[Urbanstudy] Chennai pedestrian walkathon

[karenc at mids.ac.in]

Join the Walkathon,
Walk For Walkers’ Rights


Date: Sunday, 21st September 2008
Time: 4:30pm flag off
Starting from Labour Statue, Marina Beach.
Ending at Foreshore Estate.
Closing event at Foreshore Estate Open Grounds at 7.00 pm.
Assembly point: Labour Statue, Marina Beach, 4:00 pm
 Organized by: Walking Classes Unite


Marathons, walkathons and rallies are undertaken to raise public awareness
on a wide range of issues. But the everyday walker, who walks to work, to
school, or to the market is often forgotten. Walking is becoming one of
the most hazardous and difficult activities in the city today.

•	Pedestrians, bicyclists and public transport users account for 75% of
daily trips in Chennai.
•	Yet foot paths and cycle tracks are vanishing to accommodate more
private vehicles.
•	There are 16 lakh cars and two wheelers in Chennai but only 3084 MTC buses.
•	 While each car or two-wheeler carries 2 to 4 persons at most, each bus
on average carries 1460 people, putting the lives of bus-travellers at
great risk.
•	Nearly 50% of deaths due to road accidents are of pedestrians and cyclists.
•	Children, senior citizens and disabled persons face severe risk and
hardships as they navigate roads without footpaths, pedestrian crossings
or other pedestrian facilities
•	Crores of rupees are spent on flyovers and road widening but footpaths
remain unusable and ill maintained.
•	Livelihoods of street vendors are destroyed to accommodate more vehicles
on wider roads.

Is this Our City ???
Let us break our silence
Let us demand our rights

•	Wide and well-maintained accessible foot paths
•	On-road pedestrian crossings
•	Spaces that are sensitive to the needs of the senior citizens and
differently abled people
•	Dedicated cycle lanes on all roads

•	Increased number of buses with dedicated bus lanes
•	Implementation of Justice Kanagaraj committee report on street vending
•	Integration of hawking and walking spaces


For registration and information contact: Walking Classes Unite:
9884706531, 9884163604
					       Mail to: ped.access at gmail.com
Walking Classes Unite: 42A, First floor, Fifth Avenue, Besant Nagar,
Chennai 600090
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Join the Walkathon-1.doc
Type: application/msword
Size: 40448 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080920/cde58dea/attachment-0001.doc