Alan Howes writes on this date: "I would, however, be happy to have a forum
for discussion on transport issues - worldwide with a UK/European
perspective...."

This is precisely what we have set out to do with the @ccess on the Web site
under The Commons at http://www.ecoplan.org/access, which offers (a) a
rather interesting set of research and reference tools for people concerned
with "sustainable transport" policies and practice along with (b) a
versatile broad-based discussion forum for the topic (which is up and
working but which has gone largely unused over the last two years because we
have been up to our ears in our various specialized sub-programs, as you
will see if you check out the site and its extensions).

One of the ideas behind this forum is to provide to only the usual "bulletin
board" for one time exchanges and announcements, but also a place for
extended (if focused) discussions along with some means of "memory and
recall".  This last has in fact a number of variants, the easiest one to
spot being that you will find right at the bottom of the menu bar. Let's
look at an example of how this can come in handy.

There was, as some of you will recall and to-my-mind quite interesting
series of exchanges a few weeks back under the heading "Negative thoughts on
metro in general". So, if you pop the phrase "negative thoughts" into the
Search slot, it will turn up, among others 6 references with this heading to
utsg alone (and yes, we were indeed kindly reminded by the moderator that
"Extended open discussions are not welcome"). In addition the discussions
spilled over to several other lists which are also covered by the search
engine.

As with most such engines, you can also refine the search: for instance if
you try +"negative thoughts" +Howes, the first of the references that it
will call up will tell you: "To be perfectly frank, I think this reply from
Eric Britton is a load of hogwash and nothing more than a load of buzz-words
strung together." As I said, a combination of recall + memory, which may
have its uses.

So there you have it. It isn't perfect, but it works pretty well, we
continue to upgrade it, and while the site is intentionally world-wide in
its perspective, the fact is that it has a strong European tilt, given that
so much of what goes for sustainable transportation thinking and practice is
coming out of this corner of the world. The site permits enclosures, and
extended (but once again, focused) discussions on our topic are indeed
welcome. I might add though that the whole business is (lightly) moderated,
just to make sure that we all stay on target and on our best behavior.
Check it out, and if you want to give it a try, well that's precisely what
it's for.



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
Voice/Videoconference +331.4441.6340 (1-4)
Voicemail/Fax hotline: Europe +331 5301 2896
Voicemail/Fax hotline: North America +1 888 522 6419 (toll free)





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