File NASA satellite image of the Arctic region. The Arctic ice cap keeps melting under the effects of global warming and in August saw its second largest summer shrinkage since satellite observations began 30 years ago, US scientists said. (AFP/Nasa/Amsre-e/File)
Published on Thursday, August 28, 2008 by Agence France Presse via commondreams
Starting next month, around 100,000 city officers would be asked to use buses or non-engine vehicles to go to work at least once a week.
The campaign is set to be applied to all residents in early 2009, the city said.
In initiating the project, the city aims to save around VND4.6 trillion (US$278 million) per year and reduce environmental pollution, Duong Hong Thanh, deputy director of HCMC’s Department of Transport, said at a meeting Tuesday. thanh
nien news
Gov. Blagojevich signed a law expanding the seniors ride for free program to include people with disabilitiesBy Ashley McNameeWednesday, August 27, 2008 at 5:12 p.m.
BLOOMINGTON, IL -- People with disabilities will soon be riding public transportation in Illinois for free.
Gov. Blagojevich signed a law yesterday expanding on the successful "seniors ride free program" to include those with disabilities. hoinews
The paving of the US (and the planet) for cars is proceeding at a breathtaking pace. The automobile's inherent need for space-- to maneuver, drive and park-- creates spread-out, inefficient, land-use patterns that waste space and can only be negotiated by car. No matter what fuel you run a car on, you cannot change this basic fact-- that cars create sprawl. more...
...Additionally, to jump-start the switch to public transport, it has to be free. It’s what happened in the Belgian city of Hasselt; within a year of introducing free bus fares, patronage increased by 870%.
It already exists in Australia too. In Western Australia, the Central Area Transit (CAT) bus system runs free and frequent services in the Perth, Fremantle and Joondalup CBDs.
Since CAT was introduced to Perth in 1996, it has been constantly improved and expanded,... greenleft.org
ECO Transit expects to get $1.78 million from bus fares in 2008. That constitutes about 20 percent of ECO Transit’s operating costs. The rest of the $8 million costs to run the system comes from a half-cent sales tax that is shared between ECO Transit and ECO Trails.
A free and expanded bus system is feasible, Taylor said, but it would require getting funds from elsewhere.
One option would be adding half a cent to the existing half-cent transit sales tax to help fund the expansion, something that would have to be voted on by the public. Summit County has a free bus system that is funded by a similar tax.
The idea of a free bus system and a sales tax is something the county would need to see if the public would support, officials said.Other funds could come from impact fees charged for new construction or additional federal grants. VailDaily - Aug 14 2008.
"We very much appreciate the support of Senator Hatch," Beutler said.
Mark Daines, the CVTD’s board president, added, "(Hatch) has always been a friend of the Cache Valley Transit District. He’s worked for us, and we appreciate that very much."
-- Charles GeraciPublished:Thursday, July 3, 2008 2:17 AM Herald Journal News on CacheValleyTransit site.
World car fleet is growing at about 6.5%/year or 55 million net additional cars/year.
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(BEIJING, August 14) -- Low fares for public transport in Beijing are not a stopgap measure Zhou Zhengyu, deputy director and spokesperson of the Beijing Municipal Committee of Communications, announced Wednesday at a press conference at the Main Press Center in Beijing.
Zhou's statement was in response to a question raised by a reporter from the Peoples Daily who asked Zhou to address Beijing residents’ concern that the city's low fare public transportation policy was a temporary measure. Deputy director Zhou assured those present that the current fare level in Beijing's metro and bus systems has been implemented as part of Beijing's transport system development strategy and will not expire at the end of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
As to what additional measures should be adopted for the Beijing transportation system's future development, Zhou told reporters: "We encourage Beijing citizens to use public transport as much as possible during the two peak periods on an average working day. And with our policy of giving top priority to public transport, we will place our efforts mainly on developing our light rail and subway systems."
