Battle of Ideas: Towards a New Mobility Agenda for Penang

See: https://www.facebook.com/SustainablePenang/

The central premise of the State’s strategy is simple . . .  to “move people, not vehicles”.    – From the Penang Transport Master Plan, at https://goo.gl/h9q8wm

INVITATION TO AN OPEN PUBLIC BRAINSTORM:

Can we get your support for or your reactions to a draft proposal that follows, for comparing the merits and the usefulness for the people of Penang for five alternative strategies for dealing with Penang’s most pressing transport/mobility needs and priorities? (Note: This is a very rough first introduction to this idea for creating a comprehensive independent basis for comparing the alternative strategies, targets and competence.)

Transport Open Data and the Convenience Revolution (Australian style)

Source: Transport Open Data blog at http://data.nsw.gov.au/

Let’s have a look at what our colleagues in New South Wales are doing in the area of open data for transpor tplanning and polilcy — http://data.nsw.gov.au/blog/transport-open-data-and-convenience-revolution.

Sustainable Transport Planners Bookshelf (intro)

In support of the Better Choices process we are working hard to develop an open on-line library resource with select references on sources intended to be useful to planners, local government, decision makers, operators, the media, students, and concerned elements of civil society. These documents and references are being selected with the counsel of leading international authorities in our field.

For latest information on the Better Choices: Bringing Sustainable Transport to Smaller Asian Cities project, of which the Bookshelf is one part, click to https://goo.gl/qN85st

Resignation speech of Dr. Lim Mah Hui to Penang Island City Council

Address to the Full Council Meeting of MBPP, December 22, 2016

I wish to inform my fellow councilors that this will be my last speech to the Council as I have declined to be nominated by civil society to the State authority for reappointment to the Council.

Let me now touch on the running of the Council. The Council exists to serve rate payers and the public. . .  In the interest of promoting greater transparency and participation, and in accordance with Local Agenda 21 that encourages the promotion greater public participation, this Council should be a leader to adopt the policy of allowing members of the public to speak at full council meetings, and also to open up its committee and sub-committee meetings to members of the public.

Book review: Urban Transport Crisis in Emerging Economies

We are about to introduce this book to our 4,434 readers living and working in no less than 149 countries, most of whom in “emerging economies” — but let’s make this first part of this review very simple.  If you are at all interested in the on-going tectonic shift from what we used to call “transport” or “transportation” to the far more elusive and difficult “sustainable transport” or “mobility”, especially in the context of cities, this is a book which you really have to spend some time with to read and savour. It is timely, deep, critical, fair and wise. And not only for those working in the emerging economies

(Notice: For many of our readers, students, young professionals, NGO’s or tightly funded small city administrations, the hefty price may be a problem,. But let’s first take a good look at the book and then we can talk about a possible work-around for that price.)

Archives: The struggle for local democracy in Malaysia

Dato’ Dr. Anwar Fazal

This is one of those special times for Malaysia when change and ideas are most  welcome. So there is hope and opportunity.  And it is one of those special times when change, even paradigm shifts are possible, and local governments given a new and more central place in the lives of our citizens. If we can together constructively, creatively and systematically build and add to the many promising initiatives , and if civic engagement leads an upsurge of citizen interest, we will surely see the emergence of an efficient, effective, equitable, democratic local government system in Malaysia that is socially, ecologically and economically sustainable.  And make a marked improvement in the quality of life of all Malaysians.
* Anwar Fazal, Penang. In Malaysiakini, 12 April 2001

Heads-up Penang: Have you thought about getting an Undriving license?

There is a program in Seattle, USA that wants to teach you to become an “Undriver”. — Go to http://undriving.org/ for details.

And what about this?  Should Penang also start its own Undriver project. A grassroots movement to show what individual citizens who care can do for themselves and for others for a better, safer and fairer Penang.