[URBANTH-L] Shaastra 08: Golden Design Challenges: Sustainable Transportation

[Aashish Gupta]

Get UT Out of The Rut: Sustainable Transportation For Chennai

Shaastra <http://www.shaastra.org/> is the annual technical festival of the
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

The Golden Design Challenges are a set of five independent, socially
relevant
design problem statements catering to multiple disciplines of engineering,
formulated in such a way that implementing the solutions would positively
affect the Indian community at large.

Get UT out of the Rut is an event which asks for solutions to  the problem
of
Urban Transportation for the Urban Terrestrial. Participants have to
envision
a transportation system for the residents of Chennai which is sustainable,
people friendly, and makes our streets livable.

The constraints of the challenge are
1. No motorized vehicles within large tracts of residential/commercial
areas.
2. Make Public Transport Preferable to Private Motorized Vehicles. So Bus

Rapid Transit, Trams, Boats, Trains instead of Cars, Motorcycles and
scooters.
3. Encourage Non Motorised Transport. Cycles, Pedestrians, and maybe
Cycle-Rickshaws. Plan for a cyclist and walker-friendly city.

Simplicity is the key, and you need not worry about the lack of knowledge on
transport planning. We provide the transport guides and reference material.
Also the relevant data on Chennai. You have to figure out what will work in
Chennai, and what will not.

Get cracking, and get cracking fast. A six figure cash prize is up for
grabs,
for those who can successfully provide accessibility and sustainability to
the
Urban Terrestrial.

The detailed problem statement and description can be downloaded from
http://www.shaastra.org/2008/Events/GoldenChallenges/
Any queries can be directed to gdc at shaastra.org

Aashish Gupta
Coordinator, Golden Design Challenges
Golden Jubilee Shaastra 08
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras