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.