For latest Bogotá results: see http://ecoplan.org/votebogota2000/
Paris, 31 October 2000
Dear Colleagues,
Further to our last minute advisory note of last week to which several dozen
of you had time to respond so generously with your ideas and encouragement,
I think it only fair that we now report to you on the results of the
path-breaking Bogotá car free referendum.
The short story is that the vote went exceptionally well. Both of the
propositions advanced for public approval (i.e., the proposal for the
continuation of the Car Free Day each year and that for a set of progressive
private car restrictions that are to result in an effectively 'car free
city' during peak hour traffic hours each working day by 2015) obtained
strong majority votes. There is one possible fly in the anointment about
which we shall know more only in a few days, concerning the possibility that
the 2015 program may not have had a sufficient number of total votes to
qualify; but this is being hotly debated (it is very close) and in the
meantime there are still 8% of the votes to be tabulated. Equally important
the just-elected new mayor whose term begins in 2001 has indicated that he
intends to continue the broad lines of the program that Mayor Peñalosa has
started. (You will see all the latest details of this on the Vote Bogotá
2000 site at http://ecoplan.org/votebogota2000/.)
>From an international policy perspective, it is hard to give too much stress
to the importance of these accomplishments. This is, to my way of seeing
things, not just some isolated sui generis development in some far away and
very different city, but the opening shot in the war to move to better,
cleaner and more equitable transport in cities around the world. A major
pattern break! The accomplishments of these embattled planners, politicians
and citizens of that one war-strafed city have managed to do more with their
work on the ground and in their active partnerships with their fellow
citizens in the last several years and with this one vote than all of the
international transport and environment conferences, pious statements of
intent, empty recommendations, thick reports and other forms of arm-chair
rhetoric put together. The mayor and the people of Bogotá are pointing
their way to the city transport system of the 21st century, a radically
different and far better model to the one that has dominated policy circles
and practice of the last century.
Which brings me to the last stage in the present process of action between
the international expert, policy and practice community and our good friends
Bogotá - one that will hopefully involve you. With the main results now in,
we invite public international discussion of both the program behind the
referendum and the results as follows.
* You are invited to address your observations and comments to the moderated
Discussion Forum with an email addressed to [log in to unmask]
* We would ask that you label all emails as follows: "Bogota Referendum
Discussions" (without the quotes).
* You can freely consult the Discussion Forum (at
http://www.egroups.com/messages/carfreeday/) at any time to see yours and
all other messages and materials sent in.
In closing I would encourage you to have a good look at the rather good
background materials which we and the Bogotá team have assembled in the Vote
Bogotá site before sharing your comments with the group. And if you have
any colleagues or lists who you think could be usefully approached with this
invitation, we hope that you will not hesitate to share these materials as
you see fit.
This has been an extraordinary accomplishment. So let us see if we can now
do what is needed to get these important messages out for all to see and
profit from.
Eric Britton
ecopl@n ___ technology, economy, society ___
Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France
[log in to unmask] URL www.ecoplan.org
Telephone +331 4326 1323
Voice/Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4)
Fax + Voicemail: +1 888 522 6419 (toll free)
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