Established in May 2002, with the support of the Shell Foundation, EMBARQ - The World Resources Institute Center for Sustainable Transport - acts as a catalyst for socially, financially, and environmentally sound solutions to the problems of urban mobility. Working with politically and financially empowered authorities at local and global levels, EMBARQ can dramatically reduce the costs, risk, time, and complexity required to diagnose key transport problems, and design and implement sustainable, “best practice” solutions.
Through the formation of public-private partnerships, EMBARQ has turned the attention of the private sector towards the needs of cities, their citizens, and their environment. EMBARQ has also proven that the design and implementation of sustainable urban transport strategies in the developing world can translate into economic opportunities for the forward-thinking business.
The advantage of EMBARQ is A core of world class experts in geography, environmental science, public finance, public policy, transportation, engineering, energy, and economics; A network of firms, people, technology, and development banks from around the world; Global business skills applied to fast-paced urban transport development ; World Resources Institute’s mission, values, and reputation.
EMBARQ 's strategy is to foster viable government-business-civil society partnerships whose members are committed to finding solutions to the transportation-related problems facing the cities in which they operate. Within the framework of these partnerships, EMBARQ is empowered to identify, test, evaluate, and implement reasonable and effective solutions to local transport problems within a three to five year time horizon.
Its business model calls for working partnerships with three major cities every five years, entered into on a staggered basis. This model will ensure EMBARQ 's ability to effectively manage multiple-city projects while still engaging in education, outreach and prospecting for future partner cities. The staggered initiation of projects, in two-year intervals, allows appropriate engagement on the part of EMBARQ staff to carry each project through five proposed stages: Establishment of a city partnership; Creation of a city-based Center for Sustainable Transport in the partner city, staffed primarily by local actors in the transport community; Identification of a sustainable transport system appropriate to the partner city; Creation of an ambitious, achievable, work plan that results in transport changes which provide measurable improvements in traffic congestion, air quality, and overall quality of life for the city's inhabitants; Expansion of activities to other cities within the country or region to leverage the capacity and learning created through the initial partnership.
Text and Photograph courtesy EMBARQ website.
April 2, 2008
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