Sustainable Transport Development in Three Medium-Sized Asian Cities

This paper reports on the final phase and findings of the Partnership for Sustainable Urban Transport in Asia, or PSUTA. The PSUTA found that passenger transport is headed in unsustainable directions in all three partner cities. Rising motor vehicle emissions, coupled with the very high share of trips people take in open air (foot, cycle, moped), means health problems from air pollution. Rising traffic and congestion, particularly the share of individual traffic in the cities, means people are slowing down affecting urban mobility and access. Very high accident rates, particularly those related to pedestrian/cycle activities or moped use, are only falling slowly as overall mobility rises rapidly. While all three cities have firm plans for better collective transport, the rising ownership of cars in Xi’an and increasingly universal access to two-wheelers in Hanoi and Pune threaten the ridership base for good mass transit. Fortunately, the indicators work undertaken by the project in these cities helped convince city leaders that time for action is short.