Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme  Q. Its predicted that by 2030 there will be two billion additional inhabitants in the world of which 90 per cent will live across developing countries. Many of these people will live in megacities and slums. What can be done to prevent cities from generating mass poverty? A. Time is clearly of the essence. Things are getting worse fairly quickly largely from rural to urban migration and population explosion. Worldwide, cities are soaking up an extra 180,000 people each day. Theres no way cities in developing countries can handle that. So when youre looking for opportunities to make a difference then you have get at least one city in a country worked out and looking good. It provides a great example and acts as an incentive for other cities to follow. In some cases this may not be the countrys largest city, with the best shot at setting an example. We also asked him the following questions, click on them to jump to the answers, or simply continue to scroll down the page. href="#Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? href="#Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? href="#Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? href="#Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? href="#Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? href="#Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? href="#Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ name="Q1Q. How important is sustainable mobility in coping with this scenario? A. Even in an urban context an awful lot of people living in todays megacities are simply cut off from where the jobs might be. Slums typically lack public transport facilities and people often have a hard time using local transport systems, where transit systems are often deteriorating while road space is increasingly being devoted to the wealthy in the form of more cars and car parking spaces, for example. That doesnt do the poor any good at all. What we need to do is design transport systems that work for everybody including the poor so that people can access whatever opportunities are available to them. Thats one of the best things you can hope for out of a good public transport system. name="Q2Q. Are some of these issues being addressed right now or are we losing the battle against urban poverty? A. In some ways were losing the battle. Transit systems are deteriorating at a time when they need to be improving. For example, the very poor living in city slums can sometimes journey for an hour just to reach the edge of the slum. And it often gets no better for the poor if in fact there is transport provision. This is because the levels of gridlock are shocking in countless cities, which means nobody can get to where they want to go. This is also a problem for middle class city dwellers who are able to afford cars. And without a developing middle class there will be fewer economic opportunities for the poor. Everyone is affected name="Q3Q. So whats being done to tackle the problem? A. There are an increasing number of proponents, activists and analysts looking for answers. EMBARQ is very much in the forefront of this because its on the ground and is implementing some of the state-of-the art solutions. One of the very hard lessons is that you cannot really provide full mobility for the city through private vehicles such as cars. Theres an inherent limit to how many people you can move through a corridor per hour using cars. In addition, big cars, such as SUVs take up a huge amount of road space. Its an incredibly inefficient use of scarce space. So what EMBARQ and others are doing is trying to gently get that message across because a lot of people dont like hearing that message. At the same time, they are also finding innovative ways to get public transit systems in place that are not only efficient but actually foster a sense of municipal pride. Both are key to getting people out of their cars and changing the whole paradigm of how we travel, and how we invest in our cities. name="Q4Q. How important are public/private partnerships for tackling urban mobility issues? A. I would say that public/private partnerships are critical. First of all, youve got to have public commitment in the guise of city mayors or in some cases regional governors. They really have to want to make the changes. Secondly, you must know what the solutions look like and how to implement them, which means you need a lot of expertise. Thats why you need groups like EMBARQ which can bring together the right blend of skills from the public and private sector. EMBARQ is very good at networking and getting all the different stakeholders around the table, getting the right experts in the room, training local experts and making sure that its not a matter of foreigners coming in and telling people what to do and then leaving – its about developing local capacity. That approach seems to be working very well in terms of the recent emergence of several cities with a paradigm shift toward focusing mobility investments in state-of-the-art bus transit systems, especially in Latin America (in five to seven such cities). Its going a little slower in Asia and Africa, but some good candidate” cities are emerging. name="Q5Q. To what extent is EMBARQS success in getting a Metrobus system up and running in Mexico City an example of what youre talking about? A. Its a fine example. In essence its a pilot for other world cities to look and consider something similar that works for them. The Mexico City bus corridor has all the right ingredients to improve urban mobility. The new road corridor gives buses their own lane and the right of way. There are bus stations where people can board the bus quickly and get off the bus quickly. The buses come at frequently set intervals. Meanwhile, the quality of that service is so far above what these cities are used to that its truly revolutionary. The system is still grappling with its initial success – ridership levels are so high that the buses are crowded, but these are growing pains that will be solved. EMBARQ was instrumental in getting this first corridor opened and are very involved in monitoring and optimisation efforts. There are now plans to expand the metrobus to other parts of the city. The key here is that it is very hard to get these things started. There are a lot of stakeholders who are wary. For example, taking away road space from cars to make the dedicated bus lanes, possibly taking away jobs from drivers of small buses are thorny issues even though are ways of coping with both. You get a lot of opposition. But once you can have the first pilot corridor up and running it typically changes the perceptions and the public support becomes very high. Its that paradigm shift that EMBARQS work in Mexico City has helped achieve. name="Q6Q. But how exactly will sustainable mobility improve the environment - say through the reduction of green house gas emissions? A. Its a bit of tough call to say that climate change in and of itself is an important driver for developing cities such as Nairobi or Jakarta. City level politics are focused at local issues such as air quality, while climate as we know is a global issue. But sometime the two overlap, particularly in the case of coastal cities at risk of flooding. In terms of climate impacts, transportation systems are a prime culprit, predominantly through their emissions of carbon dioxide. I think that many car owners around the world still do not quite realise that vehicles emit enormous amounts of CO2, which is a function of how much fuel is used. So when youre developing sustainable transport systems and trying to cut down on private vehicle usage, fuel use and the emission of CO2 and other green house gas emissions can drop dramatically per unit of travelled and, hopefully, overall. name="Q7Q. Do falling pollution levels have a positive impact on health? A. Yes they do. As we cut down on pollutant emissions such as particulates, NOx and others, there are measurable and strong benefits for the local population in terms of health benefits from the improvement in air quality. Most studies show that for every dollar invested in cleaning up tailpipes, cleaning up fuels and improving transport systems, you get many dollars in return in terms of health benefits. In addition, if you design a good pedestrian-friendly public transit system youre going to help cut down on traffic accidents and that is a huge issue in the developing world. People dont realise, but a million people get killed every year in traffic accidents and the vast majority of these are in the developing world. Its not far different from the number of people that are believed to be dying from health related impacts from air pollution. From that point of view, road safety is also a big issue.  Thus the work of EMBARQ and others to help cities shift toward sustainable transport systems provides benefits on many levels. *Lew Fulton is Task Manager, Sustainable Transport, Division of GEF Coordination, UN Environment Programme