Connections
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Connections is a weekly series of knowledge notes from the World Bank Group’s Transport & Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Global Practice. It covers projects, experiences, and front-line developments.
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Publication
Impact Evaluation to Inform and Transform Investments in Transport and ICT
(World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2015-06)A new World Bank initiative, ‘Impact Evaluation (IE) - connect for impact,’ aims to radically transform and better inform the way that transport and information and communications technology (ICT) projects are designed and implemented. Although multilateral lending to this key strategic sector comprises 29 percent of all global assistance, only 0.4 percent of impact evaluations have had transport as a subject. This initiative aims to fill the gap and bring high quality and valuable feedback to projects, improving design, enabling mid-course corrections, and informing ex-post evaluations. For the first time, this initiative will offer a systematic sector approach to generating concrete evidence of what works, what does not, where, when and why. It will greatly increase the impact and value add of investments in transport and ICT projects, which is especially important given global trends toward increasing urbanization, with 70 percent of the world’s population expected to live in cities by 2050. -
Publication
More Climate Finance for Sustainable Transport
( 2015-05)Actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to stabilize warming at 2 degree Celsius, as agreed by the international community in 2009, will fall short if they do not include the transport sector. Transport is responsible for around 23 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions and emissions are expected to rise without further action to curb emission growth and invest in low carbon transport modes. Investment needs are estimated at around $3 trillion to increase the sustainability of existing and new transport systems and to mitigate climate change over the 2015-35 periods. This is in addition to existing annual investments estimated at $1-2 trillion. The actions taken today to send the right policy signals, and establish the enabling institutions and regulations to attract the necessary private finance will be critical to support this transformation. Significant investment opportunities exist in public transport systems, vehicle efficiency improvement, and reducing the need for travel through demand management, regional development policies, and land use planning. As the international community embarks on the road towards CoP 21 in Paris, there is a case to be made for more climate finance flowing towards transport. -
Publication
Reducing Road Deaths: An Urgent Development Goal
(World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2015-04)In 2010, more than 100 countries co-sponsored a landmark resolution by the United Nation (UN) General Assembly - a decade of action for road safety to stabilize and then reduce forecasted global traffic fatalities by 2020. From 1980 to 2010, road fatalities as a share of population rose about 13 percent worldwide, but they rose by more than 75 percent in developing East Asia (including China) and by 66 percent in South Asia (including India). Awareness and advocacy have strengthened over the past five years, but these data suggest that developing countries, especially in the middle-income group, will fail to attain the 2020 goal set by the decade of action. Now midway to the end of that decade, countries are set to meet in Brazil in November to discuss ways to accelerate progress toward the 2020 goal. The World Bank has ramped up its funding and focused on supporting stronger road safety management, including enforcement capacity, vehicle safety, data management systems, and engagement with civil societies and the private sector. -
Publication
Korea’s Leap Forward in Green Transport
(World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2015-04)Megacities in developing countries suffer from serious traffic congestion, high levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and heavy air pollution. These urban areas face a stark dilemma: economic expansion attracts more people and vehicles; but the resulting traffic and pollution hinder further growth while reducing the quality of life for their citizens. Not long ago, Seoul faced a similar conundrum. Choked with pollution and traffic jams, it changed course and helped Korea make a historic transition to green urban transport. It shifted from supply-side policies focused on expanding roadways and metro lines to green demand-side policies focused on creating transit-oriented cities. Today, Seoul boasts a passenger-trip share for metro and bus of more than 60 percent. Energy consumption in Korea’s road sector is lower than in other countries with similar gross domestic product (GDP). Congestion costs have been decreasing, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the transport sector have been kept under control. This path breaking transition was founded on multimodal solutions integrated by information and communication technology (ICT) in a context of strong political leadership and public financing. -
Publication
Reducing Greenhouse Gases: GHG Analysis in Transport
(World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2015-03)World Bank is applying to transport initiatives a new and distinctive method of greenhouse gas (GHG) analysis as part of its comprehensive GHG accounting policy. In transport, choices by travelers determine usage, and a fundamental trend in much of the world is strongly boosting GHG emissions: the massive rise in motorization as household incomes and technical advances make it affordable. This tendency will push transport fuel emissions much higher unless projects sharply expand the opportunities and incentives for users to adopt low-emission modes. The World Bank’s GHG analysis for transport shows whether a given transport project can help lower the trajectory of the sector’s GHG emissions. A central feature is an estimate of the wider social costs of emissions under various modes, for example, air pollution and accidents, as well as climate change. Including them greatly increases the demonstrated benefit of emissions reducing projects and thus will also help accelerate the move to a sustainable transport sector. -
Publication
Challenges and Opportunities in Urban Transport Projects: Career Reflections of Two World Bank Specialists
(World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2015-03)Problems or even failure in transport initiatives are more likely for projects set in the urban areas of developing countries. Connecting a rural village to an all-weather road or restoring a section of national highway is usually straightforward. Costs are modest, institutional issues limited, and the benefits obvious. In contrast, urban transport is not a single mode governed by a single agency but a collection of modes with varied administrative boundaries and many private sector stakeholders. Successful urban transport strategies reflect an understanding of linkages among transport, land use, and environmental factors. Working out the complex local challenges requires social, political, and technical capacities often in short supply in developing countries. And even when a project manages to attain its physical objectives, the civil and governmental capacity needed for sustainability often remains underdeveloped. The institutional frictions and gaps point to the elements of the way forward on urban projects: thoroughly understand the local context, then build broad public consensus around the value of better transport and the value of institutional arrangements to sustain it.