29 September 1998 Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia and the Pacific (SUSTRAN) Dr A. Rahman Paul BARTER P.O. Box 11501, Kuala Lumpur 50748, Malaysia. TEL/FAX: +60 3 2274 2590 E-mail: sustran@po.jaring.my Web: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2853/ CONTENTS
1. SUSTRAN WEB SITE SUSTRAN has recently established a simple web site. Visit it at http://www.geocities.com/Rainforest/Canopy/2853. We will gradually improve it over the coming year as skills and resources become available. Suggestions are welcome. 2. PAPER FOR SYMPOSIUM ON URBAN POVERTY IN ASIA The SUSTRAN Resource Centre has prepared a draft Thematic Background Paper on "Transport and Urban Poverty in Asia" for the "Regional Symposium on Urban Poverty in Asia", in Fukuoka, Japan. The paper will be available from the SUSTRAN Resource Centre when it is finalised. See Events section for more details on the event. 3. PENANG TRANSPORT ROUNDTABLE A forum on "Sustainable Transport Option for Penang" was held on 23 August 1998. It was organized by a new local network, Sustainable Transport Environment Penang (STEP), which promotes urban development and transport policies that ensure and provide efficient, affordable and equitable access and mobility to all Penang residents. It opposes the trend of increasing motor vehicle dependency, while advocating walking, cycling and use of public transport. It also promotes the rights of pedestrians, bus commuters, cyclists and people with disabilities to equitable use of public roads and rights of way and to public safety. [Contact: STEP, c/o Sustainable Penang Initiative, Socio-Economic & Environmental Institute (SERI Penang), 110A Persiaran Bukit Jambul, 11900 Penang, Malaysia. Tel: +60 4 645 1710, Fax: +60 4 645 1807, Email: runding@dct.po.my, lubisksn@tm.net.my, http://www.seri.com.my/spi/]. 4. NEW PHILIPPINES TRANSPORT NGO A Philippine NGO advocacy network, the Sustainable Transport Network (STN), has been formed by Manila participants of the SUSTRAN General Assembly in June, with the objectives of advocating change in policies, plans and behavior so that transport becomes a contributor rather than a hindrance to meaningful social progress. The network is to campaign and lobby for socially and environmentally sustainable transport policies and laws. STN will support campaigns for pedestrianisation, the promotion of bicycling and other non-motorized modes as alternatives, better public transport and broader citizens' participation in transport planning and policy-making in the Philippines. [Contact: Sam Ferrer, Green Forum Philippines, 14 Malbait St, Teachers' Village, Diliman, Quezon City 1101 Philippines. Tel: +63 2 925 3738, Fax: +63 2 925 3739. Email: GreenFm@phil.gn.apc.org]. 5. NEW KL TRANSIT SYSTEM WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE The latest Malaysian light rail transit system, PUTRA, drew approval from some 200 disabled people who were invited to test out it's disabled-friendly facilities. They remarked that the move was a landmark victory for people with disabilities all over the country. Among facilities to help the disabled are ramps at station entrances, lifts to platform level, textured floor finishes to guide the blind onto the train and directional signs for the deaf. Though the facilities were minimal, the transit system operators have assured that they could expand on them if the demand was there. [Source: The Sun (Malaysia), August 17, 1998]. 6. VIETNAM SHELVES ROAD PROJECTS Vietnam has shelved 27 state-funded projects to cut costs in anticipation of an economic downturn. The projects include the trans-Asia road linking Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand and a partially-built 30-km expressway leading from Hanoi to the future satellite city of Hoa Lac. Also shelved is the 1,800km North-South Highway. [Source: The Sun (Malaysia), July 31, 1998 - AFP News]. 7. NANNING, CHINA HAS BANNED HONKING With the rapidly growing numbers of cars and motorcycles in China, honking and noise pollution have become a constant irritation. Every motor vehicle driver seemed to be constantly leaning on the horn. Elsewhere in China, drivers honk incessantly, racing around cyclists and pedestrians as if to say "if you don't get out of my way I'll run you over". But in Nanning, since drivers cannot honk, they must drive slowly and carefully. A simple measure, which cost nothing, has made the city more livable. Other cities are copying Nanning's silent treatment. Last September, a one-month propaganda campaign was followed by police warnings. Repeat offenders had to publicly apologise on television. In the following months, over 350 had their moment of public shame. That had the desired effect. Very few have received stiff fines. The city is quieter, and the traffic much calmer. [Source: Car Busters magazine Summer '98.44 rue Bordeau 69001 Lyon, France Tel: +33 4 72 00 23 57, Fax: +33 4 78 28 57 78, Email: carbusters@wanadoo.fr, Web: http://www.antenna.nl/eyfa]. 8. JAKARTA BECAKS Activists in Jakarta have launched a campaign to readmit the "becak" into Jakarta after almost 10 years of being banned. Becak are Indonesia's version of the pedicab or three-wheel non-motorised taxi. In late June, NGO activists met with the Governor of Jakarta, Mr Sutiyoso, and negotiated with him on how to find low-cost solutions to transportation problems in the context of the economic crisis. As a result, the Governor immediately announced that becak would be allowed back into Jakarta, although only in special areas and only for the duration of the economic crisis. The primary stated aim was to help provide employment and to solve the problems of the poor. Within days more than 1000 becak and their operators had arrived from other parts of Java and had begun to operate in Jakarta. Unfortunately, the governor had forgotten that it would first be necessary to revoke the Regional Act/Regulation on the Prohibition of Becak Operation in the Jakarta Area (Perda no. 11/1988). Bowing to pressure from Jakarta's city council and lawyers he felt compelled to cancel his promise to readmit becak into the city on 1 July This led to an uproar because the readmission of the becak was very popular with the general public and becak drivers themselves. And the number of becak in the city had already exceeded 2000. On 8 July several NGOs, becak drivers and supporters protested against the ban at the city council . The councillors in turn asked the activists to provide more proof that the community at large supported pedicabs in the city. Results from an opinion poll conducted on 16 - 17 July 1998, found that 860 of the 1000 respondents supported the readmission of becak into Jakarta. Since then, the NGOs have been mapping the five municipalities in Jakarta to demonstrate which areas are suitable for becak for further discussions with the governor and the regional parliament of Jakarta. [Contact: Abdul Hakim, LPIST, Jalan Pondok Bambu Asri Blok A, 11/20, Jakarta 13430 Indonesia Tel: +62 21 8616715, Fax: +62 21 861 0942, Email: lpist@indo.net.id]. 9. ROAD ACCIDENTS OUTSTRIP WAR, HIV DEATHS Road accidents will kill or disable more people than war, tuberculosis or HIV by 2020, the International Red Cross said in its annual disaster report. Astrid Noklebye Heiberg, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies told a news conference in Delhi that traffic accidents caused at least 500,000 deaths every year. Traffic accidents would become the third largest cause of disability and premature death after clinical depression and heart disease and way ahead of war or HIV which gain more attention. Around 15 million were estimated to be injured in accidents, mostly the poor and the young. Fatality rates ranged from about 180 deaths per 10,000 vehicles annually in Ethiopia and 82 deaths in Nepal to 1.9 for Australia and Japan. Heiberg pointed out that traffic accidents "already cost the South almost as much as all the aid they receive". Red Cross has launched several programmes to minimise the effects of accidents. Engineering - from car design to street lights - was far more effective in curbing the number of road crashes than efforts to change driver behaviour. [Source: AFP News, June 24 1998]. 10. MALAYSIAN MOTORCYCLE SAFETY STUDY According to a study by the Road Safety Research Center of University Putra Malaysia, motorcyclists constitute about 60 percent of traffic fatalities in Malaysia and their risk of injury is estimated to be 20 times higher than that of car passengers. "The majority of motorcyclists are victims because they are not seen by other road users. As such, improving their conspicuity may reduce their exposure to accidents", study director Assoc. Prof. Radin Umar said. "The corporate sector can help by providing their riders with fluorescent clothing as it will, in turn, help save the company hefty medical bills and insurance claims from accidents." Improper use of helmets was a further problem as only 55 percent using their helmets properly - the others did not strap it or strapped it loosely. [Source: The Sun newspaper, June 14 1998, p. 20; Contact: Assoc. Professor Radin Umar. Road Safety Research Center, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia]. 11. REGIONAL ROAD SAFETY STUDY The ASEAN Ministers of Transport Working Committee has commissioned a comprehensive study on road safety and related issues. The study will cover all aspects of road safety features including road conditions, accident rates and recording systems of road accidents in ASEAN. Road accidents in Malaysia resulting in property damage, injury or fatality are estimated to cost an annual economic loss of RM7 billion (US$1.8 billion). The study is expected to be completed by early next year. [Source: The Sun (Malaysia), Sept 16, 1998]. 12. ISRAELI TRANSPORT POLICY SLAMMED Speaking at a seminar on Israeli - Palestinian transport, Dr. Yaacov Garb, of the Hebrew University, and Dr. Jad Isaac, Director General of the Applied Research Institute in Bethlehem, harshly criticized current trends in transportation planning and policy in Israel. The number of vehicles on the country's roads were dramatically on the rise while the use of public transport was rapidly declining. Car- based transport was competing with more sustainable alternatives for funds, passengers and land use patterns. Road No 6, the Trans -Israel Highway was cited as a critical example of misplaced priorities. By-pass roads were creating a salad out of the West Bank, isolating Palestinian towns and villages from one another and creating for Israel both an internal and external security belt. Instead of integrating Israeli and Palestinian transport, the Israeli policy created transport apartheid on the roads. Many of the By-pass roads were accessible to Israeli yellow plate cars only and Palestinian cars were categorically excluded from entering Israel. "Palestinians now associate new roads with an attempt to create political boundaries, with confiscation of land, with demolition of houses and with fragmentation of their future state. [Contact: Rimah Al-Kurd, Tel: +972-2-6260841/3, Fax: +972-2-6260840, Email: ecopeace@netvision.net.il, Web site: http://www.ecopeace.net]. 13. TORONTO CORONER: GIVE BIKES PREFERENCE The Regional Coroner of Toronto, Dr. William Lucas has recommended changing Canada's Highway Traffic Act to give cyclists precedence over drivers. In a report reviewing 38 Toronto cycling deaths over an 11- year period, he recommended "side guards" for large trucks and buses to prevent cyclists from being crushed under rear wheels. The report offered only limited support for bicycle helmets, noting studies showing limited reduction in deaths or injuries and finding that compulsory helmet laws might discourage cycling. The report's emphasis on motorist responsibility to reduce danger to bicycle riders is a big departure from the usual cyclist-blaming philosophy. [Source: Toronto Star]. 14. RESOURCES a. "IBF News" contains news on bicycle initiatives and advocacy from around the world. Available on paper or as an email newsletter. IBF also has a very useful web site and produces the "Cycle & Recycle Calendar" which celebrates the bicycle as an everyday transportation vehicle, in every season, throughout the world. [Contact: David Mozer, International Bicycle Fund, 4887 Columbia Drive South, Seattle, WA 98108-1919, USA. Tel & Fax: +1 206 767 0848, Email: ibike@ibike.org., web site: http:// www.ibike.org]. b. " CAR BUSTERS" - a new, entertaining and irreverent European-based magazine that attacks car culture mercilessly. [Contact: CAR BUSTERS Magazine & Resource Centre, 44 rue Burdeau, 69001 Lyon, France. Tel: +33 4 72 00 23 57, fax: +33 4 78 28 57 7, Email: carbusters@wanadoo.fr]. c. Proceedings of the "1998 International Conference on Traffic and Transportation Studies" held at Northern Jiaotong University, Beijing. [Contact: Charlotte McNaughton, Manager, Book Production, Tel: +1 703 295 6241, Fax: +1 703 295 6278, Email: cmcnaughton@asce.org]. d. "Urban Mobility Professional", an electronic newsletter. [Contact: Cindy Kerckhoffs, Editor/Information Manager, Urban Mobility Network P.O. Box 917 6200 AX Maastricht The Netherlands. Tel: +31 43 3213022, Fax. +31 43 3211062, http://www.mobility-net.com/ump]. e. "Poverty and Transport" paper by Colin A. Gannon and Zhi Liu of the World Bank's Transport Division, outlines the relationship between transport, poverty, and the World Bank's policies and processes. [Contact: Transport Water and Urban Development Department, The World Bank, 1818 H St, N.W Washington, DC 20433, Tel: +1 202 473 3948, Fax: +1 2020 522 3223, Web site: http://www.worldbank.org]. f. "Rail Fact Sheets" a series of fact sheets on rail industry and road reforms in Australasia published by the Australasian Railway Association. [Contact: Australasian Railway Association Inc., Level 3, 20 Queen Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000 PO Box 266, Collins St West, Melbourne, Victoria 8007, Australia. Tel: +61 3 96145162, Fax: 03 96145514]. g. "Rail Directions" newsletter on rail in Australia. [Contact: Mark Carter, Rail 2000 Inc., PO Box 8229, Adelaide Station Arcade, SA 5000, Australia. Tel: +61 8 84100024, Fax: 08 82124441, Email: rail2000@adelaide.on.net, Web: http://www.users.on.net/rail2000]. h. "The PR Plot To Overheat The Earth", article from Earth Island Journal (Spring 1998) by Sheldon Rampton and Bob Burton on how fuel companies, automobile makers and other large-scale producers of greenhouses gases use PR firms and front groups to downplay the threat of climate change. [Contact: PR Watch, Centre for Media & Democracy, 3318 Gregory St, Madison WI 53711, USA. Tel: +1 608 233 3346, Fax: +1 608 233 2236, Third World Network Features, Web: http://www.twnside.org.sg]. i. "Water Watch" - A Community Action Guide/Sourcebook of water facts compiled by Abdur Razzaq Lubis. [Contact: WaterWatch Asia project, c/o Janus Print & Resources, 120 Armenian Street, 10200 Penang, Malaysia. Tel: +60 4 2633985, Fax: +60 4 2633970, Email: lubisksn@tm.net.my]. j. "Urban Transportation Development and Management in Singapore" by Lim Lan Yuan and Belinda Yuen, UMP-Asia Occasional Paper No.38, published by UMP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. [Contact: Urban Management Programme, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand. Tel: 66 2 5245779 or 5246205, Fax: 66 2 5245778, Email: ump@ait.ac.th]. k. "Integration of Non-Motorised Transport in the Urban Transport System of Dhaka, Bangladesh" report by R.A. Gallagher for UN-ESCAP. [Contact: Transport, Communications & Tourism Division, UN-ESCAP, UN Building, Rajadamnern Avenue Bangkok 10200 Thailand. Tel: +66 2 282 9603, 288 1371, 288 1234, ext.1371, Fax: +66 2 280 6042]. l. "Intermediate Means of Transport" regional seminar proceedings by Sri Lanka National Forum on Rural Transport. [Contact: Ranjith de Silva, ITDG Sri Lanka, 5 Lionel Edirisinghe Mawatha, Kirulapone, Colombo 5, Sri Lanka. Email: ranjith@itdg.lanka.net]. m. "Alternative Transport Fuel Investment Opportunities in Bangkok, Thailand" (September 1997), "Alternative Transport Fuel Investment Opportunities in Manila, Philippines". (September 1997), by the IIEC Sustainable Transport Program. [Contact: IIEC Publications Department, 750 First St., NE, Suite 940, Washington, DC 20002, USA. Tel: +1 202 842 3388, Fax: +1 202 842 1565, Email: iiec@digex.net, Web: http://www.iiec.org]. n. "Making the Land Use, Transportation, Air Quality Connection - LUTRAQ", a project to challenge auto-based transportation projects and auto-dependent development patterns in Portland, Oregon. LUTRAQ created an alternative land-use and transportation plan for Washington County, Oregon, published research on the impacts of pedestrian-friendly design, and produced a set of design and zoning guidelines for transit- oriented development. Technical reports and a series of publications available. [Contact: LUTRAQ, 1000 Friends of Oregon, 534 SW Third, Suite 300, Portland, OR97204,USA. Email: LUTRAQ@friends.org.]. o. A few more web sites.
15. EVENTS "Great Millennium Peaceride". This began on Thursday, August 6, 1998 at Westlake Park in Seattle, USA. Bicycle riders from many nations are participating in the 17-month, 20,000-mile journey spanning four-continents to foster common human values, call attention to the hope of ordinary people, all over the globe, for an end to political conflict and a true commitment to world peace in the new millennium, and to promote the bicycle as the most healthy and environmentally friendly means of transport. [Contact: Sigitas Kucas, Email: sigitas@gmpr.lt, or the International Bicycle Fund, see contact in the Resources section above]. "CODATU VIII (8th World Conference on the Development and Planning of Urban and Peri-urban Transport)", Cape Town, South Africa, (September 21-25). [Contact: Codatu VIII Web site: http://www.transport.gov.za]. "Regional Symposium on Urban Poverty in Asia ", in Fukuoka, Japan, October 27-29, 1998. Organised by United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) Habitat (Fukuoka Office for the Asia and Pacific Region), and the Regional Office for Asia of the Urban Management Programme (UMP Asia). [Contact: Hendropranoto Suselo, UNCRD, Nagano 1-47-1, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya 450, Japan. Fax: +81 52 5619375, email: hmatsui@uncrd.or.jp]. "Transporting Development: Alleviating poverty by access to basic needs and services" seminar on Thursday November 5, 1998, Institution of Civil Engineers Great George St, Westminster, London, [Contact: IFRTD Secretariat, 2nd Floor, 150 Southampton Row, London, WC1B 5AL Tel: +44 171 278 3670 Fax: +44 171 278 6880, Email: ifrtd@gn.apc.org, priyanthi.fernando@mcmail.com]. "The International Symposium on the Sustainable City and the Bicycle: Towards the Ecological Reconversion of Urban Transportation", November 24-28, 1998. Palmira, Colombia, [Contact: Information and Registration, Cra 36A No. 5B1-54, or Apdo. Aereo 2741 Cali, Colombia. Tel: +57 2 5585002 / 57-2-5567519 E-mail: fipma@emcali.net.co, borrero@colombianet.net]. "United Nations Regional Roundtable on Transportation Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development ", February 1-5, 1999, Abu-Dhabi. [Contact: Ayad M. Hussain, DC1. Rm 856, Energy and Transport Branch, Division for Sustainable Development, Department for Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, One UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017. Tel: +1 212 963 8759, Fax: +1 212 963 4340]. "The VI Congress Metropolis '99", March 16 to 19, Barcelona, Spain. [Contact: Organising Committee Secretariat, Carrer 62, num. 16-18, Zona Franca, 08040 Barcelona, Spain. Tel: +34 932 235 151 (ext.2242), Fax: +34 932 235 13. Email: metropolis99@amb.es]. "World Conference On Model Cities", April 19-21,1999, Raffles City Convention Centre, Westin Stamford & Westin Plaza, Singapore. [Contact: Institute of Policy Studies, Hon Sui Sen Memorial, Library Building, Kent Ridge P.O. Box 1088, Singapore 911103. Tel: +65 7792633, Fax: +65 7751350/7770700, Email: mcsing99@pacific.net.sg, Web: http://www.ura.gov.sg/wcmc.html].
Written and compiled by A.R. Paul Barter and Sreela Kolandai. There are currently 442 direct subscribers to the SUSTRAN News Flash service. The Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia & the Pacific (SUSTRAN) is dedicated to promoting transport policies and investments that foster accessibility for all; social equity; ecological sustainability; health and safety; public participation; and high quality of life. We rely on you, the participants in the network, for our news. Thank you to everyone who has sent material. Please keep it coming. We welcome brief news and announcements from all over the world.
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