The Xtracycle Carries Its Weight - by Brandon D. Chase http://www.asme.org/mechanicaladvantage/November2000/xtracycle.html http://www.xtracycle.com/splash.html Through Xtracycle, a unique cargo-capable bicycle, and a startup company of the same name, Evans and a few dedicated business partners are peddling a means of transportation, which they envision as a viable solution to many of the world's transportation problems. Contact Information: Xtracycle LLC USA 14618 Tyler Foote Road Nevada City, CA   95959 USA Telephone: 530.292.1401   Fax: 419.735.1427 Email: infousa@xtracycle.com Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP) http://www.itdp.org The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) was set up in 1985, to promote environmentally sustainable and equitable transportation policies and projects worldwide. ITDP was organized by leading advocates for sustainable transport in the US who realized that the US was exporting its model of automobile dependence to developing countries and, most recently, Central and Eastern Europe. ITDP chose to focus on counteracting this development. ITDP's mission is to make transportation systems around the world more environmentally sustainable and equitable through improving transport and land use governance, strengthening the human powered (HPV) vehicle industry, and by improving non-motorized (NMT) safety and planning. Notable Feature(s): TransportActions; full-text bibliography of papers, reports, and policy documents from around the world; links directory; annual magazine Sustainable Transport, including an archive of articles dating back to 1993; Newsroom. Contact Information: ITDP 115 West 30th Street, 12th Floor Suite 1205 New York, NY   10001 USA Telephone: 212.629.8001   Fax: 212.629.8033 Email: mobility@igc.org International Forum for Rural Transport and Development (IFRTD) http://www.gn.apc.org/ifrtd/ The International Forum for Rural Transport and Development is a global network of individuals and representatives from government, academia, multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, consultancies and technical institutions, national and international NGOs and groups of community organisations in 83 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and North and South America. There are over 1800 members in the network. The Forum's long-term vision is of a world in which rural communities, particularly those who are poor and disadvantaged, have improved accessibility and mobility. The conventional approach to rural transport has been to invest in roads and motorized transport systems. Many villages in the South are not part of road networks. Even where there are links, villagers often cannot afford motorized transport. Therefore goods and persons are mainly transported on foot. These transport constraints can hamper agricultural production and restrict rural development. IFRTD promotes an alternative approach towards rural transport. Notable Feature(s): Forum News, a quarterly newsletter on pressing issues: transport with animal power, bridges, bicycles, gender and transport, financing, engineering, sustainable rural livelihoods, community planning. Contact Information: Priyanthi Fernando and Kate Czuczman IFRTD Secretariat 2 Spitfire Studios 63-71 Collier Street London   N1 9BE United Kingdom Telephone: 44 20 7713-6699   Fax: 44 20 7713-8290 Email: ifrtd@gn.apc.org priyanthi.fernando@ifrtd.org kate.czuczman@ifrtd.org Rural Transport: issues, planning, practices http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/transport/rt_over.htm http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/transport/index.html This World Bank site focuses on Rural Transport that encompasses all the transport activities which take place at local government and community levels. It is composed of two elements, the rural transport services for passengers and freight by non-motorized and motorized means of transport, and rural transport infrastructure, mainly rural roads, tracks, trails, paths and footbridges, and in some cases rural waterways. Notable Feature(s): Innovative practices in Guatemala and Zambia; links to rural transport related Web sites; home portal of news, updates, resources, publications, training and events. Contact Information: Email: transport@worldbank.org Strengthening the Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) Industry http://www.itdp.org/programs/programs_2_b.html A report on improving human-powered vehicle technology in India, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana and Senegal. Sustainable Architecture, Building & Culture http://www.SustainableABC.Com/trans.html Contact Information: Roy Prince Sustainable ABC P.O.Box 30085 Santa Barbara, CA   93130 U.S.A. Telephone: (805) 898 9660   Fax: (805) 898 9199 Email: prince@west.net Transport and Poverty Alleviation http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/transport/pov&tra.htm Contact Information: Email: transport@worldbank.org Urban Transport, Environment and Equity: The Case for Developing Countries - by Eduardo A Vasconcellos http://www.earthscan.co.uk/asp/bookdetails.asp?key=3491 Developing-world cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America are at a crossroads, facing simultaneous pressures to expand and modernize their infrastructure whilst dealing with profound social and economic inequalities. Traditional transport policies have been creating an unfair distribution of accessibility and environmental impact; they can divide communities, widen economic inequalities, compromise safety and threaten the health of vulnerable social groups. Contact Information: Earthscan Publications Ltd 120 Pentonville Road London N1 9JN UK Telephone: +44 (0)20 7278 0433   Fax: +44 (0)20 7278 1142 Email: earthinfo@earthscan.co.uk World Health Organization Conference to Focus on Transport Issues http://www.uitp.com/ The Ministerial Conference will adopt a Declaration of intent on the most pressing areas of concern for health in Europe. It is focusing on transport, which is considered to have more impact on environment, health and safety than any other economic sector. The Declaration commits European governments to action, recognizing that transport plays a major role in life today. While the Ministers of Environment and Transport have supported similar declarations in the past, the Ministers of Health will now add their commitment, as will governments from Eastern Europe. A Charter on Transport, Environment and Health will be adopted, focusing on measures to reduce environmental pollution, accidents and noise associated with transport. It also seeks action to reduce social exclusion, which results from dependence on private, rather than public, modes of transport. Contact Information: Roger Torode Telephone: 32-2-663 66 32   Email: roger.torode@uitp.com