Expert Group Meeting on 1 Planning and Assessment of Urban Transportation Systems 22-23 September 2016, Kathmandu, Nepal Urban Transport in Nepal Issues & Policy Recomedation Surya Raj Acharya, PhD President Inst for Dev and Policy Studies (IDPS), Kathmandu suryaraj.acharya@gmail.com
Contents 2 Urban Transport in Nepal: Overview Key Issues and Problems Characteristic Features of Nepalese Cities Strategies and Policy Measures
Kathmandu* Lalitpur* Bhaktapur* Pokhara Biratnagar Bharatpur Birgunj Butwal Dharan Bhimda a Dhangadhi Janakpur Hetauda Itahari Damak Nepalgunj Triyuga Ghorahi Siddharthanagar Lekhnath Popula on, '000 Population in 20 Largest Cities 2,000 1,800 1,600 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 0 Kathmandu Valley Pop 2.5 mil (3.5 mil incl float.) Data source: National Census 2011
Kathmandu Valley (Greater Kathmandu) 4 Country GDP per capita: US$ 750 Kathmandu, GRP per capita US$ 2000? Habitable Area: 460 sq Km [899 skm] Car ownership rate: 40 per 1000
Characteristic Patterns of urban Development 5 Kathmandu Suburb (Haphazard dev) Itahari (Ribbon-type development)
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Vehicle Population in Nepal (as of March 2015) 6 2,000,000 1,800,000 1,600,000 1,400,000 1,200,000 1,000,000 800,000 600,000 400,000 200,000-43 % are in Kathmandu valley Others Microbus Tempo Minibus/MiniTruck Pickup Bus Crane/Dozer/Exczvator/ Truck Tractor/ PowerTiller Car/Jeep/Van Motorcycle Data source: Economic Survey
Mode Share in Kathmandu Valley 7 2011 Mode Share (Motorize Trip only) Motorcycle Car Bus 45.0 7.3 47.8 Public Transport mode share reduced 67.5 47.8 % 1991 23.1 9.4 67.5 Data Source: JICA (2012) Figure 4: Trend of mode share in Kathmandu
Public transport routes and modes Kathmandu Valley 8 Multiple modes in a single route Inefficient road use Competition for passenger Source: KSUTP
Public Transport Vehicles: Fleet Size 9 Tempo Micro Bus Mini Bus Standard Bus Data Source: KSUTP 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Major transport modes in secondary cities 10 Heavy dependence on Motorcycles Some cities have city buses but coverage is poor Rapid growth of Electric Rickshwa
Key problems 11 1. Haphazard urbanization 2. Congestion 3. Lack of parking facilities 4. Poor quality of public transport services 5. Private operators syndicate 6. Increasing domination of motorcycles and cars 7. Pollution 8. Traffic accidents
12 Congestion, poor quality of public transport service and urban sprawling Peak hour traffic speed: 8-12 Km/h
Serious parking problem in Kathmandu 13 A public open space for vehicle parking!
How the situation arrived here? 14 1. Weak planning control 2. Policy of public transport only by private operators in 1990s 3. Polluting three wheelers replaced by Electric Three Wheelers (SAFA TEMPO) 4. Microbuses are allowed as public transport mode (rapid increase, capacity problem) 5. Weak public transport regulation- relied on selfregulation by operators
Characteristics Features of Nepalese Cities 15 1. Unplanned/haphazard land development 2. Evolving urban form/structure 3. Mixed use 4. Relatively higher density 5. Public transport mode share still higher but ONLY captive users 6. Growing dominance of motorcycles 7. Inadequate road infrastructure
Road Space in Selected Cities City of Paris 105 New York City 837 678 Inner London (12 boroughs) 589 Inner Tokyo (8 wards) 110 Tokyo 23-wards 621 Seoul City Taipei City Inner Core Developing Asian cities Area Pop. (Km2) Density Per/ha 605 134 Road Area Km2 % (city area) 202 27 25.8 112 210 25.2 72 96 16.4 121 24 21.7 131 114 18.1 168 80 13.3 197 20 14.9 Shanghai City Inner Core 108 378 13 12.0 Bangkok City Core 225 96 16 7.2 Jakarta City 656 133 48 7.3 Source: Data source: Morichi STREAM S and Surya Study R Acharya compilation (2013) Transport Development in Asian Megacities: A New Perspective, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Kathmandu City 50.67 184 3.86 7.29 Data source KTM : Panta and Dangol, 2009.Consider Urban Dynamics! 16
Key Strategies 17 1. Coordination between land use and transport 2. Planning an integrated/hierarchical transport system 3. Investment for infrastructure and facilities 4. Promote Public transport, other sustainable modes 5. Institutional, regulatory reform and safety measures 6. Undertake both short-term and long-term measures
Strategies and Policy Measures Coordination between land-use and transport 18 Challenge: Weak planning control Opportunity: Evolving urban form Key policy measures 1. Post-earthquake reconstruction in Kathmandu Valley to be planned for better urban structure 2. Urban structure plan based on Transit Oriented Development (TOD) 3. Shaping urban form Planning control: difficult Infrastructure-led: Possible
Strategies and Policy Measures Planning an integrated/hierarchical transport system 19 Challenge: Haphazard urbanization Opportunity: New infrastructure investment Key policy measures 1. Recognizing role of different modes 2. Integrated/hierarchical public transport system Metro Rail High capacity buses Mini buses, tempo (para-transit) 3. Non-motorized modes (walk, bicycle)
Strategies and Policy Measures Investment for infrastructure and facilities 20 Challenge: Weak financial return, ROW constraint Opportunity: Higher economic return Key policy measures 1. Invest for Metro Rail in Kathmandu Q is not about if, it is about how many lines! Too costly? Delaying would be more costly! Let s mix up tech, activism and political issues Focus on relevant issues, Feeder FAR, densification etc 2. Expand roads, acquire ROW early Allocate space to pedestrian way, transfer facilities 3. Provision of high capacity buses 4. Provision of parking places
Rail transit with TOD (sub-center development) 22 For 200 Km Metro network, cost = US$ 14 b For a N-W 20 km line, cost = US$ 1 b Post Earthquake reconstruction and urban restructuring in Kathmandu should include TOD concept Kathmandu Metro Rail: Possible routes 21
Strategies and Policy Measures Promote Public Transport, Other Sustainable Modes 22 Challenge: Captive users, road cong, Motor cyl Opportunity: High mode share, high density Key policy measures 1. Introduce exclusive ROW (Metro, BRT, Bus lanes) 2. High quality PT vehicles, make service reliable 3. Better on-board services, AC, Wi-fi, smart card etc 4. Control/regulation on motorcycle use! 5. Promote env friendly vehicles including
Strategies and Policy Measures Institutional, regulatory reform and safety measures 23 Challenge: syndicate of large no of operators Opportunity: Readiness of all stakeholders Key policy measures 1. Introduce an efficient regulatory mechanism 2. Recognize public transport as an Essential Service and make provision of public subsidy (if necessary) 3. Mainstreaming safety measures in infrastructure building, service operation, and regulation
24 Strategies and Policy Measures Undertake both short-term and long-term measures Reactive policies Normally low-cost solutions Privatization, informal transp Ad-hoc, superficial, intuitive Long-term (-) Wrong policies Result of vested interest lobbying efforts, PPP etc Wrong deregulation, weak planning control Short-term (+) Short-term (-) Smart/strategic policies Planning, coordination, TOD Incentive-based policy/reg Control car, MC Might be unpopular Long-term (+) Pro-active policies May include high capital investment ROW acquisition, MRT Source: Author s sketch
Balanced regional development Urban structure Sumup Policy strategies/measures at different hierarchical levels of urban transport system for consistency and synergy Regional spatial development Urban form Transport System Integrated transport Private NMT, Public mode Transport Institution, financing, environment Density, land-use City-size distribution (balanced urbanization) 25 Acharya SR 2011, Institute for Transport Policy Studies, Tokyo
26 Thank you! suryaraj.acharya@gmail.com