Development of Sustainable Transport System

Summary

The city has an urban transport policy that promotes the expansion of mass and non-motorized transport systems in keeping with pedestrian welfare. It further elaborates the improvement of traffic management practices through the introduction of intelligent transportation systems. All mega projects are initiated in keeping with the urban transport policy. The city also has a draft road traffic safety strategy.

Background and Objective

The initiatives shall increase the accessibility and reliability of the public transport system to all users. Pedestrians shall have a better walking experience and connectivity. It shall create regulated traffic flow and improved traffic safety. Monitoring and controlling capacity of the traffic management agency shall be enhanced.

Actions and Implementation

A specific project steering committee - with all stakeholders as its members - has been established. The steering committee is instrumental in creating a consensus, conducting continuous assessments and evaluation. The steering committee makes group decisions and takes assignments on their part in order to attain the desired outcomes.

Outcomes and Impacts

Reaching a consensus on the type of public transport system (BRT); securing loans to finance the initiatives; partnerships with established institutions including the Public and Fright Transport Authority, Traffic Management Agency, Driver and Vehicle Permit and Control Authority and BRT operator (Sheger Mass Transport Service Company), which enhance the performance capacity of the Road and Transport Bureau; the starting of the detail design for the 16-kilometer BRT B2 corridor pilot project (about 54,000 passengers are estimated per day in this corridor); Sheger standard buses have started operation. These are some of the achievements.

Sustainability and Scalability

The innovation is well articulated in the urban transport policy of the city. The initiatives are now under the design phase, and some are already being implemented. Further initiatives have already settled financial arrangements whilst others still need financing.

Gender and Social Inclusivity

Developing additional LRT lines or introducing BRT corridors to the city were one of the most challenging issues which needed decisions besides financial backing and employment of the required skills. Convincing justifications were presented and discussed among stakeholders whereon it was agreed that development of the BRT network would enhance the service of transport in the city. Additional exposure tours and workshops were subsequently arranged. In addition to the budget from the City Administration, a loan was secured from international funding agencies. We used available expertise in the city with technical support from funding agencies to overcome technical gaps.

Innovative Initiative

The city initiative is revolutionary, but flexible enough to continue evolving over time. It is revolutionary because such an initiative has never been tried before. For example, Bus Rapid Transit, with its full options, is a new phenomenon for the city that will transform the transport service. Furthermore, the ITS initiative is a very important milestone in revolutionizing the traffic management practice of the city. It is planned to evolve to a highly sophisticated system capable of dealing with new developments.

Resources devoted to delivery

Financial and technical resources are and will be used to implement the City initiatives. An 85 million Euro financial resource has been secured from the French Development Agency. A further 192 million USD is secured from the World Bank to finance the intelligent transport system. The City Administration yearly allocate budgets to develop planned parking facilities, automated parking, open-lot parking, building parking, and underground parking integrated with public space. The city is currently looking for finance to develop some of the public transport initiatives that are planned for the next five years. To implement some of the initiatives, the city works with different agencies and multilateral organizations for technical support. This includes the World Bank, AFD, BIGRS and its partners, C-40 and UN-Habitat.