Discussion on mountain mobility to be held at the UN Commission Sustainable Development. SWOMM goes to NYC -12th of May 2010

Mobility takes a specific shape when analysed in a mountain context. The five editions of the SWOMM, Scientific Workshop on Mountain Mobility and transport, have tried to define some of the distinctive characteristics of this type of mobility and presented them to an expert audience on several occasions, both with printed publications and through public events.

The international approach to global mountain territories which has been followed by SWOMM is going to be presented during the 18th Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in New York, on the 12th of May, from 1.15 p.m. to 2.45 p.m as one of the focuses of the Review Session of this year will be the theme of transport.

The event is conceived as an overview of the scientific research and cutting-edge solutions developed to address ways of promoting sustainable mobility in mountain areas. Representatives from different mountain regions worldwide, coming from scientific institutions, governments and the private sector are envisaged to take part in the event.

Main organizers of the SWOMM side event are the Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea (Italy), the Mountain Partnership Secretariat (FAO) with the institutional support of UNEP. The side event will also be supported by representatives of other relevant institutions and organizations.

The CSD is a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), established in 1992 (General Assembly Resolution 47/191). It comprises 53 member States (about one third elected on a yearly basis by the ECOSOC) meeting annually, in two-year cycles, and it is in charge to ensure effective follow-up of the so-called ‘Earth Summit’, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).

Other topics of this session are chemicals, waste management (hazardous & solid waste), mining, 10 year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption & production patterns.

More information on the side event will follow soon!

Link to the website

http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/csd/csd_csd18.shtml

Parking is a hot topic! And drivers have to deal with it.

Though an application helps drivers in New York and Boston finding a place to leave the car: that’s PrimoSpot wich has developed a database collecting pictures of thousands of parking signs. All the information is visible on an interactive map and the application delivers information on parking places, locations and even bike racks. PrimoSpot allows users to update information and the company is also planning to implement push reminders for users when parking time is about to expire.

Bryan Choi, sick of driving around his northern Manhattan neighborhood, Inwood, for finding a place to park his car has developed the iPhone Spotswitch application.

Spotswitch is a help network for parking. With its iPhone App and integrated website it locates fellow members leaving their parking spots. It will soon be available for other devices as well.

ParkingAroundMe is a free service that lets fellow drivers tell each other about available street parking through text messaging or Twitter. It started in Park Slope Brooklyn (focused on the area around New York Methodist Hospital) and plans to cover the rest of NYC very soon.

Parking is a problem for institutions as well as drivers. Congestion is oftend caused by parking inefficiencies. A study released in June by Transportation Alternatives, a public transit advocacy group, reported that 28 percent to 45 percent of traffic on some streets in New York City is generated by people circling the blocks (via New York Times). Solving the problem could have positive effects on transportation and the economy and environment.

Last fall in San Francisco 6.000 parking places where glued with a plastic wireless sensor. Drivers are alerted on empty parking places and can also pay for parking by cellphones.

Have you heard of any other interesting solution?

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