Roads, railways, buses, metros, taxis, bicycles, wagons, ports, ships, barges, inland waterways, airports, aircraft, and the many combinations of these—all these diverse modes of transport serve particular parts of a wide spectrum of needs that arise in moving freight and passengers. As trade has globalized and incomes have risen in many developing countries, the demand has mounted for all types of transport services and the infrastructure on which they rely. This chapter focuses on the comparative advantages and risks of seven major modes or types of transport in meeting that burgeoning demand. It makes the case for balanced multimodal investment to create transport systems that exploit and integrate the best economic, environmental, health, and safety features of different individual modes. The multimodal approach confirms the desirability of broadening Bank transport interventions beyond single-mode solutions to look at transport needs as a whole.
This more holistic view of transport, which is reflected in the business strategy, supports both integrated urban passenger transport systems and efficient freight corridors to serve regional integration and international trade. Although roads have long been an essential component of all national transport systems, usually consuming the greatest share of public and private transport investments, the projected expansion of demand for road transport in developing countries will also bring more traffic accidents, higher greenhouse gas emissions, increased urban congestion, and other adverse effects. Balanced investment in many modes of public transport can contribute to making cities work better: urban roads, railways, and even nonmotorized transport all contribute most effectively when the service offered to the public is integrated to create physical connectivity, spatial coverage, and ease of transfer. Cleaner, safer transport will mean cleaner, safer cities.
Similarly balanced investment in different forms of corridor infrastructure (connecting roads, railways, inland waterways, ports and shipping, airports and aviation) may yield better solutions than a focus on individual modes of freight transport and may achieve better coordination between, say, port investments and surface access links. Most important, multimodal integration would enable customers to choose their most cost-effective modes for specific types of freight, which would lower average transport costs and raise environmental acceptability and energy efficiency overall.
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