11 December 1999 Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia and the Pacific (SUSTRAN) Dr A. Rahman Paul BARTER P.O. Box 11501, Kuala Lumpur 50748, Malaysia. TEL/FAX: +60 3 2274 2590 E-mail: sustran@po.jaring.my Web: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2853/ CONTENTS
1. BECAKS (PEDICABS) THREATENED AGAIN IN JAKARTA An international letter campaign has been launched to appeal to the Indonesian Government to allow pedicabs to continue to operate in Jakarta. In late November, the Jakarta Post reported that President Abdurrahman Wahid addressed a protest organised by the Urban Poor Coalition on Saturday 20 November which included hundreds of becak drivers. He defended the 1988 ban on becaks "on humanitarian grounds" saying the drivers work "like horses" and that they need to be found other jobs ("President Abdurrahman defends ban on 'becak'', Jakarta Post, 21 November 1999, p.1). This prompted Jakarta Mayor Sutiyoso to order authorities to "begin cleansing the city's streets of becak" ("Sutiyoso firm on 'becak' raids", Jakarta Post, 22 November 1999, p3). This follows a reprieve of more than a year in which becaks had been returning to the city. The Urban Poor Consortium in Jakarta, the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and the Environmental Defense Fund have launched an action alert to appeal to the Indonesian authorities to allow the becaks to operate in Jakarta. For more information on how to take action see: http://www.egroups.com/group/sustran-discuss/86.html or contact ITDP at mobility@igc.org. Letters of protest to the Indonesian President can also be sent via a special email address set up by the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) in Jakarta ( becak@urbanpoor.or.id). 2. NEPAL BANS IMPORT OF TWO-STROKE MOTORCYCLES 1 Sept. Kathmandu: Nepal has banned the import of two-stroke motorcycles in a bid to improve air quality in the Himalayan kingdom, a newspaper report said. Bhakta Bahadur Balayar, a junior minister in charge of population and environment, told the daily Kathmandu Post that the ban would be enforced immediately. - Reuters. 3. COALITION IN SANTIAGO DE CHILE TAKES ITS CAMPAIGN AGAINST URBAN HIGHWAY HOME TO INVESTORS A coalition of community organisations opposed to a major urban highway project has launched an international campaign directed at companies interested in the project (to be offered as a concession), potential investors and public opinion in the companies' countries of origin. The project is the controversial "Costanera Norte" or "East-West System", sponsored by the Chilean Public Works Ministry, a 33 km highway that would cut the capital city of Santiago in half, devastating some of its most historical and culturally significant neighbourhoods. France, Spain and Italy are the main countries of origin for companies interested in the project. Among the companies are the world giants, Egis Bouygues and Suez Lyonnais-owned GTM. The freeway would basically serve Santiago's well-heeled upper-class neighbourhoods, allowing drivers to reach the city centre, the airport or connections to their homes on the beach at speeds of 80-100 km/hour. Only one out of every five daily commutes is made in a car, but cars contribute 50-80% of Santiago's worst pollutants, ozone, carbon monoxide and volatile hydrocarbons. "Living City" (Ciudad Viva), the 25-member coalition, opposing the project, plans to take its case straight to investors and consumers if necessary. [For more information, please contact: Rosa Moreno, Greenpeace Chile, Tel: 562/343 7788, Fax 204 0162, email: climate@greenpeace.cl; Rodrigo Mellado, Codeff/Friends of the Earth, Tel: 562/251 0262, Fax: 251 8433, email: info@codeff.mic.cl; Patricio Lanfranco (English), Living City, Tel: 562/777 7673, Fax: 732 3079, email: lanfrancopato@hotmail.com; Céline Désramés (Français), Ciudad Viva, email: comptoir@netline.cl; Web: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Andes/1583/; Email: ciudadviva@lake.mic.cl]. 4. PROFILE: SAVE BOMBAY COMMITTEE Save Bombay Committee (SBC) was set up in 1972 as a public trust and registered society of members agitating for better quality of life in Mumbai (then Bombay). On transport, SBC stands for a policy geared around the pedestrian and public transport. They lobby for charging the full cost of road construction and maintenance to the motorist "who should also pay a tax for pollution and congestion". SBC has been lobbying the World Bank and other multilateral agencies. An example is the Mumbai Urban Transport Project II (MUTP II). SBC urged the Bank to put more stress on public transport in the project. SBC has also used Public Interest Litigation on issues of public interest when lobbying does not succeed. [Contact: Save Bombay Committee (SBC), Mr Kisan Mehta (President), 620 Jame Jamshed Road, Fourth Floor, Dadar East, Mumbai 400 014, India. Tel: 91-22-414-9688, Fax:91-22-415-5536, Email: kisansbc@bom5.vsnl.net.in]. 5. PROFILE: NEW ZEALAND SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT NETWORK The New Zealand Sustainable Transport Network (STN) is a "loose" network of 250 New Zealand organisations and individuals (principally local sustainable transport advocacy groups and local government) with an interest in pedestrian issues, cycling, telecommuting, ridesharing and public transport. STN produces an e-mail newsletter every two months. [Contact: Elizabeth Yeaman, Transport and Local Government Executive, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), PO Box 388, Wellington, New Zealand. Email: Elizabeth.Yeaman@moc.govt.nz, Web: http://www.eeca.govt.nz/content/ew_government/Sustainable_Transport/Sustaina ble_Network.htm] 6. HO CHI MINH CITY TRIES TO BOOST BUSES AMIDST SWARM OF MOTORCYCLES Ho Chi Minh City's hopes to improve its fading public transport and increase the use of buses sixfold in the next few years. There are now more than two million motorbikes in the city - a major factor in the decline of the public bus system (and of bicycle use). Nearly 1,000 tri-wheeled Lambrettas will be changed into mini-buses and 700 large buses converted to 1,700 medium-sized buses. A new fleet of 12 to 25 seater vehicles will also be introduced. France's RATP bus company will also set up a joint venture with 100-seater buses travelling four routes. The city now has only 500 buses. Authorities have also proposed that those who own buses and cars used for public travel be given tax breaks and preferential interest rate bank loans to renovate their old vehicles. They will also be encouraged to use 12 seater vehicles suited to the city's streets. - VNA. 7. DELHI BUSES CONVERSION TO NATURAL GAS The Delhi Transport Corporation is looking for excuses and more time to meet the deadline for converting its entire bus fleet to compressed natural gas. April 1, 2001 is the date set by the Supreme Court (SC) for the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) to convert its entire bus fleet to compressed natural gas (CNG). Faced with the challenge of reducing particulate matter in Delhi, in July 1998, the apex court ordered buses more than eight years old to be converted to run on CNG or other "clean fuels" by April 1, 2000 and the entire bus fleet by April 2001. So far, DTC has done little in terms of framing an action plan for its implementation. With the deadline approaching, the target seems to be getting increasingly unachievable. Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit has already started seeking more time. "We are neither confident nor sure whether we will be able to supply over 1,800 CNG buses (more than eight years old) by March 31, 2000. We may even have to approach the Court at a later stage," she told the media recently. [Contact: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), 41 Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi 110-062, India. Tel: 91 11 698-1110, 698-1124, 698-3394, 698-6399, Fax: 91 11 698 5879, Email: http://www.cseindia.org, URL: http://www.cseindia.org, For details on this report see http://www.oneworld.org/cse/html/dte/dte990831/dte_srep1.htm] 8. BANGKOK COMMUNITY RESISTS DEMOLITION FOR EXPRESSWAY September, 1999. Bangkok. The Muslim Saphan Hua Chang community at Bang Khrua successfully resisted another attempt to begin construction of the controversial section B of the Second Stage Bangkok Expressway. Project owner, Bangkok Expressway Plc (BECL), sent 50 workers and engineers into the area to demolish buildings. After a tense five-hour standoff the construction teams were forced out of the area. The villagers plan to consult the Law Society of Thailand in a bid to file a lawsuit against BECL. - The Nation, Bangkok. 9. HONG KONG THIRD COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORT STUDY RELEASED The Third Comprehensive Transport Study is entitled, "Hong Kong Moving Ahead". Some highlights include:
10. RESOURCES
Pednet's International Pedestrian Lexicon (glossary):
Developing a walking strategy. Downloadable report from the UK's Department
of the Environment Transport and the Regions.
"Children on the Move" site on children and transport:
Smogbusters Australian National Website:
World Transport Policy and Practice Electronic Edition The Victoria Transport Policy Institute website (featured in several previous SUSTRAN News Flashes) has been reorganised, expanded, and has a new address (URL): http://www.vtpi.org, Director Todd Litman's new email address is litman@vtpi.org. GENDER AND TRANSPORT web-site and Social Exclusion & Transport web-site. Maintained by Jeff Turner, Research Fellow, Dept. of Planning, University of Manchester: http://www.art.man.ac.uk/transres TR Update (Free Elsevier Science Transportation Research Newsletter) is now available online: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/trupdate or http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/trupdate. If you would like to be alerted whenever a new issue goes live on the web send an email to: s.iannacci@elsevier.co.uk Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Guide to Cleaner Vehicle Production, Use and Disposal: http://www.edf.org/programs/PPA/vlc/index.html Some pictures of bicycles and pedicabs in Indonesia: http://www.geocities.com/~tadrake/bicycle.html 12. EVENTS
A pro-Green Transport Dinosaur joined the November race for Mayor of Vancouver in Canada. Mr T. Raax ran with the support of the Dinosaurs Against Fossil Fuels (the Dino Party). Calling themselves "the only party honest enough to admit it's out of date", the main plank of the Dino platform is sane transportation and opposition to burning of fossils (in the engines of cars). The suave and reptilian Mr. T. Raax has been a transportation activist and all-around Party animal since the late Cretaceous. Raax vows that if elected he will lead Vancouver back to the past, when reptiles ruled the earth and fossil-burning was punishable by being eaten. Their slogans include: "Every Dinosaur Knows: Extinction Stinks", "Don't be a foSSiL fooL, Stop burning fossil fuels!!" and "Vote for a real dinosaur: Vote Dino." [See pictures and details of the campaign at: http://www.sustainability.com/dinos]. The Victoria Transport Policy Institute web site (http://www.vtpi.org) has also started a small collection of transport humour. Check it out! Written and compiled by A.R. Paul Barter. There are currently 442 direct subscribers to the SUSTRAN News Flash service. The Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia & the Pacific (SUSTRAN) promotes and popularises people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on Asia and the Pacific We rely on you, the participants in the network, for our news. Thank you to everyone who has sent material. Please keep it coming. We welcome brief news and announcements from all over the world.
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