Transportation Policy Analysis and Planning PDF

Transportation Policy Analysis and Planning/Technical Tour Transport Planning and Policy The Nature of Transport Policy 1. Policy and PlanningThe terms “policy” and “planning” are used very loosely and are frequently interchangeable. However, mixing them together is misleading. Policy and...

Transportation Policy Analysis and Planning/Technical Tour Transport Planning and Policy The Nature of Transport Policy 1. Policy and PlanningThe terms “policy” and “planning” are used very loosely and are frequently interchangeable. However, mixing them together is misleading. Policy and planning represent separate parts of an overall process of intervention. Transport Planning and Policy Transport policy deals with the development of a set of constructs and propositions that are established to achieve specific objectives relating to social, economic and environmental conditions, and the functioning and performance of the transport system. Transport planning deals with the preparation and implementation of actions designed to address specific problems. Transport Planning and Policy 2. The Relevance of Transport Policy Transport policies arise because of the importance of transport in virtually every aspect of economic, social and political activities of nation-states. Transport policy has been developed to prevent or control the inherent monopolistic tendency of many transport modes. Unrestrained competition commonly leads to market dominance by a company thereby achieving (close to) monopoly power. Transport Planning and Policy In recent years, four trends had significant consequences over the context in which the transport policy takes place: Globalization increased interactions at the international level, both for freight and passengers. Deregulation and privatization have been ongoing in many transport markets. A broader focus of policies, particularly considering intermodalism and multimodalism as well as logistics. A move towards social and political issues behind transport projects as opposed to technical and engineering issues. Transport Planning and Policy 3. Policy Instruments Governments have a large number of instruments at their disposal to carry out transport policy. Some are direct, such as public ownership, but the majority are indirect such as safety standards. The most common are: An extremely important instrument concerns public ownership. Subsidies represent an important instrument used to pursue policy goals. Regulatory control represents a means of influencing the shape of transportation that is widely employed. Transport Planning and Policy Many governments are major promoters of research and development in transportation. Labor regulations pertaining to conditions of employment, training, and certification may not be directed purposefully at influencing transport, but as a policy, they may exert a significant effect over the industry since it has an impact on its operating costs. Safety and operating standards, such as speed limits, may have a similar effect. Transport Planning and Policy 4. Trends in Policy Development Public policies reflect the interests of decision-makers and their approaches to solving transport problems. Historical examples of private transport provision include: Turnpikes. Canals. Urban transit. Ships. Railways. Transport Planning and Policy 5. Changing Nature of Policy Interventions The trends in transport policy in recent decades have been towards liberalization and privatization. Controls over monopoly power are still in place, and even in the most liberal of economies there is still strong evidence of public policy intervention: Ownership of ports and airports. Terminals continue to be largely under State or municipal ownership, but concession agreements to private operators are common. Highway provision, upgrade and maintenance remain one of the most significant and enduring commitments of public funds. Transport Planning and Policy Urban transit systems remain dominantly publicly owned and operated. Intercity transport is mostly private, which brings the question about if urban transportation would gain to be privatized. Mergers and acquisitions between large private or public entities in the transport sector are commonly subject to regulatory approval. Transport Planning and Governance There are many reasons why the results of these models should be treated with caution: They are only as good as the data they manipulate and many times the data is inaccurate or incomplete. They are based on assumptions that the mathematical relationships between variables remain constant. They can be manipulated to produce the outcome that would be the most preferred by the actors promoting policy or a project. Transport Planning and Governance 1.The Purpose of Planning Transport planning usually addresses specific problems or broad transport concerns at a local level and has been traditionally a preoccupation of lower-tier governments (state, county, municipal). Because of this fact, transport planning is most developed in the urban sphere, and it is there where most experience has been gathered. There were four major steps in this standard approach; trip generation, trip distribution, modal split, and route selection. They involved the use of mathematical models, including regression analysis, entropy- maximizing models, and critical path analysis. Transport Planning and Governance 2. Contemporary Transport Planning Planning is commonly scale-specific and multidimensional. Just as urban planning requires the inputs of many specialists, transport planning is beginning to utilize multi-disciplinary teams in order to broaden the scope of the planning process. Planning is still a multi- step process, but it has changed considerably: Goals and objectives. Options. Identification of actors, institutions, stakeholders. Predicting outcomes, identifying benefits, and assessing costs Choosing a course of action. Transport Planning and Governance 3. Transport Demand Management In rejecting the former paradigm of building capacity, transport planners have turned increasingly to manage both demand and the transport system. Managing the demand for transport is made up of a large number of small interventions that cumulatively can impact car use, but in particular, improve the livability of cities. A sample of well-practiced and successful interventions includes: Transport Planning and Governance Park and ride. Traffic calming. Priority lanes for buses and high occupancy vehicles. Alternate work schedules. Promoting bicycle use. Car sharing. Enhancing pedestrian areas. Improving public transit. Parking management. Transport Planning and Governance 4. Pricing While planning interventions may have a positive cumulative effect in shaping transport demand, some economists suggest that a more direct approach involving imposing more stringent cost measures on car users is necessary. As intuitively rational as this argument may be, there are several problems with its application: First, there are difficulties in measuring externalities, with considerable variations in estimates between different studies. Second, there are practical difficulties in collecting these costs. Third, is the political difficulty of imposing such additional costs on the public. Transport Planning and Governance 5. Governance in Transportation Transport policy and planning require governance, which is associated with the effective usage of existing resources as well as better allocation of new resources. Effective governance is complex to assess since it is not linked with a specific governance structure, but generally conveys several advantages: Transport Planning and Governance Confidence. Capital costs. Competitiveness. Stability. There are two main components of transport governance; ownership and operations. Ownership involves who is the owner of the terminal site and facilities (including equipment): Public ownership is common because of the economic and strategic importance of many types of terminals. Private ownership is less evident in transport terminals. Transport Safety and Security 1. A New Context in Transport Security While issues of safety and security have preoccupied transport planners and managers for many years, it is only recently that physical security has become an overriding issue. Over this, an important nuance must be provided between criminal activities and terrorism. The foundation of transport security includes several dimensions and potential measures: Dimensions. Particularly concerning the integrity of the passengers or cargo, the route and the information systems (IT security) managing the transport chain. Measures. The set of procedures that can be implemented to maintain the integrity of the passengers or cargo, namely inspections, the security of facilities and personnel as well as of the data and the supporting information systems. Transport Safety and Security 2. Physical Security of Passengers Airports have been the focus of security concerns for many decades. Security issues have had a negative effect on the air transport industry as costs increased with delays and inconveniences to passengers increasing as well. However, these delays and inconveniences are now considered part of contemporary air travel with passengers accustomed to security requirements. Transport Safety and Security 3. Freight Security Security in the freight industry has always been a major problem. Illegal immigrants, drug smuggling, custom duty evasion, piracy, and the deployment of sub- standard vessels (higher propensity to accidents) have been some of the most important concerns. Transportation and Disasters 1.Transportation and National Security A disaster involves extensive damage to people and physical infrastructure that is unforeseen in nature, scale and extent. It often implies that their risk of occurrence has not been properly assessed and a large share of the damage is the outcome of a lack of preparedness. There are several drivers that have an impact on the threats and risk level of disasters on transportation systems: Transportation and Disasters Increased mobility. Infrastructure and economic interdependency. Centralization and concentration of distribution. Urbanization. Transportation and Disasters 2. Potential Threats and Risks a. Natural disasters Natural disasters come into four main categories: Extreme weather events. Geophysical Geomagnetic storms. Sea level rise. Transportation and Disasters b. Anthropogenic disasters The second class of disasters concern those that are artificial, resulting from human activities, and can be intentional or unintentional: Accidents. Infrastructure failure. Conflicts, terrorism and piracy. Economic and political shocks. Pandemics. Transportation and Disasters 3. Transportation Disaster Planning Although a potential disaster can never be effectively planned, and even anticipated in some instances, there are a series of steps, known as Disasters Risk Management, which could reduce disruptions: Risk Assessment. Preparedness. Mitigation. Response. Recovery. Transportation and Disasters 4. Transportation Disaster Mitigation a. Monitoring and assessment b. Support for the impacted population c. Removal of discretionary demand d. Modal shift