WORLD CARFREE NEWS >>>
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Edition no. 30 - March 2005 - English version
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Contents:
QUOTATION OF THE MONTH
IN THE NEWS
- TIBETAN RAILWAY, US OIL GIVE-AWAY, DHAKA TRAFFIC...
WORLD CARFREE NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS
- NETWORK TRAINING AND AGM IN TABOR, CZECH REP. - MAY 22-26
- LAUNCHING CARFREE UK
- CARBUSTERS MAGAZINE SUBMISSIONS
- ECOTOPIA BIKETOUR 2006
- TOWARDS CARFREE CITIES VII, 2007 - ISTANBUL
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
- ECO-TOURISM IN POLAND
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QUOTATION OF THE MONTH >>
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"A simple calculation shows that of the 500,000 American soldiers
involved during the seven months of operation in the Gulf War, three
times as many would have died from road accidents alone had they
stayed in civilian life. Should we consider multiplying clean wars in
order to reduce the murderous death toll of peacetime?"
- Jean Baudrillard, "Gulf War," 1995
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IN THE NEWS >>
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- The two police officers who cut the climbing rope of activists who
were hanging from a bridge during the 2003 G8 summit in Evian,
France, have been found not guilty. The activists had blocked traffic
to the summit by hanging at either end of a climbing rope. Martin
Shaw, who fell 23 metres when the rope was cut, said, "Their excuse
is that the police were under stress and that they had never seen an
action like that before. The fact is that it was more important for
them to get the traffic going especially because the G8 delegation
was arriving than to protect our lives. The entire judicial procedure
is a systematic cover up of police brutality." More details at
<
www.aubonnebridge.net>.
- In the latest US administration budget, oil and gas companies can
extract US$65 million oil and gas from federal land and not pay any
of the standard royalties. That will mean a loss to the government of
$7 billion to $9 billion over the next five years. And, why are the
world's richest companies getting away without paying the government
loyalties? The Interior Department inadvertently made mistakes on
leases awarded in the late '90s for oil drilling in the Gulf of
Mexico [New York Times].
- The opening of Tibet to the rest of China may be slower than the
Chinese had hoped. Global warming could threaten the controversial
Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the world's highest. Wu Ziwang, a frozen soil
specialist, said, "Fast thawing of frozen soil in the plateau might
greatly increase the instability of the ground, causing more grave
geological problems in the frozen soil areas where major projects
such as highways or railways run through. Almost 1,000 km of track
lie in areas at more than 4,000 metres high. It is to begin trial
runs on July 1 [Oneworld.net].
- Pepsi is lending car drivers some help at the gas pumps. To ease
the burden of gas prices, Pepsi is awarding US$20 cash gas prizes
over the course of the 10-week campaign called "Free Ride"
[Autochannel.com].
- A new European Commission report shows that road fatalities in the
EU dropped 14% between 2001 and 2004, to 43,500 deaths. Only the
Czech Republic, Cyprus, Hungary and Lithuania saw increases. The
report also showed that among pedestrians and cyclists, the elderly
are the most vulnerable [Europa.eu.int].
- If Belgian residents cancel their car registrations, the Flemish
transport agency will give them a free three-year bus and tram pass.
If it was the only car in the household, the whole family rides for
free. Forty thousand people have taken up the offer. Although only
10% of the people continue to ride public transit after the three
years, the offer still pays for itself [Berliner Zeitung].
- In many EU member states company cars make up to 50% of new car
sales [Transport & Environment].
- Since the US invasion of Iraq, one million used cars have found
their way onto Iraqi streets. The US Secretary of the Army explained
how this showed that the toppling of the former regime has improved
the lives of the Iraqi people. Before, there were only 500,000 cars
in a country of 24 million people because Saddam Hussein's government
placed restrictions on car ownership [ITDP.org].
- The UK Department of Transport has banned train companies from
adding more wagons to deal with over-crowded trains and has ordered
them to cut unprofitable rural routes. The government is trying to
reduce the current GBP5 billion in rail subsidies by GBP1 billion
[Times Online].
- Australian authorities want to ban smoking in private cars [BBC
News].
- An average Mexico City motorist spends three hours a day behind the
wheel of a car [The Dallas Morning News].
- In an open letter to US mayors, the president of Piaggio, the
company that makes Vespa motor scooters, advocates "scootering" as a
behavioural shift that will help reduce US oil consumption.
- Rickshaw bans in Dhaka have not reduced traffic congestion as the
city had hoped. "After these roads are made off-limits to rickshaws,
most of the drivers prefer to use these roads, causing heavy traffic
jam every day," said Helal Uddin Nagri, Dhaka Transport Co-ordination
Board advisor" [The Daily Star].
- Transportation Alternatives in New York published a study showing
that people who live on streets with heavy traffic go out less often
and have fewer friends than those living on quieter streets
[Carfree.com].
- Former workers at a Ford plant in Argentina are suing the company
over alleged human rights abuses during military rule in the 1970s
and 1980s. The workers allege that Ford managers planned and carried
out a violent plot to rid the company of union activists [BBC].
- GM is harnessing the power of corn. Their new campaign "Live Green,
Go Yellow" touts the benefit of ethanol derived from corn. The
website features lots of hip people of different ages and colours
bathed in the yellow glow of sun and corn stalks.
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WORLD CARFREE NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS >>
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NETWORK TRAINING AND AGM IN TABOR, CZECH REP. - MAY 22-26
World Carfree Network will hold a five-day series of skill trainings
and meetings. The network's AGM (Annual General Meeting) will take
place on the final day, May 26.
The event will include expert-led workshops on various topics,
such as campaign strategy, public communication, video training,
volunteer coordination and motivation, and more.
Programme and registration info is at
<www.worldcarfree.net/tabor2006/>.
LAUNCHING CARFREE UK
A group of transport and planning professionals, researchers and
campaigners are pleased to announce that after several months
discussion they have decided to set up a new organisation, Carfree
UK. It will be a World Carfree Network member organisation, pushing
forward the agenda of larger, high quality, carfree residential areas
in the UK, for which the group's founders feel there is great
potential. They would like to hear from anyone with an interest in
furthering the carfree agenda in the UK. Find out more at
<
www.subsection.org.uk/carfree>.
CARBUSTERS MAGAZINE SUBMISSIONS
The deadline for submissions to Carbusters #27 is April 1. We will be
taking on all of the alternative fuel and clean car hype and try to
make sense of it. We will also look at car advertising, so if you
have examples of car companies making outrageous claims in their
advertisements send them to us electronically at
editors@??? or by post to Kratka 26, Praha 10, 100 00,
Czech Republic.
We always welcome articles on all topics, as well as any World
News, Action, Car Cult Review and Studies & Reports items (for
details see <www.carbusters.org/submissions/>). You can also write a
letter, too, and let readers know what you thought about the last
magazine.
ECOTOPIA BIKETOUR 2006
This year's biketour will pedal its way from Lithuania in mid-June to
Slovakia (for the annual Ecotopia gathering:
www.eyfa.org/ecotopia)
and then on to Italy for a World Carfree Day event on September 22.
Participants can join and leave the mobile eco-community at any point
along the way. Find out more at <
www.thebiketour.net>. The project's
international coordinator, Joao Lopez, is working in our Prague
office and can be reached at <joao@???>.
TOWARDS CARFREE CITIES VII, 2007 - ISTANBUL
Istanbul has been chosen as the host city for the seventh conference
in the Towards Carfree Cities series; dates to be announced. The
hosts are the City and Regional Planning Department of Mimar Sinan
Fine Art University, and the Traffic Safety Association.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS >>
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ECO-TOURISM IN POLAND
The Civil Affairs Institute, an independent foundation based in Lodz,
is offering one-of-a-kind eco-holidays in Poland. They are offering
three expeditions into different parts of Poland: Two hiking tours in
the Beskidy mountains and one canoeing trip with hiking in North-
eastern Poland (the so-called "Green Lungs" of Poland). For more
information see <
www.ecotourism.org.pl>.
...
Bulletin #30 by Steven Logan.
[end]
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WORLD CARFREE NETWORK
Kratka 26, 100 00 Prague 10, Czech Republic
tel: +(420) 274-810-849 - fax: +(420) 274-772-017
<info@???> - <
http://www.worldcarfree.net>
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