Inappropriate transport policy

Inappropriate transportation models

Nature

Governmental policies are failing to keep pace with the growth in traffic which is adding to the problems of air pollution, climate change, noise, congestion and biodiversity/habitat loss.

Background

The global significance of inappropriate transport policy emerged in the mid-20th century, as rapid urbanization and motorization exposed the adverse effects of poorly planned systems—ranging from congestion to environmental degradation. International conferences, such as the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment, highlighted the issue’s complexity. Over subsequent decades, research and advocacy increasingly linked transport policy failures to broader challenges, including social inequity and climate change, prompting calls for more integrated and sustainable approaches.

Incidence

The majority of Third World people get around on foot. In African countries like Kenya, more than 90% of rural trips are made on foot; less than three percent by car or bus. Cars are owned almost exclusively by businessmen, bureaucrats and foreigners. However, the World Bank, for example, spends $100 million on urban transport every year; most of that is car-related. Of the $2.1 billion spent in 1985 on transport, miniscule amounts were spent on non-motorized vehicles. The long-term effect of World Bank programmes has been to encourage transport systems which are both capital and energy intensive.

Claim

More cyclists and pedestrians are affected by unsafe roads and more passengers by poor public transport than are concerned as drivers by traffic congestion or parking problems. Yet very little research has been carried out on the transport used by the poor. According to an Indian critic: "our research programmes do not have even a remote relationship with the problems of poor people and rural areas of India. We consider research on aeroplanes, aerospace and automobiles as a real science, whereas research on Indian modes of transport like bullock-carts, horse-carts and rickshaws is considered substandard and below dignity". Aid agencies and development banks can have a real influence on transport policies.

Transport choices do not arise out of the free interplay of market forces. The existing systems of political power strongly influence investments in roads, bridges, expressways and oil refineries. Decisions on transport policy are usually in the hands of technocrats -- engineers and economists, often Western educated, who are wealthy enough to own cars. They are backed by urban elites who profit from oil import deals, car dealerships or construction contracts. Their decisions about what kind of roads will be built, and where, are based on economic pressure or military security. The dream of an automotive society can never be a democratic dream.

Counter-claim

The notion that "inappropriate transport policy" is a significant problem is vastly overstated. Our current transport systems function adequately for the vast majority, and minor policy missteps hardly warrant the alarmist rhetoric often used. Resources and attention should be directed toward truly pressing issues—healthcare, education, and economic stability—rather than obsessing over bureaucratic nuances in transport policy that have minimal real-world impact on daily life.