Spotted this relatively old (published in Oct 18, 2016) but fascinating podcast story about Uber’s battle with its Chinese’s rival Didi Chuxing for marketshare (via Bloomberg):
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/288743921″ params=”color=ff5500″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Also you can read the related article here.
Photo by didbygraham 
Smart Freight Centre (SFC) is looking for an energetic and efficient individual with initiative to manage the implementation of the Green Trucks China project, and be part of our global team to advance green freight and logistics worldwide.
The Green Trucks China project is the first project of SFC to catalyze the sector-wide adoption of proven technologies. SFC has selected China as the first market and will operate under the umbrella of the China Green Freight Initiative (CGFI) that is managed by the China Road Transport Association. SFC has selected a ”green tires package” consisting of high quality tires supplemented with tire maintenance and telematics as the first technology package, which could reduce 20 million tons of carbon dioxide from trucks in China annually.
The full job ad is available on www.smartfreightcentre.org
These graphs below via Qz.com paint a compelling picture of air quality in India. In most western media discussions/stories about environmental pollution is often China-centric. One would expect China to be topping the charts when it comes to pollution, given the country’s ginormous population, its economic clout and the manufacturing prowess which earned it the “factory of the world” label, . But in reality, #India is the worst offender and it deserves far more scrutiny than China. 14 of the top 20 most polluted cities are in India and a not a single Chinese city made it to this list. Govt. of India should take urgent steps to combat this issue because of the risks it pose to public health.
Image Courtesy: Quartz I Qz.com
Image Courtesy: Quartz I Qz.com
For what it is worth, the transportation sector is one of the major culprits, accounting for a significant portion of the overall emissions. While congestion in major cities continues to grow worse, the vehicle sales continues at a torrid pace and doesn’t show any signs of a slow down. To put this in perspective, I am borrowing the following points from the ICCT fact sheet:
Another major source of pollution in India related to the transportation sector is the noise pollution, which requires a dedicated blog post by itself. So, one of these days I’ll get around to doing some research on that topic and write it up.
The APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education (“ASPIRE”) is an annual award which recognizes young scientists who have demonstrated a commitment to both excellence in scientific research, as evidenced by scholarly publication and cooperation with scientists from other APEC member economies.
The ASPIRE Prize supports APEC’s mission to:
2014 NOMINATION THEME: “INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION”
Each year the APEC host economy is asked to provide a theme to guide nominations for the ASPIRE Prize to be awarded in their host year. For its host year of 2014 China selects “Intelligent Transportation” as the ASPIRE nominating theme, promoting smart, clean and low-carbon urbanization to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of APEC’s regional connectivity.
Each member economy, through its representative on the APEC Policy Partnership for Science, Technology and Innovation (PPSTI), is invited to nominate one young scientist under the age of 40 to be considered for the 2014 ASPIRE Prize. Nominees should demonstrate excellence in scientific research, as evidenced by scholarly publication, and cooperation with scientists from other APEC member economies in subjects such as: intelligent transport systems, urban planning, traffic engineering, civil engineering, among others.
ELIGIBILITY
Any citizen of an APEC member economy is eligible to be nominated for the ASPIRE Prize. He/she must be living at the time of his/her nomination and be under the age of 40 as of 31 December of that year (i.e., all 2014 nominees must be under the age of 40 as of 31 December 2014).
SELECTION PROCESS
Each member economy, through its representative on the APEC Policy Partnership for Science, Technology and Innovation (PPSTI), is invited to nominate one young scientist under the age of 40 by 16 May 2014 to be considered for the 2013 ASPIRE Prize.
Individually qualified applicants are encouraged to complete the “Local Nomination Form” and send it to Mr. Mikiharu Shimizu (miki@apec.org) of the APEC PPSTI by 1 April 2014 so it may be directed toward local economy reviewers.
Once nominations are received PPSTI members rank the nominees through a selection ballot to determine the winner. PPSTI members are asked to judge the nominees based on how well they have demonstrated:
The winner will be recognized at an award ceremony during the Fourth APEC PPSTI Meeting in Beijing, China tentatively scheduled 17 September 2014.
ASPIRE PRIZE SPONSORS
Wiley and Elsevier, two of the world’s leading publishers of scholarly scientific knowledge, have committed to funding prize money in the amount of $25,000 USD.
Click here to learn about previous ASPIRE prize winners and more.
Police in China have tried to catch thousands of chickens after they escaped from an overturned truck on a highway. More than 3,000 of the birds got loose following the accident in south-west Guizhou Province, when the vehicle swerved after a sharp turn. Police managed to recapture around 900 of the animals from the road and nearby bushes and helped put them back into their cages.
Not sure what happened to this motorcyclist to create such a ruckus on the street. But one thing is damn clear – he/she is not fit to operate a motor vehicle, EVER. Ridiculous!
Oh man.. Angry customers reacting to terrible service from a transportation provider is nothing new, esp. with airline companies, but what you are going to see below takes it to a new level. Interestingly, this customer who lost his cool is reported as a Chinese government official, which only means the airlines staff have no way of handling this as usual.. His poor spouse (lady standing adjacent to him) seems clueless about how to bring this raging bull of a man under control..
Image Courtesy: The Atlantic
Saw this image float through my feed. The intensity of the situation was well captured in the image: “Rescuers attempt to stop a man from committing suicide on a bridge in Wuhan, Hubei province, on October 8, 2012. The man was rescued after he climbed onto the top of a bridge over the Yangtze River and threatened his own life if his economic dispute could not be resolved. (Reuters/Stringer)”
Click to see more eye popping “Scenes from 21st Century China”
(Source: Raman’s Strategic Analysis & Wikipedia)
On April 11,2011, the Government-controlled Xinhua news agency of China has disseminated from Lhasa a report on the construction of a fast rail line to connect Lanzhou, the capital of the Gansu province, with Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang province. The construction of this line, capable of carrying trains moving at 300 KMs an hour, was started in 2009 and is due to be completed in 2015. The Xinhua despatch has quoted some Chinese analysts as viewing the line as significant more from the national security and political angle than from the economic perspective.Though the Xinhua has not spelt it out in such terms, it should be apparent that the railway line will help strengthen Beijing’s control over the Tibetan and Uighur-inhabited areas of the country (11-4-11).
Some of the key highlights of this rail line as reported in the Xinhua report:
Click here to read the full text of the Xinhua dispatch.
Editor’s note: Though the pursuit of China’s high-speed in this northwestern region is discussed from the militaristic and national security-oriented perspective, it offers a glimpse of the national leadership’s desire to connect the vast outlying remote areas of rural China. This offers an swift and safe access route for people and goods to flow between these regions and the big centers of trade/commerce and manufacturing situated along the coast line in the Eastern part of the country. It is amazing to see how steadfast is the Communist leadership in its commitment to build this national strategic infrastructure asset.
(Source: ITDP & Streetfilms)
Cities worldwide are demonstrating innovation in transport planning by integrating bike, BRT and metro systems, with Guangzhou in China announced as winner of the 2011 Sustainable Transport Award. Guangzhou’s new world-class BRT system integrates with bike lanes, bike share and metro stations, raising the bar for all cities.
Last year the city made major strides to cut carbon emissions and reclaim space for people, opening new bus rapid transit and public bike sharing systems. It now carries 800,000 passengers a day, seamlessly connecting riders to both the metro system and the city’s new bike-share network.
Editor’s Note: It will be interesting to see how the other mega cities in Asia (New Delihi, Mumbai, Shanghai, Jakarta, etc) will adopt this successful and sustainable transportation option into the existing mix. With growing prices for petroleum products and rising congestion, the cities will be forced to explore/adopt this model sooner than later.
