Bangkok--13 Nov--UNISBKK
Asia’s rapidly growing cities need to follow the models of Singapore, as well as some European cities, in developing integrated and sustainable public transport systems. They also need to include land use planning so that people can travel more easily and affordably to offices, schools or entertainment areas.
In reducing CO2 emissions, the key challenge of today’s urban transport systems is to curb vehicle use even as the volume of vehicles rises inexorably, according to transport sector analyst Charles Melhuish. This means encouraging people to use public transport systems that, in turn, need to be comprehensive, efficient and affordable.
“In many Asian cities, people are building new housing developments 20, 30, 40 or 60 kilometres out of town and this means people are taking longer and longer to get to work,” said Mr. Melhuish, a former lead transport sector specialist with the Asian Development Bank and now Technical Director with the UK government’s global Transport Knowledge Partnership. “Instead, they should be developing a compact, high-rise city, which is also easier to serve in terms of power, water and sanitation. Each time you extend a city in a linear fashion, all the infrastructure costs increase fantastically.”
Mr. Melhuish was giving an interview today at the Better Air Quality (BAQ) 2008 workshop in Bangkok, where he chaired a session on transport, air quality and climate change.
In addition, he said, planners need much more integration in their mass transit road and rail systems. He cited Singapore, where “Everything is planned well. When they plan extensions to the metro system, they have other transport systems feeding into it. It’s a city where you don’t need a car because you can travel around easily and relatively cheaply.”
Out of Singapore’s 4.6 million population, 1.6 million commuters use the rapid transit systems while about 3 million use a comprehensive bus network.
Another example of progressive transport planning, said Mr. Melhuish, is Bogota, Colombia, where former Mayor Enrique Penaloza helped to develop a bus rapid transit system called Transmilenia that has become widely admired.
Asia also needs to further develop vehicle emission testing and inspection systems, and also to encourage vehicle owners and operators to pay more attention to maintenance, said Mr. Melhuish. But, while useful and important, these are only small components in what should be a much larger program, said Mr. Melhuish.
“Governments know we have the technology to improve vehicles, reduce emissions and improve fuels, but getting them to implement the technology is extremely difficult,” he said. “They’re doing it in bits and pieces, instead of having a committed vision to getting something done over a 5 or 20 year period. They’re holding off in much of developing Asia.”
By contrast, western countries, especially in Europe, “There is a huge pro-environment movement, which means things get done as the environment means votes,” said Mr. Melhuish. “In many parts of Asia, the environment is important, but still doesn’t involve many voters. Because of per capita incomes levels, people are on a different plane in Asia, where many don’t own vehicles.”
The focus of planners today is on trying to “do more to control the private vehicle,” noted Mr. Melhuish. In London, for example, the policy of levying substantial charges on drivers in the inner city has been highly successful in reducing traffic by around 20%. Other urban moves include installing more walkways and restricting parts of cities to pedestrians, as well as encouraging non-motorized forms of transport such as cycling.
The problem in Asia is that the volume of vehicles has been increasing by “large leaps and bounds every year,” he said.
However, said Mr. Melhuish, the current economic slowdown and higher fuel prices have already had an impact in slowing new vehicles sales and reducing traffic in some Asian cities.
Even with the recession, however, absolute numbers of vehicles continue to grow in Asia and the issues of urban air quality become more urgent by the day.
“It is a multisectoral and multidimensional issue and it needs the willingness of all the stakeholders to agree to a program for sustainable transport in cities,” he said. “The impact of what we could be doing would be much bigger if policy makers took up these issues and began implementing them.”
Media enquiries:
Ian Gill, [email protected]
Michael R. Co
Knowledge Management Division Head
CAI-Asia Center
Unit 3510, 35th Floor, Robinsons-Equitable Tower,
ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
Tel: (632) 395 28 43 to 45
Fax: (632) 395 28 46 - Kong Ha award5.doc - Singapore public transport.doc - Sophie Punte.doc