Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) News Digest Vol. 6 Issue 6 – 10 August 2009

[kaye....@cai-asia.org]

Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) News Digest Vol. 6 Issue 6 –
10 August 2009

SUMA News Digest is a free monthly e-mail publication that features
news, information, and events related to sustainable urban
transportation in Asia.
*** VISIT THE SUMA PAGES: http://www.cleanairnet.org/suma ***

SUMA PARTNERS ON THE MOVE!

E Bikes in China - Electric bikes (e-bikes) provide low-cost,
convenient, and relatively energy-efficient transportation to an
estimated 40 million–50 million people in the People’s Republic of
China (PRC), quickly becoming one of the dominant travel modes in the
country. As e-bike use grows, concerns are rising about lead pollution
from their batteries and emissions from their use of grid electricity,
primarily generated by coal power plants. This report analyzes the
environmental performance of e-bikes relative to other competing
modes, their market potential, and the viability of alternative
battery technologies. It also frames the role of e-bikes in the PRC’s
transportation system and recommends policy for decision makers in the
PRC’s central and municipal governments.
Read more @ http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73435.html

Ahmedabad BRTS – Ahmedabad BRTS is getting good publicity in media.
The trail runs of BRTS is getting good publicity and people
expectations have raised. An analysis of media reports of past one
year suggests high support from media to the BRTS. In case you would
like to know more about Ahmedabad BRTS read @
http://cept.ac.in/cept/File/CRDU/Janmarg%20bus%20trial%20runs%20-%20Driver%20Training.pdf

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_ahmedabad-brts-has-best-marketing-strategy_1280829

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/comment_ahmedabad-on-modernity-bus-says-brts-pioneer_1280614

http://cept.ac.in/cept/File/CRDU/KeysToSuccessBRTAhmadabad.pdf

ADB-Clean Energy Week – The presentations from the 4th Asia Clean
Energy Forum are now available at this link:
http://www.adb.org/documents/events/2009/CCEWeek/program.asp

NEWS REPORTS
HEADLINES

Malaysia : All Systems Go For Synergised Public Transport System - Tee
Keat
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73504.html

ASIA: Hanoi, Seoul to promote cooperation in urban planning
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73508.html

Global: U.S., China launch clean vehicle, building project
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73509.html

Bangladesh: Old vehicles causing serious environ threat to Dhaka
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73512.html

Vietnam: HCMC seeks government permission for road price scheme
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73513.html

Philippines : Gov't allocates P500-M to transport sector to convert
diesel or gas engine to LPG
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73516.html

Pakistan : Wardens directed to focus on positive traffic culture
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73518.html

China: Road accidents kill nearly 30,000 in first half of 2009 in
China
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73520.html

South Korea: South Korea Sets New Automobile Fuel Economy, Gas
Emission Standards
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73505.html

Thailand: SME Bank sets aside loans for natural gas vehicles (NGV)-van
purchase
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73524.html

Thailand: Thailand offers "eco car" producers tax breaks
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73525.html

Cambodia: Cambodian cops despair as road deaths rise: but SA
casualties are close to ten times higher
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73528.html

India : New levies on vehicles to drive transport services
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Govtplansnewleviesonvehicles/articleshow/4869629.cms

Nepal : Electric city
http://www.nepalitimes.com.np/issue/2009/08/10/Nation/16201

* * * *
INTERESTING FINDS/SEMINARS

Biofuels in Asia – An Analysis of Sustainability Options
Biofuels have been at the center of intense interest, discussion, and
debate in recent years. This recent biofuels report by USAID provides
an objective and comprehensive regional analysis summarizing the
benefits and risks of biofuels development in Asia, and examining the
distribution and use of biofuels through the lens of global climate
change; biodiversity conservation; energy alternatives; food security;
economic development; and local livelihoods. The report focuses in
fist, second and third generation liquid biofuels for transport
applications, and, to a certain extent, its applications for power
generation in decentralized contexts. One of the key findings of the
study is that by 2030, biofuels will meet only an estimated 3-14% of
the total transport fuel demand in Asia. This estimate is predicated
on the optimistic scenario that countries will rapidly expand
cultivation of efficient first generation biofuels crops on
underutilized land while promoting second-generation, “cellulosic
ethanol” using agricultural residues. Read more @
http://cleanenergyasia.net/upload/resources/file/file_510.pdf

Urban Research Symposium 2009
The research papers from the Urban Research Symposium are online
@http://www.urs2009.net/papers.html
The papers explore various dimensions of climate change in cities.
Special interest would be of impact of city transport on climate
change.

Moving Cooler – An analysis of Transportation Strategies to reduce
green house gas emissions – This report by Cambridge Systematics
explores the impact of various policy options on green house gas
emissions from Transport in US. The report states that United States
can cut greenhouse gas emissions from transportation in half by 2050
with strategies ranging from cutting speed limits to imposing road
pricing.
Read more @ http://movingcooler.info/Library/Documents/Moving%20Cooler%20Executive%20Summary.pdf

Bus Rapid Transit Impacts on Land Uses and Land Values in Seoul, Korea
Significant gains in bus speeds should be followed by significant land-
use changes, like densification and property value increases,
especially in congested mega-cities like Seoul. Land markets can be
expected to place a high premium on parcels close to transit corridors
that enjoy significant traveltime savings since, after all, such
settings have scarcity value – i.e., there is a finite, limited supply
of settings with superior transit offerings. This paper from UC
Berkeley Center for Future Urban Transport probes this hypothesis by
studying land-use changes and property-value increases induced by
Seoul’s introduction of exclusive, median-lane BRT services.
Read more @ http://repositories.cdlib.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=its/future_urban_transport

* * * *
MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Citynet Congress 2009, 11 September, Yokohama,
http://www.citynet2009yokohama.jp/index_en.html

5th International Marketing Conference - Successfully marketing
public transport, 7-9 October 2009, Lisbon, Portugal
http://www.uitp.org/events/2009/lisbon/en/

8th International Conference of EASTS, 19-October, 2009, Surabaya
http://www.easts2009.org/

Accident Prevention: Road Safety Measures 4th IRF Regional Conference
on Road Safety, 23 October 2009 , New Delhi, India
http://www.irfnet.org/eventdetail.php?catid=1&id=100&title=4th%20Regi...

2nd MENA Public Transport Congress and Showcase , 25-27 October 2009,
Doha, Qatar
http://www.uitp.org/events/2009/qatar/en/index.cfm

TRAINING PROGRAMME, 8th Training Programme for Public Transport
Managers ,
16-18 November 2009, Belfast, http://www.uitp.org/events/2009/8Training/en/index.cfm

Urban Mobility India – 2009, 3-December 2009, New Delhi,
http://www.iutindia.org/urban2009.html

TRB 89th Annual Meeting, 10 January, 2010, Washington DC
http://www.trb.org/AnnualMeeting/default.asp

* * * CONTRIBUTE * * *
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* * * ABOUT SUMA * * *
The Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) program is supported by
the Asian Development Bank through a grant from Swedish International
Development Cooperation Agency. SUMA is implemented by the Clean Air
Initiative for Asian Cities Center (www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia), in
partnership with EMBARQ - the World Resources Institute Center for
Sustainable Transport (http://embarq.wri.org), GTZ Sustainable Urban
Transport Project ( www.sutp.org), Interface for Cycling Expertise
(www.cycling.nl), Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
(www.itdp.org), and United Nations Center for Regional Development
(www.uncrd.or.jp/est)