Other Infrastructure Study
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Publication
Georgia Economic Impact of East-West Highway Phase 2: Assessing the Impact of East-West Highway Investments on Exports through Gravity Modeling
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-06-27)The objective of this study is to assess the impact of the East-West Highway improvement program on Georgia’s ability to access international markets. As highlighted extensively in the literature, improving transport infrastructure and the efficiency of the logistics sector can help countries gain competitiveness in international export markets, which can translate into faster economic growth and higher income. This study hypothesizes that investments in the EWH have reduced the cost of shipping Georgian goods to the rest of the world, and such reductions should be more significant for goods transported by road. To estimate the effect of cost reductions generated by improvements in the EWH, a gravity-type model in first-differences has been estimated. The results show that: (i) a 10 percent increase in the length of upgraded road network predicts a 1.1 percent increase in exports transported by road while no significant effect is estimated for exports on other transport modes (rail, sea, and air); (ii) the resulting increase in exports by road was reflected by a decrease in exports transported by sea; (iii) the effect is statistically and economically significant only for customs offices located along the EWH; (iv) only exports of time-sensitive products responded positively and significantly to improvements in the EWH during the 2006-2015 period; (v) upgrading the entire EWH is estimated to generate additional export revenues between USD 776 million and USD 1,466 million. It is important to note that the overall trade generating effect of the investment is expected to be somewhat lower as the results suggest some substitution between road and sea transport, but the overall impact is a significant boost to exports. -
Publication
Federative Republic of Brazil iRAP Pilot Technical Report: Federal Highways
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-01)As part of efforts to curb road deaths and serious injuries, the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) invited the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) to work with the National Department of Transport Infrastructure (Departamento Nacional de Infraestrutura de Transportes, DNIT) to assess the safety of Brazilian roads. During this second assessment of Brazilian roads, approximately 3,400km of roads were assessed. This technical report describes the road assessment project and includes details on data collection, the methodology used and a summary of the results. The infrastructure-related risk assessment involved detailed surveys and coding of 50 road attributes at 100 meter intervals along the network and creation of Star Ratings, which provide a simple and objective measure showing the level of risk on the road network. The star ratings show that 1 percent of road length is rated as 5-star, 9 percent is rated as 4-star, 58 percent is rated as 3-star, and the remaining 32 percent is rated as 2-star and below for vehicle occupants. For motorcyclists, no roads were rated as 5-star, only 3 percent of road length is rated as 4-star, 47 percent is rated as 3-star, and the remaining 50 percent is rated 2-star and below. For pedestrians less than 1 percent is rated as 4-star and 5-star, 2 percent is rated as 3-star and the remaining 13 percent is rated 2-star and below. For bicyclists less than 1 percent is rated as 5-star or 4-star, 5 percent is rated as 3-star and the remaining 14 percent is rated 2-star and below. The project also involved the creation of a Safer Roads Investment Plans, which draws on more than 90 proven road safety treatments, ranging from low cost road markings and pedestrian refuges to higher cost intersection upgrades and full highway duplication. -
Publication
Shifting into Higher Gear: Recommendations for Improved Grain Logistics in Ukraine
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-08)This study was conceived on the basis of a request by Ukraine’s Ministry of Agricultural Policies and Food (MoAPF). In 2013, the MoAPF explored the World Bank’s interest for investing in grain hoppers, following a deficit of hoppers and concerns about related difficulties for grain transport. In response, the World Bank secured resources from the Multi Donor Trust Fund for Trade and Development (TF016693) to carry out a review of grain logistics in Ukraine in order to better understand the challenges facing the sector. The objectives of this report are to assess the functioning of the grain logistics system, identify bottlenecks and put forward practical recommendations for investments and reform. Research points to five key drivers of current high logistics costs: (i) lack of regulatory clarity and sub-optimal management of public assets that create barriers to private investments; (ii) underutilization of river transport, (iii) underinvestment in rail transport; (iv) inefficiencies in storage management, and (v) excessive use of road transport. However, there are two important limitations of the report that should be taken into account. First, the ongoing crisis remains a source of uncertainty. It has so far had limited impact on grain production and logistics, yet access to finance has become more difficult and other impacts might arise in the future. Second, there are two areas that the report does not address: customs and ports. Both are important elements of logistics costs and deserve a comprehensive analysis in the future. -
Publication
Rail Electronic Data Interchange in a Border Crossing Point in South East Europe: An Assessment of Options
(Washington, DC, 2015-05)Within the European Union (EU) rail transport is currently the least integrated transport mode. This leads to delays, extra costs, and insufficient use of rail freight, especially for time-sensitive cargo. This also represents a missed opportunity in terms of moving towards a greener transport modal split within the EU. Rail freight, for which international activity represents 50 percent of total activities, will not be able to develop fully if border crossing rail operations do not deliver a better service for shippers and freight operators who require seamless trans-national transport as is possible by road, air and sea. Observing that the modal split of rail in the EU is stagnating at around 16 percent after years of decline, the European Commission proposed a regulation on a European rail network for competitive freight to be based on a number of rail freight corridors which entered into force on November 9, 2010. Regulation No 913/2010 makes it mandatory to create a European rail network for competitive freight based on international freight corridors, recognizing that the need to strengthen the competitiveness of rail freight requires a corridor approach, involving corridors that cross national borders. TheEU adoption in 2010 of a corridor approach focusing on international rail freight has important implications for EU member states, accession and candidate countries, in terms of approaching rail freight investments and performance from an international corridor perspective with enhanced cross-border coordination, with the ultimate aim of increasing the attractiveness of rail to potential freight customers. The objective of this report is to address this recommendation by assessing whether it makes sense to introduce a pilot EDI in a rail border crossing point in South East Europe. It aims to make a preliminary assessment of the various technical options in terms of hardware, software, and communication requirements of such architecture, taking into account that any technical solution proposed needs to be adapted to the countries in question, given existing infrastructure and European regulations. The ultimate aim is to improve rail border crossing performance in South East Europe by the use of EDI to improve integration. -
Publication
Philippine Transport Infrastructure Development Roadmap Framework Plan: Executive Summary
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-10)Various transport-related agencies and local governments develop their respective transport plans or strategies to address bottlenecks and improve outcomes in the transport sector. However, to be able to bring a more focused or targeted intervention that is more inclusive, these various strategies need to focus on establishing interconnectivity between key urban growth centers and between lagging and fast-growing regions, and creating supporting institutions that promote greater integration. Upon the request of the National Economic and Development Authority, a framework plan was developed to provide policy-makers with a strategic framework to help identify the transport needs of the Philippines and guide in implementing an integrated, more coordinated approach to establishing stronger transport infrastructure linkages to support the country’s inclusive growth agenda. The framework plan was developed under the guidance of a vision and goals developed by stakeholders across the Philippines. This comprehensive vision can be summarized as ‘Bringing us all closer together for prosperity.’ The geographic focus of the Framework Plan includes all of the Philippines outside of Metro Manila. This Framework Plan does not replicate the work being done by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for Metro Manila (the JICA study covers Metro Manila with an approximate radius of 100 kilometers and is being conducted to evaluate specific transport infrastructure projects for the Metro Manila area). Future improvements and needs of transportation infrastructure to meet the demand for long-distance transport to and from Metro Manila and to other urban/economic centers in the Philippines are considered; nevertheless, national-level strategies recommended in this study affect all areas of the Philippines. -
Publication
Regional Economic Impact Analysis of High Speed Rail in China : Step by Step Guide
(Washington, DC, 2014-06-25)This report reflects a two-stage work flow designed to fulfill the research objectives: stage one defined the methodology, and stages two tested this methodology and transferred the know-how to the China Railway Corporation and its consultants through case studies. Chapter two summarizes the theoretical framework within which regional economic impacts are discussed and quantified. Chapter three reviews current regional economic impact analyses in China. Chapter four summarizes the approach to practical regional impact assessment in other countries and reviews the relevance of the main methods in the Chinese context. Chapter five summarizes the work that has been carried out by the World Bank to date in estimating regional impacts in China. Chapter six develops a practical approach to quantifying the regional economic impacts of future HSR in China, including methods for data collection, surveys and interviews. Chapter seven presents the implementation of the methodology in the case studies and the interpretation of quantified model results. Chapter eight summarizes the conclusions and the recommendations for further work. In addition, appendices one to three provide further details about existing assessment studies and methodologies. Appendices four and five show the interview and survey forms. A separate report provides a step-by-step how-to guide for a regional economic impact assessment using a four zone generic example model, which as a simple numerical example complements the presentation of the case study applications on Changchun-Jilin HSR and the northern part of the Beijing-Shanghai HSR. -
Publication
What Drives the High Price of Road Freight Transport in Central America?
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-12)In Central America, like many other developing regions, high transport costs are cited as an important impediment to trade and economic growth. Prices for road freight transport, a key mode of transport comprising a significant share of total transport costs for both intra, and extra, regional trade, are particularly high. Averaging 17 US cents per ton-kilometer on main trading routes, these rates stand out even relative to other inefficient developing country markets (e.g., central and west Africa). However, the policy and other factors associated with increased prices have not been well understood. Using data from a survey of trucking companies operating on the region's main trade corridors, this paper analyzes the primary drivers affecting firms' cost of providing service, as well as the effect of market structure and competition on markups and prices. We find that whereas improved cost efficiencies could reduce prices by 3 cents per ton?kilometer, increased competition on national routes, those entirely within a nation's borders, will reduce prices by significantly more. Although there are many trucking companies, including small and somewhat informal operators, the degree of competition varies by route due to domestic restraints on competition and the prohibition on international competition on national routes. Our empirical result shows that the effect of barriers to entry and imperfect competition on markups accounts for at least 35 percent of mean prices on national routes. Moreover, a lack of competition is likely to explain the persistence of an inefficient market structure and scale of operation, as well as a lack of innovation to reduce costs and enhance the quality of service. -
Publication
Regional Impacts of High Speed Rail in China : Spatial Proximity and Productivity in an Emerging Economy
(World Bank, Beijing, 2013-06-30)This paper contains an initial reconnaissance of the situation in Yunfu, prior to the NanGuang project construction. It provides a brief overview of the trajectory of economic development in Yunfu from an economy that was dominated by primary industries to that by secondary industries. The development of local transport infrastructure is reviewed, as is the more detailed structure of local industries, with special emphasis on dominant industrial sectors and the planned industrial parks. The experience of high speed rail development impact elsewhere was drawn upon to reflect on the possible regional economic outcomes that might emerge following the opening of the Nanning-Guangzhou high speed rail. The structure of and the approach to a before and after monitoring study is considered. The remainder of the paper is divided into six parts. Part two gives a brief overview of the economic development in Yunfu municipality since its establishment in 1994. Part three describes local transport links and infrastructure. Part four provides a description of the internal structure of local industries, with special emphasis on the dominant industrial sectors and the planned industrial parks. Part five discusses possible regional economic impacts associated with the forthcoming high-speed rail line and part six summarizes a proposal for the next steps. -
Publication
Reforming the Indian Ports Sector
(Washington, DC, 2013-06)Maritime transport carries more than nine-tenths of tonnage of world international trade. The international shipping industry, competitive and dominated by private companies, has delivered to trading nations increasing capacity, generally improving service levels, and declining unit shipping costs. To access and extract the maximum benefit from this vital transport resource each nation depends on the performance of its ports sector; not only on the capacity, quality and price of port services but also their connectivity to hinterlands and to the industrial and consumer markets they serve. Ports in India, as in many countries, face continued pressure to handle higher throughput, adapt to larger and more specialized vessels, improve productivity, and adopt new technology and information systems that can meet the increasingly demanding service standards expected by shippers, logistics companies and shipping operators. As in all economic sectors, the success of ports depends not only on investment in its infrastructure but on supportive policy and regulatory structures, and on the effectiveness of the institutions that deliver services to customers. This Report contains an analysis of the current status of India s ports sector, identifies potential constraints on the ability of ports to meet India s future development needs, and sets out a recommended policy framework to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the sector. -
Publication
Cairo Traffic Congestion Study : Final Report
(Washington, DC, 2013-05)The Greater Cairo Metropolitan Area (GCMA), with more than 19 million inhabitants, is host to more than one-fifth of Egypt's population. The GCMA is also an important contributor to the Egyptian economy in terms of GDP and jobs. The population of the GCMA is expected to further increase to 24 million by 2027, and correspondingly its importance to the economy will also increase. Traffic congestion is a serious problem in the GCMA with large and adverse effects on both the quality of life and the economy. In addition to the time wasted standing still in traffic, time that could be put to more productive uses, congestion results in unnecessary fuel consumption, causes additional wear and tear on vehicles, increases harmful emissions lowering air quality, increases the costs of transport for business, and makes the GCMA an unattractive location for businesses and industry. These adverse effects have very real and large monetary and nonmonetary costs not only for the economy of the GCMA, but given its size, for the economy of Egypt as well. As the population of the GCMA continues to increase, traffic congestion is becoming worse and the need to address this congestion is becoming more urgent. In recognition of the seriousness of the problem of traffic congestion, and upon the request of Government, primarily the Ministries of Finance, Transport, Housing, and Interior, the World Bank funded an investigation into its magnitude, causes, and potential solutions in the GCMA. This report documents the results of the study. The results of this study should be of interest to policy-makers and practitioners in the GCMA, the Egyptian Government, other cities facing similar problems, and international financial institutions.