CONTENTS
1. SUSTRAN-DISCUSS LIST
2. WORLD BANK RESETTLEMENT POLICY REDRAFT
3. THAILAND DISABLED ACCESS CAMPAIGN
4. PROFILES OF ACTIVE GROUPS
5. JAKARTA PEDICAB DRIVERS NETWORK
6. POLLUTION INSIDE VEHICLES HIGHER THAN OUTSIDE
7. RESOURCES
8. INTERNET RESOURCES
9. EVENTS
10. QUICK QUOTE
11. LIGHTER SIDE

1. SUSTRAN-DISCUSS LIST

If you find SUSTRAN News Flashes useful or interesting, then please consider joining the sustran-discuss list. It is an email-based discussion list that focuses on transport issues in developing countries, especially in Asia and the Pacific. It is a more interactive and immediate way to keep up, contribute, debate or ask questions. Many of the news items in the SUSTRAN News Flashes began as postings to sustran-discuss. Contact us for more information. We are especially keen to have more participants from Asia, Pacific islands, Latin America, Africa and eastern Europe.

We are also keen to help anyone who might be interested in starting up local email-discussion groups within specific countries to discuss transport issues. There are now a number of free services which make such lists very easy to set up.

2. WORLD BANK RESETTLEMENT POLICY REDRAFT
The World Bank is re-drafting its practice on RESETTLEMENT policy and it is expected to be issued in December 1999. Until September 1999, it is offering the opportunity for us to register views and outstanding concerns on the proposed policy. The draft policy can be accessed through the World Bank's web-site at http://www.worldbank.org by clicking the "For NGOs/Civil Society" page. Comments can be provided by electronic mail to Resettlement_Help_Desk@worldbank.org or fax to + 1 202 522 3247.

3. THAILAND DISABLED ACCESS CAMPAIGN
Since 1992, activists promoting better access for people with disabilities have been campaigning in Bangkok for a new mass transit system, Bangkok Skytrain, to be accessible. With the system about to go into operation they recently launched a last-ditch effort. Their appeal for letters of support went out internationally by e-mail and SUSTRAN helped spread the word via our contacts and through the sustran-discuss list. The activists also held demonstrations in Bangkok.

As a result, there is a promise to install 11 lifts (elevators) at 5 out of 23 stations (although the source of the funding for these lifts is still not clear). These 5 "key stations" are to connected to other system such as the Bangkok Subway (under construction) and intercity bus terminals. More details on the campaign can be seen in the Bangkok Post on-line editions (http://www.bangkokpost.net) of June 4, 1999; June 22, 1999; and July 8,1999. SUSTRAN's involvement in spreading the e-mail appeal from the Thai activists has helped to put many activists on this issue around the world into contact with each other. Further collaborations seem to be starting up as a result.

The Bangkok activist have had another recent success. On August 5, the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTS) launched 4 new wheelchair-accessible buses (with lifts installed). They are running as a pilot project on 2 key bus routes. News on this is at http://www.bangkokpost.net on August.6.99. [Contact: Mr Topong Kulkhanchit, Access Officer, DPI-Thailand, dpith@loxinfo.co.th].

4. PROFILES OF ACTIVE GROUPS

Please send us your latest details and news if you would like your group to be profiled in future Flashes.

Sustainable Transport Network of the Philippines (STN)

In 1998 Philippine NGOs that had already been meeting informally for two years under the Sustainable Transport Forum decided to form an advocacy network called the Sustainable Transport Network of the Philippines. (STN). Their first initiative was to invite George Esquerra, Director of the Department of Transport and Communications, to present the JICA-funded master plan for Metro Manila to the SUSTRAN General Assembly meeting in June 1998. Delegates were somewhat shocked by the massive road-building plans in the study. STN is advocating more pro-poor and sustainable transport policies in Manila and other Philippine settlements. SUSTRAN News Flash #33 highlighted a cycling demonstration in Manila. Recently, STN member Ramon Fernan of Cycling Advocates has been engaged as part of a team to provide bicycle planning input for a World Bank-funded project in Marikina City in Metro Manila. Members of STN include: Alternative Planning Initiatives (Alterplan); Citizens Alliance for Consumer Protection (CACP); Co Multiversity/COTRAIN; Cycling Advocates (CYCAD); Green Forum; and the Philippine Greens.
[Contact: Green Forum (Mr Gil Reoma or Mr Sam Ferrer), 14 Mabait St., Teachers' Village, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines. Tel: +632 925-3738, Fax: +632 925-3739, E-mail: GreenFm@phil.gn.apc.org or Mr Ramon Fernan, CYCAD, E-mail: heckler@quickweb.com.ph].

5. JAKARTA PEDICAB DRIVERS NETWORK
Last June, Jakarta's newly-appointed Governor Sutiyoso announced that pedicabs would again be allowed to operate after 10 years of being banned from the city. He did this without first repealing the old law, though, and faced strong criticism from the city council. Thousands of pedicab drivers came flooding in, and by July, more than 5,000 pedicabs were on the city's streets. But after only one week of free pedicabbing, pressure from opponents in the government and in the motor transport lobby reversed the policy. Pedicabs were again confiscated, leaving thousands of men without jobs - this time hopelessly in debt.

When pedicabs were confiscated, drivers dealt with the crisis alone, and most never get their vehicles back. During the ban, the Urban Poor Consortium and other Indonesian NGOs began working with pedicab drivers in five communities. They organised rallies, which provided a platform for drivers to meet, organise themselves and discuss strategies for dealing with eviction squads, negotiating with the municipality. The Pedicab Drivers Network now includes 3,000 drivers in 24 communities, and has initiated a weekly savings scheme. The ban is still on, but pedicabs are still on the street. A big demonstration in October 1998, which resulted in the release of all confiscated pedicabs to their owners, has given a big boost to the drivers' struggle for their right to work.

A video documentary produced by Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) describes the life of Gopur, one of Jakarta's pedicab drivers, and looks at how the government's pedicab policy flip- flops have affected his life and the lives of thousands of others like him.

[Source: newsletter of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR) 73 Soi Sonthiwattana 4, Ladprao 110, Ladprao Rd, Bangkok 10310, Thailand. E-Mail: achrsec@email.ksc.net, Tel (66 2) 538 0919 Fax (66 2) 539 9950. Contact: Urban Poor Consortium (Konsorsium Kemiskinan Kota), Billy Moon Blok H-I/7 Jakarta 13450, Indonesia. Phone/Fax: (62.21) 8642915, e-mail: upc@centrin.net.id Urban Poor Website: http://welcome.to/urbanpoor/]

6. POLLUTION INSIDE VEHICLES HIGHER THAN OUTSIDE
A study funded by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) and the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) has found that exposure to some air pollutants and toxic compounds may be ten times higher inside vehicles than in ambient air. The two-year, $440,000 study is the first to gather particulate data inside vehicles and the first to collect real-time information under a range of traffic and driving conditions. The study measured the direct exposure of motor vehicle occupants to gaseous pollutants, diesel soot and other fine particles. Researchers found levels of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide were between two and ten times higher inside vehicles than at roadside or fixed monitoring stations. The variations depended on the pollutant, the type of road and the level of traffic. Researchers found that as much as half of the pollutants inside test cars were emitted by the vehicle ahead. In general, levels pollutants are higher inside vehicles because cars are surrounded by emissions from other vehicles on freeways and streets. Motorists who used air conditioning systems and those who drove with their air vents open were exposed to similar amounts of pollution. The report can be accessed at: http://www.arb.ca.gov/

7. RESOURCES
The latest edition of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights' excellent newsletter, "Housing by People in Asia", No. 12, April 1999, has several inspiring items on transport issues for the urban poor. [Contact: Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR) 73 Soi Sonthiwattana 4, Ladprao 110, Ladprao Rd, Bangkok 10310, Thailand. E-Mail: achrsec@email.ksc.net, Tel (66 2) 538 0919 Fax (66 2) 539 9950].

"The Real Price of Gas" by the Campaign on Auto Pollution (CAP), 310 D St., N.E., Washington, DC 20002. For a copy of the full report, contact: CTA at +1 202-547-9359, or www.icta.org More specifically, it can be downloaded at http://www.icta.org/projects/trans/ However they warn that "This is a large file that may take some time to download".

"Save the City" (nine minute video). By UITP (International Union (Association) of Public Transport), with the support of the International Commission on Traffic and Urban Planning. It shows in an amusing and entertaining way how urban planning must include Public Transport to improve the quality of life in cities. Contact: UITP, International Union of public Transport-UITP, Avenue Herrmann-Debroux 17, B-1160 Bruxelles, Belgium. Tel: +32 2 673 61 00, Fax: +32 2 660 10 72. E-mail: library@uitp.com

"PARKING POLICY: State of the Art" (UITP, February 1999). Examines how to control parking in dense urban zones, parking charges, how to regulate the construction of parking spaces in new buildings, measures for limiting free parking, and P+R schemes near stations and stops around the public transport network. Several case studies (London, Greater Paris Ile-de-France Region, Vienna and Bern). Trilingual (English + French + German) edition. D/1999/0105/1, Price 500 BEF or 12 EUR (excl. VAT, Postal & Bank charges). [Contact: UITP - see above].

"Measuring the Unmeasurable: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of Networks". Edited by Marilee Karl with Anita Anand, Floris Blankenberg, Allert van den Ham and Adrian Saldanha. This book offers case studies of networks and a discussion on how to plan, monitor and evaluate. Shows how various networks -- national, regional and international - have agonised over these questions, searched for solutions, and implemented change. ISBN 81-90 1005-0-6. Price: US$ 30.00 plus postage. [To order: Tel 91-11-4629886, 4632546. Fax 91-11-4611138. Email wfsdel@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in, Cheques may be made payable to The Women's Feature Service. The Women's Feature Service is located at 269 Varick Street, #2G, Jersey, City, NJ 07302 USA, tel. 1.201.433.1922, fax 1.201.433.1781, e-mail: gsidhu@igc.org].

The latest edition of the journal, "Accident Analysis & Prevention" (Vol 31, Issue 4) is a SPECIAL ISSUE ON DEVELOPING COUNTRIES and includes a number of transport-related articles, including:

• "Urban development and traffic accidents in Brazil" by EA Vasconcellos
• "Risky behavior of bus commuters and bus drivers in Karachi, Pakistan" by S Mirza, M Mirza, H Chotani, S Luby
• "Pedestrian environment and behaviour in Karachi, Pakistan" by FM Khan, M Jawaid, H Chotani, S Luby

8. INTERNET RESOURCES
"World Bank must do more to develop safe and sustainable transportation systems", by Ian Roberts. BMJ 1999;318 1694. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/318/7199/1694

Pedestrian signs from around the world. An amazing collection by Bartolomeo Mecánico: http://www.ips.be/_wbm/rkid02.htm

"TransportActions" quarterly news update of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) is at http://www.ITDP.org. Latest articles include:

• Indonesian Crisis Increases Smog, But Opens Door to Non-Motorized Transport
• India Cycle Rickshaw Improvement Project Update
• China: Bike Use Plummets While Promised Bus Lanes Fail to Materialize
• Organizing the Bicycle Industry to Tackle Tariffs
• ITDP Investigates Bulgarian Connection
• Creating Jobs With Bikes in Haiti
• Panama's Corredor Sur: Still a Bad Idea

The UK DETR has just put up pages on Green Transport Plans at http://www.local-transport.detr.gov.uk/gtp/index.htm

"City Routes, City Rights: Building Livable Neighbourhoods and Environmental Justice by Fixing Transportation" http://www.tlcnetwork.org/download.html.

"Vehicle Travel Speeds and Incidence of Fatal Pedestrian Collisions, volume 1" by the Australian Federal Office of Road Safety. (http://www.dot.gov.au/fors/index.htm). Shows that a small reduction in speeding has a great influence on accident rates.

Resources on "Parking Cash Out" schemes (thanks to Todd Litman for this list). Parking Cash Out means that if employees who drive receive free parking, employees who don't drive should receive transit subsidies or cash for those who rideshare, walk or bicycle. It's one of the most effective TDM strategies available, typically reducing automobile trips by 10-20%. For information see:

• The USEPA Commuter Choice Program,
  (http://www.epa.gov/orcdizux/transp/comchoic/f98029.htm)
• Don Shoup, "Congress Okays Cash Out," Access, Vol. 13,
  (http://sacrates.berkeley.edu/~uctc/), Fall 1998, pp. 2-8.
• Win-Win Transportation Management Strategies, VTPI
  (http://www.islandnet.com/~litman/)

"Global City-Regions Conference", Los Angeles, October 21 - 23, 1999. Hosted by the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research. For sponsorship information, please contact the Conference Coordinator, Dr. Nga Scott, telephone: 1+(310) 825-8682; fax: 1+(310) 206-5773; e-mail: nscott@ucla.edu. Global City-Regions Conference UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research, 3250 Public Policy Building, Box 951656, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656, Tel: 1 + (310) 794-5477, Fax: 1 + (310) 267-0282, Email: globalcityregions@sppsr.ucla.edu

"CODATU IX World Congress on Urban Transportation" - central theme: Urban Transportation and the Environment, Mexico City 11-14 April 2000 [Contact: CODATU IX Scientific Committee, Christian JAMET, 9/11, Av. De Villars 75007 Paris, France. Fax: +33 1 44 18 78 04, E-mail: christian.jamet@stp-paris.fr].

VELO MONDIALE 2000 REMINDER - Vélo Mondial 2000 now has an internet site at: http://www.velomondial2000.nl/ - including 'call for contributions'. The deadline is looming - don't delay!

10. QUICK QUOTE

Here is an excerpt of a tribute by Christine Dirks in the London Free Press to William Whyte, who passed away earlier this year: "He wrote several books on city life such as The Social Life of Urban Spaces (1980), Cluster Development (1963), The Last Landscape (1968) and City (1988). They grew from his love of the street. The street, he said, is where we come together...

Like all great artists, William H. Whyte made the seemingly insignificant significant. The urban theorist and researcher who influenced generations of sociologists, planners, designers, students and any one interested in how people actually behave in public spaces, died in January at the age of 81... 'It is difficult to design a place that will not attract people,' Whyte once wrote. 'What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.'"

11. LIGHTER SIDE

An American joke which reflects the depth of car culture in the good ol' US of A:

"I tell you, women drivers are a hazard to traffic...

Driving to work this morning on the freeway, I looked over to my left and there was a woman in a Mustang doing 65 miles per hour with her face up next to her rear view mirror putting on her eyeliner! I looked away for a couple seconds and when I looked back she was halfway over in my lane!!

It scared me so bad I dropped my electric shaver in my coffee, and it spilled all over my cell phone!"

The Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia & the Pacific (SUSTRAN) promotes and popularises people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on Asia and the Pacific

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