Free bus services in Gibraltar

GOVT INTRODUCE FREE BUS SERVICE FOR ALL

Gibraltar Government yesterday announced the restructure and shortening of bus routes plus the introduction of a free bus service for all on all routes with the exception of the frontier route. In a statement to the Chronicle, Minister for Transport Joe Holliday said these measures will bring about “a significant improvement in transport infrastructure, traffic flow and parking in Gibraltar.”

Commenting on the introduction of these new routes, Mr Holliday said: “In addition to the on going construction of car parks and parking schemes, traffic management, new roads and other initiatives that are currently being implemented, these new bus routes will provide for a significant improvement in transport infrastructure, traffic flow and parking in Gibraltar.

“The introduction of free bus fares on four of the five routes, is aimed at encouraging the increase in use of public transport and therefore a decrease in the use of private motor vehicles, so as to deliver an environmental gain, as well as improved traffic circulation. The introduction of the new bus routes and free bus service on most routes will represent further significant progress of the Plan.”

A statement by the Ministry of Transport said: “The Government will be introducing a new bus service as stated in its Integrated Traffic, Parking and Transport Plan and as part of its manifesto commitments, on Saturday 28th May 2011.

“The current routes have been reviewed and new routes will be introduced that are more consistent with an efficient and modern bus service that provides for point to point transport. The new routes will have as their main terminus the Market Place bus stop.

“The new routes will be numbered from 1 to 5. In keeping with the Government’s commitment to introduce a free bus service, routes 1, 2, 3 and 4 will provide a free service for all passengers at all times. Routes 1 to 4 will cover all points in Gibraltar, except a journey to and from the frontier.

“Route 5, which will be operated jointly by the Gibraltar Bus Company Limited and Calypso Transport Limited, will be the only fare paying route. This route will operate from the Frontier via Market Place to Reclamation Road and return to the frontier via Europort Avenue, Waterport Road and Market Place

Gibraltar Chronical 26 May 2011.

Rail against the express way

The Kapiti coast, north of Wellington, is faced with one of the government's "roads of significance", due to be bulldozed through the district despite a more logical, less expensive & community-friendly alternative.
Locals want their rail services & stations upgraded.
"Save Kapiti" has called for a protest rally at Parliament, Wellington on Wednesday 6 July from midday.

JOIN US TO MARCH OR MEET US AT THE STATION:
9AM: RED HOUSE CAFÉ, TE HORO
9:30AM: MELT CAFÉ, WAIKANAE TE RA SCHOOL, RAUMATI
10AM: KCDC, PARAPARAUMU WHAKARONGOTAI MARAE, WAIKANAE
11AM: WAIKANAE STATION PARAPARAUMU STATION PAEKAKARIKI STATION
12PM: PARLIAMENT GROUNDS, WELLINGTON
(AND 10AM BASIN RESERVE, HATAITAI FOR THOSE OF YOU JOINING US IN WELLINGTON)
• Roads of National Significance (RoNS) – roads built for trucks, not for Kiwis
• Decisions made without honest public consultation
• Built with borrowed money funded by State Assets?
• There are proven safer, more efficient solutions
• Join over 4000 petition signers for a March on Parliament
Save Kapiti
TO FIND OUT HOW TO BOOK OR FOR MORE INFORMATION email: contact@savekapiti.co.nz or phone 021 641 123
And don’t forget to ‘vote with your vote’ - Vote against the expressway at the November election.

Check out the website: www.savekapiti.co.nz

HEI study finds London Congestion Charging Scheme shows little evidence of improving air quality

27 April 2011

The London Congestion Charging Scheme (CCS)—which charged for travel into central London and reduced traffic volume (earlier post)—has shown little evidence that it improved air quality as well, according to Part I of a new study published by the Health Effects Institute (HEI). The study, “The Impact of the Congestion Charging Scheme on Air Quality in London”, was led by Professor Frank Kelly of King’s College London as part of HEI’s research program to measure the possible health outcomes associated with actions taken to improve air quality.

Although the London CCS was designed to improve traffic and not necessarily air quality, early projections had suggested it could also improve air quality. Kelly and his team used a multifaceted approach to explore the impact of the Congestion Charging Scheme on air quality: a variety of emissions and exposure modeling techniques, analysis of air monitoring data, and a newly developed assay for the oxidative potential of particulate matter collected on filters at urban background and roadside monitors. Part I of the report deals with emissions modelling and analysis; Part II, to be released next month, analyzes the oxidative potential of PM.

The CCS offered an unusual opportunity to investigate the potential impact on air quality of a discrete and well-defined intervention to reduce traffic congestion in the middle of a major city. The CCS was implemented in London in February 2003 with the primary aim of reducing traffic congestion by charging vehicles to enter the central part of London, defined as the congestion charging zone (CCZ).

In an earlier study based on data from the first year of the scheme, members of the investigative team had reported early findings of modest reductions in the number of vehicles entering the zone and had projected declines of about 12% in emissions of both PM₁₀ (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤10 µm) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) within the CCZ.

—Kelly et al.

The investigators did not find consistent evidence of improved air quality resulting from the CCS. In part it is difficult to identify significant air quality improvements from a specific program—especially one targeted at a small area within a large city—against the backdrop of broader regional pollutant and weather changes.

Within the CCZ, the investigators projected a net decline of 1.7 ppb in the annual average mean NO_x concentration and a decline of 0.8 µg/m³ in PM₁₀. The modeling also suggested that a major proportion of PM₁₀ might be accounted for by regional background levels, but that contributions from tire and brake wear might also be important. NO₂ was projected to increase slightly, by 0.3 ppb on average; the investigators attributed this increase to higher NO₂ emissions associated with the introduction of particle traps on diesel buses as part of Transport for London’s improvements in the public transport system.

From their comparison of actual air pollutant measurements within the CCZ with those at control sites in Outer London, the investigators reported little evidence of CCS-related changes in pollutant levels at roadside monitoring sites, where their modeling had suggested the most pronounced effects would be seen.

—Kelly et al.

Also, some behavioral adjustments among the population, e.g. increased diesel-powered taxi and bus trips to transport people into the zone, may have offset any benefits. Finally, other changes occurring at the same time (e.g. the introduction of more filter-equipped diesel buses in response to a separate rule) likely also affected air quality and obscured effects of the CCS.

The Congestion Charging Scheme was one of the first to be implemented in a major city in Europe or the US—and did show measurable reductions in traffic volume—but air pollution does not know precise boundaries so any benefit of the CCS or air quality appears to have been lost in the larger regional pollution mix.

—Dan Greenbaum, HEI’s President

Overall, HEI’s Review Committee concluded that Kelly and colleagues’ investigation represents a creative effort to explore a subtle change in air quality associated with a complex intervention to reduce traffic congestion. Although they were unable to demonstrate a clear effect of the CCS either on individual air pollutant levels or on oxidative potential of particulate matter, their study offers lessons for future studies of interventions that are expected to influence air quality.

The London Congestion Charging Scheme was a world leading traffic intervention aimed at controlling excessive vehicle flows in central London. The findings reported in this HEI study will hopefully be of use to other administrations considering introducing traffic management schemes so that they can achieve vehicle reductions as well as improving air quality at the same time.

—Professor Frank Kelly

In addition to the Investigators’ Report by Kelly et al., Research Report 155 includes a Commentary by HEI’s Health Review Committee, which summarizes its independent review of the study and an HEI Statement that provides a nontechnical summary of the study and the committee’s comments.

The Health Effects Institute is an independent, non-profit research institute funded jointly by government and industry to provide credible, high-quality science on air pollution and health for air quality decisions. Typically, HEI receives half of its core funds from the US Environmental Protection Agency and half from the worldwide motor vehicle industry. Other public and private organizations periodically support special projects or certain research programs.

HEI has funded more than 280 research projects in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, the results of which have informed decisions regarding carbon monoxide, air toxics, nitrogen oxides, diesel exhaust, ozone, particulate matter, and other pollutants. These results have appeared in the peer-reviewed literature and in more than 200 comprehensive reports published by HEI.

Resources

Frank Kelly, H. Ross Anderson, Ben Armstrong, Richard Atkinson, Ben Barratt, Sean Beevers, Dick Derwent, David Green, Ian Mudway, and Paul Wilkinson. The Impact of the Congestion Charging Scheme on Air Quality in London. HEI Report # 155

_ _ _ _

Alright ...so punitive measures don't work ... hey! - so how can we make car & oil dependency history & create healthy cities? ....what about fare free public transport! ....make it so attractive that no sane person would even consider driving around by car unless it was absolutety essential.... mmmm; yeah, but how would those poor oil companies survive?

FareFreeNZ editor

Capitalism's war on the Earth

The ecology of consumption -- excerpt from John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark and Richard York's `The Ecological Rift'

October 20, 2010 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal, with the permission of Monthly Review Press, is excited to offer its readers an excerpt from the The Ecological Rift: Capitalism’s War on the Earth, an important new book by John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark and Richard York. Links' readers are urged to purchase the book. Please click here to order your copy. You can download (in PDF) the chapter, "The ecology of consumption", below the following introduction, or read it on screen.

* * *

Humanity in the 21st century is facing what might be described as its ultimate environmental catastrophe: the destruction of the climate that has nurtured human civilization and with it the basis of life on earth as we know it. All ecosystems on the planet are now in decline. Enormous rifts have been driven through the delicate fabric of the biosphere. The economy and the Earth are headed for a fateful collision—if we don’t alter course.

In The Ecological Rift: Capitalism’s War on the Earth, environmental sociologists John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark and Richard York offer a radical assessment of both the problem and the solution. They argue that the source of our ecological crisis lies in the paradox of wealth in capitalist society, which expands individual riches at the expense of public wealth, including the wealth of nature. In the process, a huge ecological rift is driven between human beings and nature, undermining the conditions of sustainable existence: a rift in the metabolic relation between humanity and nature that is irreparable within capitalist society, since integral to its very laws of motion.

Critically examining the sanguine arguments of mainstream economists and technologists, Foster, Clark and York insist instead that fundamental changes in social relations must occur if the ecological (and social) problems presently facing us are to be transcended. Their analysis relies on the development of a deep dialectical naturalism concerned with issues of ecology and evolution and their interaction with the economy. Importantly, they offer reasons for revolutionary hope in moving beyond the regime of capital and toward a society of sustainable human development.

John Bellamy Foster is editor of the US-based Marxist journal, Monthly Review. He is professor of sociology at the University of Oregon and author of The Ecological Revolution, The Great Financial Crisis (with Fred Magdoff), Critique of Intelligent Design (with Brett Clark and Richard York), Ecology Against Capitalism, Marx’s Ecology, and The Vulnerable Planet.

Brett Clark is assistant professor of sociology at North Carolina State University. He is coauthor (with John Bellamy Foster and Richard York) of Critique of Intelligent Design.

Richard York is associate professor of sociology at the University of Oregon. He is co-editor of the journal Organization & Environment and coauthor (with John Bellamy Foster and Brett Clark) of Critique of Intelligent Design.

* * *

Click HERE to download (PDF) "The ecology of consumption" or read it on screen below.

"The ecology of consumption", by John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark and Richard York

Arguments for Free Public Transportation

By Jody Hanson, eHow contributor

Jody Hanson began writing professionally in 1992 to help finance her second around-the-world trip. In addition to her academic books, she has written for "International Living," the "Sydney Courier" and the "Australian Woman's Forum." Hanson holds a Ph.D. in adult education from Greenwich University.

www.eHow.com is a practical advice & resource site.

updated: April 27, 2011

Free public transportation takes the strain
off building more roads.

Free public transportation -- also known as zero-fare -- is not as radical an idea as it may initially seem. Public transportation is already heavily subsidized by tax dollars, so taking it one step further could have financial and social benefits. In 1995, Hasselt, a city of about 70,000 in Belgium, made its public transportation system free. The project was a success, as more passengers started using the service. The number of buses was increased and shuttles were added.

1. Save Tax Dollars

   • When you calculate how many salary-hours go into handling money, selling tickets, chasing fare-evaders and cleaning up the litter from the tickets, the government may, in fact save money by making public transportation free. The bureaucracy involved in running a public transportation system is substantial, so stream-lining the operation would save money.

   Encourage Public Transportation

   • People tend to like services that are free. If people can see a benefit to taking the bus to work, rather than driving their cars, they may be willing to use public transportation even though their door-to-door time is slightly increased. When you weigh the costs of car operation and parking, free transportation becomes a viable option for those who want to save money.

   Reduce Pollution

   • The more people who use public transportation, the more pollution is reduced. This includes the fossil fuel consumption of cars, as well as noise pollution. Public transportation systems such as trams are particularly quiet and operate on electricity.

   Benefit Low-Income People

   • Even though public transportation costs less than running a car, it is still a large expense for those on a low or fixed income. Free public transportation would be a saving for people on welfare, students and minimum-wage earners. It would also encourage individuals to get rid of old, poorly maintained vehicles in favor of taking the free bus.

   Additional Benefits

   • Not having to spend time lining up to buy tickets would cut down on the time required to use public transport. Not printing tickets would save trees and cut back on litter. Being able to hop off and on public transportation makes it more appealing.

References

• Eco Street; Why Free Public Transport Would Work' July 2007
• All Change; Transport Planning and Policy Zero-Fare public Transport by Julian Reynolds
• Public Transport Users Association: Common Urban Myths About Transportation

• Photo Credit: Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Getty Images;

From www.eHow.com - a free 'can-do' practical advice & resource site. 27/04/2011

Capitalism’s war on the planet

GreenLeft Weekly: Sunday, April 3, 2011

Climate change is often called the greatest environment threat facing humanity.

The threat is very real. Unless we cut carbon pollution fast, runaway climate change will worsen existing environmental and social problems, and create new ones of its own.

But it’s no longer enough to simply refer to the climate crisis. Climate change is one part of a broader ecological disaster, brought about by an economic system that relies on constant growth, endless accumulation and ever-deepening human alienation.

A 2010 study published in Nature revealed some of the extent of this ecological crisis.

The study, which was led by Sweden’s Johan Rockstrom and included US climate scientist James Hansen, identified nine “planetary boundaries” that are critical for human life on the planet.

Along with climate change, these boundaries are: global freshwater use, chemical pollution, ocean acidification, land use change, biodiversity (the extinction rate), ozone levels in the stratosphere, aerosol (or small particle) levels in the atmosphere and the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles that regulate soil fertility (and hence food production).

The study said three of these critical planetary boundaries — climate, the nitrogen cycle and biodiversity loss — had already been crossed.

A further four — land use change, the phosphorus cycle, ocean acidification and freshwater use — are emerging problems. The scientists said these boundaries had not yet been breached, but could be soon if nothing is done.



The state of the ozone layer, which regulates the ultraviolet radiation from the sun hitting the Earth, was the only good news. A global treaty to phase out ozone depleting gasses, such as chlorofluorocarbons, seems to have made a difference.

The study’s authors said they didn’t yet know enough to measure the planetary boundaries for chemical pollution and aerosol levels.

In their 2010 book, The Ecological Rift, US Marxists John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark and Richard York remark on this study: “The mapping out of planetary boundaries in this way gives us a better sense of the real threat to the Earth system.

“Although in recent years the environmental threat has come to be seen by many as simply a question of climate change, protecting the planet requires that we attend to all of these planetary boundaries, and others not yet determined.

“The essential problem is the unavoidable fact that an expanding economic system is placing additional burdens on a fixed earth system to the point of planetary overload … Business as usual projections point to a state in which the ecological footprint of humanity will be equivalent to the regenerative capacity of two planets by 2030.”

Capitalism, a grow-or-die system, must ignore the planet’s boundaries. But we cannot afford to: not if we are to secure a safe planet that can sustain human civilization.

As Foster, Clark and York conclude: “No solution to the world’s ecological problem can be arrived at that does not take the surmounting of capitalism, as an imperialist world system, as its object.

“It is time to take the planet back for sustainable human development.”

Much money wasted collecting fares on public transit

Letter from Dave Olsen (Canadian free public transport advocate)

It seems that when it rains, it pours, especially with elections.

Not that any of them have improved anything for the average person for a long, long time; they have enabled the rich to get richer but I'll save you that one for another time.

The Provincial NDP have a leadership race on right now. If you're a member, you can vote for their new leader.

I was astonished when one candidate, Dana Larsen, asked me for more info about Fare-Free Transit. After our chat, he asked that we do a video together. It's short and concise and I've received very positive feedback from it.

You can view the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3dI-kQgwDA&feature=youtu.be

What inspired me to write this email though, is that Dana has created two platform pledges from this work: making the Skytrain Fare-Free and then converting all of the BC Transit systems to Fare-Free.

He really seems to understand the necessity of moving our transit systems to Fare-Free:

• we need to help people out of their cars if we are to survive as a species
• it costs more to collect fares than to not collect fares in every community in BC, save Vancouver and possibly Victoria. Shockingly, we have no idea how much net revenue (if any) is actually generated by the farebox in either of those cities.

Don't get me wrong: the political/electoral system that is in place will make these kinds of changes next to impossible, regardless of who is elected.

But if you believe in peaceful change from within, then here's a rare opportunity for you. Fare-Free Transit has happened in many other places in the civilized world, so it could happen here, too.

For more on Dana's and the other candidate's platforms, you can read them here:
http://conservationvoters.ca/leadership-race-2011/ndp-candidates/dana-larsen

If nothing else, spread the news that a potential Premier wants to make it easier for you to take transit!

PS. In related news, the Ontario Legislature just voted to remove the right of transit workers in Toronto to strike, deeming the TTC an "essential service." This is on the eve of the Amalgamated Transit Union contract expiring at the end of this month and on the heels of Wisconsin, Michigan, and other US states' legislatures removing the right for public workers to collectively bargain.

ATU Local 113 president Bob Kinnear stated in response to the legislation: "If we are so essential why hasn't there been legislation to properly fund the transit system."

Traffic mayhem or common sense?

[From www.transitiontowns.org.nz]

It's said a picture is worth a thousand words. Take a look at these graphs and see if you can make any sense of the government's response to oil prices rising and it's transport policy. Damned if I can. (hat tip to Auckland Transport blog and frog blog)

Traffic volumes on State Highways have not increased since 2005.

The pink line is heavy traffic, the blue line is all traffic. Source: New Zealand Transport Agency

Patronage of Public Transport in Auckland has increased since 2005

Source: ARTA

Spending on improvements to State Highways has increased dramatically since 2006, but spending on public transport and road maintenance has languished

Source: Cabinet papers.

And if you are still unconvinced about the connection between fuel prices and a recession in the New Zealand economy - take a look at the graph compiled by Marty G at The Standard

"Of the 8 quarters in which petrol has averaged over $1.77, 5 were followed by a quarter of recession and the other 3 were followed quarters with 0.1% growth. Of the 17 quarters where petrol was below $1.77, the economy shrank once in the following quarter, was flat once, and grew 15 times."

With petrol at around $2.15 a litre and rising, and leaking billions out of our economy and wallets, and with the transport trends staring us all in the face - why would a government that prides itself on good economic management be so myopic and not have a plan? Ideology trumping common sense?

Denis Tegg 22 March 2011, re-posted from his blog - oilshockhorrorprobe

A spectacular year?

Public Transport – a spectacular year?

http://transportblog.co.nz/2011/03/25/2010-pt-patronage-–-a-spectacular-year/

It is good that there is an overall percentage increase of public transport use of 8%.
But is it enough?

In a world where private transport is one of the leading causes of CO2 pollution and resulting climate change, to really make a difference we need percentage changes of hundreds and thousands of percent increase in public transport usage.

The present profit driven free market public transport model will never cut it.
Fare Free New Zealand points out that the way to achieve the sort of increase we need is to make all public transport fare free.

According to Wikipedia Public transport in Hasselt This Belgium city saw an increase in public transport usage by 100% in it’s first year of introducing fare free city wide public transport. Since then increases in public transport have topped 1300% ridership increase.
Apart from this phenomenal increase in public transport patronage Wikipedia lists a range of other benefits.

Wikipedia
Operational benefits
Transport operators can benefit from faster boarding and shorter dwell times, allowing faster timetabling of services. Although some of these benefits can be achieved in other ways, such as off-vehicle ticket sales and modern types of electronic fare collection, zero-fare transport avoids equipment and personnel costs.

Passenger aggression may be reduced. In 2008 bus drivers of Société des Transports Automobiles (STA) in Essonne held strikes demanding zero-fare transport for this reason. They claim that 90% of the aggression is related to refusal to pay the fare.[2]

[edit]
Commercial benefits
Some zero-fare transport services are funded by private businesses (such as the merchants in a shopping mall) in the hope that doing so will increase sales or other revenue from increased foot traffic or ease of travel. Employers often operate free shuttles as a benefit to their employees, or as part of a congestion mitigation agreement with a local government.

Community benefits
Zero-fare transport can make the system more accessible and fair for low-income residents.[citation needed] Other benefits are the same as those attributed to public transport generally:

Road traffic can benefit from decreased congestion and faster average road speeds, fewer traffic accidents, easier parking, savings from reduced wear and tear on roads
Environmental and public health benefits including decreased air pollution and noise pollution from road traffic
[edit]
Global benefits
Global benefits of zero-fare transport are also the same as those attributed to public transport generally. If use of personal cars is discouraged, zero-fare public transport could mitigate the problems of global warming and oil depletion.

Interestingly one of the other major benefits of a fare free public transport system is that it actually may work out as cheaper.
Are free buses the answer to Bristol City’s transport problems

A spokesman for Free Bus said: “Bristol City Council subsidises the bus network for £4.7 million per year, whilst entirely free public transport in Hasselt, Belgium, costs £4.2 million per year. The cost of a fully loaded short-hop bus journey is 23p per passenger.”
When you think about the £2 or £3 fares you currently pay for a bus journey in the city and the profits they must be making you wonder why we haven’t aleady pursued this Free Bus initiative.

Jenny

27 March 2011 - a response to posting on NZ blog: the Standard entitled: 'Steven Joyce [Transport Minister] still living in the 20th century.'

Telecom Partners with Auckland Transport: reduces congestion

Friday, 25 March 2011, Scoop
Press Release: Auckland Transport

Friday 25 March

Telecom partners with Auckland Transport to reduce congestion

Auckland Transport has teamed with Telecom to develop a plan of sustainable transport measures to implement at their new Telecom Place building on Victoria Street, Auckland.

Telecom aims to educate staff on their travel options and challenge their current choices of commute to and from work. Employees are being encouraged to use peddle power, pound the pavement, car pool or simply use public transport as a more environmentally friendly and cheaper way of getting to work.

As part of the partnership Auckland Transport is offering staff free travel on all bus and train services in April to entice staff out of their cars. It is also offering Telecom the use of their Rideshare software to help staff find a carpool match.

Auckland Transport’s Matthew Rednall applauds Telecom on developing a travel plan.

“Telecom has more than 2400 staff working at Victoria Street. Potentially there is a large number of staff that will accept the travel passes, give public transport a go and hopefully continue with it long after the trial period.

“If people can leave their cars at homes it not only helps reduce congestion and pollution associated with heavy traffic but offers wide-ranging health benefits to employees themselves – not to mention cost savings,” says Mr Rednall.

Free travel passes are offered to all organisations developing a Travel Plan to help facilitate change in commuter behaviour.

Telecom’s Corporate Communications Consultant, Stephanie Fergusson says that a company survey conducted in June 2010 showed that a large number of staff would be willing to change how they travel to work if public transport was accessible and affordable.

“As we have significantly decreased the number of car parks in our new building to comply with our Five Star Green rating, it is excellent to see that people are willing to use public transport and carpool, and it is very heartening to have Auckland Transport’s support on this.

“We also encourage active transport to work, by providing 22 showers with ironing facilities and more than 200 lockers and cycling facilities on-site at Telecom Place,” says Ms Fergusson.

On Wednesday 16 March, Telecom launched its first initiative, a public transport clinic.