Report No. 70290-ge
Institutional: developing a national-level urban transport policy framework
Download 3.46 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Institutional: coordinating with spatial development and land-use policies
- Planning: instituting integrated city development and transport planning
- Regulations and pricing: making private car use less convenient and more expensive
- Investments: invest in high-quality and competitive alternatives to private transport
- Investments: introduce intelligent transportation systems for efficient traffic management and better user services
Institutional: developing a national-level urban transport policy framework. While urban transport planning and development is the responsibility of municipal authorities, the national government also plays an important role. International experience suggests that the central government role, similar in both federal and unitary government structures, is important in setting out a national policy framework, legal and regulatory framework, and technical standards that need to be applied on a national scale. Central government can also act as a facilitator in knowledge-sharing and technical capacity building, and allocate budgetary resources to promote technological innovations and generation of national public goods such as GHG emission reductions. In Georgia, planning and technical capacity is uneven across regions and municipalities: Tbilisi is most progressive in terms of greening agenda and reforms; a few other medium-sized cities have experimented with some public transport improvements and non-motorized transport measures but these have been opportunistically driven by external funding opportunities. To promulgate good practices in a greater number of cities, both international and Georgian, would require a national-level facilitator that is adequately staffed and funded. National government could take leadership in the following areas: Develop guidelines for urban transport planning and investment programs Establish technical and environmental standards for urban transport to be implemented at municipal level Create and maintain urban transport database and knowledge clearing house Provide grant funding to municipalities to adapt successful innovative approaches. Institutional: coordinating with spatial development and land-use policies. At Georgia’s current income level, many developing cities observe structural changes, which lead to substantial increases in transport demand.1 In larger cities, housing prices increase substantially in central business districts, and in response, households and firms move out from the center. These choices occur when increased transport costs (longer commutes) are compensated by lower rents, and in aggregate, result in urban sprawl. Under these circumstances, land-use policies that encourage mixed-purpose development and high-density development around public transport corridors would contribute to energy-efficient and low-carbon development. This should be combined with urban transport system designs that influence citizens’ choices of residential locations and travel patterns. By providing high-quality public transport options and imposing high charges for individual vehicle use (internalizing social external costs associated with as congestion and local emissions), transportation plans can contribute to restraining motorization rates and encouraging high shares of public transport use. Both favor higher-density urban settlements, and avoid the high intra-urban transport costs associated with low-density settlements at the outskirts of cities. Planning: instituting integrated city development and transport planning. Major cities in Georgia need to adopt measures that restrict private car use. To accomplish this, urban land and city architecture development must be coordinated with transportation plans. Changes in land-use and geographical expansion of city boundaries have profound and lasting impacts on transport demands and travel patterns, which ultimately affects transport sector energy consumption. Long-term strategic and comprehensive transportation planning should be initiated as a good practice or even a mandate for city administration, and short- to medium-term transportation investment programs should derive from the strategic plan. Traffic impact assessments should be required for all new land developments above a specified size, and all changes in land use. Regulations and pricing: making private car use less convenient and more expensive. A mix of regulations, physical restrictions and pricing tools can effectively restrain demand for private car use and parking in urban centers. Even at today’s level of motorization and traffic congestion, some Georgian cities face parking scarcity. If cities charge for parking space according to land values, private vehicle use within cities is rationalized and demand for high-value land is reduced. These policies will mitigate congestion in the medium- to longer-term. In the longer-term, congestion charges could be introduced as an incentive to use public transport. Other cities’ experiences show that revenues from charging policies cover operating expenses and are often used to develop and improve public transportation.
Introduce relatively high-capacity and high-speed but cost-efficient modes, including light rail transit and bus rapid transit (BRT) systems, along major trunk corridors. International examples show that different modes offer varying ranges of capacity (Error: Reference source not found),CITATION Gla08 \n \t \l 1033 depending on vehicle capacities, scheduling, and the degree to which vehicles are segregated from other traffic flows. Investment decisions on public transport systems should therefore be based on an analysis of alternatives that explores all feasible opportunities. Install modern ropeways and cable cars systems that connect residential areas and city centers, or rehabilitate existing systems in hilly areas. Systems that operated during the Soviet era as daily urban transport for residents and touristsCITATION Gla08 \n \t \l 1033 have all ceased to operate as the infrastructure has long since expired and the technical standards no longer comply with the standards of a newly adopted European Union Directive on Cableway Installations (2000/9/EC). Internationally, many cities on hilly terrain, or divided by rivers or valleys, have successfully introduced modern high-capacity and high-speed ropeway public transport. Examples include Portland Aerial Tram (U.S.A.), Medellin Metrocable (Colombia), and Caracas Metrocable (Venezuela). Investments: introduce intelligent transportation systems for efficient traffic management and better user services. Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) refer to the application of information and communication technologies to transport. ITS applications improve urban transport efficiency and environmental sustainability by improving traffic flows, monitoring and enforcing parking and traffic rules, and facilitating operational integration of public transport services (e.g., single-ticket systems and schedule coordination). Such measures help create a quality public transport system that can compete favorably with private cars, thereby contributing to green transportation. These new technologies—including automated bus locating systems, advanced traffic management schemes (e.g., giving priority to public transport vehicles at key intersections), electronic ticketing systems, and passenger information systems—require careful planning and phased implementation due to the need for technical standards and the inter-sectoral and inter-agency nature of some applications.CITATION Gla08 \n \t \l 1033 Therefore it is recommended that municipalities develop an ITS strategic plan for at least five years, and begin implementation of service elements that mitigate congestion and improve public transport service quality. Directory: curated curated -> Concept stage curated -> Concept stage curated -> Republic of Côte d'Ivoire Urbanization Review curated -> Report No: aus11011 Central America curated -> Report No. 94474-pk fiscal Disaster Risk Assessment Options for Consideration curated -> Environmental and Social Management Framework for the Costa Rica Telecommunications Sector Modernization Project curated -> Environment Impact Assessment For Jiangxi Shangrao Sanqingshan Airport Beijing Guohuantiandi Environmental Technology Development Center. Ltd. Oct. 2012 Content curated -> Growth through Innovation An Industrial Strategy for Shanghai By Shahid Yusuf Kaoru Nabeshima April 22nd, 2009 curated -> Report No: 70178. People's Republic of China Download 3.46 Mb. Share with your friends:
|
