Transferability of urban mobility measures · Transferability of urban mobility measures About this...
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Transferability of urban mobility measures About this policy paper Transport is unique among the energy end-use sectors: it relies almost entirely (94%) on petroleum products, it is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution, road safety is a major concern, and traffic congestion incurs substantial economic costs. This multitude of challenges also creates a huge potential for synergies and co-benefits between policy objectives to enable transport to contribute to sustainable development (Kahn Ribeiro et al. 2012). This paper will assess briefly the transferability of these measures from places where they have proven to be successful to other countries and cities where different socio-economic and governance structures may create a substantially different policy environment. Towards a structured transfer While there is a wealth of information about the need for more sustainable transport and policies and practices that can be implemented, progress in this area varies greatly between countries. There is a generalised assumption that political and institutional frameworks can and will implement best-practice policies as long as technical information is provided (e.g. through a case study). This is considered to be overly optimistic by this project and lacking conceptual and empirical sophistication, in particular considering the socio-economic and institutional conditions in many countries. There is a critical difference between policy potential and the extent to which this potential can be utilised. This paper will focus on sustainable transport policies in selected developed and developing countries to identify how a number of factors influence the transferability of sustainable transport solutions. It also aims to disentangle the relationship between key socio-economic and institutional factors that affect the transferability of solutions. Through a number of projects and studies the methodological frameworks of transferability assessments for sustainable transport solutions has been advanced quite substantially in recent years e.g. Stead, De Jong, and Reinholde 2006; Bray, Taylor, and Scrafton 2011; Marsden and Stead 2011; Macário and Marques 2008. It has been recognized in previous studies that no significant predictions can be made as to whether measures may be
Transcript of Transferability of urban mobility measures · Transferability of urban mobility measures About this...
Transferabilityofurbanmobilitymeasures Aboutthispolicypaper
Transport is unique among the energy end-use sectors: it relies almost entirely (94%) onpetroleum products, it is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and local airpollution,roadsafetyisamajorconcern,andtrafficcongestionincurssubstantialeconomiccosts.Thismultitudeofchallengesalsocreatesahugepotentialforsynergiesandco-benefitsbetweenpolicyobjectivestoenabletransporttocontributetosustainabledevelopment(KahnRibeiroetal.2012).Thispaperwillassessbrieflythetransferabilityofthesemeasuresfromplaceswheretheyhaveproventobesuccessfultoothercountriesandcitieswheredifferentsocio-economic and governance structures may create a substantially different policyenvironment.
Towardsastructuredtransfer
While there isawealthof informationabout theneedformoresustainabletransportandpoliciesandpracticesthatcanbeimplemented,progressinthisareavariesgreatlybetweencountries.Thereisageneralisedassumptionthatpoliticalandinstitutionalframeworkscanandwill implementbest-practicepoliciesas longas technical information isprovided (e.g.throughacasestudy).This isconsideredtobeoverlyoptimisticbythisprojectandlackingconceptual and empirical sophistication, in particular considering the socio-economic andinstitutional conditions in many countries. There is a critical difference between policypotential and the extent to which this potential can be utilised. This paper will focus onsustainabletransportpoliciesinselecteddevelopedanddevelopingcountriestoidentifyhowanumberoffactorsinfluencethetransferabilityofsustainabletransportsolutions.Italsoaimsto disentangle the relationship between key socio-economic and institutional factors thataffectthetransferabilityofsolutions.
Throughanumberofprojectsandstudiesthemethodologicalframeworksoftransferabilityassessments for sustainable transport solutions has been advanced quite substantially inrecent years e.g. Stead, De Jong, and Reinholde 2006; Bray, Taylor, and Scrafton 2011;MarsdenandStead2011;Macário andMarques2008. It hasbeen recognized inpreviousstudies that no significant predictions can be made as to whether measures may be
transferable,ifthisissimplybycomparingthecitieswherethemeasureshavealready
been implemented (the origin cities) with the cities, which would like to implement themeasures (the targets cities). Transferability depends on the characteristics of measurethemselvesinrelationtothetargetcity.Thismeansthatoftenthereisnoalternativetotestingthe transferability and the feasibility of implementation for eachmeasure to the specificsocial, economic, environmental and political conditions of the target city and adaptaccordingly.Severalattemptshavebeenmadetodevelopamethodologyforcityauthoritiesto follow when considering the transferability of transport policy measures (LEDA 2000;MarsdenandStead2011;MacárioandMarques2008).
Several methodological frameworks have been developed, which aim to identify theconditions for successful transferability. The framework outlined below highlights theessentialstepsofthetransferabilityprocess,fromtheidentificationoftheissuesandcontext,totheselectionofthemeasuresandthepackagingtotheimplementation(Figure1).
Figure1Stepstowardpolicytransfer
Identify
strategies and policy implement measure and steer result
AdaptedfromMacárioandMarques(2008)andMarsdenandStead(2011)
Thereareanumberofresourcesonthedesignandimplementationofsustainabletransportsolutionsavailableforcityofficials.InparticularintheEuropeancontextplatforms,suchasELTISorCIVITASareverypopularasknowledgebase.However,theseknowledgeplatformsonly provide a very high level snapshot on the measure and its implementation. Theadaptationofpoliciestothespecificconditionsinacityisvitalforthesuccessofmeasuresanditseffectivenessonceimplemented.Animportantelementtothepolicydevelopmentand
implementationprocess is the involvementofkey stakeholders,which includeall relevantdepartmentsofthecityauthority,publictransportoperators,regionalauthority,businessandenvironmental groups, trade unions, employer organisations and various transport usergroups(Embergeretal.2008).
TherehasalreadybeenasubstantialexchangeandtransferofurbanfreighttransportpolicymechanismswithinEurope,facilitatedbyanumberofEUprojectsandnetworkssuchasPolisandCIVITAS.Thisexperiencecanprovidesomeusefulinsightsintotheprocessoftransferringpolices from the countries featured in thispublication.However, technological, economic,political,socialandculturalconditionsareverydiverse,sotheapproachneedstoadapttofitthepurpose.Worktotransferurbantransportpoliciesfromoneplacetoanotherwillhavetoidentifytheconditionunderwhichaspecificmeasureorpackageofmeasureandadjustandadapttolocalconditions.
