World Streets in North America and the World: Sustainable transport indicators/lessons from?

Our reader maps, which are updated several times a day, reveal patterns that we think are worth at least a bit of inspection and thought from time to time. Here to get us started on this is one which reports the locations of the last 80 readers to check in to World Streets from North America this afternoon. Hmm. Does it tell us anything important? Let's have a look.

The full picture for North America this afternoon looks like this (click to enlarge map):

Overall we can say that the broad lines are pretty much what we see on most days. And I find them a bit disturbing. It looks just too much like our World Maps with all those important parts of the world that are simply not being brought into the sustainability discussions (see below).

The utter absence of interest from Canada other than from the three hot points there, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, has to indicate something. We need to think about this.

The absence of any readers coming in today from Mexico is not quite the usual pattern, but we have to bear in mind that other than the machine translations World Streets does not as yet have a full Spanish language edition. (Though we have a great model for one with our sister publication Nuova Mobilità in Italy.)

As editor, I can say that I am not at all pleased with our lack of coverage in the heartland of America, and intend that we shall work to do something about it.

Let's look at the world reader map for today by way of reference (again click to enlarge map)::

Again, all those empty white swaths. Well we have plans for two of them in 2010, since we are working to find partners for editions of Africa Streets and China Streets. Stay tuned.

Finally, while we have the maps out, here is an interesting one. It shows how the readership of the Italian edition of World Streets, Nova Mobilità at www.nuovamobilita.org looked today. This makes quite a contrast with the way that the World Streets map for Italy looked on the last day of June, the day before Nuova Mobilità went into orbit, which showed a round total of one or two Italian readers on average. And today, readership in Italian has been multiplied by a hundred. Showing the importance not only of having the material in the first languages of the reader, but also why it is necessary that the content be expressly tailored to the Italian reader. And so it is.



By creating a properly adapted edition with qualified national/language partners we have shown that it is possible to reach very deep into these areas with these ideas coming from leading sources around the world. But if it is not in their working language, and not adapted to their needs and priorities, you will see a very blank and bleak picture indeed.

This last map for instance shows today's World Streets readership in Russia. But if you know the state of transport and environment in Russian cities, can you imagine for a minute that they could not use a bit of help? Shouldn't someone be jumping into this? If you want to give it a try you know where to find us.



Если вы хотите попробовать вы знаете, где нас найти.

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Our editor pondering all this. Have any thoughts that may ease the pain. If so, here is how to get in touch: Email to editor@worldstreets.org.

Or click here to Skype direct: newmobility

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Why Women Bike . . . and Why They Don't

To follow up on yesterday's piece by Janice Turner on "dull cycling" in the UK, the ever-stylish biker April Streeter reports from Portland on a survey of why women in the US cycle, and why they do not. (And if you are a female cyclist and have views on why women cycle, or perhaps do not, in your country, let us hear from you too.)

Sporty cyclists few in Amsterdam but individualized and stylish cycle gear abounds. Photo A. Streeter.

In Amsterdam, they say, cycling is like breathing - everyone does it and nobody really thinks too much about it. Kids learn to cycle before they are of school age - push cycles abound - and ride (without helmets) to school with or without parent supervision. But we're not in Amsterdam, and women especially have myriad reasons why they don't ride a bike.

To get to the heart of the reasons women do and don't cycle, The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals has created a web-based survey around attitudes toward cycling. By word of social networking, 7,300 women have already responded to the survey, which will run through May 15. Some insights have already emerged, and what is startling is that the top reason (90% of respondents) women do cycle is because of the health benefits.

Wide separated bike paths in Amsterdam make biking a pleasure for women of all ages. Photo A. Streeter.

Health benefits are definitely important - it's just amazing that it is the top respondent reason for cycling. And what's even more amazing is that (at least in these NYC numbers), it doesn't take all that much cycling or walking to have a positive effect.

"If more women and girls bicycled more places more often, they could achieve better health while having a very positive impact on their community and the environment." - Kit Keller, APBP executive director of the APBP.

The second most important reason women purported to cycle is to be in the outdoors (88% of respondents). This is also great reason, and while not knocking it, I found it a bit ironic, because among many non-riding women that I have spoken with, the outdoors (i.e. the weather) is a huge reason women say they don't ride. I'm not a competitive cyclist and instead consider myself a transport cyclist, and I don't like rotten weather or being miserable. But over time I've also realized I'd rather be out in weather on my bike (properly attired) than using any other means of transportation, including walking.

If the outfit, the bike, the gear, and the route are all good, then cycling is too. Photo of a woman cycling in Taiwan by Richard Masoner via flickr.
And that's probably due to the fact that I (along with 73% of respondents) feel that cycling is a real tension and stress reliever. I have far more mental freedom on a bike than driving a car, and it is exactly the right type of freedom, for while my body and the part of my brain controlling my reflexes are active, there's still a bit of the unconscious mindspace left over to generate new ideas and solve old problems.

The last two most popular reasons women cycle, according to the APBP survey were; "It saves me money" (72%), and, "It's very green and I'm doing my bit" (70%). Having taken the survey myself, I realize that these are choices that I likely put an "X" next to when thinking about the question of why I bike. Yet looking at them now, they seem quite abstract, and secondary to the joy of cycling (which in its own way may seem abstract to non-cyclists) and the fact that for me it's the most fun to be had while achieving transport. "Fun transport" was not one of the choices on the survey, however.

It's a job - this young Amsterdamer rides all day, every day, taking tourists on "yellow bike" tours. Photo A. Streeter.

I felt that it is a pity that the survey (a final report will issued in May) also didn't include a category choice for "I can show off my sense of style" as one reason for cycling. To men, this choice might seem absurd - perhaps to competitive and sports cycling women, too. To me, however, what was once a big hassle - choosing what to wear that is bike appropriate - has now become an interesting challenge and also a form of community with other urban women cyclists in other cities. When I see a great and practical outfit on a great and practical bike on a stylish woman, I really like it.

The future of urban biking is important to the quality of life of cities. APBP's survey is an important document to overcoming the hurdles of getting and keeping women cycling, so it will be very interesting next month to see the data and analysis of why women don't ride. Safety, we know, is a big hurdle. Here, for example, are urban issues' blogger Mary Newsom's top necessary conditions for her to cycle to work in Charlotte, N.C.:

"1. First, safe bike lanes wide enough so I didn't feel I'd put my life in danger.
2. Second, a chain guard to keep the grease from getting onto my office clothes.
3. Third, a good place to shower at the office."

What are your pre-conditions?

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About the author:
In this slot at the end of contributed articles, we generally try to place a few sober words that will permit our readers to know a bit about the author. But this time the temptation is too great, so now you have a short bio note in April's own words. "April is a former bilingual cocktail waitress who left the warm beaches of Hawaii to pursue an upstanding career as reporter on the new and exciting digital world for MacWEEK magazine in San Francisco. When she finally couldn't stand the thought of writing about one more wireless local area network router, she recast herself as an environmental and sustainability journalist for Tomorrow magazine in Stockholm, Sweden. A few years later, she escaped the Scandinavian chill to become editor of Sustainable Industries magazine in Portland, Oregon, where she today is a freelance writer forever on the lookout for a good/local/organic/sustainable/fair trade Swedish burrito."

Source: April wrote this piece for Treehugger yesterday and sent this to us at the same time with permission. You can find her original at http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/why-women-bike-and-why-they-dont.php?campaign=daily_nl. Thanks for sharing April.

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Cycling should be dull

" (Government) policy is not to make cycling safer but to encourage more people to be brave." The author, Janice Turner writing for the Times, puts her finger on one of the greater truths of public policy and cycling, which every city and every New Mobility activist will do well to bear in mind. In her words: "Cycling. . . should be banal. Because it is safe"
Cycling should be dull, not an extreme sport

- Janice Turner, The Times, London, UK

"We must overthrow the cult of the car and the Lycra-clad vanguard of aggressive men, if more of us are to take to our bikes"

Source: Cycling should be dull, not an extreme sport

I cycled to the Treasury on Tuesday to interview the Chancellor. All along Horse Guards the railings were plastered in police notices: bicycles chained to them would be removed, detonated possibly, since the fear is bike bombs, which crop up in conflicts from Vietnam through to Ireland and Iraq. In the end, my foldable was carried inside by a kind civil servant, trying not to get oil on his suit.

Cyclists are not welcome visitors to any public offices: Parliament, Portcullis House, Downing Street. You’d think someone would set up a token rack beyond where ministers might be vaporised by bombs. But whatever the political posturing inside, outside it’s still two wheels bad. And one wonders if things will change if/when George Osborne, who every morning can be spied freewheeling through Hyde Park, finally dismounts at the Treasury.

The pedalling Tories — George, Dave and Boris — are often mocked by Labour as poseurs, snapping on green credentials like cycle clips. But they merely reflect their class and generation. In the past two years, with Tube strikes and terror threats, the number of London cyclists has doubled: clustered at every intersection is a mob of professional, affluent, under-40, Georgie-boys.

Indeed, to cycle in Britain today you must embody Tory philosophy: be a rugged fearless individual, wholly responsible for your destiny, battling against the collectivism of bendy buses and the red tape of illogical one-way systems. Norman Tebbit, after all, instructed the jobless to get on their bikes, not the train


The trouble is, to judge by that microcosm of our blue future, the London mayoralty, Tory policy is not to make cycling safer but to encourage more people to be brave. Transport for London bangs on about Boris’s 12 new “cycle superhighways”, which will sweep into the centre from disparate suburbs. Will these routes have barriers so the two-wheeled are finally safe from being squished beneath Land Cruisers? Er, no. For the main part, we will still be playing dodgems with buses and now motorcycles — yes, cheers Boris, for adding veering Vespas to our worries. The mayor’s cycle superhighways, it turns out, are just lines on a map.

And yet last Sunday, from St Paul’s to Buck House, cars were banned from London streets for the mayor’s Skyride. Around 65,000 people gloried in our city, rode beside our pink-cheeked children without, for once, picturing the wobble that would land them under a truck. Oh, if only it were like this every day, we all cried, as if ordinary citizens — oldsters on uprights, little girls on pink Barbie trikes, hipsters in unfeasibly high heels, tweed suits on rusty butcher’s bikes — just getting around safely on two wheels was a fantasy.

Because elsewhere cyclists are just that: a random cross-section of humanity. Not a Lycra-clad male vanguard pumped with aggression and self-righteousness. In Europe’s top three cycling nations — Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands — timorous old people cycle, women as often as men, children bike off unaccompanied to school. Cycling is not a moral manifesto or a carbon offset. It does not require DayGlo or £500 alloy wheels or attitude. Cycling is, as it should be, banal. Because it is safe


Yes, you might say, those countries have always cycled, just like their women have never shaved their armpits: it’s their way, not ours. Actually, a fascinating report, Making Cycling Irresistible, by the American academics John Puchera and Ralph Buehler, reveals that in the early 1950s cycling in Britain and Denmark started tailing off as car ownership increased. Indeed, for some years, we were keener bikers than were the Danes. The difference was, in the mid-1970s, the governments of Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands resolved to stop the car’s dominance of the streets and championed the bike and pedestrian while the British allowed our townscapes to be ground beneath the wheels of the car. And yet these three continental countries own just as many cars per head as we do — the Germans more — it’s just that, unlike us, they aren’t glued into their driving seats.

Now only 1 per cent of our journeys are on bikes, in the Netherlands it is 27 per cent. And the reason is simple: a British cyclist is three times more likely than a Dutch one to die per miles travelled — even though only 3 per cent of Dutch cyclists wear a helmet. In Britain safety is seen as a matter for the individual, not government policy: yet it is highways, not helmets, that save lives.

And with quite extraordinary far-sightedness, these three countries built endless miles of barriered lanes along major roads but, more importantly, in many residential streets cars were slowed to a crawl and compelled to give way to bikes. And to enforce this, the law assumed, unless otherwise proved, that in an accident between a vehicle and a cyclist, the driver was at fault. Last week when that very principle was suggested here by Cycling England, there was a predictable furore about a (snore) Lycra louts’ charter.

But maybe it would make the idiot motorists who pelt down my 20mph street obey the law. Maybe it would have encouraged the left-turning HGV lorries who in London this year killed six female cyclists (women being vulnerable because we tend to ride defensively, hugging the kerb) to check their mirrors. Two fitness instructors, a film producer, a Goldsmiths’ graduate, a City director and an architect: those women were not loutish at all.

The answer to so many intractable modern problems — obesity, urban congestion, global warming — is cycling. What now feels like an extreme sport should be the default mode of transport. But it has dawned on me only recently that the big fat flaw at the heart of democracy is that politicians will never invest in the long term if voters’ initial inconvenience and expense are not rewarded with results before an election. And it will take years and billions to chip away at the cult of the car, to erect multistorey bicycle parks in every mainline station, to build genuinely super highways for bikes through our towns and reverse years of destructive urban planning.

Only when the fear is gone will big jessies stop riding on pavements, maniacs stop charging red lights, the streets be reclaimed from cars, and cycling from angry men with tiny bums. Do the Tories have the cojones to do it? Or is that just padding I see in their cycle shorts?

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The author
Janice Turner joined The Times in 2003 from The Guardian, and writes mainly, but not exclusively, on family matters and women's issues. Her column appears on Saturdays.

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Moving People: Solutions for a growing Australia - Australian perspectives on sustainable transportation

When it comes to both old and new mobility, Australia offers an interesting case. Along with a group of countries that may seem surprisingly mixed at first glance, and which would include of course the perennial United States with the spacious Canada right in its footsteps, but which also a number of the Nordic countries and in particular Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland who have followed the toxic combination of personal wealth and ubiquitous cars to the extent in which it has in many ways locked them into an all-car no-choice system, the Australian mobility pattern is right up there with the "best" of them. But life moves on and in every one of these countries you will now find a growing number of individuals and groups who are questioning the old ways. Have a look at this sample of leading edge new mobility thinking in Australia. We find it both refreshing and instructive.


Moving People: Solutions for a growing Australia

* Note: the full 81 page report is available at http://www.ara.net.au/UserFiles/file/Publications/Moving_People_report.pdf

National land transport policy issues and directions

Australia’s current land transport systems are not sustainable in economic, environmental or social terms. To substantially improve the sustainability of Australia’s land transport systems, national land transport policy for at least the next decade needs to be framed around outcomes:

a. Congestion management: to manage congestion costs, improving economic competitiveness and quality of life in our cities;
b. Environmental improvement: to achieve substantial cuts in transport greenhouse gas emissions;
c. Social inclusion: to ensure adequate accessibility options are available for all Australians (and international visitors);
d. Health & safety: to make the transport system safe and encourage healthier transport choices; and,
e. Energy security: to increase our energy security by reducing our reliance on imported fossil fuels.

This report focuses primarily on the people elements of the land transport task.

The key Policy Objectives that are required to improve the sustainability of our transport systems are:

• Changing the modal balance for transport away from such a high dependence on motor vehicles;
• Improving the environmental performance of all transport modes but particularly of cars and trucks; and
• Ensuring that travel opportunities are available to all, irrespective of personal circumstances.

These three policy objectives can be translated into six major Program Directions:

i. Reducing the demand for travel
a. Land use planning (increased density, co-location)
b. Maximising opportunities for walking and cycling
ii. Achieving a shift to lower carbon transport modes
a. Cars to public transport, walking and cycling
b. Trucks to rail
iii. Improving vehicle utilisation
a. Higher car occupancy
b. More efficient freight movements
iv. Reducing vehicle emissions intensity
a. More efficient vehicles
b. Smaller passenger vehicles
c. Alternative fuels
d. Intelligent transport systems
e. Better driving practices
v. Increasing mobility opportunities
a. Provision of reasonable base public transport service levels
b. Using existing public transport opportunities (e.g. school and community buses) more effectively
vi. Creating a more sustainable freight network
a. Focus on freight movement to ports, hubs and to connect key manufacturing/distribution centres

A seven point national plan

These initiatives would be encouraged by the following National Land Transport Seven Point Plan.

1. Increased investment in public transport. (see Sections 2.7 and 4)
2. Freight capacity investment and efficiency improvements (see sections 3.2.3 and 3.2.7)
3. Road pricing reform, and reallocation of road space to prioritise low emission modes (see Section 3.2.3, 3.2.7 and 5.4)
4. Improved accessibility for all with the establishment of Regional Accessibility Planning Councils, behavioural change programs. (see Sections 3.2.1 and 3.2.5)
5. More compact, walking and cycling friendly urban settlements. (see Section 3.3)
6. Improved fuel efficiency. (see Section 3.2.4)
7. Improvements in transport research and information—implementation of a National Transport Research Program (see Section 5.2)

The public transport role

Australian public transport systems and services must play a larger role in future national land transport solutions, as a key means of improving the sustainability of these systems. Service improvements must be delivered in an efficient manner, to assure value for money to governments and the community.

Public transport system and service development should encompass:

• delivering improved customer service;
• investing in network extension and service
• enhancements; making better use of existing infrastructure;
• driving improved land use and transport planning; and,
• maximising value for money for Government.

The report outlines a range of ways in which Australian public transport services can be improved to enable the sector to enhance the sustainability of Australia’s land transport systems. It also identifies ways in which public transport service efficiency can be improved.

Following the lead now being provided by COAG, Federal and State funding support for the implementation of substantially improved public transport systems and services should be dependent upon both the existence of State integrated strategic planning systems, including land use and transport systems, and also upon the existence of programs that help to assure efficient service delivery is achieved. Benchmarking can help to provide this assurance and should be part of the assessment criteria for any funding request to the Federal Government to assist upgrade public transport systems/services.

The case for federal funding

The sustainability issues confronting Australia’s land transport systems are very significant and growing in magnitude. They affect all Australians. While the cities are the areas of greatest concern, regional and rural areas also confront many of the issues (e.g. the road toll, greenhouse gas emissions, social exclusion, economic competitiveness related to infrastructure provision and energy security). Because of the scale and geographical spread of these issues, national policy and program responses are required for effective solutions. This must, involve the Federal Government showing leadership and working in partnership with others. Some issues require a specific Federal policy and program response. The sheer scale of the financial requirement means that state-based budgets wil not be sufficient to equip Australia’s cities with adequate transport services.

The recently announced Federal provision of over $4 billion towards a number of transformational urban public transport initiatives under the Building Australia Fund, on recommendation from Infrastructure Australia, demonstrates that the Federal Government recognises the importance of transformational change. The December 2009 COAG Communique supports this acceptance.

Programming for outcomes

Federal government involvement in land transport must contribute to the resolution of a number of national issues that are severely impacted by land transport services/ system performance. The following national land transport program structure is proposed.



The chart indicates the alignment between the critical national land transport issues and the proposed outcome-based response programs. A program structured along these lines encourages an integrated, “modally-agnostic” approach to the pursuit of solutions to land transport problems, which is important for achieving transformational change—as distinct from an approach that is simply more of the same. Program elements in each area would need to include a wide range of measures for maximum effectiveness. This would include measures associated with (for example) infrastructure improvement, system regulation, and operations management, etc. A clear set of national key performance indicators should be developed and monitored, to measure progress against these critical policy goals.

Because of the long time period that will be required to implement many of the changes (especially those related to developing more compact urban land use patterns), long term funding commitments will be fundamental to the achievement of effective outcomes. Rolling five year Federal funding commitments, with provisions to guarantee minimum flows, will be vital to driving transformational change. These should support State/ Territory (and local government in some cases) five year plans.


The national interest issues discussed in this report require transformational change, not simply “more of the same”. The focus for Federal funding support should be on capital assistance to projects that lead transformational change and improve the national interest outcomes identified in this report. In some cases this assistance will be the majority of the funding required for a particular initiative. In others it will simply be top-up funding, to support private sector funding. The top-up could be in recognition of identified external benefits from the initiatives in question that the private sector is unable to capture as in some port projects.

The Federal Government should not involve itself in the operation of land transport systems that are currently State/Territory or local government responsibilities but should influence the development direction of those systems in ways that contribute to better outcomes when assessed against the national interest issues raised in this report. In providing funding support along such lines, the Federal Government needs to assure itself that outcomes represent social value for money and that funding recipients do not simply substitute Federal money for State/Territory/local government money. The use of performance benchmarking, a comprehensive planning approach and subsequent performance monitoring can protect against these risks.

An important consideration in structuring Federal financial support for land transport infrastructure is whether to adopt a formula-based approach to distribution of funding allocations (primarily to States and Territories) or to rely on a bid process, where bids are submitted in accordance with pre-specified criteria and allocations are made to those proposals which best meet the criteria, irrespective of geography. The latter approach characterises the Infrastructure Australia approach. The former is closer to the basis for current Federal allocations of land transport financial assistance (basically road funding). An argument for including at least an element of formula funding within a Federal financial assistance program for land transport is that to do otherwise would unfairly penalise a jurisdiction that has put in additional past effort at its own expense and currently has a smaller backlog than others, simply because of greater effort. It is proposed that a part of Federal land transport financial assistance should continue to be formula-based and part be based on transport-plan based project submissions.

Sustainable funding—road pricing reform

A reformed transport pricing regime should become the basis of a sustainable approach to national land transport policy.

A reformed road pricing system should cover all vehicle classes and all costs attributable to road use.


Possible options to structure such a charging system include:

1. a use-based charge to cover carbon costs (the current Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme curiously proposes offsetting the carbon price for cars by excise offsets for three years, a system that is at odds with the purpose of emissions trading);
2. a usage-based charge to cover the costs of road construction and maintenance attributable to lighter vehicles;
3. tonne kilometre charges for the additional road damage attributable to heavy vehicles;
4. a use-based charge to cover the external cost component of accident costs;
5. use-based charges to levy vehicles for air pollution costs; and,
6. a congestion pricing scheme to make users accountable for the congestion costs attributable to their road use, by time and location. Existing fuel excise and registration charges would be abolished and replaced by the above charges. There would need to be an Intergovernmental Agreement to implement such a system, because the incidence and scale of revenue flows would differ substantially from the current arrangements.

Overview

The national land transport policy framework outlined above, which focuses mainly on people movement, is based on:

• identification of the critical national land transport
• issues that require a national response for their resolution;
• formulation of a comprehensive, outcome-driven approach to national policy/program structure; implementation of a set of planning processes that feed the policy/program structure in an integrated manner;
• concentration of Federal land transport assistance funding in seven categories to promote outcome achievement.

The proposals should place Australia in a strong position to provide a world class 21st century land transport system.



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This report is a collaborative publication produced by the three leading groups representing the public transport industry in Australia (the Australasian Railway Association, the Bus Industry Confederation and the International Association of Public Transport–UITP).

It has been jointly authored by John Stanley (Adjunct Professor, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney) and Simon Barrett (Managing Director of L.E.K. Consulting, Australia).

The report is targeted at key policy makers in Commonwealth and State Territory Governments, with an interest in, or responsibility for, transport policy and related areas.

* For further information: Prof. John Stanley at j.stan@bigpond.net.au

* Again: the full 81 page report is available at http://www.ara.net.au/UserFiles/file/Publications/Moving_People_report.pdf

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En Vélib’ dans les éco-quartiers By Vélib’ in Paris "eco-neighborhoods"

Okay, dear reader. If you want to get to the bottom of this update on how Paris's famous Vélib's are being integrated into the city's mobility and land use plan at a fair level of detail, you will have to make your way through this largely untouched machine translation of an article just published by the Vélib team here in Paris. Courage!

(If you want to know you will know. If you don't, you won't.. .)

Vélib’ in Paris "eco-neighborhoods"

Source: http://velib.centraldoc.com/newsletter/

The month of April puts sustainable development in the spotlight for a week. On this occasion, you can learn about eco-neighborhoods with Vélib'. How do they favor motorized traffic? What is the mobility of tomorrow? Eco-neighborhoods are part of the climate plan of the City of Paris, which aims to reduce emissions of greenhouse gas emissions.

What is an eco-neighborhood?"

While Vélib 'has participated in the increase in cycling in the city, sustainable neighborhoods begin to bloom in the capital. The users of Vélib 'could well be among the first to borrow the bike paths of sustainable neighborhoods, which are biased to motorized traffic and public transportation. The construction of an eco-neighborhood based inter alia on the best life and living together. The urban setting has to be warm and alive and for this, sustainable mobility, natural heritage, security is taken into account, as well as biodiversity, water management, noise and air pollution. Building a sustainable community based mainly on the HQE (High Environmental Quality) rewarding the preservation of the planet and a better quality of life (noise, air quality, water ...).

A sustainable community is thought of as environmental and energy challenges, but also by economic and social criteria. Eco-building, renewable energy, revegetation techniques are widely used in the context of eco-neighborhoods.

* Click here for more information on eco-neighborhoods

Vélib', soft modes and sustainable neighborhoods: what is the mobility of tomorrow? Anne

According to Anne Faure planner present at the conference on mobility and eco-neighborhoods, organized last February 16 by the association Zukunftstrasse in partnership with the Club of cities and territories bicycle, motorized traffic is a fundamental criteria in the construction of an eco-neighborhood. For her, Vélib 'has given visibility to cyclists.

The concept of eco-neighborhood was first developed in the countries of northern Europe. According to Anne Faure, the Grenelle Environment has encouraged its development in France where the projects sustainable neighborhoods are still very recent. "One can cite the examples of the BIA Good Grenoble or Lyon Confluence, these neighborhoods are close to the center and well served by public transport, the soft modes are also very present. Meanwhile, there is a proliferation of small projects in France, "she said.

According to Anne Faure, so that these new neighborhoods are truly eco-neighborhoods, it is necessary that they be served by public transport and car traffic and parking are limited. It is a difficult objective to implement but the view is changing. "Indeed, we must know that 40% of average emissions of greenhouse gases are produced by the building and 40% from transport. Other sectors, which include industry, only 20% "she adds. The BIA of Rungis and the Batignolles district in Paris trying to develop such soft methods. The Confluence area in Saint-Denis and the reconquest of warehouses in the Ile-Saint-Denis also take into account the overall problems of displacement. "But in France the focus is on the building with techniques such as thermal insulation, while in Germany the first experiments in the primary endpoint was a city without a car," said Anne Faure.

The planner said that the construction of an eco-neighborhood refers to the principles of sustainable development based on economic issues (including development of commercial and non-polluting activities), social (including construction of housing and utilities) and environmental (focus attention on managing energy, water and waste). She said the principle of eco-quartier is a first step towards a new vision of the city: "This is of course to shatter the limits of eco-districts across the territory of the city. For this, we need these neighborhoods is easily accessible to everyone, so they serve as a model.

The eco-city tour of Paris's Vélib'

Beyond the planned actions to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, the City of Paris acts on the environment: adaptation of buildings, revegetation of Paris, creating green spaces, roofs, shared gardens ... Sustainable Neighbourhoods part of this process. They are emerging especially in the outskirts of the city, on vacant urban land or concerted development zones (CAZ). Gare de Rungis (13th), Boucicault (15th) and Claude Bernard (19th) ... Velib 'invites you to visit the eco-neighborhoods of tomorrow, Cycling. Browse a few of them with iVélib '.

* The district Fréquel Hondarribia in the 20th district was awarded in November 2009 by the Department of Ecology to support eco-district, in the Category Sobriety energy. Station Vélib 'No. 20016

* 1st eco-neighborhood in the capital, the Batignolles in the 17th district will be divided into three sectors: BIA-Cardinet Chalabre BIA Clichy Batignolles area Saussure. Station Vélib 'No. 17110

* Planned for 2012, the BIA Pajot, located in the heart of the 18th district, will pilot an eco-neighborhood in Paris, where the architectural heritage will retain his place. Station Vélib 'No. 18010

* Launched December 6, 2009, Macdonald warehouse, located Porte d'Aubervilliers, is the largest geothermal project of its kind in Paris and covers an area of 200 hectares. Station Vélib 'No. 19032

Examples from abroad

In Europe, there are many sustainable neighborhoods, including the Netherlands,
Ava-Lanxmeer in Culemborg, Sweden, B001 in Malmo Hammarby in Stockholm, and Finland, Helsinki Vikki.

In the UK, BedZED is a neighborhood built in south London, between 2001 and 2002. Covering an area of 1.7 hectares, it accommodates 100 apartments, 2 500 m² of offices and shops, green spaces, an auditorium, a health center, a sports complex and a creche. Since its establishment, and compared to conventional homes, this eco-district has reduced its energy consumption for heating by 88% and electricity by 25%.

In Germany, the Vauban district in Freiburg im Breisgau was rehabilitated in 1996 according to strict standards QEH. Nearly 3 000 homes and 600 jobs have been created. The homes are powered by solar energy and produce more energy than they consume. The area has been developed for an optimal sun exposure, with environmentally friendly materials and roofs are vegetated. Automobile traffic is reduced and the space reserved for outdoor games and soft travel.

Switzerland also has many eco-neighborhoods, Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich, Bern.

Projects are underway in Austin, Texas, United States, and Wuhan, China.

Green Neighbourhoods (Quartiers verts)

The City of Paris has been engaged for several years a new policy of sharing public space. Green neighborhoods have been created.

The first of them, completed in 2003, Alesia Tombe Issoire, covers an area of 65 hectares and was built to improve safety and comfort of residents. The continuity of bike routes has been optimized, and speed of traffic has been limited. Much has also been devoted to the greening of the area, with the planting of 45 trees and 14 planters.

In the 12th district, the district Aligre favors soft travel with a velocity at 30 km / h, parking reorganized, or the creation of bike paths. Shrubs and planters were installed to revegetate the area.

* For more click http://www.paris.fr/portail/deplacements/Portal.lut?page_id=7414

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Chengdu China looking at caps on cars

"You can't not notice the horrid traffic in Chengdu. But it seemed authorities had turned a blind eye to the situation, hoping that the construction of pedestrian overpasses and the opening of the subway later this year would resolve the problem. In the meantime, traffic is only getting more backed up. Late last month, it was announced that the Chengdu government is drawing up plans to address the situation by placing limits on the number of new license plates it issues."
- Jane Voodikon reports from Chengdu.

Not only that, but the public will be involved. A policy hearing is scheduled for April 28. The hearing is meant to take into account input from city residents, representatives of impacted industries, and representatives from people of "all walks of life." Once the announcement was made, major media outlets encouraged citizens to give their input on the issue. On March 26, the China Daily published this article (in Chinese; we have translated the majority of the text below):

Chengdu considering caps on vehicles; seeks public's input

Source (in Chinese): http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/dfpd/2010-03/26/content_9647176.htm

Even after this year's implementation of staggered work times and the construction of the pedestrian overpasses, the situation on the city's overcrowded roads saw barely noticeable improvement: Traffic moved only 5.7 percent faster than before, and day after day, the ever-increasing number of cars on the road quickly ate away at this small improvement. In January of this year, Chengdu added 1389 new cars to its roads and forecasted that within four months the modest improvements in traffic flow would be entirely canceled out by the influx of additional cars.

A survey company forecasts that by 2015, the traffic network within the Second Ring will be gridlocked at rush hour and that throughout the entire day at least 30 percent of the network will be seriously congested.

It is predicted that this year, the number of parking spots required within the city center will be 1.5 million; currently there are 270,000. This is already a pressing problem.

In February of this year, Chengdu made an unprecedented move by removing 66 parking lots in order to improve traffic flow in the city center and take advantage of the full capacity of small and medium-sized roads. But of course this created even more of a parking crunch.

According to the bureau, there are two means of imposing restrictings on car licenses: one way is to assign them without charge; the other is to auction them. Another issue is whether cars already on the road should be subject to the restrictions or only those applying for new license plates.

City officials are now turning to the experience of cities such as Shanghai and Beijing in order to devise a rational plan suitable for Chengdu's particular needs.

In 1986, Shanghai started auctioning off license numbers. "This auctioning system brought about a supply-and-demand problem, and with the neverending clamor for license plates, the prices just continued to rise." In February of this year, successful bidders paid an average of RMB38,620 for their Shanghai-issued license plates--enough to buy a low-end car. Owing to the ever-present supply-and-demand issue, the prices of Shanghai plates just keep going up.

"The no-charge method of issuing license plates prevents the problem of ever-rising prices, but it also makes it easy for scalpers to stockpile plates." When asked whether they prefer the auction-style or no-charge method of licensing, most city residents said the no-charge method. "This kind of system is more fair and won't create an ever-growing burden on car buyers," said city resident Mr. Ding.

In addition, the City of Chengdu can also implement a measure to distinguish between city license plates and suburban plates. This measure would mean that the number of vehicles permitted to enter the city would certainly be restricted. But as to which measures are implemented, we will know only after the hearing.

At the hearing there will be 19 people, among them eight city representatives, four car-owners and four non-car-owners. Eligible persons* who wish to volunteer as city representatives were invited to apply from April 7 to 9 at the Chengdu City People's Government Service Center. The representatives will be selected by random drawing.

*Eligibility included being at least 18 years of age; possessing all legal citizen rights, including a Chengdu residence card or a minimum of three months temporary residence permit, literacy, etc.

Chengdu now ranks third among Chinese cities in terms of car ownership. According to estimates from the transportation authority, the number of motor vehicles in the city currently exceeds 2.4 million, with 850,000 in the central city area. On average, 1,200 new licenses are issued daily; the record is 1,480 licenses in one day.

While the number of vehicles is growing, the speed at which those vehicles can travel in the city is clearly declining. In 2005, average speeds on city roads were 22 kmph; over five years they have decreased by 18 percent to the current average of 18 kmph. Every year speeds become approximately 1 kmph slower. Morning and evening rush hours are particularly impacted with speeds averaging at 14 kmph. It's predicted that if no measures are implemented, by 2013 average road speeds during rush hour will be 8.5 kmph and the city center will face total gridlock.

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Comments from the Net:


And with that, the netizens were off, buzzing about it on online forums and off. A March 27 article in the Chengdu Commercial Daily summarized major reactions and opinions (again, our translation):

"Hurry up and buy a car, they're going to start restricting license plates soon!" These days, you can hear this sentiment expressed everywhere on the streets of Chengdu.

Why? Because the news is Chengdu is drafting a plan to limit the number of cars. Over on the Longmen Township online discussion forum, tons of netizens are voicing their opinions.

Those in Favor

Opinion 1: Raise Licensing Fees
"In some cities in other countries, you have to prove you have a parking space before you can get your license plates. And in some places they deliberately raise the licensing fees so that they cost more than the price of the actual car to prevent people from casually buying cars. Shanghai's method of auctioning off vehicle license numbers should be an example for the whole country," said net user "Latin," who favors limiting the growth of numbers of vehicles on the road and suggests looking to Shanghai and Shenzhen as models. In this way, he says any notion of buying a car in the minds of those who can't actually afford it will be erased.

Opinion 2: Rotating Plate Numbers
This type of restriction should come from the city car management department. Every day only the cars with a certain license plate number should be allowed on the road, and every household should be allowed only one vehicle.

Opinion 3: Improve the Pedestrian Experience
"The streets are full of an unceasing stream of car exhaust, they make the streets dirty and noisy, and seriously impact the health of those who do not have cars. At the same time, the large number of cars makes the roads more dangerous for us, who's going to take care of this mess? The license plates should definitely be restricted and at the same time efforts stepped up to cancel the plates of high-polluting, older vehicles. City resident Zhang Yang said that the growth rate of the number of vehicles needs to be controlled, standards for vehicle emissions need to be raised, vehicles that aren't in compliance with regulations need to be restricted, and vehicles within the First Ring Road, other than public transportation, should be limited during peak traffic times.

Those Against

Opinion 1: Enable the "poor people's" to buy cars
"Restricting license plates to only new vehicles is unfair to the 'common people' who haven't yet been able to afford a car. For those who don't have a car already because they're unable or for some other reason, when their lifestyle level increases, they'll also have the car fees to pay. Don't they also have the right to enjoy life?" said a senior citizen who was sipping tea at People's Park. Currently members of his household have to transfer buses three times in order to go back to their hometown of Anyue. They've been saving up these years in order to buy a new car and do not endorse the license-plate restriction plans.

"Look, there are a ton of cars in Chengdu, but most of them are inexpensive. The license-plate limits won't have any effect on the wealthy."

Opinion 2: The restriction treats the symptoms but not the cause
"I think that limiting the sales of vehicles although in theory is reasonable, it doesn't solve the underlying problem and cannot be effective over a long period of time. Plus it's not easy to implement. Also, there are a lot of problems: If you impose limits in the city of Chengdu, can't people just go to another place to get their license? At the end of the day you still haven't solved the problem." Some netizens believe that the role of the governmental departments should be more focused on the suburbs, and the many work units that oversee planning and projects should set their sights on development outside the Third Ring. The space within the Second Ring should be reserved for entertainment, leisure, shopping, and other commercial activity.

Opinion 3: Rapid development of public transportation is the way
"There's no doubt that there are too many private cars, but what can we do in face of the problem? Let the government auction off license plates? That's just giving the government even more money." Many netizens seemed to feel that the way to address the fundamental problem was by rapidly expanding the public-transportation system.

Opinion 4: Impact the growth of the car and travel industries
"If the government restricts cars, the auto industry and travel industry will also be impacted (after all, it's much more convenient to drive to the nearby tourist sites than to take a bus). They should implement a one car per household policy. Even if those who have enough money shouldn't be allowed to buy a second car!"

Many netizens offered their thoughts and input, bringing up many plans of action. "Establishing exclusive roads for public transportation vehicles and taxis, ensuring the efficiency, convenience, and speed of the public-transportation system, breaking up the monopoly of the taxi companies and opening the market for taxis, resolving the extreme difficulties faced by city residents wishing to hail a cab," suggested one netizen on the thread.

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Full text of this article is available at http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/1462/chengdu_considering_caps_on_vehicles_seeks_publics_input

Thank you Jane.

About the author:
Jane lives in the southwestern China capital of Chengdu, where she rides her Phoenix bicycle to work as a magazine (http://www.chengdoo-magazine.com) and website editor (http://www.gochengdoo.com) and blogger (http://www.cnreviews.com). Born and raised in the commuter's nightmare that is Los Angeles, she spent a regretful two years in the driver's seat before she realized there were better ways, even in L.A.

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Have you had a look at Urban Planet yet? "South Korea and Japan streets ahead in smart transport"

Urban Planet is a new information service of CNN.com offering active worldwide coverage of sustainability issues to which you may wish to lend an eye. You can pick it up today at http://edition.cnn.com/CNNI/Programs/urban.planet/. And while it is not exactly our cup of tea here at World Streets -- i.e., their coverage is much broader than ours (agriculture, water, energy, construction, etc.) while giving lots of place to buzz, new technology, that telltale word "smart" and (very) long term horizons -- it is nonetheless an information source you may wish to keep in view.

Here is one of the latest articles they have published concerning transport in cities, which will we believe give you a pretty fair idea of what they have to offer. (We would like in fact to be able to add them to our "Latest from the world's streets" section (just to your left), but shall not do this until we are able to filter out all of their postings other than those which are directly germane to this group. Stay tuned.

South Korea and Japan streets ahead in smart transport

- By Nicolai Hartvig, for CNN. April 8, 2010
Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/04/08/urban.smart.transport/index.html

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- Juwan Yoo was tired of calling up the old-school telephone hotline to find out when his bus would come - and excited about the iPhone's arrival in South Korea.

So the 17-year-old developed the "Seoul Bus" application, which crawls public transport Web sites to give real-time updates for all bus stops in the capital and its surrounding provinces. More than 400,000 people have downloaded the free app, Yoo told CNN.

Yoo is now affectionately known as "the high school student" to South Korean traffic researchers and officials after he ventured into intelligent transport systems (ITS).

For more than a decade, South Korea and Japan have been rolling out their world-leading ITS, pouring money and political capital into ideas beyond the carpool lane.

Drivers race through expressway toll gates as their wireless wallet pays the fee, while GPS updates in half of South Korea's 17 million registered cars tell them how many minutes delay they can expect and how to take a faster route. Public buses are fitted shrieking dashboard road-nannies that help drivers stay on schedule. Millions of passengers seamlessly transfer using the ubiquitous T-Money travel card, finding their next bus or subway train on up-to-the minute electronic schedules.

"Our transportation life in Korea has much improved - and our quality of life as well," Kee Yeon Hwang, the director of the Korea Transport Institute (KOTI), the South Korean government's official research arm for transportation, told CNN.

By many measures, it has also saved time and money. Average speeds on the roads of Seoul has increased from around 20 to 24 kilometers per hour in the past five years. South Korea estimates the total savings of its ITS systems, including automatic toll collection, fewer accidents and less pollution, to be around $1.5 billion a year.

South Korea's ITS has always been government-led and heavily centralized, quickly pushing the country from research to national implementation. The funding continues unabated, to the tune of $230 million dollars annually until 2020.

"The government knew exactly what it had to do. It invested the money and led this as a government project," Young-jun Moon, a research fellow at KOTI's Department of Green Growth Policy and Implementation, told CNN.

"Installing fiber-optic lines along the expressways is very expensive, for just one kilometer you had to invest $100,000. We now have 3,500 kilometers of expressways, all with fiber-optic lines that are the backbone of our communications."

The construction industry helped turn South Korea from a post-civil war wasteland into a thriving modern economy -- and since the early 1990s, has been in partnership with information technology.

"ITS costs less than one percent of the investment necessary to build a four-lane road," Moon said.

Most roads still get grid-locked and Japan knows the cost of its problem. Drivers there spend lose 3.5 billion potential working hours to traffic jams, at an equivalent of $109 billion a year, according to the country's Highway Industry Development Organization.

Meanwhile, commuters and transported goods in the U.S. are stuck for 4.2 billion hours a year -- a full work week per person at a total cost of $87.2 billion, according to the Department of Transport's Research and Innovative Technology Administration.

That missed productivity could be particularly costly, as economic rival China ramps up its own investment in ITS, warns a new report from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITFT), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

The U.S. is still stalled in the research phase and the ITIF report calls for a federal approach comparable in scale to the Interstate Highway System launched in the 1950s, with national real-time traffic information in the 100 largest cities by 2014 and a mileage-based user fee system by 2020.

It is ironic, then, that South Korea's traffic setup was adopted from the Intelligent Vehicle Highway System, an ITS forefather pushed by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration in the early 1990s.

"The majority of experts in Korea were educated in the United States," says Hwang. "We learned from the United States but we didn't see many things practiced there."

A patchwork of state and local responsibility for U.S. roads is a hurdle, something the European Union is also facing as it seeks to introduce ITS standards.

Politicians tend to favor old school road works, fixing potholes and building new roads instead of investing in unseen technology.

The U.S. is expected to spend more than $500 billion dollars on surface transport infrastructure until 2015, while the Department of Transportation's ITS strategy for 2010-2014 keeps intelligent transport funding at about $100 million per year.

Even in South Korea, some jurisdiction tussles remain. The National Police Agency controls the country's traffic lights and adapts them according to drivers' complaints rather than extensive data offered by traffic planners, Moon explained.

The government is also facing bandwidth gridlock as it attempts to switch wireless traffic communications to the world standard 5.9 GHz. In an odd coincidence, that frequency in South Korea is heavily dominated by broadcasting companies beaming mobile TV to commuters.

There's another, decidedly more low-tech issue.

"Driving behavior is very important. Our car culture has not had a long history," Hwang said, citing people running red lights.

"People often violate traffic rules but unless you keep the rules, the system cannot be workable."

South Korean planners are looking to link the upgraded transport to the country's next economic driver, green technology. Still in embryo, the ideas include data systems that allow drivers to map the fastest and most eco-friendly routes.

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Americans want alternatives.

Fair enough. We all want choices. That is no more than human nature, But when it comes to transport policy and practice in the United States at the highest level, the idea of real choices is no less than a revolutionary statement. Right from the mouth of President Obama's Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, who continues to surprise and delight. (But now, vigilant citizens, let's see where the $$$ go. There is no such thing as passive democracy.)

US Transportation Secretary on Biking, Walking and ‘What Americans Want’

By Leora Broydo Vestel, as printed in the Green Inc. -- blog of the New York Times.
We propose that you check into their site from time to time. The Times has become a leading international voice for sustainable transportation. (We need more of them.)

The United States transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, recently caused a stir when he proclaimed that bicycling and walking should be given the same consideration as motorized transport in state and local transit projects.

“It’s what Americans want to do,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, of his emphasis on the role of bicycles and walking in good transportation policy.

Supporters, who continue to post notes of adulation and thanks on Mr. LaHood’s Facebook page, say the acknowledgment of biking and walking as legitimate modes of transportation is long overdue.

Critics, conversely, believe the secretary is taking the country in the wrong direction.

Mr. LaHood, formerly a Republican congressman from Illinois, spoke with Green Inc. about his reasons for introducing the new policy, the impact it will have on transportation financing, and why bike paths are a good bang for the buck.

Q. Bicycling and walking advocates had a very positive reaction to the policy change. But here at Green Inc., we heard mostly from critics who said it showed you were “delusional” or reflective of some sort of “Maoist” bent. What’s your response to the response?

A. My response is that this is what Americans want. Americans want alternatives. People are always going to drive cars. We’re always going to have highways. We’ve made a huge investment in our interstate highway system. We’ll always continue to make sure that those investments in the highways are maintained.

But, what Americans want is to get out of their cars, and get out of congestion, and have opportunities for more transit, more light rail, more buses, and some communities are going to street cars. But many communities want the opportunity on the weekends and during the week to have the chance to bike to work, to bike to the store, to spend time with their family on a bike.

So, this is not just Ray LaHood’s agenda, this is the American agenda that the American people want for alternatives to the automobile.

What’s happened around America is people are buying bikes and they’re using them for recreational purposes on the weekend and there’s no better family way for people to spend a weekend than riding their bikes on these biking trails.

This is what Americans want and we’re accommodating their needs to really find places to recreate. And what could be healthier than taking a 30-minute walk, which is recommended by every doctor in America, or hopping on your bike and riding four, five or six miles and enjoying the great outdoors?

Look, this is a win-win. This is a way for people to get out of their cars, a way for people to recreate, a way for people to get good exercise, and it’s what Americans want to do.


Q.In announcing the new policy, you used pretty forceful language, saying it was a “sea change” and “the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of nonmotorized.” The actual policy, however, is more benign in tone, saying, “well-connected walking and bicycling networks is an important component for livable communities, and their design should be a part of federal-aid project developments.”

Do you stand by your initial characterization of the policy?

A. I think that livable and sustainable communities is a game changer. It’s a game changer because it’s what Americans want. It’s a game changer because people do want to get out of congestion, they want to get out of their cars, they want to be able to enjoy the outdoors, they want to be able to recreate with their families.

And so it’s a game changer from the point of view that it’s a major component of livable and sustainable communities that provide alternatives to automobiles. And some of it is transit, some of it is light rail, some of it is street cars, some of it is good buses. But certainly a big part of it is the opportunity to bike or walk to the grocery store, to work, to the drug store or just spending time with the family and getting some good exercise.

Q. In terms of the way federal transportation dollars will be spent on the ground, is this a zero sum game? Does more money for biking and walking mean less money for motorways?

A. We’re always going to take care of our highways. As I said, we have a state-of-the-art interstate system that’s been developed over three or four decades. We’re not going to give up on our roads. We know people are always going to drive cars. They’re going to use their cars for long distances.

But as we develop our livable and sustainable communities program, biking and walking paths will be a major component of it. And they will get some significant dollars.

Q. In response to the policy change, a member of Congress said he didn’t understand how you get a bang for the buck out of a bicycle project. Why do you think they’re a good investment?

A. You don’t have to get a bang for the buck in every form of transportation. Certainly, transit, it provides a good bus or light rail or other kinds of transportation services. But, they don’t make money doing it.

This is a good bang for the buck because it provides alternatives to people, and good exercise, and for people who are very health conscious and for people who want to spend time with their families.

This is a win, win, win. It incorporates a lot of different opportunities for people and it’s a good bang for good health, and a good bang for a different form of transportation, and it’s what the American people want.

Q. Was there any particular reason you wanted to introduce the new policy now?

A. It has more to do with the fact that we’re rolling out our livable and sustainable communities as we travel around the country and I also was at a huge bikers’ conference in Washington, D.C., and we wanted to give them the chance to really understand that all of their hard work over a long period of time has finally paid off. There’s an administration in place now that has taken to heart their request for more walking and biking paths.

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Editor's note:

Let us see if we can put this into perspective. Now, while it is very good to hear America's Transportation Secretary taking an active, even enthusiastic stance in favor of bicycling and walking, and while it is great if not entirely unexpected news that the cyclists and pedestrians groups are strongly and vocally supporting this policy change (because it is indeed an important policy change), we also need to bear in mind that this is a small step.

What we need is for the Secretary to embrace the full range of the options which are opened up by the New Mobility Agenda, all of which need to be understood individually and, now comes the hard part, orchestrated in each place into a fully tailored unique mobility package so as to provide fair transportation for all the people who live and work in that place.

I ask myself this: what is it that we can do, you and I and others who care, in order to broaden the palate of transportation options which are needed in order to provide full and fair service for the entire population, bearing in mind that in most places more than 50% of the people who live there cannot or should not be driving their own car. I guess we just have to keep working on it. (We will !)

Eric Britton
Editor

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Vancouver Olympics - Lessons For Transport Planners

Every once in a while sustainable transport and sustainable city planners get a break. Some of these are immediately recognizable as such, for example when your city has decided to host some important international event such as the Olympic Games, a World Expo, or some kind of international athletic, cultural or political event, all of which occasions which may provide the funding and vision of the city which is simply not there in the ordinary hustle and bustle of day-to-day life.

But these "opportunities" may also take a far less rosy form, such as a crippling transit strike or even a natural disaster which may temporarily or permanently wipe out some part of the city's normal transportation arrangements. In this article, our friend and colleague Todd Litman reports from Canada on one of the more happy occasions for transition and innovation. But at the end of the day there is always the question: "what is the legacy of all this?"

Way-To-Go Vancouver Olympics - Lessons For Transport Planners

- Todd Litman, Executive director, Victoria Transport Policy Institute, Victoria BC

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and Paralympics are over now. City Planner Brent Toderian described in a recent Planetizen blog how the event showcased Vancouver’s Urbanism, including the quality of its neighborhoods, streets and public transit system, and the delight of a shared community experience.

There are other important lessons for planners from this event. Let me share some observations about the Olympic Transportation Plan.

Overall, it was successful. With just a few exceptions, everybody got where they needed to go on time, with reasonable comfort. This success resulted from excellent planning by many people representing various organizations: Olympic committees, cities, regional agencies, provincial and federal governments, and various service providers.

Let me share some thoughts based on my experience having helped in a small way develop the plan. It was a very fun planning exercise. Basically, this was a huge party attracting many honored guests. Our job was to insure it went smoothly and everybody had a great time. This is logistical science at its best. We needed to insure that tens of thousands of people could travel reliably between numerous diverse venues, including about 30,000 people from Vancouver up to Whistler and back every day for more than two weeks. We had tremendous resources available: if it required six hundred extra buses with 1,800 extra drivers, or total control of a highway or traffic lanes, we got them.

Oh, did I mention that this all takes place during the middle of winter, and much of the travel involves mountain roads? Did I mention that schedules were subject to change at any time due to weather or other unexpected events? And did I mention that security trumps everything else, so each component of the plan needed security review?

No problem – we are planners! Making all of this work simply required applying basic transport management:

* Encourage use of efficient modes. Improve and promote walking, cycling, ridesharing and public transit.
* Discourage unnecessary automobile travel. Discourage driving, and limit vehicle traffic and parking in key areas such as downtown.
* Give priority to more valuable trips and the more efficient modes. Expand sidewalks and bike lanes, and bus lanes.
* Provide clear information to users. Use websites, maps, brochures, signs, volunteers and news releases to let visitors and residents know how to travel and what to expect.

To accomplish this we identified and prioritized the various categories of trips: competitors, coaches, officials, media, visitors, various staff, and freight deliveries. We estimated volumes of each group, prioritized them, and determined how best to transport them taking into account each groups requirements: some need to stay together, some required extra equipment (clothing, skis, guns, etc.) and some (particularly paralympic participants) used mobility devices.

Although this may sound like a big event, it is really just a blip in regular travel volumes. The Vancouver region has about two million residents. Adding 100,000 visitors is just a 5% increase. Experience with such events indicates that given suitable services and incentives, residents can reduce their driving so total vehicle travel is below normal levels. The key is to improve efficient alternatives and frighten residents just enough that they minimize driving.


Vancouver’s Olympic transportation plan included the following features:

* Completion of the Canada Line heavy rail transit from the airport to downtown Vancouver.
* Additional bus service, including some dedicated bus lanes.
* Parking restrictions downtown and around many venues.
* Lots of user information concerning how to get around.
* Preparation for large pedestrian crowds.

Projects like this give me great respect for coach buses, the large buses used for long-haul passenger transport. They are key to Special Event and Emergency Response transportation management. To appreciate the efficiency of a fleet of such buses, let's do a little math. Under favorable conditions, a single highway lane can carry up to 2,200 automobiles, or about 6,600 passengers at three passengers per vehicle. The same lane can carry about 1,000 buses, or about 50,000 passengers per lane-hour at 50 passengers per bus.

Coach buses have other attributes that make them particularly useful for such circumstances:

* They have professional drivers who are (generally) well trained and responsible.
* They have good communications systems that allow operators to communicate with dispatchers, police, and other drivers.
* They can carry lots of baggage.
* They are designed for long-distance highway travel (local transit buses are not and may overheat on long climbs).
* They can contain washrooms and other amenities such as padded and adjustable seats, televisions, wireless Internet access, and even bar services.

These features are very important. The availability of real-time information, comfortable seats, and clean toilets can make a huge difference in the overall enjoyment of a trip. Whenever you need to transport tens-of-thousands of people, call in the coach buses!

However, large buses have constraints that must be considered in planning. They are difficult to maneuver and take time to load, and so require large staging areas to insure that everybody knows exactly where and when to board. Staging areas require good access (parking, public transit access, taxi stands, etc.), guidance (wayfinding signage and people who can answer questions), washrooms, refreshments and (if possible) entertainment.

Despite a few minor problems (a bus broke down and a few drivers got lost) the Vancouver Olympic's transportation program went very well. Everybody involved in planning and running the event should feel proud. It displayed Vancouver at its best and demonstrated the value of high quality public transportation, effective transport management and an attractive public realm. Many residents who previously relied on automobile travel began using public transportation during the Olympics and now continue.

The limited legacy

My biggest disappointment is the limited legacy. Although Vancouver got a new rail line between downtown and the airport, other public transit services reverted to previous levels. Buses are once again crowded and stuck in traffic. In contrast, South Africa implemented wonderful new Bus Rapid Transit systems for the 2010 World Soccer Cup, which will provide durable benefits to residents and visitors into the future.

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About the author:

Todd Litman is founder and executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, an independent research organization dedicated to developing innovative solutions to transport problems. His work helps to expand the range of impacts and options considered in transportation decision-making, improve evaluation techniques, and make specialized technical concepts accessible to a larger audience. He can be reached at: 1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, Canada. Email: litman@vtpi.org. Phone & Fax: +1 250-360-1560

This article originally appeared in Planetizen on Monday, 5 April at http://www.planetizen.com/node/43644. And if you have a bit of time when you visit World Streets, you may find it useful to have a look at the latest on Planetizen and a baker's dozen of other closely related publications and programs which you will find conveniently summarized just to your left here under the rubric: Latest from the world's streets.

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