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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Introduction 2 At a glance: Sharing in the 21st century - Will it shape our cities? 3 The Third Way of getting around in our cities 4 "On the whole, you find wealth more in use than in ownership." - Aristotle. ca. 350 BC What is Share/Transport? 5 The three principal components of share/transport 6 Share/transport 2011: A modal overview 7 Why sharing is more than important: 7, 1, 20 8 Technology is the unexpected wild card in our dilemma. 9 Annex A: Ten questions for Changzhi 10 Annex B: Sharing Transportation Forum Conference program 11 Annex C: Speaking notes in support of video presentation 12 Annex D: The Seven Pillars of Transition to New Mobility 18
What is this?
The following is a draft conference document, prepared in working note form by the author as background in support of a keynote videoconference presentation bu the author to the Second World Share/Transport Forum held in Changzhi China from 25 26 October 2011. This document is being translated into Chinese to facilitate rapid reference by the Changzhi audience.
Supporting documentation
Videoconference recording (20 minutes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkFBaQGc94A Speaker notes: World Streets Reading Room http://www.scribd.com/my_document_collections/2948834 First World Share/Transport Forum in Kaohsiung, Sept. 2010 http://kaohsiung.sharetransport.org World Streets on Share/Transport: http://worldstreets.wordpress.com/category/sharetransport/ Author background note - http://wp.me/P1zD54-1r
Changzhi - Presentation background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
Introduction
Greetings from Paris. I am very glad to be with you even if only by this video link, but time is short so let's get to the topic. We have worked hard over the last months to prepare this conference, and the point I wish to make right here at the outset that this is not just one more ambitious expert workshop on sustainable transportation. I am joining you in Changzhi today with a single idea in mind. Specifically to see if, along with my esteemed colleagues from whom you will be hearing shortly, I can convince at least a certain number of you in this room of the importance , the relevance and indeed the absolute necessity of introducing the concept of share/transport in the future of not only your own city and cities across China more generally, but in cities around the world. At the end of the day I do not need you all to agree with all the ideas that are set out here. Indeed I do not expect you to. It is my experience that when it comes to exploring new approaches that break with past practices, that it is more likely to be a minority of the young people and younger minds (not always the same thing) that are more open to new ideas. If that's you, you are the person whom I now want to address over the next twenty or some minutes than in the dialogue that is to follow. When someone talks about sharing in the transport sector in China these days, because of all of the activity and publicity that has gone with that over the last two years or so, the first thing that comes to mind is shared bicycle projects. And then when we think about it a bit more and perhaps we get to projects like BRT's, this leads us to think about sharing the street with other users, including cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians. And of course cars. But there is more to it than that. The concept of shared transport is at once old and new, formal and informal, but above all it is an element of the transport sector that is growing very fast. Something important is clearly going on, and the Changzhi event will look at this carefully, in the hope of providing a broader strategic understanding for advancing not just the individual shared modes (e.g., car/share, ride/share, bike/share, street/share, taxi/share, etc.), but of combining them to advance the sustainable transport agenda of our cities more broadly. Are we at a turning point? Is sharing already starting to be a more broadly used and relevant social/economic pattern? Is there an over-arching concept which we can identify and put to work for people and the planet? And what do you need to look at and do to make your specific sharing project work? These are some of the issues that we shall be examining with prominent invited guests from the fields of economics, politics, psychology, who will join transportation experts to discuss these trends. Thus my main interest here in this first stage is not in the specific kinds of sharing -- that's important of course but it came come later. Rather what we need to sort out together anted get right here at the start is our understanding of the overall strategy and justification for and behind the concept of sharing, both in general and in the transport sector . At this early point it is not the specifics of any one kind of sharing approach, but rather the broader human issues which it necessarily touches. Let's have a look.
Eric Britton. World Streets and the New Mobility Agenda, Paris, France
Changzhi - Supporting background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
Changzhi - Presentation background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
Changzhi - Supporting background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
"On the whole, you find wealth more in use than in ownership." - Aristotle. ca. 350 BC
What is Share/Transport?
Share/transport is a proven, integrated, strategic approach to providing more and better mobility options in our cities. It is no longer an option; As we look to the immediate future, we can see that it is a critical tool for transport policy and practice for our cities. While not familiar to many people and cities, including many planners and policy makers, this concept of sharing is an indispensable 21st century toolset and strategy for our cities, in a world of seven billion people and in an era of exploding urbanization, increasing income levels and consumer expenditures, and a growing international appetite of people for cars. We need to be pragmatic about this. Of course, there is nothing wrong with people having cars, per se. That's not the point. However it is where and how they use them that matter. And in this respect the clearest contradiction and biggest policy challenge results from the public space conflicts that we are seeing in our cities. (We call this challenge of too many cars in too small a space, the "Elephant in the Bedroom" syndrome. Despite its playful name, it presents a major challenge for policy makers worldwide). We have learned this over the past decade. After years of neglect, we now know that in the face of these crippling problems and trends we need to develop strategies whereby (a) people to have more and better mobility -- but also in parallel with this (b) many fewer cars in our cities. And while this was already becoming clear in the last century, given the speed of developments in recent years it has become a major 21st century priority issue for public policy worldwide, China included. Share/Transport is one proven way to deal with this interlocking challenge of too many cars and too poor mobility. However despite its clear advantages and many successes, for various reasons until now it is not sufficiently well known or appreciated by transport planners and policy makers in all parts of the world. And remedying this is one of the main objectives of this conference.
Changzhi - Presentation background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
Changzhi - Supporting background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
Changzhi - Presentation background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
7.
2011 was the first year in the history of our planet that the world population passed the 7 billion mark. Now that is a lot of people. Consider for example that in the year I was born, 1938, the world's population was barely 2 billion. Less than one third of the crowd that presently lives, works, plays, prays, wars, loves, and in most cases get by with only the greatest difficulty in poverty on this planet. But if we have more than tripled the number of passengers on the good ship earth, our planet has remained just about exactly the same size. That is the first part of our dilemma when we start to talk about the concept of sustainability and well-being. The second and even more crushing part of this dilemma is the fact that those 7 billion souls now have at their disposal technology and tools which give them the power to extract many times over the quantity of natural resources, including water, minerals and energy in its various forms then was even conceivable the time I was born. It is this, the power of technology and art tools which even more than the increase in population threatens the well-being and the future of the planet.
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2011 was also the year in which for the first time the world's motor vehicle population cracked the 1 billion barrier. One hundred million cars, buses, trucks, motorcycles, and other motorized vehicles on the road, and on our streets, or possibly park somewhere and waiting for something to happen to them. What is interesting about this from an access perspective is that this huge potential is not being effectively used in many instances, and certainly is not being effectively dealt with in the greater part of our cities. If the sheer number of motor vehicles, and their continuing high growth rates There is an argument that we already have too many cars. But that's not the key issue, which is the manner in which we are using them. And here as we shall see, the concept of sharing is one that is worth close study.
Changzhi - Supporting background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
20.
Approximately 20% of the ecological load being spewed into the atmosphere, earth, water and life of this planet results from the transportation sector. Likewise something on that order of total energy consumption traces to our sector. It is clearly an important policy target. What is particularly interesting about the transport sector in this regard is that, contrary to much poplar thinking, it is the one sector which is amenable to improvement, both quickly and at comparatively low cost. For this reason, the transport sector should be the focus of public policy in achieving near term improvements. And as we do this, we can show the way for the other sectors. What happens when we put these three numbers together? It is my view that this gives us every reason to be giving attention to how we can rationalize and improve the performance of the transportation sector in many ways. And fortunately for once we have a little help. Big help in fact.
Changzhi - Presentation background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
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Changzhi - Supporting background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
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Changzhi - Presentation background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
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Changzhi - Supporting background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
MY BACKGROUND: As part of this introduction let me make a point in passing that this is not a topic to which I have come recently or take lightly. I have spent several decades working internationally on exactly the matters we will be discussing here this morning, as an adviser, observer, teacher and writer. My training is as a development economist, and my work over my entire professional life has centered on the tough challenges of sustainable development and social justice. I stumbled into the field of transportation and technology back in 1969 when I organized a small team to do a worldwide survey entitled: New Technology and Transportation: 1970 1990. Ever since the challenges of the transport and technology sectors have occupied more than half my time, with almost all of this work looking into the specific problems and opportunities of transport in cites, worldwide.. Year after year after year. MY SHORT TERM GOAL IN CHINA: But let me not run away from this topic too quickly. I have a goal and that goal is to work with cities and collaborators across China in order to bring the share transport agenda to Chinese cities. I think you are ready for it, I think it can do a great deal of good for your cities and those who live, work and play there, and I think now is the time. UNSUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION: A WORLDWIDE PROBLEM The basic message which I hope to share with you starts with the broader challenge of improving our failing transportation arrangements in our cities worldwide. The problems that you and others in China face each morning when you get stuck in traffic, where you have too few real mobility choices (real means once you really want), and which your city becomes each day less agreeable place to live and get around, are in fact worldwide problems. But I think you will be most creative if we concentrate specifically on both the problems and potential solutions in the context of Chinese cities here, leaving it to others to solve their problems in their own ways. IF IT AIN'T BROKE: There is an old saying in American English which runs like this: "if it ain't broke don't fix it,. This is prudent counsel but I think it is fair to say that in many of your cities face a situation in which it is clearly broke and you clearly need to fix it. Let me briefly review problem and solutions before moving on to share transport per se, which is interesting in this case because we have a situation in which the problems and the solutions are two sides of the same basic coin. -- 7, 1, 20 COMMENTARY HERE --
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Changzhi - Presentation background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
But before we get to Chinese cities, I would like to take a step back and look at this from a worldwide perspective. To do this, I would comment on three numbers: seven, one and twenty. TECHNOLOGY: PROBLEM AND SOLUTION In the dilemma that we face, we see that more than the problem of 7 billion people on this small planet, is that of the way in which all 7 billion of us live these days, namely with the long lever of technology which above all is the reason that our planet is in duress. Technology is indeed a problem, but it is also a key element of the solution, including as we will see in the field of share/transport we will come back to this matter of technology as part of the solution again and again in this conference, and it again and again in our work internationally in the field of share transport. OUR CITY TRANSPORT PROBLEM IN A NUTSHELL. Too many vehicles, too little mobility. When we put it in terms as simple as this, it is my view that the solution becomes immediately apparent. And it is a solution which is directly related to the topic of this meeting and all that brings us here today. We need therefore and this is extremely simple -- to reduce the number of vehicles on our streets, and to do this while at the same time providing more and better mobility and mobility options for all. HOW DO WE DO THIS? Through increasing the effective payload of the vehicles both for passengers and for freight. In its simplest form, this boils down to finding ways to get more than 1.3 or so passengers into each car and ditto for increasing the payload of all of the buses, trucks and vans on our streets and roads. It also means creating circumstances in which citizens will freely choose to get to their desired destination in some way other than by car. This of course is where safe cycling and agreeable walking come into the equation. This is the global background. Now let us turn to the topic of this meeting namely share transport and share transport strategies.
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Changzhi - Supporting background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
SHARING IN THE 21ST CENTURY - WILL IT SHAPE OUR CITIES? After many decades of a single dominant city-shaping transportation pattern - namely and for those who could afford it: owning and driving our own cars, trucks, motorcycles and bicycles, getting into taxis by ourselves, riding in streets that are designed for cars and not much else -- there is considerable evidence accumulating that we have already entered into a world of new mobility practices that are changing the transportation landscape in many ways. It has to do with sharing, as opposed to outright ownership. But strange to say, this trend seems to have escaped the attention of the policymakers in many of the places and institutions directly concerned. However transport sharing is an important trend, one that is already starting to reshape at least parts of some of our cities. It is a movement at the leading edge of our most successful (and wealthiest and livable) cities -- not just a watered down or second-rate transport option for the poor. With this in view, we are setting out to examine not just the qualities (and limitations) of individual shared mobility modes, but also to put this in the broader context of why people share. And why they do not. And in the process to stretch our minds to consider what is needed to move toward a new environment in which people can from time to time and for their own good reasons share, rather than necessarily only doing everything on their own when it comes to moving around in our cities worldwide. Share/transport is the largely uncharted, rich middle ground of high-impact, low-carbon, available-now mobility options between the long dominant poles of "private transport" (albeit on public roads) and conventional mass transport (scheduled, fixed-route services) at the two extremes. 20 S/T OPTIONS TO STUDY, UNDERSTAND AND IMPLEMENT: In the print document which I prepared to supplement the short words, you will notice that there is a table which identifies twenty different ways in which sharing in transport can be put to work in our cities. You will be hearing a lot about these from other speakers here, so let me not get into the details.
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Changzhi - Presentation background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
IN CHINA TODAY, as I understand it, there is great and growing interest in two of the most exciting share transport options, namely public bicycle projects and BRT (which is essentially a kind of street sharing project). A WORD ON CARSHARING FOR CHINA: So given me limited amount of time available to me that me not take your time talking about these, other than to share a few words with you about one of the share transport options that may not be immediately self-evident in the Chinese context. In this has to do with CarSharing, which you will be hearing more about from Lewis Chen and Yo Koga later today. I really wish I could dig into this topic, but let me just leave you with some words of encouragement for those concerned government organizations to make a real effort of imagination and energy in order to get to the bottom of this potentially promising mobility option, not only for those living in cities in China but also in smaller communities and even rural areas. CarSharing is a potentially great option for anyone who wants to or needs to have access to their "own car", without the downside of the very high costs that are involved and the many inconveniences that go with car ownership. It is entirely frustrating for me not to be able to get into this in more detail with you, but for now let me just leave you with these words of encouragement and the assurance that there is a great deal more to it than may appear at first glance. So the very least I hope you will keep glancing. GREAT ADVANTAGES OF SHARE TRANSPORT: Let me close with a few words on the great advantages of share transport as a policy and reality in our cities. Relative to traditional transportation measures taken by the public sector, share transport is a field in which things CAN BE DONE (A) VERY QUICKLY AND (B) AT RELATIVELY LOW COST. This should appeal to, especially in a time in which a great deal of money is being spent on expensive infrastructure investments which take a long time to come online in which, when finally they are available, or not getting at the strategic core of the problem, that is reducing the number of motor vehicles on the road and at the same time improving mobility.
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Changzhi - Supporting background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
S/T FOR CHINA: So share transport should definitely be on the policy agenda for China, the level of national government, at the level of your cities, at the level of your universities and research institutions that are well-equipped to dig into this new field of sustainable transportation and make significant contributions. So yes, share transport is important for your cities and for your people. Share transport is something you can do, once you have made up your minds to really dig into it, understand it, and put it to work with a minimum of delay. SHINING EXAMPLE FOR THE WORLD. And if you do this, if you make your best effort on this and start to get the results which will be available through the strategies, you are also going to provide a shining example for other countries in cities around the world that are not approaching this part of the sustainable transportation agenda from a sufficiently strategic perspective. So in closing, let me urge you to make the share/ transport agenda your own . You will be a shining example of the world. And our small plant badly needs such examples. Thank you
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Changzhi - Presentation background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
Notes intended to help in preparing handouts and on-screen sub-titles in Chinese in support of video presentations
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Changzhi - Supporting background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda
New Mobility Partnerships at http://newmobility.org 8 ,rue Joseph Bara 75006 Paris France Tel: +331 7550 3788 Skype: newmobility
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Changzhi - Presentation background notes by Eric Britton, World Streets & the New Mobility Agenda