Post-workshop statement
Dealing with air pollution from mobile sources requires an integrated approach involving good transport planning. This includes Travel Demand Management (TDM) and Transport Systems Management (TSM).
Transport Planning, Demand Management and Air Quality was the fourth Regional Workshop organized under RETA 5937. The workshop was held at ADB Headquarters in Manila, Philippines from February 26 to 27, 2002.
About 150 participants attended this event, representing government, the vehicle and oil industry, transport associations, research organizations, multilateral institutions, and civil society.
Here are some of the recommendations made during the workshop:
(see the workshop synthesis report)
A. Land use/ Transport Planning
- National governments and their agencies are usually better skilled and resourced than local agencies. They can however not be expected to act at a City-level in as timely or as appropriate a manner as local agencies.
- Effective land use planning has two components: long term comprehensive planning to deal with metropolitan scale issues and site or locality specific plans. Sound, comprehensive plans can significantly influence demand over the long term.
B. Travel Demand Management
- Policies are needed that reduce demand for private car travel (measured in vehicle-km) and promote increases in public transport use.
- The most effective TDM policies are those that are successfully able to address the time and locational aspects of congestion.
C. Transport Systems Management and Regulation
- Recognize need for institutional coordination
- Improve public transport
- Promote use of non-motorized vehicles (NMVs) and enhance pedestrian movement
D. Resource Mobilization, Taxation, Pricing and Subsidy
- To ensure that available financial resources are well spent, it is essential to pay attention to economic criteria -- where all relevant health, environmental and transport benefits and costs are accounted for -- in setting improvement priorities.
E. Institutional, Legal and Implementation Issues
- Transport planning has multiple objectives that would usually include improvements to transport efficiency and safety ahead of improvement in air quality.
- The optimal institutional arrangement for transport planning and air quality management would involve an agency with an integrated transport responsibility. Singapore and Hong Kong have such integrated, empowered transport agencies but few other cities do.
- Experience from the United States where transport planning is mandated to meet air quality objectives in order to gain access to federal investment funding has achieved great benefits. The usefulness of such a mechanism in Asian cities should be explored.
F. Promotion/ Awareness/ Education
- Public attitudes influence politicians and increase political willingness to tackle problems.
- Health impacts need to be better understood and communicated as it is a powerful means of influencing public attitudes.
- Non-government organizations and research institutes have a valuable role to play in highlighting issues, carrying out independent analysis and advocating possible solutions to policy makers and implementation agencies.
- Examples of good practice are urgently needed.
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