Transport Papers

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  • Publication
    Rethinking Infrastructure Delivery: Case Study of a Green, Inclusive, and Cost-effective Road Program in Nicaragua
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-06) Muzira, Stephen; Hernandez de Diaz, Damaris
    This paper presents a development case study on alternative thinking in rural infrastructure delivery. Delivery in this case is achieved in a manner that advances the green growth, social inclusion and cost-effectiveness agendas. The need for green and inclusive approaches in reaching development goals cannot be overstated. At the same time, the use of public funds should ensure value for money and stretch government resources as far as they can go. Inclusion refers to the empowerment of all citizens to participate in, and benefit from the development process, removing barriers against those who are often excluded. The use of a community development approach is presented in this paper to demonstrate how this has been achieved on large scale and in a cost-effective way without compromising quality or timing. Heightened roles and responsibilities are conferred to the local target authorities and populations in this infrastructure delivery approach, and this experience is presented as a best practice that could be emulated in similar development work. On the technical front, most road infrastructure delivery in many countries is heavily mechanized and undertaken using default asphalt surfacing. This paper presents the adoption of an alternative and green paving material that is also cost-effective at the secondary rural road level.
  • Publication
    Improving Accessibility to Transport for People with Limited Mobility : A Practical Guidance Note
    (Washington, DC, 2013-05) World Bank
    This document aims to provide practical guidance on how best to include consideration of accessibility for People with Limited Mobility (PLM). While disabled people are a primary focus, the definition of PLM considered within this guidance note therefore also encompasses this broader range of users with mobility constraints and needs. Barriers to addressing the needs of PLM are often a product of a lack of information for transport professionals and facility designers, combined with limited resources. To assist client countries with implementing the principles and binding obligations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), it is clear that World Bank Task Team Leaders (TTLs) need to understand how to build in accessibility for disabled people in the design and implementation of transport projects. This guidance note therefore aims to aid World Bank TTLs when specifying and managing Bank funded transport projects in order to improve the accessibility of transport systems for PLM. It is intended to serve primarily as a point of reference for TTLs on how to include, and improve; the accessibility of PLM in Bank supported transport operations, as well as being useful for other organizations and government agencies. Following this introductory chapter, chapter two provides concise technical descriptions of different transport accessibility measures, of their costs, benefits and implementation issues, and of relevant standards and sources of further detailed design guidance. In chapter three these accessibility features are gathered into ranked lists to which TTLs may refer in order to see which measures represent low cost options, and those which are likely to have the best benefit/cost relationships. Chapter four sets out information on relevant regulatory and institutional framework issues. Chapter five summarizes potential funding sources and mechanisms for providing accessibility improvements for people with limited mobility. Finally, chapter six (operational road map) provides guidance on the process for designing accessibility into World Bank transport projects.
  • Publication
    Performance-Based Road Rehabilitation and Maintenance Contracts in Argentina : A Review of Fifteen Years of Experience (1996-2010)
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-09) Marcela Silva, Maria; Liautaud, Gerard
    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
    Metropolitan Transportation Institutions : Six Case Studies - Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, and the United States
    (Washington, DC, 2011-03) World Bank
    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.
  • Publication
    A Review of Institutional Arrangements for Road Asset Management : Lessons for the Developing World
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-04) Queiroz, Cesar; Kerali, Henry
    The type of institutional arrangement for managing roads adopted by a country depends on the objectives and performance that it sets for its road networks. This paper reviews such arrangements for selected countries; China, Brazil, Slovenia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the Slovak Republic. These countries have adopted different approaches in several dimensions, such as decentralization, sources of financing, management structure, and modal responsibility. This paper reviews main factors affecting the efficiency of road agencies and describes the steps taken in creating a new institution, or transforming an existing one, and assesses the effort required to achieve such results. In all countries reviewed, the ministry responsible for the transport sector remains the authority responsible for the overall transport policy and for putting in place checks and balances for good governance and management of fiscal risk. The main aspects of institutional reforms that can contribute to increase the efficiency of road and transport agencies include: improved institutional structures, separation of the client and supplier functions, separation of client and supplier organizations, privatization of the supplier organizations, establishment of an executive agency or a commercialized (client) organization, user participation through oversight boards, improving management information systems, and seeking additional sources of financing.
  • Publication
    Mainstreaming Gender in Road Transport : Operational Guidance for World Bank Staff
    (Washington, DC, 2010-03) World Bank
    The paper aims to provide guidance for both transport and gender specialists on how to mainstream gender-related considerations into road transport projects to improve development effectiveness, sustainability and to reduce gender inequality. The paper draws attention to the most basic ways in which gender affects and is affected by transport policies and projects and provides practical approaches to address gender-related problems in road transport projects. Women and men have different travel and transport needs due to their different social and economic roles and activities. Women also face different constraints than men in accessing, using and paying for transport services. Transport can play a significant role in ameliorating or exacerbating the life conditions of women, particularly when poor and living in developing countries, depending on the extent to which gender differences are taken into account. The paper provides examples of entry points for mainstreaming gender into various road project contexts in urban, rural areas, highlighting documented good practices in this area. The paper identifies opportunities where women can play a role in the planning and implementation of road transport operations, particularly through participatory approaches and labor-based road construction. Included is an innovative table that presents examples of data and indicators to be collected for creating a baseline and for measuring results at the project level.
  • Publication
    Private Participation in the Road Sector in Brazil : Recent Evolution and Next Steps
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-03) Véron, Adrien; Cellier, Jacques
    Today, Brazil has the second longest highway network under private concessions in the world. This paper analyzes Brazil's experience under the two first phases of the federal road concession program, and highlights some of the program's strengths and areas for further development. Despite the unfolding world financial and economic crisis, the potential for further private participation in the sector appears very good. This paper essentially argues that it may be time for Brazil to revamp its current models for private participation in the sector, which may soon reach their limit in terms of being able to meet efficiently the needs of a growing economy. In summary, Brazil could: 1) diversify its toll road model to allow for more innovative public-private partnership structures; 2) update its toll regulatory and contractual framework to overcome some of the design problems that have led to relatively inefficient tolling; 3) consolidate the institutional framework for road concessions to give a stabilized basis for further developments; 4) develop a policy framework adapted to the current Brazilian environment, taking into account the need to ensure harmonized levels of service and tolls across the country; and 5) adapt the sector financing framework to the rising capacity of private markets.
  • Publication
    Brazil - Improving the Appraisal Framework for Road Transport Infrastructure Investments : Elements for Consideration
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-03) Véron, Adrien
    The main purpose of an appraisal framework for transport infrastructure projects and programs is to provide an objective and transparent basis for decision-makers to ascertain the feasibility and levels of priority of major transport projects and policies. An appraisal framework also serves a second, more general, purpose: to contribute to upgrading internal management processes aimed at improving the quality of expenditure. An adequate appraisal framework needs to: 1) strike a balance between an objective economic evaluation and a broader multi-criteria evaluation; and 2) provide clear methodologies and norms to guide appraisers, and ensure comparability among project appraisals, when time comes to prioritize the projects. To ensure that an appraisal framework can deliver on the two above-mentioned purposes, it is important to raise public awareness as to the basic principles and objectives of appraisals, and to structure public sector capacity to undertake or lead, as well as review appraisals, to ensure that they are reliable and of adequate quality. Appraisal frameworks are at different stages of development in different countries, with the most advanced frameworks. Brazil has made a lot of progress in that area since the end of the 1990s. Today, the legal framework is conducive to the systematic undertaking of appraisals. While progress has been made on structuring a series of norms and guidelines to allow for the implementation of the framework's directives, the normative body, overall, is still relatively vague and incomplete.
  • Publication
    Road User Charges : Current Practice and Perspectives in Central and Eastern Europe
    (2008-11-01) Queiroz, Cesar; Rdzanowska, Barbara; Garbarczyk, Robert; Audige, Michel
    This paper covers the most commonly used means to charge road users, including fuel taxes, vehicle taxes, vignettes and tolls. It presents a brief survey of road user charging systems in selected European countries and a more detailed overview of current status and perspectives of road user charges in Poland. Consideration is also given to private financing of roads through different forms of public-private partnerships (PPP), including a review of potential applications of the World Bank toolkit for PPP in highways as an instrument to help decision makers and practitioners to define the best PPP approach for a specific country.
  • Publication
    Urban Transport for Development : Towards an Operationally-Oriented Strategy
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-10) Mitric, Slobodan
    This paper arose from the perception that a gap existed between the practice of project design and the formal Bank strategies for transport and urban sectors as stated in the cited reports. Formal strategies tend to be too general to be linked meaningfully to project designs. The paper in hand attempts to close this gap by putting forward a different, operationally-oriented concept of urban transport strategy and derives one such strategy from a review of recent Bank-funded projects. The term "operationally-oriented" means that the strategy is expressed in terms of objectives, policies, institutions and investments, mimicking the structure common to all individual projects. Projects on which the paper is based date from the last 15 years. They exhibit a wide diversity of features, reflecting inherited local conditions, the nature and rhythms of socio-economic changes underway, and the vintage of client-Bank relations. Yet, a strong central tendency is also evident, amounting to a coherent and robust approach. The core strategy, as this approach is called in the paper, aims to protect and nurture public transport services and non-motorized transport modes, with underlying meta-objectives of equity and environmental sustainability.