Fare-Free Philippines

Desperate to solve traffic? Try free public transport! [Manila}

2012-01-06T09:32:00.000+08:00

Manila’s 'Christmas Lanes' Streamline Holiday Traffic - Commute - The Atlantic Cities: "Known as “Christmas Lanes,” this network of roads-turned-highways launched last December on 12 streets, covering 157 kilometers. The streamlined sections of roads create one-way feeder routes that are intended to ease traffic congestion as shoppers flood into the city toward shopping centers. This holiday season, the city has expanded its Christmas Lanes to cover 45 streets and more than 200 kilometers."

'via Blog this'

#climate disruption from #agw slams Philippines. Again

2011-12-17T18:17:00.000+08:00

Hundreds die as tropical storm Washi sweeps across Philippines - Telegraph: "At least 200 people have died and hundreds more gone missing after the tropical storm Washi swept across the southern Philippines."

'via Blog this'

New Typhoon Nalgae Lashes Philippines - WSJ.com

2011-10-01T16:10:00.000+08:00

The Philippine Air Force provided this photo showing house and tree tops just above flood waters on Friday in Bulacan province, north of Manila.

New Typhoon Nalgae Lashes Philippines - WSJ.com: "MANILA, Philippines—The second typhoon in a week battered the rain-soaked northern Philippines on Saturday, adding misery to thousands of people, some of whom still perched on rooftops while several other Asian nations also reeled from flooding."

'via Blog this'

Bidding for a better public transport | Inquirer Business

2011-08-17T06:54:00.000+08:00

Bidding for a better public transport | Inquirer Business: "Moreover, for these commuters, trusting the public transport also serves a higher purpose: Public transportation produces more than 90 percent less carbon monoxide (CO), more than 90 percent fewer volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nearly half as much carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx)—for every passenger kilometer traveled."

Oil company poisoning Filipino people

2011-06-15T16:06:00.000+08:00

http://facesblogger.blogspot.com/

Is the car working? Or are we working for it.

2011-03-01T16:59:00.000+08:00

http://rizkibeo.wordpress.com/

drawing by Andy Singer

Malaysia: Protesters blame U.S. for Egypt brutality

2011-02-05T13:48:00.000+08:00

Palm oil expansion threatens Palawan tribe - Survival International

2011-01-28T03:43:00.000+08:00

Palm oil plantation, Peru. Much of the land used to grow biofuels such as palm oil is the ancestral land of tribal peoples.
© Thomas Quirynen/Survival

Palm oil expansion threatens Palawan tribe - Survival International: "The Philippine government’s push to expand palm oil plantations is threatening the members of the Palawan tribe living in the lowlands of Palawan Island."

1.4 million displaced by floods, slides

2011-01-21T09:16:00.001+08:00

DoST prepares to install landslide early-warning devices
By ELENA L. ABEN and GABRIEL S. MABUTAS
January 15, 2011, 8:49pm
MANILA, Philippines — Massive flooding and a series of landslides caused by continuous heavy rains in Southern Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao have displaced close to 1.4 million people and killed at least 47, while damage to infrastructure and agriculture has reached P1.5 billion, disaster officials reported on Saturday. Read more Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp

Fossil-fuel greed has no respect for human life

2011-01-13T08:39:00.000+08:00

Official Blog of FACES: "I am here because over 80,000 Filipino residents live next to and are negatively impacted by Chevron’s depot in Manila, the Philippines. Chevron’s Manila depot operations are a threat to human health and the environment. People are suffering from exposure to depot emissions and constant spills, accidents and leaks. Rather than a proper buffer zone to protect residents from depot hazards, Chevron and its partners built a buffer that is only 15 meters wide, and contains a park where children walk and play.

Yet despite strong public outcry, numerous ordinances, and a clear order from the Supreme Court demanding its closure, your company continues to operate and refuses to leave. People in the Philippines want healthy lives free from the dangers and health effects of Chevron’s depot. They want to see their children grow up in a healthy and safe environment."

33 dead in Philippines after heavy rains - Yahoo! News

2011-01-11T15:27:00.000+08:00

AFP/File – Residents watch as a vehicle traverses a flooded road in the town of Sto. Domingo, Albay province, southeast …
33 dead in Philippines after heavy rains - Yahoo! News: "MANILA (AFP) – More than a week of heavy rain has left at least 33 people dead from flashfloods and landslides in the Philippines, the government said, announcing floodwaters were subsiding in some areas.
Almost 11,000 people remained in government evacuation centres but some had started returning home as rains eased, said Lauren Catedral, a civil defence officer in the southern city of Butuan."

Manila Standard Today -- Dec. rains sign of climate change -- 2010/december/21

2010-12-22T13:25:00.000+08:00

Manila Standard Today -- Dec. rains sign of climate change -- 2010/december/21: "INTERMITTENT rains in the past two weeks are a manifestation of climate change, the weather bureau said Monday.

“Isolated or thunderstorm rains are becoming frequent and strong. Such is unusual,” meteorologist Edna Juanillo told Manila Standard.

Juanillo is the assistant weather services chief of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration’s Climatology and Agrometeorology Branch.

She said the increase in the amount of isolated rainfall is much larger than those in previous years.

“The frequency of such rains has surged as well,” she added.

Mindanao has not been spared, she said, adding that Pagasa has recorded an abnormal amount of thunderstorm rains in some parts."

wildsingapore news: Demand and supply in the post-peak oil world

2010-11-28T06:06:00.000+08:00

wildsingapore news: Demand and supply in the post-peak oil world: "But now the energy watchdog says that oil production has already peaked. Conventional oil output will never exceed the 2006 peak of 70 million barrels per day (bpd). Output from existing wells could fall under 20 million bpd by 2035."

More cars -- more flooding

2010-11-12T21:28:00.002+08:00

BANGKOK, Thailand, October 22, 2010 – Asia’s coastal megacities will flood more often, on a larger scale, and affect millions more people, if current climate change trends continue, a new report warns.

The report Climate Risks and Adaptation in Asian Coastal Megacities examines the impact of climate change on Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, and Manila, under a range of different scenarios through to 2050. The report is the product of a two-year collaborative study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the World Bank. It was released here today at the Asia Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum....

WorldBank

Cars cause this

2010-08-24T08:28:00.003+08:00

China floods force mass evacuation - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English: "More than 120,000 people have been evacuated in Liaoning, a�province in�northeast China�hit by flooding caused by heavy rains.

The floods�have caused four deaths in China so far and forced thousands of people in neighbouring North Korea to relocate.

China's state media said 94,000 people were evacuated from Dandong alone after heavy rain caused the Yalu river to breach its banks, flooding low-lying parts of the northern city."

Sprawl causes climate change AND makes it worse

2010-08-20T03:39:00.000+08:00

MANILA (AFP) – Climate change may be playing a part in record rains ravaging Asia but environment experts say the destruction of ecosystems is more directly to blame for the severity of killer floods.

Widespread deforestation, the conversion of wetlands to farms or urban sprawl and the clogging up of natural drainage systems with garbage are just some of the factors exacerbating the impacts of the floods, they say.... Yahoo!News

Commodity Crops & Weather News | Mekong Delta drought hits hard on Vietnam | 15 July 2010 | www.commodityonline.com

2010-07-21T18:22:00.000+08:00

Commodity Crops & Weather News | Mekong Delta drought hits hard on Vietnam | 15 July 2010 | www.commodityonline.com: "World’s largest rice exporter, Vietnam’s Mekong Delta which accounts for more than half of its output is hit by drastic climate changes, resulting huge losses of crops.

Drought caused by a hot spell over the past month has hurt rice fields in the region with nearly 100,000 hectares destroyed or partly destroyed.

A total of 25,000 hectares of rice was ruined and yields on another 70,000 hectares will drop sharply, the report said, giving no forecast for output losses."

Climate crisis is now, not future

2010-07-15T04:36:00.003+08:00

Bangkok free buses a big success

2010-07-07T21:49:00.000+08:00

Free buses save THB3.3 billion for low income riders

The free bus service available from February 2009 to May 2010 have helped save more than 3.3 billion THB in fare for low-income earners.

According to Director of the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, Opart Petchmunee, the free bus operation which is part of the relief measures of the government could effectively alleviate low-income earners’ burdens from the high cost of living. More than 477 million people used the service during the period.

According to Mr Opart, about 800 free public buses are plying 76 routes around Bangkok in the project. SiamDailyNews

Need of the hour

2010-06-28T14:53:00.000+08:00

... the logical way out of our collective quandary over rising fuel prices is to cut our dependence on oil. Easier said than, yes, but it can be done. In fact, initiatives toward an oil-free public transport system have already been launched even in this country. Take for example the e-jeepneys that ply certain routes in Makati and Fort Bonifacio. The e-jeepneys of Metro Manila have even caught the attention of Discovery Channel, which aired not too long ago a documentary on the iconic Philippine mini-buses that run, not on inefficient and filthy internal combustion engines, but on clean and quiet electric motors. Unfortunately, the rest of the public transport sector has been slow to adopt the notion of motorised vehicles that run on batteries. Above all other considerations there is the cost factor that reinforces resistance.

Need of the hour Online

Malaysia - Stop wasting money on cars!

2010-05-05T16:07:00.000+08:00

The involvement and empowerment of stakeholders in the planning and execution of the public bus transit management process is an important process aims at launching a campaign that create awareness of the need for austerity drive and encourages the breaking of car-use habits. It is also an important process to help the Penang state government overcome the problem stem from capacity constraint.ong eu soon

Malaysia -- make the buses and light rail fare-free

2010-03-08T09:39:00.001+08:00

...In the case of Kuala Lumpur’s traffic congestion, I suggest a policy of cross subsidies where we charge cars coming into the city say, RM10 per day and motorcycles RM5 per day to be collected by a wholly owned Government entity, which I believe in this case should be Prasarana.

This will allay any fears of cronyism and its like. At the same time Prasarana should provide public transport such as buses, monorail and light rail for free as their revenue is collected from the congestion charge.... TheMalaysianInsider

Huge iceberg breaks off of Antarctica

2010-02-27T05:47:00.001+08:00

AP (satellite image from Commonwealth of Australia)

SINGAPORE - An iceberg the size of Luxembourg has broken off from a glacier in Antarctica after being rammed by another giant iceberg, scientists said Friday, in an event that could affect ocean circulation patterns.

The 965-square-mile iceberg broke off earlier this month from the Mertz Glacier's 100-mile floating tongue of ice that sticks out into the Southern Ocean.

The collision has since halved the size of the tongue that drains ice from the vast East Antarctic ice sheet. MSNBC

Senator warns of high costs of climate change

2010-01-29T04:51:00.001+08:00

MAKATI CITY, Jan. 26 - Sen. Loren Legarda today warned that unless the Philippines takes action, climate change would severely affect the Philippine economy, creating more poverty and drastically lowering its productivity.

In an address at the Asian Institute of Management here, Loren said that "If the Philippines will do nothing, climate related risks will create a 6 percent decline of our GDP (Gross Domestic Product) annually by 2010."

...She said that in 2008 the world suffered from 321 disasters which killed about a quarter of a million people and affected more than 200 million lives. The total economic cost was a stunning 180 billion US dollars, which is twice the average annual economic losses of the past seven years. The Asia and the Pacific bore the brunt, accounting for more than 80 percent of the global loss of life, said Loren, who is also the UN champion climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in the Asia-Pacific region.

...Concerning ecosystems, the Millennium Ecosystem Report, released in 2005, found that 60% of ecosystem services - services that nature provides to sustain human life, are declining with some services like fisheries beyond repair, rued Loren. In the Philippines, forests and mangroves are fast disappearing, posing risks of greater floods and landslides. Senate of the Philippines

Copenhagen Climate Scorecard

2009-12-16T00:45:00.000+08:00

Singapore - millionaire officials ignore the poor and disabled

2009-12-10T21:49:00.002+08:00

This is the sad state of affairs in the so called First World & First class society in Singapore today! We have CAN fighting for “subsidy” the word here is “SUBSIDY” and not “FREE” transport concession for the last 10 years, and nobody in authority seem to have heard or notice! Something is very wrong! The poor and the disabled are left to die and no body cares a damn! Otherwise how can the voices of CAN be not heard for 10 long years?
Sad to say it’s the same case regarding the senior citizens’ whole day transport concession issue.This issue have been dragged on for decades! The same old silly excuse that the full paying passengers will be cross subsidising the fares is non-sense!The transport companies are not going to increase the number of trains and buses just to cater for the seniors and the disabled, thus the cost remains the same. So how does the cross subsidy comes into play?
Here we have to argue for the extra $30 for the poor till the cows come home.Fight for the transport concession till the throat is coarse and mouth dry.Whereas there, one $million minister, can just give out $10 million to the new foreigners and free English lessons without betting an eyelid!!
Is this the type of caring society the ministers have been so passionately talking about? Or are we all still in dreamland?? TheOnlineCitizen comment by "dreamer"

Thailand cabinet advised to retain free buses and trains

2009-12-08T04:59:00.002+08:00

Recently the National Economic and Social Development Board suggested that the measures on free electricity and water should be lifted but those on free public transportation should be extended due to increasing fuel prices. Siam Daily News

Many countries subsidize transport fuels to make sure employees can get to work. In Bangkok, Thailand they have made over 70 bus routes and 300 3rd class train tickets fare-free. This not only helps people get to work, but reduces congestion and pollution at the same time.

Makati offers free rides on e-jeepneys

2009-11-25T22:31:00.000+08:00

Environment groups and the Makati city government recently launched a fleet of electric jeepneys that provide free public transport and lessen pollution in the financial district.

Also known as e-jeepneys, the vehicles seen in the video below will ply two routes in the city's main business district. GMANews