Subject: SUSTRAN: E-mail discussion list invitation INVITATION TO JOIN NEW E-MAIL DISCUSSION LIST, "SUSTRAN-DISCUSS". This message is to announce that the secretariat of the Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia and the Pacific (SUSTRAN) will soon launch a listserver-based e-mail discussion list, to be called 'SUSTRAN-DISCUSS'. The list will be devoted to discussions related to the network's mission. SUSTRAN's formal mission is to promote transportation policies which foster societies and human settlements that are: socially just, ecologically sustainable, politically participatory, economically productive and culturally vibrant. In other words, the list will be devoted to discussions on people-centred and sustainable transport, primarily in Asia and the Pacific. Contributions from and about other regions will also be most welcome, especially Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe where many issues are very similar. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING THE 'SUSTRAN-DISCUSS' LIST THEN PLEASE SEND A REQUEST TO. You will then be added to the initial subscribers list. I am excited about the prospect of this new list and I am confident that it will provide a useful forum for information exchange, questions and debate on the transport issues which concern all of us. The list will begin operating in a few weeks from now. At that time those of you who have asked to join will receive all the instructions you will need, such as the address for messages and how to subscribe, unsubscribe, etc. Below is some very brief information on e-mail lists for those of you who may not be familiar with them. I look forward to your responses. Paul Barter Coordinator Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia & the Pacific (SUSTRAN) c/- AP2000, PO Box 12544, 50782 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: +60 3 255 9122 ext.2240, Fax (direct):+60 3 253 2361 E-mail: sustran@umpap.po.my (office) tkpb@barter.pc.my (home) WHAT IS AN E-MAIL DISCUSSION LIST? E-mail discussion lists provide a very effective way of sharing information on particular topics among a community of people all over the world. Because joining such lists requires an active decision to subscribe, the quality of information and debate in special-interest e-mail lists is generally much higher than on internet news groups. All you need to subscribe to an e-mail discussion list is access to an e-mail account. Any subscriber can send a message to everyone who is subscribed to the list by sending the message to a single e-mail address, the list address. The listserver software then passes the message on to everyone who is subscribed. Each subscriber also receive all messages posted to the list by other subscribers. Typically there may be several messages per day. If a message interests you and you want to respond, then you have the option of responding to the whole list or of sending e-mail privately to the author of the message. It is possible to easily leave a list at any time by unsubscribing. It is advisable to do this if you will be away from your e-mail for a while. Subscribing and unsubscribing can be accomplished easily, and usually automatically, with an email message.