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Pte Sistona Handout
Pte Sistona Handout
Goals and objectives. While the goal of traditional transport policy, improving
accessibility, is still useful, it must be considered in the context of other desirable
goals. For instance, improving safety and health, reducing vehicle emissions,
improving equity, enhancing economic opportunities, improving community livability,
promoting mobility are all valid.
Options. Given the possible range of goals that transport planners must consider, it
becomes necessary to provide a set of possible options. Several objectives may be
desirable, and thus it is important to consider what they imply. Several scenarios
may have to be considered, and they must become important components of the
planning process.
Choosing a course of action. Evaluation of the scenarios must consider the costs
and benefits from the frequently conflicting perspectives of the stakeholders and
actors. Extensive public consultation may be required. The information must be
disseminated and explained so that an informed public can participate in the debate.
The models and data inputs used in transportation planning are of little
relevance when applied to the mobility of freight. For example, demographic
data, such as household size, the backbone of passenger analysis, are
irrelevant for freight flows within the manufacturing sector. However, it matters
for home deliveries. The bi-polar daily peak of traffic movements applies only
to passengers, freight movements being distributed in a different profile over a
24-hour period. Therefore, a more comprehensive freight planning process is
emerging.
Typical Car and Truck Trips Distribution by Time of the Day
4. Pricing
While planning interventions may have a positive cumulative effect in shaping
transport demand, some economists suggest that a more direct approach involving
imposing more stringent cost measures on car users is necessary. It is widely
accepted that car users pay only a small proportion of the actual costs of their
vehicle use. Economists argue that users should bear the external costs. As
intuitively rational as this argument may be, there are several problems with its
application:
First, there are difficulties in measuring externalities, with considerable variations
in estimates between different studies. Different types of use, speeds, engines,
vehicle weight, or driving conditions, making it challenging to produce broadly
accepted values. Decision-makers have difficulty in agreeing to impose charges
when there is a diversity of evidence about external costs.
Second, there are practical difficulties in collecting these costs. One of the
easiest and most widely used methods is a gasoline tax. It is a crude approach,
however, because it imperfectly distinguishes between driving conditions and engine
type. A fuel-efficient vehicle may have just as high consumption in heavy urban
traffic as a less efficient vehicle in a rural setting. The growth in the use of alternative
fuels such as electricity will further challenge fuel taxes.
Third, is the political difficulty of imposing such additional costs on the public.
Free access to roads tends to be seen as a right, and it is intensely unpopular to
propose any new forms of revenue generation that hints at additional taxation.
The use of pricing mechanisms may be less in other countries, but the trend
towards the greater application of some forms of tolling is accelerating. Cordon
pricing has been applied in several jurisdictions where access to certain areas,
usually the CBD, is tolled. A famous application was the decision to charge private
vehicles for entry into Central London in early 2003, a program that has proved to be
successful, despite a great deal of opposition.
Another form of charging is the imposition of tolls on new highways and
bridges. In North America, the public had become used to the notion that highways
are free of access, a legacy of the Interstate Highways Act, primarily funded by
Congress. The legislation now permits private companies to build and operate
private roads and bridges and to collect tolls to cover costs. A similar trend applies to
developing economies such as China, where many new roads and bridges are toll-
based.
With congestion or “fair” pricing, certain lanes of a highway are tolled but
at variable rates. When traffic is moving freely, the charges for the tolled lanes are
nil. But as traffic builds up and speeds are reduced, the costs of using the reserved
lanes increase. The collection of the tolls is electronic, and drivers are informed of
the current charges by large signs. Drivers are given a choice, therefore, to stay in
the slower lanes for free, or move to the tolled lanes at a cost that is proportionate to
the speed on the congested lanes.
5. Governance in Transportation
Governance concerns the ownership and management of assets and
resources to fulfill goals such as profit or welfare through the exercise of authority
and institutional resources. It concerns the public as well as the private sectors but
tends to apply differently depending on if public or private interests are at stake. In
both cases, a significant concern is performance, which is how effectively available
assets are used. The governance of transport infrastructure is particularly relevant
because of the strategic, economic, and social importance of
transportation and the cross-jurisdictional character of many infrastructures such as
highway, rail, and telecommunication networks. Transport is not of mere
convenience, but a fundamental infrastructure that must systematically and
continuously be available to its users. Effective governance is complex to assess
since it is not linked with a specific governance structure, but generally conveys
several advantages:
Confidence. It provides a level of confidence that an activity, such as a terminal or a
logistics zone, is effectively managed. This can involve daily operations as well as
the planning, design, and funding of new infrastructure. Effective governance is
linked with consistent and reliable services as well as a good level of responsiveness
and feedback when an unexpected issue arises.
Capital costs. Lowers capital costs as investors and financial institutions have
confidence that the allocated capital will be effectively used in the development and
expansion of productive assets generating returns.
Competitiveness. Improves the capability to compete through the retention of
existing users and the attraction of new ones.
Stability. It confers a long-term resilience of the organization, which provides a level
of stability in capital markets and the financial institutions supporting them. Many
transportation infrastructures have a long life span that can be more effectively
managed with a stable governance structure.
There are two main components of transport governance; ownership and
operations. Ownership involves who is the owner of the terminal site and facilities
(including equipment):
Public ownership is common because of the economic and strategic importance of
many types of terminals. In several jurisdictions, passenger railroads are owned by
the national government, and the passenger stations are thus under the control of
the state-owned railway company, such as is the case in China, Europe, and North
America. Public ownership of airports is also prevalent, although, in the United
States, this takes place at the state or municipal levels of government. Under public
ownership, investment in infrastructure and planning future expansion is carried out
by the public authority using public monies or public guarantees for capital borrowed
from private markets. The private sector is then offered leasing opportunities in
which terms and duration can be negotiated.