High quality mass transport to save our cities
Europe learned that speed, reliability, and comfort are essential for successful public transport systems, and Brazil is taking note. Photo by EMBARQ Brasil.
For those who live in or visit Brazil’s cities, it is not hard to see the effects of increasing motorization and car usage on our urban centers. Too many cities have become crippled  by bottlenecks and stifling traffic congestion. Increased ...
Transport Toolkit: Six steps to a low emission transport system
Upcoming Low Emission Transport Toolkit webinar will help planners and city leaders to plan, finance, and implement sustainable transport solutions. Photo by EMBARQ Brazil.
City leaders and planners weigh difficult decisions when choosing the path for their cities. When it comes to transport, they face such challenges as deciding between developing bus rapid transit (BRT) or light rail, and finding the best way to ...
Friday Fun: A day in the life of Hong Kong's subway
Hong Kong's mass rapid transit (MRT) system boasts a high quality of service, an important factor in making sustainable transport the way to go for urban residents. Photo by Lileepod/Flickr.
Transport and urban planners spend much of their time thinking about distance to stations, fare pricing, and the key components that make sustainable transport systems work at a basic level, but they sometimes forget the smaller details that make transport ...
Three challenges facing India’s growing cities
In the past two decades, Indian cities have grown tremendously—not only in population, but in geographic size. Photo by Peter Vandeput/ Flickr.
Population growth and rapid urbanization are combining to create huge challenges for Indian cities. According to McKinsey, Indian cities are expected to grow from 340 million people in 2008 to a whopping 590 million in 2030. Meeting demand for urban services ...
Air pollution in China forces short-term responses, requires long-term solutions
Air quality and smog in China. Photo by Niccoló Mazzati/Flickr.
As severe air pollution grips Beijing, China and the surrounding region, the sharp rise in harmful particulate matter has forced authorities to consider both immediate responses and long-term strategies to combat air pollution. The current situation The height of the ...
The perfect storm: One country’s history of urban sprawl
Mexico's history of urban sprawl holds important lessons for policy and leadership in urban development. Photo by Pablo Lopex Luz/Imgur.
As some cities tout the benefits of sustainable transport and transit-oriented development (TOD), it is hard to imagine how others could have moved so far in the opposite direction. Understanding the combination of shifting responsibilities, lax regulations, and flawed policies ...
Peru takes the lead in combating climate change through transport
Peru's PlanCC puts transport on the climate action agenda ahead of international climate talks. Photo by carlosfpardo/Flickr
The transport sector currently accounts for 22% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and emissions from energy consumption and is the fastest growing sector in terms of overall emissions. It is also responsible for 35% of per capita CO2 emissions in Latin America and is ...
New fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty vehicles are a “win-win-win”
New fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles like buses are important in moving towards a smaller carbon footprint. Photo by Zolk/Flickr.
America’s vehicles are on the road to becoming cleaner. Last week, President Obama directed his administration to set new fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, including large pick-up trucks, school buses, and tractors. Improving fuel ...
Friday Fun: Building the ideal city — citizen participation from the ground up
Online platforms provide citizens with new ways to shape urban development in their own backyard. Photo by Claudio Olivares Medina/Flickr.
Many developing world cities are experiencing population explosions at the same time as they face funding gaps and citizen apathy towards government’s ability to make meaningful change. In light of these challenges, BD Promotores Colombia, Prodigy Network, PSFK Labs, world ...
E-bikes bring individual and sustainable transport to China
Shanghai is one of China's many cities which has seen the proliferation of bottom-up innovations, such as e-bikes, to tackle the problem of urban transport. Photo by 2 dogs/Flickr.
In developed cities, new mobility options typically only penetrate the transport ecosystem after governing bodies have developed an institutional framework around the new technology. Emerging economies, however, do not always have the regulatory capacity to standardize regulations and create policy ...