Financial Times

Encourage bicycles, cycle rickshaws - energy expert
A top energy expert has urged the government to support non-motorized vehicles by removing restrictions on the use of cycle rickshaws and bicycles on major urban roads and improve safety conditions.

"One of the first priorities (in the sphere of managing motorization) in the creation of sustainable transport and land use systems is to create a safe and pleasant environment for anyone wishing to walk, bicycle, take a cycle rickshaw, or any other form of low-cost non-motorised transport," noted Prof. Mohan Munasinghe, chief energy advisor to the Sri Lanka government.

Delivering the recent John Diandas Memorial Oration on the theme "Sustainable Transport Development: Issues and Options in Sri Lanka", he said effective and affordable provision of attractive public transit options are also very important.

"Modernization need not necessarily rely solely on motorization, and the overarching goal must be to move people rather than vehicles. This is possible only if people have choices in selecting the most appropriate mode for a trip, without sacrificing convenience, safety or money," he said adding that the second priority is to focus on managing demand for road space by private motor vehicles, rather than simply accommodating growing demand.

This is best done through restricting available parking and raising parking costs to regulate traffic to levels supported by existing infrastructure. Road pricing, cordon pricing, and other pricing mechanisms have also been used successfully in many cities.

Excerpts from Munasinghe's presentation:
Transport is a key service which interacts critically with the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development. First, it has long been perceived as a major driving force underlying economic progress, and in turn, economic growth itself further stimulates transport demand. Second, transport is strongly interlinked with the environment. Third, it is a basic human need, which significantly affects social well-being.

In the absence of a good, convenient and efficient public transport system in urban areas, there has been an increasing trend towards more and more ownership and utilization of personalized motor vehicles to commute which is not only more energy intensive and polluting, but also more expensive to the economy.

Rapidly increasing motor vehicle use remains the biggest challenge to developing a sustainable transportation system. Industrial nations, while accounting for less than a fifth of the world's population, continue to account for about 60 percent of transport-related energy use.

The transport sector represents nearly 30 percent of total emissions of carbon dioxide, the primary contaminant responsible for global climate change. Further, with growing vehicle purchases in the developing world, transport is also the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The great attention currently given to the issue of global climate change partly obscures the continued danger of other contaminants. From the standpoint of human health, reductions in the levels of lead contamination of air and water, reductions in the levels of suspended particulates (TSP), nitrogen oxides (NOx) ground level ozone, carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), are the most important. While lead phase out is well under way in most developing and virtually all developed countries, the levels of TSP, NOx, VOCs and CO are rising dramatically in many developing country megacities, with serious long term adverse health implications for millions, especially the poor.

In 1993, an estimated 885,000 people died in traffic accidents, worldwide. In countries like India, as little as 5 percent of those killed are in cars. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists remain the most vulnerable road users and their rights are rarely protected adequately. The Netherlands recently implemented a policy of holding motorists responsible every time they hit a pedestrian or cyclist. Traffic safety issues are as important for sustainable city policies as vehicle emissions.
Several best practice examples of public transit system improvements that have actually led to a major and sustained increase in ridership, include large-scale high capacity bus systems.

In rural Sub-Saharan Africa, over 90 percent of trips are still made on foot, and up to 85 percent of ton-kilometres of freight movement are moved by women, mostly by head-loading. In Chinese cities and rural areas, walking and bicycling combined still accounts for more than 50 percent of all trips. While the use of motor vehicles is rising rapidly, access to private motor vehicles in urban areas of China and India, is restricted to less than 10 percent of the population. Even in developed countries where compact, mixed-use settlement strikers are still intact, walking and bicycling remain predominant modes, especially for short trips between 3-5 kilometres.

Mobility needs and access to transport services are strongly gendered. Within the household, the mobility needs of men are typically prioritised, with male household members having access to the fastest (and hence often most expensive) transport options. Women typically have much less access to motorized vehicles, and lower-income women, especially those in rural areas, spend a large portion of their day walking and head loading.

Vehicle design standards need to be developed to ensure that injuries to pedestrians or cyclists struck by the vehicle is minimized by the vehicle's design. The costs of these design modifications could be borne by motorists rather than their victims.
This means the development of standards for safer car, bus and truck fronts and side panels, more visible (for bicyclists and pedestrians) turn indicators, safer designs for locally used vehicles in LICs (e.g. Tuk-tuk, jeepney, three-wheeled scooter taxis, etc.)

National and regional governments could cooperate better with cities, in developing and maintaining urban and suburban rail and exclusive right-of-way bus systems.
Transit stations should also provide secure bicycle parking facilities, especially in suburban areas with lower station densities.

Government support of car-free zones and car-free days in urban centres can be instrumental in increasing awareness of non-motorized options. Such initiatives also demonstrate the ease and cost-effectiveness of creating a more liveable urban environment.

The development of national and city-level master plans would be another critical element in boosting cycle use, as is done now in Seoul, New York, Bogota and many other cities. In order to be effective, these plans need to pro-actively aim at a significant increase of the non-motorized mode share. Decision-makers should eliminate fuel subsidies and charge appropriately for parking and other car-based services

Charging for access to urban areas through road pricing schemes has been effective in cities such as Singapore in generating revenue and discouraging unnecessary use of single-occupant vehicles.

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