Rural Transport

Rural Transport Theme

I am delighted to have been asked to take up the role of Rural Transport Theme Champion. I am convinced that despite substantial challenges to the sector and the ever present constraint of lack of resources, we have a unique opportunity through gTKP to bring together the vast but dispersed bank of knowledge on Rural Transport, and compile it into an easily accessible and ‘digestible’ format. This will enable the sector stakeholders and practitioners to review, adapt and apply it to achieve the desperately needed improvements in the sector performance and make that vital contribution to poverty reduction.

I see the Theme Champion’s role as a facilitator to encourage individuals and organisations with those gems of knowledge, good practice, case studies, innovations and even common sense, to come forward with their contributions, their knowledge of available documents, and share them with the other gTKP users. The contributors will also gain benefit from the recognition, from the knowledge of others and the realisation that their contributions, however large or small, will advance the sector performance.

gTKP does not aim to replace the good work that many of you are doing, but strives to enable more people to know about it and assist to bring specific worthy initiatives to the attention of the gTKP community.

We will establish a gallery of Rural Transport images, and directories of Technical Information Notes, Surface Option Notes and Case Studies.

We will be improving the ‘navigation’ of the website, posting and sign posting key documentation on a range of topics, and provide commentary and guidance where appropriate. We will seek your views on what is being provided and desirable improvements. We also need your suggestions on important knowledge gaps, so that future initiatives can be properly planned and resourced.

Your contributions and views are welcome on info@gtkp.com

In the coming months we will be focusing on a number of ‘hot topics’ and the substantial body of new research and knowledge that is becoming available through various sector initiatives. These include appropriate use of gravel and other road surfaces and what some regard as ‘the final frontier’ of road maintenance. There are numerous guidelines and manuals on ‘how to do it’, but precious few examples of working, affordable, sustainable maintenance systems in developing countries and economies in transition. If you know of any such systems the gTKP users would be very pleased to hear about them through info@gtkp.com

Other possible topics of interest to be addressed or reviewed in the coming months will include: Intermediate Means of Transport (IMTs), Community Participation, Basic Access, Engineered Natural Surfaces (ENS), Environmentally Optimised Design and Spot Improvement Strategies, Low Cost Structures, Standards and Specifications, Local Resource Based Methods, Mainstreaming into Practice and Road Funding. We will also revisit the topics already accommodated on the gTKP website. If you have something to say on any of these topics or other topics, or know of documentation that may benefit other gTKP users, then please share this knowledge through info@gtkp.com.

Lastly, humour has an important role in lightening the burden of sector salvation. If you have a humorous story or cartoon that could generate smiles, then please share it with the community.

I look forward to networking with and supporting you all.

Regards

Rob Petts

Rural Transport Theme Champion

Building on the transport indicators workshop series – a virtual forum in Latin America

From the 2^nd to the 20^th of July 2007 a virtual discussion workshop –supported by gTKP- was held through the ifrtdal@dgroups.org which is a list-serv for people in Latin America interested in transport issues. The list is accessible via www.dgroups.org/groups/ifrtdal

The virtual discussion was organised in light of sharing the results of a workshop on transport indicators that was held in Peru in March 2007. In collaboration with the World Bank’s Transport and Social Responsibility thematic group, IFRTD and selected local partners have been collaborating to host a series of regional workshops to review the measures and indicators that are used in the transport sector. The workshops aim to raise awareness of the initiative among key stakeholders and invite contributions to the process to ensure that it accounts for national priorities and long term sustainability. 

The virtual discussion was meant as an additional tool for dissemination as well as to enrich the debate with new perspectives. Facilitators were contracted –from the member base- to facilitate the whole process.  Every week, a thought-provoking paper was shared through the egroup, to introduce the subject and trigger responses and debate.  General conclusions would be drawn from the different topics and a synthesis prepared for each topic which was also shared through the ifrtdal and web.

A background document on basic concepts of transport indicators was prepared at the beginning of the virtual workshop-forum.  By the end of the third week it was enriched thanks to the contribution of all participants.  The full document –only in Spanish- is available here

The following topics on transport indicators were considered relevant:

• Energy:  consumption, efficiency, etc.
• Infrastructure:  road maintenance, technical specifications of rural roads
• Employment:  employment and quality of life
• Financing:  budget for conservation and rehabilitation of rural roads
• Safety:  number of simple accidents, accidents with fatal victims and cost of accidents
• Environment:  emissions, noise levels, those under Agenda 21, etc.
• Gender:  inclusion, participation, etc.

The Rural Access Index discussed in the blog of June 2007 "measures the number of people that live within a ratio of 2 Km (typically equivalent to a walk of 20 to 25 minutes) from an all-weather road, as a proportion of the total rural population. The participants felt that the variables to be added are age, gender, type of activity and frequency of travel.  The energy consumption may also be added (Kcal x Km) which can in itself be improved by including gender and age.

The RAI was taken to debate river transport.  It was proposed that river transport measures the number of people that live within a ratio of XX Km of a river way, who have access to a safe and efficient means of transport which is economically accessible.  It was added that in areas like the Amazon, road and water transport are complementarity, therefore multi modal transport is important to meet the conditions of passability and efficiency.  An indicator for the means of water transport would be ton - km - HP of the boat and number of people adequately set.

In an urban setting the introductory document challenged the way urbanisation is measured, with urban transport indicators as old as nearly 40 years and measuring very little with little innovation.  This is in contrast with the fast urbanisation in the region.  The facilitator also talked about dispersed and concentrated population in urban and rural areas and population density as a distinguishing factor.  Why talk about rural access and urban mobility in the World Bank databases?  What happens to urban access and rural mobility?  Do they not exist?  What would be the 'urban' version of the RAI?

For more information the full workshop report is available here http://www.ifrtd.org/new/proj/virtual_workshop_LAtransport_indicators.pdf

Bridging the language divide: sharing the experiences of French-speaking Africa

In an effort to ensure that transport practitioners in French-speaking Africa can also share experiences IFRTD –with the support of gTKP- has set up a French electronic discussion group called IFRTD Transport Rural. Set up on dgroups, the list serv is accessible via http://www.dgroups.org/groups/IFRTDtransportrural and is open for all (French-speaking) people interested in rural transport issues.

During three weeks in July a virtual discussion was held focussing on issues relating to rural transport services. The discussion centred around three issues.

1. What type of technology is best suited for what means of transport?
2. Improvements and the reliability of rural transport services 
3. Rural transport safety

Each week centred around one of these issues and every topic was introduced with background information, photos and sub-questions to allow the participants to share experiences, ask questions and trigger discussions. Moderated by Vero Razafintsalama from Lalana, an NGO based in Madagascar and specialised in transport issues, twenty-seven participants from eleven different countries followed and/or participated in the rich and lively virtual debates.

The first week focussed on issues around preferences, adopted technology related to transport needs. In Madagascar for example there have been successful bicycle interventions that were initially meant for transporting people and instead were increasingly used for transporting heavy goods over long distances. This was done without any adaptation and resulted in visible improvements in income for certain users.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) it was noted that the existing hypothesis about increased motorised traffic after rehabilitation of rural roads proved false. Instead they observed that bicycle usage increased and were the main IMTs from villages and/or fields to the main road where big trucks were waiting to be loaded. In addition some traders preferred to travel by truck themselves while their cargo was transported on bicycles. ‘Bicycles are faster and can leave at once, while trucks have to wait until full’ was the logical explanation. As a local adaptation bicycles were lengthened to carry up to 200 kilos heavy load or a small sun umbrella to protect the cyclist from the harsh sun. It was common that the trader would walk alongside the bicycle often for long distances.

In North Cameroon the complementarity of various transport services was especially noteworthy. Buses operated by the municipality served very precise routes while taxis served outlying areas of the locality. The motorbikes served to extend the bus and taxi routes by serving more isolated zones. This complementarity also applied to costs and transport of cargo

The participants also discussed the various modes to transport the sick to health clinics. The pro’s and con’s of motorbike ambulances versus bicycle ambulances were discussed and various experiences of Ranger and Riders for Health shared.

Overall the discussions illustrated the big knowledge gap that exists between Francophone and Anglophone Africa and that not enough resources are available for translation and knowledge sharing through workshops. A positive development is the SDC/Skat workshop that will be organised in Chad in September 2007 to enable French-speaking transport experts to network and share experiences. This workshop combined with the new list serv will hopefully help reduce the gap a little but it is obvious that a lot more resources need to be invested in order to close the gap completely!

To join the discussions:

http://www.dgroups.org/groups/IFRTDtransportrural

The Global Transport Series – get involved!

This month our guest blogger Robert Bartlett introduces the ‘Global Transport’ series, publications that are written in partnership with local engineers and organisations to explore specific transport modes in their national context. Keep reading to find out more about the existing titles and how you can collaborate to develop future editions:  

The Global Transport series are documents which look at the types of transport people actually use. Each document covers one main type of transport in one country. The lead author in each document is a local engineer or local organisation and he/it provide the ideas and photographs.

What is the purpose?      

There are several ideas behind the development of the "Global Transport" series. The first is to show that not all societies depend on cars. Many other types of vehicle are important - for example, mototaxis of Peru, Okaba motorcycle operations in southern Nigeria, the wide range of rickshaws in Bangladesh and human powered river transport in the Amazon.

Second, if other types of transport are important in a country then engineers should design the transport networks and the roads to suit them as well, rather than just cars. European countries are beginning to struggle with this idea - for example, German guidelines argue that there should be proper transport networks for each type of transport, whether car, bicycle, pedestrian or canal barge. But an engineer cannot design these transport networks if he doesn't know the types of vehicle (and their sizes) which he should design for. Certainly, "fly in today, fly out tomorrow" international experts often don't know the answers to these questions.

Third, as the series continues to develop, readers will be able to see that the problems they face often occur in other countries as well. They can use the documents to contact the authors and to start directly exchanging ideas with them. After all, a solution to a problem in one country can solve problems in other countries too.

What do they look like?
Each document has a beginning, a middle and an end. The beginning introduces the author and editor and presents the type of vehicle which the document discusses. The middle is a series of pages with examples, photos and text. The end gives information on useful local organisations and individuals. As far as possible the examples pages keep to a standard layout (as does the overall document). One advantage of this is that it makes it possible to provide text in a second language and to easily add more examples in a later update.

What are the benefits for the authors?    

The documents are serious publications intended for serious readers. They can be a useful addition to any CV. The documents also give the authors an international audience and to that extent, international recognition. The editors help correct and improve the author's text and can even translate it (at least, from French and Spanish) - and if they like the contributors also get an acknowledgement on our website (see http://www.schorrell-analysis.de/Contributors/contributors.html )

Where can I see some examples?

Most of these documents are free of charge. For examples, go to Schorrell Analysis's LULU download page at:
http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=612289

How do I start a document?

If you are interested in being the author of one of these documents write to:
Robert Bartlett
Email: roadnotes@freenet.de

The Rural Access Index – Does it capture enough?

During a series of workshops recently hosted by the IFRTD in collaboration with the World Bank's Transport and Social Responsibility sector, participants reflected on the various transport performance indicators under development. Of particular interest was the Rural Access Index, one of the most established headline indicators. The view was expressed that it’s current definition: % of population within 2kms of an all weather road is not sufficiently oriented to livelihood outcomes.

Distance to an all weather road on its own does not sufficiently capture the complexities of rural access which include availability, affordability and reliability of transport services. It was questioned whether the computation of the index should incorporate time in addition to distance.

What do you think? We would like to hear your views. Share your comments below or email us at peter@gtkp.com

We will share all the views we receive with the network and feed them into the ongoing World Bank Transport Results Measurement programme.


More information about the Transport Results Measurement programme:

The Transport and Urban division of the World Bank (TUDTR) is working with various partners and stakeholders to review the measures and indicators that are used in the transport sector. Their aim is to develop a comprehensive draft set of Transport Performance and Impact Indicators which will:

- Facilitate the management of various sub sectors to enable them to deliver transport services cost effectively and appropriately.

- Help in the monitoring of the sector's performance with respect to its contribution to the implementation of agreed national policies.

- Provide better insights into regional and global perspectives of transport activity and trends.

As part of the ongoing consultations for this initiative the IFRTD is collaborating with the TUDTR to host a series of regional workshops. The workshops aim to raise awareness of the initiative among key stakeholders and invite contributions to the process to ensure that it accounts for national priorities and long term sustainability.

Workshops have so far be held in: Kenya (2004), Sri Lanka (2005), South Africa (2006), Peru (2007).  Download the workshop reports

Rural Access to Health Services: bridging the knowledge gaps

What do you do when having gone into labour, there are complications and the nearest clinic is 30 kilometres away, roads are in poor condition and means of transport are scarce or non existent?

Access to health care –particularly for pregnant women- is one of the main challenges in transport in general and in rural transport in particular. In the rural context we actually don’t know the full extent of the relationship between transport and (maternal) health. Yes obstructed labour due to obstructed transport is certainly a cause for high maternal mortality rates as the starting question implies but…. there are many others. Exploring these issues and links are at the core of the Mobility and Health programme, an international networked research programme carried out in 24 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to help increase the overall knowledge base. This month’s blog explores some of the preliminary findings the researchers have shared through www.mobilityandhealth.org

In Nepal the District Roads Support Programme (DRSP), an SDC-funded programme aiming to improve the district road network is researching the effects of restricted access on maternal health in rural remote and mountainous areas. In general, Nepal is a mountainous country, with an average poverty level of 42%. Due to inaccessible terrain and lack of transport infrastructure, poor people find access to health services very difficult and expensive. A number of programmes are addressing these issues, from the physical access and the health perspective, although not in an interdisciplinary way. Maternal mortality comprises a large percentage of deaths in Nepal and recent research suggests that this situation is exacerbated by restricted access.

The team led by Binjwala Shrestha found many women have experienced problems with access to a health centre. The story of Ansu (name has been changed for privacy reasons), a 40-year old mother of five who delivered her last baby at home is particularly telling. After a complicated birth the local health worker was called but due to an inaccessible road (poor condition and rainy season) and lack of transport, she could not come until the next morning. Sadly this proved too late for mother and baby. Ironically the house is only 10 minutes from the nearest road and 30 minutes from the nearest community.

In South Africa a team led by Mac Mashiri is assessing how to improve access to health care by researching the role of home-based care services in strengthening rural health care delivery. In Mpumalanga Province in the north they are undertaking field work by working with communities and home-based health care providers who are focusing their attention on families affected by HIV/AIDS. While interviewing one of the nurses the following complication was shared: “…When it is raining, the road to the clinic is so bad – so slippery that people coming to the clinic are forced to disembark from the taxi and walk the rest of the way to the clinic because they fear that the taxi can skid and cause a fatal accident…” This does restrict people’s access while seeking health services.

Finally in northern Peru Diogenes Ampan and his team members are collaboratively working on the role of river transport in accessing conventional and traditional health services in the rural rainforest in Cenepa. A big part of their methodology consists of organising participatory workshops with indigenous communities to sensitise them on the relationship between rural access and overall health care and explore how they can overcome some of these challenges.  Although the research is only half way and final results will be published in early 2008 some of the preliminary findings are already worth sharing.  In the Cenepa area the main problem with transport and health is the lack of access to fuel for emergency transport to health clinics. Many people do have access to boats but fuel for the motors is scarce and expensive. This applies to the extension workers of the various health posts as well as the remote communities, meaning that quite a few people are dependent on dugout canoes for their journey to the posts. This significantly delays their journey as well as increases the risk of drowning on the treacherous river rapids.

These snapshots drawn from the ongoing Mobility and Health research reveal real experiences relating to transport and health care. We strongly encourage you to visit www.mobilityandhealth.org for more details and contact me if you have any questions and/or comments!

See you next month!

PS If you are interested in writing a blog entry sharing your experiences in rural transport please contact me!

Karibuni - Welcome to the Rural Transport Focus Area

Over the coming months the IFRTD Secretariat with the support of our network members from across the globe will be be using this online space to look in more depth at some priority debates on the theme of rural transport in developing countries. Please bookmark this site as we will be updating it with news, resources, information, discussions and opportunities for you to get involved. Ahsanteni Peter