Maritime
Innovations for Better Rural Mobility
Research Report, Policy Insights,
16 December 2021
- Formulate a countrywide accessibility policy and implement Sustainable Regional Mobility Plans (SRMP).
- Adopt a whole-of-government approach for rural public services and the local economy.
- Make regulations more flexible to allow for the development of innovative, cost-effective mobility solutions.
- Combine public mobility budgets to achieve cost savings.
- Fund pilot schemes to test innovative mobility concepts.
- Prioritise financial support for innovative services according to higher impact levels rather than use of high tech.
- Use innovative financing approaches to increase funding pools and viability of individual transport services.
- Increase central government funding for shared and active travel in rural areas.
- Provide technical assistance for rural mobility at the national or regional level.
- Promote mobility hubs to connect local services to the core network.
- Support the development of national or regional Mobility as a Service (MaaS).
ACI World and International Transport Forum agree to enhanced cooperation
Media Release,
23 November 2021
Data-driven Transport Infrastructure Maintenance
Corporate Partnership Board Report, Policy Insights,
12 September 2021
- Scale up and speed up the deployment of data-driven approaches to transport infrastructure maintenance.
- Update regulation and guidelines for transport infrastructure maintenance to facilitate the introduction of more data-driven approaches.
- Ensure data-driven infrastructure maintenance approaches follow good practices in data governance.
Developing Innovative Mobility Solutions in the Brussels-Capital Region
Promotional Publication,
7 September 2021
Micromobility, Equity and Sustainability
Roundtable Report, Policy Insights,
5 September 2021
- Base regulation on sustainable urban mobility policy objectives.
- Consult micromobility companies on public policy issues early and often to avoid distorting regulations.
- Apply outcome-based regulations linked to specific performance criteria.
- Ensure limits on market access allow competition; avoid static caps on shared micromobility vehicle fleets.
- Limit data-reporting requirements to information used for mobility planning.
- Set regulatory fees in light of the potential value of micromobility for sustainable mobility and the uncertain viability of business models.
- Support equitable and affordable micromobility services.
- Follow the principle of mode-neutrality when developping an urban transport system.
- Reallocate road and parking space to micromobility users, cyclists and pedestrians.
- Address motor vehicle speeds when regulating micromobility speed.
- Apply coherent regulation that treats micromobility operators equally.
- Adopt a permissive and adaptive regulatory approach to micromobility.
Cleaner Vehicles: Achieving a Resilient Technology Transition
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
20 July 2021
- Support the adoption of clean vehicles with targeted policy action and by increasing transparency of their carbon footprint.
- Prioritise a transition to direct electrification of vehicles and renewable energy.
- Address challenges in resource efficiency and sustainable supply chains.
- Prepare for a transition from fuel duties by seizing opportunities arising from increased connectivity and accelerating enabling regulatory actions.
- Include infrastructure for easy access to clean energy and digital connectivity of road transport in Covid‑19 recovery packages.
- Prepare for the impact of the sustainable mobility transition on jobs, required skill sets and social equity.
- Accelerate the development of other low-carbon technologies.
Developing Strategic Approaches to Infrastructure Planning
Research Report, Policy Insights,
22 February 2021
- Governments should adopt a strategic approach to infrastructure planning. This should be communicated clearly via an explicit, detailed and periodically updated strategic infrastructure plan.
- Strategic infrastructure plans should be linked to explicit infrastructure funding envelopes, with project pipelines identified, at least in broad terms.
- Governments should consider the merits of establishing independent infrastructure advisory bodies to provide transparent, expert advice on long-term, cross-sectoral infrastructure strategy, planning and policy development, as well as priorities for medium-to-longer-term infrastructure investment.
- Arrangements for the establishment of independent bodies should address key governance principles, such as those identified in the OECD’s Principles for the Governance of Regulators.
- Infrastructure project appraisal should, as far as possible, be based on a consistent and transparent methodology.
- The OECD/ITF should publish a review of government and private sector infrastructure-related responses to the Covid‑19 pandemic.
- A formal policy framework should guide decisions on the stewardship of major infrastructure assets.
- Governments should review their infrastructure regulatory frameworks.
- Ex post performance assessment should be undertaken for all major projects.
- National infrastructure institutions and statistical agencies should co‑ordinate internationally to develop consistent infrastructure performance measures.
- Where cross-border infrastructure projects are adopted, they should be managed by a specific-purpose body with all parties represented. Policy objectives and performance standards should be clearly specified and governance, funding and accountability mechanisms established.
Connecting Remote Communities
Roundtable Report, Policy Insights,
11 January 2021
- Develop objectives for the accessibility of remote communities.
- Establish workable definitions of remoteness and isolation to compare accessibility across regions.
- Adapt appraisal tools to account for all costs and benefits of providing good connectivity for remote regions.
- Monitor the effectiveness of support schemes for better connecting remote communities.
- Develop integrated accessibility plans to link transport and basic services.
- Support innovations that could reduce costs or improve service quality.
Adapting Transport Policy to Climate Change
Research Report, Policy Insights,
30 November 2015
- Uncertainty is different from risk.
- Climate effects are subject to uncertainty.
- There are techniques to deal with risk.
- There is currently no robust method to treat Knightian uncertainty.
- Risk, uncertainty and discount rate all affect carbon value.
Road Infrastructure Safety Management
IRTAD, Policy Insights,
6 October 2015
- Benchmark road infrastructure against good practices in other countries.
- Implement new minimum safety standards for road infrastructure.
- Continue evaluation and research to quantify safety impacts of planning decisions.
- Implement suitable Road Infrastructure Safety Management procedures for each stage of road development including planning design, pre-opening and full operation.
- Make Road Infrastructure Safety Management procedures legally binding.
- Involve both road and health authorities when developing road accident data bases.
- Assure adequate institutional management capacity and investment levels.
- Use existing tools and guidelines; adopt second-best solutions where state-of-the-art solutions are not feasible.
- Identify the Road Safety Infrastructure Management procedures that fit specific needs and understand barriers to implementation.
- Share good practices of Road infrastructure Safety Management procedures and intervention measures.
- Monitor the safety performance of road infrastructure.
- Develop self-explaining roads.
The Impact of Mega-Ships
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
30 April 2015
- Cost savings from bigger container ships are decreasing.
- The transport costs due to larger ships could be substantial.
- Supply chain risks related to mega-container ships are rising.
- Public policies need to better take account of this and act accordingly.
- Further increase of maximum container ship size would raise ransport costs.
The Competitiveness of Ports in Emerging Markets: The Case of Durban, South Africa
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
1 November 2014
- Create an inter-departmental freight unit within the city of Durban that can bundle expertise and act as a one-stop shop for freight-related issues in the city. This unit could act as a vehicle to improve coordination on freight transport and engage in joint planning, aligning various actors including Transnet, SANRAL, the national and provincial departments of Transportation and the various departments within the city of Durban.
- Increase the autonomy of TNPA and streamline decision-making procedures within Transnet. This includes more financial autonomy, e.g. by creating a separate fund at the disposal for TNPA for port infrastructure and maintenance.
- Focus performance indicators on the performance of the whole supply chain. Currently much focus seems to be on part of the picture (e.g. crane productivity) without much consideration for (and sometimes even at the detriment of) other indicators.
- Undertake a comprehensive environmental port impact study and implement green-port mitigation policies if necessary
Cycling, Health and Safety
Research Report, Policy Insights,
19 December 2013
- Insufficient evidence supports causality for the “safety in numbers” phenomenon – policies increasing the number of cyclists should be accompanied by risk-reduction actions.
- Efforts must be made to harmonise definitions of bicycle accident terminology so as to be able to make reliable international comparisons on cyclist safety.
- National authorities should set standards for, collect or otherwise facilitate the collection of data on non-fatal cycling crashes based on police reports and, in either a systematic or periodic way, on hospital records.
- Authorities seeking to improve cyclists’ safety should adopt the Safe System approach - policy should focus on improving the inherent safety of the traffic system, not simply on securing marginal improvements for cyclists in an inherently unsafe system.
- Authorities should establish top-level plans for cycling and cycling safety and should ensure high-level coordination among relevant government agencies to ensure that cycling grows without aggravating safety performance.
- Speed management acts as “hidden infrastructure” protecting cyclists and should be included as an integral part of cycle safety strategies.
- Cyclists should not be the only target of cycling safety policies – motorists are at least as important to target.
- Where appropriate, traffic speeds should be limited to less than 30km/hr where bicycles and motorised traffic mix but care should be taken so that speed control devices do not create hazards for cyclists.
Better Regulation of Public-Private Partnerships for Transport Infrastructure
Roundtable Report, Policy Insights,
24 September 2013
- A mix of financing models spreads risks.
- A dedicated budget for PPPs, set in relation to the rate at which future liabilities will be accumulated, can provide such a limit.
- Explicit consideration of alternative financing arrangements should be employed in determining whether to proceed with PPP projects.
- It is recommended that governments require PPP projects to pass tests of affordability and to clear the hurdle rates of return generally applied to publicly financed transport projects.
- The expected cost of PPP projects should take account of cost inflation resulting from the propensity for projects to be renegotiated.
- At the individual project level, risks should be assigned to the party best able to manage them, along with rights to make related decisions.
- Assigning demand risk is not straightforward and risk sharing arrangements are therefore common.
- Continuity of resources and expertise is essential for addressing strategic behaviour and optimism bias more generally.
- Regulatory agencies are well placed to ensure transparency and accountability by publishing reports on the criteria employed to make decisions and publishing contracts.