Bangkok to celebrate #carfree day

Pattaya Mail: "The BMA has called a meeting with officials from the Traffic and Transportation Department and representatives of the civil sector regarding preparations for the upcoming Bangkok Car Free Day event, which will be held on the occasion of World Car Free Day, September 22. According to the BMA, the purpose of this special occasion is to encourage Bangkok commuters to turn to cycling, walking as well as using public transportation instead of driving personal cars."

Burma needs more buses

Public transport at heart of city plan for Yangon, says JICA: "“My opinion on the bus transport network in Yangon [is that] there are not enough buses and there’s a need for greater safety for commuters,” he said. “Commuters are complaining daily of the long waits and crowded buses. There are also not enough traffic lights at junctions.”

He said rapid increases in the number of vehicles on the road – as well as infrastructure projects to widen roads, build flyovers and reconfigure intersections – have combined to create huge traffic jams."

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Malaysia plans to revive public transport to be more like Singapore, Hong Kong

Well-planned land transport network can boost Greater KL area: "While this is a positive aspiration, alarmingly, the masterplan identifies that in recent decades the mode share of land public transport in the morning peak has fallen from 34% in the 1980s to 10%-12% in 2008.

“This share is relatively low compared to other international cities such as Hong Kong at 90%, Singapore at 63%, and London at 55%."

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Cars are a bad way to move people

Public transport system transformation heads for better quality of life: "To illustrate this point, in order to move 50,000 people per hour, in one direction it would require a road 175m wide flowing with cars. If you used buses instead, you would need a road only 35m wide and a smaller 9m wide track for a metro or rail-based transportation.

So, if one moves away from the thinking of increasing the number of vehicles to move people and start thinking about moving people instead, they would see the true value of building a good public transport network along with all of the other positive benefits to the environment."

Fuel subsidies sucking blood from Indonesian economy

Businessweek: "In his annual budget announced in August, the president allocated 274.7 trillion rupiah for energy subsidies, compared with 184.4 trillion rupiah for capital spending. The country spent 211.9 trillion rupiah on fuel subsidies in 2012."

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The dirty fossil fuel secret behind Burma's democratic fairytale | Nafeez Ahmed | Environment | guardian.co.uk

The dirty fossil fuel secret behind Burma's democratic fairytale | Nafeez Ahmed | Environment | guardian.co.uk: "New evidence has emerged that the systematic violence against ethnic Rohingya in Burma - "described as genocidal by some experts" - is being actively supported by state agencies. But the violence's links to the country's ambitions to rapidly expand fossil fuel production, at massive cost to local populations and to the environment, have been largely overlooked."

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Malaysia: BN criticized as ineffective on public transport

Free Malaysia Today: "Take, for example, the issue of enhancing public transport. Tearing down buildings to make way for more train stations is not going to solve the problem until and unless the country’s public transport operators start paying respect to time and swear upon punctuality.

Ask any commuter of the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) train services to rate the service provided and the reply will only be a sigh for KTM is notoriously lousy when it comes to punctuality.

Is the BN government not aware of the unsatisfactory service given by KTM to the rakyat? If it is, why then was there no improvement from 2008 until the country went into election mode?"