Transport bottlenecks and Tanzania's economic problems

Abstract

The paper discusses Tanzania's transport problems in the context of the prevailing acute economic crisis. It looks at the development of the transport system, especially the rail and road network, from the German days to the new Chinese‐built Tanzania‐Zambia Railway. The East‐West orientation of the major parallel rail lines and roads reflects the dependency of the economy on export‐import trade. A major challenge to the transport system is the haulage of agricultural products, mainly for export but also for the internal market, not to mention the haulage of imported commodities.

The provision and utilization of transport services is discussed in the context of the historical, and institutional setting of the road haulage industry, particularly its public and private sector configurations. Due to scarcity of foreign exchange, both sectors, especially the private, are starved of vehicles and spare parts.

The operation of ocean and lake shipping services and Air Tanzania are discussed. It is recommended that the latter should concentrate on essential domestic services plus some limited regional services. External financing of transport projects and its implications are also considered.

It is concluded that despite the break‐up of the East African transport system, the Tanzanian transport system, although shaky, has avoided major breakdowns and in some cases, especially in trade, has provided the foundation for at least medium‐term improvements. More attention is recommended to organizational problems of track use by freight and passenger carriers and to making the best use of existing facilities.     

The demand for public transport. part II. supply and demand factors of public transport

Abstract

This two‐part article, concerned with the way public transport ridership is affected by the various relevant factors, is based on the Executive Summary of The Demand for Public Transport (Webster and Bly 1980), the report of the TRRL‐sponsored International Collaborative Study on Factors Affecting Public Transport Patronage. Part I of the article, which was concerned with the social and economic conditions in which public transport operates, showed the importance of the background factors such as income, car ownership and land use on public transport usage: it also indicated how the longer‐term impacts of the more direct demand factors (fares, service levels) often show themselves in changes in car ownership levels, activity patterns (i.e. where people live, work, shop, socialize, etc) and land‐use development.

Part II reviews the current state of knowledge on the effects of changes in fare levels and quality of service and of the introduction of various traffic and transport measures (traffic restraint, bus priority, etc): it outlines current methodology on costing public transport services and draws the supply and demand sides together in a consideration of particular strategies which are at the disposal of the operator, the planner and the policy maker.     

Identifying Governance Relationships Between Intermodal Terminals and Logistics Platforms

Abstract

Governance theory examines different ways of managing resources and relationships in order to achieve a desired outcome. This paper applies governance theory to intermodal terminals and logistics platforms, extending previous work on ownership to include different operational models. An inductive methodology is used to derive a typology of governance relationships from an analysis of the transport and logistics literature. The classification developed in this paper explores different kinds of integration that can help support growth of intermodal transport services. The understanding of transport governance is extended via three key relationships: first, between the logistics platform and the site tenants (therefore, encouraging consolidation and efficiencies that can boost rail services at the site); second, between the terminal operator and rail service provision (which can aid service planning and train loading factors); and third, between the inland site (either terminal, logistics platform or both) and port(s), (thus enabling better planning and efficiency of port rail shuttles).     

Development and Impact of the Modern High‐speed Train: A Review

Abstract

The inauguration of the Shinkansen high‐speed train service between Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, at 210 kph maximum operating speed some 40 years ago marked the comeback of the train as an important passenger mode of transport. Since then high‐speed train (HST) services have been introduced in many countries and are planned in many more, and the train has once more become the dominant mode of transport on many routes. This review summarizes the different elements of HST operation with the aim of characterizing HST operation and putting in context its impact in terms of what it is best designed for and what it can deliver. The review concludes that the HST is best designed to substitute conventional railway services on routes where much higher capacity is required and to reduce travel time, further improving the railway service, also against other modes, therefore leading to mode substitution. However, the high investment in HST infrastructure could not be justified based on its economic development benefits since these are not certain. Finally, the following definition for HST services is suggested: high capacity and frequency railway services achieving an average speed of over 200 kph.     

Selection Criteria of Transportation Mode: A Case Study in Four Finnish Industry Sectors

Abstract

This paper takes a closer look at the very basics of logistics and it analyses the selection criteria of transportation services from the industrial point of view as the main research problem. It also tries to establish a better understanding of which industrial sectors are using which mode of logistics services and why. According to the analysis, the high value and especially high price/kg ratio of products, short life cycles and worldwide markets are typical reasons to use rapid modes of transport. The high price/kg ratio of products and the short life cycles, for example in the electronics industry, cause high price erosion and support selecting transport based on speed, as proportional transport costs remain small, even when using expensive transportation modes. Based on the results, some of the future logistics needs were identified, and the aim is to help logistics service providers offer the exact services needed, providing better competitiveness for Finnish shipping companies operating in global markets. Logistics service providers are, for example, expected to have more powerful supply chain management capabilities than a single‐service provider can typically offer. Additionally, logistics service providers should have compatible operating systems with different parties of various supply chains to enable deliveries to different customer groups according to their industry’s required speed.     

Restructuring the Lebanese Railway and Public Transport Authority (RPTA): From losing operator to effective regulator

The Lebanese Council of Ministers has recently endorsed a plan for the reform and organization of the Land Public Transport Sector (LPTS). The plan implies a new role for the government: it would cease being just a loss-making service provider and become the planner and regulator of the sector under a new strategy. The strategy would aim at creating the enabling environment and conditions that allow and ensure the existence of sufficient, affordable and efficient transport services provided by several private-sector operators functioning under competitive conditions. Thus, the existing autonomous Railway and Public Transport Authority (RPTA) will be restructured to serve as the effective regulator, its bus operations will be corporatized (for possible eventual privatization), and all existing private sector service providers will be regulated. Following a brief overview of the problems of the sector and the components of the reform and organization plan, this paper focuses on developing options for the restructuring of the RPTA to carry out its new role.     

Managing with declining resources

Urban public transport has had broad political appeal and escalating financial support since the late 1960s. The preference has been for public ownership and operation of services with only limited private sector involvement in the provision of services in a highly regulated environment. The financial standing of public transport coupled with the likelihood of a sustained period of fiscal restraint, perhaps even a decline in available resources, has created an imperative for change. This paper argues that broad‐based acknowledgment of the financial realities, clear definition of quantifiable objectives and increased authority and control for public transport management is required if public transport agencies are to meet the challenge. A new balance between service, ridership and revenue is required. Managing with declining resources will require a financial planning approach, separation of policy and planning from operations, removal of restrictions on user choice and operator competition and increased involvement of the private sector. Substantial changes in internal organization, procedures and structures and a cost‐effectiveness orientation will be necessary.     

Experiences with Competitive Tendering of Bus Services in Germany

Abstract

After a long transition period with only a few isolated procedures for competitive tendering, the market for German public transport bus services has seen numerous such tenders in recent years. The results are complex. From the public transport authorities’ point of view, the main effects are a decrease in subsidy payments, with relatively low expenses relating to the tendering process (allocation, contract management). The overall level of competition is high, with five to seven bidders on average, although this has been declining in recent years. Entry barriers have been identified at significant levels for several parameters, especially with respect to the volume tendered and the revenue risk to be borne by the operator out of net‐cost contracts. Demonstrably small‐ and medium‐sized transport operators have been able to increase their market share in the starting phase of introducing tendering, with diminishing success rates in recent years. Due to the increased quality requirements in competitive tendering, the quality of public transport available has improved considerably, and environmental standards have been better implemented and sustained. As far as employees are concerned, a trend towards wages below the wage rate of private operators cannot be observed. However, their level is well below the level of public incumbent operators.     

Dynamics of LRT growth: Karlsruhe since 1975

The public transport system of Karlsruhe, in particular its innovative services on jointly used heavy rail lines, has received substantial attention throughout the past 20 years. The discussion of the system and of its development has been rather limited in the past, mostly highlighting technical aspects. This paper provides an overview of the development, including the urban development, of the region and of the funding system. The ridership and financial development of the operator is documented in detail. Three case studies focus on the integration of the system development in the general political process of the region and demonstrate the limitations of the operator under its current ownership structures.     

An assessment of the demand for new transport technology in Australia

This paper summarizes the constraints which a technological innovation in transport must satisfy if it is to achieve widespread application. The existing and likely future travel demands in Australia are reviewed, and for certain types of travel it is concluded that existing modes may become unsuitable or unacceptable. In these areas, it is possible that a new transport technology may find application. In all other areas, it is considered that existing modes, or their functional successors, will continue.

Five possible demand areas in which new transport technology may find application are identified. These are as follows:

1) High speed distribution systems may be introduced in Australian CBD's (Central Business Districts) within the next ten years. These may be progressively extended to provide radial public transport services to the CBD. It is also possible that these systems may eventually be extended to provide a dual‐mode capability in inner‐suburban areas as a partial alternative to freeway construction.

2) New town developments which may be introduced in Australia could include various forms of advanced transportation systems.

3) New aviation modes, possibly including short take off and landing aircraft operating from suburban airports may be introduced to cater for inter‐urban travel.

4) A demand‐responsive transport system to cater for the needs of the transport poor in urban areas may find limited application.

5) In the longer term, possibly by the turn of the century, an improved transport system capable of providing door‐to‐door service over the whole of an urban area and operating under a dual‐mode configuration appears to be possible. It probably would emerge from development of an incremental nature and eventually include the installation of a new technology in the then existing freeway and railway reservations in the city.     

Role of transport in rural development in Africa

Rural Africa is starved of transport services. The transport routes run towards the export enclaves and the coast.

The political, social and developmental rural transport benefits are discussed. Rural transport will help (i) integrate the country and ease its governance; (ii) widen markets; (iii) induce increased agricultural output, through new technologies, reduced transport costs, etc. The transport cost savings should be passed on to rural firms and producers. The paper warns against their accruing only to middlemen — agricultural parastatals inclusive, thereby stifling the benefits to production. This could happen under some forms of pan‐territorial pricing. Negative aspects of road development, e.g. the substitution of local goods by imports, increased migration and noise, are noted.

The place and role of project appraisal in rural road planning is acknowledged. The broad‐based development packages approach associated with Integrated Rural Development Projects has, despite its attractions, some pitfalls. It favours well established villages and ignores distribution benefits within villages.

Project appraisal can be used to justify socially uneconomic transport developments. However, rural road investment projects with immediate negative returns are unlikely to be funded. Given clear priorities, short of elaborate cost/benefit analysis, obvious road investments choices can be made by the local community. Greater public accountability of transport planners and peoples’ participation in determining rural transport needs and priorities is emphasized. Increased rural road maintenance especially through self‐help schemes and increased use of traditional modes of transport, e.g. walking, animal and water transport, is recommended.     

Role of the Travel Factor Convenience in Rail Travel and a Framework for its Assessment

Abstract

This paper reviews the travel factor convenience with particular regard to rail travel. Past research has shown that convenience is a concept readily associated with the private car and its perceived ability to provide a door‐to‐door journey. Private vehicles such as cars are often key competitors to public transport. However, convenience with regard to public transport has proved to be somewhat of an ambiguous concept, often showing a high degree of overlap with the other main recognized travel factors. This paper shows that it is possible to consider convenience in rail travel as an embodiment of four themes: access/egress, station facilities/environment, frequency of service/scheduling and interchange between train services. A list of physically measurable elements can be produced relating to these four themes in order to assess the convenience of any particular station. A categorization process is proposed based upon the initial findings of a questionnaire designed to obtain a user perspective upon convenience. It is concluded that no definitive measure of convenience can be produced for rail travel, although a proxy measure, based upon categorization, containing some or all of the defined elements should be possible.     

A systematic review of route optimisation and pre-emption methods for emergency vehicles

ABSTRACT

Reducing the travel time of emergency vehicles (EVs) is an effective way to improve critical services such as ambulance, fire, and police. Route optimisation and pre-emption are powerful techniques used to reduce EV travel time. This paper presents a systematic literature review of optimisation and pre-emption techniques for routing EVs. A detailed classification of existing techniques is presented along with critical analysis and discussion. The study observes the limitations of existing routing systems and lack of real-world applications of the proposed pre-emption systems, leading to several interesting and important knowledge and implementation gaps that require further investigation. These gaps include optimisations using real-time dynamic traffic data, considering time to travel as a critical parameter within dynamic route planning algorithms, considering advanced algorithms, assessing and minimising the effects of EV routing on other traffic, and addressing safety concerns in traffic networks containing multiple EVs at the same time.     

Container Railfreight Services in North‐west Europe: Diversity of Organizational Forms in a Liberalizing Environment

Abstract

The institutional environment of rail transport has changed as a result of recent European directives, but the changes have taken different forms from one country to another. In the case of international maritime chains, the development of door‐to‐door services makes inland haulage from the loading and discharging ports extremely important, and it highlights the need to reshape the rail freight industry. This paper analyses the degree of involvement of different actors drawn from the maritime industry in developing and commercializing rail services in the changing regulatory environment. Several maritime operators, shipping lines, port‐handling companies and port authorities have been involved in some container rail services since the early days of liberalization. Their commitments take very different forms, however. Whereas contracts are mainly used for the provision of service, particularly for train haulage, integration by means of shareholding or creating subsidiaries or joint ventures is used for marketing. Important differences between France, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands are detailed. In the latter two countries, there is more involvement in the provision of rail services. Marketing rail services appear to be the main strategic issue for the maritime operators in all four countries     

The treatment of traffic in the Dutch environmental outlooks: the role of science in policy making and policy evaluation

The Dutch National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection publishes Environmental Outlooks in which 25‐year projections are made. These Outlooks quantifying the environmental problems, form the scientific basis for Dutch environmental policy. Traffic and transport is one of the main sectors causing environmental problems. The emissions and energy use of all relevant categories (road traffic, non‐road traffic) are based on model simulations with models. This paper describes the main models used.

If present policy is implemented only a minority of the environmental targets will be met.

If a sustainable transport system for the Netherlands means a large reducton in CO₂ emissions and energy use after 2010 a stronger emphasis on both technical and non‐technical measures (such as land‐use planning combined with public transport improvements) for the period until 2010 is needed than proposed in the Second Transport Structure Plan, unless a sustainable energy source becomes available.     

Organizational and Ownership Transformation in Poland’s Urban Transport Companies

Abstract

This paper seeks to reconstruct the organizational and ownership transformation involving Poland’s urban transport that companies passed through after 1990. Data collected from various sources (above all the Internet, including the Bulletins of Public Information) were used to establish the degree of advancement of the transformation processes. Despite the passage of nearly two decades since the new economic reforms were launched, the privatization processes involving enterprises of municipal origin are not well‐advanced. There is not a single private company among the organizers of urban transport. Instead, an absolute domination of budgetary‐sphere entities may be noted. Furthermore, there are seven transport municipal unions. Among the operators (carriers) public ownership remains dominant in the form of single‐person local authority companies, local government companies, municipal union ownerships, municipal companies as well as budgetary units. Privatization processes have encompassed fewer than 10% of all operators in the form of companies with foreign participation, workers’ companies and companies with Polish non‐public sector participation. Moreover, in 20 localities urban transport is supplied by multi‐trade municipal services enterprises (as of end‐2008). Thus, transformation processes, though started earlier than in the case of Poland’s State Road Transport coach companies, are much less advanced.     

A systematic analysis of multimodal transport systems with road space distribution and responsive bus service

A smart design of transport systems involves efficient use and allocation of the limited urban road capacity in the multimodal environment. This paper intends to understand the system-wide effect of dividing the road space to the private and public transport modes and how the public transport service provider responds to the space changes. To this end, the bimodal dynamic user equilibrium is formulated for separated road space. The Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram (MFD) model is employed to depict the dynamics of the automobile traffic for its state-dependent feature, its inclusion of hypercongestion, and its advantage of capturing network topology. The delay of a bus trip depends on the running speed which is in turn affected by bus lane capacity and ridership. Within the proposed bimodal framework, the steady-state equilibrium traffic characteristics and the optimal bus fare and service frequency are analytically derived. The counter-intuitive properties of traffic condition, modal split, and behavior of bus operator in the hypercongestion are identified. To understand the interaction between the transport authority (for system benefit maximization) and the bus operator (for its own benefit maximization), we examine how the bus operator responds to space changes and how the system benefit is influenced with the road space allocation. With responsive bus service, the condition, under which expanding bus lane capacity is beneficial to the system as a whole, has been analytically established. Then the model is applied to the dynamic framework where the space allocation changes with varying demand and demand-responsive bus service. We compare the optimal bus services under different economic objectives, evaluate the system performance of the bimodal network, and explore the dynamic space allocation strategy for the sake of social welfare maximization.     

Transport reviews prize

This paper reviews the provision of public transport in the Cape Town Metropolitan Area and the proposals for its future development. A vitally distinguishing characteristic of public transport in Cape Town and other South African cities is the fractured market with great discrepancies between different segments. These range from those with high incomes and preferences similar to those found in typically First World countries to a great majority living at or below minimum poverty levels with virtually no choices and a very different set of needs and preferences. Although scope for improving service levels and satisfying user needs is unlimited, in South Africa resources for transport are facing severe competition from other macrolevel social and economic imperatives, such as combating crime and addressing discrepancies in health and education needs. This situation represents a huge challenge to those responsible for planning and developing public transport strategies. Evidence is presented that current public transport services are unsustainable in terms of increasing subsidy requirements while also not effectively meeting user needs. Proposals to restructure the public transport system and to use Stated Preference techniques to identify user needs are put forward. Given the fractured market for public transport in metropolitan Cape Town, Stated Preference techniques will require innovative adaptations and different approaches to those most commonly applied elsewhere in the world and this paper provides some broad guidelines.     

Transporting Singapore—The Air‐Conditioned Nation

Abstract

The role of a metaphor of centrally controlled air conditioning in governing Singaporean transport planning is examined, and its consequences evaluated. A modern transportation system has been put in place to link a hierarchy of central places. Tight government control has made change possible. A reliance on technical expertise at the expense of public involvement has, however, failed to develop public transport to effectively serve a range of dispersed‐destination travel needs. Regulatory approaches, furthermore, have discouraged service innovation. Policies making car purchase expensive have restricted car ownership. Effective change would be facilitated by involving a highly educated public more in decision‐making.     

Conflict Resolution through Negotiation in a Railway Open Access Market: a Multi-agent System Approach

Abstract

Open access reforms to railway regulations allow multiple train operators to provide rail services on a common infrastructure. As railway operations are now independently managed by different stakeholders, conflicts in operations may arise, and there have been attempts to derive an effective access charge regime so that these conflicts may be resolved. One approach is by direct negotiation between the infrastructure manager and the train service providers. Despite the substantial literature on the topic, few consider the benefits of employing computer simulation as an evaluation tool for railway operational activities such as access pricing. This article proposes a multi-agent system (MAS) framework for the railway open market and demonstrates its feasibility by modelling the negotiation between an infrastructure provider and a train service operator. Empirical results show that the model is capable of resolving operational conflicts according to market demand.