Support World Streets and the New Mobility Agenda

We have no money gentlemen, so we shall have to think.
– Ernest Rutherford, on taking over Cavendish Laboratory in 1919

World Streets is an independent  public interest publication of the Association EcoPlan International and the New Mobility Agenda made freely available to all who are looking to understand, support, and contribute to the sustainability agenda anywhere in the world. We firmly believe that there should be no barriers, and especially not commercial ones, to the free circulation of ideas, news, tools  and peer exchanges when it comes to the important issues of sustainable development and social justice.  To ensure our full independence we do not accept advertising. We depend on the support of our readers, concerned public agencies, foundations and actors in the private sector to keep going. As of today, we can report 4,798 subscribers, from 149 countries.  That must mean something.

1. Suggested guidelines for donations


2. How to transfer funds


3. Other ways you can help


4. Is World Streets doing its job? We asked 100 experts for their views – - and 101 responded - Click here to view their responses

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Support World Streets (And why)

We have no money gentlemen, so we shall have to think.
– Ernest Rutherford, on taking over Cavendish Laboratory in 1919

World Streets is an independent  public interest publication which, as a matter of policy, we make freely available to all who are looking to understand, support, and contribute to the sustainability agenda anywhere in the world. We firmly believe that there should be no barriers, and especially not commercial ones, to the free circulation of news, tools, counsel and peer exchanges when it comes to the important issues of sustainable development and social justice.  To ensure our full independence we do not accept advertising. We depend on the support of our readers, concerned public agencies, foundations and actors in the private sector to keep going.

--> Read on:

Support World Streets: Preliminary guidelines for readers

We have no money gentlemen, so we shall have to think.
– Ernest Rutherford, on taking over Cavendish Laboratory in 1919

World Streets is an independent  public interest publication which, as a matter of policy, we make freely available to all who are looking to understand, support, and contribute to the sustainability agenda anywhere in the world. We firmly believe that there should be no barriers, and especially not commercial ones, to the free circulation of news, tools, counsel and peer exchanges when it comes to the important issues of sustainable development and social justice.  To ensure our full independence we do not accept advertising. We depend on the support of our readers, concerned public agencies, foundations and actors in the private sector to keep going.

--> Read on:

World Streets is closing down the editorial department . . . . . . for the next week as we reach out for funding support.

As founder and editor of World Streets, I have three jobs. The first is to organize the production side of the journal and to find and work with collaborators around the world to produce challenging thinkpieces and articles which hew to the rigorous strategic lines we have set out to guide all our work (See Strategy ). The second is to contribute as editorialist and author. And the third -- this is the one I really do not like and am demonstrably not very good at-- is that of securing the funding needed to keep this boat afloat. So for reasons of force majeur, I have decided to close down the editorial side of this enterprise for the coming week-plus, and concentrate on fund-raising. And here is maybe where you can help.

Let's start here: Why this is a worthwhile goal

Here is the evidence:

After the last two years or base-laying and daily publication 5/7, during which time we have developed no less than four publication platforms for the journal (World Streets, Nuova Mobilità, World Streets/Facebook, World Streets/Open Edition) on which have been posted more than one thousand carefully crafted articles and contributions, twice that number of images, and which have been visited (and hopefully read and pondered) more than two hundred thousand times by people signing in from more than seventy countries on all continents, we are ready to be judged not by promises or plans, but by performance and results.

The best proof of this is what you can find on the four platform sites, but as quick reminders (a) here is this morning's reader map and (b) you may also wish to have a look at the reader reaction which you can find here at World Streets contributions: 2009/2010: We asked 100 experts for their views - - and 101 responded .



What we need from you? Five things.

We are looking for volunteers among our readers who think that World Streets is making an important contribution and who are ready to take the time to discuss with us how it might be better supported and funded. There are a number of possibilities we would like you to reflect on:

1. Your help in contacting foundations, groups and individuals of means who may be interested to discuss supporting World Streets. (We are very weak on this side and need help to initiate these contacts. Your counsel and perhaps also your moral and other support might help in this.)

2. National sponsors/subscribers:
These are basically joint projects in which a national or international agency joins with us to create an easy to maintain mechanism for putting all or selections of the journal into the hands of people working within their own organization, and often more broadly. The following diagram is intended to provide some first clues as to how these projects are intended to work (this diagram being for discussions and negotiations for a collaborative project with the US Department of Transportation).



3. New language editions:
It is well known at the level of those working in the field that the only way to get through on a daily basis to the hundreds, often more people and groups working in any given country or language area is by addressing them in their own language. We have demonstrated clearly how this approach can be very powerful with out collaboration in the creation of Nuova Mobilità in Italy -- reference http://nuovamobilita.org -- and are prepared to work with local partners in a time- and cost-efficient manner to build on this experience, including the tools and routines that are needed to make it work.

4. Independent program review: Our long experience in this many-sided field, including not only that of the editor but also the large number of collaborators working in various parts of the world on these important matters, constitute a valuable reservoir of experience which can be tapped by those who are organizing new projects or programs, or assessing the performance or eventual needs of existing projects, can be put to work for cost- and time-effective reviews.

5. New Mobility event organization:
We work with local partners and sponsors to organize a variety of events which support the New Mobility Agenda and their own related programs. Get in touch and we can provide you with examples and references.

In conclusion:
So for the coming week or so until we have made our breakthrough, the only articles that will appear here or in our other World Streets platforms which be notices and information which support the funding search. This is not to say that we are not continuing to receive and work on reports and articles from our collaborators that will in time appear in these pages. But today there is a real shortage of time and means which we now need to deal with as our first priority. You understand of course.

Do you think that you may be ready to help?

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Musing: How far is World Streets willing to go to get sponsorship support for 2010?

How would you feel about World Streets if we organize a special edition on electric cars with the sponsorship of General Motors or any other a major automotive manufacturer or upstream supplier? I hope you would feel at least a bit puzzled or impatient. And hopefully actually disappointed that we tumbled into that facile trap. Sure, electric vehicles are to be part of our future. No problem there. But they are not going to be the path for moving towards sustainable transportation, sustainable cities, or sustainable lives. Bottom line: in terms of sustainability electric cars are a sideshow. Don't you forget it!

Against this background, here is an article that appears in today's New York Times (hey New York Times are getting better all the time) in which GM pulls out all the stops to flaunt their sustainability credentials. And they get some highly distinguished help in this. Which I find very worrying. Do you?

A High-Minded Look at Electric Cars

- Jim Motavalli, New York Times. April 23, 2010. http://www.jimmotavalli.com/
Click here for original article -

The setting was the sun-dappled campus of Columbia University, so perhaps it wasn’t surprising that today’s forum on “New York and the Electric Car,” sponsored by the university and General Motors, took on a somewhat elevated tone.

Instead of focusing on the nuts and bolts of how the city’s many apartment-dwelling electric vehicle owners will plug in, the forum celebrated the prospective role of electric cars in changing the world. Several speakers compared the present period to the revolution from horses to horseless carriages more than a century ago.

John Gilbert, executive vice president of the real estate firm Rudin Management, invoked the transforming technology displayed at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. He challenged the audience to think of the modern building as a smart phone that will blossom when applications are created to aid car charging and efficiently manage the flow of electrons.

A highlight of the morning talk was the appearance of Lawrence Burns, the former longtime General Motors vice president, who functioned as the company’s hydrogen fuel-cell champion and big-picture guru of sustainability. Far from retiring, Mr. Burns is a corporate adviser and has academic appointments at both Columbia’s Earth Institute (as director of sustainable mobility) and the University of Michigan.

Mr. Burns said that 29 or 30 green cars of various types, including his former company’s Chevrolet Volt, would be on the market in the next few years. “The new DNA of the automobile is electrically driven,” he said.

He agreed with Mr. Gilbert that information technology would shape the car of the future, and invoked the “mobility Internet” to imagine a time when cars drive themselves and “don’t crash.”

“Texting won’t be an issue, and driving will be the distraction,” said Mr. Burns. “And because cars won’t crash we’ll be able to reduce their mass significantly.”

Among Mr. Burns’ last endeavors at G.M. was Project P.U.M.A., a collaboration with Segway that posits small pod-like 750-pound city cars that can drive autonomously. A second generation of G.M.’s city vehicles, called EN-V, are being put on display at Expo Shanghai in China.

Jeffrey Sachs, who heads Columbia’s Earth Institute, added a note of impatience to the proceedings. He invoked the specter of global warming and the auto tailpipe’s role in hastening it, and said the electrification of the automobile “will have to happen a lot faster than such a complex process would normally require.” Effective public policy, he said, can help accelerate E.V. adoption.

“We are on the cusp of an historic worldwide transformation in transportation that starts in the world’s biggest cities,” Mr. Sachs said in an interview. “It’s important from a resource point of view and an environmental point of view.”

A pre-production Chevy Volt was parked on College Walk for the event. Tony Posawatz, the Volt’s line director, said the company was “on a very good glide path to deliver the car.” The first retail cars will be delivered in November, he said. The Volt plugs in and will be home charged; Mr. Posawatz said he was looking forward to “having a gas station in my garage.”

So is New York ready to charge E.V.’s? Arthur Kressner, director of power supply research and development at Con Edison, cited the electric delivery trucks that plied the city’s streets 110 years ago and answered in the affirmative. Except for relatively rare peak demand times, he said, “the grid is more than capable of meeting the demands of electric vehicles.”

In an interview after the forum, Mr. Kressner said Con Ed has recently met with several charging companies, including the global player Better Place, and with the owners of city parking garages who are likely to add E.V. charging.

# # #

Editor's note:
Since the issue of sustainability credentials of electric vehicles is one that comes up time and again, often with high profile and great help from the communications resources and excellent PR skills of the groups behind them, it is important that this journal provides a clear and consistent statement of our views on these issues. More on this in our recent article, "Honk? Green power for electric cars: Let's think about it before hitting the road this time" at http://newmobilityagenda.blogspot.com/2010/03/honk-green-power-for-electric-cars-lets.html.

There is an interesting upside to EV story of which we are not hearing very much and which apparently was not a topic for discussion at the joint Columbia/GM high-profile event. And that is the concept of electric cars which behave as they should in a city, meaning that they should be slow enough to be safe on city streets and much smaller so as to take less precious urban real estate. And while this is by no means in itself a magic wand for sustainability, it can serve to offer certain number of improvements which are not to be sneezed at altogether. It is not a big deal really, and that perhaps is part of the problem.

The difficulty is that the automobile industry and there accolates are putting close to zero priority on these kinds of vehicles. Look at the one just your right here: that little lead acid powered electric car provided me with 10 years of reliable, affordable slow speed mobility for my day-to-day transport purposes in Paris which, while once again not the key to sustainable transport, nonetheless represents a kind of pattern break that might in turn create a new set of attitudes about what is really needed. (And the fact that these kinds of vehicles could also be put into a carshare operation (which in fact is she object of discussion and some modest demonstrations), is something which is also worth a thought. Sadly however the bulk of the money spent in this broad area aims to create something rather closer to an electrical Porsche. Pity!)

To conclude on this for now: Let's not fool ourselves. We have to be very careful day after day to avoid being diverted from the fundamental and huge sustainability challenges that are before us. We need to remain rigorously focused, scrupulously ethical, and relentlessly consistent. Without these qualities, we will never get there. So please, let us not permit ourselves to get distracted. Next?

Eric Britton
Editor

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World Streets contributions under Eric Britton's leadership We asked 100 experts for their views - - and 101 responded.

Dateline Paris. 2 March 2010. We have just completed our first year of publication of World Streets. The results are there for all to see and judge. And we now know that we are going to need financial and other forms of support if we are to continue this international sustainability adventure. Is what we are doing useful and worthy of support? 101 of our readers picked up their pens and responded to our question.


Admittedly you cannot expect to get all that much perspective on this if you ask the editor. So over the last months we invited one hundred of our international readers to provide brief critical comments on the usefulness of this new venture, with a view to having their independent counsel concerning whether or not this project should be continued. Here you have 101 answers, duly signed, unedited and as received from readers in 37 countries expressing their views on the importance of continuing the work of the planet's only sustainable transport daily.

Listen to their voices, they are the experts and the people working hard to make sustainable transport a reality. And here is one you might wish to start with, from a Dutchman working in the field of transport innovation and public policy: "World Streets needs to catch on before my feet get wet." The Dutch have their own way of looking at these things.

Thank you all for your comments and support. And stay tuned. There is a lot more ahead for the second year of World Streets.

Eric Britton,
Editor, World Streets.

One hundred and one responded:

Lake Sagaris, Santiago, Chile said...

World Streets offers an excellent information and exchange service to busy professionals and citizens’ organizations.

We follow its postings closely and translate those most relevant into Spanish, for circulation on our Latin American network of sustainable and active transport enthusiasts, professionals and activists, with excellent results.

Thanks very much to the team responsible. This is an extremely important initiative, with a truly global impact, well worth supporting.

Lake Sagaris
President
Ciudad Viva (Living City)
www.ciudadviva.cl

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Robert C Hampshire, Pittsburg USA said...

I really enjoy the daily emails! It is THE best source in the world for sustainable mobility information. Keep up the great work.

Robert C Hampshire
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh PA USA

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Helmut Holzapfel said...

World Streets is a fantastic tool! WE NEED international networks to share experiences, avoid faults and wrong strategies and to give us news from successes all over the world!

Prof. Dr-Ing Helmut Holzapfel, Kassel Germany
Urban and Transport planning
Kassel University

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Hassaan Ghazali said...

World Streets creates the context to integrate the efforts of so many individuals and institutions. Indeed, it is the perfect platform to carry out research, advocacy and the like. Really looking forward to using it.

Islamabad, Pakistan

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Tom Bertulis, Mexico City said...

I have found World Streets to be vital in keeping up with the latest and greatest in transport issues around the world. World Streets gathers all the newest reports and succinctly puts them in one place. At the same time, it adds valuable insights and ideas not found anywhere else; it is my “one stop shopping” news source. It deftly cuts out superfluous and inadequate information and is leading the way to make this world a leaner, greener place. It is essential that this news source continues to grow as we enter the “Third Wave” of major transport changes on our precious planet.

Tom Bertulis, PE
Senior Technical Advisor
Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
Mexico City

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Lee Schipper, Ph.D. Berkeley CA USA said...

The layout and the messages are very very good.

We desperately need this kind of AGORA where we can gather, fight, disagree, and finally agree on sensible transport solutions.

Particularly important is that people from the developing world are chiming in as well.

Lee Schipper, Ph.D.
Berkeley CA USA
Global Metropolitan Studies

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Juan Carlos Garcia Sanchez, Bogota Colombia said...

Attached to your great work guiding the public towards meaningful opinion sharing regarding sustainable transport, you can count on the gratitude of many of us who have opened up their eyes before the seemingly unstoppable crisis coming out of private car usage and lack of efficient commitment to sustainability in the modern societies.....

Keep it up¡ you are one of our last resources.

Juan Carlos Garcia Sanchez
Bogotá Colombia

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W. Dirk van Dijl, Hastings, E. Sussex UK said...

Two boys were playing football in my street earlier this week. What a wonderful sight. Time to reclaim our World Streets!

W. Dirk van Dijl
Hastings, E. Sussex UK

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Ann Hackett, New York NY USA said...

Eric,

Please continue your work on World Streets. It provides a beacon of light showing the way to sustainable living.

Ann Hackett, New York NY USA

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Paul Metz The Netherlands said...

In this age of info overload AND urgent need for practical solutions only the most focused and expert-filtered sources survive. World Streets is one such high value-added site !

Paul Metz
The Netherlands

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Tomás Marín T. Santiago de Chile said...

WS is an excellent initiative for sustainable transport experts and advocates around the world.

For us Latin Americans, it is an important source of innovative ideas and communication exchange, and a relevant independent media.

Tomás Marín T.
Santiago de Chile
Ciudad Viva (Living City) – Active Transport Centre

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David Levinger Seattle WA USA said...

World Streets is the premier global exchange for expert assessments of new mobility innovations.

More than an online publication, it is a network of the leading minds from dozens of countries in the northern and southern hemispheres, rich and poor countries, reporting from every continent.

David Levinger Seattle WA USA
The Mobility Education Foundation |
David Levinger

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Jonas Hagen, ITDP Brazil said...

World Streets is an invaluable resource for sustainable mobility professionals, interested laypeople, and decision makers.

It helps keep this small but dedicated community abreast of global developments and encourage peers that are in adverse circumstances.

Sharing best practices around the world is invaluable and World Streets is an excellent forum for this.

Best regards,

Jonas Hagen, ITDP Brazil

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James P. Clark, New York NY said...

Does the world NEED more and better sustainable transport planning? Absolutely.

Has Eric Britton and World Streets added an invaluable resource to the sustainable transport debate and movement? Absolutely.

Is the chance for a successful global transition to sustainable transport significantly enhanced by the existence of World Streets? Absolutely.

So, in good conscience, support it with enthusiasm and passion and hard work, we must... absolutely.

James P. Clark, New York NY
Chairman, The World Technology Network

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Ian Perry (Cardiff, UK) said...

“New Mobility” is not simply the solution to the problems of the car system, it is a better system, and World Streets is the place to find out more.

Thanks to all the contributors for all their input and to those who read, discuss and implement the knowledge and ideas found here.

* * *

Jack M. Nilles Los Angeles, CA said...

Transportation sustainability is a global problem. Better technology may be necessary, but probably is not sufficient to the task. In this world of finite, and dwindling, energy resources we also need to change our transportation behavior, our modal choices.

World Streets is an important new way to illuminate those issues and get that word around the world. Best of all, World Streets airs the views of many and diverse transportation experts so that better global--and local--perspectives can develop more rapidly.

Don't dig potholes, support World Streets!
--
Jack M. Nilles
Los Angeles, CA

* * *

Sharon Feigon, Chicago IL USA said...
Eric,

Thank you for all your great work keeping up the international dialogue on car sharing and urban mobility. I appreciate your effort to keep us all informed and aware of the latest developments throughout the world.

While I have a lot of contact with our partners in the US, I would never be able to keep up on what is happening internationally without your site.

Sharon Feigon
CEO, I-GO Car Sharing
Chicago IL USA

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Morten Lange, Reykjavik, Iceland said...

World Streets seems to hold a promise to become a great source for making "new" knowledge about transport in towns and cities more visible and available to the interested politician, planner, engineer, professional, activist and citizen. The set of street correspondents at WorldStreets is very impressive.

What we might gain is more efficient, healthy, environmentally sustainable and humane transport in towns and cities around the world.

Morten Lange, MSc
Chairman of the Icelandic Cyclists' Federation
Reykjavik, Iceland

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enrico bonfatti, Bergamo Italy said...

What a crowd...

I think World Street is so useful that I am setting up an Italian version of it, thanks to Eric's strong and continuous support.

Sometimes (I'd better say always) it looks like Italy is far away from Europe. I hope this little thing could help us to get a bit closer, helping my country-fellows to stop believing tales...

enrico bonfatti, Bergamo Italy

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Péter Dalos, Hungary said...

Dear Mr. Eric Britton,

May I denote my appreciation on your personal effort taken towards the field of sustainable transport planning. As a transport planner of COWI Hungary Ltd. I've learned a lot from you and through your forums of expertise. It would be a honour if I could support your activity in the future.

Best regards

Péter Dalos, Hungary
COWI Hungary Ltd

* * *

Dhyana Quintanar, Mexico City said...

World Streets is a fast, attractive and useful resource for us dealing with these very issues as practitioners every day.

It provides valuable insights and information from around the globe, allowing us to constantly evaluate the focus of our projects and providing appealing arguments and references to support our work regardless of the context we are in.

I truly appreciate having this resource available to enhance my work.

Dhyana Quintanar, Mexico City
Coordinator of the NMM Strategy

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Amy Granger, Washington DC USA said...

World Streets helps me keep abreast of developments in shared transit and modern mobility technology. I live in Washington DC and as a concerned member of the global community

I greatly appreciate the updates and information that help shape my perspectives on where we should be directing our efforts.

Amy Granger, Washington DC USA

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Laura Machado, Porto Alegre, Brazil said...

I really do think that World Streets is a good site about sustainable mobility, as the news is updated all the time, always a reason to visit and respond your request!

Laura Machado, Porto Alegre, Brazil .

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Jason Meinzer Philadelphia, PA USA said...

The [WorldCityBike] forum is an invaluable, far-reaching service to many and if halted due to funding constraints would be a true shame.
Cheers,

Jason Meinzer
Philadelphia, PA USA
CityRyde LLC – “Bike Sharing Experts"

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Wayne Worden, Vancouver, B.C. Canada said...

I'm getting a lot of information on World Streets that I suspect I would have to search very hard for on my own. Sustainable transportation is an important subject for me and I appreciate having World Streets as a resource.

Wayne Worden, Vancouver, B.C. Canada

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enrico bonfatti said...

What a crowd...

I think World Street is so useful that I am setting up an Italian version of it, thanks to Eric's strong and continuous support.

Sometimes (I'd better say always) it looks like Italy is far away from Europe. I hope this little thing could help us to get a bit closer, helping my country-fellows to stop believing tales...

Enrico Bonfatti, Bergamo, Italy
http://nuovamobilita.blogspot.com/

* * *

Neil Takemoto, CoolTown Beta Communities, Washington DC, U.S.A. said...
The key to effective positive change is in assembling an enthusiastic community of people committed to investing in that change, locally.

World Streets provides such a forum, allowing each of these local communities to share resources and inspire one another.

Neil Takemoto, CoolTown Beta Communities,
Washington DC, U.S.A.

* * *

Iker Maguregi Bilbao Spain said...

The World Street web site and its worldwide mobility, urbanism, innovation, ecological and new way of philosophers think tank virtual library is important for us, and i wonder what it would be like without having this magnificent working source to help is in our daily working tasks.

Many times is shows the value of cooperation and networking to encourage the way forward, so that, I found this initiative and its partnership culture one of the most exemplary ones and worthwhile for human progress and wellbeing.

For all that, I would like to express my good will and support for this kind of altruistic work and cheer up everybody who makes efforts to keep unselfishly working on this path.
Greetings from Basque Land,
Iker Maguregi
Bilbao Spain

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Pascal J.W. van den Noort, Amsterdam said...

With World Streets, Velo Mondial is wholly devoted to advancing the sustainable transportation and sustainable cities agenda worldwide.

The support we feel from World Streets is therefore immense and should be sustained in the long term.

Passion is great, financial support makes the passion available for the long term.

I wish you all the luck you need! Velo Mondial will continue the support.

Pascal J.W. van den Noort, Amsterdam
Executive Director Velo Mondial

* * *

Jan Visser, The Netherlands said...

World Streets is a great initiative, because it’s so necessary and relevant, but also because it’s well run and uses a minimum of resources. There is much to learn from different experiences around the world to change our habits regarding transportation in the interest of sustainability.

There is also much to gain by applying the power of imagination to solving the problems we are facing. World Streets does a great job helping us to learn and imagine.

Jan Visser, The Netherlands
Learning Development Institute

* * *

Carlos Cordero, Lima Peru said...

It's a good job all you have done with World Streets. I find the blog easy to read and well supported with contributors from all around the
world. I will send some feedback from Peru and Latinamerica.

Keep on and good luck with further developments on sustainable transportation.

A hug from Lima,

Carlos Cordero, Lima Peru

* * *


Gary Gardner, Grass Valley, CA said...

To the editor:

I very much support what you're doing, especially the collaborative way in which you promote a sustainable transportation agenda. Keep it up!

One suggestion: keep the verbiage to a minimum. Online, our attention span is minimal. Unfortunate, but true!

Best wishes for continued success in your work.

Gary Gardner, Grass Valley, CA
Senior Researcher
Worldwatch Institute

* * *

Debi Goenka, Mumbai India said...

I am delighted to read about these sustainable transport initiatives from all over the world.

Keep up the great work.

Debi Goenka, Mumbai India
Executive Trustee
Conservation Action Trust

* * *

Stephen Plowden, London UK said...

World Streets is indispensable for anyone, whether a professional transport planner or simply a concerned citizen, anxious to keep up with important innovations (and sometimes retrograde steps too) in urban transport all over the world.

It deserves all our gratitude and support.

Stephen Plowden, London UK

* * *

Benoît Beroud, Paris France said...

World Streets works on the principle of a world newspaper focused specifically on sustainable mobility, fed by experts of each country. Thanks to this tool, mobility workers have information, points of view of different cultures and different sources of information. It definitely brings an open-minded in the growing attention field which is the sustainable mobility.

Benoît Beroud, Paris France

* * *

Tim Caswell, Bristol UK said...

World Streets is one of those invaluable resources that just keeps coming up with the goods. We live in a world where we are often isolated in our own sphere of daily work, but at the same time knowing we are all working towards a bigger picture.

World Streets keeps us together in knowing the latter is happening. Slowly (perhaps too slowly), but surely. Its an informational as well as social service !

We would certainly be poorer without it.

Best Regards

Tim Caswell, Bristol UK

* * *

Carlosfelipe Pardo said...

Dear World Streets,

Your work on disseminating information on sustainable transport to the general public, professionals and policymakers has helped us a lot in supporting our views in promoting these topics in developing countries.
We truly hope this endeavor not only continues but that more resources become available to increase its impact even more.

Best regards,

Carlosfelipe Pardo, Bogota Colombia
ITDP Country Director (Colombia

* * *

Sean Roche said...

An invaluable resource. Even the name World Streets captures the intensely local nature of these issues that nonetheless have an obviously global impact.

* * *

Joao Cunha. Barcelona, Spain. said...

Hello World Streets staff:

keep up your good work, and spread your ideas through places that need it, specially third-world and developing countries.

Regards,

Joao Cunha.
Barcelona, Spain.

* * *

Bernie Wagenblast, Cranford, NJ USA said...

As the editor of an electronic publication called the Transportation Communications Newsletter my interests lie in promoting communications.

World Streets is an important way information and viewpoints can be shared worldwide on the topic of sustainable transportation. Through the sharing of what may sometimes be contradictory opinions, others can sharpen their own perspectives and contribute to the ongoing dialogue. To me what's important is not so much that a particular position be promoted, but that multiple positions can be shared in a civil forum.

Bernie Wagenblast, Cranford, NJ USA

* * *

John Warren, Toronto ON Canada said...

World Streets is a very useful project. Tra
nsportation has very large environmental social and health impacts and current trends are clearly unsustainable.

Only by sharing information is there any hope of moving towards a sustainable future without a prior catastrophe. Any support for this project would be beneficial.

John Warren, Toronto ON Canada

* * *

Marko Thull, Prague, Czech Republic said...

Thanks for your work. World Street is a great source of information for all people interested by alternative transportation. The blog is easy to read and provide articles about a various range of subjects.

All the best from Prague, Czech Republic

Marko Thull, Prague, Czech Republic

* * *

Alok Jain, Hong Kong said...

Even though reacting sometimes to an issue seems like repeating what other have already said or what appears to be basic common sense (or sometimes just completely overwhelming) and hence one restrains oneself from really expressing, there should not be a reason to not commend the tremendous work that World Streets (and of course, you) is doing.

So, here's three cheers to World Streets and you. Keep up the good work and keep the mails coming...

Best wishes

Alok Jain, Hong Kong

* * *

Ashok Sreenivas, Parisar, Pune. India said...

I am admittedly an occasional visitor to the World Streets site, but whenever I do I find useful content there.

Cheers
Ashok Sreenivas
Parisar, Pune. India

* * *

Alexandra Velasco, Quito - Ecuador said...

Dear World Streets:

I am really lucky for having known Eric Britton, and World Streets. Now I can feel I am not the only black sheep in the family but there are other black (brown, red, yellow and even pinkish) one also trying to tell the white sheep that there are other colours in the world of mobility and that diversity of opinions and knowledge may reinforce the sense of our unique planet and land depend on our kind of mixture and cooperativism.

I am also sure that exchanging information from a north - south vision is important, but also south - south cooperation and integration since developing countries enhances the same problems as developed countries in terms of mobility but with different and scarce resources, points of view, different cultural and social context, and especially strategies for fighting climate change effects in our countries. Good to have you in the same ship!

Thanks a lot for considering us in the agenda

From Quito - Ecuador above 2800 above sea level

Alexandra Velasco, Quito - Ecuador
Colectivo Quito para Todos

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Orlando Strambi, Sao Paulo, Brazil said...

After 35 years working with and teaching Urban Transport Planning, tapping into information from New Mobility, and now World Streets, fora during the last few years has radically changed my perspective about transport problems and possible solutions towards a sustainable future.

Orlando Strambi, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Associate Professor
Polytechnic School of the University of Sao Paulo

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Daniel Sperling, Davis CA, USA said...

This is an invaluable source of information about sustainable transportation and a great forum for communication and sharing of new and successful ideas and actions.

Daniel Sperling, Davis CA, USA
Director, Institute of Transportation Studies
Saturday, 20 June, 2009


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Curt Larson, Pittsburgh, PA USA said...

You are doing a great job to further an important issue.

Curt Larson, Pittsburgh, PA USA

PS. Living back in Pittsburgh, PA as of 11 months ago after 7 years in Helsinki, a bicycling heaven if one does not mind the cold

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John Ashmore said...

As a professional engineer in the public transport industry I use and value 'World Streets' to keep me abreast of the alternatives that are put forward for both urban and rural movement of choice. There are many commendable ideas that can be expanded but the role of an attractive, clean, efficient modern integrated public transport system (trains, trams, buses, or ....) capable of mass movement must surely be the best core method of travel in cities. Keep up the good work and communications. It is a 'breath of fresh air', even to a traditional engineer like me!
John Ashmore, West Sussex, UK

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Prof. Michael Lewyn, Jacksonville, FL USA said...

Almost encyclopedic in its discussion of a wide variety of transportation issues.

Prof. Michael Lewyn, Jacksonville, FL USA
Florida Coastal School of Law

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Paul Barter, Singapore said...

World Streets is already playing an excellent role in fostering and expanding the international community around the cause of liveable streets and new mobility.

This is incredibly important. The diversity and geographic range of the sources and the readers is impressive with enormous potential for mutual learning across borders. The information shared is of high quality and well focused. It is wonderful to be reminded daily of being part of an international movement that is gathering momentum.

Paul Barter, Singapore
Assistant Professor in Public Policy
and Co-manager and founder of the sustran-discuss forum, which focuses on urban transport in developing countries, especially in Asia.

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Wendy Brawer, New York NY USA said...

I showed the site this week to an English visitor who arrived by wheelchair. She is working on pedestrian and accessibility issues and was delighted to find such a thorough resource that could be mined for best practices worldwide.

Thanks for your great work!

Wendy Brawer, New York NY USA
Green Map System

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Elliot Schwartz, Cambridge MA USA said...

I just discovered worldstreets.org, and immediately found myself reading several articles and following links to other sites for more information! It seems like a great resource for the car-free & sustainable transportation movements!

Cheers,

Elliot Schwartz, Cambridge MA USA
MIT

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Dr Alice Maynard, Milton Keynes UK said...

World Streets is a valuable place to exchange ideas about how we can stay mobile without destroying the very things that we want to be mobile for... our surroundings, our heritage, our planet... and in exchanging ideas we can ensure we don’t repeat the mistakes of existing transport systems that exclude so many people.

Dr Alice Maynard, Milton Keynes UK
Director. Future Inclusion

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Sue Zielinski, Ann Arbor MI USA said...

I felt compelled to let you know that in its short existence I've found World Streets to be a refreshingly digestible and linkable resource that brings together not only key issues but also key people related to sustainable transportation around the world. It's a timely tool for change -

Kudos.

Sue Zielinski, Ann Arbor MI USA
Managing Director, SMART
University of Michigan

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Luud Schimmelpennink, Amsterdam, the Netherlands said...

World Streets and the shifting role of the car:

State-of-the-art technology can be put to work hand-in-hand with the changing role of the private car in the city in order to create situations in which even car use can be integrated into the overall mobility strategy with a far softer edge. These advantages need to be carefully explored then widely broadcast so as to increase acceptance of the new pattern of urban mobility.

World Streets contributions in this great challenge after only three months are already considerable. Your positive approach to the full, necessary new mobility mix sets you apart from most of the rest.

Niet stoppen nu World Streets.

Luud Schimmelpennink, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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Adam Cooper, Vancouver Canada said...

Free access to the information provided by World Streets and its members is helping to connect concerned citizens around the world.
The World Streets network generates significant positive benefits by creating a dialogue around urban issues which might not otherwise take place. This rich dialogue allows best practices from around the globe to be shared in real time; allowing members and visitors to the site to learn from each other and export the lessons the their own cities. The content generated helps to shift the paradigm of urban planning to one that is focused not on the automobile, but on pedestrians, cyclists and others who have typically been ignored. The momentum of urban change is growing around the world, cyclists and pedestrians are taking back their streets and World Streets is there to share the critical information and help in the long fight ahead.


Adam Cooper, Vancouver Canada
UBC TREK Program Centre

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Igor Abreu Garcia, Brazil said...
I'm writing to let you know that we from Brazil's Critical Mass are happy to see your work, please keep going on, and you can count on us in spreading the word of bike and sustainability around here!

Igor Abreu Garcia, Brazil
www.bicicletada.org

John Thackara, Amsterdam, the Netherlands said...
World Streets is a unique and valuable resource. It would be impossible to find this quality of news and insight anywhere else. I encourage all policy makers and city managers to put World Streets at the top of their reading list.

John Thackara, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Director, Doors of Perception

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Theo Schmidt, Steffisburg, Switzerland said...

An invaluable if somewhat weighty resource.

An assembly of invaluable people.

Theo Schmidt, Steffisburg, Switzerland

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Faizan Jawed, Mumbai India said...

World Streets shows the power and good feeling that sharing knowledge, being critical and discussion brings. News, Information and discussion form World Streets forms the most important part of sustainable mobility news, views and happenings for me. World Streets also showcases innovative and apposite use of information technology in today's time.

I am sure that it will play an important role in moulding professional and public opinion and strengthen the movement for equitable, sustainable cities.

Faizan Jawed, Mumbai India
Architect

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Sujit Patwardhan said...

World Streets is a resource rich in content and vision. We have been working for improving Public Transport, Cycling and Walking and for introducing TDM (Traffic Demand Management) measures in Pune, India I haven't been able to contribute much to the site in terms of articles or reports but we are planning to send you a brief case study on two roads that the Municipal Corporation wants to turn into "one way streets", and where are trying to introduce several measures to improve pedestrian and cycling facilities and limit parking of automobiles.

Sujit Patwardhan,
Parisar,
Pune, India

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Dr Adhiraj Joglekar, Mumbai and Pune, India said...

Worlds Streets celebrates multiple viewpoints pertaining to one vision 'sustainable cities'.
A great resource.

Dr Adhiraj Joglekar, Mumbai and Pune, India

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Paul DeMaio, Washington, DC USA said...

The World City Bike Forum by World Streets is a great resource for the advancement of bike-sharing and is used by progressive transportation planners around the world.

Paul DeMaio, Washington, DC USA
Managing Member, MetroBike LLC

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Ton Daggers, The Netherlands said...

I am always surprised how many things can be done in 24 hours as I read World Streets. Many valuable contributions from many different sources brought together is very useful for professionals urban planners and other interested.

The need for change which is expressed in many messages is to be spread more and again.

Ton Daggers, The Netherlands
Director IBC MOVILIZATION

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Rosalie Day, Adelaide, South Australia said...

Sustainable transport is essential if we are to have a liveable world and cities in the future.

World Streets is a great source of information and a forum for sharing ideas about the many things we can do to make transport work better.

I find it useful and thought provoking and support its continuation.

Regards,

Rosalie Day
Adelaide, South Australia

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Lewis Chen, Singapore said...

World Streets is a great initiative to support the development of sustainable transportation model for cities that we live in. It is a great place for sharing and to source for ideas.

The information is also useful for many policy makers and interested parties. Keep up the good work!

Lewis Chen, Singapore
General Manager, INVERS Asia Pte. Ltd.

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Jeroen Langeveld, Zutphen, The Netherlands said...

We share the streets -- Now let's share the cars as well.

Jeroen Langeveld, Zutphen, The Netherlands

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Gail Jennings, Capetown South Africa said...

What would I do without World Streets? It's always a great read, a source of inspiration, information, a sense of community... And gives us a sense of hope and gathering momentum for change.

Gail Jennings, Capetown South Africa
Mobility Magazine,

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Antonia Roberts. Leeds UK said...

This is to express Carplus support for all that is done by World Streets and at the World Car Share Consortium, and the regular bulletins and website resources it houses and creates. It is an invaluable way of keeping in touch with others in the industry around the world.

By sharing knowledge and best practise it makes our efforts more effective and successful.

I very much hope that resources are found for it to continue.

Antonia Roberts. Leeds UK
Director, carplus - rethinking car use

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Simon Baddeley, Birmingham, UK said...

Dear Eric

'World Streets' is a portal, blog and website capturing the idea of thinking globally, acting locally, sharing, via the internet, practical ways, after a century pf distortion, to restore - through research, education, lobbying and debate - a balance between access by proximity and access by mobility.


Simon Baddeley, Birmingham, UK
Inlogov, School of Government & Society
University of Birmingham

Manfred Breithaupt. Eschborn, Germany said...

Dear World Streets,

We are always eager to forward the information that is sent through the World Streets website and discussion group, as we have found it a most useful and up-to-date resource that complements our work and provides support to our advisory projects in the developing world.

Manfred Breithaupt. Eschborn, Germany
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
(German Technical Cooperation - Transport and Mobility

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Ines Alveano, Morelia, Mexico said...

I read www.worldstreets.org in the city where I live (Morelia). I find it very interesting and useful. I dream that some day, we'll have better forms of transportation (I use public transport and bike) in our country (Mexico).

Ines Alveano, Morelia, Mexico

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Alon Rozen, Paris, France and Tel Aviv Israel said...

From someone who has seen how much effort and resources Eric and his network of World Streets partners and collaborators have poured into this valuable endeavor, I can only hope that policy makers around the world will see this as a concrete example of going from idea to action -- and then lend an attentive ear to the incredible dialog going on right here, online, every day! Hopefully too, the enthusiasm, ideas, collective intelligence and feedback will get their attention too...

You are filling an important policy vacuum and I can only hope that decision makers will be smart enough to involve you in the discussion leading to their own policy formulations.

Alon Rozen, Paris, France and Tel Aviv Israel

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Michael Alba, Boston MA USA said...

World Streets is a fantastic distillation of global information covering some of the most exciting cutting-edge advancements and/or concepts in the arena of sustainability. It is a perfect source for busy individuals bombarded with information-overload in this era of communication saturation. As with everything that you have progressed before, be sure you have our many thanks Eric.

Michael Alba, Boston MA USA
Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates

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Michael Yeates, Brisbane Australia said...

Communication is essential especially as both good and bad news now travel the globe in milliseconds. The threats to our "streets" are very similar but appear different so understanding the different contexts and spreading good ideas widely is essential to keep people not threatening vehicles on our "World Streets". Thanks for access to great info and expertise.

Michael Yeates
Brisbane Australia

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April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden said...

What we want - slow, shared, lively streets with lots of people on them. How we get it - supporting World Streets.

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Ian Downie, Lisbon, Portugal said...

As an interested citizen, World Streets is an excellent resource for keeping me informed of pertinent issues that are facing bike-sharing schemes globally and contributes to my agenda locally.

Ian Downie, Lisbon, Portugal

Estação de Bicicletas
Para Aumentar a Mobilidade Fisica e Social de Lisboa

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Gianni Rondinella, Madrid, Spain said...

World Streets is one of the best interactive platforms to envisioning the change the cities around the world needed to transform the transport sector. That change is needed in order to save the most valuable asset of our city: different people living together, having the possibility to interact in a random form, creating culture, knowledge and innovation together.

World Streets daily adds new elements to the vision of that new city, to those new streets, to those public living rooms we inhabit every day.

Gianni Rondinella, Madrid, Spain
Researcher at TRANSyT (Transport Research Centre) - Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
www.transyt.upm.es

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Elizabeth Press said...

What a fantastic resource! This site proves great insight to all the sustainable transport and sustainable city innovations and discussions taking place around the world.

Thanks, Eric!

Elizabeth Press
filmmaker, streetfilms.org, New York, New York

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Esther Anaya –Barcelona, Spain. said...

When I look at World Streets I wonder why it wasn’t done before, because it’s so obvious that we need an international platform like this!

My congratulations and sincere thanks to Eric, who makes possible this link of us, people from around the world, working for a better future of our streets, with the information and connections we need to make this goal more possible everyday.

Esther Anaya –Barcelona, Spain.

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Ken Ohrn, Vancouver, BC Canada said...

What a wonderful piece of issues-oriented writing! I admire you for the effort it takes to produce something as good, entertaining and useful as this.

Ken Ohrn, Vancouver, BC Canada

Saskia Hermans, Switzerland said...

World Streets is a source of inspiration, that shows us how much more is possible then we tend to think. It is so important to know we are not alone trying to make this world's streets, towns and cities more liveable, and be able to learn from each, other worldwide!

Saskia Hermans, Switzerland
cycling and traffic engineer
Switzerland

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Dinesh Mohan, New Delhi India said...

A large number of people around the world are able to keep track of interesting moves because of World Streets. We need the solidarity and mutual backslapping even more to keep away the wolves.

Dinesh Mohan, New Delhi India
Professor and Coordinator, Transport Research and Injury Prevention Programme
WHO Collaborating Centre
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

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Gil Gilmore, USA said...

WorldStreets.org is an excellent resource for anyone interested in non-fuelish transportation issues. It is useful as both a source of inspiration and useful analysis.

May this site continue to thrive in all ways. The planet needs it

Gil Gilmore, USA

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Elizabeth Deakin, Berkeley CA USA said...

I am a regular reader. I also pass along articles from the website to my graduate students. The work is of high quality and it puts us in touch with other researchers and practitioners in the field of sustainable development and transport.

It provides a much-needed service and cuts through the media overload to the essentials.

Elizabeth Deakin, Berkeley CA USA
Professor, UC Berkeley

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Andrew Curran, Vancouver Canada said...

At a time when the urban sustainability agenda is more important than ever, “World Streets” provides a much needed international platform for exchanging, discussing and disseminating cutting edge new mobility ideas.

Andrew Curran,
Vancouver Canada

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Wayne Worden, Vancouver Canada said...

I get World Streets in Google Reader. I always scan the material and more often than not I read the entire article.

Sustainable transportation is a very important topic for me and I appreciate the information I get from World Streets.

Wayne Worden, V
ancouver Canada

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Laurent Certin, Paris France said...

Thank you again Eric for all the work you are doing. I think this website is a great way to improve communication on alternatives for mobility. This is what is really needed today I think.

As a matter of fact, solutions exist and in general can be deployed without major technical issues. So I wish good luck and great success to all the ones who are participating and promoting theses initiatives.

Laurent Certin, Paris France

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Zvi Leve (Montreal, QC, Canada) said...

World Streets serves as a tireless promoter of the realistic application of 'sustainable transportation' schemes. The knowledge and creativity of the group are an inspiration for transport 'reformers' world-wide.

Now we just need to "get the word out".

Zvi Leve, Montreal, Canada

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Giselle Noceti Ammon Xavier, Brazil said...

World Streets is a very useful tool for updating - about cycling initiatives and references...it also helps in keeping us with the good feeling of "there are lots of us" struggling to have better cities..."we are not alone"...

Giselle Noceti Ammon Xavier, Brazil

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Richard Layman said...

Too often people's experiences with transportation issues are limited to their own locality. World Streets brings together people from Europe, Asia, North America, South America, and Africa, sharing perspectives, experiences, references, and ideas, to enlighten all.

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Rutul said...

World Streets has give me the most important exposure about 'sustainable transport' initiatives across the world. It is good to know that there are so many people from different corners of the world who believe in a different paradigm of urban development. I believe, there should be more contributions coming from the Asian cities and from the industrializing and urbanizing world. This also calls for commitment from lot of people like me to start sharing the transport issues emerging around.

Rutul Joshi,
Lecturer at School of Planning, CEPT University,
Ahmedabad, India.

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Morten Lange (Reykjavik, Iceland) said...

The Icelandic government recently published a report comparing the options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. One of the top three contenders in terms of viability and economic gain (net gain, even when excluding external costs regarding global warming, pollution etc) was to increase cycling and walking.

WorldStreets contains many examples of how to achieve increases in these and other forms of healthier and greener transport in cities and towns.

Morten Lange, MSc
Chairman of Icelandic Cyclists' Federation,
extra on the National Road safety board
Reykjavik, Iceland

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Michael Lewyn said...

World Streets is an almost encyclopedic source of information about how to make the world more comfortable for pedestrians and cyclists.

Prof. Michael Lewyn
Florida Coastal School of Law
Jacksonville, FL
Wednesday, 08 July, 2009

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Edward Beimborn, Milwaukee WI, USA said...

Keep up the good work, this is a useful resource, a global community for discussion of important issues

Edward Beimborn, Milwaukee WI, USA
Director, Center for Urban Transportation Studies
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

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Robert Smith, Dorset UK said...

Without your support originally I have no doubt that the "walk to school" initiative would never have reached all corners of the globe as it clearly has. A little while ago we asked a mixed group of adults (aged 19 -99) how many of them had heard of the walk to school campaign. Everyone of them raised their hand. Not bad eh?

I just wish more people would raise their gas pedal foot a little more whilst driving.

Robert Smith, Dorset UK
Road Safety Manager (Education, Training and Publicity)
Environment Directorate
Dorset County Council

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Conrad Wagner, Switzerland said...
The World CarShare program of World Streets runs a platform to form high-tech local mobility solutions with globally recognized background.

There is always need to bring experts together with investors and operators. And cities bring in the framework to implement and develop.
So, all players in this field of mobility and the age of access have benefits of sharing via World Streets and World Carshare.

Conrad Wagner, Switzerland
Mobility consultant

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Dave Wetzel "Transforming Communities" London. UK. said...

World Streets provides valuable assistance to all those who want to keep up to date on affordable, effective, environmental and economic solutions to transport problems and should be an essential item in every transport planner's toolbox.

Thank you Eric!

Dave Wetzel
"Transforming Communities"
London. UK.

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David Stein, Vienna Austria said...

I would like to thank Eric Britton for his initiatives with World Streets and calling into action those caring citizens across the Globe who care about mobility and understand that it is a critical indicator of social progress. As with other forms of modern technology, its implications have been little understood and effects, as a result, have largely been neglected and left to spiral out of control. Specifically, one should consider the effects on our built environment. Over the last century and a half, mobility has rearranged an organically created living space established through walking and horse travel to achieve our daily needs to a mushrooming realm shaped by the use of motorized transport to achieve those same basic needs.

Much of the world's population living in developing countries have yet to experience the advances of motorization---which, is commonly accepted as a prerequisite for increasing wealth. However, when we look at various populations groups around the world, regardless of wealth or GDP, the amount of time people spend travelling has remained relatively constant. This means that while motorized transport has extended the limits of our living space, it has not reduced the need for travel but rather, increased our dependence on it. Meanwhile, its external effects are consuming a finite level of natural resources that we daily take for granted. If the majority of the Earths less wealthy inhabitants therefore wish to replicate what the majority of residents in the developed world are doing as a way to increase their welfare, the finite natural resources will become even more scarce and dwindle down drastically.

So what's for us to do??

We need therefore to grasp better how mobility could be reintroduced to its most basic form--namely through walking and cycling and shared transport-- and then rebuild our environment around these forms of transport that will reduce society's impacts on the environment. A simple recipe this is not. Our start to undo what has been done could well be a hundred year project, but the ball needs to get rolling.

The start is through a proper forum that will network the people who, through professional means or through sheer interest, could see the light through the trees and communicate to the public that there could be a better tomorrow if we act now. One way is for each of us to make gradual changes to our own way of living and get others to join. When others join, then we become an interest group striving for change; when we strive for change we could get others to follow; When others follow, then we become a movement that picks up steam; Once we do this politicians will take notice--or at least be unable to ignore us. When enough politicians and policy makers take up the challenge, then our laws will hopefully change for the better and in return influence behavior for the better. Adopted behavior could then become an accepted norm that will attract those who had refused to change. Then a new paradigm for change takes shape and a new cycle continues...

I want to thank Eric for getting this ball rolling and encourage everyone to take part. To initiate change, we need to think globally and act locally. Through forums such as New Mobility Forum, the exchange of ideas have made it easier to facilitate action at the local level.

David Stein, Vienna Austria
Institute of Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering; Technical University of Vienna


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W. Dirk van Dijl, Hastings, E. Sussex UK said...

As climate change gathers momentum and in many areas gains acceptance as an actual problem, my business activities have taken me out of the realm of sustainable transport and back into what I might term normal, everyday transport. It turns out that this ‘real world’ has not changed much.

The love for fast cars with lots of toys is still there. The knowledge of alternatives is thin, trains are always late, full and dirty, buses are for passes and running is done in an air conditioned environment you drive to.

This has led to interesting conversations, so let me share the company car discussion. I have argued against company cars for many years, as I have found that by letting people drive personal cars for business they look at low fuel usage, they drive slower and they get smaller cars. But one of the companies I work with is looking at company cars and has ordered some Japanese pickup trucks with crew cabs. For the uninitiated these are pickup trucks with four doors and five seats, so really a car with a wheel barrow on the back.

These vehicles come with leather, sat nav, big engines, automatics, big on fuel and road space usage. However, they offer one big advantage – they are considered commercial vehicles so there is no tax on them. Now how can I argue against that?

Against that same background governments are bailing out the car manufacturers whilst thousands of other businesses are failing all around us, they are incentivising people to buy new cars (which will be used more as they are comfortable and reliable) and they are giving tax benefits to driving fuel guzzlers. Governments also back the bicycle sharing clubs – give me an example of a success here – they get involved with the car sharing clubs – give me an example of a real business success here – they encourage people to use public transport – even I cannot afford to travel by train in the UK anymore in many cases and I try hard.

The challenge is to make the alternative to the flash car as exciting and enticing as the flash car was. Simply saying it is good for the environment may catch on, but probably not before the sea levels have risen several inches.

World Streets needs to catch on before my feet get wet.

W. Dirk van Dijl
Hastings, E. Sussex UK

* * *

Would you like to add your voice to this impressive list?

You can do it simply by posting your remarks and counsel just below here using the Comment link.

Thank you.

Eric Britton,
Editor, World Streets.

--> Read on:

How to read World Streets . . . until we are ready for 2010

During the weeks directly ahead we have to concentrate our limited resources on the search for financial and other support so that World Streets can continue publication in 2010. Thus, during this period we shall not be maintaining our usual 5/7 publication schedule. For that reason you will over the coming weeks find in this top section only those postings and articles that relate to laying the groundwork for 2010 and the funding search. We are sure you understand. But wait a minute, that's not all.

The problem with stopping publication brutally like that is that behind World Streets there is a collaborative process and we cannot simply turn our back on it because we have run out of money. We have a certain number of obligations to our colleagues and collaborators who have taken the time to get involved, and thus are sending to us a continuing flow of materials, ideas and even full articles almost entirely ready to go on line.

So we shall during this painful interim try to keep up our end of what is after all a long term deal (some of these fine hard-working people have been exchanging information, asking questions, and other wise working with us on the New Mobility Agenda for more than two decades). This is how it works.

Without by any means trying to maintain the usual daily rhythm, we shall be taking the time to review, edit and otherwise prepared a certain number of postings as they come in. And just so that you, the reader, are aware that we are doing all this under real constraints, we will be planning these articles under the 2000 section of our archives (think of it as sort of a reverse time capsule that we can shortly open, together). This means that our dear readers are going to have to hunt around a bit for the time being, but in fact all it means is a few clicks on the left menu and there you are with the full piece before you.

* New articles in this interim period will be filed and available under 2000 in archives to your left.

However we very much hope as you read that you will bear in mind that we need your collaboration and that you can in fact help keep this going in 2010. How? Well, simply click here and you will see the details spelled out.

Happy reading and don't forget to lend a hand so that we can get back into high gear. This is sharing. A new, old, way of doing things. You will like it.


Eric Britton
Editor, fund raiser, and last ditch bill payer

* Click here to lend a hand.

--> Read on:

It's time you too rolled up your sleeves and got involved.

World Streets, it says right at the top of the page, is a collaborative, sharing effort. After a first year of proving its worth edition after edition, five days a week, bringing hundreds of carefully selected news items, expert views, questions, comments, inspirations, and leads to the desks of more than one hundred thousand visitors from more than seventy countries on all continents (that was our "business plan") , World Streets is now reaching out to get active sponsorship and support for 2010. We need your help to continue. So it's time for you to dig in and lend a hand. (And this is not only about money - keep reading.)

* * * But first, before plowing ahead, if you have not yet got to this, click here - to read the letters of support coming in from one hundred world experts of sustainable transportation from all continents. Surely they should know.

Contents:
1. Subscription
2. Advertizing on World Streets
3. Personal gifts, donations
4. How to make your contribution
5. Partners and Sponsors
6. Become an Ambassador
7. Other forms of support (content, technical)
8 Ten reasons why you should pitch in

1. Subscription (No problem, no fees)

World Streets is a public interest publication which is freely available to all who are looking to understand, support, and contribute to the sustainability agenda anywhere in the world. We believe strongly that there should be no barriers, and especially not commercial ones, to the free circulation of news, tools and counsel when it comes to important issues of sustainable development and social justice.

If your interest and circumstances permit, we invite you to make a gift in the amount you find appropriate. We cannot continue publication in 2010 without your support.
____________________________________________________________

2. Advertizing on World Streets (No problem, no ads.)

We do not believe that advertising fits the spirit of this endeavor.
____________________________________________________________
Top

3. Personal contributions, gifts (Here's where you come in.)

World Streets is going to need significant financial support if it is to continue through 2010. Despite the many volunteers pitching in with ideas, articles and encouragement, our programs are still costly to run and require an annual budget on the order of EUR 100,000 to get the job done. (There is a lot going on here, the iceberg under the tip, which is needed to get the journal out each day and which of course you never see, including management and oversight of all that goes into maintaining the New Mobility Agenda focus programs and sites – see www.program.newmobility.org to get an idea on that.)

This level of funding normally can come only from foundations, public agencies, or well-to-do individuals. But there is scope for smaller, more strategic donations as well, and here is maybe where you will have some ideas. Your counsel and initiative will be helpful in several ways.

• By making a contribution - large or small - you are sending us a strong signal that what we are doing has value.

• Your contributions will help us to fund the diversity of our existing programs at the quality level and frequency you are used to.

• An active contributor base helps us equally to turn to the foundations, agencies, and individuals that can make more sizable contributions to help us make-up a budget shortfall.

But there is possibly an even more important reason for you to make your voice heard in this way. World Streets and the New Mobility Agenda are voices of the sustainable cities movement that have an international role and high visibility, including in your country and city. As you are aware, while thousands of representatives of many cities and many of the leading NGOs were present Copenhagen for COP15, they were kept on the sidelines. But if there is any lesson of OCP15 it is that they must have a far stronger voice and more active role in shaping these policies and decisions -- and we see it as one of our most important tasks in the year ahead is to work to achieve this.

Some of you have asked how much to give. The possible range, a range that is useful for us, is in fact enormous. If you are a student or struggling to make ends meet in a poor city or country, even one dollar would be loaded with significance. Please don't be embarrassed or shy. It is a wonderful way to join in. Your contribution, large or small, carries a very big message.

To be more concrete, let me make a suggestion, three in fact:

* World Streets Subscribers contribute $50.00 or more for 2010.
* Supporters (to give it a name) – in the area of $500.00
* And Partners/Sponsors, say on the order of $5,000.00.

Looking at it from the working end, our daily production and support costs run on the order of $500.00. Which quickly adds up to a couple of thousand dollars a week, four times that for the month, and for the year . . . well you already have that figured. Those are modules that some of you at least may wish to give a thought to, if your resources permit.

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4. How to make your contribution:

All contributions to World Streets are tax-deductable. Please get in touch with us for full details.

Direct bank transfers:

Billing details for a wire transfer:

Account Holder: Association EcoPlan International
Account no. 00010465401
Crédit Industriel et Commercial de Paris
Succursale BR (Montparnasse)
202 Blvd. Raspail / 75014 Paris, France
SWIFT: CMCIFRPP
IBAN : FR76 3006 6106 2100 0104 6540 105

Paypal or credit card:

Payment by Paypal is simple and fast: (1) Go to www.paypal.com . (2) Enter your account (or set one up). (3) Click "send money". (4) Address: association@ecoplan.org. (5) Amount. (6) Click "Personal". (7) Click "Gift".

To make payment by credit card, please click the Support icon immediately below and follow the directions.

Finally, if you prefer to send a check direct our mailing address is:

Association EcoPlan International
8/10, rue Joseph Bara
F75006 Paris, France

You can make your check payable to Association EcoPlan International. Again get in touch with us for details concerning tax-exemption.

And don't forget this. Your contribution is quite literally what is making this work. Thank you.

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4. Partnerships and sponsoring

Institutional partnerships

• Cities are our natural partners.
They are the ones closest to the issues and who make the decisions that count. Via the daily journal we supply them with a carefully selected, easy to digest, steady flow of information, insight, clues and feedback from world experts that would cost them many times more than the annual subscription to develop on their own. It also gives them a chance to make their voice heard on a worldwide forum.

Our goal is to cover a substantial portion of operating costs through these dynamic partnerships, targeting to get the support of one hundred world cities of all sizes at affordable rates. Subscribing cities are invited to bring in one city from the developing countries as part of their subscription.

• Public agencies and associations: At the state, national or regional level, these institutions can provide valuable services to the community by helping make Streets available in their service area and to their members. There is important potential for co-organizing seminars, workshops and events in support of sustainable transport projects and groups taking the lead in their area.

• Transport operators are natural partners too, and chief among them the larger and more dynamic public transport providers, other service providers and the more active associated management groups.

• Universities World Streets may offer a good fit and tool for advanced university programs among those leading the way in the sector. Various forms of collaboration and mutual support are possible. Get in touch so that we can discuss.

• Private sector: This is more delicate, but is appropriate for companies and organizations who are firmly committed to the sustainable transport agenda. Suppliers of goods and services in such areas as insurance, non-motorized transport, carsharing, liftsharing, strategic parking, logistics, buses, delivery services, locational systems, integrated multi-modal ticket/access systems, transport logistics, spatial planning, and specialized consultancy, management and research groups are appropriate.

* Foundation support
As we develop longer-term partnerships for support, one-off gifts and donations will go a long way to help us fund our early operational and start-up costs in this crucial first phase. We are particularly hopeful for the support of foundations, groups with such budgets, and well-to-do individuals who share our sense of mission. If you are among them, please contact us for more information. If you know someone we should contact for discussions, please let us know.

Donors
An important form of support is starting to come in from individuals and families of means who share our concerns, and who are ready to reach into their pockets to give proof that the struggle for sustainable cities must engage us all. Add your voice.

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5. Become a World Streets Ambassador/Partner

World Streets, and right behind it the programs and resources of the New Mobility Agenda, functions pretty well as a peer network of international expert colleagues who share information and experience, including in many cases writing or sharing with us all articles and reports that constitute the hard core of the daily publication.

But we also need help, your help, in reaching out to and starting dialogues with cities, programs, agencies, groups, NGOS, companies and foundations that could partner with us on projects and events. There are many ways this could play out, but the first step is for you to have sufficient interest that you are willing to talk about it. If so, all you have to do is click here to send an email to eric.britton@newmobility.org or Skype to newmobility.org. A phone call to +331 7550 3788 will also do nicely.

Partners for new language/country editions
We want you to read about the leading edge of sustainable transport news and developments in your best and easiest language. And we are already working on it.

* Check out the very successful Italian version, Nuova Mobilità at http://nuovamobilita.blogspot.com/
* We are presently testing a German version, Neue Mobilität at http://neuemobilitat.blogspot.com/
* Discussions are also underway for cooperative projects in Chinese, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Project partners (for joint projects, editions)

At this point perhaps it will be a most efficient of your time if we leave this a simple list without going into any more details explanations here, leaving that for the next stage of communication in case you wish to get in touch to discuss how you might help out. You know how to get in touch. I hope we shall be hearing from you.

Fundraising
We certainly need a hand here since we have proved most clearly that this is not an area of competence. So if you share our values and concerns, consider helping us . .
.

* Through the web
* Direct representations
* Viral fundraising

Eyes on the Street:
But there is more to this than money. What about pitching in and join our World Eyes on the Street Observatory?. No obligation, no time required (and no pay), but we do want you to at least be looking and thinking about it. More on Eyes at http://newmobilityagenda.blogspot.com/2009/03/world-streets-correspondents.html.

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6. Other forms of support:

If you have spent some time with World Streets you will probably have noticed that it is a thoroughly collaborative operation, with friends and partners from many different places around the world contributing in many different ways. So far so good. But we also need other forms of help of a more specific kind, if we are to make World Streets into a truly effective instrument in support of the sustainable transport agenda worldwide

At this point let me just list the main areas in which help is going to be most useful, and invite you to work your way down this list, and if you see an area in which you have the skills and the desire to pitch in, please do get in touch so that we can discuss how this might work.

In summary our technical challenge is to create a far more seamless framework that will allow our readers to find and access not only the full content of all past World Streets postings, but also to move easily between the journal and the various New Mobility Partnerships sites, which presently are cantoned off in another part of the web. Likewise we need far great seamlessness and easier navigation between our various rich discussion groups, and our growing supply of media. This is quite a challenge but we have enough experience on the operations end that with the right technical partners we are sure we can make some major improvements.

Before you dig in however let me point out that while this is a great and exciting series of challenges, the only reward for doing them will be your satisfaction. It is a great and challenging job, but there is no pay and no obligations really, other than to pitch in where your skills and time permit. But we can promise that you will be in great company.

Now on to the areas in which your help is needed:

Content
* Reporters/Authors
* Reviewers
* Editors
* Translators
* Eyes on the Street Sentinels
* Speakers Bureau, organization of

Media:
* Illustrators
* Photographers
* Videographers
* Streetscape models
* Scenario writers
* Podcasting
* Editors
* Producers

Tech support (Web):
* Webmasters and blog experts
* Map maintenance
* Eyes on the Street program maintenance
* Blog liaison

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7. Ten reasons why you should pitch in and help us guarantee 2010:

1. Because if you are a parent or active citizen it is the right thing to do. (And it is simple and cheap.)

2. It demonstrates that you give credence to critical vital climate/transportation link and the need for acting no -- and not waiting about for some kind of long term deus ex machina that may or may not solve your and the planet's problems.

3. It is, or at least it can be, extremely time efficient for you and your team. The publication component of this four-part package can be channeled to your staff and associates in a way that consumes no more than a few minutes of their time. However it is also put before them in a form in which they can easily consult and expand their search for projects, concepts and tools they would like to know more about.

4. It does not bore -- to the contrary, it challenges and energizes the minds of its readers. It will make your smartest people smarter yet.

5. It gives you an efficient way to track some of the things going on at the leading edge not only in your own country or regional grouping. Its genuine worldwide, North/South, East/West (and South/North) focus, reporting from source, brings to your attention projects, ideas and clues that otherwise you are just about certain to miss.

6. By stepping forward you provide proof that you are part of the growing movement that is in the process of turning sustainable transportation from a marginal activity with a basically rhetorical feel-good spin, into the defining mainstream of 21st century transportation policy and practice at the leading edge.

7. By your initiative you are making World Streets available to others in your city or region and, in the process, creating an extended sense of common purpose which is largely still missing in most places.

8. By doing your bit, you are helping make these ideas and materials available to cities, researchers, activists, and others all over the world, including many others who otherwise cannot even afford this one per cent.

9. As a colleague and supporter, you and your team are in a position to work with the editorial staff from time to time to let the world know about your leading projects and accomplishments.

10. And finally, if you do not step forward to do this, who will?

For the rest, thank you in advance for your contributions, counsel and support. Believe me, we will not be able to do this without you!

Eric Britton
Editor, World Streets

PS. Have a look at who visited World Streets today. They have to be coming here for a reason.



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