New York
Toronto
Sydney
Portland
Mexico C.
Tbilisi
Paris
Source: World Bank (2011), TRACE Study
|
Figure 20: Comparison of first hour on-street parking charges in Tbilisi and Western European cities
|
|
Source: Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (2011); Asian Development Bank (2011)
| Current condition: private car use is cheap and unrestricted in most Georgian cities. Private car users in Georgia’s urban areas do not bear the full cost of externalities generated by their trips—traffic congestion and air pollution. As a result, the individual marginal cost of private car use is less than the social marginal costs incurred by it. At existing motorization rates, such externalities are contained, but this would no longer be the case if the expected economic growth materializes, driving up private car ownership. Parking restrictions and costs can also constrain private car use. However, in Georgia there are now few associated constraints or costs, even in congested city centers. For example, in central Tbilisi, short-term parking charges are as low as 0.2 to 1 GEL per parking, regardless of the duration of parking and the level of congestion.CITATION Gla08 \n \t \l 1033 By contrast, in most Western European cities, parking is strictly regulated and public spaces are priced according to demand levels (i.e., parking in city center is more expensive than parking in suburban areas). In fact, the hourly rate of parking charges in Tbilisi is lower than it appears in Figure 19, since most parking spaces have no time limits and one-time charges apply regardless of parking duration. Low charges and lack of parking enforcement encourages unregulated on-street parking, and ultimately creates an inefficient use of valuable road capacity that should be used to move traffic, not store vehicles. Low marginal costs and little restraint on private car use, combined with low public transport service quality (discussed above in Section III.D), would encourage a continuous modal shift to private cars.
Figure 21: Strong inverse correlation between population density and energy consumption per capita
|
|
Source: Newman, P. and J. Kenworthy (1999)
| Rationale for change: city development and transport planning will have a lasting impact on the city metabolism and sustainability. Land-use policies and transport infrastructure development have long-term effects on shaping urban forms and travel patterns. Around the world, income growth, motorization levels, and car-oriented land-use and transport policies have resulted in urban sprawl, which has raised the monetary, time, and human costs of inner-city transport, along with energy consumption per capita in the transport sector. Error: Reference source not found shows that higher population density results in lower energy consumption per capita. Increased fuel use is associated with high emissions of particulate matter, NOx and sulfur dioxides that raise the risks of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases among residents. Many cities have realized that reversing the trend is costly and time-consuming, if not impossible. Similar trends will eventually appear in Georgian cities, particularly in Tbilisi, due to rising motorization levels and concentrated car ownership in urban areas and rising incomes.CITATION Gla08 \n \t \l 1033 Early intervention and long-term strategic planning can prevent the long-term consequences, not to mention the future cost and difficulty of implementing corrective measures.
How can this be done?
Building a sustainable urban transport system requires holistic strategic planning and balanced and multi-modal development of transport infrastructure that is driven by a long-term vision. This approach requires a mix of fiscal incentives, regulatory policies and investment in multi-modal urban transport systems that induce a high share of low-emission modes. The alternative is short-sighted short-term policies and investments that respond to the immediate demand to accommodate more private cars.
Share with your friends: |
