Foreward

More than half the world’s population now lives in its cities. The urban population continues to grow,

 

especially in developing countries. As a result, the demands on the transport system are also growing, often at

 

a faster pace than the population. Unfortunately, the increasing demand for travel has had adverse consequences

 

on the health and well-being of the people and the economic efficiency of cities. Severe congestion,

 

air pollution, traffic accidents and a fast rising energy bill have become serious concerns for public policy.

 

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the urban transport sector have risen rapidly with adverse impacts on

 

climate change. There has been an explosive growth in the consumption of non-renewable petroleum fuels.

 

Nearly 1.2 million people are killed in road accidents every year. And the increasing difficulty of accessing jobs,

 

education and healthcare has had adverse effects for the urban poor.

 

Unfortunately, urban transport planning is very complex and, to be effective, urban mobility solutions need

 

to be multi-dimensional. Planning for urban mobility is not just about good construction of facilities, but also

 

needs to integrate numerous aspects, among others land use planning, traffic management, human behavior,

 

safety, gender, disability, affordability, and the impact on jobs. A comprehensive and holistic approach is

 

needed, requiring a combination of both supply side and demand side measures. Most importantly, it must

 

accommodate the needs of the poor.

 

All of these require a supporting policy framework that seeks to maximize the travel demand it can accommodate

 

while minimizing the resources needed to do so. Such a framework would take into account optimal land

 

use patterns and energy efficiency in transport systems. Few countries have so far formulated such policies

 

and, in the absence of such a guiding policy, inappropriate interventions continue to be made.

 

It is in this context that this guidebook has been developed by the World Bank as a possible support to formulating

 

policies for urban transport. It highlights the key policy issues that need to be considered, the options

 

that exist and the factors that influence a choice between the options. It recognizes that situations differ from

 

country to country and even from city to city. Choices depend on the local context and so a “one size fits all”

 

cannot apply. Recognizing this diversity, it refrains from making prescriptions. Its target audience is senior

 

policy makers and recognizing their time constraints, it is short and crisp and also keeps the discussion simple.

 

It is also useful to students of transportation and public policy as it helps highlight fundamental issues for

 

policy makers.

 

Marc Juhel Sector Manager, TWITR

Rohit Khanna Program Manager, ESMAP

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 

This guidebook has been written by a team led by O.P. Agarwal,

 

Senior Urban Transport Specialist at the World Bank, and comprising

 

Gouthami Padam, consultant, and Cholpon Ibraimova, program

 

assistant. The team worked under the guidance of Jose Luis Irigoyen,

 

Transport Sector Director, Marc Juhel, Transport Sector Manager, and

 

Rohit Khanna, ESMAP Program Manager.

 

This guidebook follows up on an earlier paper of November 2012

 

that was written jointly by the World Bank and the Asian Development

 

Bank for the G-20. The previous paper was reviewed by several

 

colleagues within the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank,

 

who gave very useful comments. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation

 

and Development and the International Transport Forum

 

(ITF) also gave very valuable feedback. The authors wish to thank Ajay

 

Kumar, Arturo Ardila Gomez, and Thierry Desclos, all from the World

 

Bank; Zhi Liu, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy (ex–World Bank); Alexis

 

Robert, OECD; and Jose Viegas, Mary Crass, Steve Perkins, and Phillipe

 

Crist, all from the ITF.

 

This follow-up effort was able to incorporate several suggestions

 

received from the reviewers at that time that could not be incorporate

 

into the November 2012 version due to time constraints. This version

 

of the guidebook has received additional comments from three

 

practitioners with several years of experience in formulating and

 

implementing policies. These have been extremely useful, as these

 

individuals were able to contribute the perspective of those for whom

 

this guidebook is primarily intended. Thanks are due to Anil Baijal,

 

I.P. Gautam, and Ramon Arevalo for these comments.

 

Sincere thanks are due to Prof. Jose Gomez-Ibanez of the Harvard

 

Kennedy School of Government for his extensive and helpful comments.

 

The authors are grateful to him for having taken the time to

 

review this guidebook despite his busy teaching schedule.

 

Lloyd Wright and K. Sakamoto of the Asian Development Bank made

 

significant contributions to the November 2012 version, and the

 

authors appreciate their help.

 

Thanks are also due to Jose Luis Irigoyen, Marc Juhel, and Rohit

 

Khanna for their constant guidance and advice; to Ivan Jaques, a

 

constant source of strength and advice; and to Sam Zimmerman, the

 

fountain of information on urban transport, who greatly supported

 

this effort by contributing several pieces. The team would especially

 

like to thank Marc Juhel, Rohit Khanna, Arturo Ardila Gomez, and

 

Ajay Kumar for reviewing the draft a second time.

 

The financial and technical support provided by the Energy Sector

 

Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) is gratefully acknowledged.

 

ESMAP, a global knowledge and technical assistance program

 

administered by the World Bank, assists low- and middle-income

 

countries in increasing their know-how and institutional capacity

 

to achieve environmentally sustainable energy solutions for poverty

 

reduction and economic growth. ESMAP is funded by Australia,

 

Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, the

 

Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the World

 

Bank Group.

 

The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper

 

do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank or the governments

 

it represents. The authors are solely responsible for them.