Monday, May 6, 2013

Archives: Putting the Wikipedia to work for the New Mobility Agenda. (And for you.)

archives-smallerFrom the beginning in the late eighties the New Mobility Agenda was conceived as a sharing, communications and didactic tool zeroing in on our chosen topic from a number of angles,  and over the last five years World Streets has continued in this tradition. The following working paper comes from the Sustran archives, and dates back to the opening days of 2007. Even today years later it still is useful if for nothing else as a checklist and reminder of what one concerned citizen felt was worth knowing about as we make important policy decisions in our sector.








Paris. Sat Jan 20 2007


To my Sustran Freinds:

Putting the Wikipedia to work for the New Mobility Agenda. (And for you.)


I hope that what follows may be useful to some of you.  As you will see, I think it is an important and powerful tool -- which we can shape and put to work for the good cause.

  INTRODUCTION:  

For the last couple of years I have tried to work with and shape the Wikipedia (not always so easy) to ensure that the matters which are important for our valiant collaboration to reform our transport arrangements in cities for all the reasons so well-known to us here. And for this I have developed, hitched on to, and try to maintain a certain number of entries on what I believe to be key concepts for out joint efforts.  And once I have them logged in, I then try to make them known to people and groups around the world who have real expertise and authority in each of these areas. People like, for instance you.

This is all part of our attempts to create an informed and  consistent agenda for mobility, cities and yes! people.

So as part of my housekeeping (busy busy) each morning I have a 'Watchlist" that pulls up the latest entries, changes or discussions of any of the items on the following list (in fact my do- and watch-list also includes entries on a couple dozen of our more senior colleagues whose work I believe needs to be more broadly recognized, including by media folk as they come in looking for ideas and support).

If, as Simon Norton suggests in his earlier post this morning (at least this is how I read it), we need a consistent set of principles to get around the many harmful anomalies that today populate our piecemeal approaches, this strike me as a good starting point. So here is my morning watchlist for your attention -- and hopefully for your comments and suggestions as to how we can complete and further refine.  And, might I hope?, your eventual good use. Off we go! (PS. If your mail reads HTML you will find that these entries are directly clickable.)

MAINLINE NEW MOBILITY ENTRIES   

These are the entries and concepts on which I try to  keep out a watchful eye and make a real effort to stay abreast of as they develop.  They are among the principal building blocks of our New Mobility systems and if you check them out you will see that most of them are in fairly heady evolution, thus giving a good example of the state of development of this far-emerging field..   ‎

1.                  ‎Autopartage <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Autopartage&action=edit>

2.                  ‎Bus rapid transit <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_rapid_transit>

3.                   ‎Car-free Cities <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car-free_Cities>

4.                  ‎Car-free movement <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car-free_movement>

5.                 ‎Car-free Free Days zone  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car-free_zone>

6.                   ‎Car <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_Free_Days>

7.                   ‎Carsharing <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_sharing

8.                   ‎Carfree Cities <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carfree_Cities>

9.                   ‎Carpool <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpool>

10.               ‎Carshare <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carshare>

11.                ‎Carsharing <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carsharing>

12.                ‎Community bicycle program <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_bicycle_program>

13.                ‎E-Work <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Work>

14.               ‎Electronic toll collection <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_toll_collection>

15.               ‎High-occupancy vehicle lane <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-occupancy_vehicle_lane>

16.               ‎Home zone  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_zone>

17.                ‎Jitney <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jitney>   <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Jitney>

18.                ‎Livable Streets <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livable_Streets>

19.                ‎Living street  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_street>

20.                ‎London congestion charge <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_charge>

21.               ‎New Mobility Agenda <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mobility_Agenda>

22.               ‎New mobility  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_mobility>

23.                ‎No-Car Zone  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-Car_Zone>

24.                ‎Paratransit <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paratransit>

25.               ‎Park and ride  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_and_ride>

26.               ‎Parking <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking>

27.               ‎Pedestrian-friendly <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrian-friendly>

28.              ‎Public space  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_space>

29.             ‎Public transport <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport>

30.             ‎Reclaim the Streets <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reclaim_the_Streets>

31.              ‎Road-traffic safety <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road-traffic_safety>

32.              ‎Road pricing  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_pricing>

33.             ‎Share taxi  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Share_taxi>

34.             ‎Shared space   <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_space>

35.             ‎Shared transport <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_transport>

36.             ‎Singapore Area Licensing Scheme  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Area_Licensing_Scheme

37.             ‎Stockholm congestion tax <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_congestion_tax>

38.             ‎Sustainable transportation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_transportation>

39.             ‎Taxicab <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicab>

40.             ‎Telecommuting <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommuting>

41.             ‎Toll road  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toll_road>

42.             ‎Traffic calming <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_calming>

43.             ‎Transit-oriented development <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit-oriented_development>

44.             ‎Transportation Demand Management <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_Demand_Management>

45.             ‎Vanpool <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanpool>

46.              ‎Vehicle for hire <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_for_hire>

47.             ‎Witkar <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witkar>

48.             ‎Woonerf <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woonerf>

BACKDROP TO NEW MOBILITY    

The following which are also on my automatic morning check list (the Wikipedia people kindly handle this for us) I tend to treat more as background concepts. Certainly we need to have a good feel for what is going on under these headings. My thought is that once we have read and taken in the current state of development of each of these concepts, as basic building blocks in a more background sense, it will be useful to keep an eye on them as they too develop in terms of the maturity of the entries.

1.                   ‎Alternative propulsion <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_propulsion>

   2.                ‎Alternative Transportation Movement <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_Transportation_Movement>

3.                 ‎Battery electric vehicle <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_electric_vehicle>

4.                ‎Bicycle culture <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_culture>

5.                ‎Carbon footprint <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_footprint>

6.                ‎Collaborative Innovation Networks <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_Innovation_Networks>

7.                ‎Collaborative Working Environment <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_Working_Environment>

8.                ‎Common   good <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_good

9.                ‎Commune (intentional community) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commune_%28intentional_community%29>

10.             ‎Complex adaptive systems <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_adaptive_systems>

11.             ‎Conceptual thinking <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_thinking>

12.              ‎Cooperative <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative>

13.             ‎Corporate social responsibility <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_social_responsibility>

14.             ‎Critical Mass (cycling) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass_%28cycling%29>

15.             ‎Ecocities <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecocities>

16.             ‎Electric vehicle <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle>

17.             ‎Environmental journalism <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_journalism>

18.             ‎Environmentalism <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmentalism>

19.              ‎Flextime plan  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flextime_plan>

20.             ‎Free-market environmentalism <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-market_environmentalism

21.             ‎Future of the car <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_the_car>

22.             ‎Gatnet <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatnet>

23.             ‎Gender differences <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_differences>

24.             ‎Global warming <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming>   <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Global_warming&action=history>

25.             ‎Gridlock <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gridlock>

26.             ‎Hierarchy of roads <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchy_of_roads>

27.             ‎Human Genome Project <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Genome_Project>

28.             ‎Hydrogen economy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economy>

29.             ‎Hydrogen vehicle <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_vehicle>

30.             ‎Intelligent transportation system <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_transportation_system>

31.              ‎Jeepney <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeepney>

32.             ‎Knowledge creation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_creation>

33.              ‎Land use planning <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_use_planning>

34.             ‎Land value tax <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax>

35.             ‎List of people who died >  in road accidents <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_died_in_road_accidents

36.             ‎Low-carbon economy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-carbon_economy>

37.             ‎Mitigation of global warming <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitigation_of_global_warming>

38.             ‎New urbanism <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_urbanism>

39.             ‎Pedestrian <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrian>

40.             ‎Petroleum electric hybrid <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_electric_hybrid_vehicle>

41.              ‎Road rage <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_rage>

42.            ‎Roadcraft <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadcraft>

43.             ‎Rush <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_hour>  hour

44.             ‎Self-Organizing <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Self-Organizing_Collaborative_Network s&action=edit>  Collaborative Networks

45.             ‎Self-organization <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-organization>

46.             ‎Simple living <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_living>

47.             ‎Smart growth <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_growth>

48.             ‎Stockholm Partnerships for Sustainable Cities <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Partnerships_for_Sustainable_Cities>

49.              ‎Street hierarchy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_hierarchy>

50.             ‎Sustainable transport <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_transport>

51.             ‎Sustainability <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability>

52.             ‎Sustainability Advocates <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sustainability_Advocates&action=edit>

53.             ‎Sustainable city <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_city>

54.             ‎Sustainable community <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_community>

55.             ‎Sustainable development <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development>

56.             ‎Sustainable energy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_energy>

57.             ‎Sustainable living <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_living>

58.             ‎Swarm intelligence <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarm_intelligence>

59.              ‎Traffic <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic>

60.             ‎Traffic congestion <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_congestion>

61.             ‎Traffic flow  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_flow>

62.             ‎Traffic psychology <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_psychology>

63.          ‎Tragedy of the commons <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons>

 64.          Transport <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport>

65.             ‎Transport economics <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_economics>

66.              ‎Transportation forecasting <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_forecasting>

67.             ‎Transportation planning <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_planning>

68.          ‎Urban park  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_park>

69.             ‎Urban renaissance <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_renaissance>

70.             ‎Urban sprawl  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_sprawl>

71.             ‎User interface <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_interface>

72.             ‎United Nations Car Free Days <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Car_Free_Days>

73.             ‎Value  Capture  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_Capture>

74.             ‎Vehicle Infrastructure Integration <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_Infrastructure_Integration>

75.             ‎Women and the  environment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_and_the_environment_through_history

IN CLOSING:  

Okay. You still there? If so, my question to you is how can we (a) improve what we already have here and (b) further add to this entries and definitions of important concepts and implements which are missing from this listing. Even as I look it over this morning, I can spot a couple of big holes. For example, a couple of missing entries come to mind on . ..

  • School transport, mobility?

  • Slow transport" or maybe 'slowth'?

  • Walk to school


The rules of the road for work in the Wikipedia are very explicit and require discipline as well as energy and good thoughts on all this, as you can well imagine. Thus we cannot of at least should not in my view talk about specific call them 'trade mark' implementations no matter how general they may be, but rather stick to board principles and important concepts such as those you see above.

One of the first of these that I would draw to your attention is their dogged instance on NPOV - Neutral point of view. You can see all about that before you begin to dig in at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPOV.

As a final word, to the extent that you decide to take advantage of these good tools and leads for your own work, you may also find some interest in having a look at both the Discussions and the History sections of your favorite entries. I find them often most instructive. And I hope you will too.

Eric Britton, Paris.  January 20th, 2007

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2 comments:

  1. Cheers Eric - wonder how you feel about Wikipedia's evolution 5 years on from that post? It seems to me it works very well for technical or cultural articles, but struggles for more 'political' articles - and as we all know, transport is quite political in its way ;)

    I've recently started contributing to the Appropedia project, e.g. http://www.appropedia.org/Transport_informatics . Appropedia's a bit different to WP, partly because it deliberately support people's current projects as well as encyclopaedic content, and also has an explicit orientation towards Sustainable Development and Appropriate Technology.

    I'd certainly appreciate help improving any of the transport pages there (http://www.appropedia.org/Portal:Transport) - I'm thinking that later on it'd be good to migrate the 'enclopaedic' part of any new content over to Wikipedia. E.g. I notice WP's page on the public transport data standard GTFS is pretty weak currently.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Eric,

    It was good to read this. I didn't know you were so diligent at getting the history and roots of these terms documented.

    I would suggest adding:

    "complete streets" which is so 'hot' over here. I also like the idea, more radical, of "naked streets' (somewhat like "woonerf" but for _main_ streets).

    For the "pedestrian" experience, add "eyes on the street," "walkability," "warrants" (those diabolical tests that traffic engineers use to determine which places formal pedestrian crosswalks are needed)

    "85th Percentile" the way to determine the speed limit for a road, which means that it is too fast for 85-percent of drivers, and then the police will not ticket drivers unless they are going more than 20% over the limit.

    You have "hierarchy of roads" but do not have a hierarchy (or "green hierarchy") of modes: walking, cycling, transit, shared cars, private cars.

    Also. you have a typo in the 2nd para. after the second list: "board principles" instead of "broad principles."

    Chris Bradshaw

    On 06/05/2013 7:27 AM, World Streets: The Politics of Transport in Cities wrote: > WordPress.com > Eric Britton, editor posted: "From the beginning in the late eighties > the New Mobility Agenda was conceived as a sharing, communications and > didactic tool zeroing in on our chosen topic from a number of angles, > and over the last five years World Streets has continued in this > traditio" >

    ReplyDelete

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