Q&A: Car-Centric Urban Growth Fuelled By Subsidies

Pollution and road congestion are at crisis proportions in India’s cities. Yet, the government encourages car-centric urban growth, subsidised by public largesse, says Anumita Roychowdhury of the non-governmental Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), which is leading a campaign for cleaner air in Delhi.

ALBANIA: Connecting Itself to the World

Albania's government is engaged in a massive programme to improve transport infrastructure in a move that will integrate the country into the trade and travel routes of the Balkans. But it won't be cheap, or without controversy.

Q&A: 'Investment in Transport Infrastructure Is the Most Important'

Roads, railways, ports and airports are being upgraded in a country where in spite of the challenges posed by poverty, investment in infrastructure has been dramatically increased.

GUATEMALA: Bus Drivers Targets of Organised Crime Killings

"Oh, I wish they would stop killing bus drivers, Jesus, I wish they would!" said a woman in tears as she took part in a Holy Week procession in the Guatemalan capital, Ernestina González, a domestic worker who rides the bus every day, told IPS.

INDIA: &#39World&#39s Cheapest Car Environmentally Costly&#39

Nothing has generated as much hyperbole in the global automobile industry in recent years as the unveiling, last week, of an ultra-cheap bare-bones car made by the Tatas, India’s steel and engineering giant.

PAKISTAN: Rail Accidents – More Than Nuts and Bolts

While authorities have attributed the Dec. 19 railway tragedy to a possible rail fracture from cold weather, experts say the issue is not about nuts and bolts but a reflection of overall transport policy.

TRANSPORT-SOUTH AFRICA: Culture Puts the Brakes on Women&#39s Mobility

The bicycle has been hailed as having done "more than anything else in the world...to emancipate women" - the words of 19th century American feminist Susan B. Anthony. But for many women in South Africa, culture and tradition make it difficult to take advantage of the increased mobility and access to social and economic opportunities, not to mention the reduced carbon footprint, offered by bicycles.

UKRAINE-RUSSIA: Gloomy Prospects for Black Sea

The recent spill of more than 1,000-tonnes of fuel oil into the Black Sea could have severe long-term environmental consequences say ecologists, stressing that authorities are busy trading accusations instead of stepping up cleaning efforts.

ENVIRONMENT-ANTARCTICA: Accidents Will Happen – So Be Prepared

The second accident this year involving a cruiseliner in the Antarctic is alarming the countries that protect and conserve the frozen continent, which are persisting in their demands for penalties in cases of disasters that cause pollution.

BRAZIL: Biofuel Revolution Reaches Airline Industry

Biokerosene has the potential to take off on the international market faster than other alternative fuels, even though it is among the newest and faces stricter quality standards because it is to be used in aviation.

SPAIN: Biofuels – Good for Business, Bad for the Poor, Say Activists

Making fuels from plants is strongly supported by the business community in Spain, but equally strongly criticised by environmental organisations because of its negative impact on food production.

PARAGUAY: Environmentalists Up in Arms Over Mega-Port

Residents, environmentalists and local and national authorities in Paraguay are at odds over the pros and cons of a port complex being built by U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill on the outskirts of the capital.

ENERGY-AFRICA: Big Potential and Challenges for Biofuels

Biofuels offer Africa the chance to supply itself with alternative energy sources, and also to become a major supplier of these sources for developed markets. Yet, challenges - from creating the relevant infrastructure to competition for biofuel crops from food markets - remain.

ECONOMY-IRAN: Petrol Rationing – Bumpy Ride

Two months after the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began rationing petrol to ‘’vaccinate’’ itself against possible sanctions, critics say the plan has failed to cut down gasoline consumption. Instead it has hurt the agriculture, tourism, transportation and other sectors of the economy.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Thai Air Disaster May Hit Budget Carriers

As investigations began to unearth the cause behind Sunday’s crash of a budget airliner in the Thai resort of Phuket, enthusiasm among South-east Asian budget tourists and travellers for low-cost carriers appears to have dampened.

ENVIRONMENT-MEXICO: Green Plan to Cut Smog

The Mexico City government announced new environmental measures Thursday aimed at further restricting traffic, the main culprit for the city’s notorious smog. The plan is also to streamline the city’s chaotic traffic, in the face of warnings from experts of a total collapse of the system by 2010.

ENVIRONMENT-INDONESIA: Riding Water Taxis to Clean Rivers

On weekends, groups of children and their parents crowd around South Jakarta’s Halimun Pier waiting to take a joy ride on one of two water taxis, recently introduced by the administration.

BRAZIL: Discovering Bus Travel

Brazil’s air crisis is changing the look of the crowds in bus stations in large cities like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Many well-heeled Brazilians are opting, for the first time, to travel by bus in order to avoid the mounting delays in airports and, in some cases, a new fear of flying.

ARGENTINA: Regional Leader in Traffic Deaths

Traffic accidents in Argentina have been claiming an average of 20 lives a day over the past decade, making it the top country in Latin America for these tragedies. They are also the main cause of death among people under 35, but in spite of this there are no official plans to end the slaughter on the roads.

BOLIVIA: La Paz Struggles Against Suffocation

The noise of traffic, dissonant car horns, people marching and shouting slogans, and firework and dynamite explosions is beginning to suffocate the urban centre of La Paz, Bolivia's seat of government, and is forcing consideration of medium term solutions.

ARGENTINA: An (Air) Accident Waiting to Happen?

Although the Argentine government is adamant that air transport safety is guaranteed, for the past 80 days the main airports in the country have been facing an unprecedented crisis. Air traffic controllers are operating without radars, flights are delayed or cancelled, and the risks are mounting.