Transport Papers
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Publication
Making It to the School: Education and Transport Policies for Children in South East Europe
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-10)Providing at least basic education to all children especially those coming from poor or disadvantaged families is an important factor for increasing chances to improve their lives in the future. Many countries recognize the need to better educate their populations and do so by trying to improve the equity and quality while taking care of efficiency. The provision of equal educational opportunities is a challenge for every society, where specific solutions typically depend on a number of factors. The intention of this document is to raise awareness and provide support to decision makers in planning the measures that will secure access to quality education for all children above all to those who are under higher risk of dropping out of the education system through a set of transportation and education policy measures. The document aims to equip municipal authorities, as well as transport and education stakeholders, with a systemized approach for assessing the access and accessibility of education services, and tools for the selection of the most appropriate options for improvements. The document is organized as follows: chapter one provides a short introductory review of the demographic changes in South East Europe (SEE) countries; chapter two is a valuable source of information on the experiences of countries in the SEE region and worldwide; chapter three gives decision-making framework for local authorities; chapter four provides a summary and a set of recommendations for local- and national-level authorities on the most effective ways of fulfilling legal obligations and ensuring a basic children's right- access to education; chapter five and six sets paths for making chosen policy options sustainable and for future developments based on innovative transport and education approaches and proven practices; and chapter seven gives literature and data sources. -
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Performance-Based Road Rehabilitation and Maintenance Contracts in Argentina : A Review of Fifteen Years of Experience (1996-2010)
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-09)The road sector is the dominant mode of transport in Argentina carrying nearly 80 percent of total freight volume. The road network has a total length of about 630,000 km (11 percent paved), divided in three administrative levels: national, provincial, and municipal. However, more than 70 percent of total traffic volumes are concentrated on the paved national and provincial network, with the municipal network consisting of unpaved roads, access roads to farms and feeder roads with very low traffic volumes. A survey carried out in 1992 confirmed that only 44 percent of the national paved network was in good condition, with a high 35 percent of roads in poor condition. Rehabilitation works for the non-concessioned portion were contracted to the private sector under the traditional ad-measurement type or unit price-based system while maintenance activities continued to be carried out by force-account. In 1993 a loan from the World Bank was approved to finance, for the first time, high priority rehabilitation and maintenance works on the non-concessioned paved network, leading to the development of a long-term maintenance strategy based on the gradual expansion of performance-based contracts, a modality that is currently being replicated in other countries around the world. This paper is organized as follows: chapter one presents the national road network of Argentina; chapter two gives origins and definition of the Contrato de Recuperacion y Mantenimiento (CREMA) contracts; chapter three gives evolution in the procurement and the design standards of the CREMA; chapter four presents the market's response to the CREMA system; chapter five presents impact of the CREMA on the condition of the national road network; chapter six deals with cost effectiveness of the CREMA system; chapter seven presents Bank's strategy and role in the road sector in Argentina; and chapter eight gives lessons learned. -
Publication
Making a Small Market Thrive : Recommendations for Efficiency Gains in the Latin American Air Cargo Market
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-03)Air cargo origin destination flows in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region are heavily concentrated in the largest economies of South America and Mexico. With 32.7 percent of the airfreight moved to, from, and within the region, Brazil is the largest cargo market, followed by Colombia and Mexico, with 17.9 percent and 16.0 percent, respectively. The relatively small size of the air cargo market in LAC can be explained by: (i) low levels of demand for air cargo services (supply responds adequately to a low demand for air cargo services in/from LAC), or (ii) restrictions to a properly functioning market that impede the air cargo market to reach its full potential. The analysis carried out for the preparation of this paper indicates that the low levels of demand is the most reasonable explanation for the small size of the LAC air cargo market. There is room to improve some regulations which would make the air cargo market work more efficiently and probably at lower costs, but the size and diversity of the market will not significantly change as a result. Airport infrastructure quality fairs well overall, although some isolated issues exist in certain airports in LAC. Infrastructure limitations were evaluated through a survey conducted by an association of LAC airlines (ALTA). The results of the survey show that even the worst rated airports received an acceptable score in absolute terms. Policies aimed at reducing operating costs and related to soft constraints should also be implemented paperless customs procedures, improved security in airport premises and streamlining of custom inspection processes. -
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Metropolitan Transportation Institutions : Six Case Studies - Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, and the United States
(Washington, DC, 2011-03)Transportation has always played a fundamental role in the formation of cities. Ports evolved where rivers flowed into the ocean or at the confluence of major rivers; sleepy outposts at the junction of major roads became bustling trading hubs. Although this relationship between transportation and development has been evident since the creation of the earliest urban societies, all previous conceptions of the city were made obsolete by the advent of the industrial revolution. The transportation challenges raised by this new city centered on congestion. Early forms of transit provided some relief, but as motor vehicles became common place, existing urban streets were overwhelmed. As roadways were enlarged and expressways constructed, the population of new suburbs expanded and the automobile became the dominant form of transportation in many developed cities. To address issues at this scale, cities and countries around the world have developed new institutions that sit between the scale of local and higher order governments. The example of Boston, presented in the accompanying figure, is illustrative. The city of Boston has a population of 620,000, but its metropolitan area is commonly defined to include 101 cities and towns with 4.5 million total residents. An organization known as a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) that covers the territory of all the cities and towns in the region has been created to coordinate planning of major transportation investments. The primary purpose of the current study is to provide an overview of the ways in which systems of metropolitan transportation governance are organized in a six different countries in order that these systems might provide models for World Bank client countries currently developing institutions for managing urban transport problems. The best method for understanding how each of these systems operates is consulting the county case studies provided in the final section. This study is organized as follows. The first section presents an overview of several themes that run through the cases. In the subsequent sections, each case is reviewed individually. -
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Road Asset Governance Filter : Case Study of Kazakhstan and Armenia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-02)Building upon the transport governance filter developed by the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) transport team, which identified several thematic principles and actionable indicators on the governance of the transport sector at large, this paper seeks to assess the overall governance performance of the road sector as well as the concrete issues that road administrations should address in order to improve sector governance. A pilot survey was conducted in Armenia and Kazakhstan, in which road sector stakeholders were asked to evaluate more than seventy questions structured along four governance dimensions: (i) transparency, disclosure and accountability of the road agency; (ii) transparent and accessible procurement processes; (iii) financial management system; and (iv) administrative procedures and anticorruption effort. This report starts with an overview of the existing approaches to governance and corruption with a particular focus on the road sector. It then outlines the methodological framework developed under the study to assess the governance challenges facing the road sector, and report the governance challenges in Armenia and Kazakhstan using the methodology developed. The report will conclude with an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the methodological approach used and concrete suggestions to strengthen governance in the road sector of Armenia and Kazakhstan. -
Publication
Urban Transport Projects: Patterns and Trends in Lending, 1999-2009
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011)The study consisted of developing a compendium of profiles for all free-standing urban transport projects funded by the Bank in calendar years from 1999 through 2009, followed by a first-pass synthesis of patterns and trends. There were 50 such projects. In addition, profiles were done for several projects from this period which were classified as urban or transport, but with significant urban transport components. Also, profiles were done for several operations approved before 1999 or after 2009, because they formed organic sequences with some operations in the 1999-2009 batches, in the same city or the same country. In all, profiles were done for 56 operations. A list of these projects is in annex one. Full profiles are in annex two, grouped by the geographic region, and in the chronological order according to the date of loan approval. The sources consulted in writing the profiles included project appraisal documents, loan and project agreements, restructuring papers, and implementation completion reports. In addition to this introduction, the synthesis report has four chapters. In the next (second) chapter, a brief overview is provided of the batch of projects for which the profiles were done. Chapter three reviews urban transport programs by region. Chapter four presents outcome ratings for completed projects and issues related to their success or otherwise. Chapter five discusses the fit between the projects and a provisional version of the Bank's urban transport strategy. -
Publication
Public Transport Capacity Analysis Procedures for Developing Cities
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011)The introduction of urban rail transit and high performance/quality/capacity bus transit systems throughout the world has dramatically improved the mobility of residents of cities in which they operate. The objectives of this work are: to provide a technical resource for transit planners and designers in developing cities in their public transport capacity and performance analysis work irrespective of mode. This report recommends methods of achieving practical transit capacity during normally encountered operating conditions. Where capacity is influenced by a measure of dispersion of some characteristic such as stop dwell time or vehicle headway, this is also noted. The purpose of measuring capacity is not just to provide a measure of system capability to transport passengers but also to provide some insight into the effect of service and physical design on customer service quality. When the demand for a service exceeds its schedule design capacity, service quality deteriorates either due to overcrowding on vehicles or at station platforms or diminished ability of customers to board the next arriving transport vehicle since it is already fully loaded, increased dwell times and hence decrease revenue speeds. The importance of service quality in transit capacity analysis cannot be overstated. Transit operators should be mindful that the urban transportation marketplace is more competitive. While it might be technically possible to design a service using a loading standard of 7 or 8 passengers per square meter, a number of customers will find that level intolerable and will seek alternate means of travel including walking (in the case of short distance trips), riding with someone else, riding taxis or purchasing a motorcycle or car. Accordingly, such loading standards should be thought of as interim measures until higher capacity at lower crowding can be achieved. -
Publication
A Review of Highway Agencies in the South Asia Region
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011)Explosive growth in demand for passenger and freight transport in the South Asia region, driven by high economic growth, has put the spotlight squarely on ensuring enhanced delivery of infrastructure and services. The objective of the study is to help governments and policy makers in identifying reforms that are required to modernize and strengthen the capacity and performance of their road agencies to deliver large investment programs through performance monitoring as a tool. A review of the highway agencies in the region has been undertaken to suggest: a) indicators to assess their capacities and performance; and b) a roadmap to improve performance in key functional areas of the agencies. The scope of study included a review of a sample of highway agencies from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This sample included national and provincial level highway agencies as well as road corporations. In India, the focus was on the state-level highway agencies. This study also incorporates findings from earlier studies commissioned by the World Bank. -
Publication
Monitoring Road Works Contracts and Unit Costs for Enhanced Governance in Europe and Central Asia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-01)The present study generates a specialized dataset of road sector contracts for Bank-financed projects in 14 countries of Europe and Central Asia. The data sample covers 200 completed or ongoing road works contracts signed between 2000 and 2010. Trends for each country are captured through the following indicators: (i) difference between contract values and their engineers' estimates; (ii) cost overruns; (iii) time overruns; (iv) bidding indicators for contracts with and without prequalification: number of firms that applied for prequalification, number of prequalified firms, number of firms that bought bidding documents, number of bidders, number of disqualified bidders; (v) time elapsed between bid opening and contract signing dates; (vi) cost per kilometer of similar works; (vii) road works unit costs; and (viii) ratios between supervision contract values and the related road works contract values. An inventory of risks is developed for each road works contract using a checklist of possible entry points of corrupt activities or red flags. The frequency of observations is measured for the selected types of red flags from a sample of 200 road works contracts surveyed. The contracts with complaints received by the Bank's Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) are examined separately to check if they exhibit a pattern of indicators consistent with the presence of allegations of corruption or fraud. The study looks further into the determinants of road rehabilitation and reconstruction costs. It concludes with selected recommendations to sustain the platform fostering governance and integrity in the procurement and implementation of road sector contracts under Bank-funded operations. -
Publication
Quantifying the Impacts of Vehicle-Generated Dust: A Comprehensive Approach
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011)This project can be considered to be an initial process leading to the ultimate objective of identifying and assigning costs associated with the impacts of vehicle-generated dust so that the benefits can be quantified, if these impacts are ameliorated through actions such as the provision of a sealed road surface. The report outlines the background to the project, the results of the review process, describes the need for a comprehensive approach and identifies and provides some provisional estimates the possible impacts of traffic generated dust on road safety, health, agriculture and the environment. The objectives of the project, the achievements made, the problems encountered and the findings to date are described. The report outlines the overall approach that has been undertaken to achieve the stated aims of the project in relation to the available data. The outcomes from discussions with prospective developing country partners are reported together with the results of correspondence and discussions with other professionals. Recommendations and conclusions are made on the work undertaken to date. An outline methodology and terms of reference are provided for a follow-up study.