ITDP: GEORGE TOWN COULD BECOME A MALAYSIAN BEST PRACTICE IN TRANSPORT (with 42 ITDP policy recommendations, notes and commentary)

_SOURCE: https://www.itdp.org/2019/03/04/george-town-cycling-walking-transport/

George Town, a scenic Malaysian city on the island of Penang, is a culturally-significant and popular tourist destination. The city is a dense, beautiful collection of colonial-era and other historic, well-preserved architecture. Listed as a UNESCO World Culture Heritage site, George Town has long been an important center of trade in Penang, founded as an entry port by the British in the 1700s, and attracting traders and workers from all over the region. Today, George Town is a diverse mix of cultures, with influences of China, India, Indonesia, Burmese, the Arabic world, and many others, including the native Malays.

Editorial note: We have discussed this article in group peer commentaries reviews in recent months, and have been urged to highlight a certain number of key points and recommendations advised by the ITDP team which in our view provide an excellent starting point for the revised mobility strategy for Penang in the years immediately ahead, starting in 2020.  The original ITDP article of  4 March 2019 with illustrations, can be found at   https://www.itdp.org/2019/03/04/george-town-cycling-walking-transport/  Your comments are particularly invited on any one or all of these 42 critical points and recommendations.                 

2020 CLIMATE/MOBILITY ACTION PLAN & PARTNER SEARCH Invitation to pitch in and join the Five Percent 2020 Challenge in your city

THE  FIVE PERCENT 2020 CLIMATE CHALLENGE

          The World Climate Emergency   // //  The New Mobility Action Plan 

You never change things by fighting against the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.   —  Buckminster Fuller

 Communication to individuals and groups contacting us to express interest in knowing more about the Five Percent Challenge program, cities and projects in 2020

Thank you for your expression of interest in our shared concerns about our cities and our planet.  We are honored and look forward to being able to follow progress in your related work and projects as well.

Looking ahead — and just so it is clear — as a result of a vigorous recentering of my priority concerns for 2020 and beyond, I have shifted the totality of my work and engagement to the World Climate Emergency — and the following six key words and references: Climate.Cities.Space.Time.Action.NewMobility.org.

2020 PARTNER SEARCH: 

The 2020 project is aiming to network and bring together . . .

• Cities that are ready to step up the 2020 Five Percent Climate Challenge
• Research/Consulting groups or teams with deep expertise in these issues
• Sponsors of specific city projects, supporting events, overall research and support

OPEN CITY PROJECTS GETTING UNDERWAY – (Facebook intro + Global/Local context)

• Reykjavik – https://www.facebook.com/IcelandStepsUp    + http://bit.ly/2JB59MP
• Maribor – https://www.facebook.com/MariborStepsUp/    + http://bit.ly/2N9yIG0
• Penang – https://www.facebook.com/PenangClimateMobility/  +  http://bit.ly/2WbweuS
• Your City  https://www.facebook.com/NewMobilityAgenda/ + http://bit.ly/2WbmWPq

FOR MORE AS IT OCCURS. . . 

• – World Streets at https://worldstreets.wordpress.com – 
• – Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NewMobilityAgenda/.  
• – Context: Latest on the world wide web at  http://bit.ly/2Jin4aK
• – Action Toolkit https://worldstreets.wordpress.com/tag/2020actiontoolkit/

CONTACT: Climate@NewMobility.org, Tl. W/app +336 5088 00787,Skype — newmobility.
                       E. fekbritton@gmail.com     eric.britton@NewMobility.org  
                              * * *  For now please copy to both emails please   * * *

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? –  Attributed to Albert Einstein

# # #

About the convenor:

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.)

View complete profile

 

https://www.facebook.com/NewMobilityMasterClass/

 

THE FIVE PERCENT CHALLENGE: WORLD CLIMATE/MOBILITY CHALLENGE PARTNERS FOR 2020

DRAFT FOR COMMENT AND EDITING

— to be contacted and integrated into program from the beginning as full partners designing and monitoring the 2020 Five Percent Challenge.

Please share your contact information, addresses, names to that we can bring them into the project from the beginning.

Expert Op-Ed: Role of public transport in relieving traffic congestion in Penang

EXPERTS believe that improving public transportation is one of the most important ways of easing traffic flow on highways during festive seasons.

 

Traffic engineering specialist Dr Law Teik Hua said instead of widening roads and highways, the authorities should focus on upgrading the public transportation system.

 

“It is not necessary to widen roads to ease traffic. It will be costly and time-consuming to do this.

 

“We cannot say that widening roads will solve the congestion problem. That is not right.

 

“We must have a clear policy whether we want to promote private or public vehicles.

 

“Perhaps it is okay to have roads widened to ease traffic flow in the future, but what about the off period (non-festive season)?

 

“It is wasteful. Why don’t we use our resources to invest in upgrading public transportation?

_ _ _ _

Author: Dr. Teik Hua Law.

Universiti Putra Malaysia | UPM ·

Department of Civil Engineering ·

PhD in Transportation (Imperial College)

EMERGING MOBILITY SERVICES: A WORKING TOPOGRAPHY

EMERGING MOBILITY SERVICES (rCITI)

A team from the Research Centre for Integrated Transport Innovation (rCITI) School of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney, Australia Emerging Mobility Services offers their own definitions, which includes, but is not limited to, the following topics: *

Good morning Penang. May we present Micromobility?

In brief:

Micromobility is a category of modes of transport that are provided by very light vehicles such as electric scooters, electric skateboards, shared bicycles and electric pedal assisted, pedelec, bicycles.  The primary condition for inclusion in the category is a gross vehicle weight of less than 500 kg. Additional conditions are the provision of a motor, primary utility use, and availability as a shared service. (Thanks WP.)  Note: Additional graphics below purloined from the net. Creative Commons –

Micromobility’s 15,000-mile checkup

January 2019 | Article By Kersten Heineke, Benedikt Kloss, Darius Scurtu, and Florian Weig   Source and full text, graphics and links:  https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/micromobilitys-15000-mile-checkup

Democracy, Civil Society, & Team Building in Penang: Key Organizations and Agencies

Civil Society is the life raft of 21st century democracy

The following listing of twenty-plus organizations is intended eventually to be extended to identify all those groups and institutions who are going to have a role in the restructuring of Penang’s mobility arrangements. (Note: Each of these entries is clickable and will take you directly to the indicated source.)

But here’s our question. Are there other groups, programs and agencies (and companies and media) who should be identified here for communication and coordination purposes in support of the project?  For example, are there units or projects at the level of local government which are aimed at specific near term problems or issues

And should you have a contact name and email address at hand, that would be much appreciated. If so please let us know via the email address penang@ecoplan.org. Thank you.

Save Penang! Reject three artificial islands creation in Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project.

 Forty-five NGOs have come together today to support the petition Civil society groups have started an online petition calling on Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and other government leaders to reject the creation of three islands in the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project.. The petition was started by former city councillor Khoo Salma Nasution  on behalf of Penang Forum, a coalition of local NGOs. It lists 20 reasons why the project, which is slated to fund the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), should be cancelled.  Forty-five NGOs have come together today to support the petition .

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Khoo said the lack of public consultation and detailed information about the project is “shocking” in view of the size of the proposed reclamation.

   * * * Click here for latest news on the petition

PART ONE: THIS, GENTLEMEN, IS WHAT TRANSPORT PLANNING AND POLICY SHOULD LOOK LIKE IN YOUR CITY

 It’s the weekend, so a few pictures to warm up our topic:

Penang Forum Highway Review Committee in discussion. January 2019.

What’s wrong with Old Mobility (i.e., the one we have)?

“The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same
level of thinking that created them.” — Albert Einstein

Well when it comes specifically to our present arrangements for transport in cities the answer to this is a very long one.  Just to hit the high spots: