For more than 20 years, I’ve been among those promoting a more integrated approach to sustainability. It’s not just about the environment and resources, I keep reminding people. It’s about systems: understanding their interconnections, the viability of their long-term trends, their limits.
And sustainable development is about changing systems … for the better.
One of World Streets most consistent, persistent policy objectives is our long-term and firmly held recommendation that not only should our transportation systems be (a) designed to offer as the highest priority full and fair service for women of all ages and stations of life, but also that (b) the decision process involved something approaching a full quorum of female leaders and participants. For more on that we invite you to click here for World streets coverage of these issues since 2009, and for more on the Gender, Equity & Transport Forum 2.0 go here – http://gatnet.wordpress.com.
The following article on the status and role of women in transport in Uganda has been sent to us by the Civil Society Coalition on Transport (CICOT) in Uganda.
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– Source: CISCOT – The Transporter Newsletter 2014, Issue .
The present transport system has largely been designed to carter more for men and majorly by men. Professionals are increasingly aware of the social dimension of transport, but there is still fundamental lack of awareness of the gender differentiated impact of transport policy and provision. There is a need to introduce piecemeal initiatives, such as the Public Transport Gender Audit and the subsequent Public Transport Gender Checklist right from the local level and closely monitor and audit their take up closely.
Apparently the employment in the transport sector is very male-dominated. This constrains women in development.
There is scarcity of women in central positions in the policymaking and planning of transport, and there is a systematic failure to incorporate the voices of women users in the consultation and planning of the transport systems. The absence of systematic gender inclusion procedures for transport, in terms of training for professionals, the participation of users or the design and planning of systems services and equipment suggests that gender analysis is not seen as relevant to transport policy. More women than men are facing transport problems in accessing a range of public services.
It is no longer acceptable not to have women sit with men in decision-making roles. This will benefit the institutions involved in create a more balanced work environment. Let us begin by lighting a single candle than to sit and curse the darkness.
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What is CISCOT?
The Civil Society Coalition on Transport in Uganda (CISCOT) aims to contribute to an efficient, effective and safe transport system. It brings together organisations to harness the potential of civil society and to build a strong, collective voice to address the needs and concerns of citizens on transport issues. Created in 2013, the Coalition focuses on three broad areas:
Contact:
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World Streets can only applaud and hope the very best for this courageous civil society initiative in an environment which is not always so welcoming of contrary views.
Eric Britton
13, rue Pasteur. Courbevoie 92400 France
Bio: Founding editor of World Streets (1988), Eric Britton is an American political scientist, teacher, occasional consultant, and sustainability activist who has observed, learned, taught and worked on missions and advisory assignments on all continents. In the autumn of 2019, he committed his remaining life work to the challenges of aggressively countering climate change and specifically greenhouse gas emissions emanating from the mobility sector. He is not worried about running out of work. Further background and updates: @ericbritton | http://bit.ly/2Ti8LsX | #fekbritton | https://twitter.com/ericbritton | and | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericbritton/ Contact: climate@newmobility.org) | +336 508 80787 (Also WhatApp) | Skype: newmobility.)
This is the first in a series of four short films prepared by a faculty team from the Centre for Transport and Society at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol). The four podcasts pose some interesting questions and give an insightful appraisal of what influences travel habits, delivered by nationally leading experts in the field of transport research: Professor Glenn Lyons, Dr Steve Melia, Professor Graham Parkhurst and Professor John Parkin. Today’s film is presented by Steve Melia and looks into some surprising questions from Steve’s forthcoming book ‘Urban Transport Without the Hot Air’. All four films can be viewed on the UWE Bristol web pages.
The editor of World Streets was contacted by the organizers of the 2014 MobiPrize for Enterprising Cities/States and asked to make a nomination for an international an award of recognition for City/State governments o that have demonstrated active efforts to build a culture of innovation and encourage entrepreneurship in sustainable transportation through enabling policy changes, capacity building, data sharing, funding (ppp) and other resource allocation efforts. We nominated the City of Paris for the award, concentrating on innovative world level services and innovations which involve extensive public/private partnerships.
Our draft nominating message appears here. We welcome comments, corrections and suggestions for improvement or extension.
Zinnia Sidhu writes from Delhi
Delhi’s mindless traffic causing breakups since Papu learnt how to drive. The BIG WHITE elephant in the city. Oho! Not Papu, the traffic silly. The unnecessary evil. I genuinely believe that Delhiiets fortunately or unfortunately spend at least 50% of their waking hours in the car listening to Radio Mirchi, while simultaneously banging their heads on the steering wheel, texting, taking Instagram worthy shots, and not to mention swearing once in a while.
The Ring Road’s total length is 48km and is a six-lane carriageway. This was designed to carry about 75,000 vehicles a day. But the road carries 1.6 lakh vehicles per day and is expected to carry about 4 lakh vehicles by 2016!
Maxime Jean writes: When I started dealing with car sharing 20 years ago, we were talking of a “missing link”. Today the situation has changed and car sharing has begun to play its part among the sustainable modes of transport. Let me briefly introduce the current situation, the development factors and some suggestions to overcome the brakes, the role of electric vehicles in car sharing and some elements concerning the prospective. I present this overview in the form of a PowerPoint presentation made to the European Conference on Mobility Management held in Florence from 7th to 9th of May 2014.
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About the author:
Maxime Jean
Cerema / DterCE (French of Environment and Energie Department)
Mobility service
+33 4 72 14 31 69
maxime.jean@cerema.fr
Want to have a quick look at a new collaborative website on our important subject that we are just starting to work up? And give us your first impressions and views? It is still very rough, but we think it’s perhaps not a bad start. With your help it will be better.
Thanks for taking the time to share your ideas.
World Streets maintains a watching brief and reports from time to time on mandatory helmet laws in different parts of the world. (For more on this: http://goo.gl/H8mEHm .) Ian Ker reports here from Perth with a case study of mandatory bicycle helmet laws in West Australia , as presented to the 29 May 2014 VeloCity Global Conference in Adelaide.
Normally your editor tries very hard to keep all postings here focused on the important topics which you will find introduced in our Mission Statement, but here exceptionally is a more personal short story which raises some puzzling problems. And I may not be the only one in our extended sustainability family has run up against this particular weirdness. Continue reading
World Streets, together with a number of our readers and supporters, including city cyclists and others working in the sector, 
have decided to take a public position on obligatory National Cycling Licenses. And that around the world the appropriate agencies and legislative groups, city by city and country by country, will step forward one at a time and when they are ready to pass into their law a requirement that certain road users must take and pass a rigorous National Cycling License examination.
In an article entitled Traffic Congestion in Penang, published by the Penang 
Transport Council on 31 March 2010, we can see the high level of awareness shown by State government of traffic congestion issues and eventual solutions at the time. The only main missing piece of the puzzle in their overview is the lack of consideration of land use and related urban planning issues and measures. Something which is very much in the hands of local government. Many of these points come up again in the 2013 Transport Master Plan Strategy for the State of Penang. And from this we can tell that the awareness is very much there.
This is a special issue of to celebrate the life and work of our friend, colleague and inspiration, Paul Mees. Paul died at the far too early age of 52 in June 2013. He was a fierce and highly articulate advocate of the public interest. His contributions ranged over traditional academic activities including teaching, 
researching and publishing but went much wider and embraced campaigning, media activity and an ability to engage with senior public figures in a way that could not be ignored and in a way that exposed the utter wrong-headedness of much Australian and State of Victoria transport policy and spending. He is greatly missed.
This special issue once again reiterates our commitment to sustainable transport, which embraces the urgent need to cut global emissions, reduce the amount of new infrastructure of all kinds, and to highlight the importance of future generations, the poor, those who live in degraded environments and those deprived of human rights by planning systems that put a higher importance on financial objectives for the few, than on the environment and social justice for all..
World Streets needs to catch on before my feet get wet.
– Dirk van Dijl, Netherlands
Over 1827 calendar days have passed since World Streets opened for business in March 2009. The results are there for all to see and judge: 1,196 original articles, 128 contributors, 1,365 photographs, maps, drawings and illustrations, 5444 registered readers, from some 149 different countries, and on an average day anywhere from 150 to 250 visitors (best ever 2002). But is what we are doing useful and worthy of support? We asked 100 expert readers for their views — and 101 of them picked up their pens and responded. Continue reading
Over the last decade carsharing has increasingly proven itself to be an effective mobility option, serving for well more than 1000 cities on all continents. A key element of an integrated mobility strategy for people and for cities, it is a thrifty transport mode and largely self-financing.
People choose to carshare not because they are obliged to, but because it offers a choice. They do it because they see it as a better, more economical way to get around for a portion of their trips. Properly positioned it has shown that carsharing can offer significant potential for energy savings, pollution reduction, space savings on the street, and reduced requirement for expensive public investments in infrastructure to support cars and/or conventional public transport.
The upper and lower limit of government intervention
– Karel Martens
A different perspective
Concerns about the environment have long been seen as a trigger for a transition in transportation planning and policy across the world. While certainly steps in the right direction have been made, so far little fundamental change can be discerned in the policies of most (national) governments.
This carefully compiled seasonal report from Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute is a fine tool and up to date source guide for researchers and policy makers worldwide. We are pleased to present it in its entirety here, together with references you will find handy to take these entries further. Thanks for your continuing fine work Todd.
Pedestrian crossing in Victoria Continue reading
Today marks the fifth anniversary edition of World Streets. Our first number 
appeared on 31 March 2009 with an opening message by the editor — click here — announcing the targets, intent and proposed method of this new collaborative media venture. On the same day we published our Mission Statement — Say Goodbye to Old Mobility — which you can read here. Today we would like to spend a few minutes with you to review the accomplishments and, yes!, the shortcomings and disappointments of these first five years. And then go on to look out to our hopes and intentions for the rest of this decade. Continue reading
Challenging year ahead. Here are the main program areas to which we intend to give attention over the 
course of the year ahead. All of these are complex system challenges and require patient attention and mental flexibility if we are to find the best way to proceed in each case. And in each case it is not enough to be right in terms of the basic principles — it is every bit as important to be able to communicate them and to convince the public, government and other key actors that these ideas and approaches are worth getting behind. Nobody ever said that the move to sustainable transport and sustainable cities was going to be simple.
NETWORK DISPATCHES 