ITS South Africa Newsletter – March 9, 2009
[ipaper id=13117453]
New Delhi to promote cycling for green healthy environment
NEW DELHI (Xinhua) — Promoting bicycle as a green and healthy mode of transport, leaving their cars behind, New Delhi residents will for the fourth consecutive year, be all set on a Heritage Cycling Ride Sunday morning.
The event, sponsored by Delhi Cycling Club, was started in October 2006 by Institution for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), a non-government organization, engaged in research and advocacy for green, sustainable, and equitable traffic and transportation policies and programs.
According to ITDP website, membership of the club is free and open to all the cycling enthusiasts concerned about road safety, environment, climate change, and health and fitness.
To spread the message, the Delhi Cycling Club has formed a google group, says Rajendra, event coordinator for Delhi Cycling Club.
During the 10-kilometer ride, cyclists will stop at several historic monuments. This will help people learn about the heritage and historical monuments of Delhi in an interesting, educative and enjoyable way, the google group information about the club says.
Click here to read the entire article.
How We Can Save Our Roads – America’s highway infrastructure needs money, manpower — and a new vision
Build Good—Not Perfect—Roads
(Source: Parade Magazine)
Just six years ago, only 44% of Missouri’s highways were rated in good condition. Money was too tight to do much about it. The state’s transportation boss, Pete K. Rahn, decided something had to change. 
The problem, he believed, was that highway engineers invariably tried to build the best roads possible. But what if Missourians didn’t always need the best roads possible? What if they were willing to settle for good enough? His answer was a new road-building doctrine he called “Practical Design.”
Today, when Missouri engineers design highways, they aim “not to build perfect projects, but to build good projects that give you a good system,” says Rahn. Practical Design says to “start at the bottom of the standards and go up to meet the need. When you meet the need, you stop.”
On some projects, the new approach achieves identical standards with the old. On others, the differences often are invisible to motorists. A highway through mountains, for example, might have a thinner bed of concrete where it rests on bedrock.
Such thinking, Rahn says, has stretched Missouri’s road dollar considerably. Today, 83% of the state’s highways are rated as good. As a result of Missouri’s success, Practical Design already has been adopted by Kentucky and Idaho.
Click here to read the entire article.
Should the U.S. institute a vehicle scrapping plan?
(Source: Autobloggreen)
Last month, Germany reported a shocking 21 percent improvement in auto sales, and the greatest driver in the uptick was a used vehicle scrapping plan that pays drivers 2,500 euros ($3,150) to remove their old car from the road. With new car sales in most other countries down by at least that much, it was widely speculated that other governments would look closely at Germany’s new system to see if it would be worth adopting in their areas.
An opinion piece at Automotive News (sub. req’d) suggests that it’s time for the United States to implement its own vehicle scrapping program. President Obama’s recently-passed economic stimulus plan does contain provisions that are intended to help spur new vehicle sales, but has nothing as dramatic as what’s been enacted in Germany.
Click here to read the entire article.
California may drop CO2 waiver request if national standard implemented
(Source: Autobloggreen)
California Air Resource Board chairwoman Mary Nichols told an EPA hearing last week that the state would consider withdrawing its request for a waiver allowing it to regulate carbon dioxide. Before that happens though a national standard needs to be put in place. If such a standard were estab
lished it would make automakers much happier. Currently, 13 other states have adopted the proposed California mandate. The problem is that the California rule establishes average CO2 emissions requirements for an automaker’s entire fleet, much like CAFE does for fuel economy.
With CAFE, the entire sales volume for an automaker is averaged across the country. If CO2 is regulated at the state level, even though each state has the same standard, automakers have different sales mixes in different states. An average would have to be calculated for the sales in each state. In states more where a greater number of larger, heavier emitting vehicles are sold, automakers may have difficulty meeting the averages while sales in other states where more smaller cars are sold could not be used to offset those. 
Click here to read the entire article. (Video: Mary Nichols, talking about fuuture of climate regulation)
Get your Geld ready: Germany issues final draft on CO2-based taxes
(Source: Autobloggreen)
Changing the road tax legislation in Germany wasn’t an easy thing to do. Here’s how the new tax works, starting July 1st: 
First, there’s a base tax based on displacement: €2 per each 100 cubic centimeters if it’s a gasoline car or €9.5 if it’s a diesel car. Additional taxes are based on CO2: for each gram over 120 that your car emits per kilometer, your tax will be increased by €2. That CO2 limit will drop to 110 grams in 2012 and, from 2014 onwards, it will be 95 grams. So, for example, the new Toyota IQ 1.33, which emits 113 gm/km. The 1.3-liter gas engine will be taxed at 13 * 2 = €26 and the number will stay the same until 2012. At that time, its owner will be charged an extra €6 additional (€32 in total) because 113-110 = 3 grams at €2 each. Then, in 2014, the tax will be even higher: 113-95 = 18 grams, at €2 each, €36 additional (€62 total). I’ll let you do the math with a Porsche Cayenne S.
Click here to read the entire article
Global Vehicles lobbying to end Chicken Tax for Mahindra pickups
(Source: Autobloggreen)
Should a tax on foreign-made pickup trucks that was first instituted way back in 1963 as a retaliation for a European tax on U.S.-bred chickens affect sales of modern and fuel efficient pickups from India in the United States? That’s the question that Global Vehicles, hopeful U.S. importers of India’s Mahindrapickups, is currently asking policymakers in Washington. The answer they are hoping for would rid the United States of the so-called chicken tax and would allow the importation of Mahindra’s latest trucks, featuring clean diesel engines and around 30 miles per gallon, without the 25 percent tariff.
Click here to read the entire article.
Used Car vs. New Car – the value gap is closing.
Used cars are still a better buy over new, but with all the incentives on the table, the value gap is closing.
(Source: CNN via Yahoo)
The sharp car buyer’s advice has long been that a well-cared-for, late-model used car is always a better value than a brand new one.
Used cars are a smart buy because of depreciation, which is greatest in the first year or two, which means someone else gets stuck with the biggest value-drop. And you aren’t giving up very much in return – these days, cars last a lot longer, so a car with 20,000 or 30,000 miles can still have plenty of life.
But weak sales have led to heavy incentives on new cars. While a used car is still cheaper than a new one, in some cases the price difference will be surprisingly small, according to researchers at the automotive Web site Edmunds.com.
“Certified pre-owned” cars are another option. CPOs are selected low-mileage used cars that have been inspected, refurbished as needed and certified as being in top-notch condition, according to criteria laid out by the car’s original manufacturer. Most importantly, they have added warranty coverage. CPOs cost more than non-certified used cars, but the quality can make the extra cost more than worth it.
Click here to read the entire anlysis.
U.S. public transit 2008 ridership highest in 52 years
(Source: Reuters)
Facing volatile energy prices and a major economic downturn, Americans turned to public transportation more in 2008 than they have in over 50 years, a transit group said on Monday.
Americans took 10.7 billion trips on public transit last year, up 4 percent from 2007, the American Public Transportation Association said. This is the highest level of ridership in 52 years.
“Where many of the other indicators in our economy are down, public transit is up,” APTA Vice President Rosemary Sheridan told Reuters.
U.S. gasoline prices set records in 2008, rising above $4 a gallon in July. Gasoline costs began to cool off in the fall, however, as the effects of a global economic downturn began to curb oil demand.
Click here to read the entire article. Attached is the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) press release on this topic.
[ipaper id=13115526]
Would You Purchase a “Made in China” Electric Vehicle on Blue Light Special?
(Source: TreeHugger)
We visit discount stores like Wal-mart, Costco, and Sam’s Club to pick-up a lot of different things, such as hair gel, cell phones, fish food, Tickle-me Elmo, or even a cheap pair of beach sandals (okay, maybe you better forget about the sandals). The point is, these discount stores sell a little bit of everything, but the idea of full-size electric vehicles becoming a part of the Blue Light Special had not even been a consideration… up until now!
The Question of Economy vs. Environment
Treehugger works hard at spreading the word about alternative forms of transportation, which includes the sale and use of electric vehicles. But sometimes an honorable idea gets lost within the complex political environment of economics. The Mexico based manufacturer, GC Motors, is seriously considering the possibility of selling inexpensive Chinese electric vehicles to Americans within the next five years or so.
Click here to read the entire article.
