Author: Nneka Njoku

Jo’burg is confident it can remodel itself, backed by private-sector developers. Johannesburg has begun the most dramatic makeover of its 120-year history. A Jo’burg metro project is under way that will see the city spend between R3bn and R4bn a year over the next five years, and generate about R30bn from private-sector property developers. Built…

Despite the severe traffic congestion it has caused, the busway project is expected to expand, with the city administration having secured support from a foreign transportation institution. Project director from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) Budi Kuntjoro said Wednesday traffic congestion caused by the construction of busway corridors would be short term…

As Tata Motors, one of Asia’s leading automakers, prepares to tap into India’s middle-class market by releasing the “world’s cheapest car” in 2008, other countries with a long history of car dependence are grappling with ways to limit the social, health, and environmental costs of motorized transport. One alternative is so-called bus rapid transit (BRT),…

With Johannesburg planning its multi-billion-rand overhaul over the next decade, the need to boost essential infrastructure services has become even more urgent. As one of the host cities for the 2010 soccer World Cup, the city has earmarked about R1,7bn in investments over the next three years. The longer-term planning to match bulk water, power…

India has missed a golden opportunity to promote human powered vehicles which would keep the cities clean and give gainful employment to millions. Without doubt, there is space and scope for integrating the cycle rickshaw into the urban transport plan. Banning rickshaws on the pretext of congestion on city streets is unreasonable; cars and auto…

Around 35 participants rode through Lutyens’ Delhi to promote the bicycle as an alternate zero-pollution, healthy, low-cost and sustainable mode of transportation. Enthusiastic cyclists from the entire NCR region rallied through the 13-kilometer stretch, which included iconic Lutyen’s creations such as the Rashtrapati Bhawan, Parliament Street and Connaught Place. “The youngest member was 15 years…

A raft of new studies reveal European and American multibillion dollar support for biofuels is unsustainable, environmentally destructive and much more about subsidising agri-business corporations than combating global warming. Not only do most forms of biofuel production do little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, growing biofuel crops uses up precious water resources, increasing the size…