WORLD CARFREE NEWS >>>
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Edition no. 18 - March 2005 - English version
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Contents:
QUOTATION OF THE MONTH
IN BRIEF
WORLD NEWS
- VICTORY IN EFFORT TO SAVE DHAKA'S RICKSHAWS
- COST EFFECTIVENESS OF CUTTING CAR USE
- AIR POLLUTION CAUSES EARLY DEATHS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- TOWARDS CARFREE CITIES V: JULY 18-21
- SUMMER BIKE RIDE AGAINST G8
- JUNE 2005 NYC BIKE AND TRANSIT CONFERENCE
- ECOLOGISTS TO MARCH AGAINST GRAND PRIX
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QUOTATION OF THE MONTH >>
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"The only people who would be hurt by abandoning the Kyoto Protocol
would be several thousand people who make a living attending
conferences on global warming."
- Prof. Kirill Kondratyev, Russian Academy of Sciences
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IN BRIEF >>
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- The citizens of Edinburgh, Scotland, voted against a proposed
congestion charge scheme in a referendum on February 22. The charge
was supposed to raise 761 million pounds in 20 years to spend on
trams, buses and roads, but was turned down by 74.4% of the voters.
- More congestion charge news: The start date of a congestion charge
trial period in Stockholm, Sweden, has been delayed. The reason? A
court case accuses the Swedish road authority, V gverket, of not
having done proper negotiations when contracting IBM to deliver the
required technology. The trial period was supposed to end in July
2006 with a referendum.
- The Kyoto Protocol on climate change went into effect midnight
between February 15 and 16. Even though many environmentalists think
it is too little too late, most welcome it as the first steps toward
limiting greenhouse emissions.
- The annual Friendship Ride between Thailand and Burma on February
13 attracted 1,000 cyclists this year. The trip, which had
participants from as far away as Europe, is organised to promote
friendship between the two nations.
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WORLD NEWS >>
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VICTORY IN EFFORT TO SAVE DHAKA'S RICKSHAWS
[<
http://www.worldcarfree.net/dhaka>
www.worldcarfree.net/dhaka]
DHAKA, Bangladesh, March 2 World Carfree Network and its member
organisation Work for a Better Bangladesh declared an important
victory today in their campaign to save the cycle rickshaws in this
capital city of ten million people. The World Bank has officially
ended its long-time support for prohibitions of cycle rickshaws on
Dhaka s main roads, and local authorities seem to have heeded the
message and postponed further rickshaw bans.
The World Bank first clarified its position towards the rickshaw
ban in a February 2 letter sent by the bank s country director
Christine Wallich to the Dhaka Transport Coordination Board:
Any future support from the World Bank would be possible only if
it can be demonstrated that aggregate positive impacts of NMT-free
[non-motorised-transportation-free] conversion on transport users and
transport providers outweigh the aggregate negative impact, Wallich
wrote. The bank would not support the continued conversions that do
not conform to the above principles, and any support would be
contingent on the government carrying out mitigation measures to
reduce the negative impacts, and alleviate public concern.
Further, Wallich urged that several measures be completed as soon
as possible to mitigate the impact on affected transport users and
providers. These included a program to retain rickshaw drivers for
other trades, improvements of bus service and infrastructure, and the
designation of a network of streets for non-motorized vehicles
only.
COST EFFECTIVENESS OF CUTTING CAR USE
[submitted by Anna Semlyen, York, UK]
New research commissioned by the UK's Department for Transport called
"Smarter Choices: Changing the Way We Travel" has found that 'soft
transport measures' give a fantastic rate of return - a benefit of
more than 10 pounds (1 GBP equals 1.4 EUR) for every 1 pound spent.
Soft measures aim at giving better information and opportunities to
help drivers cut their car use while enhancing the appeal of
alternatives.
These popular ideas include:
* workplace and school travel plans;
* personalised travel planning, travel awareness campaigns, and
public transport information;
* car clubs and car sharing schemes;
* teleworking, teleconferencing and home shopping.
The public cost of reducing traffic by soft measures is estimated
at 1.5 pence per car kilometre. The benefit of reduced traffic
congestion is 15 pence per car kilometre removed, and more than 45
pence in congested urban conditions. Every 1 pound spent on well-
designed soft measures brings at least 10 pounds of benefit in
reduced congestion alone plus environmental improvements.
Estimations assume that no new vehicles use the road space
created. Even if they do, a plan with a 1,000-4,500% return is good
enough to be worth backing.
Yet the City of York plans to axe its travel awareness post, due
to budget cuts.
AIR POLLUTION CAUSES EARLY DEATHS
[from BBC]
A study by the European Commission calculated that air pollution
reduces life expectancy by an average of almost nine months across
the European Union. Poor quality air is thought to result in more
than 32,000 premature deaths in the UK each year alone. Experts say
many of these deaths could be avoided if measures were put in place
to cut pollution levels. The figures show every European takes on
average half a day off sick a year due to illnesses linked to air
pollution - costing the economy more than 80 billion euros.
The main threat to health is posed by tiny particles known as
particulate matter, which can penetrate deep into the respiratory
tissue, and even directly into the bloodstream. They are emitted by
traffic (particularly diesel engines), industry and domestic heating.
Ozone produced when sunlight reacts with pollutants emitted by
vehicle exhausts is also a major cause of respiratory disease.
There are major variations between member states in terms of air
pollution. The situation is the worst in Benelux area, Northern
Italy, and new member states such as Poland and Hungary. Lost life
expectancy is worst in Belgium, where on average people lose 13.6
months of life, and the Netherlands, at 12.7 months. The Finns are
the least affected, losing just 3.1 months on average, followed by
the Irish at 3.9 months. The European Commission is to try to reduce
the threat to health by adopting a new strategy on air pollution from
May.
Barbara Helfferich, an environment spokesperson for the
Commission, told the BBC: "There are number of ways of doing this.
"We can reduce burning of fossil fuel, we can use alternative
energy sources, we can restrict traffic in inner cities."
Professor Andrew Peacock, of the British Thoracic Society, said:
"We have known for some time that high levels of air pollution
have a direct link to respiratory illnesses. We would urge for this
subject area to be looked into further and for the government to
continue working with others to minimise pollution levels in this
country."
Premature deaths due to particulate matter:
Germany 65,088
Italy 39,436
France 36,868
UK 32,652
Poland 27,934
Spain 13,939
Netherlands 13,123
Hungary 11,067
Belgium 10,669
Czech Republic 7,996
Austria 4,634
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ANNOUNCEMENTS >>
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TOWARDS CARFREE CITIES V: JULY 18-21
The Towards Carfree Cities V conference will take place July 18-21 in
Budapest, Hungary, with the annual general meeting of World Carfree
Network to be held on July 22. A draft of the programme is available
on-line at
<<
http://www.worldcarfree.net/conference/>
www.worldcarfree.net/conference/>.
The on-line
registration form will be available there later in March, along with
accommodation information and more. For more info, please write to
<
mailto:madarassy@levego.hu><madarassy@???>.
SUMMER BIKE RIDE AGAINST G8
[from G8cyclecaravan]
The G8 summit in July 2005 will take place in Gleneagles, Scotland.
Thirty years of G8 summits has not brought peace and prosperity but
has led to further impoverishment for millions of people, undermined
basic democratic rights, destroyed the environment and increased
global instability. G8cyclecaravan is a network of activists and
cyclists based in diverse local groups. We are organising an exciting
cycle tour from London to Edinburgh arriving in Edinburgh on July 6,
in time to join protests against the G8. The tour will include a
diverse range of human powered vehicles and trailers, we'd especially
like to hear from recumbent and trumpet playing tandem riders!
If you are interested further details are available on
<<http://www.g8cyclecaravan.org>www.g8cyclecaravan.org> or via e-mail
<mailto:info@g8cyclecaravan.org><info@???>.
JUNE 2005 NYC BIKE AND TRANSIT CONFERENCE
>From June 24 to July 4, come to the New York City Bike and Transit
Conference to express yourselves, compare notes and make plans for
more effective actions on behalf of sane and human-scale transport.
Proceedings will all be free, and, in some cases, simulcast on the
Internet. Each subject will have a full day to explore current
conditions and possible remedies for the health, economic and
transportation catastrophes in which we are currently enmeshed.
Topics will include, among others: Defining 'Public Space',
Bicycle & Electric-Assisted Vehicle Design, Shared Vehicles and much
more. For the complete program please visit
<http://www.lightwheels.com>. For further information, contact
<mailto:MeetMe@TheAutomat.com><MeetMe@???> or call 1(212) 431-0600.
ECOLOGISTS TO MARCH AGAINST GRAND PRIX
Casseurs de Pub, a French nonprofit organisation, is organising a
"Marche pour la D croissance" (March for Counter-Growth) June 6 to
July 3 from Lyon to Magny-Cours in the hopes of stopping the Formula
1 Grand Prix race. Organisers expect several hundred marchers to
participate.
"It's a matter of renewing the tradition of nonviolent mass
marches," explained Casseurs de Pub president Vincent Cheynet,
calling the Grand Prix "the ultimate symbol of wastefulness" as his
organisation launches its fifth annual campaign against the race.
After a big evening event "against the society of consumption and
waste" on June 6 in Lyon, the marchers will take to the road, at the
rate of 15 km per day, to the rhythm of the steps of Francois
Schneider and his donkey Jujube, who have been traversing France for
a year on an educational tour promoting alternatives to economic
growth.
During the march there will be conferences and meetings every
weekend and will terminate with a big demonstration on the edge of
the Magny-Cours racetrack, on the day of the Formula 1 Grand Prix
races. Activists and several well-known speakers will arrive from
Paris or Lyon by bicycle, including Jose Bove and Albert Jacquard.
For more information, see
<<http://www.decroissance.org/marche>www.decroissance.org/marche> (in
French).
[end]
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