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Safe, Clean, and Affordable… Transport for Development – the new World Bank Transport Strategy 2008-2012
2008-06-03
Safe, Clean, and Affordable… Transport for Development – the name given to the World Bank’s new transport strategy 2008-2012. Referred to as a ‘business strategy’ it strengthens the alignment of the transport sector approach with the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2000. At the same time, it widens the directions and deepens the routes that will be taken to meet the evolving development agenda. It gives more attention to emerging trends, such as trade globalization, urbanization of populations, rising concerns about climate change, the increase in traffic congestion and the recognition of access as a key to both economic opportunity and good governance.
This marks an important step for the transport development sector - the World Bank is the leading international institution influencing change and with around US$42 billion committed to the Bank´s previous transport strategy ‘Sustainable Transport´, this new strategy will shape the sector in years to come.
On safe transport:
“Road crashes kill an estimated 1.2 million people a year and injure 50 million more, disproportionately affecting the poor,” said Anthony Bliss, Lead Road Safety Specialist and Program Coordinator for the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility. “We are placing special emphasis on road safety, extending our support to include not only road safety components embedded in road infrastructure projects, but also larger stand-alone projects to formulate national policies and strategies that would improve road safety across the board.”
On clean transport:
“We are setting guidelines for environmentally effective transport planning and decision making,” said Jamal Saghir, Director, Energy, Transport and Water Department and Chair of the Transport Sector Board. “We are seeking ways to mitigate the effects of transport on the climate - and the effects of climate change on transport assets. We intend to build climate change issues into transport project appraisals where appropriate.”
On affordable transport:
Marc Juhel, Sector Manager for Transport stressed the fact that affordability concerns not only the rural and urban poor, but also the whole freight economy, aiming at improving competitiveness to foster stronger economic growth:
“The strategy stresses the need for better knowledge and control of transport costs, for both passengers and freight, on domestic and regional, urban and rural settings. The implementation of an effective urban transport strategy, reaching out to the growing urban poor population, is a key element of this approach. On the freight side, the cooperative work on trade and transport facilitation - in particular on customs and transit issues - will be strengthened.”
You can read how IFRTD´s Executive Secretary Marinke van Riet responded to the new strategy, and to Mark Juhel, at a special event organised by Public World and the Bretton Woods Project, by clicking here.
Please click here to read original World Bank Press Release and to download the strategy.
