.com/sustran/discussion.htm).
10. AUSTRALIAN "SAFETY" PLAN TO DISCOURAGE CYCLING AND WALKING
In February 1999 the Australian Minister for Transport and
Regional Development launched a national cycling strategy which
promised to promote cycling in all spheres of government and
improve cyclist safety. A year later the same minister's
department prepared a national road safety strategy that
identifies cycling as less safe than motorised transport AND
that transport and land use planning should discourage less-safe
transport modes. Submissions from cyclists all over Australia
were ignored by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB).
Around the world a new approach to road safety is gaining
ground. This "Road Danger Reduction" approach urges that
vulnerable road users be both protected AND encouraged. Instead
this new draft road safety strategy puts most priority on car
occupants and explicitly aims to discourage vulnerable road
users, such as cyclists. A senior member of the ATSB even said
that promoting cycling and walking might be "health" and
"environment" policy but it is not transport policy.
Fortunately, State transport ministers in Australia declined to
endorse the strategy at the last minute (although for other
reasons). So a high level task force has been established to
review the NRSS. Australian cycling and pedestrian advocates are
pushing for the environment and health effects of transport to
be given appropriate weight in the revised document. (Source:
based on information from Dr Harry Owen, Bicycle Federation of
Australia, Email: Harry.Owen@..., Web:
http://www.bfa.asn.au/).
11. CYCLING PROMOTION FUND FROM BICYCLE INDUSTRY
A Cycling Promotion Fund has been set up by the Australian
bicycle industry to assist Australian voluntary organisations
and individuals with projects aimed at increasing bicycle use.
Such initiatives seem to be a growing (and welcome) trend, even
if it has often taken a very long time for cycling advocates to
persuade their business friends. Similar things have begun to
happen in Taiwan and the United States. (Contact: Michael Oxer,
Cycling Promotion Fund Secretariat, c/- PO Box 5085 Alphington,
Vic 3078, Australia. Fax +60 3 9499 2552, Email:
oxerm@..., http://www.cycling-australia.com).
12. USEFUL RESOURCES AND LINKS
The JOURNAL OF WORLD TRANSPORT POLICY & PRACTICE is now
available free of charge under The Commons web site. World
Transport Policy and Practice provides a high-quality medium
for original and creative ideas in world transport. Volume 6,
Number 1 is now available at http://ecoplan.org/wtpp/
"ONLINE TDM ENCYCLOPEDIA" (draft version) by the Victoria
Transport Policy Institute is now posted at
http://www.vtpi.org/tdm. This is a unique and comprehensive
resource for Transportation Demand Management planning and
analysis.
Sustainable Urban Transport Project (SUTP) in Surabaya
(being conducted by GTZ) http://www.sutp.org/
NEW BOOK: "Carfree Cities" by J.H. Crawford (2000) - a
"groundbreaking new book" 324 pages, 60 drawings, 170 photos.
(for more information see http://www.carfree.com).
"RURAL ACCESSIBILITY PLANNING TOOL" - an 8-step tool to help
communities and local organisations identify their access
problems and propose solutions (Contact: Dr Fatemeh Ali-Nejadfard,
Senior Technical Advisor, Access and Rural Employment, ILO/ASIST,
PO Box 210, Harare, Zimbabwe. Fax: +263 4 759427, email:
asist@...).
The Animal Traction Network for Eastern and Southern Africa
(ATNESA) is developing a website at URL http://www.atnesa.org
Article on gender and urban transport issues with a focus on
Bangkok, "Faring Badly: The Gender Aspects of Travelling", by
Teena Gill of PANOS news service is at:
http://www.oneworld.org/panos/news/35nov99.htm
TOUR OF THE FIREFLIES (Metro Manila's annual mass bike ride
against pollution) http://www.fireflybrigade.org/
"Forum News" from the International Forum for Rural Transport
and Development (IFRTD). A must read newsletter for anyone with
an interest in addressing rural poverty and rural transport.
(PLEASE TAKE NOTE: IFRTD has moved premises!! Their new
contact details are: Priyanthi Fernando and Mike Noyes, IFRTD
Secretariat, 2 Spitfire Studios, 63-71 Collier Street, London
N1 9BE, United Kingdom. Tel: +44 20 7713 6699, Fax: +44 20
7713 8290, Email: ifrtd@..., Web:
http://www.gn.apc.org/ifrtd)
"Urban Transport in the Asian and Pacific Region" theme of
Transport and Communications Bulletin for Asia and the Pacific
No. 68 and "Participatory Approach to Transport Infrastructure
Development" theme of Transport and Communications Bulletin for
Asia and the Pacific No. 69 - both now available from the United
Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(UN-ESCAP). UN publicaton sales numbers E.00.II.F.22, E.00.II.F.23.
**CALL FOR PAPERS: The Transport and Communications Bulletin for
Asia and the Pacific is now calling for papers for the next two
Issues: No. 70 on "Logistics for the improvement of transport
efficiency of domestic goods traffic" and No. 71 on "Governance
for sustainable development in the transport sector" (Contact:
Director, TCTIDD, UN ESCAP, Fax: +662-280 6042, E-mail:
moon.unescap@..., http://www.unescap.org/tctd/index.htm).
"Public Transport International" is the official publication of
UITP (International Union of Public Transport). Bimonthly, 48
pages published in English, French, German and Russian and with
a shortened version in Japanese and Chinese. (Contact: Doriano
ANGOTZI, Sales, International Association of Public Transport -
UITP, avenue Herrmann-Debroux 17, B-1160 Bruxelles Belgium. Fax:
+32 2 660 1072, E-mail: publications@...,
doriano.angotzi@..., Web: http://www.uitp.com/).
13. COMING EVENTS, MEETINGS, CONFERENCES
"VELO MONDIALE 2000 World Bicycle Conference", June 18-22, 2000,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (Contact: Congress Organisation
Services, PO Box 1558, 6501 BN Nijmegen, The Netherlands, Fax:
+31 24 360 1159, http://www.velomondial2000.nl/).
"Reinventing Mobility - Challenge of the 21st Century", June
24 - 27, 2000, Bremen, Germany. Organised by Bremen initiative,
the global campaign for business-municipality partnership towards
a sustainable future for cities. (For further information:
Ecolo-Ecology and Communication, Leher Heerstr. 102, D-28359
Bremen - Germany. Tel: +49-421-2300110; Fax:+49-421-23001118;
E-mail: conference2000@..., Visit
http://www.bremen-initiative.de)
American Urban Mass Transportation Trade Mission to Thailand,
Singapore, Malaysia. July 19-28, 2000 jointly developed by the
Federal Transit Administration, The American Public Transportation
Association and the US Department of Commerce. [Contact: Mark C.
O'Grady, USDOC Liaison Officer, International Mass Transportation
Partnership, Federal Transit Administration, USDOT, Office of
Research, Demonstration & Innovation, 400 Seventh St., SW; Room
9401, Washington, DC 20590. Fax: +1 202.366.3765, Email:
mark.ogrady@..., Web: http://www.usatrade.gov/imtp)
"6th International Conference on Urban Transport and the
Environment for the 21st Century", July 26-28, 2000, Cambridge,
UK. (Contact: Sally Walsh, Conference Secretariat, UT 2000,
Wessex Institute of Technology, Ashurst Lodge, Ashurst,
Southampton, SO40 7AA, United Kingdom. Fax: +44 238 029 2853,
Email: slwalsh@...)
"Traffic Safety on Three Continents", September 20-22, 2000,
CSIR Conference Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. (Contact: Dr
Richard Pain, Transportation Research Board, 2101 Constitution
Ave. NW, Washington DC, 204 18 USA. Fax: +1 202 334 2003,
Email: rpain@...).
"UITP Melbourne 2000 Public Transport Conference Event", 8 - 13
October 2000, includes the UITP Light Rail Conference and the
Asia/Pacific Congress and City Transport Exhibition. (See
http://www.lightrail2000.vic.gov.au or http://www.uitp.com).
"Smart Urban Transport - Using Transitways and Busways"
conference, 17-20 October 2000, Brisbane, Australia (Contact:
Ozaccom Conference Services, PO Box 164, Fortitude Valley QLD,
Australia 4006. Tel: +617-38541611 Fax: +617-38541507, Email:
ozaccom@...).
"XI Panamerican Conference in Traffic and Transportation
Engineering" , 19-23 November, 2000, Gramado, state of Rio
Grande do Sul, Brazil. [Contact: Dr. Luis Antonio Lindau,
President of the Organising Committee, Escola de Engenharia/UFRGS,
Praça Argentina n.9 Sala 408, 90040-020 Porto Alegre, Brasil.
Tel: +55 51 316 3596, Fax : +55 51 316 4007, email:
panam@..., http://www.ufrgs.br/panam/eng/index.htm).
"4th International Workshop on Transportation Planning &
Implementation Methodologies for Developing Countries: Transport
Infrastructure (Contact: Prof. S. L. Dhingra / Dr K. V. Krishna
Rao, Co-ordinators, TPMDC-2000, Transportation Systems Engineering
Group, Civil Engineering Department, Indian Institute of
Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai - 400 076, India. Fax:
+91 22 5767302/5783480, Email: tpmdc2k@...).
"Australia: Walking the 21st Century - An International Walking
Conference", 20-22 February 2001. Perth, Western Australia.
(Contact: John Seaton - Manager, Pedestrian Strategy,
Metropolitan Division, Department of Transport, PO Box 7272
Cloisters Square, Perth 6850, Western Australia, Australia. Tel:
+61 8 9313 8680, Fax: +61 8 9320 9497, e-mail:
jseaton@...).
54th UITP International Congress to be held in London, 20-25 May
2001. International Exhibition of Public Transport - City
Transport 2001. London, England, 21-24 May 2001. In conjunction
with the 54th UITP International Congress. (International
Association of Public Transport (UITP), Avenue Herrmann-Debroux 17,
B-1160 Brussels, Belgium, Tel:+32 2 673 6100, Fax: +32 2 660 1072,
E-mail: administration@..., URL: http://www.uitp.com).
"Transed 2001: Towards Safety, Independence and Security. 9th
International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly
and Disabled People." Warsaw, Poland, 2-5 July 2001.
ABSTRACTS DEADLINE 20 June 2000. (Contact: TRANSED, 02-783
Warsaw 59, PO Box 10, Poland. Fax: +48 22 8316526, Email:
transed2001@...).
"9th World Conference on Transport Research (WCTR)" to be held
at ASEM International Convention Center, Seoul, July 22-27, 2001.
Co-organisers: Korean Society of Transportation & The Korea
Transport Institute. Deadline for submission of abstracts April
15, 2000. (For further information, contact: Secretariat of 9th
WCTR Conference, The Korea Transport Institute, 2311 Daehwa-Dong,
Ilsan-Gu, Koyang-city, Kyonggi-Do, 411-410, KOREA. Tel :
+82-344-910-3100, Fax: +82-344-910-3200, Email:
wctr@..., Web: http://www.koti.re.kr/~wctr).
"Fourth Conference of the Eastern Asian Society for Transportation
Studies (EASTS)", Hanoi, Vietnam, 24-26 October 2001 hosted by the
Transportation Science Society of Vietnam (TSSV) [Contact: Office
of the EASTS Secretary General, c/o Association for Planning and
Transportation Studies, K-Wing 6F, 5-2-1 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo 102-0083, Japan. Tel: +81 3 32651774, Fax: +81 3 32215489,
Email: easts@...,
http://ichini.cv.titech.ac.jp/~easts/)
14. QUICK QUOTE
Dato' Seri Samy Vellu, Malaysian Minister for Public Works,
responded as follows to attacks from civic groups over Government
plans to go ahead with a massive new bridge-tunnel between Penang
Island and the mainland:
"This is not a privatised project. This is a government project
and there is no need for public opinion...". He went on to say
that there would be no proper roads in the country if public
opinion was needed for construction of roads. He said the
Government was borrowing money from overseas to undertake the
project and not utilising public funds.
(for more details on the Penang "Third Link" controversy see
several messages in late March on the Malaysia Transport list
http://www.egroups.com/messages/malaysia-transport).
-----------------------------------------------------
Written and compiled by A. Rahman Paul Barter
We rely on you for our news. Please keep the contributions coming.
We welcome brief news and announcements from all over the world.
The Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia & the Pacific
(the SUSTRAN Network) promotes and popularises people-centred,
equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on Asia and the
Pacific.
Dear friends and colleagues
ISTP's latest discussion paper, titled 'Can Rail Pay? - Light Rail Transit
and Urban Redevelopment with Value Capture Funding and Joint Development
Mechanisms' by Jan Scheurer, Peter Newman, Jeff Kenworthy and Thomas
Gallagher can now be downloaded from our website. It contains a broad
discussion of experiences from new-start light rail systems world wide,
before exploring the implementation of a rail link within a coastal
redevelopment corridor in metropolitan Perth. The document is available at:
http://wwwistp.murdoch.edu.au/lightrail/istp.html
You may also order a (b+w) hard copy at istp@... free of
charge (though depending on destination, a nominal charge for postage may
apply).
Best wishes
Jan Scheurer
Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy (ISTP)
Murdoch University
Perth WA 6150
Australia
j.scheurer@...
Dear Friends,
If the purpose of this virtual club is to educate ourselves and each other,
then our Swedish friends at the Majornas Car Cooperative have once again
proved the principle. If you go to the Public Library on @World CarShare at
http://www.ecoplan.org/carshare today, you will find a PDF file by that name
which offers a splendid, thoughtful, very well written overview of their
carshare project as well as the state of the art more generally. For me it
is a highly useful piece which among other things makes me think again about
many of those many small things that add up to make the difference between
failure and success.
Their treatment and discussion of using an Internet booking system is
especially valuable, and I am sure that every one of our members who runs a
carshare operation is going to read and benefit from this.
And their recommendations to government and use of the media are well
worth... more than just our attention.
The Majornas team is not the first to share such valuable materials with us
all, and I can only hope that we will all be inspired by their terrific
example and from time to time think to do the same.
In closing, I would now like to invite comment and questions on this
presentation.
Eric Britton
PS. The Web site for the Majornas project is at
http://www.majornas-bilkoop.se/. This will give you an opportunity to
improve your Swedish.
ecopl@n ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
Eric.Britton@... URL www.ecoplan.org
Mobile: +336 80 96 78 79
Voice/Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4)
Voicemail/Fax hotline: Europe +331 5301 2896
Voicemail/Fax hotline: North America +1 888 522 6419 (toll free)
VÉLO MONDIAL 2000
International Bicycle Planning Conference
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
18 to 23 june 2000
The versatile approach
This conference belongs to the VELO-CITY series that is aimed at presenting
researches, planning methods, facilities, promotion activities as far as
the bicycle is concerned. The previous one was held in Graz, Austria and
Maribor, Slovenia, in 1999. This year a world ambition was meant by the
title, as the venue was in Amsterdam that wants to be the capital city of
urban cycling.
Nearly 45 countries were present, with of course a strong participation
from the Dutch, but also from other North European countries, in particular
the United Kingdom, that will host in 2001 the next conference in Glasgow
and Edinburgh. This issue was also marked by numerous delegates coming from
the United States, as well as Canada and Australia. Central Europe, Latin
Europe, Latin America (Brazil, Colombia...), Africa (Uganda, Tanzania,
South Africa...), and to a lesser extend, Asia (Japan, India...) were also
present. The absence of China must be regretted, as this country represents
over one half of the whole world bicycle mobility.
The bicycle problematics is very different in the different parts of the
world.
In the Netherlands, everything as been done, or almost so. Nearly all urban
and non urban roads are fitted with cycling facilities. These facilities
form a continuous network, with very narrow meshes.
In cities, high quality roadways for the exclusive use of cyclists have
been built, but parallel roads are also dealed with cycling lanes or paths.
All junctions have provision for cyclists, including special signals. No
curb hinders the movement of cyclists. Bicycle parking is everywhere. In
railway stations, there are guarded parking facilities, and repair
workshops.
Outside cities, motorway bridges or tunnels across main waterways include
cycling paths. Interurban trunk roads are doubled with wide carriageways
for cyclists and local access, separated by a planted strip or a ditch.
Trains and boats are accessible by cyclists with a small fare. Signs
indicate the way to neighbouring or remote towns for cyclists. National
East-West or North-South routes are signed.
But the most remarquable feature is the level of bicycle traffic: it
represents 28% of all trips nationwide. During the weekend, rural routes
are followed by families. During weekday peak hours, some queues built up
at junctions. In attractive locations (markets, railway stations...) it may
be very difficult to park a bike, since the demand is so high.
Beyond cycling congestion (that remains minor compared to automobile
congestion) some other drawbacks may be noticed. Concrete cobbles in urban
areas do not allow a smooth and quick movement of cyclists. Bicycle theft
is a real problem. The presence of numerous abandonned or poor condition
bikes make people paranoid. Motorist are less tolerant towards cyclists
outside cycling facilities. The bicycle path network is a maze, and in
spite of extensive signing, one gets easily lost. As there are many
waterways, long detours may be needed to find the next crossing if a
cyclist is trapped on the wrong side of a waterway.
The government has projects to improve the situation. Bicycle theft is a
priority item on the agenda, with technological solutions such as
electronic chips to follow up bicycles. To improve interurban routes,
cycling expressways are planned, in particular between Amsterdam and
Utrecht, with a good surface, a good width, a direct lay-out, and a clear
signing.
Now, urban planning already takes bicycles into account to a large extent,
with compulsary bicycle parking for new houses and good bicycle access. New
towns do more. In a new peripheral development in Rotterdam, bicycle and
bus access is fulfilled before car access [Ettienne Westbroek]. In Houten,
(site visited during the technical tour) car traffic is limited to the
access to neighbourhoods, and movements between neighbourhoods are detered
as they must use the ring road. On the contrary, bicycle and pedestrian
networks cover the city, and are separated from motor traffic. Busses can
get through the city by remote controlling gates. Thus, new developments do
not aim any more at integrating cyclists in a roadway designed for cars,
but at integrating cars in a roadway designed for cyclists.
A prospective work has been made to imagine the desired transport system in
2030 [Rita Kwakkestein]. To achieve greenhouse gases reductions, more use
of non motorized modes is needed, as well as a reduction of car use, which
can be done for instance with tradable CO2 emission permits. Such a modal
report would not have major economic impact, but would yield great social
benefits [Karst Geurs].
Thus, the present bicycle friendly situation in the Netherlands is the
result of an early attention for this transport means. In the 1960's, as
in the rest of Europe, the bicycle image and use have declined, and efforts
were about the car. But, as soon as 1975, the Dutch have again included the
bicycle in the transport policy, so that it is now an ordinary way of
travelling [Adri Albert de la Bruheze].
Other developped countries, in particular France, have of course some delay
compared with the Dutch experience. It would be pretentious for the
technicians of these countries to try to re-invent everything, without the
help of the knowledge corpus that already exists. In this respect, the
Dutch organize training courses, that could prevent the engineers of our
cities to make more costly errors. Cost-benefit assessment methods of
cycling policies have been implemented in four cities in four continents
[Jeroen Buis].
Other North European countries are close to the Dutch situation, with a
multimodal transport planning. In Antwerp (Belgium), the situation is less
ordered than in the Netherlands (which is enjoyed by the Dutch tourists),
but the city center is given back to pedestrians and cyclists, and cycling
routes link the suburbs [Kris Peeters]. In Finland, a survey has enabled
the integration of cycling factors in a transport model [Matti Keränen]. In
the United-Kingdom, the Safe Routes to Schools project aims at favouring
children walking or cycling to school [Paul Osborne]; action towards
employers is at the core of Green Commuter Plans [Johanna Cleary].
The United Stztes, Canada or Australia are more concerned with leisure
cycling, when the transport system is designed for the automobile. In
Quebec (Canada) in sprawled suburbs, housing locations are distant from
activity locations. A survey on cyclist mobility has been done [Nathalie
Noël].
Japan is an original case: bicycle use is high (16% of trips), but not
planned. Cyclists must use sidewalks, which leads to conflicts with
pedestrians [Masaru Kiyota et al.]. Another problem is bicycle parking
around railway stations, where bicycles are considered to be a form of
pollution. Official promotion of cycling only begins, for example in
Utsunomiya [Hirotaka Koike & Akinori Moritomo].
In developping countries, the bicycle relates to other stakes. It is not a
leisure item, but a means of dramatically improving productivity.
In rural Africa, for example in Uganda, 69% of the population depends on
walking. Carrying water (the well is 2 kilometres away), or wood and food
(the market is 5 kilometres away) is the work of women. The bicycle can
liberate them from this load. Transporting a ill person on a stretcher to
the nearest hospital (20 kilometres away) needs four men during an entire
day. By building a tricycle ambulance, one man can do the same job in half
the time [Christine Mwebesa]. In Morogoro (Tanzania) micro projects
(footbridges over small rivers, pedestrian crossings) can dramatically
improve the condition of non motorized users. Meanwhile, surfacing the
central part of a previously poor road worsens it by easing the speeding of
motor vehicles. But the latter projects are generally prefered by the road
administration [R. Tembele].
In Delhi (India), the bicycle handles 1.5 million trips per day. It is the
only means of commuting for the poor that cannot afford bus fares. Road
planning is only designed for motorized traffic. Yet, specific facilities
for non motorized vehicles, that anyhow are present, would largely improve
the traffic fluidity [Geetam Tiwari].
In Bogota (Colombia) the car free day on the 24th February 2000 has been a
great success. It only hindered the minority that usually travels by car.
But the majority of the population could enjoy the freedom of moving
without danger, by walking or cycling [Andrčs Pacheco].
The situation of China, represented only in photographs, should have
focused more attention in this conference. The bicycle reached a historical
maximum in 1995, with half of all urban trips. From that date, bicycle
sales have fallen by one half, while motor vehicles, especially motorcycle
have boomed, and the cyclists' death toll has doubled in 12 years. In spite
of a desirable huge increase of public transport provision that remains
unsufficient, the bicycle will remain, for a long period, a cornerstone of
mobility in this country.
Thus, the small number of quoted presentations and many other interesting
ones give a good insight on bicycle problems in different countries, by
dealing with many aspects: transport policy, data and modelling,
facilities, bicycle promotion, urban planning, health, economy,
environment. But, as it can be guessed, the interest of this conference was
not only inside the conference centre, but also outside, where, for the
first time, reality was ahead of speeches.
Francis PAPON
Francis Papon, chargé de recherche mailto:francis.papon@...
INRETS/DEST/EEM, fax +33145475606
2, av. du Général Malleret-Joinville, F-94114 Arcueil France
http://www.inrets.fr/infos/centres/inrets/velo_arcueil.html
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
(1) A hefty new 190 page "Field Test Report" from CarLink has just been
placed in the Carshare Library. This is a 2 Mo PDF file under the name:
CarLink 2000 report.pdf. The document includes a Member's Manual, and the
sections on Concussions and Future Research make interesting reading.
(2) We are trying to make our Web sites more user friendly, and have taken
the entry pages of The Commons as our point of departure. It would be kind
if you would have a look (http://www.ecoplan.org) and give us your views and
suggestions - since we intend to transfer the basic format to this site as
well.
(3) You will note at present that things do not work out very well in
Netscape Navigator. Is that a problem for you?
(4) Finally, we would live to find a 'better than eGroups' solution for the
various support functions for the site. This includes not only the various
communications functions, but also space for the library, the links and
media sections, etc. Any ideas or candidates for us?
Thanks for letting us know. Whatever we do here and share with you is
cobbled together based on just this kind of feedback.
Enter your vote today! Check out the new poll for the wtpp
group:
Question:
(1) Which Web browser do you currently
use? (2) Would you be willing to switch
to Internet Explorer if necessary? (3)
This information is intended to help us
in reconfiguring this site to provide
better service to you and the others.
Thank you for taking a minute to answer
this.
o A. I use Internet Exporer as default
o B. Use Netscape Navigator as my default
o B1. Willing to use IE as necessary
o B2. Not willing to call up IE.
o C. See my email comment under heading: "Browser Poll"
To vote, please visit the following web page:
http://www.egroups.com/polls/wtpp
Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are
not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the eGroups
web site listed above.
Thanks!
Mr. Jim Grube from MIT has just joined us as the 200th member of our @World
Carshare group.
So when the occasion presents itself, let's lift a glass to Mr. Grube and to
the rest of our number in honor of this fine moment. No one is making any
of us do any of this, not a penny changes hands, everyone here is far too
busy to be doing this, very few of us have ever met, and yet here we are,
together, helping each other and doing our bit to make our communities
better places to live and to work.
If we can learn to share cars with a wink and a grin, there are a thousand
other things that we are going to be able to do better as well. And is that
not what sustainability is all about, lots of small things that we and our
neighbors learn to do better, together and every day?
So, hurrah Jim! And hurrah to the rest of us as well!
SUMMARY: Might we put our heads together and develop a high profile,
international cooperative platform for discerning an annual International
CarFree City Honor Role???
* * *
I don't normally chime in here (CarFree eGroups discussion list at
CarFree@egroups.com), though I do follow your exchanges with some interest.
But here is an excellent reason, to my way of thinking, for me to pitch in
here. Let me take this in several steps:
1. Mr. Potts of Oklahoma City wrote to CarFree eGroups on this date as
follows: "I hope to relocate in the next year or two. When I do so, I will
be looking to live some place where I can consider ditching my car. Does
anyone rank places according to their pedestrian and transit friendliness?
If so, where are some of the best cities, towns, and neighborhoods?"
2. That's a great question Mr. Potts, and to the best of my knowledge no
such regularly updated 'honor roll' exists. But am I right in this? Can
anyone out there give Mr. Potts more accurate information?
3. Of course we know about many of the groups, programs, publications,
associations, Web sites, and others doing more or less similar things under
broader categories such as ' sustainable cities'', 'livable cities' and the
like. And while none of these do exactly the job that Mr. Potts is asking
for, it is useful to know a bit about them since they are among the raw
materials that we can use to fashion a powerful and useful cooperative
action now. Among the first that come immediately come to mind. . .
* Kid Friendly Cities annual Friendly Cities awards at -
http://www.zpg.org/kidfriendlycities/independentranking.html
* Money Magazine annually reports on "Best Places" to live in US - see
http://www.money.com/money/depts/real_estate/bestplaces/
* International "Making Cities Livable" conference (see
http://www.livablecities.org/)
* UNDP Best Practices (See this years competition at
http://www.bestpractices.org, as well as
http://www.sustainabledevelopment.org)
* UN Centre for Human Settlements Global Urban Indicators Project
* The Cities21 pilot project of the ICLEI, see
http://www.iclei.org/cities21/index.htm
* The UN Environment Programme Grid Arendal's CEROI (Cities State of the
Environment Reports on the Internet).
* And while you're at it, maybe have a look at 21st Turtle Media -
http://www.ecoplan.org/21t
4. In addition to these more general sustainability groups and programs,
there are a fair number of others working on these issues of sustainable
transportation, efficiency and social justice - which if you add them all up
come to the need for our cities being able to offer high quality, affordable
transportation to people who for one reason or another do not own or have
access to private cars. Among these are half a dozen programs of The
Commons (http://www.ecoplan.org) -- but there are of course many more,
including not least all the groups to whom this note is addressed.
5. So what about this for an idea? Suppose we put our heads together and
develop a high profile, international cooperative platform for discerning an
annual International CarFree City Honor Role??? Since this is exactly the
sort of thing that we do in The Commons, we would be willing top take the
lead in getting this going, but the idea would be not that this would be
'our' project or initiative, but rather that it be something that we would
all (or at least a fair number of us) itch in to define, refine and make
happen. Let me continue with this idea, if only briefly and in attempt to
see if we might have a group idea here.
6. Then, once we have the basic concept sketched out so that it is ready for
inspection and provides an adequate basis for eventual cooperation and
exchange, we could then set out to share this with the thousand or so other
groups around the world that have mandates and intersts which make them
natural allies for such a cooperative endeavor. Strength in numbers!
7. CRITERIA. It will be good to have a fairly comprehensive (but not too
much so) checklist that will allow the 'judges' to make objective
assessments. Certainly accident statistics and air quality somehow have to
be factored in, as well as provision for cycling and pedestrians (as
transportation); ease of access by those with disabilities of various sorts;
quality, frequency and price of public transport; etc for less conventional
alternative arrangements (carsharing, cab sharing, ride sharing, pool and
shuttle services); etc. Some sort of awareness of
computer/telecommunications availabilities as a "distance assuager" might
also be in order. And of course, and as we all know, good planning and
location are at the heart of any sustainable transport concept, and so that
would have to somehow be favored in - though it's likely that we would see
this above all through the various access and performance indicators that
would come out of the survey.
6. FIRST ROUND CANDIDATES: Perhaps as good way as any of getting a running
start on this will be to look at one or two handfuls of clear candidate
cities, such as Zurich, Curitiba, Toronto, Portland, Gronigen, Graz, Venice
(yes Joel, Venice) and, why not?, exactly what they are trying to get done
in Bogotá. (And I am sure that those of you participating in these lists
will have other good 'city/template candidates' for this drill.) We can
then explore these real world situations to develop some guides for the more
general characteristics that should enter into such a topology/scale. (And I
am sure that those of you participating in these lists will have other good
'city/template candidates' for this drill.) In fact, the best approach
would be to see if we can get one r two people in each of these candidates
cities (since that is what they are) give a hand in preparing a short
synopsis which illustrates why their city is 'car free friendly'.
7 The 2000 Car Free City Honor Roll Awards can be made via high profile
public announcements - perhaps at time of @World Car Free Day (September 21
2000) when we anticipate that we will already have the attention of the
world press and media (as we did in Bogotá in February). We can and should
also cooperative on this as well with not only all those who are
participating in the European Car Free Day the next day, but also those
cities and places that are organizing car-free day projects on other dates
(including, one might hope, the planned Day in Chengdu in October).
8. BADGE OF SHAME AWARDS: It may also be an idea to have a look at what
makes a given town or city a particularly rotten place to live in, if you
happen to be without a car. And why. Without wishing to be unkind, but
perhaps a scan of a couple of places like Phoenix, Memphis, Perth (sorry
Peter, I know that hurts), and the like might which may look good to
outsiders but where the locals know the situation is pretty rotten (one of
which just might be London, but there will be others). This last suggests
that in parallel with the annual CFC Honor Roll we also consider coming up
with a Badge of Shame Award for 5 or 10 of the world's leading "Car Hostage"
cities: places in which if you don't have a car you might as well be dead.
We should be able top find a few of those, and of course if we do this right
this is exactly the sort of thing that the media laps up.
9. Let me close with an observation. If you are looking for a single
activity or indicator that correlates strongly with any given place's 'car
free friendliness' (we really must find better terms throughout), it's my
guess that it would be the availability of carsharing as a non-own-car
option. Why? Well, because carsharing really can only work well where
there is already 'almost' a car free environment, or at least many of the
preconditions of this, meaning good public transport, good clustering of
activities and nodes so that non-motorized transport is a real option for
many trips, etc. That was, in fact, why at one point we were referring to
carsharing as the 'missing link in the sustainable transportation system'.
Might we have a group activity here? Ideas, suggestions, feedback?
Eric Britton
The Commons ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
Eric.Britton@... URL www.ecoplan.org
Mobile: +336 80 96 78 79
Voice/Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4)
Voicemail/Fax hotline: Europe +331 5301 2896
Voicemail/Fax hotline: North America +1 888 522 6419 (toll free)
The Sunday call for ideas and support of this concept has received an
enthusiastic and informed reception - to the point where we have now set up
a special site for the discussions which you can access by going first to
The Commons at http://www.ecoplan.org and from there clicking CarFree Honor
Roll on the menu.
To support the discussions in one convenient place, we have opened up the
@ccess on the Web Forum at access-forum@egroups.com, which address you can
use to post letters and materials which may help this group effort. You no
longer need to sign in or join in order either to post or access the various
sections of this site. If you have enclosures, however, I would ask you to
post them to me directly at the below address. Better still, if you can
just give us the link.
Again, the goal is to have enough information, structure and common sense in
hand so that a good pair of lists can be prepared (not to forget the Badge
of Shame nominees as well) for a high profile announcement on the occasion
of both the @World Car Free Day on September 21st and the European Car Free
Day on the 22nd.
One idea might be to have Country Lists and nominations as well, to spur,
pinch and push cities on to do better. So often emulation helps do the
trick, especially when the example, good or horrid, is right close at hand.
There is quite a bit of work to be done to make this one stick, so if you
have ideas, time and the will, it will be great to have you join us.
Eric Britton
The Commons ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
Eric.Britton@... URL www.ecoplan.org
Dear Mr. Lanyon,
Your note of yesterday (see below) is most welcome. Let me respond rapidly
for now as a next step and invite further exchanges between you and others
who share our interests. I’ll use bullets:
1. The walk to school has to be one of the pillars of any place’s
transportation and urban policy. The reasons for and the literature are
extremely clear on this. (You will find some good leads to this on one of
our other sites under The Commons, Children on the Move at
http://www.ecoplan.org/children.)
2. One of the things these two days have in common with each other is that
in a better world they would not be one day of the year, but every day.
(Our only mild constraint is that we really prefer to have our car-free days
on normal work/school days in the middle of the week, for reasons that are
abundantly documented in the site and correspondence.)
Which boils down to this: which is, sure! Let’s work this out for 2001!
What a great pleasure this will be.
Eric Britton
The Commons ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
Eric.Britton@... URL www.ecoplan.org
Ryan Lanyon wrote on 13 July: “Our municipality (Ottawa-Carleton, Canada) is
planning to encourage participation in this year's International Walk to
School Day event on October 4, 2000. The Day originated in the late 1990s
from the UK and has spread to Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand and
perhaps elsewhere. My thought was that perhaps for 2001 the International
Car-Free Day and International Walk to School Day could work together, and
even plan the event for the same day (or week). Any comments?”
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