Rail
How the war in Ukraine impacts aviation – and what to do about it
Policy Brief, Policy Insights,
22 December 2022
- Investment and market reforms fueled Ukraine's aviation sector before the war.
- The war has shut down civil aviation in Ukraine and destroyed its airports.
- War-related airspace closures force international flights onto longer routes, resulting in longer travel times, higher fuel costs and added carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
- The energy crisis unleashed by the war drives up ticket prices, potentially reducing demand and threatening aviation's recovery from the pandemic.
- The war's short-term impacts on air travel could trigger long-lasting changes in international aviation.
- Restoring Ukraine's air connectivity after the war hinges on rebuilding destroyed aviation infrastructure.
- Ending aviation's dependency on fossil fuels can make the sector more resilient to future crises.
The Freight Space Race: Curbing the Impact of Freight Deliveries in Cities
Corporate Partnership Board Report, Policy Insights,
6 December 2022
- Manage curb space with a focus on the needs of both passengers and goods transport.
- Apply access restrictions for delivery vehicles in urban areas while considering business practices.
- Use more logistics data to better monitor and manage freight flows.
Broadening Transport Appraisal
Roundtable Report, Policy Insights,
31 August 2022
Develop long-term strategic infrastructure plans that explicitly identify transport policy objectives.
Broaden project appraisal to ensure its processes and practices take account of all transport policy objectives, as embedded in strategic infrastructure plans.
Incorporate accessibility indicators, or other relevant tools, to assess equity impacts in transport project appraisals.
Provide detailed guidance on accounting for climate change impacts in transport project appraisals, incorporating clear linkages between shadow carbon prices and emissions reductions commitments.
Present the results of transport project appraisals in a transparent and concise format that highlights needs-case assessments.
Ensure decision-making processes for large investments in transport systems account for uncertainties and the need for broad stakeholder support.
Integrate technical assessment, process management and public engagement into decision processes for major transport infrastructure investments.
Undertake systematic ex-post evaluation for all transport infrastructure projects entailing expenditure above an identified level.
Consider the merits of the permanent observatory model as a means of maximising the quality of evaluations.
Dealing with the War’s Impacts on Ukraine’s Ports: How to Get More Grain to the World
Policy Brief, Policy Insights,
10 July 2022
- Ukraine is the world’s third-largest grain exporter but the war has rendered most Ukrainian ports unusable. Grain exports have plummeted.
- Many countries in Africa and Asia depend on Ukrainian grain. The drop in exports has driven up food prices and raised fears of shortages and hunger.
- Ukraine can shift some grain exports to European ports with spare capacity. However, rail transport is complicated because of different rail gauges.
- Exporting Ukrainian grain via foreign ports adds transport costs of USD 150 or more per tonne. This is triple the average intercontinental shipping cost.
- An international agreement creating safe maritime corridors in the Black Sea would best safeguard grain exports from Ukraine.
Streets That Fit: Re-allocating Space for Better Cities
Corporate Partnership Board Report, Policy Insights,
17 February 2022
- Adopt meaningful indicators for how urban street space is used.
- Re-allocate street space to account for diverse uses and users.
- Prioritise people over vehicles when allocating street space.
- Explore the benefits of dynamically re-allocating certain street spaces.
- Adopt Safe System principles to guide the re-allocation of street space.
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).
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.
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.
Navigating Towards Cleaner Maritime Shipping
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
16 November 2020
- Increase the energy efficiency of new and existing ships.
- Leverage public sector procurement to stimulate the electrification of short-distance shipping.
- Introduce regulations on lifecycle emissions of maritime fuels.
- Put in place carbon pricing for shipping and policies that can reduce the carbon content of shipping fuels.
- Advance the discussion on market-based mechanisms at the International Maritime Organization.
- Launch pilot projects to gain experience with new fuels and accelerate the adoption of safety guidelines.
Efficiency in Railway Operations and Infrastructure Management
Roundtable Report, Policy Insights,
1 July 2019
- Build on simple indicators for an aggregate analysis of rail performance.
- Use econometric models to better capture the complexity of rail performance.
- Develop a narrative of the drivers of rail performance.
- Invest more into data and indicators related to service quality.
Повышение торгово-транспортной связности и развитие грузоперевозок в Центральной Азии
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
13 May 2019
- Улучшение транспортного сообщения на местном уровне наряду с развитием международных коридоров.
- Установление цен на транзитные перевозки, покрывающих все связанные с ними расходы.
- Реформирование системы финансирования дорожно-ремонтных работ и инвестиций в дорожные сети.
- Привлечение частных инвестиций исходя из соображений экономической эффективности.
- Содействие в формировании современной логистической отрасли.
- Внедрение передового опыта в сфере транспортного планирования.
- Установление стандартов деятельности для таможенных органов.
- Упорядочение регионального и международного сотрудничества.
Enhancing Connectivity and Freight in Central Asia
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
13 May 2019
- Enhance local connectivity along with improvement of international corridors.
- Price transit traffic to cover its full costs.
- Reform road investment and maintenance funding.
- Pursue private investments for cost efficiency.
- Support the creation of a modern logistics sector.
- Institutionalise best practices in transport planning.
- Set performance standards for customs.
- Straighten regional and international cooperation.
High Capacity Transport
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
1 May 2019
- Use the potential of High Capacity Vehicles to increase transport efficiency, reduce traffic volumes, lower emissions and achieve better safety outcomes.
- Use well-monitored trials to introduce High Capacity Vehicles on a road network.
- Configure High Capacity Vehicles for the specific area in which they will operate.
Smart Use of Roads
Research Report, Policy Insights,
19 March 2019
- Make use of smart technologies part of the response to congestion.
- Invest in improving junctions where these create bottlenecks.
- Use hard-shoulder running and ramp metering to get the most out of trunk road capacity.
- Use congestion pricing for active traffic management as part of integrated urban policies.
- Adopt barrier-free electronic tolling to remove bottlenecks.
Quantifying Private and Foreign Investment in Transport Infrastructure
Discussion Paper, Policy Insights,
15 March 2019
- Improve the collection and dissemination of disaggregated data on the level and characteristics of private investments in transport infrastructure.
What is Private Investment in Transport Infrastructure and Why is it Difficult?
Discussion Paper, Policy Insights,
28 January 2019
- Distinguish between infrastructure and the operations that take place on it.
- To pursue private investment in infrastructure, choose between competition for the contract or the regulated model.
- Differentiate between attracting private investors in existing assets (privatisation) and in new infrastructure PPPs.
Policies to Extend the Life of Road Assets
Research Report, Policy Insights,
20 December 2018
- Introduce a proactive approach for the maintenance of road assets.
- Build a proactive, data-driven approach to the maintenance of road assets.
- Strive for continuous professionalisation in road asset management.
- Move from managing the assets to cross-asset management.
- Adopt regulatory frameworks that treat the use of road assets as an economic input.
- Implement infrastructure pricing for trucks to improve cost recovery.
- Better understand the reasons for non-compliance with truck weight limits.
- Focus on positive incentives for efficiency in regulatory and compliance frameworks.
- Develop use cases and business models for the digital infrastructure of truck traffic management.
- Create incentives for the logistics sector to implement truck traffic management.
- Improve awareness of the mutual impact that policies have on the environmental performance of road freight transport and extending the lifespan of road assets.
- Focus on creating a comprehensive regulatory environment rather than on individual measures.
Regulatory Capacity Building
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
8 November 2018
- Favour the use of confidential contracts.
- Consider the use of arbitration.
- Reinforce legal capacity.
- Develop financial accounting and reporting requirements.
- Consider adapting the standard North American financial reporting form for Mexico.
- Develop a standard waybill.
- Develop a waybill sample data collection and analysis system.
- Determine the structure of the waybill sample.
- Choose a contractor to process waybills.
- Establish a network modelling process to generate traffic flow analyses.
Private Investment in Transport Infrastructure: Dealing with Uncertainty in Contracts
Research Report, Policy Insights,
21 June 2018
- Pursue private investment in infrastructure on the merits of improved efficiency.
- Invest more into upfront preparation of projects to reduce inefficient risk pricing by suppliers.
- Undertake a comprehensive analysis of how to assist suppliers.
- The pursuit of certainty in delivery should be balanced against cost.
- Stimulate innovation through early contractor involvement or alliancing, not public-private partnerships.
- Avoid transferring demand risk to public-private partnerships if service levels do not strongly impact demand.
- Bundle and cross-fund public-private partnerships to reduce demand risk.
- Adopt the regulatory asset base model where competition is absent or demand not strongly endogenous.
- Introduce a transparent public accounting standard to maximise the value for money of private investment.
- Foster competitive markets to achieve cost-effective infrastructure.
- Pursue data collection on how contract design affects project outcomes.
- Support the development of an evidence-supported procurement tool.
Cooperative Mobility Systems and Automated Driving
Roundtable Report, Policy Insights,
2 May 2018
- Shared mobility is still a relatively new field but is progressing rapidly. With business models and preferred technologies still in flux, policy makers need to prepare considered responses to these developments without delay.
- Service concepts and technology currently and on the brink of being explored need to consider a range of design domain restrictions, dependencies on infrastructure, operating principles and user interfaces.
- Specific service concepts should be matched to specific operational environments, on a detailed local level as well as across continents and cultures.
- Government action will affect how automated vehicles will impact society. Existing approaches will not be appropriate for long. Their understanding and input will help to balance the debate on whether AVs can indeed alleviate a series of stubborn problems.
Integrating Urban Public Transport Systems and Cycling
Roundtable Report, Policy Insights,
25 April 2018
- Design interchange stations to provide secure, uncongested conditions for transfer by the shortest routes possible.
- Provide adequate bike parking areas at stations and stops.
- Integrate ticketing and information systems as well as the physical transport infrastructure.
- Establish integrated urban transport plans in consultation with stakeholders and the public.
L'évaluation ex-post des investissements et interventions publiques dans les transports
Roundtable Report, Policy Insights,
27 November 2017
- Planifier d’emblée la collecte des données nécessaires à l’évaluation.
- Procéder à un exercice de vérification en cours d’exécution.
- Confier l’exercice de vérification à des entités indépendantes.
- Reconnaître la diversité des objectifs économiques des investissements dans les transports.
- Associer les partenaires locaux en démontrant l’efficacité du projet.
Capacity Building through Efficient Use of Existing Airport Infrastructure
Roundtable Report, Policy Insights,
30 October 2017
- Whilst governments should act cautiously and avoid intervention unless there are strong reasons for it, airports, airlines, air navigation service providers, and regulators need to pursue all possible technical innovations to improve the utilisation of airport capacity. Collaborative decision-making is critical to achieving optimal outcomes.
- Governments should consider policies improving air connectivity alongside all impacts of air transport, in particular in terms of noise and air pollution impacts on local communities.
- Governments should constantly re-evaluate caps on aircraft movements that are designed to contain noise impacts, as technological improvements make it possible to reduce noise nuisance while allowing for more aircraft operations.
- IATA WSG should continue to evolve to facilitate more efficient use of scarce airport capacity, ultimately benefitting passengers and other users of aviation. Authorities should ensure that the rules are applied in practice as intended.
- Any system of slot allocation at congested airports needs to take account of the potential benefits of competition. When slots are allocated to new entrants they should be in sufficient quantity to support viable business models.
- The potential to use primary slot auctioning to improve welfare outcomes at congested airports should not be ruled out. To make decisions on primary slot auctioning, the transfer of rents needs to be considered explicitly, and steps taken to avoid excessive disruption to incumbent airlines.
- Secondary slot trading should be allowed and facilitated for more efficient utilisation of capacity.
- Congested airports should eliminate price discrimination against large aircraft wherever such discrimination is present.
Mesurer les avantages socio-économiques des transports
Roundtable Report, Policy Insights,
1 October 2017
- Les directives relatives à l’ACA peuvent être élargies pour prendre en compte la fiabilité et certains effets plus larges.
- Des travaux de recherche supplémentaires sont nécessaires sur les avantages en matière de fiabilité afin d’améliorer la confiance dans les résultats.
- Les effets économiques plus larges devraient être étudiés dans les cas où l’on s’attend à ce qu’ils soient importants.
- Des travaux de recherche supplémentaires sont nécessaires sur les effets plus larges à saisir et les outils permettant de le faire.
- L’ACA peut jouer un rôle important dans la prise de décision, mais ne doit pas occuper une place prépondérante.
Cruise Shipping and Urban Development: The Case of Piraeus
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
28 June 2017
- Develop a strategy to attract tourists to the city of Piraeus.
- Facilitate stakeholder co-operation to boost competitiveness of Piraeus as a cruise destination.
- Work to reduce the environmental impacts of cruise shipping on Piraeus.
Airport Site Selection
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
30 May 2017
- The process should start with an assessment of need for new infrastructure.
- Comparable assessments should be undertaken for a range of feasible options.
- Selection criteria need to examine all positive and negative impacts of airport capacity expansion.
- Assessments need to incorporate considerations of risk and uncertainty.
- The process needs to be clear, transparent, collaborative, and trade-offs need to be explicitly considered.
Local Governments and Ports
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
23 May 2017
- Develop tailor-made governance arrangements for ports.
- Allow decentralised port governance to create additional benefits for local communities.
- Coordinate public port investment, nationally and where possible at a supra-national level.
- Ensure that ports not only focus on profits, but also take local impacts into account.
Strategic Infrastructure Planning: International Best Practice
Case-Specific Policy Analysis, Policy Insights,
23 March 2017
- Systemic risks can be reduced where projects form part of a broad and long-term strategic plan.
- Strategic infrastructure planning carries its own risks, including technology's influence on demand- and supply-side considerations.
- When it works well, strategic planning can set out a stable set of priorities for future investment with durable cross-party support.
- A successful infrastructure planning process balances a stable framework with maintaining flexibility.
- The planning process requires clear objectives, a degree of independence and an open, collaborative approach.
- The planning methodology needs to address risks and uncertainties, take into account binding policy constraints and include considerations of pricing the use of infrastructure.
- A top-down approach to infrastructure planning to complement traditional project by project assessment is essential to a strategic assessment of long-term economic infrastructure needs across sectors.
- Infrastructure planning across sectors can help identify the most important systemic risks early.
- Using analytical methods such as a scenario-based approach to analysis can be helpful in future-proofing infrastructure plans.
- It is important to consider how demand for scarce infrastructure can be managed. Debt management need to be part of any strategic investment plan.
- A top-down approach could foster the development of an analytical framework for investment decisions reflecting both demand and supply side considerations.
Ex-Post Assessment of Transport Investments and Policy Interventions
Roundtable Report, Policy Insights,
27 February 2017
- Data collection for evaluation needs to be planned for from the outset.
- Audit transport projects throughout the project stages
- Use independent organisations to carry out audits of transport projects.
- Recognise the variety of economic goals targeted by transport investments.
- Involve local partners in providing evidence on performance.