Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) News Digest
Vol. 5 Issue 4
21 February 2008
SUMA News Digest is a free weekly e-mail publication that features news, information, and events related to sustainable urban transportation in Asia.
To contribute articles, news items, or event announcements for the next issue, send an email with the complete details and URL source to suma-ne...@googlegroups.com with subject "FOR SUMA NEWS". mailto:suma-ne...@googlegroups.com?subject=FOR_SUMA_NEWS<suma-ne...@googlegroups.com?subject=FOR_SUMA_NEWS>.
Past issues from Feb 2007 are found at http://groups.google.com/group/suma-news
*** VISIT THE SUMA PAGES: http://www.cleanairnet.org/suma ***
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HEADLINES
KARACHI, PAKISTAN: 'Mass Transit System only solution to transport problems'
18 February 2008 thenews.com.pk
City Nazim, Syed Mustafa Kamal, has said that the Mass
Transit System (MTS) was the only permanent solution of the transport problems
in the city on which initial work will begin this year while a bus rapid system
will also be worked out from April with the cooperation of the Asian
Development Bank.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72408.html
BEIJING, PR CHINA: Cars sold to meet new emission standards
16 February 2008 09:41 GMT+8 Xinhua
Chinese capital Beijing will ban the sale of new cars failing to meet new emission standards equivalent to Euro IV starting from March 1, a further move to cut air pollution and host a "green" Olympic Games.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-02/16/content_6460086.htm
INDIA: High capacity bus system and the road beyond
05 December 2007 Madhav G. Badami, The Hindu (Opinion, Leader Page article)
Bus Rapid Transit systems, like those being implemented in
Delhi and other cities, can carry significantly far more people than
conventional bus systems, and indeed, as many as some rail systems. By using
road space efficiently and with minimal conflicts between modes, these systems
can help meet mass mobility needs cost-effectively, safely, and equitably.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72404.html
More air quality and sustainable mobility news at
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/propertyvalue-14783.html
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INTERESTING FINDS
WTO Accession: Challenges and Opportunities for Railways in China (2007)
Asian Development Bank's new report evaluates some of the
major issues for railways in the People's Republic of China arising from World
Trade Organization accession. Key policy recommendations are commercializing
the operations and separating regulation from the enterprise functions of the
Ministry of Railways.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72403.html
Congestion to Demotorisation - A Paradigm Shift for Bangalore
Sudhir Gota and Prashant Mutalik of Secon Pvt. Ltd.-
Bangalore propose "partial-demotorization" in an attempt to decongest
Bangalore. A methodology to assess the congestion costs of Bangalore is
presented in their paper.
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72398.html
Presentations from International Symposium on Urban Energy and Carbon Management: Challenges for Science and Policy and International Workshop on Urban Energy and Carbon Modeling now available!
The back-to-back symposium and forum were held from 4-6 February 2008 at the Asian Institute of Technology in Pathumthani, Thailand. The symposium focused on "policy issues and the science-policy interface between knowledge and actions in urban carbon management. The workshop is technical in nature and is designed primarily for researchers to address urban energy and carbon modeling." Dr. Shobhakar Dhakal from the Global Carbon Project reported that "the events decided to establish Urban Energy and Climate Modeling Forum, and further discussed concrete research collaboration opportunities, ways to bridge data gaps and to make publications in established international journals to enhance the state of knowledge in the area of urban energy and carbon management." Read the report and access the presentations at http://www.gcp-urcm.org/
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MARK YOUR CALENDARS
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
Third Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Forum
17-19 Mar 2008 Singapore
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72269.html
Travel Demand Management (TDM) Workshop/training course
19-20 March 2008 Singapore
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72399.html
International Conference on Funding Transportation Infrastructure & la Dixième Journée Transport
19-20 Jun 2008 Paris, France
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72268.html
4th International Symposium on Travel Demand Management
16-18 Jul 2008 Vienna, Austria
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72218.html
Towards Carfree Cities VIII
16-20 Jun 2008 Portland, Oregon, USA
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-72243.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
* * * * THANKS * * * *
Thank you Sudhir Gota, Madhav Badami, Shobhakar Dhakal, Cornie Huizenga and Bert Fabian for your inputs; and to Jaja Panopio and Mike Co for uploading the articles. – Aurora Fe Ables, Editor, SUMA News; Transport Specialist, CAI-Asia Center
* * * 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.