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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

Approaching Rural Road Investments With a Transport Services Perspective

The ‘Interactions: Maintenance-Provision of Access for Rural Transport Services (IMPARTS)’ research project is studying how the provision and maintenance of low-volume rural roads impact rural transport services and the mobility of people and their goods. The road provision-preservation-services continuum requires an integrated approach to ensure road investments are well-planned, cost-effective and appropriate to rural communities. Rural people are diverse, with different transport needs to access markets, healthcare, education, livelihood opportunities and other facilities. Transport services are essential for rural mobility in low-income countries with low vehicle ownership. Road investment proposals often assume that rural mobility will be enhanced as transport services respond by reducing tariffs and improving vehicle capacities/frequencies. However, based on literature and contacts with road authorities in seventeen countries, there appears little objective evidence to support this. Few rural road initiatives have conducted baseline, post investment and follow-up surveys related to transport services. Roads authorities generally use traffic count information and not transport services data in prioritising investments. Rural road asset management should involve managerial, technical and socio-economic issues, but political considerations may divert resources from maintenance to road provision. The literature reports many beneficial correlations between road investments and socioeconomic development. Negative developmental correlations may occur as roads fail due to poor maintenance. Better roads can lead to higher agricultural production, higher attendance at schools and health facilities, and more economically-important trips. However, few research papers have reported on the enabling transport services, relying instead on socio-economic, GIS or other data sources for the correlated outcomes. Rural transport services include minibuses, taxis, trucks and motorcycles, with different advantages, disadvantages, price-ranges and infrastructure needs. Many operate to-and from small town hubs, providing mixed passenger-freight transport services, often using old, over-loaded, vehicles. On many rural roads, motorcycle taxis are the most common vehicles and may serve off-road villages. Traffic count analyses illustrate how some road investments led to more vehicle movements, with some price effects (highly dependent on vehicle type and distances). However, some investments produced unexpected results due to externalities unrelated to asset management (including climate, national issues and traffic diversions from/to other roads). Some poor transport services responses related to alternative (preferred) routes and insufficient transport demand, suggesting insufficient stakeholder consultation prior to investments. The paper outlines deficiencies in rural road planning procedures and guidance from rural road impact studies for developing countries. A particular weakness is when major changes in modal composition occur following road investment. For example, when new road access is established or when vehicle impassability is substantially reduced throughout the year. Although calls for a more integrated approach between road investment and different sectors of the economy are frequently made, in practice, this rarely happens. To address the issue, the paper draws on recent research from Ethiopia, Liberia, Kenya and Tanzania to show how transport services data can help provide a bridge between rural road investment, and different sectors of the economy. It is argued that, if funds are limited, motorcycle trails can be an effective solution to help people access markets, schools and health care. However, conventional vehicle access is required if substantial volumes of agricultural produce need to be moved. A more comprehensive use of transport services data, is advocated, and this should help improve the prediction of sectoral outcomes following rural road investment. Road authorities should become proactive in developing innovative provision-preservation services approaches, with more attention to transport services. This may require interdisciplinary approaches, capacity building and active cooperation (or integration) with transport authorities.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 15p
  • Monograph Title: Proceedings of the 26th World Road Congress - Abu Dhabi - 2019: Connecting Cultures - Enabling Economies

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01763289
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Feb 3 2021 3:00PM