TRANSPORT AND THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT It is convenient to distinguish four situations in which impacts of urban transport activities on urban environment are commonly studied in the context of World Bank activities. The first has to do with impacts of current traffic flows, i.e. air pollution and noise emanating from motor vehicles as they move on city streets and roads, measuring and modeling these impacts and searching for instruments to reduce them. The second involves a priori work on potential environmental impacts of transport projects during their construction stage. The third instance is a combination of the first two, involving also a priori work on post-construction impacts of new projects on traffic flows and modal split, and downstream impacts on the environment over the life of the project. The fourth has to do with aggregate impact of transport activities in an era of accelerated motorization going well beyond individual projects, cities and countries. The first situation is that of development projects nominally focused on environment, i.e. in the design of policy and investment components of projects aiming to improve environmental health directly and/or assist the creation or strengthening of institutions concerned with environment. The second situation is more narrow, expressed through institutional procedures such as safeguard policies for investment projects. The third situation requires the fusion of environmental analysis of transport projects with all other technical and socio-economic analyses, including the impact on low-income population. The fourth situation involves modeling and speculative analyses, with results potentially useful in international fora. A decade of in-house research and Bank participation in various international programs on these subjects, focusing particularly on air pollution, have produced a considerable amount of empirical knowledge and a large array of technical and policy instruments, and institutional arrangements potentially useful for protecting the environment. Both technical and policy instruments aim to reduce (singly or in combination) emissions per unit of fuel, the amount of fuel spent per passenger-km (or freight-kilometer) traveled, and the amount of travel, for both passengers and goods. The first of these objectives, focusing on fuel and vehicles, is largely a matter for national-level activities. Urban governments have a wider scope of action with regard to the second and third objective, focusing on the amount of travel and modal split. The most damaging air pollutants are lead, small suspended particulate matter, and in some cities, ozone. Local air pollution from transport in developing countries contributes to the premature deaths of over 500,000 people per year, and imposes an economic cost of up to 2 percent of gross domestic project (GDP) in many countries. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also forecast that developing countries will suffer disproportionate costs of from 5 to 9 percent of their GDP should the global level of carbon dioxide double (IPCC 1996). A strategy for improvement of the effects that urban transport has on the environment is thus not a luxury, but an important element of an urban transport strategy. Poor people tend to be the most vulnerable to environmental pollution, but also most vulnerable to economic impacts of measures taken to reduce it. A strong consensus emerging from the research is that there is no quick technological or policy fix for developing countries as regards air quality, and most action packages involve important trade-offs between objectives. It is commonly agreed that elimination of lead from gasoline is of unequivocal priority but its implementation has to be gradual. In the short run, the vehicle stock in many countries is dominated by an older generation of technology, often badly maintained. In some countries the emphasis on identifying and acting to improve the worst, highest-mileage polluters-often buses, taxis, minibuses, motor rickshaws, motorcycles and some trucks, helps on air quality, but it may have negative impacts on low-income population. Minibuses and motor rickshaws in particular tend to be the poor households’ major means of access to activities, and motorcycles are a means for reaching into a middle class status. Public transport policies meant to attract “choice” passengers must have high-quality services, but these risk being unaffordable to poor passengers or, if they are subsidized, to the government. Some robust "win-win" environmental strategies exist for the urban transport sector. Sector reforms that increase internal efficiency tend to lead to lower costs for goods and services, as well as lower emissions. Good traffic management can reduce environmental impact as well as congestion. Inspection and maintenance programs, if undertaken by technologically efficient instruments in a low-corruption context, can have great impacts, as can the replacement of two-stroke motorcycles with four-stroke motorcycles. It is generally recommended to act by providing economic incentives at various group of actors, but in critical situations it may be necessary to reach for prohibitions, e.g. the forced scrappage schemes. Tax structure reform can encourage the use of cleaner fuels and stimulate better vehicle maintenance. This reform, however, requires the design of fiscal measures to handle problems associated with the multi-purpose use of fuels (kerosene and diesel, for example, are both used in several sectors), and to handle the associated conflicting policy objectives, such as road system objectives and redistributive ones associated with the taxation of diesel fuel. The integration of transport interventions in general municipal development packages may offer better leverage in this respect than the integrated transport projects. Back to Top
PUBLICATIONS Reducing Air Pollution from Urban Transport Ken Gwilliam, Masami Kojima, and Todd Johnson, June 2004
This report, commissioned by the Air Quality Thematic Group of the World Bank, provides guidelines for approaching the problem of urban air pollution from mobile sources, based on economic principles and international experience. An effort is made to reconcile the sometimes conflicting objectives in diverse sectors, such as energy, transport and environment, and to cover all major supportive actions including fiscal and institutional ones. The report is complementary to the World Bank’s Pollution Prevention and Abatement Handbook (1999) which focused on stationary sources. Transport Fuel Taxes and Urban Air Quality
Ken Gwilliam, Robert Bacon, Masami Kojima and Kseniya Lvovsky, Pollution Management in Focus Discussion Note #11, December 2001
In developing country cities, fuel use for transport is a growing contributor to air pollution and environmental health risks. One way of applying the "polluter pays" principle to transport is to adjust fuel taxes to reflect environmental externalities. But in setting tax rates on fuels, many factors need to be considered: the government's revenue requirements, efficiency of resource use, the need to finance road maintenance, road congestion impacts, equity, the use of fuels in sectors other than transport, and the impact of the fuel tax structure on other economic activities and on the poor. Coordinating Environment, Transport, and Energy Policies for Cleaner Air
Masami Kojima and Magda Lovei, Pollution Management in Focus Discussion Note #10, December 2001
Poor urban air quality causes serious environmental health damage in many developing countries. Arriving at effective and sustainable solutions to these problems requires a board approach that takes into account the various sources of pollution, focuses on cost-effective and feasible interventions, involves affected stakeholders in decision-making, and coordinates policies across multiple sectors. An important challenge is to evaluate when and how environmental considerations should be reflected in transport sector policies. Improving Urban Air Quality in South Asia by Reducing Emissions from Two-Stroke
Engine Vehicles(PDF, 364KB)Masami Kojima, Carter Brandon, Jitendra Shah, December 2000.
Urban air pollution from vehicles is particularly severe in South Asia, where over half of all vehicles are two- and three-wheel vehicles operating on two-stroke engines. This report analyzes different technical and policy options for reducing emissions from two-stroke engines. It goes beyond the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of various measures but also their socioeconomic implications. Road Funds, User Charges, and Taxes
(PDF, 1,052KB)
Ken Gwilliam and Zmarak Shalizi, World Bank Research Observer,
14 (2), pp. 159-85, 1999
The paper examines the role of non-budget funding arrangements for public road systems. In particular it considers when a Road Fund might be an appropriate instrument, what activities it should be responsible for, what revenue sources it should employ and what is the appropriate institutional structure to reconcile conflicting micro and macro management objectives, including environmental and distributional ones. Phasing Out Lead from Gasoline: Worldwide Experience & Policy Implications
(PDF, 1,052KB)
Magda Lovei, January 1998
Lead is one of the most toxic substances that large populations around the world are exposed to from the exhaust gases of vehicles and other sources. The phaseout of lead from gasoline is relatively simple and inexpensive technical solutions are available to prevent large social damages. However, reviewing the experience of a number of countries with the phaseout of lead from gasoline, this report calls for a complex approach involving better understanding of consumer markets, and public policies and institutions across several sectors. Roads and the Environment: A Handbook
Edited by Koji Tsunokawa and Christopher Hoban, November 1997
Roads often bring significant economic and social benefits, but they can also have substantial negative impacts on communities and the natural environment. As we become more aware of these impacts, there is a growing demand for the techniques and skills needed to incorporate environmental considerations into road planning and management. This is the second edition of the handbook, and is an updated version of a World Bank report (TWU-13) released in September 1994. It has been substantially revised and modified based on user feedback, field experience and intensive review of recent international literature, while maintaining its balance between conciseness and comprehensive coverage of the issues. Air Pollution from Motor Vehicles: Standards & Technologies for Controlling Emissions
(PDF, 2,931KB)
Asif Faiz, Christopher S. Weaver, Michael P. Walsh, November 1996
Air pollution is an important public health problem in most cities of the developing world. Pollution levels in megacities such as Bangkok, Cairo, Delhi and Mexico City exceed those in any city in the industrialized countries. Epidemiological studies show that air pollution in developing countries accounts for tens of thousands of excess deaths and billions of dollars in medical costs and lost productivity every year. These losses, and the associated degradation in quality of life, impose a significant burden on people in all sectors of society, but especially the poor.
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