Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) News Digest -Vol-5 (Issue-7)

[sudhir]

Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) News Digest
Vol. 5 Issue 7
7 May 2008

SUMA News Digest is a free weekly 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!
Two-day and six day training courses Mass Transit training held by GTZ
SUTP under SUMA-Project, 26 April 2008

GTZ, CAI-Asia, Energy Foundation China and Shandong University have
jointly organised a 2-day training course on Mass Transit and BRT
Planning in Jinan on April 24-25, 2008. The event was hosted by
Shandong University of Jinan and was a part of the SUMA project
developed together with CAI-Asia and other partners. Read more:
http://www.sutp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1113&Itemid=1&lang=uk


Training course on NMT Planning held in New Delhi under SUMA, 16 April
2008

GTZ-SUTP conducted a training course on Non-motorised Planning from
10th -16th April 2008 at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi, India.
The course was targeted towards a group of pre-selected future
trainers as a part of the SUMA capacity building activity. Interface
for Cycling Expertise (I-Ce), also a SUMA partner, took part in the
course. Read more:
http://www.sutp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1109&Itemid=1&lang=uk

* * * * *
HEADLINES
A busload of money for city transit 30 April 2008
Bus Rapid Transit is catching the imagination of whole world with many
cities pledging support to the scheme. Latest to join the bandwagon is
the city of wheels I.e. Chicago. Exponential growth in congestion has
forced the government to pool in $153 million to create a bus-rapid-
transit program in the city on four designated corridors.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72619.html

Mass transit the answer to North Texas traffic problems 30 April
2008
Urban Land Institute a Washington based research organization has
asked United States to "wake up" and fix up the ailing infrastructure.
The institute studied America's 23 largest urban areas, which the
report said plan to spend nearly $2 trillion on transportation alone
in the next 25 years. The report suggests proper land use planning
with transit oriented development would provide some relief.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72620.html

VIET NAM: Ha Noi acts to return city pavements to pedestrians 29
April 2008
Ho Noi city in Vietnam has proposed to crack whip on roadside parking
and footside vendors to protect the right of way of pedestrians.
Pedestrians for long have faced blocks with road side parking and
vendors who illegally block the pedestrian movements.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72621.html

USA: Highlights from the 7th EcoCity World Summit 28 April 2008
"In order to transform our cities, we need to move from ego-culture to
eco-culture."
The above statement by Rusong Wang, President, Ecological Society of
China sums up the highlights of 7th ecocity world summit. The summit
had many experts interchanging ideas and accessing the impacts of
various measures unleashed in various eco cities of world. The link
provides some of the summit key discussions
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72622.html

18% of Employees Leave Cars at Home and Take Mass Transit after
Enrolling in Commuter Benefits Programs at Work, Finds New Study from
TransitCenter, 28 April 2008
A study conducted by Business Week Research Services has estimated
that nearly one in five employees signing up for tax-free commuter
benefits switches from driving a car to commuting by mass transit to
get to work in New York. Many researchers for long have campaigned for
the increase in Transport Demand Strategies such as Cummuter Benefit
Program for achieving sustainable transportation. The other intersting
find by the study was that nearly 53 percent of employees whose
companies donot currently offer tax-free commuter benefits would
participate in a program if it was offered indicating its far-reaching
potential.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72623.html

Massport sets goals for carbon footprint reduction, 22 April 2008
The Massachusetts Port Authority said Tuesday it has planned a series
of environmental initiatives to reduce the carbon footprint of its
operations. The initiatives would also enhance its environmental
stewardship and give customers options that can reduce their impact on
the environment.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72591.html

India: Roads to Perdition, 21 April 2008
The Congestion and Pollution are not the only terms associated with
roads but also accidents and safety. A new Indian Council for Medical
Research (ICMR) study reveals some chilling figures on the causes for
death in accident cases on roads. Only 19 per cent victims get the
help of an ambulance, 48 per cent have to make it to hospital on their
own. The police are conspicuous by their absence. In fact, it is fear
of harassment by the police that stops passersby from helping victims.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72624.html

INDIA: Metro to zoom into 4 cities soon, 18 April 2008
Metro has found favors with the Indian Government with proposals being
made to expedite the metro works in four cities of India namely
Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kochi. The government plans to tackle
rapid increase in congestion and pollution by improving the public
transport systems with metro in these cities.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72625.html

More air quality and sustainable mobility news at
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/propertyvalue-14783.html

* * * * *
INTERESTING FINDS
What will it Cost to Protect Ourselves from Global Warming?
By Nathaniel Keohane, Ph.D. and Peter Goldmark
This paper examines the potential impact of a cap on greenhouse gases
on the U.S. economy as a whole and on American families.
What will it cost to protect ourselves against the potentially
catastrophic consequences of global warming? Advocates of action
anticipate minimal costs. Those who want to do nothing sometimes
assert that carbon cuts will bankrupt the economy. Who is right?
This paper conducts the broadest assessment to date of the impacts on
the U.S. economy of capping greenhouse gases. This report synthesizes
the findings of several state-of-the-art economic models, and arrives
at a strong conclusion: The United States can enjoy robust economic
growth over the next several decades while making ambitious reductions
in greenhouse gas emissions. If we put a cap-and-trade policy in place
soon, we can achieve substantial cuts in greenhouse gas emissions
without significant adverse consequences to the economy. And in the
long run, the coming low-carbon economy can provide the foundation for
sustained American economic growth and prosperity.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72589.html

Pedestrians at Crossroads: A Case Study of Bangalore
By Sudhir, CAI Asia and Sameera Kumar, Secon Pvt. Ltd.
Walking is the most ancient mode of transport but in this automobile
age, walking is often the most neglected mode. There is a tendency to
underestimate the pedestrian infrastructure needs when compared to the
needs of the motorists. The situation has come to such a state that
daily at least one pedestrian is killed on Bangalore roads. In this
paper, the authors have tried to investigate the design-safety-
economic and policy issues concerning existing pedestrian
infrastructure in Bangalore. Also an attempt has been made to access
the public perception on pedestrian issues.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72580.html

Deciding on Human Plunder
By Curtis A. Moore, Editor, Spring 2008 Newsletter on Health and Clean
Air
The Earth is, in the words of one prominent climatologist, “perilously
close to dramatic climate change that could run out of our control”.
Confronted now with arguably the gravest threat to its survival in
recorded history, humanity is, on the one hand, allowing sheer inertia
to dictate the outcome, while on the other deciding affirmatively, but
wrongly.
Curtis A. Moore, the editor of newsletter on Health and Clean Air
reviews the worldwide research on pollution and lists down the classic
case of pollution paradox ruling the roost. Read more
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72626.html

* * * * *
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
The European Sustainability Summit
Berlin 6 May 2008,
http://www.eurohypo.com/media/ehlisten/englisch/sonstiges/Programme_The_European_Sustainability_Summit_F.pdf

A Lighter Footprint': Sustainability Conference
16-17 May – 2008,
http://extension.osu.edu/~news/story.php?id=4567

ECOMM 2008 - The 11th Annual European Conference On Mobility
Management,Travel Demand Management - Tackling Climate Change, 4-6
June-2008, London
http://www.ecomm2008.eu/

Towards Carfree Cities VIII, Rethinking Mobility, Rediscovering
Proximity
16-20 June 2008, Portland, Oregon, USA,
http://www.carfreeportland.org/

World Cities Summit 2008,
Livable and Vibrant Cities,
23-25 June 2008, Singapore,
http://www.worldcities.com.sg/

PODCAR City Sustainable Transport Conference,
14-16 September 2008, Ithaca, New York,
http://www.podcar.org/ithacaconference/

UITP 2nd Sustainable Development Conference
Making tomorrow today
22-24 October 2008, Milan, Italy
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72425.html

Better Air Quality (BAQ) Workshop 2008
12-14 November 2008 Bangkok, Thailand
Call for Abstracts ongoing; First Call for Pre-events
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72312.html

See more SUT events
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/propertyvalue-27089.html

See CAI-Asia's events calendar
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/propertyvalue-13577.html

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* * * ABOUT SUMA * * *
The Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) program of the Clean Air
Initiative for Asian Cities ( www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia), Asian
Development Bank ( www.adb.org), 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) is made possible through
the generous support of the Swedish International Development
Cooperation Agency ( www.sida.se).
SUMA works with Asian countries and cities to strengthen then
formulation and implementation of sustainable urban transportation
policies, specifically in
(i) Improving urban air quality by adopting AQM
planning in sustainable transport policies and promoting public
transportation,
(ii) Improving road safety by encouraging non-motorized
transport and public transport, and
(iii) Reducing transport's contribution to climate change
by adopting a co-benefits approach with urban air quality management.