FOR RELEASE Tuesday, June 13, 2006 (719 words)
o More: Eric Britton: +331 4326 1323 media@ecoplan.org. + http://newmobilitybriefs.org
o See p. 3 below for short release (228 words) and further background
The New Mobility Advisory
Briefing papers & policy advisory for decision makers
· EcoPlan and The Commons announce a new international expert advisory service for mayors and local government: The New Mobility Briefs
New thinking about mobility
The New Mobility Agenda today announced the launching of a low-cost, interactive subscription program offering expert briefing papers and on-line policy advisory services to help decision makers improve the quality of transport service, life quality and the economy in their cities. The Briefs are aimed directly to inform city leaders and ultimate decision makers; mayors, city managers, council presidents, chief aldermen. And to those who aspire to those jobs in the future, and are ready to make the decisions. As well as to local groups and agencies working to reshape the transport/life quality agenda in their city.
The city holds the key
After more then eighteen years of hands-on experience in both leading and lagging cities world wide, the international team behind the New Mobility Agenda concluded that the key to turning these problems around lies not in the hands of national governments, transport experts, academics, industrial suppliers, or the next big mega-project but in very specific near-term actions and packages of linked and affordable initiatives that local governments and leaders can plan and implement, working hand in hand with citizens, voters and local organizations.
Sisterhood of world cities
There is a sense in which towns and cities have more in common with each other than they do with provincial or national governments. They have similar problems (cars, schools, garbage, the homeless, eroding tax bases, etc.) and less fealty to political systems. And they often have considerable autonomy to innovate -- and they can learn from each other.
No Big Bang solutions
The Briefs identify practical actions and projects that have proven their worth in cities like yours, can be put on the street in a matter of months, demonstrate their full impacts within two to four years, and get the job done with only modest amounts of taxpayer money. These big improvements come from combining a number of very smart relatively small things, right away.
Large numbers of small things:
Among the innovations to be charted for local policy makers in the year ahead, the Briefs open with a report on city strategies to introduce and support carsharing (today more than six hundred cities in the world already have it),. They then go on to a critical appraisal of congestion pricing and its possible role and variations (such as we are seeing today on London and Stockholm with considerable success), major advances in busways (hot topic!!), innovations in shared taxis and small bus systems, some surprising ways to make residential streets safer and more convivial for those living there, and better ways of getting our children safely to school. The first Brief will appear in Summer 2006
Each Quarterly Brief:
· Presents an expert synopsis of decision information on a lesser known but proven mobility concept, drawing on experience of leading cities and innovators worldwide;
· Is drawn up specifically to serve time-starved mayors, city managers, councils and local government and agencies;
· By reporting directly to city leaders provides them with an independent expert source of information and counsel
· Synthesizes an enormous base of information and views, including from hard-to-get sources, in many languages and of widely diverse quality and reliability;
· Is supported by more than one hundred outstanding actors, thinkers and contributing editors, leading the field of sustainable transport planning and implementation world wide;
· Is introduced by three minute video and two page Chief Executive Summary for the busy reader; and . . .
· Presents its findings and recommendations in twenty tightly drawn pages, with leads to best sources of further information and follow-up for planning and implementation.
· Subscribers have access to free follow-up consultation and advisory services by video and voice conference.
· Published quarterly, plus two Special Editions and video supplements/year.
· Program costs: € 250.00/US$ 295.00 year. Special rates for multi-year subscriptions, groups in developing countries, students, unemployed, retired people
The New Mobility Briefs are being brought on line to help our city leaders and elected officials open up the window of innovation and show us how to let fresh air into our cities. It’s about time!
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Short release: Tuesday, June 13, 2006 (228 words)
The New Mobility Advisory
Quarterly briefing papers & policy advisory for cities
At a time when cities all over the world are suffering from all-time record transport and environmental problems that threaten quality of life, the economy and public health, help is on the way.
The New Mobility Agenda (a Paris-based NGO) today announced the launch of a new low cost IP-based international expert advisory service for mayors and local government world wide: The New Mobility Briefs.
New thinking about mobility:
The Briefs, a subscription service starting Summer 2006, are putting in the hands of mayors, city managers and councils and other local decision-makers, a bimonthly cycle of focused expert briefing papers. Each Brief provides a concise, balanced hands-on guide for selecting and implementing less familiar practices for handling the more intractable transport-related problems that towns and cities around the world face.
The city holds the key
The Quarterly Briefs report one at a time on innovative solutions that share three common characteristics: (1) they can be brought on line and show positive impacts within months; (2) can be implemented at low cost; and (3), while less known, have track records of on-street success. Each Brief is supported by a two page Executive Summary and three-minute direct-to-the-mayor video summary of recommendations and cautions.
For further information and subscription details, see http://www.newmobilitybriefs.org.
Note to editors
The New Mobility Agenda was launched in 1988 as is an independent public interest program, to provide a wide open world-wide platform for critical discussion and cross-border collaboration on the challenging, necessarily conflicted topic of sustainable transportation and social justice.
More information on the Agenda and the Briefs:
· http://www.newmobilitybriefs.org
Photo credits: With permission from the film Contested Streets: Breaking NYC Gridlock, Transportation Alternatives,
Supporting videos: (available at one click from top menus of both above sites)
For more:
For more information or to organize interviews, etc, please contact: Eric Britton, Editor
In Europe: Tel: +331 4326 1323. media@ecoplan.org
Skype: newmobility. Videoconferencing: via http://www.newmobility.sightspeed.com/
The Commons, Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
In
Skype: ericbritton Videoconferencing: via http://www.ericbritton.sightspeed.com/
EcoPlan International,
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