It is not new that China currently is undergoing rapid urbanisation processes. Hence, it is essential for the populous Chinese cities to develop comprehensive and integrated public transport networks in order to cope with the continuously increasing mobility demand. However, this results in additional financial burdens, which in many cases are challenging to overcome. It is even more difficult when such additional expenditures have to be undertaken by local authorities, which in most of the cases depend on the national budget. The question of how to finance urban public transport is critical in the Chinese context, as the national budget law, the major financing mechanism for public transport in China, cannot meet the cities’ demand for sustainable funding anymore. In order to take a step forward towards changing the way the public transport sector requests and receives funds, China Urban Sustainable Transport Research Centre (CUSTReC) organised a workshop on “Sustainable…
Part 1 of the Interview with Dr. Friedemann Kunst, former Head of the Transport Department, in Berlin. Q: Berlin has been ranked among the most sustainable and liveable cities in the world in recent international indices. In terms of transportation and urban development what was the key to success during your time with the Berlin transport department? A: The last 15 years I have been involved in transport planning in Germany’s capital. At first I was responsible for integrated transport planning within the State Senate of Berlin. The last seven years I became the head of the Department of Transport. When I started off with transport planning in Berlin we found ourselves in a difficult situation, 10 years after reunification. We spent a large amount of public funds in public transport but we missed most of our targets that were formulated in the 1990ies. This revelation led to a change…
Over the last decade, China has experienced explosive urban development, rapid motorisation and a fast growing demand for urban mass transport systems. To further develop new and to maintain existing systems, permanent and reliable sources of funding for both construction and operation are crucial. A new GIZ paper discusses regulatory, financial and institutional challenges and possible ways forward for financing sustainable urban transport systems in China. Authors of the paper identified the following eight strategies for overcoming the funding gap and channeling more of the existing resources into sustainable developments: Institutional reform: Unifying all responsibilities for SUT Establishing a Chinese national or provincial sustainable low-carbon urban transport fund Strengthening local debt management Creating new forms of revenues for SUT policies at the local level Promoting public-private-partnerships Integrating policy guidance under a single comprehensive framework for SUT Developing urban mobility plans linked to urban development plans Setting up capacity building programmes…
On 23 May 2014, a group of experts presented and discussed on “National Urban Transport Policy: Enabling More Sustainable Development in a Changing World” within this year’s International Transport Forum (ITF) in Leipzig. Colin Hughes, Director of National Policy and Project Evaluation ITDP, presented on a new Comparative Analysis of Rapid Transit Growth, Investment & Access and introduced the so-called Rapid Transit to Resident Ratio as an indicator to compare access to rapid transit across cities, countries or years (download the study here). Download his presentation here: “IDTP Hughes (2014) ITF Side Event, Comparative Analysis of Rapid Transit” Urda Eichhorst, Project Manager, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) then summarised findings from an International Review of Sustainable Urban Transport Financing Policies and Programmes (download the study here), emphasizing and illustrating the potential of national urban transport financing policies to lift sustainable urban transport developments to a new scale. Download her presentation…
The China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) published a new Special Policy Study on Green Travel in November 2013. The study summarises the results of a working group on Green Travel, coordinated by the China Urban Sustainable Transportation Research Center (CUSTReC). Following earlier work on Financing Sustainable Urban Transport (see Final Workshop Summary Report on Financing Sustainable Urban Transport and International Review on Financing Urban Transport), GIZ was invited to contribute to the working group with expertise on funding public transport in Germany and international experiences. Recommendations on financing are reflected in section 5.2 of the Special Policy Study. “Turning the Trend in Germany” To illustrate German financing practice in detail, GIZ published two case studies – one on tendering public transport services in Frankfurt and one on integrated transport operation in Berlin. “Financing Public Transport in Germany History and Current Regulations” “Financing Public Transport in…
Sustainable urban transport (SUT) systems are urgently needed in developing and emerging economies world-wide. Fast rates of motorisation, especially increases in private car ownership and travel have already turned congestion, air pollution and noise into common problems in many emerging and developing cities. Due to lost time and higher transport costs, road congestion is estimated to cost Asian economies 2-5% of GDP per year already. Asian cities also suffer from the highest air pollution levels in the world with transport being one of its largest contributors. As the number and size of cities is growing, metropolises are increasingly facing challenges to develop high-quality infrastructure and operation for all modes, especially sustainable modes such as walking, cycling and public transport. Hence, urban transport is no longer only a local concern. National urban transport policies and programs are an opportunity for central governments to help cities cope with the related challenges. …
Between May 15th and May 17th the project working group on the CCICED Special Policy Study on Promoting Urban Green Travel (formerly called Promoting Urban Green Commuting) convened their 4th working meeting. GIZ China Sustainable Transport Programme was invited by the China Urban Transport Research Center and lead agency of the Special Policy Study, to give a guest talk on finance for sustainable urban transport in Germany. For download: The full presentation on “Turning the Trend – How Germany Succeeded in Financing Comprehensive Urban Transport Systems” by Daniel Bongardt, GIZ Project Director, can be downloaded here. Chinese and international experts discussed the current status and trends in Beijing’s transport system and discussed leverage points for further promoting sustainable urban transport in China, based on international experiences. The participants discussed openly on various options to make China’s public transport financing sustainable. In addition to local level TDM policies that can generate…
How to finance Sustainable Urban Transport was the main question during the 3-days workshop Prospects for National-Level Programmes and Funds for Sustainable Urban Transport in China. From 1st to 3rd of November 2012 GIZ, EMBARQ and SLOCAT in cooperation with CUSTReC jointly conducted this international expert workshop. Download here: [wpdm_file id=2] [wpdm_file id=5] Interactive discussions showed that funding of sustainable urban transport in China needs to be addressed in a comprehensive manner. Improving the actual funding will need to go hand in hand with institutional reforms at both the national and the local level. Some big cities in China have already started implementing sustainable transport infrastructure schemes as well as sustainable transport related policies and measures. At the same time other (mostly smaller) cities still lack the capacity and financial resources to improve their sustainable transport systems and policies. Therefore, China is facing two important questions in financing urban transport:…
From 1st to 3rd of November GIZ, CUSTReC and EMBARQ jointly convened the international expert workshop Prospects for National-Level Programmes and Funds for Sustainable Urban Transport in China. The interactive workshop took place about 80 km from Beijing in a small hotel in Mutianyu at the Great Wall. In the context of urbanization and motorization, Chinese cities are investing in the design, construction and maintenance of transport infrastructure as well as financing operation of mobility services. This is a rising challenge for both the national and local governments. To develop ideas on how to establish a financing system in a sustainable way, experts from China and abroad met to gain a better understanding of current institutional and financial arrangements in China for sustainable urban transport and learn from international experiences. The key focus was the development of specific recommendations for the Chinese situation and funding practice. Having identified challenges in…
