Transportation

Policy Analysis and

Planning/ Technical
Tour.
Since transportation can produce significant benefits but creates
many negative externalities, appropriate policies can be devised to
maximize benefits and minimize inconveniences. The allocation,
design, and construction of transport infrastructure and services
must be subject to careful planning, both by public and private
agencies.
The Nature of
Transport Policy
The Nature of Transport Policy

Policy and Planning

The Relevance of Transport policies arise because of the importance of transport in
virtually every aspect of the economic, social, and political
activities of nation-states. Transport policy is undertaken by

Transport Policy governments of all inclinations, from those that are

interventionalist to the most liberal, as a vital factor in economic
development.

Four trends had significant consequences over the context in

The Nature of Transport Policy which the transport policy takes place:

Globalization
Deregulation and privatization
A broader focus of policies
Social and political issues
 Policy
Instruments
Governments have a large number of instruments at their
disposal to carry out transport policies. Some are direct, such as
public ownership, but the majority are indirect, such as safety
standards. The most common are:

1.Public ownership
2.Subsidies
3.Regulatory control
4.Research and development
5.Labor regulations
6.Safety and operating standards
A common issue concerning policy instruments is that they may have
unintended consequences, particularly if they are indirect effects.
Public policies reflect the interests of decision-makers and their approaches to solving
transport problems. These interests and approaches are place-specific (they apply to a
particular area of jurisdiction) and time-specific (they are established to reflect the
conditions of transport and the intended solutions at a point in time). Policies are
dynamic.
Deregulation and privatization policies have spread unequally to many other parts of the
world. New Zealand has perhaps the most open transport policy, but many others, such
as Canada and Australia, have made significant steps in this direction. Thus, at the
beginning of the 21st Century, transportation is under less direct government economic
control worldwide than at any period over the last 100 years. Yet, privatization remains a
complex and contested policy.
 Changing Nature of
Policy Interventions
The trends in transport policy in recent decades have been toward
liberalization and privatization. This has not necessarily
weakened the role of governments and their interventions in
transportation.
Controls over monopoly power are still in place, and even in the
most liberal of economies, there is still strong evidence of public
policy intervention:
• Ownership of ports and airports.
• Highway provision, upgrade, and maintenance
• Urban transit systems
• Mergers, acquisitions, and alliances
Transport Planning and Governance

CONTENTS

• 1. The Purpose of Planning

• 2. Contemporary Transport Planning
• 3. Transport Demand Management
• 4. Pricing
• 5. Governance in Transportation
The Purpose of
Planning
Transport Planning and Governance

The Purpose of
Planning
 Planning is commonly scale-specific and multidimensional.

Contemporary Planning is still a multi-step process, but it has changed considerably:

1.Goals and objectives.

Transport 2.Options.
3.Identification of actors, institutions, and stakeholders.
4.Predicting outcomes, identifying benefits, and assessing costs.

Planning 5.Choosing a course of action.

Four trends had significant consequences over the context in

Transport Planning and Governance which the transport policy takes place:

Globalization
Deregulation and privatization
A broader focus of policies
Social and political issues
 Transport
Demand Managing the demand for transport is made up of a
large number of small interventions that cumulatively
can impact demand but, in particular, improve the
Management livability of cities. A sample of well-practiced and
successful interventions includes:
In questioning the paradigm of building capacity, transport
planners have turned increasingly to managing both demand and • Park and ride.
the transport system. Building roads has produced a car and • Traffic calming.
truck-oriented society that can constrain modal alternatives. Car • Priority lanes for buses and high occupancy vehicles
ownership is beyond the ability of the transport planner to control and truck routes.
directly, and the question remains if this should be the case. Still, • Teleworking and alternate work schedules.
land use and density affect car use and ownership, both elements • Promoting micro-mobility.
that planners can affect. High population densities favor walking, • Car or ride-sharing.
bicycling, and public transit use. This is why that a great deal of • Enhancing pedestrian areas.
attention in planning is being paid to densification and • Improving public transit.
integration. This includes concentrating development along well- • Parking management.
served transport corridors (transit-oriented development) and
increasing densities in areas undergoing rehabilitation.
While planning interventions may positively affect transport demand, a more direct approach involving
imposing more stringent cost measures on users can be an option. For instance, 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 of their mobility. As 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 (internal combustion engines and electric),
vehicle weight, or driving conditions, make 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. However, it is a crude approach 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 alternative fuels, such as electric
vehicles, will further challenge fuel taxes.
• Third, is the political difficulty of imposing such additional costs on the public. Free access to roads tends
Governance in Transportation

Transport policy and planning require governance, which is associated

with the practical usage of existing resources as well as the allocation of
new resources, such as investments. Like all sectors of activity,
transportation has a unique set of characteristics about its governance as
both the public and private sectors are actively involved.

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.
Transport Safety
and Security
 A New Context in Transport Security
While issues of safety and security have regularly preoccupied transport planners and
managers, it is only recently that physical security has become an overriding issue. Over this,
an important nuance must be provided between criminal activities and terrorism. While both
seek to exploit the security weaknesses of transportation, they do so for very different reasons.
Terrorism is a symbolic activity seeking forms of destruction and disruption to coerce a
political, ideological, or religious agenda. In this context, transportation is mostly a target.
Criminal activities seek an economic return from illegal transactions such as drugs, weapons,
piracy, and illegal immigration. In this context, transportation is mostly a vector for illicit
transactions. Concerns were already being raised in the past. Still, the tragic events of 9/11
thrust the issue of physical security into the public domain as never before and set in motion
responses that have reshaped transportation in unforeseen ways. In addition, threats to health,
such as the spread of pandemics, present significant challenges to transport planning and
operations, as the COVID-19 pandemic underlined.
A New Context in Transport Security

The foundation of transport security includes several dimensions and

potential measures:

1.Dimensions. Particularly concerning the integrity of the passengers or

cargo, the route, and the information systems (IT security) managing the
transport chain.
2.Measures. The set of procedures that can be implemented to maintain the
integrity of the passengers or cargo, namely inspections, the security of
facilities and personnel, as well as of the data and the supporting
cybersecurity measures.
Airports have been the focus of security concerns for
many decades. High-jacking aircraft came to the fore
in the 1970s when terrorist groups in the Middle East
exploited the lack of security to commandeer planes
for ransom and publicity. Refugees fleeing
dictatorships also found taking over aircraft a
possible route to freedom.
 Freight Security
Security in the freight industry has always been a major problem.
Illegal immigrants, drug smuggling, customs duty evasion, piracy,
and the deployment of sub-standard vehicles (higher propensity to
accidents) have been some of the most important concerns. In
light of the emergence of global supply chains, the emphasis on
freight transport security is gradually shifting into a more
comprehensive but complex approach. However, as in the air
passenger business, the events of 9/11 highlighted a new set of
security issues. The scale and scope of these problems with freight
are of an even greater magnitude. The less-regulated and
international dimensions of the shipping industry, in particular,
have made it vulnerable to security breaches.
Transportation,
Disruptions and
Resilience
Transportation, Disruptions and Resilience

Transportation and
Disruptions
Transportation is often considered a critical infrastructure since a
disruption in one of its components can significantly impact the economic
and social well-being of a region or a nation. An effective way to assess
how critical infrastructure is would be to consider the impacts its
removal would have on the flows and activities it services. From an
economic standpoint, the impacts of disruptions are dependent on three
factors:

1. Their nature and level of incidence.

2. The level of exposure of populations and infrastructures.
3. The level of vulnerability of populations and infrastructures.
Several drivers Several drivers have an impact on the threats and risk level of

have an impact on disruptions on transportation systems:

• Increased mobility.
the threats and risk •
•
Infrastructure and economic interdependency.
Centralization and concentration of distribution.

level of disruptions • Urbanization.

on transportation
systems:
 Transportation,
Disruptions and
Resilience
The transport industry has responded to these drivers with massive
investments in infrastructure and facilities that have expanded the capacity
and efficiency of transportation systems, both at the domestic and
international levels. In turn, added flows and capacities increased demands
on managing physical distribution systems, including transportation,
transshipment, warehousing, insurance, and retailing. These sectors are
strategically important to national economies as they directly or indirectly
manage risks by regulating the availability and distribution of goods. Due to
their scale and connectivity, the following transportation networks are
particularly vulnerable:

• Air transportation.
• Maritime shipping.
• Logistical networks.
• Road networks.
• Rail networks.
• Power grids.
 With the increasing reliance on distribution systems, any failure in transportation, due to
intentional or non-intentional causes, can have very disruptive consequences and can
even compromise national security over four major issues:

• Transportation supply. Ensuring that transportation modes, routes, terminals, and

information systems can satisfy national security needs such as normal commercial
operations, troop deployment, and emergency relief.
• Transportation readiness. Maintaining the readiness of transportation to face time-
sensitive national security needs.
• Transportation vulnerability. Reducing the vulnerability of transportation modes,
terminals, and users to intentional harm, accidents, or disruption from natural
events.
• Illegal use of transportation. Reducing the trade of restricted or illegal goods (e.g.
drugs, endangered
The resilience species), and
of a transport illegalisimmigration.
system its capability to resume operations at a level
similar to that before a disruption occurred. The less disruption in terms of capacity and
fluidity and the faster a system resumes its operations to a normal level, the higher its
The frequency and the reported type of disruptions vary as some
can be consistent such as weather disruptions. In contrast, others
can be sporadic, such as pandemics, while others, such as
cyberattacks, are steadily on the rise. Resilience is highly
influenced by the network structure, particularly its flexibility,
and redundancy with its capacity to remain connected as some of
its parts are disrupted:

• Flexibility. Concerns the capacity to find alternatives such as

new routes, new terminals, or new suppliers.
• Redundancy. Involves a level of duplication of assets, let them
be paths to connect locations or additional inventory within
supply chains.
 a. Extreme weather events
Many weather events, such as storms and blizzards, occur
regularly and have minimal impacts on transport systems
Natural with delays, partial closures, or diversions. Others, such as
floods, cyclones (hurricanes), tornadoes, and droughts, can

Disruptions be of disastrous proportions.

Transportation, Disruptions and Resilience b. Geophysical

Tectonic activity is the source of the most serious
geophysical disasters. Earthquakes are salient forms of
geophysical threats since they are difficult to predict but
focus on areas in the vicinity of boundaries of tectonic
plates.

c. Geomagnetic storms
They concern disturbances in the earth’s magnetic structure,
mostly the outcome of solar activity, where the frequency of
geomagnetic storms varies accordingly. Geomagnetic storms
can impair power grids and have a higher probability of
occurring around the north and south poles.

d. Climate change
Historically, sea levels outside standard tides, have rarely
been considered for human settlements, implying that many
cities and infrastructure are built right above the upper tidal
 c. Economic and political shocks

Anthropogenic Financial and economic instability will likely play a growing role
in the future as most developed nations have accumulated a

Disruptions
a. Accident and infrastructure failure
staggering amount of debt, raising default and inflation risks.
These events would be associated with a lack of capital for
infrastructure construction, maintenance, and oversight,
The outcome of technical failures or human errors and where modes, rendering the transport system more prone to risks, such as
infrastructure, or terminals can be damaged or even destroyed, which includes accidents and infrastructure failure. Due to inflation, planning
injuries, the loss of life, and property damage. Small-scale accidents frequently large transportation infrastructure projects becomes the subject of
occur, particularly over road transportation systems, creating minor cost overruns, undermining long-term investments.
disruptions. Transportation-related accidents are mostly punctual events
d. Cybersecurity
unrelated to a massive loss of life and damage. There are notable exceptions.
The diffusion of IT for communication, managerial and
b. Conflicts, terrorism and piracy operational considerations has pervaded the transport industry.
Conflicts such as wars and civil unrest often damage infrastructure, with
transportation commonly a voluntary or involuntary target. Due to the e. Sanitary threats
importance of global trade and the structure of maritime shipping networks, A pandemic is an event with potentially profound ramifications at
bottlenecks (strategic passages) are subject to the risk of partial or complete the intersection of natural (biological) and anthropogenic causes
closure. Terrorism has been a disruptive issue that has come to the forefront (people are vectors, and anthropogenic causes could mutate
over the last two decades. viruses).
The Nature of Transport Policy

Planning for Transport

Disruptions