Institute for Transportation and Development Policy

Promoting sustainable and equitable transportation worldwide

Women and Transport in Indian Cities

The performance of urban transport services places different burdens on women and men, with the costs of poor public transport often being borne by women. Safe, comfortable, convenient and affordable transport can play an important role in not only helping meet women’s practical needs such as access to schools and markets, but also in contributing to their strategic empowerment by facilitating access to social and economic opportunities.

While there is momentum by different levels of government in addressing women’s safety in public transport, urban transport investments are largely gender blind with a limited understanding of the interrelationships between gender and transport inequities. Sustainable urban development will remain elusive without integrating women and girls’ safety, comfort, convenience and affordability in urban transport. Addressing this, and as a first of its kind, a paper on Women and Transport in Indian Cities was created by ITDP India Programme and Safetipin.

This paper outlines the broad issues faced by women and girls when using or accessing urban transport, and recommends key measures to enable equitable access. The brief recommends gender responsive indicators, service level benchmarks and guidelines for comprehensive/green mobility plans as well as walking, cycling, public and intermediate public transport.

Three Revolutions in Urban Transportation

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There can be an 80% cut in CO2 emissions if cities embrace 3 revolutions (3R) in vehicle technology: automation, electrification, and, most importantly, ride sharing.  This report examines analysis from ITDP and UC Davis showing how 3R synergy provides 40% reduction in urban vehicle transportation costs globally by 2050.  Ride-sharing and renewable energy sources are critical to its success.

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People Near Transit: Improving Accessibility and Rapid Transit Coverage in Large Cities

Many of the world’s most important cities are expanding rapidly without adequate transportation planning. People Near Rapid Transit (PNT) measures the number of residents in a city who live within a short walking distance (1 km) of high-quality rapid transit. This is a good way to estimate accessibility and rapid transit coverage in large cities. It is also a high-level proxy for the integration of land use and transport, and the fundamental first step toward creating inclusive transit-oriented development (TOD)—compact, higher-density, mixed-use, walkable development centered around transit stations.

Press Release (10/11/16): New “People Near Rapid Transit” Metric Shows the World’s Biggest Metro Regions Serve Only Half Their Populations—At Best—with Mass Transit

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Infographics & Maps (click to enlarge)

 

 

 

 

Challenges and Opportunities to Expand Rapid Transit in Brazil

All over the world, many cities have faced difficulties in expanding their rapid transit networks at the scales and rates needed to meet the challenges posed by urban population growth, economic development and climate change. In order to understand how to respond to these challenges, the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) undertook an international study in order to extend and deepen knowledge of rapid transit infrastructure investment practices in Brazil, with analysis on opportunities and challenges for expanding these systems and recommendations on how to steer public policies and investments in this sector.

Guía de diseño de calles e intersecciones para Buenos Aires

Desde que el automóvil hizo su aparición hace unos 100 años, y su posterior masificación en las ciudades latinoamericanas en los últimos 50 años, el diseño de nuestras ciudades y calles ha sido adaptado de forma incremental para favorecer el acceso y movilidad de los vehículos motorizados, especialmente el automóvil particular.

Por ello estamos presenciando actualmente el desarrollo de un nuevo paradigma de movilidad, en el que el combate a la congestión vehicular se realiza a través del fomento a la movilidad de las personas y no exclusivamente la movilidad de los vehículos. Es decir, podemos reducir la congestión vehicular si es que aumentamos la movilidad de las personas en otros medios de transporte, principalmente el transporte no motorizado, el transporte público, y el auto compartido.

La Guía de diseño de calles e intersecciones para Buenos Aires, tiene como objetivo introducir y promover el concepto de calles sustentables, y busca constituirse en un documento de referencia para el diseño y restructuración de las calles con el objeto de
servir a todos los usuarios y medios de transporte.

Best Practice in National Support for Urban Transportation: Part 2

Part 2: Growing Rapid Transit Infrastructure —Funding, Financing, and Capacity

Large cities of the world require strong coverage of rapid transit networks to ensure they remain competitive, and that local communities have a healthy environment, vibrant urban economy, and an equitable, high quality of life for all residents. Many cities—especially those with growing populations, incomes, and/or large infrastructure deficits—have not, however, built rapid transit at the scale and rate needed to meet mobility needs. This paper is Part 2 in a series of research papers that explores how countries can grow their rapid transit infrastructure. This Part focuses on the role that funding, financing, and capacity have played in delivering rapid transit infrastructure in nine countries.

Part 1, Evaluating Country Performance in Meeting the Transit Needs of Urban Populations, released in May 2014, drew upon a comprehensive global data set developed by ITDP of rapid transit infrastructure to create a comparative analysis of rapid transit infrastructure in nine countries that are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.

Part 2, Growing Rapid Transit Infrastructure: Funding, Financing, and Capacity, analyzes how the funding practices, financing practices, and institutional capacity impact a country’s ability to deliver rapid transit effectively.

A Global High Shift Cycling Scenario

The Potential for Dramatically Increasing Bicycle and E-bike Use in Cities Around the World, with Estimated Energy, CO2, and Cost Impacts

Cycling plays a major role in personal mobility around the world, but it could play a much bigger role. Given the convenience, health benefits, and affordability of bicycles, they could provide a far greater proportion of urban passenger transportation, helping reduce energy use and CO2 emissions worldwide.

This report presents a new look at the future of cycling for urban transportation (rather than recreation), and the potential contribution it could make to mobility as well as sustainability. The results show that a world with a dramatic increase in cycling could save society US$24 trillion cumulatively between 2015 and 2050, and cut CO2 emissions from urban passenger transport by nearly 11 percent in 2050 compared to a High Shift scenario without a strong cycling emphasis.

The report builds on the 2014 study A Global High Shift Scenario: Impacts and Potential for More Public Transport, Walking, and Cycling with Lower Car Use. That report provided a global assessment of the potential for increasing travel on sustainable, efficient modes while concurrently developing cities that are far less car-dependent. However, the role of cycling in the previous study could be considered relatively minor, with the global average urban mode share increasing by three percentage points in 2030 (from 3 to 6 percent of total travel). This report explores just how much is possible if we study cycling in more detail using the same approach. The result is the most comprehensive picture ever of global urban cycling activity.

Technical Assistance for Parking Management Initiative in Kyiv

The Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) identified on-street parking mismanagement in Kyiv as a major issue for the city’s quality of life, public budget and overall transport functions. In response to KCSA’s request for assistance in parking reform, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) commissioned this assignment and appointed a team of consultants who analyzed the current parking environment and prepared this assessment paper with short-, medium- and long-term recommendations on how improve the payment infrastructure, operations and relevant legislation.

The short-term recommendations serve as action steps that the Kyiv municipality can take to improve the system within the next year to increase the prospect of finding an international investor. The seven (7) steps outlined in the paper form an action plan for improving the system now, including lobbing that can be done to pass the laws needed to enable enforcement.

USAID commissioned this report, and contracted SARECO (a Paris-based parking consultancy), in partnership with ITDP and GIDE (an international legal firm), to conduct this assessment.

Mobility for all: A strategic transportation plan for Ranchi

Ranchi is the capital of Jharkhand, a state that remains largely rural, but is urbanising fast. The use of personal motor vehicles is expanding rapidly in Ranchi, leading to congestion in central areas and safety challenges. Ranchi lacks a formalised public transport system and people are largely dependent on paratransit for their day-to-day travel.

This report aims to develop a detailed roadmap for Ranchi’s sustainable development, based on the principles and initiatives presented in the Ranchi Mobility Charter. The report identifies existing challenges and suggests a vision for Ranchi’s transport systems that is consistent with the RMP’s Mobility Charter, highlighting the importance of equity, sustainability, and liveability. The report suggests specific projects to achieve those goals, including enhanced facilities for walking and cycling, better public transport, and new measures for controlling and managing the use of personal motor vehicles.

Better Rapid Transit for Greater Boston

Boston finds itself at a crossroads. The metropolitan area is in dire need of bold, modern, resilient, but also cost-efficient transit solutions to improve and complement our existing system. The record-level snowfall in 2015 and other extreme weather events are harsh reminders of this longstanding reality. Metropolitan area planners have included BRT in a number of proposals, and portions of the Silver Line bus in Boston have elements of BRT. But its potential hasn’t been truly realized, and there had previously never been a citywide technical analysis of what this mode of transit can offer.

To better understand whether and where BRT could work in the region, the Barr Foundation convened the Greater Boston BRT Study Group. Made up of diverse stakeholders and transit experts from across the city, the BRT Study Group partnered with the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy to investigate the possibilities for implementing BRT throughout the metropolitan area. In particular, the Study Group focused on the highest performance level of BRT called Gold Standard. This report outlines the Study Group’s conclusions, and the benefits Gold Standard BRT has to offer in Greater Boston.