London, Paris Edge Out Guatemala City, Guatemala; Eugene, Oregon; and Pereira, Colombia...

London, Paris Edge Out Guatemala City, Guatemala; Eugene, Oregon; and Pereira,
Colombia for 2008 Sustainable Transport Award

Finalists to be honored tonight in Washington, DC for cutting traffic and air
pollution, fighting climate change to create high-quality public spaces

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- London and Paris edged out
Guatemala City, Guatemala; Eugene, Oregon; and Pereira, Colombia to win the
2008 Sustainable Transport Award. These cities were nominated for the 4th
annual international honor for enhancing the sustainability and livability of
their community or region by adopting innovative transportation strategies
that lessen the impact of climate change by reducing transportation greenhouse
and air pollution emissions.

"All of these cities took politically risky decisions that made a huge
contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making their cities more
livable," said selection committee member Dr. Walter Hook, executive director
of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. "With their
success, dozens of mayors around the world are now finding the courage to take
similar steps. We are proud to honor these cities tonight."

London is the largest city to adopt congestion pricing and its success has
inspired cities in the United States, such as New York CityandSan Francisco,
to consider implementing it. Cities in developing countries such as Shenzen,
P.R. China also see congestion pricing as a meaningful instrument to address
the problems associated with the rapid growth in vehicles. In 2007, London
expanded on the success of its groundbreaking 2003 congestion pricing plan
with a doubling of the congestion zone, increased fees for motor vehicles, and
new city-wide emission-based tolls that are spurring more rapid adoption of
cleaner, fuel efficient vehicles.

"London is providing the political cover for major cities like New York to
adopt congestion pricing because --once it's implemented -- it's popular with
most voters, even with those who initially oppose it," said selection
committee member Michael Replogle, transportation director for Environmental
Defense and a former consultant for the U.S. Federal Highway Administration.
"Congestion pricing is a superior gridlock and pollution solution because it
has a financial incentive that discourages driving, encourages mass transit
and funds it."

Prior to the charge, London drivers spent 50 percent of their time in traffic
jams, costing the city between 2-4 million pounds ($4-8 million) every week.
Now, congestion has dropped 21 percent in 2007. About 70,000 fewer vehicles
enter the extended congestion pricing zone on a daily basis, reducing global
warming carbon dioxide emissions by 16 percent. Each year more than 123
million pounds ($243 million) are raised for public transport improvements.
Bus ridership has increased 45 percent as people are switching to bus
transportation in London because their travel time has decreased due to
congestion pricing. Bike use has increased by 43 percent. Emission-based toll
incentives further boost environmental benefits.

Paris revolutionized bike sharing programs of the past to create an
individualized mass transit system called Velib ("Freedom Bikes"). People pay
a low fee to use the bikes from one of the many bike parking stations located
in the city and they can return the bikes to any station they wish. By the
end of 2007, Velib had more than 1,200 stations and 15,000 bikes in the
system. "Freedom bikes" in Paris fill the streets, proving more popular than
anticipated. As of November 2007, more than 11 million trips have been made
on these bikes.

Velib is just one component of Paris' new mobility plan that uses
transportation innovation to revitalize community life in public spaces.
Paris is prioritizing pedestrians by renovating public squares and plazas,
widening sidewalks, and adding new landscaping and raised crosswalks. Paris
has built more than 314 kilometers (195 miles) of bike lanes, and bicycling
has increased 48 percent during the past five years. Three corridors of the
new bus rapid transit system also opened in 2007. These improvements led to a
decrease in private vehicle traffic by 20 percent and a nine percent reduction
in carbon dioxide emissions.

"Paris is a great example of how a city can transform by implementing a
package of measures, like Velib or the Quartiers Verts, that all aim to
improve transport in the city and quality of life for its citizens," said
selection committee member Manfred Breithaupt from GTZ, the German Technical
Cooperation.

"Paris and London have demonstrated that effective leadership can result in
real change," said selection committee member Cornie Huizenga, executive
director of the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) Center.
"Asian city authorities should carefully look at the experience of Paris and
London and decide what can be replicated in their cities. We hope that this
will help to bring back the award to Asia in the near future."

Guatemala City, Guatemala won an honorable mention for implementing
TransMetro, the first bus rapid transit system in Central America. The first
11 kilometers of dedicated median busways with on-level boarding have reduced
travel times by 20 percent, as well as significantly reducing air pollution
and traffic accidents. The first corridor carries 145,000 passengers a day
and by the end of the year more than 50 million people will have taken the new
service. TransMetro is part of a grander vision of Mayor Arzu to create "A
City for Living." This plan focuses on sustainable development for the
fastest growing city in the region, as well as bringing social cohesion to
Guatemala City after suffering 30 years of civil war.

Eugene, Oregon won an honorable mention for opening one of the first full bus
rapid transit systems in the United States using diesel-electric hybrid
articulated buses. The Green Line of the Emerald Express Rapid Transit system
(EmX) has dedicated busways and on-level boarding, as well as having a
parallel bicycle lane along the corridor. The buses were also designed so
people can bring their bikes onto the buses with them. Since opening, bus
ridership has doubled on the corridor, surpassing projections. More corridors
are being planned because EmX has shown that it is politically possible to
take traffic lanes in the United States from private cars for a high-quality,
lower-cost rapid transit system.

Pereira, Colombia garnered an honorable mention by continuing to be a leading
city in the country for coordinating land use development and transport
planning. Megabus, its bus rapid transit system and one of the key elements
to this development strategy, was appropriately designed according to the
local conditions and financial capacity, and carries 155,000 passengers per
day. In the narrow streets of downtown Pereira, Megabus makes a clear
statement of the importance of giving priority to bus users, rather than the
users of private vehicles. It is also well coordinated with the improvement
of pedestrian facilities in downtown, the redevelopment of the old marketplace
area into large plazas, and redevelopment of the city center.

The award presentation for the two winning and three honorable mention cities
will take place tonight, 6pm-7:30pm, at the Washington Hilton in Washington,
DC as part of the international Transportation Research Board Annual
Conference, which is expected to attract 10,000 transportation professionals
from around the world.

The award selection committee includes the most respected experts and
organizations working internationally on sustainable transportation. It
includes representatives from the Institute for Transportation and Development
Policy, Environmental Defense, the Transportation Research Board Committee on
Transportation in Developing Countries, the Clean Air Initiatives for Asia,
Latin America, and Africa, GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische
Zusammenarbeit), and the United Nations' Centre for Regional Development
(UNCRD). For more information, photos, and videos about the award and its
current and past winners, visit
http://www.itdp.org/index.php/news_events/event_detail/sustainable_transport_award/.

Contacts:
Sean Crowley of the Environmental Defense, +1-202-550-6524, scrowley@ed.org;
or Aimee Gauthier of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy,
+1-212-629-8001, agauthier@itdp.org; or Cornie Huizenga of the Clean Air
Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) Center, cornie.huizenga@cai-asia.org;
or Carlosfelipe Pardo of the German Technical Cooperation,
carlos.pardo@sutp.org

SOURCE Environmental Defense

Sean Crowley of the Environmental Defense, +1-202-550-6524, scrowley@ed.org;
or Aimee Gauthier of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy,
+1-212-629-8001, agauthier@itdp.org; or Cornie Huizenga of the Clean Air
Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) Center, cornie.huizenga@cai-asia.org;
or Carlosfelipe Pardo of the German Technical Cooperation,
carlos.pardo@sutp.org