News
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Advisory Group will help guide our strategy for creating deep, long-term impact in cities worldwide
WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities Advisory Group. From left to right: Tina Duong, Phindile Chauke, Rohit Aggarwala, Ani Dasgupta, Shirley Rodrigues, Mark Watts, Manish Bapna, Madhav Pai, Charlotte Matthews, Holger Dalkmann, Janette Sadik-Kahn, Gino Van Begin, Ede Jorge Ijjász Vásquez, Stephen Ross, Flora Mokgohloa, Andrew Steer, Sam Parker, Clay Nesler, Adriana Lobo, Jennifer Layke, Robin Chase, Patrick Phillips, Rodrigo Rosa, Mayor Marcio Lacerda, Luis Antonio Lindau, Morten Kabell.
On September 23, 2015 the Advisory Group to WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities convened for an inaugural meeting in New York City. The Advisory Group is comprised of globally recognized city leaders, prominent experts and academics in the field of sustainable cities, and business leaders who are making a difference in urban sustainability.
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Established in memory of Dr. Lee Schipper, the scholarship has helped advance the field of sustainable mobility for four years
The Lee Schipper Memorial Scholarship for Sustainable Transport and Energy Efficiency is awarded annually to up to two extraordinary candidates to honor the legacy of Dr. Leon J. Schipper, pictured above, co-founder of EMBARQ. Photo by EMBARQ.
EMBARQ, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities’ sustainable urban mobility initiative, and the Lee Schipper family are pleased to announce Gwen Kash has been selected to receive the fourth annual Lee Schipper Memorial Scholarship.
Established in 2012, the Lee Schipper Memorial Scholarship celebrates EMBARQ founder Dr. Lee Schipper’s vision and contributions to sustainable transport and energy. Last year’s recipients – Erik Vergel-Tovar and Madeline Brozen – studied the relationship between BRT ridership and the built environment and the design of complete streets, respectively.
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Collaboration through the Transit Metropolis program to target private car use and support public transport
Mayor of Suzhou LU Liusheng and WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities Director of Strategy and Global Policy and EMBARQ Director, Holger Dalkmann, inked the MOU to officially launch a series of cooperation on the Transit Metropolis demonstration project between WRI and Suzhou Municipal Government. Photo Credit: EMBARQ China
Currently home 4.16 million people, the city of Suzhou in China is growing at such a rapid rate that its economic activity has nearly reached that of first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. However, rapid economic growth has also produced the same mobility challenges—major traffic congestion, pipe-tail emissions, and increased road incidents--that have plagued the first-tier cities.
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Events in Rio de Janeiro brought together over 1,000 people for strong leadership and action on sustainable cities
Jaime Lerner, former Mayor of Curitiba, speaking at the Cities & Transport International Congress. Photo Credit: Benoit colin.
Celebrating 10 years of EMBARQ Brasil, city leaders, planners and professionals from around the world convened in Rio de Janeiro for the Mayors’ Summit on September 9, 2015 and the Cities & Transport International Congress September 10 - 11. Over these three momentous and inspiring days, participants heard from mayors and experts about how cities are the key to tackling climate change and unlocking economic growth at the same time.
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The Ross Center reinforces its approach in Brazil
Luis Antonio Lindau, Director of WRI Sustainable Cities Brasil, during the launch of Ross WRI Center for Sustainable Cities in Brasil (Photo: Mariana Gil / WRI Brasil Sustainable Cities)
After 10 years of work with strong partnerships making Brazilian cities more sustainable, EMBARQ Brasil is now WRI Brasil Sustainable Cities. Building on our expertise in urban transport, this change reflects our growing work to create transformative change in cities across Brazil with a high-quality team of experts. Andrew Steer, President and CEO of WRI, officially announced the brand change at the Mayors Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
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Event will be broadcast live on www.cidadesetransportes.org
Register now for the Cities & Transport International Congress.
Given the widespread challenges of urbanization, mayors need to learn from one another and gain fresh ideas in order to pioneer projects that result in sustainable cities. To inspire city leaders worldwide, WRI Brasil Sustainable Cities is hosting the Mayors’ Summit, which will be attended by Ken Livingstone, Enrique Peñalosa, Mary Jane Ortega, Jaime Lerner, and Sam Adams.
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EMBARQ Mexico workshops will train traffic officers as part of the city’s “Safe Steps” program
Photo by Virgilio Passoti.
According to the World Health Organization, road traffic injuries are expected to become the seventh leading cause of death globally by 2030. In Mexico City, traffic collisions were responsible for 954 deaths in 2012. Road safety continues to be a pressing challenge for Mexico City, particularly considering that the city’s rate of vehicle ownership grows at 4.2 percent annually.
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New publication serves as a practical guide for helping Brazilian cities develop mobility plans
Cycling in Rio de Janeiro. Photo by Benoit Colin.
In 2012, President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil passed legislation that required cities with more than 20,000 residents to incorporate urban mobility planning in their greater development plans in order to receive federal development funding. Known as the National Policy on Urban Mobility, this legislation established principles, guidelines and tools to guide cities in creating urban mobility plans.
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Officials exchanged insights and ideas, identified potential new programs
Two cyclists in Caddebostan, Istanbul, Turkey. Credit: Benoit Colin/WRI.
Bike share has become one of the fastest growing trends in urban transport over the past ten years. From 2004 to 2014, the number of cities with bike share systems increased from 11 to 855. With nine cities already operating bike share systems, Turkey is showing substantial interest in moving toward more sustainable urban mobility.
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Online platform BRTData.org now features 402 mapped BRT corridors and bus lanes
Photo by Mariana Gil/EMBARQ Brasil
August, 2015 marks an important milestone for BRTData.org—an online database that tracks bus rapid transit (BRT) systems worldwide: the number of mapped BRT systems and corridors passed 400.
BRT is expanding globally. Currently, there are 195 cities with bus priority systems, serving approximately 32.4 million people served every day. With the platform’s latest update, the tool registered three new corridors, including Brampton, Canada and Cordoba, Argentina, bringing the total to 402 corridors and systems.
