SUSTAINABLETRANSPORT Number 7 Winter1997

INDIA:: MUST it MOTORIZE to MODERNIZE?

SAVING INDIA’S CYCLE p.8

ENDING APARTHEID IN SOUTH AFRICA p. 4

THE BATTLE OVER ISTEA REAUTHORIZATION WARMS UP p. 10 ITDP FIGHTING HUNGARY’S Institute for Transportation & Development Policy TO NOWHERE p. 18 SUSTAINABLETRANSPORT

ITDP Mobilizes HABITAT An Update of Recent Activities

Letter from the Executive Director

ITDP has had an extremely active year. you can check the following two websites: the central focus of a major meeting ITDP In late May and June, ITDP chaired the http://www.bway.net/urbandev/apaid/ and other NGOs held with the EIB Vice Transport Caucus for the UN Habitat II ap01000.html (“Habitat II Comes out pro- President and senior bank officials in Conference in Istanbul. Thanks to the hard moting Policies”) September. The meeting, a cornerstone of work of the Transport Caucus, Co-Chaired and http://www.undp.org/un/habitat our EIB reform strategy, was organized by by ITDP and Andy Anderson, represent- (“Habitat Agenda”). Friends of the Earth, France. ing the UITP (Intl. Union of Public Transit Meanwhile, ITDP Associate Dr. Meanwhile, ITDP’s Karen Overton and Authorities), some very progressive lan- Yaakov Garb was in Israel, a Special Consultant Jon Orcutt of the Tri- guage was included in the Habitat II coalition of sympathetic government offi- State Transportation Campaign spent the Global Plan of Action, the conferences offi- cials and NGOs to fight the Trans-Israel Summer in Johannesburg, South Africa. cial document. One key paragraph recog- Highway, and to move public opinion Karen set up a pilot project providing nizes the importance of Non-Motorized against the highway. informal sector recyclers access to work- transport, stating that: From Istanbul, ITDP went to Western bikes in order to increase the amount of (par.147) ”Non-motorized transport is a Europe to research our new report “The recycled goods they can collect (in co- major mode of mobility, particularly for Road to Europe,” developing a strategy operation with Mondi Recycling), and laid low-income, vulnerable and disadvan- for Central European NGOs to influence the groundwork for an Afribike Center in taged groups. One structural measure to the growing power of the European Union Soweto. From there she went on to counteract the socio-economic marginal- over the evolution of transport systems in Mozambique to evaluate the women’s ization of these groups is to foster their their countries. From there, we went to project as part of a joint-research mobility by promoting affordable, project being sponsored by IT efficient and energy-saving modes Transport in England. Jon Orcutt of transport.“ worked with the Group for Another relevant paragraph, par. Environmental Monitoring and 41(n), recognizes the ‘polluter pays SANCO (South African National principle’ for transport, although it Civics Organization) laying the was watered down by the Saudi ground work for sustainable trans- Arabians. Sustainable transport will campaigns. (see enclosed be achieved, it reads, articles) “by promoting spatial development The fall found Vice President patterns and communications poli- Matteo Martignoni and I in India, at cies that reduce transport demand, the invitation of U.S. AID and the promoting fiscal and economic U.S. EPA, putting together a feasi- measures as appropriate, so that bility study for technologically the polluter bears the cost of pollu- improving India’s cycle rickshaws

tion to discourage polluting modes Walter Hook (see the enclosed article), while of transport, with special considera- ITDP’s Matteo Martignoni testing a cyckle ITDP’s Karen Overton and Deike tion for developing countries.” near the Taj Mahal Peters held a workshop on “Gender, Besides several smaller events, Transportation, and the World Bank” the major transport event was the Hungary, to work with the Clean Air at the 50-Years-Is-Enough Annual ‘Transport Dialogue for the 21st Century.’ Action Group preparing a case study on Conference in Washington, D.C. The con- ITDP’s Executive Director was the prima- the European Investment Bank’s (the ference, entitled “Gender Justice and the ry critical respondent to the World Bank’s house bank of the European Union) ill- World Bank,” was organized by 50 Years’ pro-privatization paper, and Board advised loan to the M3 highway to the new Executive Director and long-time Member Michael Replogle was the chief Ukraine (see article this issue). The abuses ITDP Board member Lisa McGowan. respondent to Daimler Benz’ Vice we documented, such as the lack of public In October, we presented the results of President’s paper outlining their view of hearings, the use of obsolete environmen- our most recent critique of World Bank the future of transport. For a full update of tal impact assessment methods, the poor transport sector lending, “Wheels Out of transport events at Habitat II, and the full economic rate of return, and lack of a pub- Balance,” to World Bank directors and text of the Habitat II Global Plan of Action, lic information disclosure policy, became staff. There was much acknowledgement

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ContentsSustainable TRANSPORT Number 7 Winter1997 is a publication of: The Institute for Articles: Transportation and Development Policy 611 Broadway, Rm. 616 South Africa: 4 New York, NY 10012 Transportation Struggles in the Post Apartheid City Tel. (212)260-8144•Fax (212)260-7353 email: [email protected] ISTEA Reauthorization: 6 Editors: Walter Hook, Karen Overton, Deike Peters Will the Highway Lobby Steer U.S. Transport Reform Art Direction: Cliff Harris, Dana Wilner Off the Road? Board of Directors: The can Save the Taj Mahal 8 Keith Oberg, President Inter-American Foundation Networks for Green Transport: 10 Matteo Martignoni, Vice President Fighting for the ‘Seoul’ of Transport in Korea International Human Powered Association 16 Bikeways Come to Lima’s Mean Streets Walter Hook, Secretary Fighting the M3 Highway in Hungary 18 Executive Director, ITDP Robin Stallings, Treasurer Features: Media Consultant Michael Replogle Letter from ITDP's Executive Director 2 Environmental Defense Fund News Briefs 12 Lisa McGowan, 50 Years is Enough Campaign New Titles 22 Marijke Torfs Bulletin Board 23 Friends of the Earth John Howe Cover photos: above-by Walter Hook, below-by Matteo Martignoni Professor, IHE Delft Setty Pendakur Chairman, NMT Task Force that the current loan evaluation proce- Enough. Here at home, ISTEA is up for Transportation Research Board, dures are biased in favor of road loans, reauthorization (see article), and we’ve Professor, Univ. of British Columbia and discussions are now underway on been asked to help influence this debate as Ariadne Delon-Scott how to change this. well. Bike Safety Coordinator In November, Karen and Matteo were Thank you for your help. We can’t do Elliott Sclar busy sending a much-belated shipment of any of it without you. We hope you’ll stay Professor, Columbia University second-hand , parts, and equip- involved. Thanks also to Virginia “Model David Gurin ment to the Mouvman Peyizan Papay and Worker” Parks, our intern from UCLA, Acting Commissioner of Planning, City of the Asosyasyon Groupaman Agrikol who spent her summer coordinating All views expressed in the articles in this publica- Peyizn Atibonit, two leading peasant orga- ITDP’s outreach efforts, and to Paul White, tion are the views of the authors and not necessari- nizations in Haiti. Another container of of Adventure , for organizing the ly the views of ITDP. Sustainable Transport wel- bikes from Pedals for Progress was also Gift of Freedom membership drive. comes submissions of articles about non-motor- ized transportation and information about sustain- shipped to our women’s mobility project Special thanks also to the Turner able transportation activities worldwide. in Mozambique. Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers ITDP is a non-profit research, dissemination, and The new year promises to be even Foundation, the New Land Foundation, project-implementing agency which seeks to pro- more challenging. We have requests for the International Foundation, Alternative mote the use of non-motorized (NMVs) technical assistance from campaigns in Gift Markets, the Tucker Foundation, and and the broader implementation of sustainable Central Europe, South East , South the Fair Share Foundation, Jay Harris, transportation policies worldwide. ITDP is regis- Africa, Israel, Latin America, and for bicy- Marty Seldman, and the Bell Family for tered in the as a charitable agency eli- cle projects in Africa and the Carribean. their continuing support. gible for tax-deductible contributions under the Internal Revenue Service code. Members include Meanwhile the U.N. Commission on bicycle activists, transportation planners, economic Sustainable Development plans to take up Sincerely, development specialists, small businesspeople, transport, and has asked for our involve- environmentalists, and other professionals, ment. We’ve been asked to evaluate World Walter Hook, primarily but not exclusively U.S. citizens. Bank highway projects for 50 Years is Executive Director

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South Africa: Transportation Struggles in the Post Apartheid City by Jon Orcutt

ITDP representatives Jon Orcutt and Karen Overton spent five weeks in South Africa in mid-1996, discussing transportation advocacy strategies with organizations in the Johannesburg metropolitan region. The transportation system most South Africans face today is a mixture of patched-up, third-rate inherited from apartheid and a chaotic, unregulated minibus-taxi system that is a source of swelling public complaint. But political transformation in South Africa has opened the door for equitable and sustainable urban transportation poli- Walter Hook cies. New government policies seek to Soweto: Suburban sprawl, South African style reverse apartheid policy by dramatically expanding and improving public trans- Background: The Apartheid City and Development Programme (RDP), port and discouraging urban motoring. Apartheid required a massive program notes: But the application of these policies across of spatial engineering. Establishment of The policy of apartheid has moved the poor away from job opportunities and the country is uneven, and possibly in largely rural African “homelands” or ban- tustans and internal passports attempted access to amenities. This has burdened the serious jeopardy. to control urbanization so that black workforce with enormous distances The evolution of South African trans- “influx” was tailored to the labor needs of to their places of employment and com- portation policy is not only of great con- white-controlled industries. In the cities, mercial centres, and thus with excessive cern to South Africans seeking to integrate black populations were restricted to resi- costs. Apartheid transport policy deprived their badly fragmented cities. It is also of dential townships on the metropolitan the majority of people of a say in trans- interest to transportation reform advo- fringe, necessitating long trips to work port matters; exposed commuters to vast cates globally, because: and other destinations on white-con- distances and insecure rail travel; 1. The combination of high social wealth, trolled transit systems. The establishment failed to regulate the kombi-taxi industry huge transit-dependent populations and a of legislated apartheid after 1948 accelerat- adequately; largely ignored the country’s political mandate for sweeping change ed the destruction of black settlements contains very strong potential for the near urban centers and the removal of development of modern transit- and their populations to the urban periphery. pedestrian-based cities; The razing of Sophiatown, one of the most 2. In one major metropolis (Cape Town), culturally and politically vibrant black policy-makers are advancing principles communities in Johannesburg, and the that western environmentalists and transit removal of its population to an area south activists have succeeding in advancing of Johannesburg’s mining belt (Soweto: only slightly — financing a “transit first” “South-West Townships”) in 1955 was policy by taxing urban motorists for the only one notable case. In other cities, congestion, pollution and other harms industrial zones, transportation corridors they cause. or other buffers separated black town- 3. In the many cities where transporta- ships from white commercial and residen- tion reform is receiving little or no politi- tial areas (see diagram) cal attention, growing grassroots action in the townships could produce transporta- Apartheid Transport tion policy insurgencies by poor and The blueprint for post-apartheid devel- working class people on an unprecedent- opment issued by the African National

ed scale. Congress and its allies, the Reconstruction source: K. Beavou, The Apartheid City and Beyond, p. 233

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outrageous road safety record; paid little apartheid struggle. Transit suffered espe- At the same time, the reality of accelerat- attention to the environmental impact of cially during the 1980’s and early 90’s as ing urban migration led to the formal transport projects, and facilitated trans- conflict became most acute. The withering abandonment of “influx control” in the port decision-making bodies that are of transit stemmed from a combination of mid-1980s. Burgeoning squatter settle- unwieldy, unfocused, unaccountable and boycotts, non-payment campaigns, labor ments on the edge of already marginal bureaucratic. actions and withdrawal of government townships had no access to formal ser- For these reasons, transportation has a support as the costs of repression vices, and even residents in long-estab- prominent history in township and anti- increased. In some cases, service for entire lished townships increasingly had trouble apartheid politics. Nelson Mandela’s first areas, like crowded Alexandra Township reaching destinations as jobs and white political action was participation in a 1943 north of Johannesburg, collapsed. populations began to move away from mass march supporting a boycott in Ridership also seriously declined where central cities. Johannesburg’s Alexandra Township — political violence engulfed commuters, as the boycott effectively rolled back a it did on Johannesburg township com- Combis: “Economic Miracle,”Transport increase. The 1955 Freedom Charter, muter trains during the early 1990’s in Chaos which launched the African National Inkatha Freedom Party attacks on ANC The combis were thus well-suited to Congress on its 35-year drive to end supporters. navigate the increasingly complex and de- minority rule, specifically called for the The transportation void was filled by centered metropolitan areas of the late provision of public transport adequate to 12-20 seat mini-bus taxis, or “combis.” The 1980’s and 90’s. They are now the central serve all urban dwellers. government encouraged small black capi- feature of South African urban transport, The transport system inherited from tal to invest in the mini- as it retreat- accounting for up to 50% of many urban apartheid also bears the scars of the anti- ed from its investment in public transport. transport markets and competing with buses and trains on major routes. Taxi industry growth was fueled not only by PROFILE OF A MOZAMBICAN WOMAN need, but also by the barriers black capital faces elsewhere, and because is a relatively ubiquitous skill in the town- Karen Overton conducted interviews with able for women. ships. women who received bikes through the In a predominantly subsisitence econo- The unfettering of ITDP/AMRU Bikes for Africa Project. my, Palmira earns money by brewing services produced the first major black-run Here is one sample. traditional alcoholic beverages. She South African industry, but the absence of sells 250 litres/month, earning the regulation also promoted chaotic service Palmira Machave is 51 years old, and equivalent of US $5. In addition to this, and schedules, the absence of safety stan- has a third grade education. She lives in she sells surplus produce from her plot dards or accountability, unregulated 25 de Setembro, a remote village of land or the ducks and chickens that and the operation of hundreds of vans in where the National she raises. She uses the bicy- major corridors served more efficiently by Association for Rural cle six days a week to buses and trains. Women Develop- travel to her small Worse still is the violence between ment (AMRU) plot of land where rival companies or associations vying to works extensively. she grows the food control over-supplied routes and stations. Palmira is the only her family will eat National, provincial and metropolitan wife of Mario throughout the government initiatives to bring stability Sabia, and the year. Some-times and regulation have fallen short. Though mother of seven she sends her older some measure of peace seemed to have children. As a young children on errands been established in early 1996, violence in girl she had learned how into the city rather than several cities flared again later in the year. to cycle. She make the trip The Baragwanath taxi rank, one of explained that Palmira Machave on a bicycle herself. She says Soweto’s main portals to the rest of the before the 21 that the bicycle Johannesburg region, was closed due to years of war that only ended in 1994, helps her to save a few extra dollars violence several times in August and there was an abundance of bicyles. every month. However, more impor- September. Official efforts have generally However, the Renamo soldiers burned tant than the savings is the freedom and not sought to situate the combis within an and pillaged their village, during which status the bike gives her. Sometimes, overall passenger transport plan based on bicycles were destroyed or taken. She is when men stare at her as she rides by, expanded public transport, and have grateful that AMRU is helping to bring she shouts at them - Yes, you can failed to address fundamental problems of back bicycles to her village. This is the believe what you see. Women too ride regulation and oversupply. But the first opportunity for her to get a bicycle. bikes! unabated conflict has fed growing public While Indian models are available in support for revival of traditional public

Photo: Karen Overton the local market, a bicycle is not afford- continued on p.11

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ISTEA Reauthorization: Will the Highway Lobby Steer U.S. Transport Reform off the Road? by Michael Replogle

America’s once jealous love affair with Until the 1970s, this rev- the turned considerably more open enue was tied exclusively with passage of the Intermodal Surface to roads, which left rail and Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of public transit systems to 1991 and key transportation provisions in collapse. In the 1970s, a the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) small percentage (2%) was of 1990. But the new ISTEA law expires at earmarked to urban mass the end of September 1997, and has to be transit, allowing the partial reauthorized. and temporary revival of At stake is whether U.S. transport these systems. reform will continue, giving hope for With the passage of renewal of America’s older cities and sub- ISTEA, funds allocated to urbs, or whether highway construction highways became available and exurban sprawl will promote further for maintenance and reha- urban disinvestment and decay. Will bilitation, and a large ISTEA II build a bridge to a 21st Century amount of federal trans- where the affluent shuttle between gated portation funds were allo- communities and high-security office cated to a flexible “Surface parks surrounded by burned-out cities in Transportation Program”, a smart, armored sport utility vehicles? Will portion of which was allo- the new intelligent transportation tech- cated for “enhancements,” nologies lead to yet more high-speed including safety, pedestri- urban flight? Or will it be used to reduce an and bicycle projects, and costly subsidies to driving and sprawl, historic preservation. and internalize the massive external costs ISTEA also made feder-

of our transportation decisions? Will we photo: Transportation ALternatives al funding conditional on demand performance for our tax dollars, The Lafayette St. bike lane, New York City: A typical the development of 20 year or throw billions at new road construction “Enhancement” made possible by ISTEA plans by both states and while letting our existing systems decay? new Metropolitan Planning Will we hold transportation accountable ments, will likely pay little attention to Organizations (MPOs). Since public tran- for its environmental consequences, local- the deeper issues. The real fight will be sit, bicycle network development and ly, regionally, and globally? What sort of behind the scenes. Sustainable transport transportation pricing policies act only model will the U.S. transport system be advocates are organizing to retain slowly to modify land use and travel for the world? ISTEA’s progressive elements, with behavior, this long term planning horizon With ISTEA reauthorization just greater emphasis on performance incen- allows a more sound appraisal of such beginning, it is too soon to tell. The news tives and accountability to the public. The projects in comparison with short-term media, perhaps distracted by $10 billion a highway lobby will push hard to kill flexi- engineering pallatives, like new highway year in automobile industry advertise- ble funding, public involvement in plan- construction, that in the long-run worsen ning, and fiscally responsible long-range rather than solve metropolitan transporta- Michael Replogle is Co-Director of the planning. tion problems. Environmental Defense Fund’s Trans- Under ISTEA, both states and MPOs portation Project, based in Washington, How ISTEA Worked share responsibility to provide all “citi- DC. He was ITDP’s founder, and served as In the U.S., federal government rev- zens, and interested parties with a reason- President from 1985 to 1992. enue for the national transportation sys- able opportunity to comment on the pro- tem comes from the federal gasoline tax. posed plan/program.” Public involve-

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ment in developing a view of alternative plans have been curtailed and transit, (CMAQ), and have withheld these funds futures is a central promise of ISTEA, bicycling, walking, land use planning, from locally supported initiatives that though efforts of community stakeholders and traffic demand management have would reduce motor vehicle dependence, to participate have been hindered by lim- been enhanced. Innovations like electron- claiming that emissions reductions could ited access to documents and planning ic congestion pricing are spreading from not be adequately demonstrated. Some tools. California to Virginia, and being consid- states have even used such funds for The Clean Air Act and its Amend- ered in New York, Florida, Minnesota, highway expansion projects. ments in 1990 set science-based national Maine, and elsewhere. ambient air quality health standards for Regional planning bodies were given The 1997 Battle Over ISTEA ozone, carbon monoxide, particulate, sul- greater authority. ISTEA began to break Reauthorization fur oxides, and lead, although not CO2. the hegemony of departments of transport The battle in 1997 will take place on The law stipulated five levels of non- (DOTs) and the Federal Highway different political terrain. Pro-highway attainment of ozone targets, and many Administration (FHWA) over transporta- interests are mobilized and working major metropolitan areas are either in tion policy. For the first time federal funds actively to overturn ISTEA and CAA ”Serious,“ ”Severe,“ or ”Extreme“ Non- were allocated directly to regions. reforms. Some have called for the repeal Attainment, for ozone. Each of these non- These reforms have made it possible of conformity requirements. Many states attainment areas is required to develop a for towns like Portland, Oregon, to reduce would be pleased to see a $20 billion a federally approved State Implementation air emissions and adopt plans to reduce year federal block grant for transportation Plan (SIPs) outlining how they would vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per person with no accountability and no require- bring the area into compliance. SIPs iden- by 20% over the next 30 years. Boulder ment to ensure that metropolitan regions tify specific emissions budgets for each air has reduced its share of trips made by sin- get a fair share. Some are calling for the pollutant. Agencies must demonstrate gle occupant vehicles by several percent a federal government to limit or end its tax- that Transportation Improvement year over the past several years. ation of gasoline, allowing states to make Programs (TIPs) and long range up the difference, or limiting fed- plans ‘conform’ with the SIPs, eral gas tax spending to Interstate showing how they will stay with- Will ISTEA II build a bridge to a 21st Century and National Highway System in SIP ‘mobile-source’ budgets where the affluent shuttle between gated maintenance. While this might and contribute to the timely provoke a fiscal crisis for funding attainment of the national air communities and high-security office parks new highways in some states that quality standards. surrounded by burned-out cities in smart, chose not to increase their gaso- Highway-tied national funds line taxes, it could pose big prob- from ISTEA were restricted to the armored sport utility vehicles? lems for transit and other ISTEA old interstate system and new funded non-highway initiatives. roads to be identified later as part of the Milwaukee, Baltimore, Sacramento, In any case, the surplus of gas tax rev- “National Transportation System” (NTS). Washington, DC, Miami, and other enues that existed in 1991 has been spent After a long political battle, the new NTS regions are evaluating strategies that down. In this tighter fiscal climate, less of 1995 did not designate any new inter- could have similar effects. funding is available for authorization, fur- state highways. However, it included six- But progress has not been uniform. ther increasing the chances of a fight over teen proposed new regional beltway State DOTs, FHWA and the U.S. the ‘formulas’ used to ‘divide the pie.’ The ringroads, many of them second, outer Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) highway lobby is pressing for elimination ring roads, around metropolitan areas, have resisted strict implementation of the of CMAQ funds. If the CMAQ prgorgam along with a number of proposed new CAAA and ISTEA, sometimes in blatant is killed, CAAA’s air quality conformity long-distance Interstate-type highways. It violation of the law. There was a lengthy requirements will be more vulnerable to also abolished Federal control over speed battle over the rules by which the EPA attacks from conservatives and local gov- limits, and suspended the EPA’s determined the ‘conformity’ of SIPs to the ernments as ‘unfunded federal mandates.’ enhanced vehicle inspection system. CAAA. Early FHWA guidelines, for instance, only required that new invest- Fights over ISTEA Funding Formulas ISTEA’s Effects ments lower emissions below what they ISTEA uses formulas to determine Although implementation of ISTEA would have been without the investment, both how much of the Highway Trust reforms has been slow, the $155 billion in (what became known as EPA’s “build/no Funds are spent on new highways, main- federal transportation spending autho- build” test), and not that they actually tenance, and transit, etc, and also on how rized by ISTEA over six years has shaped lower aggregate emissions. The MPOs much goes to different geographical areas. several times as much in-state and local often use gimicks and outmoded trans- The battles are not likely to be along party transportation expenditures. ISTEA and portation modeling methods to allow a lines. Rather, members of Congress from the CAA have brought many new stake- conformity finding for road expansion states that receive more funds than their holders into the transportation planning plans. motorists contribute in gas taxes, or process, and spurred significant technical Many states have been slow to spend ‘donee’ states, including NY and most progress in transportation/land use/air ISTEA funds specifically targeted to con- Northeastern states, will tend to align quality analysis. Highway expansion gestion mitigation and air quality continued on p.20

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The Cycle Rickshaw can Save the Taj Mahal:, The Taj Mahal can save the Cycle Rickshaw by Walter Hook and Matteo Martignoni

ITDP Executive Director Walter Hook and Vice President Matteo Martignoni were invited to India by U.S. AID and the U.S. EPA to study the feasibility of a cycle rickshaw upgrading pro- ject in . The following is taken from their trip report. Agra, India, is the home of the Taj Mahal, one of the worlds most famous monu-

ments. Indians say the world photo: Matteo Martignoni is divided between those who have seen the Taj Mahal, and those who have not. It was this sustainable and job creating mode may be. The particular 7:00 Thursday morning when Matteo and I finally joined the first conditions in Agra, however, gave us hope that an improved category of people. Like an estimated 1/3 of all tourists, we cycle rickshaw could be introduced into the market. wanted to get there by cycle rickshaw. We walked out of our is a major source of income for Agra. Besides the Taj hotel, and asked the concierge, a man in a tall turban, white tunic Mahal, there are also the Agra Fort, Akbar’s Tomb at Sikandra, and red pants, to call a bicycle rickshaw for us. We quickly found Krishna’s birth site, and the Itmad-Ud Daula, which are located out, however, that unlike taxis which could drive right up to the in the immediate vicinity of Agra. All these precious monuments door, the cycle rickshaws were not permitted onto the hotel are being permanently discolored by air pollution. The main grounds. The concierge led us down the driveway, off the hotel problem is carbon soot and black smoke, a lot of which comes grounds, and motioned to the ‘wallahs,’ who are the cycle rick- from trucks, two-stroke-engined or diesel taxis. The importance shaw drivers who sit across the street. These wallahs also operate of tourism to the Agra economy has helped to galvanize public a motorized two-stroke engined three-wheeler known as a Bajaj. opinion to improve the environment, particularly around the Taj They tried to get us to take the Bajaj, which belches black smoke, Mahal and other monuments. In 1994 the Indian Supreme Court makes a lot of noise, and is more expensive. We insisted on tak- placed tight restrictions on motor vehicle traffic in the 4 km ing the cycle rickshaw. radius immediately surrounding the Taj Mahal’s grounds. This Agra’s cycle rickshaws are a tight squeeze for two Americans situation holds particular promise for the introduction of an who are used to a certain amount of personal space, so we hired improved cycle rickshaw. They would represent an ideal alterna- two. The price? Whatever we like, they said, knowing that what- tive for the 1000 tourists who visit the Taj Mahal every day. ever we paid would be far more than they normally earn. The route to the Taj Mahal goes for about 1 km down the busy Solving the Rickshaws Image Problem Fatehabad Road, then turns suddenly into the narrow streets of Agra, like many of India’s cities, already has the ingredients the Taj Ganj, (a modest-income neighborhood), and winds down of a sustainable transportation system. Unfortunately, many of hill to the Taj Mahal gate. On the way back, the rickshaws had to the most modern and sustainable elements of their transportation go up a modest hill, and even with only one passenger it proved system suffer from an image problem. Public attitudes toward too steep for the wallahs to pedal. They walked us up. Matteo got the cycle rickshaw are often extremely negative. Car drivers com- out and walked. It was a little embarrassing, and a little slow. plain that they are blocking traffic, while progressive politicians Then Matteo took a turn at the pedals. Afterwards, soaked in complain that they are exploitative. Everyone, it seems, believes sweat, he was more convinced than ever of the need to improve that ‘modernization means motorization.’ If the current trend the vehicle. towards banning them continues, people will then have to walk While previous efforts to upgrade cycle rickshaws in India instead, often carrying heavy bags. For longer trips, they’ll have have developed vehicles of improved design, none of them have to push onto overcrowded buses, or rent a highly polluting three- ever been successfully adopted into commercial production. wheeled Bajaj or four-wheel Ambassador taxi. Of course, air pol- Meanwhile, the public image of the cycle rickshaw is deteriorat- lution and will only get worse. Over 1000 peo- ing. The recent ban on their use in Calcutta, and announcements ple can pass through a meter of roadway per hour on cycle rick- of further restrictions in show just how near to extinction shaws while generating no pollution, compared to only 200 to

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500 in private or taxis. So cycle rickshaws actually reduce ITDP’s Planned Cycle Rickshaw Improvement Project rather than cause congestion. The current cycle rickshaw used in Agra is little different Many Indian urban planners see the congested, narrow from those used fifty or even seventy years ago. It is a hybrid of streets of Agra, accessible only by foot or cycle-rickshaw, as back- both indigenous craft production and mass production. The front ward, and plan to build new roads and wider boulevards. To up- is mass produced and sold as a ‘cycle rickshaw kit’. The carriage to-date Western traffic planners, however, these neighborhoods and rear axle is then built by smaller informal sector manufactur- are a perfect example of what the U.S. Architect Peter Calthorpe ers in Agra, where it is also assembled. The carriage and rear calls ‘Pedestrian Pockets,’ neighborhoods designed to encourage assembly is made out of steel and wood, and decorated with walking. Indian taxi drivers also complain about the cows, sacred paint and tin plate. to the Hindus, that wander into the middle of traffic even in The current vehicle has several advantages given Indian con- downtown Agra. The cows, however, ‘traffic calm’ vehicles on ditions: it’s cheap, easy to repair, and extremely durable. It costs residential streets, thus creating a safer environment for pedestri- less than 1/12 of most commercially available cycle rickshaws in ans, bicyclists, and children. In India, one can still find the U.S, and although ridden some 60km per day, often carrying pulled by camel and bullock, and people riding to town on ele- heavy loads, it can last from 8 to 10 years if properly maintained. phant, creating a ‘modal diversity’ we no longer see in the West. At the same time, the rickshaw is extremely heavy and very diffi- Improving the cycle rickshaw in Agra will require further cult to pedal uphill. It has no rear-end differential, creates a lot of working with the Associated Chambers of Commerce, national, unnecessary drag and is quite unstable. With only one outmoded regional and local government officials, the cycle rickshaw manu- brake, it is also hard to stop in traffic. Finally, the wallahs sitting facturers, the owners, the wallah unions, and community groups position is uncomfortable, causing unnecessary back, neck and in New Delhi and Agra, and convincing them that human pow- leg stress. Why has the private sector not developed a better ered transport is the wave of the future, not a vestige of the past. vehicle? In our meetings, we pointed out that all across the U.S. and Europe cycle rickshaws are on the upswing. Modern, light-weight vehicles are being marketed as ‘green-taxis’, or ‘pedicabs.’ Pedicabs of New York’s (PONY) are making around twenty dollars an hour: four times the U.S. minimum wage. After hear- ing from us how these cycle rickshaw businesses were blossoming in the West, many came to see human pow- ered transport in a new light. Ultimately, most were supportive of the idea of introducing a modern, effi- cient, and less exploitative cycle rickshaw.

Cycle Rickshaws Generate Jobs and Profits In Agra, there are officially 10,000 licensed cycle rickshaws employing 30,000 ‘wallahs’; three wallahs will use a single cycle rickshaw in shifts. Unofficial esti- mates from Agra residents indicate that there are at least another 10,000 to 20,000 unregistered cycle rick- photo: Walter Hook shaws, meaning that there are between 30,000 and Cycle rickshaw manufacturer in Agra 90,000 wallahs in Agra, representing about 5% to 10% of total employment in Agra. One obstruction to innovation is that no single firm manufac- Some 30% to 40% of wallahs own and operate their own vehi- turers an entirely mass produced cycle rickshaw. If they did, as a cles, and 60% to 70% rent them from an owner of several cycle commercial vehicle, the kit would be subject to a 15% excise tax. rickshaws. Average earnings are $1.30 per day, of which $0.30 The current ‘kit’, however, not being the end product, does not goes to the owner of the cycle rickshaw. Total annual revenue to have to pay the excise tax. The small scale local manufacturers, the sector thus ranges between $14.3 million and $42.7 million. unlike the larger company producing the ‘kit’, are able to avoid Agra is also an important center for manufacturing cycle rick- the 15% excise tax as they operate in the ‘informal sector.’ shaws. Agra produces between 30,000 and 50,000 cycle rickshaws It is less surprising that there has been little technical innova- per year. The majority are exported throughout the Agra region tion by the local manufacturers of the rear end framework and within a roughly 80 km radius of the city. There are 5 major cycle seat. These manufacturers are small scale, conservative opera- rickshaw manufacturers in Agra, each employing 20 or more tions without the capacity or know-how for any significant people. A rough estimate of total employment generated by the redesign of their vehicle. Working at a very small profit margin, manufacturing and service side of the cycle rickshaw industry in and producing a vehicle that enjoys a solid market, they are risk Agra, including subcontracts and maintenance activities ranges adverse. As for the wallahs, they are quite poor, and want the between 500 and 1000 jobs. Considering that each firm is produc- cheapest vehicle they can get. ing 10 to 20 rickshaws per day and that prices are $100-$200 per In the 1970s and 1980s there were two attempts by Canadian, vehicle, cycle rickshaw manufacturing brings a value added to British, and Indian NGOs to improve the cycle rickshaw. In both Agra of roughly $3 - $5 million. continued on p.19

9 SUSTAINABLETRANSPORT

Networks for Green Transport: Fighting for the ’Seoul‘ of Transport in Korea

The following article is taken from “Motorization and People-Centered (46.61% of total traffic deaths). Pedestrian deaths are generally 10 Transport: A Perspective on Transport in Korea,” by Samjin Lim. See times higher per vehicle than in most developed countries. The New Titles. devastation does not stop here. The number of people handi- The growth in automobile use in Korea is one of the fastest in capped each year due to traffic accidents is estimated at 50,000. the world. Between 1980 and 1995, the number of cars in Korea NGT blames Korea’s poor transportation safety record on a increased from 527,000 to 8,469,000. Increasing along with car sense of superiority among motorists, lack of safe pedestrian and use has been congestion, air pollution, and roadway accidents. cycling facilities, lack of traffic calming on residential streets, and Fortunately, the Networks for Green Transport (NGT), an a lack of enforcement of traffic safety laws and regulations. In impressive citizen’s advocacy group based in Seoul, has been Korea, drivers treat pedestrians and bicyclists as obstacles in the fighting since 1992 for transport policies that address the nega- road or as criminals. Road space, despite being public property, tive consequences of automobile dependence. is designed for cars. Sidewalks, crosswalks, pedestrian streets, Curiously, despite the rapid expansion of the motor vehicle and traffic calming measures are inadequate or totally absent fleet, cars have not contributed towards transporting greater from the urban landscape. Only those motorists who commit a numbers of people. Private car use as a share to total travel in minimum of 10 traffic infractions are arraigned. Pedestrians are Seoul has remained readily subject to constant at between jay walking fines, 14% and 15% for while drivers must over a decade. High “The chances of achieving a pedestrian- commit atrocities density public sec- safe environment under such conditions before punitive tor housing devel- action is taken. opments and very are about as good as the chances of NGT claims that the tight land use regu- ’catching a fish in a tree.‘ chances of achiev- lation in Seoul’s ing a pedestrian- green belt may safe environment have played a role in maintaining public transit mode share, but under such conditions are about as good as the chances of it has also increased the level of externalities created by car use “catching a fish in a tree.” and the cost of land. In order to accommodate the additional NGT has been at the forefront of promoting the use of a cars, road investments increased from $4,873 million in 1982 to ‘rights’ framework for transport. The problem, according to Lim, $66,838 million in 1993. As a share of total public investments is that the transport rights of everyone are not equally respected. into transport, roads increased from 47% to 61.5%, mostly at the The rights of pedestrians, women, youth, bicyclists, the poor, expense of public transport, which is in decline. Because car and the handicapped are often sacrificed to the private motorist. owners tend to be the highest income Koreans, while public tran- Pedestrians and cyclists should have a right to safe use of road sit users tend to be the lowest income urban residents, this shift and sidewalk facilities. towards more road spending represents a regressive redistribu- NTG’s over 4000 members have begun to successfully chal- tion of wealth. It also means that Korea is spending far more lenge people’s concept of the car as a status symbol. Over 200 money to achieve the same level of basic mobility that they used articles about their efforts have been published and they have to enjoy. organized several highly publicized marches, including the The cost of motorization is passed on to Koreans in other Walking March for the Rights of Pedestrians in 1993 and ways. Air pollution is on the rise, of which auto emissions Walking Together for Securing Mobility of the Transportation accounts for 77%. The impact on health is devastating. Increased Poor and Handicapped in 1994. By organizing a growing and automotive exhaust may have contributed to the dramatic rise in often under-represented constituency of pedestrians, bicyclists, lung cancer deaths from 1984 to 1994, from 6.1% of deaths per handicapped, and elderly people, they have fought for better 100,000 to 19.1%. Increasing air pollution may also contribute to transport facilities for the disabled, for at-grade safe crosswalks the rise in upper respiratory and pulmonary disease. and against difficult to use overpasses and underpasses, for bet- The human cost of a car-dependent Korea is more directly ter pedestrian facilities at subway stations, traffic calming, bike measured by the 201,588 death toll resulting from automobile lanes and parking, and exclusive bus lanes. They are also one of accidents over the past 25 years. The number of people killed per the most active members of the Sustainable Transportation year has doubled, from 7,468 in 1984, to 15,351 in 1994. A dispro- Action Network for Asia and the Pacific, and the U.N. Habitat II portionate number of these fatalities occur among pedestrians Transport Caucus. ♦

10 WINTER 1997

to be working — media reported “mostly to the costs they impose on society. These South Africa idle and empty” taxis. costs include congestion, pollution, traffic continued from p.5 From the taxi boycotts, it is a short step enforcement and road accidents.” The to advocacy for investment of public minister, a former trade union activist, is transit. resources in public transport alternatives. working to broaden support for the strate- Government policy- makers envision a gy by using the media and recruiting sup- Combi Boycotts strong continuing role for the combis as port among other provincial and munici- Popular protest aimed at the combi feeder and supplemental transit services, pal officials. Cape Town’s new regional industry followed the renewed violence. but will need strong public support as transport plan aims to reduce car com- “I think Madiba (Mandela) should solve they attempt to subject the combis to regu- muting by 20%. this problem. He must ban these taxis and lar processes of planning and regulation. Ramatlakane has also made a priority buses should start operating. We’ve had of changing a monopolistic bus company enough of these unruly drivers,” an elder- Cape Town: Transit First concession policy that has inhibited new ly woman told a Johannesburg weekly. In The RDP’s recommendation for a service in cities around the country. A August and September, renewed taxi vio- strong “transit first” investment policy is new plan to significantly increase the met- lence near Cape Town led to a march by being developed into a metropolitan ropolitan passenger rail system’s capacity residents of KTC Township, who action plan in Cape Town. The Provincial will be released next year. It dovetails demanded that police close a nearby taxi (Western Cape) Transport Minister, with Cape Town’s “Metropolitan Spatial terminus. Gunfighting had spilled over Leonard Ramatlakane, has proposed a Development Framework,” which from the station into their neighborhood series of parking and road levies to reduce restricts new development at the urban and killed five residents. Local ANC the impacts of urban driving and generate periphery to promote higher density and branches called for a taxi boycott in revenue for expanded public transport. In contain sprawl. It also designates estab- Western Cape Province, though activists a recent opinion piece, Ramatlakane wrote lished transport corridors as recipients for face the problem of few commuter that dramatically expanded public trans- new business “nodes” and much-needed options. But a mid-October boycott in port was essential to overcome the legacy new public housing. Cape Town also townships near Pretoria was supported by of the apartheid city and that motoring looks likely to be the first region to inte- police and bus companies and appeared taxes are “to make [motorists’] costs closer continued on p.14 Bikes Mean Better Business for Paper Pedalers Recycling is a growing source of employment for low- to US $411, and ultimately come to own the workbike. Mondi income people in South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg estimates that 1,000 collectors bring paper and cardboard to with unemployment estimated at 50%. Paper collecting is a the Buy-In Centres. Lacking resources, the collectors drag good opportunity, even for the uneducated. Self-employed paper in large canvas bags, or steal shopping carts from the paper collectors spend their week collecting paper from local grocery store, Pick-N-Pay, or Woolworths to transport offices, shopping malls and in some instances, private homes, paper to the Buy-In Centres. Based on the testing of two work- and bring it to Mondi Recycling Buy-In Centres. bike models this spring, Mondi Recycling estimates that the Mondi Recycling, Inc. has found acquisition of a workbike will recycling to be a profitable business. enable a collector to increase his Besides the actual recycling operations or her territory by 100%. The abil- and an environmental education pro- ity to haul 125 lbs. at a faster gram, Mondi also sponsors the Small speed will improve efficiency. Business Development Programme. This More importantly, it means high- programs goal is to encourage people to er incomes and reduced working start their own recyling collection busi- hours for collectors. nesses by offering advice, training, To assure that the program runs equipment and ongoing assistance. smoothly, Mondi has contracted ITDP is working with Mondi the supplier of the workbike, Recycling to implement the Workbike Johnson Cycles, to offer a basic

Pilot Project. The project facilitates the photo: Mondi Recycling maintenance and repair course for work of paper collectors, while simulta- Recycling work bikes provided by ITDP participants, and to service the neously promoting an environmentally and Mondi Recycling workbikes on a bi-monthly basis. sustainable form of transport. The ITDP has provided basic tools to Workbike Project is making eleven workbikes available for use initiate a bike shop that collectors may access when needed. by paper collectors, selected by Mondi. Over an eight month In March 1997, the Workbike Pilot Project will be evaluat- period, each collector contributes to a revolving credit fund ed. ITDP and Mondi will replicate the project in Soweto at the which ITDP and Mondi jointly capitalized. Participants Win-Win Village, a micro-enterprise development project of receive a $200 subsidy which reduces the cost of the workbike the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

11 SUSTAINABLETRANSPORT

Teheran, Iran seat bus, small car, utility, ect.) without having to worry Sustainable T Women Banned From Biking about vehicle maintenance. Women must avoid anything that Members also enjoy recipro- attracts strangers, so female cyclists in cal rights with car clubs in public places involves corruption and is other cities. News forbidden. Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Kamenei, adopted this UK Agrees On position in the September edition of National Cycling Sobh, the country’s voice of religious World Bank Gives $80 for orthodoxy. Women’s cycling in Teheran Strategy Albanian Roads is currently limited to a five mile trail secluded behind a pine board fence UK’s first ever National Cycling Strategy A World Bank publication headline which is monitored by the police. A was announced in London in July by recently trumpeted: Roads and More brand new sign marks the entrance to Britain’s Transport Secretary, Sir George the trail: a man with a red X across his Young. The policy aims to double the body. ”Well I am certainly not coming number of cycle trips in Britain by 2002, back here again,“ a young woman com- and to double them again by 2012. The mented after riding along this new path. Strategy, useful reading for cycling ”The police stood next to the trail the advocates everywhere, is now available whole time and told me not to look at on-line at:http://www.open.gov.uk/ men and to cover my hair. So where can dot/ncs/ncs.htm the women go?“ Col Agha, Iran’s satiri- Source: ITE Webpage/ITDP cal weekly, recently offered the obvious solution, limiting riding to a stationary Bike Cops Prove Effective in US bicycle in the kitchen. Source: New York Times Originally thought of as a community- relations tool, policing on bicycles has Car-Sharing Increasingly Popular proven extremely effective in day-to- day patrolling and crime-fighting, and Club in Bremen, Germany has already its popularity is rising. Police depart- more than 1000 members ments first began turning to bicycles in 1992, based on successful community Car-sharing — a new model of car-own- policing programs in and else- ership where people agree to share com- where. The bike officers were consid- mon vehicles — is becoming increasing- ered more approachable than squad ly popular throughout Europe. For car- cars, thus improving citizen contact. In owners, the biggest expense is the aqui- poor districts around Washington DC, sition of the vehicle. Afterwards, usage bicycles were also immediately recog- and maintenance fees are relatively low. nized as cheaper alternatives to police People thus use their car as much as pos- cruisers. In Fairfax’s Mount Vernon sible to make it worth the original District, where bike officers make up expense, especially since a car is losing about 25% of the districts 35-officer value over time, whether it’s driven or evening shift, the biking cops made not. Car-sharing, by loading the full cost almost 40% of all criminal arrests. One of driving into the usage fees, creates a of the bike cops’ biggest advantages is

disincentive to use the car. Recent stud- their ability to silently sneak up on Photo: Transportation Alternatives ies show that people make far more effi- potential crimes in progress. They are Bike cops prove to be m cient travel decisions this way, actually also better able to patrol pedestrian driving up to 50% less. In Europe, inter- zones, traffic calmed areas, and public Roads — Thats What Albania Needs. ested people presently can join a club housing superblocks. So even without The brief article goes on to justify a and pay a monthly membership fee of considering any of the environmental $79.5 million World Bank expenditure about $10 per month. The clubs charge and health benefits associated with for Albanian road building as necessary their members additional usage fees bicycling, US police departments have for trade and tourism. The number of according to the amount of time and discovered bikes for their own purpos- motor vehicles in Albania has soared vehicle kilometres travelled. Members es. from 5,000 in 1992 to 160,000 today, then have access to a range of vehicles (9 Source: Washington Post according to the Bank.

12 WINTER 1997

to have more traffic deaths unsafe and freeway-like. But thanks to a ansportation per vehicle. In developed, new City Council-approved plan, the more motorized countries, city will recalibrate traffic signals to slow motorists often kill other drivers 20 mph, limit the hours for com- motorists, while in develop- mercial trucks, and allow people to cross Briefs ing countries, they kill mostly the intersection diagonally. Further pro- pedestrians and cyclists. For visions call for the promotion of cycle example, only 5 percent of all rickshaws for hotel service, and people killed in New Delhi bike rentals, and the installation of bike Global Traffic Death Epidemic are in cars, and 60 percent of the victims racks along shopping areas and parks. In are killed by buses and trucks. addition, new horse-drawn carriages Road traffic accidents are reaching epi- Therefore, in-car safety improvements in would join the current ones in the down- demic proportions, especially in devel- India could only reduce fatalities by 2%. town area. If Palm Springs can change, oping countries. By 1990, road traffic Globally, the cost of traffic accidents in every place can change! 1990 alone was around $230 billion, of Source: The Desert Sun/Dorothy Harte which the total cost to all developing countries was around $36 billion. Taken for a Ride Source: The New Scientist (9/14/96) How the Auto Lobby Dismantled Public Transit in the US Motorizing ?

The Ministry of Machine-Building A new film, Taken for a Ride, broadcast Industry, with over two million workers by National Public Television on August in dozens of automobile plants around 6, documents how GM dismantled the the country, is busy implementing their US trolley systems, thus clearing the so-called pillar-industry strategy to cre- way for their buses and a road depen- ate a half-dozen giant Chinese automak- dent transport system. Film rental is $55, ers in partnership with GM, Volkswagen or it may be purchased by grassroots and other foreign companies. The min- organizations for $95 and $225 for edu- istry wants China’s central and local cational and insitutional use. Contact: governments to divert more money into New Day Films, 22D Hollywood Ave., highway and road construction and to Hohokus, NJ 07423, phone (201) 652- support an automobile-based economy. 1989, fax (201) 652-1973 But China’s scientific community, in a major report last summer, began a cam- Korean Auto Manufacturer Bets paign to challenge this policy. Ticking the Bank on Central Europe off the problems of China’s future ener- gy supplies, worsening pollution and One of the largest players in the Central the shortage of land, one of the country’s European automobile market is leading physicists, Prof. He Zuoxi con- Daewoo, the debt-ridden Korean auto cluded that China just simply cannot manufacturer with a reputation for poor sustain the development of a car econo- quality products. Daewoo has invested my. He fears, however, that government $5 billion into Central Europe, gambling policy is being driven by a desire to keep that low labor costs there will create an two million auto workers employed. In excellent launching pad not only for addition, many top officials in Li’s cabi- sales to , where auto sales net come from the auto industry. jumped 30% last year, but also for the effective crime fighters. Source: New York Times lucrative Western European market. Daewoo outbid General Motors for the accidents were the ninth leading cause Palm Springs take-over of Poland’s state automobile of death and disability in the world. By company Fabryka Samochodow the year 2020, the world road traffic toll De-Motorizing Southern California? Osobowych, bidding $1.1 billion. In the will have jumped to third place world- last two years, Daewoo also bought a wide, second for developing countries. When ITDP members John and Dorothy Czech truck manufacturer for $200 mil- Developed countries tend to have more Harte first moved to Palm Springs from lion, a Polish truck manufacturer for total deaths from traffic accidents per Key West, Fla, they sold their bikes $700 million, and a car factory in capita, while developing countries tend because the streets in Palm Springs were continued on p.15

13 SUSTAINABLETRANSPORT

upgrades in the townships are not being ship “civics” are integrated into a national South Africa carried out in coordination with other organization, the South African National continued from p.11 metropolitan transportation and land use Civic Association (SANCO), which facili- planning initiatives. Meanwhile, a number tates communication and represents the grate policy-making and resource alloca- of expensive highway expansion projects civics at provincial and national levels. In tion among its various transportation are underway. Institutional competition some cases, strong civics have been able to agencies into a new “Metropolitan and resistance, as well as political inatten- impose a measure of local, informal regu- Transport Authority,” as required by tion, is hampering the formation of an lation on combi service, especially regard- national law. If structured and managed effective Metropolitan Transport ing fares. effectively, the MTAs could be critical Authority. The provincial (Gauteng) •Rail passenger groups: In its efforts to mechanisms for reorienting transport poli- Transport Ministry, traditionally in charge build a greater sense of citizen “owner- cy along the lines described in the RDP. of highway construction and operation, ship” of the rail system, Metrorail has favors a provincial-scale MTA, encom- organized “focus groups” of township Johannesburg: Disarray passing Johannesburg and Pretoria, while commuter train riders (SANCO participat- But Cape Town appears to be the Johannesburg municipal and metropolitan ed in establishing these in some areas). exception among South Africa’s major governments favor MTAs for each city. The groups are generating many more cities. In Johannesburg, by far the coun- demands than mid-level rail officials can try’s largest city, no public figure has Mobilizing the Masses or want to handle. It may not be long emerged to put transportation on the pub- Growing popular discontent with bad before focus group participants gain suffi- lic map the way Ramatlakane has done for conditions and the pace of change has the cient experience with the bureaucracy to Cape Town. On the contrary, Johannes- potential to make transportation reform a lift their sights higher and begin to articu- burg’s most well-known transport figure serious social movement in South Africa. late their wants at the political level, as of late is a mid-level bureaucrat who uni- The following groups would likely play independent activist commuter associa- laterally altered many bus routes and key roles: tions. schedules without any public notice. •Civic associations: Grassroots township •Local political organizations: The Other than problems in the taxi industry, organizations provided a pillar of opposi- minibus boycotts were organized by local transport issues seem all but ignored by tion to apartheid in the 1980s and 1990s civics and political party branches — the top leadership. and remain a vital non-governmental organizations best positioned to marshall Possibilities for expanding Johannes- force in the country today. Many town- public sentiment behind a platform for burg’s public transportation system have been studied and re-studied. London Transport examined the potential for pas- Rebuilding Rails, and Image senger rail development, with options that include a network of subway lines and a major corridor traversing down- Metrorail, a national agency that townships to increase a public sense of town with termini in Alexandra and runs South Africa’s ser- “ownership” of the system. Some of its Soweto (Feasibility Study into a Mass vice, estimates that 30-40% of train rid- stations are being designed for better Transit System for Johannesburg — ers are fare evaders, costing the rail- ticket-verification. Ironically, railroad “MassTran,” 1991). Other recent studies ways $35 million annually. This is vari- and the national government are seri- commissioned by regional planners ably attributed to poverty and unem- ously discussing privatizing or selling include a Travel Demand Survey (1993), a ployment in the townships, as a habit concessions to run the trains — steps Rail Upgrade Study (1993) a Regional persisting from anti-apartheid non- which would probably retard public Passenger Transport Plan (1994) and oth- payment campaigns or as a protest identification with the system. ers. Together, the studies contain hun- against crowded and dirty trains. Metrorail suffered a major setback dreds of unimplemented steps to improve Metrorail also loses about $2 million a in this regard July 31. Private security transportation in the Johannesburg area. year to vandalism and theft of guards hired to enforce payment at The Metropolitan Council and regional materials. Oakmoor Station in Tembisa, a town- planners are now considering another Current priority is repairing long- ship between Pretoria and Johannes- study to sort all the recommendations out. neglected facilities, and upgrading burg, threatened to use electric prods But on the streets, levels of bus service some of its busiest, most dilapidated amid the crush of morning commuters. have remained static since the last years of stations. There are no definitive plans In the ensuing stampede, 15 were - the apartheid regime, while capital invest- for system expansion, although only pled to death. Later, enraged residents ment in the commuter rail system — with about 15% of South Africa’s urban pop- attacked a Metrorail building and the exception of a few high-profile pro- ulation now has decent access to com- burned several trains. Horrified jects like the renovation of Johannesburg’s muter train service. observers said the image of security central into a regional inter- To combat fare beating and proper- personnel and police standing over modal bus/train/taxi hub — is barely suf- ty destruction, the rail agency has township dead was a scene they did not ficient to repair old infrastructure. attempted to develop a dialogue in expect to have to witness again. –J.O. Regional planners say that rail station

14 WINTER 1997

improved mobility and access for town- locations. This in turn begs the question of cial cars for new government figures and a ship residents, better township quality of whether privatization or concession of a resultant “windscreen perspective” life and long-term urban viability. service would include guaranteed service among the post-apartheid leadership may •Environmental groups: South Africa’s levels and regulations on fares. There is already be a contributing factor to the growing environmental movement, repre- ample room for community watchdog stagnation of transportation policy in sented by groups like Johannesburg’s efforts relative to the transit operators. most metropolitan areas. Unless today’s Group for Environmental Monitoring, is •Fair share campaigns for pressing town- opportunity is seized, the RDP’s vision of concerned about transportation issues, ship infrastructure needs like pavement, equity and sustainability may be lost, and could provide critical research and drainage, sidewalks, lighting and better allowing the “public transport last” reality technical assistance in areas like structur- transit stations vs. high per capita invest- to persist and possibly become even more ing the MTAs around least-cost planning ment in well-off, infrastructurally rich pronounced. That in turn will perpetuate principles consistent with the “public communities. the profound have/have not gulf and transport first” principle. An important component of this need is Strong public mobilization is necessary reflected in pedestrian safety. 50% of black Sustainable Transportation even where officials are promoting “tran- traffic fatalities are pedestrians, in large sit first” policies. Even in Cape Town, pri- part because of non-existent or poor walk- News Briefs orities and solutions need to be articulated ing facilities or investment in pedestrian “from the ground” by representatives of safety. Studies supporting higher levels of continued from p.13 township commuters, not just with a view investment in townships can compare to providing mobility for the pending pedestrian fatality rates in well-off sub- Craiova, Romania for $53 million, as (2004) Olympic urbs and the town- well as components factories in Games. Motorist ships and demand Hungary. Daewoo’s CEO, Mr. Kim fees, regulating and that safety and Woo Choong, who is under indictment taxing minibus infrastructure in Korea for bribes, said he expects to taxis, and supplant- Growing popular resources target borrow 60% of the cost of the new ven- ing combis with areas of highest tures from ‘international banks.’ Asked new trains and discontent with risk. Pedestrian about productivity in Daewoo’s Polish buses has until now safety campaigns factory, one shop floor supervisor com- only been dis- bad conditions and are now limited to mented “I’m here every day from 6:30 cussed. Organizing “get out of the AM to 9:00 PM That’s new.” the large natural the pace of change way”-type educa- Source: New York Times constituencies for could spark a tional campaigns. transportation •Structuring met- Transport Now Consumes change can give ropolitan planning More Energy Than Industry progressive policy- transport-reform and resource alloca- makers the backing tion frameworks to The European Union’s statistical office, and power needed social movement in recognize the full Eurostat, concluded that transport now for decisive action. fiscal, social and uses up more energy than industry in South Africa. environmental costs the EU. The report, Toward a People’s of the auto- and the Environment - Energy and Transport Program mobile/highway Fiscal Aspects, shows that transport’s Key issues for launching potent grass- system and to prioritize the needs of the share of energy consumption in EU roots transportation improvement cam- transit-dependent. Intervention in the for- countries has risen from 16.7% in 1960 paigns include those listed below. Modest mation of the mandated Metropolitan to 30.8% in 1994. Road vehicles share of research and organizing capacity could Transport Authorities presents an oppor- total transport energy consumption turn each of these areas into a major arena tunity for grassroots initiatives to heavily rose from 57% in 1960 to a staggering for significant public mobilization: influence the direction of future policy. 83.3% in 1994. At the same time, rail •Regional fair share campaigns for public The need for public pressure is urgent. transport’s share fell from 30.7% to transport, especially serving townships vs. Rising incomes and redistribution of 2.7% in the same time period. Air trav- roads that benefit rich car owners. One wealth are likely to produce fast growth in el is up from 6.4% to 11.5%. Eurostat estimate says South Africa spends about South Africans households with access to also established a clear relationship $18 billion on cars every year, so the prob- a car. South Africa’s per capita income is between the price of transport and the lem is not lack of money, but the political indeed approaching a level that, in other amount people travel, saying that power to channel it where it is most need- countries, has touched off rapid motoriza- whereas people had to spend 7.7% of ed. Advocates should support efforts like tion. The growth of motorists as an inter- their net disposable income to buy 1000 Cape Town’s policy of using motorist user est group will complicate the politics of liters of fuel, they now have to pay fees to boost public transport. transport and may dull the urgency of only 4.9%. A related issue is the adequacy and cost adopting “public transport first” strate- Source: T&E of public transport service in particular gies. Indeed, the ample provision of offi-

15 SUSTAINABLETRANSPORT Bikeways Come to Lima’s Mean Streets

By Deike Peters

On the way from the to downtown Lima, choking is a prohibitive price for poorer people who also have no access from exhaust, and stuck in a nightmare of horns blaring in grid- to credit. More than 50% of Lima’s households have monthly locked traffic, I was surprised to see a construction crew narrow- incomes of $208 or less, and 25% of these even have incomes of ing a road in order to construct a bikepath. Did the traffic situa- $80 or less. tion have to deteriorate into this war zone for cyclists and pedes- By 1992, the Metropolitan government began implementing trians before things could change? Lima’s first non-motorized transport pilot project. Then, in 1994, I’d seen the statistics. In recent years, over 1,350 people a year the World Bank came through with both technical assistance and have been killed by motor vehicles in financing for the project. Of the pro- Lima, and over 70% of the victims are ject’s estimated $4.1 million price tag, bicyclists or pedestrians. A pedestrian $3 million would be financed by loans or cyclist is 5 times more likely to be Lima has commited from the World Bank as part of a larger run down by a car in Lima than in New $150 million loan for Transport York, and every car in Lima kills 22 itself to increasing bike Rehabilitation in Peru. The rest will be times as many pedestrians and cyclists provided by the municipality. as the average New York City motorist. The main project cost, $2.8 million, While traffic fatalities were generally use from 2% to 10% will go to the construction of the bike- declining in other countries, Lima suf- ways, and another $200,000 went to the fered an increase at a rate of about 3.6 of total trips feasibility study. The proposed bike- percent per year between 1977 and way will connect low-income areas in 1987. the Northern Cone of Lima with an important urban industrial How a bike lane project was possible in a city where official zone, where nearly 9,000 different enterprises employ over 70,000 transport statistics still completely ignore non-motorized trans- people (see map). Once finished, the overall construction project port was a mystery to me at first — until I met Jenny Testino, the will provide 51 km of dedicated cycleways and 35km of bike director of Lima’s Non-Motorized Transport Program. Over the paths on reconditioned service roads. Most of the people in this last decade, Jenny Testino, a long-time community activist and area live within 6 km of their workplace (a distance ideal for bike nine-time Peruvian National Cycling Champion has been tireless commuting) and are poorly served by public transit and para- in her efforts to make Lima a more bikable city. Today, under the transit services which are both expensive and irregular. leadership of an energetic new mayor supportive of non-motor- ized transport, Lima has launched a plan to increase bicycle use Making Bikes Affordable for Everyone by building bikelanes, making low interest loans available to The pilot project also set up a $600,000 credit facility: a revolv- help low income families buy bicycles, and by promoting bicycle ing loan fund which will give out $100 credits repayable over a use. Some of the main links in central Lima opened this summer. 12 month period for the purchase of a bicycle. Thus, the fund will Jenny Testino, whose continued personal engagement was be able to give out over 17,000 loans during the first two years of crucial to the success of this non-motorized program, is one of the credit scheme. In order to be eligible, people only have to these rare people able to bridge the gap between the grassroots prove that they live in the area, that their annual income does not and City Hall and maintain political support for her project exceed $1,800 and that they do not have more than $5,000 in their

across party lines. Her non-motorized? transport program has accounts. The credit facility will be managed by the Caja also received attention from the media. El Sol, Limas most impor- Municipal de Credito Popular de Lima, (CMCPL) and disbursed tant daily, ran a major article on the new bike lane. through its local offices, through participating NGOs, and Success did not come overnight, however. Jenny and other through industrial enterprises in the project area through payroll community activists worked for many years to convince the deduction schemes. Municipality of Lima to promote increased bike use. Their first Results of a socio-economic survey revealed that 67% of the big breakthrough was in the early nineties, when they convinced men and 57% of the women interviewed in the area would travel the Municipality to sign ‘Degree 159,’ which promised to increase by bicycle if they had access to one. And over 80% of the busi- non-motorized transport use from 2% to 10% of total trips. nesses in the area, together employing over 50,000 workers, are Studies indicated that 55% of commuters would be willing to supportive of the credit system. The larger factories have also commute by bicycle if bicycling was safer and more affordable. been approached about providing bike parking facilities. Average prices for bikes range from $160 to $300 in Peru, which The loan scheme offers three different bikes to its participants:

16 WINTER 1997

the Peruvian-built Goliat, the Chinese pollution and fuel consumption soar- Fiverams (both $100, no gears) and ing. Marginal regions, however, the Indian Hero ($99, six gears). The which were formerly called social total loan will cover an estimated $91 routes and subsidized under ENA- of the cost of the bike, and at monthly TRU service, now faced cutbacks in pay-back installments estimated at service because of their low prof- $9, $8 of interest will be paid on the itability. Only about one sixth of loan. Lima’s 12,000 public transport vehi- Considering that 72% of all the cles are large, modern buses with a people in the project area use buses capacity of about 100 passengers, and or mini-vans to commute, and spend these usually run along the most about $25 of their monthly incomes profitable routes in the center. The on transport, the introduction of the remaining 10,000 vehicles are old, bicycle will save recipients $16 a high-polluting, and generally unli- month. For the very low income peo- censed minivans, all competing des- ple, this could increase their annual perately for fares on the mean streets income by as much as 8% in the first of Lima. Over a third of these vans year, and more in following years are over 20 years old. Since the old- once the bicycle is paid for. For the est, most inferior vehicles were 22% of the target population who unable to compete well downtown, currently walk, it is likely to cut their they eventually started servicing the travel times in half. marginal areas, thus filling in the gap Jenny Testino already has plans left after ENATRU’s liquidation. for similar projects in Cuzco and These old vans are generally of poor

Arequipa. Why not City, photo: The World Bank quality and unreliable, suffering from Bogota and Port-au-Prince? Lima’s planned bike network frequent breakdowns. The govern- ment also decided to allow the Poor Still Bear Brunt of Lima’s Mobility Crisis import of used vehicles of up to 10 years of age. Car ownership Even with this very progressive non-motorized project in in Lima, which had been consistent at about 270,000 throughout place, the larger picture is hardly encouraging. Given current most of the eighties, exploded, soon surpassing the 370,000 mark growth rates, there is no end in sight for congestion, motorization and is estimated to reach half a million by the end of the century. and worsening air pollution in Lima. The city grew from under With rising unemployment and virtually no regulation on public two million in the 1960s to 6.4 million in 1993 and is expected to transport, many of these newly imported cars are being used as approach 8 million before the end of the century. Lima is the fifth taxis. Lima now literally swarms with thousands of new taxi cabs largest metropolis in Latin America, and the poorest one among stealing fares from the buses and mini-vans. As many as 15,000 them, with average yearly incomes of less than $1,700 per capita. of them are operating unofficially without a taxi license. While average people rely on buses or mini-vans, which accounts Housewives, retirees, academics and other out-of work family for about 50 percent of all trips, or walking, which accounts for heads now cruise the city’s streets moonlighting as taxi drivers, another 38 percent of all trips, a disproportionate share of road many of them without any significant driving experience, let space is consumed by private cars and taxis. alone driver’s licenses. Accident rates are soaring. Despite bikes’ great potential to fill a much needed gap in Lima’s current transport system, most of the public money still Prospects for the Future goes into improving conditions for motorized modes. The bike The city obviously needs to address its serious transport component of the 1994 World Bank Transport Loan, while laud- problems on several fronts. Both the taxis and the public trans- able, only accounted for 2% of the total $150 million loan. port systems need to be better regulated. New exclusive bus Low-income people continue to pay a disproportionately lanes should be designated and traffic safety must be improved high price for their mobility. Most of them live in informal settle- for all transport participants, including non-motorized users and ments, or pueblos jovenes, at the fringes of the city, facing pedestrians. The city also needs to set up a metropolitan transit extremely high commuting costs and/or long walking distances. planning authority which would be able to oversee these devel- The roads in the neighborhoods are also often unpaved, thus opments. making vehicle access more difficult. Proponents of sustainable transport face institutional obsta- To make matters worse, public bus service to many pueblos cles in Lima. Lima’s planners and engineers in the transport jovenes was terminated in the early 1990s as part of the privatiza- planning bureaucracy tend to share the traditional bias towards tion of ENATRU, Lima’s former public transport authority. As accommodating additional motor vehicle traffic, rather than con- part of a package of government austerity measures intending to centrating on managing existing traffic flows, let alone reducing reduce ENATRU’s deficits and enhance competition, the munici- them. Unless decison makers rethink their overall approach, pality declared freedom of bus operations, fares, and routes in however, the bike pilot project is likely to remain a unique initia- inter-urban transport. As a result, the major travel corridors in the center soon became oversupplied and congested, with air continued on p.21

17 SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT

Fighting the M3 Highway in Hungary

By Walter Hook

Hungary continues to pour its scarce public funds into new, unneeded high- ways. Construction continues along the M5 highway from to the South, the M7 towards Lake Balaton, the M15 connecting the recently completed M1 (from Budapest to Vienna) to Germany, and the M3 towards the Ukraine. This explosion of highway spending is not only accelerating the shift to truck and car; it is also driving Hungary deeper into debt. Fortunately, a major coalition of Western and Eastern NGOs is fighting to prevent Hungary from going down this unsustain- able path. Because Hungary was already deeply in debt when the transition occurred in 1989, the government decided to build most new highways as privately operated toll roads, where in theory the tolls would The M3 Highway: Hungary’s Road to Nowhere cover the costs of construction and ongo- ing maintenance. It also set up a road ‘White Elephant’. The World Bank found Budapest-Lvov-Kiev priority TENs corri- fund, to collect gas tax revenues and ear- the road was not economically viable, and dor, however, the EIB was willing to mark them for ongoing road maintenance. feels Hungary should spend more on finance the first section of the M3 despite Unfortunately, even the M1 from maintenance and less on new roads. Even World Bank economic appraisals showing Budapest to Vienna, the most financially the Ministry of Transport concedes that the benefits to be barely high enough to viable toll road, is an economic debacle. the economic justification for building the cover the cost of capital. Germany, who’s Toll revenues are 45% lower than project- M3 highway is weak, and the main justifi- companies are planning investments into ed, and loans will have to be rescheduled. cation for the road is political. The a special economic zone in Eastern Virtually all Hungarian drivers are taking European Investment Bank and the Hungary, also provided willing financing. alternative routes to avoid the toll, creat- German Government’s Kreditanstalt fur The EIB and KFW loans for the M3 ing environmental problems along the Wiederaufbau (KFW), however, were went ahead despite conclusive evidence parallel corridors. The M5 and the M7 willing to finance the project anyway. that the planning and evaluation of the highways, also to be operated as tolled M3 had not followed EU directives. No private concessions, are not expected to be The M3 and the Trans-European public hearings were held to discuss alter- self-financing. The road fund is already Network Extensions natives to the M3, in obvious violation of virtually bankrupt, spending over 20% of The M3 highway is part of planned EU directives. Furthermore, the new revenues on interest payments to Trans-European Network’s (TENs) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) multilateral development banks. Central Europe extensions; corridors ignored the impact of the road on Hungarian politicians, hoping to give which the European Union (EU) has increased traffic inside Budapest, increas- voters some signs of progress, have over- decided are critical to the creation of a sin- es in traffic on residential areas along invested in new prestige projects like gle European market. The EU is pushing alternative routes, and on animal habitats superhighways and metros, and under- Hungary to build the TENs, and making in the corridor, all in violation of EU invested in basic road and transit mainte- EIB loans and PHARE grants available to norms. A new EIA currently indicates that nance, and safety. According to the World facilitate their development. resulting air emissions in surrounding Bank, Hungary has a $300 million backlog The planned tolls on the M3, already neighborhoods may be in violation of in basic road maintenance and safety too high according to many Hungarians, public health codes. expenditures. are too low to cover the costs of construc- In short, the economic and political Of all Hungary’s ambitious new road tion, and barely sufficient to cover mainte- unification agendas of Germany and the schemes, the M3 highway is the biggest nance. As part of the Trieste-Ljubljana- continued on p.21

18 WINTER 1997

packages, advertising it as a quintessential be large. Finally, there is a good possibili- Taj Mahal Indian experience. Tourists’ main deter- ty of exports. Even the current heavy cycle continued from p.9 rents from riding in the current vehicles rickshaw is being exported to Europe. are safety and embarrassment about cases, improved vehicle designs were exploiting the wallah. Engendering A Supportive Policy developed, but were never incorporated The initial market is conservatively Environment into commercial production, mainly estimated at 50 to 100 vehicles in the first A supportive public policy environ- because they tried to remedy too many of year, hopefully rising to several hundred ment would also help. Improvements in

Previous cycle rickshaw improvement projects failed to identify a viable market for a superior vehicle. the cycle rickshaw’s faults at once. Project as tourism increases and the vehicles gain the traffic safety environment, further traf- sponsors also failed to work closely with acceptance. The Chamber of Commerce fic calming or restrictions on motorized the cycle rickshaw industry. All of the estimates that at least 330 daily visitors traffic, and a network of safe cycleways work was done by universities and would be willing to visit the Taj Mahal by connecting the main landmarks, would all NGO’s, with minimal cooperation from cycle rickshaw; maybe it would be called greatly improve the chances of success. the private sector, who viewed the project the “Taj Taxi.” At three trips a day, 100 Clearly, restrictions on the use of cycle with skepticism. They also tried to distrib- vehicles would meet this level of demand. rickshaws in Indian cities are dampening ute the vehicle only to rickshaw investor enthusiasm in new puller cooperatives to ensure the human powered technologies, benefits would all go to the wal- and must be challenged. An lahs. By ignoring the owners, exemption to the commercial however, they ignored the most vehicle excise tax for non-motor- powerful buyers in the cycle rick- ized vehicles would also help shaw market. encourage the large scale manu- facturers to develop improved, The Market for a Better Cycle entirely mass produced cycle Rickshaw rickshaws. Finally, and perhaps most The granting of a cycle rickshaw importantly, previous upgrading license with special privileges projects failed to clearly identify a such as access to military canton- market for an up-scale cycle rick- ments, hotel driveways, public shaw. But because of the proximi- parks, and the Taj surroundings ty of the hotel district to the Taj photo: Matteo Martgnoni could help to create incentives to Mahal, the 4 km2 ban on motor- Children headed to school, India adopt the new improved cycle ized vehicles around the Taj, the rickshaw, but ensuring that the lack of parking facilities, and the preva- They could also be used around the other total number of cycle rickshaw licenses is lence of narrow, congested, winding tourist sites in Agra, and eventually in expanded rather than reduced will be crit- streets, a concentrated market of higher other Indian cities. ical to the project’s success. income tourists exists for an improved If the wallah charged a plausible 100 Developing a cycle rickshaw of superi- cycle rickshaw. Only the much higher rev- Rupiah (roughly $3.00) for a round-trip or design could improve its public image, enues from the lucrative and increasingly from the Taj Mahal to the hotels, at three reduce the level of exploitation of the wal- important tourist market could facilitate trips per day, the wallah could afford to lah, and demonstrate that ‘modernization’ the introduction of an improved technolo- pay $3.00 in a rental fee for the vehicle, need not mean ‘motorization.’ This would gy, which, once mass produced, could and still earn $6.00 per day; roughly 10 help ensure the long term viability of this also become competitively priced. times the current fee. Hence, revenues non-polluting mode. But the introduction This upscale tourist market is precisely from this elite cycle rickshaw service of the new vehicle should not be used as a where the modern cycle rickshaws devel- should allow for a vehicle costing approxi- pretext to ban the older vehicles. Growing oped in the U.S. and Europe have found a mately ten times the cost of the current restrictions on the current cycle rickshaw niche. Their successful introduction into vehicle, or up to $1,000.00. Further market is having disastrous consequences for the the U.S. and Europe shows that if the research will be conducted once a viable cycle rickshaw manufacturers, owners, vehicle is modern enough, and the driver prototype or prototypes are developed. wallahs, and local residents who rely on of the vehicle does not appear to be strain- Another possible market for an them. The new vehicle should provide ing enormously, cycle rickshaws can gain improved vehicle is wealthy Indian fami- another option in the transport market, market acceptance among Western lies who still tend to use the cycle rick- rather than replace the current cycle rick- tourists. In fact, most Western tours to shaw to take their children to school. The shaw, which has proven its viability. ♦ Agra include a rickshaw ride in their potential market for such a vehicle would

19 SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT

and provide financial incentives for the and project selection could be strength- adoption of automated electronic systems ened by guaranteeing effective, timely ISTEA to collect road and parking user fees. and cost-free access to planning docu- continued from p.7 ments, electronic data and other informa- Requirements to Improve the Planning tion developed with federal assistance. against the ‘donor’ states, that pay more Process The right of court action to uphold federal in gas taxes than they receive back, More explicit requirements for consid- ISTEA requirements could be made avail- including California, Texas, and Florida. eration of alternatives to current policies able to all stakeholders to support timely Urban and inner-suburban progress in transportation interests, and environmentalists, reforms. however, are also likely be aligned against ex-urban and Limits on Grandfathering of rural interests. Urbanized areas Projects received 46% of federal funds for When the CAAA and roads in FY95, although they ISTEA were passed in 1990-91, represent 64% of the nation’s hundreds of planned but not yet population. On a per capita started highway projects already basis, urbanized areas got only “in the pipeline” received $54 in FY95 federal road funds, approval in the past under much compared to $115 for non-urban- weaker EPA and DOT guide- ized areas and $98 for rural lines. ISTEA II could put a time areas. State DOTs continue to limit on projects that have been direct the majority of roadway exempted from ISTEA and spending to new high speed Clean Air Act rules. roads and additional lanes (aver- aging around 54%), in sparsely Federal Research into populated areas at the edge of Intelligent Transportation metropolitan areas, encouraging Systems (ITS) further sprawl, at the expense of Over half of all federal urban, inner suburban, and rural transportation research spend- areas which face deteriorating ing has been dedicated to ITS, pavement conditions and transit which encompasses a wide services. range of information, communi- Thus, many environmental- cations, and control system tech- ists and representatives from nologies applied to surface urban areas would like to ensure transportation. While ITS could a fairer and more predictable be applied to public transit, trav- share of federal transportation el demand management, and funding for metropolitan areas other progressive measures, it by requiring State Plans and has focused mostly on strategies TIPs to allocate federal funds to that make driving more attrac- MPOs based on federally- tive. More ITS research funds

defined objective criteria of photo: Transportation Alternatives should be targeted to enhance need, such as population, VMT, With local advocacy and flexible funding, performance of public and inter- congestion level, and air quality. ISTEA can help make our cites safer modal transportation as well as other alternatives to single-pas- Promoting Fair and Efficient senger motor vehicle travel. Pricing and the measurement of benefits of alter- ISTEA opened the door to increased natives against both national and regional Conclusion cost recovery on road projects with a pilot policy goals and benchmarks could assure Since the late 1980s, many communi- program for congestion pricing, that in better long-range plans. States like Maine ties across America have begun the slow selected cases waives long-standing and Oregon have pioneered such and challenging process of reducing an restrictions on the imposition of tolls on approaches under state legislation to almost total dependence on private single highways built with federal aid. The assure that new highway capacity projects passenger motor vehicle travel. The President’s Council on Sustainable proceed only if all reasonably available upcoming months will determine Development recommended elimination options for improving the efficient use of whether the reforms brought in by ISTEA of such restrictions. ISTEA II might also existing infrastructure have been evaluat- and the CAAA will be strengthened, or expand incentives for full social cost ed. whether the highway lobby will turn back recovery and private sector involvement Involvement of citizens in planning the clock. ♦

20 WINTER 1997

Peru ty program, and a program to reduce traf- mine the financial and environmental sus- continued from p.17 fic generated air pollution. The new loan tainability of a road system already also ensures continued support for improperly maintained. The completion tive unable to relieve the city from its improving non-motorized transport and of the ring road would also require the coming transport collapse. pedestrian facilities. resettlement of at least 900 households, Plans for a $100 million World Bank Unfortunately, the highway lobby and many of them of low income, pushing loan to the city of Lima, with a possible city officials have convinced Bank officials more people out of the central city and additional $100 million in joint financing to include in the loan significant funds for increasing their mobility needs. from the Inter-American Development a ring road in Northern Lima, ostensibly The World Bank loan is still under Bank, include funds for an impressive to relieve the traffic congestion in inner negotiation until 1998. With mounting program to improve transport conditions, Lima. Listing such an expensive new con- external opposition to the ring road, there including street paving in low-income struction project in the loan at a time is still time to redirect this money to more areas, road maintenance projects, traffic when vehicles in Lima continue to swerve sustainable uses. Given Lima’s aged bus management improvements, a traffic safe- around potholes, can only further under- fleets and lack of exclusive bus lanes, sure-

flowed into the region, as Western motorways show the exact same rate of M3 investors have favored Western Hungary. economic growth as those of similar size continued from p.18 Unemployment in the region is high, and not on motorways. Furthermore, countries voters are angry. with extremely low levels of road infra- European Union over-rode the concerns of Trade with the Ukraine and the former structure per capita such as the Newly the World Bank regarding Hungary’s Soviet Union fell off after 1989, and traffic Industrializing Countries and Japan have indebtedness, and even over-rode many in the M3 corridor fell by nearly a third. achieved very high rates of economic of the EU’s own directives. The Ukraine, feeling capacity in the corri- growth. Hungary’s Clean Air Action Group dor is already sufficient to handle the Nor is road construction necessarily (CAAG) called on the support of interna- reduced trade, announced it will not build the best way for public investment to gen- tional NGOs to help convince the EIB to a road to meet the M3 for at least two erate jobs. While in the past, road con- stop funding the M3. Friends of the Earth, decades. Building the M3 in this corridor struction and automobile manufacturing France and the CEEC Bankwatch Network under these cir- were extremely set up a meeting in September between cumstances can labor-intensive, the EIB and Eastern and Western only drive up the today road con- Environmental NGOs to discuss the M3. already severe Unemployment in Eastern struction and auto- Details of the M3 case were assembled by debts of Hungarian Hungary makes road mobile manufactur- ITDP and the CAAG,and presented to EIB National Railroad ing are very capital officials. The EIB admitted that public by further weaken- projects attractive, but will intensive. Recent hearings had not been held, and that the ing demand for rail they bring jobs? studies from economic rate of return was very low. in the corridor. Germany indicate Bank officials confirmed that they had Nonetheless, 40 that spending DM1 only agreed to fund a small initial section Members of Parlia- billion on highways of the M3, and that there were no plans to ment from Eastern Hungary, from the is likely to yield 14,000 - 19,000 jobs, while finance further sections. Nonetheless, the Socialist Party, are pushing for the road, the same public investment into railroads EIB refused to release any documents on hoping it will help bring investment and would create 22,000 jobs, and light rail the economic or environmental analysis. jobs to the region. They are supported by would create 23,000 jobs. Nor is promot- The fight will now be carried to the the Ministry of Industry and Trade, ing an automobile industry necessarily Directors of the EIB, the European Hungary’s ‘highway lobby,’ local mayors, cost effective. Each job created in the auto Parliament which already feels the EIB is Socialist Party organizations, and the industry cost the Hungarian Government unaccountable, and to the governments of biggest association of trade unions. roughly $19,400 a year, and over $151,500 member states. But the economic development effects per permanent job. This compares to a of road construction are difficult to pre- national average of only $3,846 per job per Will New Roads Bring Development to dict. According to Ken Gwilliam, a lead- year. Eastern Hungary? ing transport economist at the World The people of Eastern Hungary have Bank, “As far as regional development is Lack of Investment into Public Transit in legitimate concerns about unemployment concerned, we have seen little strong evi- Eastern Hungary and lack of investment. Eastern Hungary dence to suggest that motorway invest- With public bus, tram and trolley lines is heavily industrialized, and many of the ment is a powerful influence on inter- in serious disrepair, why don’t Eastern old socialist-era factories have closed. regional location of activity.” Other stud- Hungary’s politicians push for more pub- Meanwhile, little foreign investment has ies in England show that townships on lic transit investment in the region? The

21 SUSTAINABLETRANSPORT

The Car and the City. By Alan Planned Accession by Thein Durning. 1996. Contact Central Europe into the Northwest Environment European Union.“ By Watch, 1402 Third Ave. Suite New Titles Walter Hook, May, 1996. 112, Seattle, WA 98101-2118. Write to ITDP. $4.00.

”The Citizens’ Network: Fulfilling the Potential of Public Sustainable Transport: Priorities for Policy Reform. By the Passenger Transport in Europe.“ European Commission World Bank. c. 1996. pp.131. Order from The World Green Paper. In the U.S., contact UNIPUB, 4611-F Bank, 1818 H Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20433. The Assembly Drive, Lanham Md. 20706-4391, Tel: 1-800-274- new World Bank transport policy. Tel: (202) 477-1234; E- 4888, Fax: 301-459-0056. mail: [email protected].

Guide to the Global Environment: The Urban Environment. Sustainable Transport in Central and Eastern European Cities. By the World Resources Institute. c. 1996. $28.50. Contact By the OECD. c. 1995. pp. 250. $69.50. Order from OECD WRI Tel. 1 (800) 822-0504. Publications & Information Center, 2001 L Street, NW Suite 650. Washington, D.C. 20036-4910. Tel: 1 (800) 456- Innovations in Transportation & Air Quality: Twelve 6323. Fax: (202) 785-0350. Exemplary Projects. By US Department of Transportation. Publication # FHWA-PD-96-016. Contact FHWA Hotline Time to Tame Our Speed?: A Study of the Socio-economic (202) 366-2069. Cost and Benefits of Speed Reduction of Passenger Cars. By Research Group 2000, Delft University & Free University Inside the Black Box: Making Transportation Models a Tool for . Commissioned by Research Unit for Livable Communities. By Citizens for a Better Environment Integrated Transport Studies. c. 1996. pp. 90. Order from and the Environmental Defense Fund. Contact EDF P-IVVS, Postadres postbus 20903, 2500 EX Den Haag. Public Information at (202) 387-3500, 1875 Connecticut Fax: (070) 351 6558. Ave., NW 1016 Washington DC 20009. Tools for Life: A Start-up Guide to Youth Recycling and Internalizing the Social Costs of Transport 1994. By the Bicycling Programs. By George Babiak and Karen ECMT/OECD. c. 1996. Order from OECD Publications Overton. pp. 72. c. 1996. $3. Order from Transportation & Information Center, 2001 L Street, NW Suite 650, Alternatives, 92 St. Marks Place, NY, NY 10009. Washington DC 20036-4910. Tel: 1-800-456-6323. Fax: (202) 785-0350. Transporte No Motorizado. By Setty Pendakur (ed.) for the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank. Livable Communities and Traffic Calming. By Allan Jacobs. c. 1996. pp. 120. [in Spanish] Order from the IDB, 1300 MIT press, Cambridge MA. c. 1995. $30 New York Ave., N.W., Washington DC 20577.

Lost in Concrete: An Activists Guide to European Transport ”Velorution: One City’s Solution to the Automobile.“ A Policy. By ASEED. pp. 64. Also SEEDlinks: Transport Issue. 28 minute video documenting Cuba’s efforts to promote Contact A SEED Europe, PO Box 92066, 1090 AB cycling. $25. Contact Velocity Pictures, 33 Richdale Ave, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tel: 31-20-668-2236 Fax: #231 Cambridge MA 02140. Tel: (617) 876-9430. 31-20-6650166 E-mail: [email protected]. Urban Travel and Sustainable Development. 1995. Motorization and People-Centered Transport: A Perspective ECMT/OECD. Order from OECD Publications & on Korea. By Samjin Lim for Networks for Green Information Center, 2001 L Street, NW Suite 650. Transport. c. 1996. pp. 76. Order from Networks for Washington DC 20036-4910. Tel: 1 (800) 456-6323 Fax: Green Transport, Samyouk B/D Doryum-Dong, Jongno- (202) 785-0350. Gu, Seoul Korea, 110-051, Korea. Fax: 82-2-723-6287, E- mail: [email protected]. “Wheels Out of Balance - Suggested Guidelines for Intermodal Transport Lending at the World Bank: A Pro Bike/Pro Walk 96 Resource Book. By the Bicycle Case Study of Hungary.” By Walter Hook for ITDP. Federation of America. c. 1996. pp. 340. $50. Contact BFA, c. 1996. pp. 53. $10. Order from ITDP. 1506 21st St., Washington, DC 20036. World Transport & Policy Practice. By MCB University ”Reassessing Traffic Accidents in Developing Countries“ Press. Vol. 2, No. 3. c. 1996. pp. 42. Order from MCB By Eduardo Vasconcellos. Transport Policy. Vol. 2 No. 4. University Press, 60/62 Toller Lane, Bradford, West pp. 263-269. c. 1996. Write to ITDP for a copy. $3.00. Yorkshire, England BD8 9BY. Fax: 44 1274 785200. Edited by John Whitelegg. ”The Road to Europe: Transport Sector Implications of

22 WINTER 1997

BULLETIN BOARD

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington African-American Mobility Sympozium IV, Tampa, Florida, D.C., January 12 - 16th, Connecticut Ave. Collection Hotels USA. April 30 - May 2, 1997. Center for Transportation (Hilton: 1919 Connecticut Ave, N.W.). Non-Motorized Research at the University of S. Florida in Tampa. Transportation Task Force Meeting: Tuesday, 2-5 pm, Global Forum on Transport: Wed, 2:30 - 5:00, Thursday, 8:00 - 12:00. UITP Congress and City Transport ‘97 Exhibition, Second Biannual Conference of the International Public Transport Earth Summit II - UN Commission on Sustaianable Association, June 1 - 6, 1997, Stuttgart, Germany. Write to Development (5 Year Review of Agenda 21; transport will be UITP, Pierre Laconte, Ave. d’l’Urugua 19, B-1000, Brussels, key issue to be discussed at all meetings.) Contact UN Belgium, or email: [email protected]. Department for Policy Co-ordination and Sustainable Transport. NY, NY 10017. Tel: 212-963-8811 Fax: 212-963-1267 Velo City ‘97: 10th International Bicycle Planning E-mail: [email protected]. Conference, , Spain. September 15-19, 1997. Contact Prep Com I . UN Headquarters @ New York. February 24 - Congreso VELO-CITY 97, Ajuntament de Barcelona Ambit de March 7, 1997. la Via Publica, Pl. Pi I Sunyer 8-10 4t, E-08002 Barcelona Spain. Prep Com II. UN Headquarters @ New York. April 7 - 25, Tel: 34-3-402-3481 Fax: 34-3-402-3418. 1997. Earth Summit II. UN Headquarters @ New York. June 9 - Easts ‘97 Conference, Seoul, Korea, Eastern Asian Society for 13, 1997. Transportation Studies, October 29 - 31, 1997. For further infor- mation, write to Ms. Fujita H., c/o Prof. Dr. Hajime Inamura, American Planning Association, National Planning Chairman of the Intl. Scientific Committee to the EASTS, Dept. Conference, April 5 - 9, 1997. Bike Federation of America will of Civil Engineering, Tohoku Univ, Aodba, Aoba-ku, Sendai present On Walkable Communities. Contact BFA at 202-463- 980, Japan, FAx: 81-22-268-3689, email: inamura@ 6622, or APA, 312-431-9100. plan1.civil.tohoku.ac.jp.

then, have to provide 40% matching funds. government decentralized financial M3 Debrezen received national funds to responsibility for many social services continued from p.21 buy new tram cars and tracks. They without decentralizing the necessary tax planned to buy excellent, low cost authority to finance them. As a result, CAAG and ITDP, hoping to unify from the for immediate Debrezen can’t cover the 40% matching Hungary’s local public transit authorities delivery. Then the national government, funds, and is now ineligible for further and local governments to strengthen their trying to develop the Hungarian tram national grants. influence over the national transport bud- industry, pressured them to buy expen- The buses, meanwhile, are controlled get, met with planners and public transit sive, newly designed Hungarian trams. by Volanbus, the national intercity bus ser- officials in Debrezen, the largest city in After upgrading 1/5 of the tram network, vice, which is in the process of privatiza- Eastern Hungary. They told us national the new trams were delivered a year late, tion. The government is reluctant to invest funds for public transit were limited to and not in proper working order. So, they in a company about to be privatized. Once ‘environment funds’, financed out of gas continued running the old trams on the Volanbus is privatized, it is unclear tax revenues, and they had to compete new tracks, badly damaging the new whether the local bus services will also be against all other environmental projects for tracks. Meanwhile, the City Government’s privatized, or whether taken over by the funding each year. Nearly bankrupt cities, finances have deteriorated. The national municipalities. ♦ For Sale: Bicycle Cargo Trailers Haul groceries, furniture, lumber (even 4’ x 8’ plywood!) and more with your bike. 280 Printed on pound capacity. Handles L-O-N-G loads with ease. Works great on narrow paths & recycled roadways. Converts from box to flatbed in seconds. paper Brochure 50¢ Fresh Aire Deliv.

23 SustainableTransport We need your support! Your tax-deductible donations have not only helped to send several containers of donated bicycles to newly democratic Haiti and Mozambique and train mechanics there, but they have also convinced larger donors to do the same. Meanwhile, our work with NGOs in Asia and Eastern Europe has empowered them to join us in the fight against automobile-dependence. Help keep the wheels of the ‘velo’-lution turning with your contribu- tion and help!

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