Four pillars for urban transport sustainability in large metropolitan regions of Latin America: Issues and Options

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Jorge Rebelo, Lead Transport Specialist, Sustainable Development Department at the World Bank, USA

Future-oriented ideas for dealing with urban transport are emerging in Latin America. However, it is obvious that the countries are still struggling to turn them into reality. Jorge M. Rebelo is aware of the challenges. He has worked at the World Bank for 25 years and is one of its top transport consultants. At Shaping Transportation he will talk about the four pillars of urban transport in Latin America, but he has already given us an insight in an interview.

PTV: Mr Rebelo, you have said that Latin America is a region with an important urban transport planning development policy, but the development is, in part, only making slow progress. Why is that?

Rebelo: You’re right. Latin America had some innovative and pioneering ideas, including the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Curitiba and Bogota and the first rail concessions in Rio and Buenos Aires as well as the São Paulo Metro Line 4 PPP.. On the other hand, however, Latin America is also a region suffering from high congestion and poor public transport: there is a lack of infrastructure and, in some cases, regulation. In general, there is no coordination between the various different levels of government who run transport in large metropolitan areas.

PTV: To what extent does the World Bank feel duty-bound to create new structures?

Rebelo: The World Bank is not a commercial bank. We see it as our duty to improve quality of life particularly for the poor. Many people have to get up practically in the middle of the night because they have to commute for well over an hour to get to work, and make multiple changes en route. Our projects should help reduce the amount of time that such people waste commuting, thanks to improved transport infrastructure, and also make it cheaper for them. The aim is to improve the accessibility, availability, affordability and acceptability of transport for the users.

PTV: The World Bank has come up with four pillars that will make urban transport in Latin America more sustainable in the long-term. What are they?

Rebelo: The four pillars cover the creation of  metropolitan authorities, integrated strategies for urban transport, land use and air quality as well as functioning financing mechanisms and public-private partnerships.

PTV: Why is it important to create metropolitan authorities in Latin America?

Rebelo: If no coordination  institution exists at the metropolitan region level, then valuable resources are wasted: for example, the governor might strive to develop transport in one direction and the mayor in another. Joint decisions on prioritizing investments, on tariff and subsidy policies and on modal integration are crucial for the users to amke its daily trips easier.. The second pillar is all about combining concepts for urban transport, land use and air quality. A lot of cities still do not actually have an integrated strategy for these elements. Therefore, when drawing up a transport development plan, you have to ask yourself questions such as: Should building houses be allowed in a particular district or should it only be used for industrial purposes? How do you cleverly combine these approaches? And how do you reduce the CO2 footprint in this context? How is the area going to be served? Can we cleverly create new poles of employment diverting people to areas other than the old centers of the metropolitan regions?

PTV: The other two pillars cover financial aspects. What recommendations would you make for Latin American countries here?

Rebelo: It is a well-known fact that a transport system can only be organized and run successfully if the necessary funds are made available. So should there be sole reliance on state funding? We advise institutions on what other mechanisms also exist. For example, that could be marketing activities or the creation of commercial spaces inside a station building. In Brazil we have already had great success with this on various occasions with the so called urban operations which allow additional floor space creation which can in turn generate funds that can be earmarked for transport infrastructure.. Such efforts to secure the additional capital necessary are often not made in Latin America. We also advise countries on public-private partnerships, the fourth pillar of our concept.

PTV: When you look back, what has the World Bank achieved over the last 15 to 20 years?

Rebelo: There are so many projects worth mentioning… If I had to choose one, then I would choose the first metro project that the World Bank supported: “Line 4″ in São Paulo. The project started around three years ago and already today “Line 4″ has 800,000 passengers every day.

>> Read more about Jorge Rebelo and his presentation at Shaping Transportation

9 factors to form sustainable transport policy

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Dr. Hans Jeekel, Secreatry Board of the Association of European Transport

There are three pillars of sustainability: economics, ecology and social welfare. Anyone looking to conduct a sustainable transport policy must consider each of these three pillars. However, if you study the current situation in Europe, you will observe that many countries are inclined to focus on just the economic and ecological aspects. “European and national transport policies often disregards the social aspect of sustainable mobility“, says Dr Hans Jeekel, Secretary Board of the Association for European Transport. At Shaping Transportation (18 – 19 June, London) he will discuss the 9 factors to form sustainable transport policy. The interview below gives previously some insights. 

PTV: Dr Hans Jeekel, you have advised the Dutch government for a number of years in transport policy matters and, as a member of parliament, you were yourself responsible for this policy. What do you think is the most comprehensive and professional way to conduct a sustainable transport policy?

Jeekel: There are, in my opinion, nine aspects which shape a sustainable and comprehensive transport policy. Does it, for instance, contribute to economic development? Does it reduce CO2 emissions? Or does it increase road safety? If we study each of the nine items on the list, we will find that it is the social aspects of Europe’s mobility systems which are particularly neglected.

PTV: Which aspects are you particularly referring to?

Jeekel: One example would be the accessibility of hospitals and other places of everyday life for people who do not have their own car. Another example would be transport costs: in many cases, transport costs exceed the average 15% of the household budget.

PTV: In which country is the absence of social consideration particularly evident?

Jeekel: Finland is such a country. Finland has an excellent transport policy which ensures that investments made into the infrastructure contribute to economic development – but it is very much centred around environmental aspects. What Finland completely lacks is a concept to enable people who do not have their own car (and that’s 22% of Finnish households) to access all the places they need to. I can imagine that this could be a problem for many Finns. After all, the country is extremely sparsely populated and the roads are very long.

PTV: So is there a counter-example – a country which properly addresses social mobility issues?

Jeekel: The UK has an extremely interesting transport policy in this regard. In the UK, measures are taken in the so called accessibility planning to identify those sections of society who have problems accessing healthcare institutions, shops etc. Action is then taken – plans are drawn up to change this situation. Such measures include the introduction of additional busses and subsidised taxi fares. Much planning goes into these initiatives and the country is persistent in their implementation. Given the level of success achieved, we must ask ourselves the all-important question as to why this type of approach cannot be adopted in other European countries.

PTV: Why is that in your opinion?

Jeekel: I think that our society has, in many respects, created rules and regulations which make us inflexible. Especially we tend to forget that questions of spacing and timing and doing and delivering activities in tight timeframes has become essential in modern life as it has evolved.

PTV: How long do you think it will take before our transport policy changes?

Jeekel: Regrettably, the wheels of change are slow to turn. The journey from the initial idea to a finalised concept and its implementation can actually take up to eight years.

>> Read more about Dr Hans Jeekel and his presentation at Shaping Transportation

Online meets Offline

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Online simulation is the ideal solution for improving traffic flow and road network utilisation.

Online simulation is the ideal solution for improving traffic flow and road network utilisation. PTV Optima developed by SISTeMA and PTV Group is a tool which provides dynamic traffic projections that are ahead of “real” time.

Traffic managers know from experience what traffic is going to be like during a specific time and day of the week and can therefore handle incidents which occur regularly. They use real-time information from detector data, floating car data (FCD) and cameras. However, these data records only cover a certain part of the area. A daily challenge – because if something unusual happens or if several unprecedented incidents occur at once, traffic managers will get stressed quickly. So they need support. Cities and regions, such as the Piedmont Region (Italy), London and Hong Kong, are therefore increasingly making use of online simulation as a decision-making tool. Their overall aim is to improve the traffic situation. Using PTV Optima is one way to achieve this goal. This model-based solution combines the tried-and-tested offline transport modelling method with real-time data and algorithms.

Figure-1_Integration

PTV Visum processes travel demand data offline and provides PTV Optima with a basic simulation of the network. PTV Optima then uses real-time data from the traffic management system and provides up-to-date traffic information and traffic forecasts. Moreover, it assists traffic managers in evaluating their strategy.

“This process is based on a transport model created in PTV Visum which shows each “typical day” (e.g. working days or weekends) for the selected transport area,” explains Thomas Otterstätter, Product Manager for PTV Optima. “It models transport services and travel demand using demand matrices.” Based on this data and dynamic traffic assignment PTV Visum calculates the time-related traffic volume and turning movements in networks. All information is then transferred to PTV Optima. This is where online data comes into play. In PTV Optima, the data is used in real time in order to adjust capacity, speed and volume from PTV Visum’s base model to the current local flow and road conditions.

A glimpse into the near future
“As PTV Optima explicitly includes the network structure, traffic flow dynamics and the route choice behaviour of road users, it also covers the traffic situation for routes where no detectors are installed,” says Otterstätter. Moreover, the model-based solution can predict the impacts of unforeseen incidents and assess and compare various strategic actions.
PTV Optima provides traffic forecasts which simulate a customizable time horizon of up to 60 minutes The user can immediately see the impact of traffic volume, speed and jams on the relevant road sections.

PTV Optima enables traffic managers to predict the development of traffic in the near future (up to 60 minutes). This example shows a congestion evolution due to an accident. Red-coloured bars indicate critical areas.

Scenario-based strategic thinking
If there are too many incidents on the road network, it is important to quickly identify the problems and respond accordingly. Typical tools which allow planners to respond to this are traffic signal systems, dynamic lane operation, dynamic signs and traffic information via radio stations or the Internet. Today, they are used in real life in order to relieve traffic jams. The strategy chosen for the specific situation may have the desired effect. But that way, planners will never find out whether another strategy would have been even more efficient. If that is the case, wouldn’t it be better to test the various strategies in a virtual environment?

Strategies created offline in PTV Visum, for example, could be transferred to PTV Optima’s online environment where they are analysed, compared and listed before being rolled out. PTV Optima can compute a combination of several scenarios simultaneously within a few minutes so that the best strategy can be implemented as quickyl as possible. This procedure will expand the traffic manager’s scope of experience regarding unforeseen incidents. He will become more familiar with the different scenarios and can select the optimum strategy from the selection of measures recommended by PTV Optima, allowing him to remedy the situation as quickly as possible.

PTV Vissim 6 – Lifting the curtain!

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Our colleagues have been working hard for this: PTV Vissim 6. “It’s the best Vissim we’ve ever had”, says Dr. Axel Leonhardt, Director Product Management PTV Vissim at PTV Group. In this interview he gives an insight into new functionalities and the graphical user interface.

PTV Vissim 6 will be available at the end of July 2013. But you can explore the new release before the official launch: At our event “Shaping Transportation” we will present it’s beta version. With Shaping Transportation the PTV Group introduces a new format which will extend and add new content to our traditional international PTV Vision Traffic User Group Meeting. The event takes place from 18 – 19 June 2013 in London.

Register now at www.ptvgroup.com/shapingtransportation.

Road safety now starts at the planning stage

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Road safety begins at the early planning stage with PTV Visum Safety. Heat maps highlight particularly dangerous roads and junctions.

Road safety begins at the early planning stage with PTV Visum Safety. Heat maps highlight particularly dangerous roads and junctions.

Road safety is an important aspect in the optimisation and planning of traffic networks. The new PTV Visum Safety module now allows Visum users to include this aspect during the early transport planning stage using specific accident data. The new module is available now.

The UN adopted the theme of road safety on 10 May 2010 with Resolution A/RES/64/255 and declared the period from 2011 to 2020 as the “Decade of Action for Road Safety”. The goal is to reduce the number of deaths worldwide caused by traffic accidents. To this end, action will be taken at the local, national and international levels. The PTV Group has been committed to road safety work for the last fifteen years with EUSka, its electronic road accident analysis tool that is used by police forces in eleven German federal states. The company is going one step further with PTV Visum Safety: The new module combines transport planning with road safety work. It is suitable for transport planners in cities, municipalities and states, for universities and research institutes and for consultancy firms that want to actively offer road safety services.

Safety through knowledge
The more knowledge there is about the occurrence of accidents, the better the opportunities to reduce the number of accidents through appropriate action. With PTV Visum Safety, transport planners are able to analyse collected accident data and to take the results into account in their planning work. In this way, they have the chance to optimise traffic safety even during the planning stage. This affects both the macro level, with the safety analysis of road networks, and the micro level of local accident investigation. Accident data can be studied and analysed within one software package, without the need for manual data entry or additional tools.

PTV Visum Safety automatically detects and lists the frequencies of accidents. The planner can call up detailed information about each accident, depending on the availability of data and can filter accident data by attributes (accidents involving cyclists, pedestrians and much more). Thematic maps can be created within the module: Accident location patterns that show accident type or views with detailed accident data and heat maps. Heat maps are digital maps that visually highlight particularly dangerous roads and junctions. These heat maps are both important for analysis and relevant for decision-makers. Statistics can be compiled based on the accident data. In the same way as the maps, these illustrate striking similarities between accidents, for instance wet or icy conditions, so that specific and appropriate measures for road safety can be taken.

First “Shaping Transportation” event in London

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Shaping Transportation takes place from 18 – 19 June 2013 in London.

World leading transportation experts will meet at Shaping Transportation in London: From 18 – 19 June 2013, transport policy thinkers, shapers and decision makers as well as software users will discuss how to develop mobility in a sustainable way. Shaping Transportation is a new event format introduced by the PTV Group which extends the traditional international PTV Vision Traffic User Group Meeting. The Local Transport Today journal supports the conference as media partner.

How can we ensure sustainable transport development in Europe? What are the challenges that emerging countries have to cope with? What is the impact of growing transport demand and how is it addressed by contemporary policies? These and other questions will form the basis of discussion during the two-day Shaping Transportation event. PTV Group succeeded in attracting outstanding speakers, such as Dr. Hans Jeekel, Rijkswaterstaat, Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, the Netherlands, Sanjiv N. Sahai, CEO of Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit Systems (DIMTS) and Allan Gooch who was responsible for transport planning during the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.

Exploring ideas with transport ministers and expert practitioners
“The current transport, traffic and logistic challenges are placing decision makers and municipal actors under increasing pressure to develop sustainable mobility concepts,” says Miller Crockart, Vice President Sales & Marketing, PTV Group. Hot topics on day one of Shaping Transportation will include what role plays intermodal transport and an additional highlight will be the advent of real-time prediction and management.

“In the sessions we will hear about the ambitious goals set by governments around the world and the dynamic moves towards real-time traffic prediction and management. As part of the international User Group Meeting, PTV Group will on day two demonstrate how transport planning and software tools can help to achieve these goals.”

Software tools solving real-life problems and the release of PTV Vissim 6.0
Speakers will of course provide insight into current projects. The wide range of issues covers strategic transportation planning, real-time simulation and traffic forecasts as part of traffic management. Shaping Transportation offers yet another innovation: “Numerous workshops will offer attendees the opportunity to explore PTV’s software solutions in a hands-on format,” Crockart says. “We will also be presenting the release of PTV Vissim 6.0, a long awaited development that will take microsimulation and the transport planning market to a whole new level.”

>> In an interview Miller Crockart explains the idea of Shaping Transportation and what the attendees can expect from the international PTV Vision Traffic User Group Meeting.

>> A detailed agenda is available at www.ptvgroup.com/shapingtransportation.

Video tutorial: Introduction of PTV Vistro

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With PTV Vistro, you can analyse traffic operations, evaluate new development impacts, and optimise signal timing in a single software. For all those who missed our topical webinar series demonstrating PTV Vistro’s extensive functionality, may watch now the compact video tutorial by Karen Giese, Vice President Product Management at PTV America, introducing PTV’s latest tool for traffic engineering.

Find out more about the software at vistro.ptvgroup.com