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The complete Chain towards Sustainable Urban Transport

-

Acknowledgement of Mobility as Public Good

Manfred Breithaupt,

Mathias Merforth

World Urban Forum 2014

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The role of transport & mobility for

sustainable development

• provides access to jobs, markets, education, health, social/political

participation for urban and rural populations.

• however it implies negative impacts which effect at first hand vulnerable

groups (health/poverty impacts through accidents, air pollution etc.)

• transport & mobility is one of the pre-conditions for achieving Sustainable

Development Goals:

Achieve Universal primary education

Promote gender equality and empower women

Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other dieseases

Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Improve Maternal Health

Reduce Child Mortality

Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Transport &

Mobility

Passenger

Freight

Source: Slocat/Embarq

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More roads = more mobility?

• The number of private cars has increased from 625 mn.

to 1000 mn. (2000-2012), projected to rise to 3 bn.

vehicles in 2050 air pollution and GHG emissions,

road accidents, space consumption

Still does not support mobility for all!

• 1 bn. people without access to an all-weather road,

additionally: urban and rural populations without access

to affordable public transport services

What about rural populations and slum dwellers?

• 1,3 mn. „official“ traffic deaths und 50 mn. injured in

road accidents

poor suffer most, induced poverty

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Access to mobility as necessity for poverty alleviation

and sustainable development

Poor households…

… often lack access to transport services / supply,

… spend a significant part of their income on transport services,

… life further away from job opportunities and other key destinations, thus

spending more time in transport.

Key challenges

Access to health services, education,

social and political participation, jobs

and markets by walking, cycling and

public transportation

Availability/affordability of basic

transportation services

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Mobility for all!

Decision-makers,

planners and the

general society

must set the right

priorities…

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The complete chain towards Sustainable Transport:

A country‘s sustainable development, climate & energy goals

Appropr. Institutions and a legal framework supporting

these goals

The country‘s transport policy & strategy – including

the national sustainable urban transport policy

Transport taxation and charging policies (Where

the money comes from?)

Appropriate spending - based on standardized evaluation

criteria, urban mobility plans (Where the money goes?)

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Acknowledge Mobility as a public Good!

Many European countries regard mobility as a part of public service, the access

to mobility services is often treated as a citizen‘s right & public responsibility.

Derived from the constitution (Basic Law of Germany):

o Article 72: “… the establishment of equivalent living conditions throughout the federal

territory…” (constitutional aim with relevance for public transport)

o Article 106a [Federal grants for local mass transit]: “Beginning 1 January 1996 the

Länder shall be entitled to an allocation of federal tax revenues for purposes of local mass

transit. Details shall be regulated by a federal law requiring the consent of the Bundesrat.”

German Regional Transport Law (RegG):

o §1.1: “Guarantee of adequate public transport services for the population is part

of the Public Service.”

o §1.2: “The responsibilities for this task will be determined by federal state law.”

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The role of planning:

A Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan

(SUMP) is a …

“… strategic plan designed

to satisfy the mobility needs of

people and businesses

in cities and their surroundings

for a better quality of life.

It builds on existing planning practices

and takes due consideration of

integration, participation, and evaluation

principles.”

www.mobilityplans.eu

A framework and guideline

for inclusive Urban Mobility

Planning in EU

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Too low prices for individual fuel-driven mobility increase traffic on road!

Appropriate charges through fuel and vehicles taxes, parking fees and road

user charges can help to AVOID unnecessary traffic or SHIFT transport to

more sustainable modes

Generated revenues can be used to MAINTAIN appropriate transport

infrastructures and to IMPROVE sustainable mobility alternatives (investments

in public transport, cycling, walking, carsharing, bikesharing,…)

The role of transport pricing

Transport Finances Transport!

TU Dresden estimates that each car in Germany is subsidies with annually

2.100 € by the society (not considering infrastructure costs).

„Prices for transport services are currently set without reflection of

their full costs, thereby permitting car users to travel without being

fully aware of the costs of his/her travel activity“

Source: The True Costs of Automobility: External Costs of Cars - Overview on existing estimates in EU-27, TU Dresden

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How to use scarce funds most

efficiently for sustainable urban mobility?

Investment priorities derive from national urban transport policy and urban

mobility planning (Planos de mobilidade urbans (PUM), SUMPs in EU)

An important lesson learned from the past:

Cities can‘t improve everything at the same time!

Investment priority should be given to public transport, walking, cycling &

integration of different transport modes (Modal integration, transit-

oriented/mixed land-use development)

Clear investment priority for sustainable transport pays off in the short

and long-term!

Improved institutions, strategic planning and civic participation pay off!

Maintenance and upgrade of existing infrastructures first!

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… unsustainable transport infrastructure investment

and settlement patterns are likely to continue

… less sustainable development world-wide in terms of

access, safety, pollution, GHGs, inequality and poverty

… slowing of institutional and policy transformation to

support sustainable transport

… momentum from Rio+20 sustainable transport

voluntary commitments will be harder to sustain

…. Setting clear priorities is also required at the global level:

If transport is no active part of post-2015 development

framework…

We must act now!

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First-hand knowledge on

Sustainable Urban Transport on

www.sutp.org and www.capsut.org

GIZ Sourcebook on Sustainable

Urban Transport

• addresses the key areas of

sustainable transport policy

framework

• consists of over 70 modules,

technical papers and training

packages

• intended for policy-makers and their

advisors

Contact: transport@giz.de