Education for Sustainable Mobility

Sanskriti Menon, Programme Director, Centre for Environment Education in Pune interviewed Ranjit Gadgil Programme Director at Parisar about 'Education for Sustainable Mobility'. Ranjit expresses his views about sustainable mobility, the role of education in bringing about the necessary changes in society to move towards sustainable transportation systems etc.

 

What is sustainable mobility? Is it understood in Pune and in India? How useful are examples from cities elsewhere?

The first step towards sustainable mobility is the recognition that though private motorized transport offers individual convenience, it cannot be the major mode as cities grow. The situation rapidly becomes unsustainable with congestion and pollution. Building a city around the private automobile leads to an insidious reduction of quality of life and equity; there is lopsided allocation of resources, and even social issues such as people becoming cut-off from one another. Understanding about carbon contributions from transportation systems to climate change has added a global dimension to what was earlier thought of as a local issue.

Is it understood in Pune and in India?

The National Urban Transport Policy by the Government of India, and the federal Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission have strongly emphasized enhancement of public transport and non-motorized transport. These are both welcome and important policy decisions however a greater emphasis on Traffic Demand Management is still needed. In Pune, civil society groups have been discussing the traffic and transport issues for over a decade so the demands for bicycle tracks, improvements in buses, and even the concept of traffic demand management are no longer met with incredulous surprise. However, the old paradigm is still too deeply ingrained – when we suggest 'add a bus lane'

or 'increase the footpath width', people still ask, ' what about space for motor vehicles?' People are still not thinking of non motorized transport and public transport as the main pillars of mobility systems for the city, but simply as utopian ideas.

How useful are examples from cities elsewhere?

The major transformations towards more sustainable mobility seem to have taken place in South America and Europe. The Transmileno, Velib and the London Congestion Charge are powerful demonstrations of this we have facilitated visits of municipal officials to some of these cities. It has been clearly  demonstrated in Curitiba and Bogotá that a committed politician can bring about radical change, however in Europe, the change has been more gradual and accompanied by wide-ranging discussions and public engagement in the formulation of local and higher-level policies. In Pune we don't have a directly elected mayor and nor are our city-level policy formulation processes very well formed as yet, so we have

to adapt examples of transformation processes that might have been very effective else where in the world such as design typologies and films prepared by Interface for Cycling Expertise and GTZ.

How have you engaged with local policy-makers?

Civil society groups in Pune have largely interacted with the bureaucracy on sustainable transport issues. However, much more engagement with elected representatives is necessary for the evolution of local policies, plans and budgets for sustainable mobility systems. In the future, we aim to help candidates standing for election as well as the electorate, understand how public transport and non motorized transport facilities are related to equity, quality of life, income levels etc. Given that at least half the voting population of Pune uses the bus service (which needs great improvements), it makes sense to be more strategic about engaging with elected representatives.

Mobility needs to be part of election manifestos. Parisar has organized car-free days, pedestrian protests, a signature campaign by bus users demanding improvements, protests against bus fare-hikes etc. Hopefully, such expressions do convey the citizens' needs to the politicians!

What is the role of young people’s clubs and senior citizen organizations?

When you've just got your driving license, and experienced freedom with a motorbike, it's difficult to be too serious about footpaths and buses! But students in professional courses of architecture, engineering, planning especially must be exposed to technical aspects of designing sustainable mobility systems as well as the social dimensions such as equity and inclusion. For this, we design projects for students such as passenger counts, footpath designs, opinion surveys, designing communication material, organizing presentations etc. It's a good idea to engage senior citizens groups as advocates for sustainable mobility. They are adversely affected because of poor footpaths and bus services and they are often well-connected since they've been around, and can influence the local councilors!

What about schools?

We've developed a survey on how children come to school. Students are supposed to take the survey sheet home and fill it in after discussing it with parents. Often parents call up to complain that cycling is not safe in Pune's traffic conditions and we explain that the idea is to help children understand the need for city-widesafe and sustainable mobility. We also conduct a short slide-show and a film by ICE, followed by a discussion. The values dimension (equity, inclusion) is often included as we think it important that students are able to link the state of our city to its governance. We encourage students to write to the Municipal Commissioner presenting their views on the state of traffic and transport in Pune, and how they would like it to be. Political education is part of learning for sustainability.

(First published in the autumn 2009 issue of 'Educationand Sustainability' available at www.es-online.info)

The National Urban transport Policy was formulated in 006. Its objective is to ‘ensure safe, affordable, quick, comfortable, reliable and sustainable access’ to city residents.

Urbanindia.nic.in/policies/TransportPolicy.pdf

Service Level Benchmarks for Urban Transport

Service level performance benchmarks for urban transport have been identified for the following areas

of intervention:

1 Public transport facilities

2 Pedestrian infrastructure facilities

3 Non Motorize Transport (NMT) facilities

4 Level of usage of Intelligent Transport System (ITS)facilities

5 Travel speed (Motorized and Mass Transit) along major corridors

6 Availability of parking spaces

7 Road safety

8 Pollution levels

9 Integrated land use transport system

10 Financial sustainability of public transport

These performance measurements will need to be carried out by the service delivery agencies

themselves, reported to higher levels of management and also disseminated widely. Clear definitions and methodologies are expected to eliminate bias in measurement and reporting. Typically, four levels of service (LoS) have been specified, viz. '1', '2', '3', and '4' with '1' being highest LoS and '4' being lowest to measure each identified performance benchmark. Therefore, the goal is to attain the service level 1.

For detailed information visit:

http://www.urbanindia.nic.in/programme/ut/Service_level.pdf

Bicycle Safety Program in schools of Pune City

“While we cycle to school everyday, we don't feel safe even on cycle tracks, where we are told me to move out by pedestrians/motorists.”

“I have a lot of fun cycling near my place, but my parents don't allow me to cycle to school because it is very far and they think it is dangerous.”

These statements by school children in Pune are a telling comment on the situation of traffic and transportation in our cities.

Parisar Paryavaran Sanrakshan Sanstha, a Pune-based NGO has been working to promote awareness about sustainable urban mobility. Parisar believes that the first step towards sustainable mobility is the recognition that though private motorized transport offers individual convenience, it cannot be the major mode as cities grow. The situation becomes unsustainable with congestion and pollution and consequent reduction of quality of life and equity. Cycling is not just an alternative means of moving around easily but it is a fundamental means of transportation. If integrated into urban planning, cycle-based transportation can make a significant contribution to the move towards Liveable cities. Cities designed for non-motorized traffic and public transport, rather than for the car, have benefits for people and the environment.

With this in mind, Parisar initiated the Bicycle Safety Program in schools. The approach and the materials developed are easily adapted for use in other cities in the country. “The original plan”, says Ranjit Gadgil, Programme Director, Parisar, “was to run the program in about 30 schools in Pune like a campaign. As it turned out, we were able to develop a kit through trials in about 10 schools. The kit can be used to enhance awareness among children about cycling as a sustainable mode of transport in cities. It also has an element of 'civics education'. NGOs can use the kit to collect rich data about cycle routes used by school students and for further work on developing safe routes to schools.”

The programme is implemented with students of 7^th to 9^th standard. The kit consists of:

1. Three types of survey sheets to collect data from students who cycle, students who don't cycle and parents, on the reasons for cycling/not cycling, and perceived solutions from the parents' as well as the students' view on the situation.
2. A 20-minute Power point presentation on the transport situation in Pune.
3. A 15-minute video about cycling-friendly cities
4. A model 'Letter to the Municipal Commissioner' on behalf of the students drawing the authorities' attention to the problems of the students as cyclists.
5. A model 'Declaration' that can be made by the schools to make the city a cycling-friendly place.
6. Safety Tips for Cyclists' instruction card.
7. Badges.
8. Posters conveying various aspects of cycling through the medium of graphics and text.

 Implementing the Program Laying the Ground through the Survey

Students were given a week to fill out the survey sheets. They were asked to take the survey sheet home and fill it after discussing it with parents. Survey sheets were also given for the parents to fill out. Often parents called up to complain that cycling is not safe in Pune's traffic conditions. This became an opportunity for Parisar to say that was exactly the point, and also to clarify that Parisar wasn't telling children to cycle, but helping understand the need for and issues related to city-wide safe and sustainable mobility.

The data from the survey can be compiled and the results discussed with students. When plotted on a map, a visual representation can be made of which routes are being used to cycle to school.

While this was not a stated intention by the designers of the program, from an environment education perspective, the survey is a good way to get students to investigate the situation and arrive at their own conclusions based on facts they collect, rather than hand out platitudes like 'bicycling is good'. The survey also helped to reach out to parents and get them involved in the issue. If, at a later stage, a project is taken up to design safe routes to school, such outreach would likely provide a useful ally in the School Management Committees that includes parents.

Interactive Session to Imagine a City Safe for Cycling and Walking

After the survey, the Parisar team discussed with students the purpose of transportation including by walking and cycling and if it really makes sense to walk and cycle. They were encouraged to share their experience of walking and cycling and if they didn't do either, why?

The slide show 'Cycle for Pune' prepared by Parisar was used to present the current situation of and issues related to traffic and transportation in Pune. The show has photos from Pune's roads depicting the volume of traffic, difficulties faced by cyclists and pedestrians, as well as illustrations on how improvements in public transport, and cycling and walking facilities are the way to meet the traffic challenge.

Shweta Vernekar, who is part of the Parisar team, says that “the presentation also communicates ideas of equity and justice, with respect for all and its environment”. She also lists out some of the comments and questions the students raised that bring out key hurdles in making Pune a cycling friendly city again:

• Cycle tracks are not maintained, even as adjoining main road is always taken care of. Why is this so?
• Cycles are lightweight and hence very easy to steal, how can this be avoided
• To reduce the dependence on private vehicles [two/four wheelers], there should be adequate alternative public transport available.
• Public Transport must be clean and convenient. One should feel like opting for it.

After the slide show, students were encouraged to think and suggest how it would be to have a city where they were free to travel safely to school on cycle or by walk. Next, a film by Interface for Cycling Expertise titled 'Cycling Friendly Cities' was screened to show that there are cities in the world (such as Amsterdam and Bogota) where cycling and pedestrians are given priority on road. The response to the movie was very positive and enthusiastic. All children agreed unanimously that they would definitely cycle if they lived in such a city. The question of 'how to make cycling cool' was also discussed in some schools.

Some 'Civics Education'

An important part of the interactive session was the final question to students – what can be done? Students were asked about how the city decides about infrastructure projects and planning, and who makes these decisions.

At this stage the model letter to the Municipal Commissioner was shared which requests him on behalf of these students to look into the matter of safe and convenient cycling for them and for the city as a whole. At all the schools, students enthusiastically signed it.

After the session was done, students were handed out the badges and the safety tips cards as a token of participation. The School authorities were given posters handling different issues concerning cycling to be put up on school display boards. A charter declaring the school's support for cycling was also put up on the notice board.

The response to the program from students, parents, and teachers was very enthusiastic. Over 1200 children participated in the program, and each of the six schools mailed a copy of the Letter to the Municipal Commissioner on to the Pune Municipal Corporation, asking for safe cycle paths to allow them to ride to school.

For more information contact:

Parisar, 'Yamuna', ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road,

Pune 411 007; Ph.: 020-25512122

Website: http://www.parisar.org

The 'Walking School Bus'

A walking school bus is a group of children walking to school with one or more adults. To set up a walking bus, usually the school sends out a letter to parents enquiring about their interest and also if they can volunteer to accompany the walking bus. Then, the route is identified based on where students live. The school and the parents check the route for safety and start the bus, making improvements as they go along.

Some things to check: Do you have room to walk? Are there footpaths? Is there too much traffic? Is it easy to cross the street? Do drivers stop for walkers? Are there loose dogs?

(From ww.walkingschoolbus.org)

In England, many local governments help schools set up their walking bus. Over 3000 primary schools in UK have applied for support.

• Read out the information on the Walking School Bus in the daily school assembly.
• Discuss the Walking School Bus in class, or your ecoclub. Do you think your school should set up one? Your class or eco-club could suggest it at the next meeting of the Parent Teacher Association.

New Urban Governance: who should do what and for whom
Sanskriti Menon
Urban societies and their governance systems are undergoing transition in many cities around the world. On the one hand are processes of globalization that impose decisions on cities that have hardly any grounding in local decision-making – such as for creation of large infrastructure projects, IT parks etc. On the other are the dynamics of local communities, especially slum neighbourhoods that use seemingly ‘extra constitutional’ measures, through their elected representatives or their own community organizations to gain shelter, livelihoods and basic municipal services.

The inability of local municipal systems to respond to the needs of the poor is clear from the large proportion of urban populations that live in ‘illegal’ squatter settlements, without adequate access to water and sanitation facilities. A large majority of urban citizens is engaged in informal sector occupations, many of which are ‘encroachments’ on public space. When they get in the way of infrastructure for industry, they are simply gotten rid of. The issue is that municipalities get loaded with infrastructure that services the needs of ‘globalized industry’, which they are unable to maintain, which diverts resources from the needs of the poor, and which further marginalizes the poor.

Conventional municipal management systems are unable to tackle this situation. Nor should we expect them to, as the relevant controls are with higher levels of government, not directly accountable to local electorates. In India, local urban governance systems were fragile in the nature of their constitution when the centralized government system was adopted sixty years ago. Economic globalization forces have clearly exposed the fractures of governance.

That conventional government planning, regulation and service provision need to change was agreed over a decade ago at the UN Habitat conference at Istanbul in 1996. The Habitat Agenda adopted then focuses on improving governance, and introduces the concept of the ‘inclusive city’ that responds to the needs of all citizens, and especially the poor and marginalized.The New Urban Governance concept recognizes that ‘good urban governance is characterized by the interdependent principles of sustainability, equity, efficiency, transparency and accountability, security, civic engagement and citizenship’.

There is a difference between ‘government’ and ‘governance’. The formal institutions of the state form the government. Governance however refers to the processes of decision-making and implementation of decisions. It recognizes that many different actors are in play in the processes of decision-making, or should be. Those who are typically marginalized – such as women from poorer communities – get an equitable voice in the process of decision-making.

In India, the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments of the early 90s expected to devolve power to local government bodies, were steps towards decentralization and subsidiarity. The central government’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission is driving reforms to fully devolve municipal functions and enhance financial autonomy of city governments, and encourage community participation through creation of ‘area sabhas’ which are parallel to village assemblies.

Experience hasn’t already proved that greater participation results in poverty reduction. The emphasis is on processes and on creating the forums for participation and engagement.

It is the government’s job to provide an enabling framework (unless of course, the framework itself has to be first demanded by citizen action). Once this is done, people are expected to exercise ‘citizenship’ and participate in decisions on planning and managing their neighbourhoods and cities. It is in the hands of citizens to make use of the framework – to negotiate, build consensus and resolve conflicts, and raise their own capacities for informed participation.

For this, city governments or citizens groups may also have to create the framework for information generation, making it widely available, review etc. Governance goes hand in hand with engagement in a process of knowledge enhancement – of the nature of poverty, of the difference between income poverty and measures that mitigate poverty, of how to create systems that combine poverty reduction with environmental impact reduction, of how everyone benefits by combining the two goals of reducing poverty and environmental impact. And since it is not always clear what will work, a combination of precaution and willingness to experiment is needed.

There is work to be done by government, community groups and NGOs and by citizens to understand for themselves how to address poverty and environmental impacts, and with each other to decide what actions to take, how to review such actions and engage in the business of democratic governance.