Transport

Research priorities in the Transport Sector

Transport is a very important component of economic activity in all developing countries. It facilitates trade, commerce, and social and cultural activity at local, national, and international levels. It supports all livelihoods by providing access to employment, education, healthcare, and other services, and provides opportunities for productive activities and social contacts. In most developing countries road transport is by far the most dominant motorised mode and annual traffic growth rates of 6% or more are common. However in many developing countries total pedestrian and other non-motorised transport exceeds that of motor vehicles. This non-motorised travel and transport is of particular importance to poor people. In many developing countries transport accounts for between 5 and 10 percent of Gross National Product, hence the potential for enhancing national economic and social development through increasing efficiency in the transport sector is very significant. Accordingly a key motivation for research in this sector is the magnitude of the cost savings possible with even small increases in efficiency simply because transport consumes such large resources. In many countries the high cost and poor quality of transport services severely constrains national economic activity and competitiveness. It also severely limits the mobility and access that poor people can afford.

In transport the emphasis is on dissemination of past research and is led by the recently launched Global Transport Knowledge Partnership (gTKP).

Global Transport Knowledge Partnership (TKP)

This programme is to support and promote improved access to existing best practice transport knowledge in developing countries. The gTKP gives developing countries a voice within the international transport community to allow them to actively contribute to policy and technical developments globally as a result of better up-take of transport knowledge. It encourages greater ownership of local problems, research and knowledge sharing to help shape the development of transport in line with the Millennium Development Goals. DFID funds this initiative and has committed up to £2 million to it over a four-year period. Further details can be obtained from their website www.gtkp.org

South East Asia Community Access Programme (SEACAP)

DFID are providing funding of £4,510,000 for this programme, which was launched in March 2004. SEACAP is a poverty-targeted transport initiative facilitating the improvement of sustainable access to rural communities, centred on Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos PDR. The purpose of this programme is to provide low-cost, maintainable, locally owned access to poor people through rural transport research, uptake and dissemination. The combination of twenty-four individual projects with a common objective demonstrates a response to local demand and a comprehensive multi-level approach with high expectation of the results being mainstreamed into national practice. Early successes have been producing two films on rural road access on poverty reduction in Vietnam, developing low cost surfacing in Cambodia, commune handbook training as well as a rural transport workshop in Vietnam. These have attracted the ADB to incorporate into their programmes and persuaded the World Bank to pledge funds for this approach.

Transport and Rural Infrastructure Learning and Sharing Programme (TRISP)

DFID’s long and close association with the World Bank’s research and dissemination activities in the transport sector entered a new phase in 2001 with the establishment of a collaborative programme called the ‘Transport and Rural Infrastructure Learning and Sharing Programme (TRISP). The objectives of TRISP are to facilitate and enhance the information services that are required by decision makers for transport and rural infrastructure services to enable governments, private sector, civil society, individuals, and donors to know what the key issues are, how to implement best practice, and why certain measures are appropriate such as guidance on the policy decision process and the development of best practice guidance.

World Road Association (PIARC)

Building upon many years of collaboration DFID has a programme of support for the World Road Association’s objective of strengthening its activities that respond to the needs of developing country members. This support includes assisting members of PIARC’s international technical committees who represent developing countries to attend committee meetings and participate fully in the work of their committee, support for the establishment of Technology Transfer Centres in developing countries, and support for PIARC international seminars on key issues relevant to developing countries.

International Labour Organisation (ILO)

DFID is providing support over a five year period for an international initiative spearheaded by the ILO to increase the application of labour based methods of road construction and maintenance through the development of appropriate engineering standards and specifications for such works. This programme, involving field research in several countries, implemented by TRL, is supported by other donors.

Labour Based Roads Ethiopian Country Component

DFID is providing funding of approximately £300,000 over a three year period to the Transport Research Laboratory to undertake the Ethiopian Country Component which will improve the cost- effective provision of roads in rural and peri-urban areas in Africa. The project will aim to quantify the main factors likely to affect the performance of roads such as construction standards, climate soils, traffic etc. The project will then produce guidance on best practice.