Improved Bus System is Pune’s best (and only?) Public Transit option for the Short/Medium term

Amit Paranjape's Blog: "Pune is adding close to 1,000 vehicles every single day. That is nearly 400,000 vehicles per year on the already cramped Pune roads. And this number is increasing every single day. "

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Cars choking Delhi

Delhi choked by its car mania - Hindustan Times: "Frequent fights with neighbours over parking under that tree, constant haggling with parking attendants over a better spot and poor traffic situation has not deterred Delhiites from buying car after car or travelling in their newest hot wheels to buy milk from the nearby booth."

People in Lahore desperately want #publictransit

Sharifs hope to ride transit scheme to victory - The Globe and Mail: "Lahoris continue to pack the Turkish-operated bus service. A ticket is only 20 rupees, or about 20 cents. And it is the first-ever mass public transit project in a country where millions of people who cannot afford a car or motorcycle must endure lengthy daily commutes in the heat in a private network of decades-old fume-spewing buses, rickshaws, minivans and often on foot in order to get to work and back home.

“We have changed the way people think about travelling,” said Mr. Shah, a U.S.-educated and trained transport engineer in charge of the bus system. “A journey that took about 100 minutes now can be done in 62 minutes in an air-conditioned bus, very comfortably.”

The system was built for 40,000 riders, but has attracted 125,000 riders a day, Mr. Shah added."

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Will Pune turn into another Mumbai?

Draft Development Plan for Pune (old city limits) Published. Citizens must file Objections by 26 April 2013:

• Any vacant plot in the city grabbed by the PMC
• 4 FSI zone along the entire Metro corridor for half a kilometer on both sides – even if the Metro is never built!
• 3 FSI for Cluster development in the city – entire blocks bulldozed for erecting new buildings
• 4 FSI for 4-star and 5-star hotels and private hospitals
• Open/Recreational Spaces reduced
• River and Lakes to be paved over for more roads and housing complexes
• Hill Tops and Hill Slopes, Green Zones to be made into SEZs, IT Parks and Amusement Parks
• No provision for slums or Low Income Housing
• Arbitrary and ad hoc proposals without any supporting studies or surveys

More evidence of a split in corporate elite over oil

On Earth Day, company CEOs walk to work in Gurgaon | Vancouverdesi.com: "“This is a start which will set the ball rolling for larger agendas like reducing pollution, limiting traffic on the road and popularizing use of public transport,” said Deep Kalra, CEO, MakeMyTrip."

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Ludhiana-Bangalore cycling tour to promote public transport and cycling

Indian Express: " "I just want to see mentality of people of Ludhiana change. They need to realise the importance of public transport and eco-friendly transport like cycles," "

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The way out of the mess on road - The Hindu

The way out of the mess on road - The Hindu: "The public transport system is the most effective way of reducing the number of vehicles as well as emissions"

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