News items from TheCityFix

A pedestrian crossing in Singapore. Photo by Scania Group.

Each time we travel extra miles in private cars, we emit more CO2, and we create more traffic related deaths and injuries (see data from the International Energy Agency and the World Health Organization). Each year 1.3 million die from traffic crashes on average; and the transport sector currently contributes approximately 13% of annual greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The CO2 we emit with transport is a function of how much we travel –in kilometers, and of the emission rate of our vehicles -in grams per kilometer. Similarly, traffic crashes are also a function of the exposure -in kilometers driven, and of the level of traffic crashes death risk -fatalities per kilometer driven. While road infrastructure design, better vehicles and other risk reduction measures have proven effective in decreasing the traffic deaths risk, it is important not to overlook the potential for further safety improvements from reducing exposure. We need to reduce distance traveled in private cars, and as we do so, we will also reduce our carbon footprint. We are in a win-win situation when we reduce our travel: less fatal crashes and less CO2 emitted.

Reducing distance traveled, increasing safety

Most traffic fatalities are preventable and predictable. Most traffic crashes are not accidents and even some traffic authorities have removed the term “accident” from their reports. Reducing traffic fatalities is a matter of making trips safer and reducing the length of individual motorized trips. Sustainable transport, in the form of protected facilities for walking and biking and well designed and operated public transport systems with transport demand management strategies, has the opportunity to provide us with a way out of our problems. Sustainable transport can help reducing trips in individual motor vehicles and making these trips of good quality – less hazardous than driving a private vehicle to work, not only for the vehicle’s driver but for all road users.

When looking at the reduction of distance traveled necessary to curb CO2 emissions, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has been looking at different scenarios. The reductions the IEA considers in distance traveled are calculated for their CO2 benefits. They project 151 billion vehicle kilometers saved by 2020, that is a 7% reduction. When we translate the targeted reductions in distance traveled into lives saved, we estimate that the reduced fatalities may be between 103,000 to 126,000 lives saved in year 2020 (the difference comes from different assumptions on risk rates[i]).

This is a remarkable reduction, but it is not enough to meet the ambitious targets pledged by the United Nations in the Decade of Action of Road Safety. The UN calls for a 50% reduction in fatalities in 2020 from the 1.3 million accounted for in 2010. If we assume a reduction in the fatality risk per kilometer driven in 5% a year (more than the current trend of 1.95%), distance traveled would have to be reduced by 58%.[ii] This is 8 times the proposed vehicle kilometer reduction projected by IEA.

Achieving these reduction targets on distance traveled and risk is not easy, but the synergies of combining the climate change and road safety agendas are clear and can provide incentives for the collaboration of the communities working on these critical issues. If we look closely, and further demonstrate the opportunities of collaborative work, then we can see sustainable transport and urban development initiatives as contributors to both the global road safety agenda and the climate change agenda.

Road safety risk reduction

Reducing road safety risks requires a complete set of policies and a systems approach as clearly laid out in the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety. The actions involve five pillars: building road safety management capacity; improving the safety of road infrastructure and broader transport networks; further developing the safety of vehicles; enhancing the behavior of road users; and improving post-crash care. This involves defining clear targets and working on the different components of the safety issues, as has been suggested, for example in the “Safe System Approach” by the International Transport Forum and the World Bank. Reducing risk through integrated and systematic approaches can continue to be the main target of the road safety policy, but can be effectively complemented with policies to avoid individual motor vehicle travel and shift travel from less efficient to more efficient modes (see for example, the transport chapter of UNEP´s Green Economy Report and the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013).

Safer mobility also means less climate change

If more effort is done to reach the Decade of Action road safety target (half of the 2010 road fatalities in 2020) through reductions in motor vehicle travel we can receive huge benefits in terms of reduced energy use and lower greenhouse gas emissions — a win-win situation. For instance a reduction in distance traveled in individual motor vehicles of 58%[iii] as compared with the IEA’s 4-degree scenario, would result in savings of 813 billion tons of oil equivalent and 2,857 million tons of CO2 eq.[iv] The level of energy consumption and GHG emissions would be 60% and 58.5%, respectively, of those in the IEA’s 4-degree scenario. This suggests that an effort on reducing exposure to road safety risks may also significantly lessen our burden on fossil fuels and place the planet much closer to avoiding the catastrophic impacts of climate change.

The promise of sustainable transport

This ambitious goal would have multiple benefits: not only we would escape the most daunting scenarios of extreme weather events, but we would also save hundreds of thousands of lives. We would also expect other improvements in the quality of life in cities resulting form reductions in congestion and in air pollution and eventual increases in physical activity. Thus, several important sustainability goals can be met through the same recipe. This is the challenge and the promise of sustainable transport.

The high level estimations indicated in this note should be studied further. There are open questions like the feasibility of reducing motorized travel to the target levels, and the regional differences from developed countries reaching peak travel and emerging nations rapidly motorizing. Also understanding and advancing integrated policies for risk reductions, particularly for sustainable transport initiatives (see, for example Traffic Safety on Bus Corridors: Pilot Version – Road Test). There is also a role for compact, mixed used and accessible urban development in reducing the need for individual motor vehicle travel, among other interesting topics. EMBARQ will continue advancing knowledge on these issues and working with governments, international organizations and initiatives, like the Global Road Safety Partnership, in making the promise a reality.

 

Notes:

[i] IEA projects travel in 25,452 billion vehicle-km in the 4 degree scenario and 23,678 billion in the 2 degree scenario. The intrinsic fatality rate in 2010 is 71.1 deaths/billion veh-km (from data reported at http://www.healthmetricsandevaluation.org/gbd/visualizations/country). If this rate is kept constant to 2020, the total number of fatalities would be 1,809,590 in the EIA´s 4 degree scenario and 1,683,462 in the 2 degree scenario. That is 126,128 lives saved in 2020.Nevertheless, the assumption of constant fatality rate may not hold, as the historic data has shown improvements over time. If the historic reduction in fatality rate of 1.95% per year observed form 2000-2010 continues during this decade, the risk would be 58.71 deaths/billion veh-km. With this rate the number of fatalities can be estimated at 1,481,531 in the IEA´s 4 degree scenario and in 1,381,990 in the 2 degree scenario. That means a 103,541 lives saved in 2020.

[ii] In this hypothetical scenario the risk would be estimated at 43.13 deaths/billion veh-km in 2020 (26.1% less than in the vegetative decline scenario and 39% less than in 2010). With this risk rate we would need to have less than 15,401 billion vehicle-km to have 664,270 traffic fatalities. This a 58% reduction from the vehicle travel projected in the IEA´s 4 degree scenario.

[iii] The estimated vehicle-km reduction required to achieve 664,270 road traffic deaths in 2020 with a risk rate of 43.13 deaths/billion vehicle-km. This needs a risk reduction of 5% per year, 2.56 times the reduction rate observed between 2000 and 2010. [iv] For this estimation, we use the intrinsic rates of oil consumption and CO2 eq derived from the IEA´s scenarios, that is 0.0791 tons of oil equivalent per billion veh-miles and 0.2629 tons of CO2 eq per billion vehicle miles. The 4 degree scenario projects oil consumption in 2,031 million tons and GHGs from transport in 6,890 million tons of CO2 equivalents.

Cyclists ride bike path along Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo by peskymonkey.

TheCityFix interviewed EMBARQ Health and Road safety expert, Claudia Adriazola-Steil, for World Health Day 2013:

Q1. How can we tackle the problem of rising obesity and physical inactivity through transport?

Lack of physical activity contributes to 3.2 million deaths annually, yet just 150 minutes of physical activity per week – about 20 minutes per day – can improve health and reduce the risk of disease. A study by the New York City Department of Health showed that those who take mass transport, cycle and walk as their main form of transport, receive more physical activity than those who rely on cars.

Physical activity can be promoted in neighborhoods through access to mass transport, bike and pedestrian paths, safe streets, connectivity between different transport modes, and a compact mix of housing, retail, parks and offices. One study showed that Barcelona’s Bicing bike sharing system saved an estimated 12 lives per year, mostly by getting people out of their cars and active on the streets.

Q2. How can sustainable transport save lives?

Traffic accidents claim over 1.3 million lives around the globe each year. Research has shown that more distance traveled in individual vehicles leads to more traffic fatalities. Thus, mobility can be made safer by reducing car travel and moving people through safely designed mass transport, walking, and biking infrastructure. In Guadalajara, Mexico, for example, just one lane of their corridor with an advanced bus system called Macrobus transports 5,000 passengers per hour, in each direction. Normal traffic lanes can only accommodate 3,194 passengers per hour and were the locus of 726 crashes in 2011. The advanced bus system saw only 6 accidents in the same year.

At the core of its road safety work, EMBARQ has undertaken policy initiatives bridging high-level declarations to real change in cities. In 2010, as a member of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration Group, EMBARQ worked to include mobility and sustainable transport in the Global Plan for the Decade of Action on Road Safety while working with national to local governments to put these international goals on the ground in countries. EMBARQ, together with the Association for Safe International Travel, Global Road Safety Partnership, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, World Bank Global Road Safety Facility, and the  World Health Organization, is part of the Bloomberg Global Road Safety Program, which works to improve road safety in the ten countries that make up almost 50 percent of all road traffic fatalities.

Q3. What do we need to do to make urban areas safer?

Thoughtful design that protects all road users — especially pedestrians and bicyclists — is crucial and can be achieved in ways ranging from improved crossings and intersections to traffic calming that reduces high impact crashes. Organizations like EMBARQ can work with local governments to implement urban codes supportive of mixed land use (less dependent on automobile use), street connectivity, and safe “street hierarchies,” which simply means designing streets that are appropriate for their use and context. High-speed arterial roads may be convenient and necessary for traffic patterns but should never be shared with pedestrians, cyclists, or implemented in areas with schools or hospitals, for example. It is a recipe for disaster. These areas require strict speed limits, more intersections, and safe and plentiful crossing opportunities. Long blocks without intersections naturally lead to longer distances traveled and more jay-walking mid-block.

Q4. How can safe transport contribute to the culture and identity of a city?

Striving to make more walkable and vibrant cities, EMBARQ Turkey has played a role in the pedestrianization of Istanbul’s Historic Peninsula, a United Nations World Heritage site which is home to thousands of residents, workers, and tourists. EMBARQ is now helping to plan and program the areas to ensure their vibrancy. In light of increasing air pollution, long commute times, and a desire to preserve its cultural and historic assets, the city of Arequipa, Peru — also classified a UNESCO World Heritage site — took the initiative to implement an advanced bus system and completely pedestrianize the first four blocks of Mercaderes, the main shopping street in downtown Arequipa.

In the slums, or favelas, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, bicycling and walking are already rooted into the lifestyle and urban fabric, which creates enormous potential for the further leveraging of non-motorized solutions. In order to keep cycling a popular mode of transport, the favelas can concentrate on improving bike lanes and infrastructure and increasing connectivity of the bike infrastructure to the central city, other modes of mass transit, and popular locations like stores and malls.

Q5. Are there additional benefits of improving road safety through sustainable transport?

According to the World Health Organization, 1.3 million deaths occur each year from the effects of urban outdoor air pollution, with vehicles being one of the major emitters of deadly pollutants, such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5). This dirty air can irritate lungs, worsen asthma and emphysema, and increase the risk of heart attacks and premature deaths.

Shifting trips to mass transit, biking and walking, as well as improving vehicle and fuel technologies, can reduce exposure to air pollution and lengthen life span — thereby offering benefits for both human health and efforts to fight climate change.

Claudia Adriazola-Steil is Director of the Health & Road Safety Program at EMBARQ.

A New York City block. Photo by Jack Amick.

Yes, yes y’all, you know we talkin it all, see how we bringin the street corner to Carnegie Hall.

–Busta Rhymes

How many songs have you heard that have New York, L.A., or London, or Paris in the lyrics? They are as innumerable as taxis in the Big Apple. For those who have not set foot in New York City, movies, music, television, and the movies might form the backdrop of your first impressions. Across the world, the urban landscape plays a key role in the development and spread of popular culture. But now, thanks to one New York artist, popular culture — music to be specific — is returning to its origins and paying tribute to the urban landscape.

Cause I want to be on 106 and Park pushing a Benz.

–Kanye West

Artist Jay Shells created a unique art exhibition on the streets of New York City that features street signs with famous rap lyrics, such as, “Sometimes I rhyme slow, sometimes I rhyme quick. I was on 125 and St. Nick,” (from the title, “Sometimes I rhyme slow,” by Smooth B) set up at the corner of West 125th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, in Harlem. Check out the project video below:

TheCityFix thanks Erica Schlaikjer and Aaron Minnick for passing along the inspiration for this story.

An intersection in Mexico City. Photo by Hector Rios, EMBARQ Mexico.

Remember that 1994 blue minivan that your mom used to pick you up from school in? Well, chances are that gas-guzzling, oil-burning junker is probably still chugging along south of the U.S. border, maybe hauling around a Mexican family in Chihuahua or Sonora, or even as far south as Mexico City. Hundreds of thousands of high-emissions, high-mileage, used vehicles head to border cities like Ciudad Juarez every year, and that number is set to increase, as falling trade barriers allow more cars to enter Mexico. Millions of clunkers from the U.S. have been imported into Mexico over the past twenty years, and millions more are headed south, courtesy of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which requires Mexico to open its borders to used vehicles from the United States and Canada.

According to the Policy Handbook for the Regulation of Imported Second-Hand Vehicles, a recent report by EMBARQ Mexico, imported second-hand vehicles, also referred to as “auto chocolate,” are a growing challenge in Mexico, the global leader in used vehicle imports, with more than half a million used cars flooding into the country from the U.S. annually. The trend of selling cheap, non-fuel-efficient, and often unsafe vehicles to less-developed neighbors, at often-inflated prices, is a growing challenge in developing nations, especially as increasingly vehicle-dependent countries such as China and India begin an unprecedented export of used vehicles to their less developed neighbors, such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and even Nigeria and the Ukraine.

“The world should pay attention to the environmental, economic and public security disaster that mass importation of used cars has caused in Mexico,” says Jorge Macias, economist with EMBARQ Mexico, “Because it´s beginning to happen all over the world.”

Mexican catastrophe

Mexico imports 500,000 used cars from the United States annually, down from 1.2 million in 2006, when a presidential decree went into effect demanding a time-consuming proof of origin certificate. However, combined with the 1 million domestically-produced new cars and virtually no used vehicle exports, Mexico is stuffing itself with “auto chocolate,” causing an environmental and social catastrophe.

“The deregulation of the vehicle fleet has caused chaotic, out of control growth,” adds Macias. “We have more than 30 million vehicles — almost the population of Venezuela.”

Unlike the United States, where emissions testing is the norm in most cities, Mexico has no functional testing programs outside of Mexico City and no vehicle registration fees. Old vehicles coming in from the US would often fail US emissions tests because they lack emissions-regulating parts, such as catalytic converters, and safety features, such as airbags and seat belts, leading to increased CO2 emissions and decreased passenger safety.

According to the Mexican Secretary of Health, traffic collisions are the number one cause of death in the country of young people age five to 25, and is the number one cause of orphanhood in the country. As more cars clog roads from Tijuana to Cancun, fatal and debilitating collisions are an increasing problem in Mexico (especially in areas without adequate infrastructure to accommodate vehicles and pedestrians); additionally, long-term health issues are also on the rise, such as contamination-related illnesses like asthma.

Imports of used vehicles from the U.S. have grown because used American vehicles are still cheaper than second-hand vehicles from Mexico. Macias says eliminating imports would foster a closed-cycle of domestic auto consumption, making the used car market more competitive. Mexican-made new cars with stricter emissions standards would eventually become cleaner, cheaper, domestic second-hand vehicles — and although there will still be new cars added to the Mexican fleet, a closed system will slow the increase of high-emissions used cars to the fleet.

A global health issue

According to the Road Safety Fund, nearly 1.3 million people are killed on the world’s roads each year, while 50 million people are injured or disabled. Ninety percent of road casualties occur in developing countries.

Between 1990 and 2005, the total number of new and used registered vehicles in developing countries rose from 110 million to 210 million, and some experts estimate that registered vehicles in developing countries might reach 1.2 billion by 2030 — a business-as-usual scenario that EMBARQ is fighting to avoid. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in its fourth report that, “further aggravating the energy and environmental concerns of the expansion of motorization is the large-scale importation of second-hand vehicles into the developing world.”

Besides, the increase in road accidents and contamination and the process of moving from non-motorized transport to motorized transport encourages governments to increase public expenditure on roads, deviating much-needed funds for other infrastructure improvements and social improvements, such as education and health.

On a global scale, the remedy to reduce road deaths includes focusing on affordable, safe and efficient public transport; road safety education; and smart development of cities, centered on pedestrians and non-motorized transport, not just roads and cars.

Facts from the Road Safety Fund:

• Nearly 1.3 million people are killed on the world’s roads each year.
• Up to 50 million people are injured, and many remain disabled for life.
• 90% of casualties from road deaths occur in developing countries.
• Annual road traffic deaths are forecast to rise to 1.9 million people by 2020.
• Road traffic injuries are the number one cause of death for young people worldwide.
• By 2015 road traffic injuries will be the leading health burden for children over the age of five years in developing countries.
• The economic cost to developing countries is at least $100 billion a year.
• Road traffic injuries place an immense burden on hospitals and health systems generally.
• Traffic crashes are preventable.
• A global Action Plan includes practical measures which, if implemented, could save millions of lives.

For more information on global and U.S.-Mexican used vehicle trade, contact Yasmin Khan at EMBARQ Mexico, ykhan@embarqmexico.org, 52 55 3096-5742, ext. 203.

Natural gas-powered bus in Delhi, India. Photo by archer10 (Dennis).

Natural gas might help public transport to pollute less. It might be a cost effective solution as well. The Indian government mandated natural gas in 2004 for all public buses and rickshaws in a number of cities, but was mandating it really a good idea? There are other fuel options that may work better for various contexts. An alternative to compressed natural gas is diesel that has seen its sulfur content heavily reduced, also called low-sulfur diesel.

In this post, the winner of “natural gas vs. diesel – round one” will be the fuel and exhaust technology combination that emits the least amount of particles that pollute the air. We tackle the two most asked questions in the competition natural gas vs. diesel:

Are the most advanced filter technologies compatible with diesel?

Yes. Multiple government agencies have proven it can, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and India’s Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority. Manufacturers, like TATA in India, have also asserted that filters work well with diesel. Although filter efficiency decreases with higher concentrations of sulfur, filter manufacturer Engelhard, for instance, claims that their filters can even work on diesel that has not a low sulfur content – for example 500 parts per million (PPM) sulfur diesel fuel. Emission test results from the United States Environmental Protection Agency show that when a filter reduces exhaust pollution from 150 ppm to 3 ppm, particulate matter dips by 96 percent.

No. For advanced filters to be effective it is essential to use diesel with minimal sulfur content. However, for many cities in India, the availability of very low sulfur diesel and the corresponding filtering technology is still limited and very expensive, and the government of Hong Kong asserts that low-cost filters have had very little impact on particulate matter reductions.

Mid-game commentary: If a city has access to diesel with very low sulfur content for its fleet of public transport vehicles, then the filtering technology will work, making diesel a relatively clean option – even cleaner with the filter. But as recommended by the Partnership for Clean Fuels & Vehicles, if advanced fuels are not available it is not the most effective to add exhaust technologies. Cities should focus first on using better quality fuels.

Do natural gas vehicles emit more of the small particles that cause cancer than diesel-powered vehicles?

Yes. At least a couple studies, including a 2001 joint report by the British government, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, and CONCAWE (an association of European oil companies conducting environmental research), has shown that natural gas-powered vehicles emit only marginally higher amounts of finer particles — known as nanoparticles — than the highest-quality diesel technology. These findings have then heavily been used in propaganda against natural gas for public transport.

No. Even with the most advanced filters, final exhaust from diesel-powered vehicles still includes extremely carcinogenic chemicals, as shown below by the German Environment Agency, in a 2000 study conducted by Nils-Olof Nylund and Alex Lawson.

Mid-game commentary: The research thus far does not point to one conclusion. Diesel and natural gas emit different types and sizes of particles, which can be toxic in different ways. Diesel emissions contain more large-particle pollution, which has been subject to numerous studies, while natural gas emits slightly more fine-particle pollution — the nature and long-term effects of which are lesser known. So both fuels can potentially be sources of carcinogens, but some more than others, depending on the quality of the fuel and the filters used to trap particles. The bottom line is, emissions reduction technologies are important in reducing carcinogens.

And the winner is…

In the context of Indian cities, with very high particulate pollution, natural gas wins our round one. It emits less particles. While low-sulfur diesel is becoming available in some cities, it is not the highest quality fuel and therefore not able to compete with natural gas in reductions of particle pollution and human health risk.

But diesel can do better, especially if low-sulfur diesel was more widely available. In India, fuel quality is a big issue — thus, broadening access to higher-quality fuels would be the best course of action at the present time. It is clear also that more research on the effects of fine-particle pollution is needed to understand potential risks involved with natural gas emissions.

For more info on the debate, check out EMBARQ’s Exhaust Emissions research. We also look forward to a forthcoming report from the World Resources Institute on new research into natural gas — set for publication on Thursday.

Benoit Colin, Erin Cooper, and Elise Zevitz also contributed to this piece.

Campaign launch, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Belo Horizonte, Brazil, has taken an important step in protecting its pedestrians. Two weeks ago, the capital of the eponymous Brazilian state launched the campaign, “Pedestrians. I respect” (“Pedestre. Eu Respeito”) on city streets. The launch of the program is the culmination of several months of planning, with data analyzed from 12 different areas in the south and central parts of the city. The local campaign fits within a larger initiative from the Brazilian Ministry of Health, called “Vida no Trânsito” [“Life in Transit”], and is expected to last for at least a year. The goal is a complete change of behavior, with “respect” as the keyword for the campaign.

In launching the campaign, the Municipality of Belo Horizonte, with the public transport operator BHTRANS, wants the city to embrace the cause of pedestrian safety. Popular mobilization and awareness are critical to see a definite change in behavior. The experience in other Brazilian cities, and cities abroad, shows that a simple change in attitude from all of us vis-a-vis traffic issues, is enough to reverse the statistics of traffic accidents. The success clearly relies on changes in personal attitudes

Traffic safety figures in Belo Horizonte justify the importance of the campaign. Every day, eight people are injured in accidents in Belo Horizonte. In 2011 alone, 76 deaths were registered in crashes in the capital. with the elderly the most vulnerable as shown in the data. Of the 76 deaths, 25 were people over 60 years of age. In 2010, elderly victims accounted for 31 of the 105 traffic accidents deaths. With the support of professional associations, businesses, schools and universities, the media, and organized parts of civil society, Belo Horizonte will change this grim reality.

Campaign Launch, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

It is important to realize that traffic injuries are not inevitable. They are the result of risky behaviors, whether from the driver, biker, cyclist, or pedestrian. It is our collective responsibility to end road injuries and deaths. Respect it is more than a kindness: it is a duty. The main message of the campaign is to respect the right of way of crossing pedestrians. The Brazilian Traffic Code (CTB) establishes that this behavior should be adopted by drivers. It’s time we start simply admiring the cities where cars stop for pedestrians. “Let’s all adopt this behavior and be proud of Belo Horizonte,” said the director of Information Services at BHTRANS, Jussara Bellavinha.

With the Belo Horizonte hospital, targeting the city’s busiest corridors

Belo Horizonte’s hospital area – where 99,000 vehicles transit daily, and where there is a concentration of people coming from other cities – was where the campaign was launched. The idea is that each one of the 12 targeted areas in the city will successively be the priority for four weeks in a row. This means that the whole program will last for a year without interruption. In addition, there will be educational events at transit agency locations and also at other locations outside of the core central and southern regions of the city, in particular in other densely populated areas. Teams of interns will take turns, Monday through Friday mornings and afternoons, interacting with drivers, motorcyclists and pedestrians. They will be stationed at intersections and the busiest crossings.

Campaign launch, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Besides the interns, the actions in the streets will involve the “Hands” – mascots and symbols of the campaign – with mimes and agents of the transit agency BHTrans. The approach is educational at its core but with an additional layer of police enforcement in targeted areas. The campaign will be supported by enforcement from the Military Police and the local Guard.

In the area of the hospital, the major intersections and pedestrian crossings with traffic lights are the avenues of Alfredo Balena, Francisco Sales, and Brazil. They see the traffic of 5,030 buses passing through everyday and 521 at peak times. Of the 99,000 vehicles that pass through the area between 6 am and 9 pm, 10,800 are concentrated during peak hours.

Engineering a safe future

The campaign, “Pedestrians. I Respect,” is not limited to education and enforcement. According to Jussara Bellavinha, director of Information Services at BHTRANS, infrastructure improvements to pedestrian crossings will also been conducted on the sides of the campaign.  ”We’re doing a great job of improving the routes, checking the crossing time, and do not need additional lanes for crossing. Our plan, throughout this year, is to increase the number of traffic lights for pedestrians. Let’s work on the educational part, but also take care of engineering to have a significant improvement with a focus on pedestrians “.

Source: BHTrans and TheCityFixBrasil.

Passengers head southbound from Vine St. at Hollywood Blvd, July 1955. Photo by Metro Transportation Library and Archive.

Many of us who enjoy public transport on a daily basis have been there…. the dinner table stories of your Aunt Mary running into the Duchess of Cambridge on the London Underground or your brother sitting three rows behind Tom Hanks on the F train, in NYC’s subway system. Though celebs have the unnatural potential for raising a spectacle wherever they go, there is something about the democratic nature of mass transit that reminds us that celebs are human too and appreciate the convenience, efficiency, and, when lucky, the anonymity, that public transport offers.

British actor Daniel Radcliffe, on the other hand, has made it publicly known that he avoids public transport whenever possible — how sad, considering that Harry Potter is a veritable champion of public transport, utilizing the Hogwarts Express, the London Underground, the Floo Powder Network (Department of Magical Transportation), and the broomstick in his escapades.

Who else might you run into on public transport these days?

1. Pope Francis

As Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis distinguished himself in his native Buenos Aires for being a man of the people, which included opting for the bus over his private limo.

The Pope prefers the bus. Photo by Catholic Church (England and Wales).

2. British royalty

The Queen was sighted over the holidays boarding a First Capital Connect train at London’s King’s Cross Station. It isn’t the first time the queen has made that journey either!

The Queen finds the First Capital Connect train convenient. Photo by Defence Images.

3. Politicians and actors take bus to work on “Bus Day” in Kochi, India

Kochi, India, celebrates Bus Day every year, in which politicians, actors, and other famous public figures take the bus to work.

A new Volvo bus introduced in Kochi, India. Photo by Binaiks.

4. Tom Hanks

Behind a hat, glasses, and a morning newspaper, Tom Hanks has lately taken to riding the New York City subway to work.

From New York Magazine:

“Nobody looks at anybody on the subway. Occasionally someone might give you a thumbs-up, and you nod. But the city is magnificent as far as that brand of easy anonymity. You just fold right in.”

Tom Hanks relishes the anonymity of the morning commute in NYC. Photo by o2 in Deutschland.

5. Serena Williams on a bike [this totally counts!]

What do you do when a Florida traffic jam threatens your tennis match? Make like Serena Williams last week, and borrow a bicycle. (The hotel she was staying at offered her a motorbike, but she opted for pedal power instead. Go Serena!)

Serena Williams biked to her match. Photo by jamesboyes.

 

TheCityFix wants to hear about the celebs whom you have run into on public transport!

Cycling from school in Shanghai, China. Photo by badbrother.

China is currently experiencing the fastest growth in bike-sharing in the world, with thirty-nine bike-share systems in place, with the latest addition from last month in Aksu, near the the Kyrgyzstan border. At the head of the thirty-nine cities sits Hangzhou, which currently runs the world’s largest bike-sharing program, with over 60,000 bikes in service. That’s 40,000 more than the Vélib bike-sharing program in Paris, France.

Yet, at the same time, bikes have lost the wide appeal they once had in China. “In 1950, as a status symbol, every citizen had to have three things: a watch, a sewing machine, and a bicycle”, says professional fixed gear cyclist, Ines Brunn, who has lived in China since 2004. In the last decade, however, Brunn observes that the bike has become an image of the past and a mode of transport for those who cannot afford cars. However, local governments and their citizens in China and Taiwan are recognizing that more needs to be done to promote cycling as a commuter mode and a recreational activity, beyond implementing more bike-sharing programs.

High school student Jinzi Shen, recently presenting at this year’s Global Issues Network Conference, at George Washington University (also featuring EMBARQ expert Robin King), recognized the need to promote cycling in her hometown of Beijing. Shen’s presentation, entitled, “Face Masks in China: the Many Effects of Air Pollution,” connected seamlessly with a Friday Fun post that TheCityFix had published that very day. Shen showed how she and her peers identified the untapped potential of cycling in their neighborhood in Beijing and, together with six fellow students, collaborated during the summer of 2012 to promote cycling and improve its visibility on city streets… through cycling!

We actually screamed our slogan out loud every time we passed a bus stop or somewhere that has many people. And we were really happy we did it in the kind. It was not only an exercise for us but also an environmental friendly thing to do. We attracted many people’s attention, people passing by took pictures of us. If they post them on the Internet, more people will know about our aim to help people raise awareness.

Beyond the initiative from Shen, local governments and their citizens in China and Taiwan are recognizing that, in order for cycling to catch on and grow, more needs to be done to integrate the bicycle into the variety of lifestyles their citizens lead.

China: promoting more cycling events for common people

Each year, China hosts over 100 professional cycling events, such as the Tour of China, the Tour of Beijing, and the Tour of the South China Sea. But although such events are growing in popularity, there remains a disconnect between the select few who participate in these high-profile events, and the population who remains on the sidelines. Because of the multiplicity of races, they each individually have reduced their following among local populations, placing both the races, and the cycling culture that they intend to re-invent, at a disadvantage.

Large-scale racing events are expensive; they require lots of city resources, such as law enforcement, promotion, and sponsorship; and, when all is said and done, they have a limited following and impact on the public. One professor at the Chengdu Sports Academy pointed out to CyclingIQ that the development of professional cycling in China, itself, needs to be more sustainable — harkening back to the eco-friendly nature of the bicycle itself.

But now, as China increasingly turns to cycling as a solution for traffic woes and hazardous air pollution, its cities are searching for ways to move beyond the professional racing events to encourage more recreational events for beginners and bike enthusiasts. In Beijing’s YanQing county, for example, such events include rides of varying distances and difficulty levels, mountain bike races, children’s events, and personal fitness campaigns. In doing so, the residents of YanQing are exposed to the many sides of cycling as a lifestyle, not just a sport of the elite.

Taiwan: launching cycling initiative in 2013

Off the coast of mainland China, the Tour de Taiwan professional cycling race came to a close yesterday. In a new separate initiative to attract the younger demographic, Taiwan is launching a campaign to encourage more visitors to the island to hop on a bicycle. Building off the success of Taipei’s YouBike bike-sharing system, implemented in November 2009, and national “Come Bike Day 2012,” the government of Taiwan announced their plans to sell bicycles “at a very low price to those riders who cycle a set amount of miles as well as offer free air shipping for the bikes when the participants return home.” Not only is this a sweet deal for international cyclists, but it boosts the bicycle industry in Taiwan as well. Taipei also has plans to expand their current YouBike service and improve existing stations. Aside from the 41 stations in Taipei, users praised the affordability of the bikes: for every rental, the first half-hour is free, and after that, the rate per hour is NT$10 (34 US cents).

Recalling the past, re-inventing the future

Across China and Taiwan, cities are identifying great potential in re-inventing themselves as cycling cities — not as a regression into the past but as an investment in their future, from an environmental, a human health, and a tourism standpoint. Rather than promoting cycling from a top-down strategy, focused only on the professionals, cities like Beijing, Hangzhou, and Taipei are moving toward solutions that engage their citizens to provide safer and healthier transport options.

In the course of his daily rides, Innes Brunn — our fixed gear professional rider referenced earlier — has met individuals whom he calls, “cycling lifestyle pioneers.” The urban landscape of Beijing, he notes, provides an ideal environment for beginning cyclists and commuters, with a very flat topography and streets with wide bike lanes. And outside the city, he meets groups of hobby cyclists enjoying the mountains and the exercise. Social cycling groups are also emerging across China: “They choose their route,” adds Brunn, “to have a famous good restaurant [at the halfway point]”.

The integration of cycling into commuter and recreational lifestyles is by no means limited to East Asia. EMBARQ Turkey’s BikeLab project is aiming to do the same for the citizens of Istanbul, creating great potential for peer-to-peer learning and knowledge exchange among Beijing and Istanbul.

Kids play on Chowpatty beach, in Mumbai, India. Photo by Christian Haugen.

Happy World Water Day 2013! In the inconceivable event you were caught unawares for the past twenty years, in 1993 the UN General Assembly designated March 22nd as an annual day to raise international awareness of water conservation issues and recognize the importance of protecting one of the earth’s most vital natural resources: water. This year’s theme is: the International Year of Water Cooperation.

In honor of World Water Day, TheCityFix is dedicating this week’s Friday Fun to the ubiquitous two hydrogen, one oxygen molecule that powers lives, cities, and civilizations — scouring the globe for the world’s best nautical commutes.

Most classic: Venice

Where would we be if we failed to mention the the “Floating City,” the “Queen of the Adriatic”: Venice. Perhaps it is fitting that we nominate Venice on World Water Day. Climate change and rising sea levels continue to threaten this nearly 1500-year-old UNESCO World Heritage site, which, according to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California-San Diego, is sinking at a rate of 2 millimeters per year.

Most uplifting: Hong Kong-Macau water taxi

For the most uplifting experience, try Hong Kong’s TurboJet water taxi, which operates a round-the-clock hydrofoil routes between Hong Kong and Macau, among other destinations.

Most intercontinental/historical: Kadıköy to Beyoğlu, Istanbul

What could be more relaxing (or exciting) than sipping a cup of Turkish tea, halfway between Europe and Asia, while watching the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the medieval Galata Tower, and other historic treasures of Istanbul float by.

Most versatile: The canals of Amsterdam and Rotterdam

While we admit the Dutch amphibious bus may have more of a tourist-vibe, how could we pass up a bright blue bus, dubbed “the Floating Dutchman” splashing headlong into the canals of Amsterdam and continuing on its way like nothing happened. (P.S. Rotterdam has them too, and they’re bright yellow.)

Most salubrious: Paddington to King’s Cross, London…by canal

It can hardly get greener or healthier than muscle-power, and Londoner James Sweetman has turned the canals of London into his own expressway.

Learn more with these hands-on tools

For more information on water conservation and an endlessly interactive map detailing global high-risk zones, check out WRI’s AQUEDUCT, at aqueduct.wri.org, or this interactive and informative infographic, unveiled for World Water Day 2013 by AbleSkills and Charity: Water, on the global importance of clean water sources: “Why Plumbers are Heroes”.

Passengers ride the Dubai Metro in the United Arab Emirates. Photo by Beardedalien.

Known for record-breaking skyscrapers, indoor ski slopes, and mega-shopping malls, the oil-rich UAE is not often the picture that immediately comes to mind on the topic of sustainable transport. But big things are happening in this small nation — from bike-sharing to low-carbon emissions technologies to national recognition for sustainable transport initiatives, research, and media coverage, leaders are keying in on the economic benefits of sustainable transport and focusing on giving their citizens safer, healthier, more sustainable, and more affordable options in their daily travels.

Last year, the Middle East drew the distinction of being the fastest-growing region in the world in energy consumption, with demand rising 3.6%. Comparable in size to Maine, in the northern United States, the United Arab Emirates (comprising Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain) sits atop the seventh largest conventional gas reserves in the world and has the third largest carbon footprint per capita behind neighboring Kuwait and Qatar. Even as a leading oil producing and exporting region, the Middle East is facing the challenges of rising electricity demands, higher energy costs, and are therefore increasingly turning to alternative fuel sources. The Emirates, according to a recent Zawya news report, increasingly, “finds itself in a strange situation where Abu Dhabi exports gas while Dubai imports it.” The UAE has now begun to take advantage of alternative sources of energy that the arid Arabian Peninsula has to offer, namely, the sun. Although at the center of the world’s oil-exporting industry, the United Arab Emirates is quickly becoming a world leader in alternative energy and sustainable transport.

Bike-sharing debuts in Dubai

In recent years, the popularity of bike-sharing in the world’s urban areas has skyrocketed, from Amsterdam to Beijing, to Rio de Janeiro. In 2011, Tel Aviv in Israel became the first city in the Middle East to adopt a bike-sharing system, with the launch of Tel-O-Fun, but up until this year, the Gulf countries of the Arabian Peninsula had remained all but observers in the venerable world of bike-sharing.

Late last month, however, Dubai rolled out the peninsula’s first a bike-sharing system. Partnering with the largest international bike-sharing company, NextBike, the city of Dubai installed ten bike-sharing stations adjacent to metro stops, tourist areas, and the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. One-hundred bikes are available for rent at the stations’ solar-powered kiosks, where users scan prepaid membership cards. The system will serve as a valuable feeder to the metro for commuters and visitors.

Rewarding sustainable transport

To encourage similar initiatives and raise public awareness of the need for sustainable transport, Dubai’s Roads and Transportation Authority, under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, introduced a series of annual awards in 2008 for Dubai-based companies and organizations, in the public and private and public sectors, known as the Dubai Awards for Sustainable Transport (DAST). This year’s ceremony featured multiple award categories, including Transport Safety, Mobility Management, Environmental Protection, and School Transport, in addition to two new categories for Academic Research and Media Coverage of sustainable transport initiatives. To illustrate just how much the DAST awards are growing in popularity, there were only 28 award applicants in 2008 — most recently, in 2012, there were 89.

Re-imagining the “Las Vegas of the Middle East”

Home to the Middle East’s first monorail system, Dubai is looking at ambitious transportation systems. The city is planning a downtown tram and and the country will eventually be connected with the other Emirates by a high-speed rail system.

The next time you think “sustainable transport,” think Dubai!

Tricycles are a source of air pollution and health hazards in Manila. Photo by digitalpimp.

This article was edited on March 22, 2013.

With over 3.5 million currently in operation, the motorized tricycle – a close cousin of the ubiquitous motorized rickshaw seen zipping through the streets of India and throughout Southeast Asia - is an icon on the streets of the Philippines’ capital city, Manila. But the millions of tricycles are taking their toll on the air and on Manila’s inhabitants lungs, in the form of over 10 million tons of CO2 generated and upwards of 4,000 air pollution-related deaths each year in the city. Hoping to curb this hazardous trend, the city of Manila handed-over their first electric-powered tricycles to the Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association of Manila just a year ago.

Last week, the Filipino government announced that it would be expanding the electric tricycle (“e-tricycles”) program to 20 other cities throughout the Philippines, putting 20,000 additional e-tricycles on the streets. Based on the Manila one-year experiment, e-tricycles have tremendous environmental and economic benefits – reducing local air pollution, and lowering fuel costs and maintenance requirements. However, assessing the overall benefit of fleets of e-tricycles with respect to other fuels is more complex, and should consider lifecycle costs, upstream pollutants, and other unknowns.

How can electric tricycles benefit people in a city?

E-tricycles and electric rickshaws dramatically improve air quality. They are one of the best options for reducing emissions locally, as there are no vehicle-related emissions to speak of, i.e. they have no tailpipe. A reduction of transport emissions in Manila would not only prevent, on average, four thousand air pollution-related fatalities each year — it would directly and positively impact the more than 90,000 Manila residents who suffer from chronic respiratory conditions, and dramatically reduce associated health care costs, while making for a cleaner air for the 11.8 million inhabitants of the Manila metropolitan area.

But from a driver’s perspective, reducing air pollution does not put bread on the table. Any investment in an alternative fuel mode — whether it be an electric motor, a compressed natural gas engine, or even a gasoline-powered four-stroke engine — must be an economically viable investment for the operator. Like most electric vehicles on the market, upgrading to an electric tricycle has higher initial costs, but in the long run, their fuel economy brings great return on investment. A gasoline-powered tricycle requires an average of US$ 6 of fuel per 100 kilometers, while an e-tricycle requires US$ 1 worth of electricity for the same distance. And similarly, while training repairmen on electric vehicles technologies may take time and money, maintenance requirements are lower for e-tricycles compared to conventional tricycles. The Asian Development Bank, a lead sponsor of the e-tricycle initiative in Manila, also estimates that for every 20,000 electric tricycles introduced to city streets, the country saves 100,000 liters of fuel daily. This amounts to a savings of over US$ 35 million annually.

What are the other considerations for the owner, and for decision makers?

Charging times is the first aspect that comes to mind. It takes around an hour to charge a tricycle battery from full depletion to full capacity. Then the e-tricycle can operate for 8 to 10 hours, depending on the passenger load. Drivers have to take into consideration the sixty minutes they need to recharge the vehicle battery in their daily operations schedule. In the evenings, for example, time must be set aside to charge the vehicles before the night drivers take to the streets and replace the daytime shift. A sufficient number of charging locations, i.e. electric plugs, must be incorporated into the development plan.

Decision-makers should also take into consideration the benefits, and the challenges, that come with switching from a mono-source of energy — mostly gasoline — to a conveyor of energy, like electricity. Their local electricity generation mix, and the load curve, will affect the emissions —including greenhouse gases — and air quality at the country or regional level. And while improving air quality locally, e-tricycles have the potential to affect pollution levels from electricity generation. Their load can help to introduce cleaner electricity sources, but they can also lead to more coal-powered electricity, since roughly a quarter of the Philippines’ electricity comes from coal. However, the “cleanliness” of new electric vehicles depends on both the source of electricity, as well as the emissions associated with the vehicle that is being replaced. The Asian Development Bank estimates that moving to electric tricycles can reduce the greenhouse gas impact of tricycles by 54 percent.

We believe that e-tricycles represent one of the many fuel and vehicle technologies that can meet emissions standards and have positive impacts on the environment. However, because of the potential unknowns of various fuels and technologies, governments and operators should strive for a more complete understanding of lifecycle costs and lifecycle emissions (upstream and tailpipe emissions) to inform their fleet decision-making among various alternative fuels. We are also inviting comments on what best practices exist in the deployment of vastly available, low-cost charging options, where vehicle operators can conveniently charge their vehicles. Decision-makers might have a role here, in terms of applying international standards or facilitating accelerate adoption of municipal codes or regulations, so that there is clarity on what the options are for the people giving access to a “plug”.

 

Akshay Mani, Benoit Colin and Elise Zevitz also contributed to this post.

Beijing’s poor air quality is nothing new. Yet, the visible air pollution from the “sand-smog” on February 28, 2013 still shocked the world. The Washington Post posted a photo of downtown Beijing, entitled, “The most shocking photo of Beijing air pollution I’ve ever seen,” taken by journalist Bill Bishop in Beijing on the morning of February 28th. In this photo, the 81-story China World Trade Center III skyscraper only a short distance away is all but invisible. To illustrate just how bad the air pollution was that day, the photographer also includes a photo of the same view, taken on a clear day, for comparison’s sake.

The same view of Beijing…on a clear day and otherwise. Photo by Bill Bishop, Washington Post, via ifindkarma.

Using the magic of photo-editing

Beneath the layer of soupy smog, however, there is tremendous human-powered potential for positive change. The World Health Organization’s Air Quality Guidelines state that by reducing the levels of particulate matter in our urban areas from an annual average of 0.07 to 0.02 milligrams per cubic meter, air-quality related deaths could be cut by around 15%. On January 12, 2013, the US Embassy in Beijing measured record levels of particulate matter at 0.886 milligrams.

As researchers in sustainable urban transport, we were interested in simulating what would happen to Beijing if transportation-related air pollution were removed. Research by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) reveals that auto emissions contribute to 34% of air pollution in Beijing, Shanghai, and the Pearl River Delta region. Therefore, with the magic of photo-editing, we transposed the photo of the polluted day onto the photo of the clean day and changed the opacity rate of polluted day photo to 66% (assuming the 34% auto emissions pollution is removed). This is what it would look like.

The same skyline with transport emissions removed. Photo by Heshuang Zeng, via ifindkarma.

Though still not ideal, at least you can see the building in front of you on the worst air pollution day in Beijing.

Drivers from state-run bus company in Kerala, India (KSRTC) participating in the training workshop in Mysore, Karnataka

In August 2012, EMBARQ India in partnership with Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), organized a driver training, fuel monitoring, and vehicle maintenance workshop in Visakhapatnam, a port city on the southeast coast of India. This workshop was organized as part of EMBARQ India’s ‘Talking Transit’ series of workshops under the FedEx supported Bus Karo Plus programme. The workshop was a result of the best practices identified by EMBARQ India through a performance evaluation project conducted jointly with APSRTC in the city of Vishakhapatnam. APSRTC’s best practices in vehicle maintenance and driver training have resulted in consistently high fuel efficiency. It has also resulted in many awards for the corporation. The workshop was attended by officials from public transport agencies from over 20 cities, and focused on best practices that would help city bus agencies improve their operational efficiency.

EMBARQ India’s Bus Karo Plus programme has three components – ‘Talking Transit’, a workshop series, ‘Mentoring Transit’, assisting agencies in impleneting pilot projects, and ‘Learning Transit’, developing and disseminating training material.

As part of the ‘Mentoring Transit’ initiative, after the workshop in Vishakapatnam, EMBARQ India organized driver training workshops in Delhi, with Star Bus; in Mysore with the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC); and in Bangalore with the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).

About 30 drivers from each of these cities  have been trained by Mohammed Haneef, a former APSRTC driver who is now a consultant with them for fuel efficiency and safety. Haneef, who was instrumental in developing the driver training course for APSRTC, introduced the drivers to two driving methods – ‘smart driving skills’ which has five principles of safe and fuel efficient driving and ‘momentum mode driving’, which uses the momentum of the vehicle to reduce the fuel intake into the engine. The first workshop was held in Delhi with Starbus buses, where 37 drivers were trained. After the training, it was observed that the fuel efficiency increased by 67%. Similar results were also observed in Bangalore (42% increase) and Mysore (21.5%). The improved fuel efficiency not only raises the operational efficiency of these agencies but also reduces their CO2 emissions.

Considering, for example, that the drivers trained through these pilot workshops maintain the improved fuel efficiency, the total carbon savings per day from the three cities will be close to 2.5 tonnes. If all the drivers in the depot improve their fuel efficiency, the fuel savings will be about 18 tonnes. If all the drivers in these organizations improve their fuel efficiency up to 296 tonnes  of carbon emissions can be reduced.

Carbon Emissions Reduced

Under the current operational environment, the three organizations can save up to 90,000 tonnes of CO2 per year between them. In addition to the reduction in CO2 emissions, higher fuel efficiency can also help reduce fuel expenses by INR 1.072 billion per year (US$ 18.4 million). This money can then be used to improve operations.

Money Saved

EMBARQ India strongly believes that there is great potential for carbon savings from bus transport agencies. By promoting good driving habits, road safety can also be improved. To achieve this, EMBARQ India is working at three levels:

• Assisting organizations to include fuel efficiency monitoring as an organizational process: good monitoring and incentive schemes are essential for successfully achieving these fuel efficiency levels.
• Safe driver training habits and monitoring: With the increase use of technologies such as GPS, there is potential for incident management. Ride smoothness, hard braking and acceleration can all be monitored.
• Finally, EMBARQ India is also working towards scaling up this process to all transport organizations in India. EMBARQ currently works with transport organizations in 20 cities and through this program, more cities would be added to the network.

 

Introducing the first mass public transportation system in Pakistan. Photo by Star240.

Today we celebrate a positive development coming out of Pakistan, overlooked by mainstream news: an advanced bus system in Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city. In years past, Lahore, capital of Pakistan’s eastern province of Punjab, was a city where urban public transportation was virtually unknown. For the more than 11 million residents and commuters of the Lahore urban area, the only transportation options were motorized rickshaws, private buses, minibuses, or taxis.

On February 11, 2013, Lahore began operating Pakistan’s first Bus Rapid Transit or BRT system, officially known in the city as the Metro Bus System (MBS). A catalyst in the development of urban transport in Pakistan, as well as in South Asia, the new Lahore Metro Bus System continues the deployment of advanced bus systems in South Asia, first pioneered in cities like Jakarta, Indonesia and Bangkok, Thailand. The advanced bus system in Lahore exemplifies how knowledge sharing positively impacts urban transport.

Lahore before: a densely populated area without solid public transport

Prior to the installation of Lahore Metro Bus System, the densely populated metropolitan area of Lahore, growing in population at a rate of 3% per year, was without a solid public transport option.  In the last decade and in the same region of the world, less than 600 miles away, the city of Ahmedabad, India, was already at work on establishing their own sustainable transport system. The implementation of the Ahmedabad Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) in 2009 would then further accelerate the spread of advanced bus systems in Asia.

What are the benefits of bus rapid transit?

Unlike traditional bus corridors in Delhi, Pune, and Jaipur, Ahmedabad gave its residents India’s first full BRT system, which incorporates an integrated approach to roads, stations, buses, technology and branding. As sophisticated bus systems which operate in dedicated lanes on city streets, BRT has revolutionized the urban transportation world. BRT systems have many of the benefits of metro or light-rail systems, with significantly lower construction costs. In India, the BRT is now being replicated in the cities of Surat, Indore, and Bangalore.

Lahore after Metro Bus and beyond

Opponents to the Lahore Metro Bus System originally estimated the cost of construction at RS 70-80 billion (US$ 713-815 million) and used this figure to criticize the plan to build an advanced bus system. About a year after construction began, the system has launched, and the economic reality of Lahore’s bus system is much different than what naysayers projected. The finance minister for the Punjab Region, Shahbaz Sharif, announced at the opening ceremony of MBS that the actual system cost of came to RS 29.8 billion (US$ 303.6 million), significantly lower than original estimates.

Launched on February 11, 2013, the bus system spans a 27 kilometer-long corridor linking the suburbs of Gajju Matah and Shahdra to the main city center of Lahore. A fleet of 45 articulated buses (each 18 meters long) transport up to 12,000 passengers per hour, from 27 stations on the route. With the first month of ride fare waived as a promotion, citizens lined the corridor on the opening day, in an atmosphere of celebration and fanfare. Dignitaries and officials from Metro Bus System boarded for an inaugural ride, accompanied by their counterparts and collaborators  from Turkey.

Collaboration, locally and with international firms, is key to making things happen

Tasked with overseeing this project from March 2011, the Punjab Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency turned to a fellow Islamic country and world leader in the development of sustainable transport for guidance, modeling their system after the Istanbul Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS). Lahore’s MBS planners found a recognized private partner with similar experience in the Turkish al-Buraq Company.  The partnership inspired investment from the Turkish firm, Platform, which has been contracted to operate the MBS in Lahore. Through its partnership with Turkey, Lahore has demonstrated the type of peer-to-peer collaboration advocated by EMBARQ and other groups.

At the MBS inaugural ceremony, Turkish deputy prime minister Bekir Bozdag expressed interest in building a stronger business relationship with Pakistan and collaborating on additional MBS corridors in Pakistan.

This type of international, peer-to-peer collaboration promises not only immediate benefits for cities developing sustainable transportation solutions but establishes long-term economic partnerships that facilitate best-practice sharing, and inspire the spread of advanced bus systems to other cities and countries.

Paving the way for advancement in Southeast Asia

Lahore’s implementation of — not only the first mass public transportation system in Pakistan, but a bus rapid transit system — signal exciting possibilities for the development of additional bus systems in Asia. Other countries in the region considering advanced bus systems are Sri Lanka (in the city of Colombo), Bangladesh (Dhaka) and Nepal (Kathmandu). As the Lahore-Istanbul relationship demonstrates, cities in the planning and pre-planning stages, such as Colombo, Dhaka and Kathmandu, should not have to “reinvent the wheel” when it comes to the implementation of advanced bus systems; rather, they should take up where their peers have left off and further research their project for the benefit of their local context and for next generations of advanced bus systems around the world.

Opportunities to share knowledge are increasing, through organizations like Asia BRTS. On the website, visitors can monitor regional developments and best-practice sharing and find more information and additional, region-specific resources for reference. Asian localities interested in the planning and construction of the Lahore MBS can find an in-depth presentation from Dr. Nasir Javed (the Urban Unit, Lahore) and additional resources from the organizers and partners of the Asia BRTS conference, such as the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology University (CEPT, in Ahmedabad), EMBARQ, and the Indian Ministry of Urban Development.

 

Dario Hidalgo, Amit Bhatt, Benoit Colin, and Elise Zevitz also contributed to this piece.

Biking on the Asian side of Istanbul. Photo by bicyclemark.

Last year, Turkey and the Netherlands celebrated 400 years of diplomatic relations, established between Sultan Ahmed I and Maurice, Prince of Orange, in 1612. In 1600, there were around 460,000 inhabitants living in Istanbul. There are upwards of 13.8 million in Istanbul today, putting pressure on the city, its inhabitants, city planners and preservationists to make better use of limited space ,and implement more people-centric solutions for the benefit of the city’s two greatest assets: its people and its history.

Through peer-to-peer collaboration and best-practice sharing, BikeLab Istanbul, a new project undertaken by EMBARQ Türkiye, the association dedicated to sustainable transportation in Turkey, in partnership with a Dutch consortium of six urban design companies, with YARD 9, and the Netherlands’ Royal Consulate General, is working to make Istanbul’s historic traffic woes a thing of the past.

What is BikeLab?

Onno Kervers, Consul General for the Netherlands in Istanbul, happens to be a cyclist. Kervers says that the Dutch Consulate was “ready on day one” to help bring famous Dutch cycling expertise to help turn Istanbul into a bike-friendly city, that uses bikes as another legitimate means of urban transport.

Featured in a February 2013 article in Time Out Istanbul, BikeLab Istanbul was launched in a December 2012 workshop at Salt Galata, Istanbul. Attended by sixty guests, including representatives from the Dutch Cycling Embassy board, the Life with Bikes Association, and the Turkish Bikers’ Association, the workshop brought Turkish and Dutch experts together, along with urban transport stakeholders to discuss topics across the transportation space: bicycle safety, bike-pedestrian-transit infrastructure integration, and the fostering of a bike culture in the 8,500-year-old city. Participants shared examples of successful bike projects and bike lane designs from the Netherlands. Consul Kervers highlighted that the BikeLab project presents cycling as not only a mobility solution, but also as a way to take cars off the road, reducing Istanbul’s famed traffic congestion.

Problem: no commuter cycling culture

Addressing the absence of an ingrained commuter cycling culture in the city is one of BikeLab Istanbul’s greatest challenges. Often, a hard-fought step forward is replaced by two steps backward from automobile drivers resistant to change. In November of 2012, cycling lanes were installed on Bagdat Caddesi, a 14-kilometer main thoroughfare on the Asian side of Istanbul, along the Marmara Sea. Yet, only a month later, due to opposition from drivers, the city removed the lanes in December 2012. “Bicycles are usually seen as the vehicle of the poor or the hobby of the rich,” observes Murat Suyabatmaz, president of the Turkish Cyclists Association, in the February 2013 TimeOut Istanbul piece. Meanwhile, automobile emissions are taking a costly toll on the preservation of the Historic Peninsula’s iconic attractions.

Solutions for building a bike culture

BikeLab Istanbul seeks to facilitate the development of a cycling culture in Istanbul, through a number of different approaches. Normalizing cycling as a transport option for city residents has been identified as key in this process, and in addition to hosting workshops, BikeLab Istanbul seeks to reach people through promotion of cycling in mainstream media and television shows, and in particular, envisions capitalizing on Turkey’s robust sports culture to introduce biking to sports fans through a Tour de France-type racing event.

BikeLab project partners also see a great deal of potential for bicycle integration at Kabataş, a bustling transportation hub for ferry boats, buses, light-rail, and funicular on the European side of the Bosphorus strait. BikeLab also would like to reach out to Istanbul’s youth and next generations of cyclists through education seminars on bike safety and the benefits of integrating biking into one’s lifestyle.

Now turning Istanbul into a “bike city”

The December workshop helped catalyze the planning and development of solid solutions to turn Istanbul into a biking city, inspiring further collaboration between Dutch and Turkish experts, the Istanbul Municipality, Istanbul Electricity, Tramway and Tunnel General Management (Public Bus Authority in Istanbul), and representatives from NGOs. Within the scope of the project, a number of events will take place in the coming year. EMBARQ Turkey and YARD 9 will conduct activities to encourage the use of bicycles as a means of transportation, through creative ideas and designs. Further workshops will be organized to design “safe and user oriented” bicycle lanes, following which will be the pilot implementation of prepared bicycle lane designs.

What better way to honor a 400-year diplomatic milestone than to help Istanbul reclaim and preserve its ancient identity and make urban life healthier, safer, and more enjoyable by bringing in some Dutch inspiration?

 

Benoit Colin and Elise Zevitz also contributed to this piece.