PRODUCTIVE AND LIVEABLE CITIES GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFlFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC I N AFRICAN CITIES
hlarius de Langen Rustica Tembele
Version 1.3 - January 2001
d
A.A. BALKEMA PUBLISHERS
LISSE/ ABINGDON / EXTON(PA) / TOKYO
Background of the gitidelines
The text of these guidelines is based on the combination of studies and test findings obtained in pilot projects carried out in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Eldoret and Morogoro between 1995 and 2000, as part of the urban component of the World Bank Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Program (SSATP), financed by the Dutch Ministry of Development Cooperation (DGIS), and the joint professional knowledge and experience of the authors and the other members of the co-operating t e a m that carried out these pilot projects. The findings, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this study are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed in any manner to the World Bank, its affiliated organizations or representatives.
Liability
These guidelines have been compiled with care. However, the authors and contributors can not be held responsible for any positive or negative consequences of application of the methods, designs or recommendations in the guidelines, irrespective of whether such consequences result from errors in the guidelines or from misinterpretation by its user. Users of the guidelines are fully and solely responsible for their own use of it.
Versioiz 1.3 January 2001
These guidelines are an attempt to create the starting point for the establishment of a detailed and well tested set of traffic planning and road design methods and recommendations for urban pedestrian and bicycle traffic in Africa. They document a first set of tested findings, but do certainly not yet cover all urban road infrastructure planning and design situations in Africa that involve pedestrian and bicycle traffic. More field testing in more countries and cities in Africa and involving more experts is vital to arrive at a broader collection of proven planning methods, intervention menu’s and road designs. The authors intend to further develop the gr time, and invite all with a commitment to the subject to make a contribution to future versions.
Communications to:
[email protected] [email protected] IHE Delft P.O. Box 3015 M. de Langen 2601 DA Delft The Netherlands
University of Dar es Salaam P.O. Box 25131 T. Rwebangira Dar es Salaam Tanzania
Lay-out, typesetting and cover design: Peter Stroo Printed by: Krips, Meppel, The Netherlands Published by A.A. Balkema Publishers, a member of Swets & Zeitlinger Publishers P.O. Box 825, 2160 SZ Lisse, The Netherlands www.ba1kema.nl and www.szp.swets.nl 02001 Swets & Zeitiinger bv., Lisse, the Netherlands Authorization to copy i t e m fiom this publication for internal or personal non-cornniercial use is granted by the publisher without a fee. Permission to copy portions f o r classrooin use is granted through the Copyright Clearance Center; 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA at the applicable fee. ISBN 90 5809 198 8 (HB) ISBN 90 5809 199 6 (PB)
Table of Contents
Forewords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IX Acknowledgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XI xi11 Executivesummary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . INTRODUCTION
1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
2 About the guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7
3 Summary of findings and recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Is the urban mobility issue important? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Findings of the SSATP pilot projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13 13 20
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29
5 Characteristicsof urban pedestrian and bicycle traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 Pedestrian and bicycle traffic requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 Sufficient road reserves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
39 40 42
6 Urbanroadnetworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 Function. Shape and Use of roads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 Road categories and hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 Pedestrian and bicycle traffic: four requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4 Significant engineering aspects during the planning stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
45 45 46 52 55
7 Action plan for pedestrians and cyclists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1 Route determination and route inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2 Selection of interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
61 61 67
4 Urban mobility conditions and problems in Africa
PART 1
PLANNING METHODS
8 Urban Mobility Plan for pedestrian and bicycle traffic 8.1 SWOT of the urban transport system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2 Overview of existing land use and road infrastructure 8.3 Macro-analysis of the present mobility: transport system performance and costs . 77 8.4 Micro-analysis of the present mobility: understanding changes in travel behavior 83 8.5 Plan of User Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 8.6 Urban transport policy scenarios 89 8.7 Choice of mobility policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 8.8 Design of the future networ . 93 8.9 Choice of design standards 100
9 Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 104 9.1 Monitoring as an aid to improve existing roads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2 Monitoring as an aid to long-term transport policy preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 9.3 Forecasting and monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10 Appraisal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
113
115
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PART I1
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
IMPROVEMENTS ON EXISTING ROADS 11 Improvingexistingroads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
121
12 A menu of interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.1 Selection of an intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.2 Menu 1. Pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure . . . . . . . 12.3 Menu 2. Traffic calming on existing roads . . . . . . . . . .
125 125
13 Examples of interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 1 Unobstructed walkway . . . 137 2 Walkway improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 142 3 Pedestrian route network development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Walkway pavements . . . . . . . . . . . 146 ......................................... 150 5 NMT bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 6 NMT-only ro ....... 156 7 Raised zebra crossing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Painted zebra crossing without speed calming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 163 9 Speedhump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 10 Pedestrian crossing island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Road shoulder separation MT-NMT . . . . . . . . 170 12 Intersection corner realignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 13 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 14 Bus bays with raised pedestrian crossings 15 Road narrowing with bicycle slips . . . . . 16 Bicycle lane along collector road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 188 17 Bicycle track along urban corridor 18 Mixed NMT track along an urban corridor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 1 . . 195 19 Urban open space redevelopment to city pa . ,200 20 Bicycle route network planning and design 21 Learning from errors .......................................... 208 22 Aggregate effects of tr calming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 PART IT1
DESIGN CONCEPTS and RECOMMENDED URBAN ROAD DESIGNS 14 Design concepts
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nroads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.2 Mixing or separated MT and NMT? . . . . .................................... 14.3 Access roads 14.4 Collector roads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.5 Urban corridors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.6 Design philosophy for urban pedestrian ...............
15 Recommended designs for urban roads, with emphasis on the NMT elements
215 215 215 220 222 229 231
. . .239
16 Detailed design aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265 16.1 Basic design dimensions of NMT and MT . 265 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 16.2 Pedestrian walkway capacity 16.3 Bicycle track and bicycle lane ty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 16.4 Carts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.5 Section design details, walkways, bicycl 16.6 Intersection design details of walkways and bicycle lanes and tracks . . . . . . . . 287 . . . ,295 16.7 NMT-MT crossings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,299 16.8 Separations between NMT and MT lanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.9 Construction aspects ........................................... .303
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VII
17 User Participation in municipal programs to improve mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 17.7 17.8 17.9 17.10
User Participation in municipal programs to improve mobility. Why? Different forms of user involvement and participation . . . . . . . . . . . . User Groups: identification of problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 General User Platform: articulation and pnoritization of user needs Local User Platforms: planning and implementation of intervention Awareness raising and publicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319 User Association: management and maintena Issues in making user participation effective About methods of setting up a user platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328 About focus group discussions methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
18 Examples of User Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335 18.1 Why focus on urban mobility? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335 18.2 The role of professionals and of users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 18.3 Examples of user participation in NMT mobility improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . 338 18.4 Some lessons learned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 Case 1: Safe pedestrian crossing and traffic calming along Temeke Street . . . . 340 Case 2: NMT-only river crossing to create a good, direct NMT route . . . . . . . . 342 Case 3: Development of a public city park in a low-income area . . . . . . . . . . . 344
I Route inspection protocol 349 Table 1. Route problem analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 Table 2. Route inspection form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355 2 Addressing NMT-route problems through interventions in Use, Shape and Function . 357 3 Intervention report protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 4 Stakeholder analysis outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362 5 SWOT analysis outline . . 6 Participatory workshop methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Design workshop outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , 3 7 0 8 Work planning check-list 9 Household travel survey 10 Traffic counts . . . . . . . . 11 Speed measurement . . . . 12 Traffic conflict and accident observation 13 Unit costs of transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , 3 9 8 14 Other observations . . . . 15 Benefit-cost calculations 16 Focus group discussion protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .410
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Forewords
Urban transportation and mobility is a topic of major concern to many urban and road authorities, in developing countries and in developed counties. In the developing countries the mobility problems result from rapid and uncontrolled urbanization, confronting the roads with a traffic volume and mix that they were not designed for. This creates inefficient and congested traffic and many accidents. Due to the economic situation, walking and cycling are a major ingredient of urban transport. Not surprisingly, pedestrians and cyclists are the most affected by lack of mobility, and the road users most frequently injured or killed. Our endeavor should be to reduce, if not eliminate this calamity. Through interventions carried out in major cities and towns in East Africa, it has been demonstrated that unsafe and chaotic roads can be improved significantly with simple means, to provide better mobility and safe access to pedestrians and cyclists. We were glad that our city, Dar es Salaam, had the opportunity to make a contribution as one of the pilot cities. The secret behind this success is user participation, in particular that of the vulnerable road users, pedestrians and cyclists. They know where, how and what their problems are, can propose where interventions are required and, if listened to, develop a sense of ownership of the improvements. The guidelines that were developed out of these practical experiences will help to provide long awaited solutions to engineers and planners for upgrading the existing urban road networks, to improve the mobility and safety of their users. They will further assist when designing, to achieve environmentally balanced new road networks that are cost effective, socially acceptable and providing affordable mobility for all population groups. To all of us: let our motto be “mobility and safety for all road users” Chacha Mwitta commissioner for works, DSM city commission, 1996-2000 KBM is a household name in Temeke District and particularly in Ward 14. KBM, that is: Kutembea, Baiskeli na Mikokoteni which is the twin name for “Non Motorized Transport” (NMT). Before 1995, it was an unknown concept in Temeke. The Non Motorized Transport project whose major concern was to facilitate safe road use and better mobility for pedestrians and cyclists was an eye opener exercise to our communities. The NMT project focused on road safety mechanisms for the low-income section of our society, i.e. pedestrians, cyclists and cart operators who are the major victims to road accidents in Tanzania. In the first half of 1999 road accidents claimed 698 live and injured 5,866 persons. The death toll analysis showed: drivers (40), cyclists ( 9 3 , pedestrians (359, n.a./others (208). The injured list followed the same pattern. The NMT project came to rescue this situationtand the main ‘modus operandi’ was to involve the affected people, that is, the community participatory approach. The project was implemented by the local -municipal- government, calling upon the participation of engineers whose past record on road design had completely overlooked pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Through this project, NMT both as a concept and a road safety strategy has now entered into the engineers’ road design books in Tanzania! The NMT pilot projects that led to the publication of these guidelines have concentrated on finding ways to improve the mobility and safety of pedestrians and cyclists in our cities. In
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION I .3 - JAN 2001
my view, the guidelines present a new direction and a participatory approach that development projects can focus. I personally believe in the importance of participatory approaches and partnership in development. Project planners have to take note that, to every project there is a diversity of stakeholders who have to be involved in every stage of the project: decision making, implementation and evaluation stages. This is what KBM has done, hence setting the pace for others to emulate. I therefore welcome these guidelines. I commend the Non Motorized Transport teams who have in practice pioneered and documented participatory approaches for our mnnicioalities. They have done a commendable task. It can be done, let us all play our part. Capt. J. Z. Chiligati District Commissioner Temeke People’s attitude to cycling is often very one-sided: it’s all right for recreation, but useless as far as the economy is concerned. At the World Bank I have tried hard to change this wrong attitude. After joining the board in 1990, my agenda was mainstreaming of poverty reduction strategies; by screening and adjusting every sectoral or thematic policy to maximise its impact on poverty reduction. This also applied to the transport sector, which until then had focused niainly on building highways. But the poor don’t own cars; they walk or travel by bike, or in crowded (mini)buses, and some use handcarts or donkeys. The initial reaction was: this is a Dutch aberration - until I managed to mobilise several colleagues. Whenever the Board discussed transport projects I made a point of asking whether non-motorised transport had been considered. It resulted in a few projects, in Lima and Santiago, and in particular in the Sub Saharan Africa Transport Program, from 1992 onwards. Thanks to Dutch pressure and cofinancing it included four pilot projects for improving non-motorised transport in Africa. We invested seven million guilders in it. The results are very promising, as the pilot studies in Kenya and Tanzania presented in this interesting book clearly demonstrate. They point to two important conclusions. Firstly, it is vital for local people to take the initiative. Secondly, user participation is essential. If there are no cyclists, there is no point in laying cycle tracks in the hope that they will then appear. Ownership is a key concept. You cannot create a pro-cycling or pro-walking policy simply by from the outside financing small projects here and there. A strong focus on non-motorised transport -cycling, and more especially walking- can really help solve transport problems in African cities. Mobility in African cities has been in 1 downward spiral for forty years. Roads have become steadily more congested, distances greater, and prices higher. Travelling times have rocketed. Pollution has worsened. And safety has declined dramatically. In many cities half, in some up to two thirds, of all journeys are made by non-motorised transport, yet it receives hardly any attention from the planners. There are many arguments for giving cyclists and pedestrians more space. The guidelines for productive and livable cities mention several. Cycling and walking are by far the lowest cost way of travelling short distances. They take up less space. They are safe for others cyclists and pedestrians are too often in danger of their lives. Cycling and walking do not cause pollution. And they are affordable means of transport for the poor. As a Minister for Development Cooperation, for me this last point is by far the most important. It is essential to include cycling and walking in a pro-poor transport policy (this should not be mis-understood as saying that those are just for the poor - on the contrary, walking and cycling are efficient, equitable, non-polluting modes of urban transport for all walks of life). Failure to do so in the past has literally driven the poor off the roads and marginalized them. I hope this book will help in reversing transport policies. Eveline Herfkens Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation
Acknowledgment
The studies on which these guidelines are based were carried out by a group of cooperating teams, and involved many persons. All made significant contributions and are as such, coauthors. The contributors: Mrs: Rustica Tembele (social scientist; pilot team leader Temeke), Asteria Mlanibo (planner), Marileen Moshi (social scientist) (all Tanzania), Joyce Malombe (social scientist, Kenya, to 97), Barbara Kipke (mobility consultant, Germany), Maria Muller (social scientist, the Netherlands), Mieke van Ede (psychologist, the Netherlands). Mr: The0 Rwebangira (engineer; team leader Tanzania national team), Julius Mosi (transport manager), George Sainbali (engineer), Justin Nguina (sociologist), Idi Kisisa (engineer), Enock Kitandu (engineer, from 98), Emanuel Kalobelo (engineer; pilot team leader Morogoro), Daniel Ditenya (community worker), Salehe Kamnge (planner, from 97), Mohammed Mukupete (planner, to 97), Alex Mutasigwa (engineer, to 97) (all Tanzania), Tom Opiyo (engineer; national team leader Kenya, from 96), George Wagwa (engineer, from 97), Solomon Gatchewa (planner), Amos Onyango (engineer; pilot team leader Nairobi), Wyllice Agai (engineer), Samuel Buluma (engineer; pilot team leader Eldoret, to 97), David Kipsang (engineer, from 97), Leonard Mulungo (planner), Wyllie Songon (community worker), Mairura Omwenga (engineer; team leader Kenya national team up to 96), Samuel Obiero (planner, to 97), (all Kenya), Marius de Langen (planner, transport economist, overall team coordinator), Jan Koster (engineer), Wim Mulder (engineer), AndrC Pettinga (engineer), Wim van der Kerkhof (engineer) (all the Netherlands). The contribution of supporting staff not mentioned above is also highly valued. Chapters 1-16 were written by Marius de Langen, chapters 17 and 18 (user participation) by Rustica Tembele, with contributions from Asteria Mlambo and Maria Muller. The designs in chapter 15 have been drawn by Grontmij engineering, Eindhoven, NL. The work that in the end enabled us to compile these guidelines started six year ago, and has known many ups and downs. However, all along it has been challenging and rewarding for us to work together in such a diverse team of people, all from different perspectives committed to making a positive contribution to urban development in Africa - which has to cope with such formidable constraints. We owe thanks to many people outside the team for their support, encouragement and contributions. In the first place this concerns a large number of inhabitants of Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Eldoret and Nairobi that cooperated in user platforms or otherwise, and municipal government staff in these cities. Secondly, there was a highly appreciated cooperation with people at the national level in Tanzania and Kenya, in the World Bank and in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS), which funded the work. Finally, the support of our family members contributed an indispensable force. Marius de Langen
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Executive Summary
Rockp,errd
01. Pilot projects on urban mobility and non-motorized transporl (NMT) were carried a s part o f the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Program (SSATP) of the World Rant. in D e r cs Salaem. Nairobi, Morogoro and Eldoret hetween 19% and 1999. These guidelines are their output. The pilot project approach was characterized by integration bclwcen road engineering, urhan planning, and user participation; and hetween and requirements of N M T and o f inntonzed transport. I t s activities included: monitoring - as the hasis for problem recognition and quanlilication-. planning, design, implementation of test mtervcntions and inonitoring fbr verification 01effects. The targets werc: * Identify pedestrian and bicycle policies that increase urhan mobility and inakc il m i r e affordable. Develop proper methods to plan. and interventions to implenient such policies. Document the costs and benefits of these intcrvenlions and policies. * Determine whether NMT designs in Afi-ican cities require specific standards
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U r h m mohiliry
02. Urban transport problems cannot he "solved". Over the last two dccades they liiive only grown, and there i s no evidence to suggest that this process will not continue. This i s not unique for Africa: Europe, the America's and Asia face the same reality. I n Africa. t n reduce some of the most acute mohility crisis effects and to prevent an unchecked further growth olurhan mobility and accessibility problems is a formidahle task. To de:il with it. long-lemi organizational and financial commitment i s needed. To trmslate such commitment into improvements that are i n practice felt by the average low-income inhabiltmt. hoth innovative short-term imprOvCmCn1programs Tor existing roads and NMT iicccss prnvision i n unplanned areas are needed i n l i r s l place. However. these should be embedded i n ;Icleiu long-tcriti strategy for low-cost urban mobility.
Chollen,ser and
03. The existence of severe problems i s not at all negative for policy makers. I t crciites big challenges and chances lo do important problem solving things. Careful comparison nf transport conditions hctween a large numher of cilies makes i t clear lhiit hig differences exist hetween those cities, thxt cannot he explained as the effect of differences in cxternal conditions, hut arc clearly the effect ofthe quality o f the policies and of the policy makers thal were i n charge oTthnse cities. Moreover. because the traffic i s so visible and so much part ofeveryone's daily experience, it is i n many cities a politically highly important issue. I t has a big influence on hnw the city inhabifants judge the quality ofpolicies and of policy makers in their city. Very good opportunities exist to develop and implement urhnn mobility policies in Africa that will have a highly visible and positive efl'ect. These guidelines attempt to outline the "what and how" of such policies for pedestrian and bicycle traffic (NMT).
chmcer
Condirions ($,fvrban rrmnl in A f i i n
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04. Generally, most or all of the following conditions apply: Pedestrians dominate the road rescwes. walking, trading. meeting; or playing.
* Half or more o f a11 urban trips are entirely on hot. Most other trips use public transport and also involve considerable walking. * The use o f the roads, by cam.buses, pedestrians. bicycles, is chaotic and dangerous. * Drivers often show minimal respect for other road users. * Enforcement of traffic NICS and regulations i s minimal. * U p to 10x more personkin's are traveled per m of road per day than i n Europe or US.
Pmblenzs
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05. Generally, the following problems exist at city level: Agradual breakdown o f mobility and accessibility. This triggers economic stagnation and high direct and indirect transport cost^.
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Trip distances increiise steadily. due in strong population growth and insuficient economic activity outside the city center. Travel costs and time grow correspondingly. Hieh nunihers oftraflic accidents and increasingly scvcre pollution.
06. Generally. most transport users face the Ibllnwing prohlems: * High and often unaffordahle costs o f urban travel. xnd as L: rcsult: * Severely suppressed mnhility and low econumic und social pirticipation. * Expenditure or a too high proportion of household income and time on d;iily travel. Poor access i n kuge parts of the city. and ii general lack o f w.nlking :ind cycline rnutes. * Outdoor insecurity. i n particular after dark. * Poor road pavements. Most access (racks and walkways liave no pavement.
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!XT;OII ond i i i i r i r r ~ i t r
07. In order to create economically emcient. cost-eflective and safe transport for all inhiihitants o f African cities, priorities lhave to he reconsidered. Although tc~hnical knowledge o f how that can he done i s imponant. tlie decisive factors ;Ire the vision of the key decision makers and their initiative to plan and implenienr changes. Thc challenge nf urhan transport policies for Africa i s to achieve a much hctter level ofgenerd mohility and accessihility. at a much lower cnst. T h e urhan mohility policy rarget ml~rthe cost reduction. The effect o f the policy must he that a significantly lower percentage of thc city product is spent on tra~isport.One can complre the task ahead with that of restructuring a large company of which the profitahility and continuity have come under threat. Such restructuring has two sides: increasing the sales of the company's product. and rcducing the cost of production. A l l successful large companies Ihave. during tlicir lifetime. gone thn~iigli several severe production cost reduction programs. African cities need to do tlie siime with their transport system.
Riwplion q l u r l w 08. An important hurdle is the perception of pedestrian and hicycle mobility i n African ,riohili~p,r~hl~~~.,rr,r cities by many political leaders, decision makers. and opinion leaders. A hetter understanding is needed of i t s role in enhancinp a mnre eftirient urhm economy and a city that i s less liostilc to most of i i s inhahit;mts. At this moment. much hetter pedestrian and hicycle mobility i s the transport option that
can create a win-win coalition hetween improved economic productivity. social coherence and an improved physical environment. Hence the general titlc of these guidelines for pedestrian and hicycle trafic in African cities. Productivity and liwhility of African cities depends on many F~ctors.Mohility i s only one of them. However. i t i s ii factor with far reaching effects on economic costs and productivity. on the possihility for the average inhahitant to maintain an effective network of social contacts. and on tlie environmental quality of the city.
09. The large majority of all cilies in Africa has a low per cap it;^ income (city product). Urhan transport systems of a high-income city type. based on privaie car traffic and relatively expensive puhlic transport, cannot provide for the mohility necds of their population. Such systems are financially nut of reach. Lack nf recngnition o1 this economic reality has oftcn resulted in a focus on roads and pavcment quality fur motor vehicles. However. this fails to provide most inhnhitants with the minimum level o f mobility that i s required fnr their proper economic and social participation. Instead. i t imposes long travel times and expenditure Tor transport of up to 30%'of income on low-incomc hnuseholrls. And the traftic accident toll and environmental deprndntion toll are high. Even tlie small highincome group that can afford a car faces incrcaing accessihility prohlcms. Building the economy o f African cities requires adequate mobility tit an offord;ihle cost. Perieso.ian~,undri",~ Ill. Pedestrian traffic i s tlie backbone of inohility in cities in Africa. More 1h;m cities i n any other part of thc world. African cities are pedestrian cities. This rhuuld not he interpreted negatively. On the contrary: some of the most attractive pmis of high-income cities are their most pedestrianized parts. And a l a g e numher of cities i n high-income countries h i v e heen and are facing economic depression precisely hecause they are so unattractive to live in, The most innovalive and most likely to succeed urhan transport policy for African cities now could well he to take the pedestrian traffic as the staning point. First improve the
xv
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
efficiency and safety of the pedestrian route network, and influence the distribution of activities over the urban area to match this accessibility fundament as much as possible.
Then, the other modes of transport should in theory be prioritized in rank of highest performancelcost ratio (lowest total unit cost per passengerkm -taking into account financial, time and indirect costs). That ranking is: 1. bicycle (22 US$ cenVpasengerkm) 2. bus (+ 4 US$ cenUpassengeerh1) The private car is a high-cost mode (+30 cVpasskm). The motorcycle is medium cost. but with high indirect costs of traftic accidents, air pollution and noise.
In practice, the much higher current market share of (mini)buses makes it in most cities sensible to prioritize enhancing more efficient public transport first. However, one should realize that for many travelers a bicycle is faster and much more economical for all trips of up to 8 km long. Good ,coeernance
11. The reduction in total cost of urban transport that must be achieved has to come kom the combination of an increase of the amount spent on road infrastructure and its management and maintenance. and a much larger decrease in the direct, indirect and time costs of traveling that this creates. It is clear that this poses a difficult governance pmhlem. The municipal government controls the infrastructure, and has to invest more on its side, but it does not control the operational side, nor does it directly benefit from operational cost savings. Moreover: investmenls in urb‘an motorways and ring roads, of which financing from toll charges could still be considered, invariably trigger an increase in total costs of transport. because of the longer distance car traffic that they generate. Formulating and implementing transport policies that reduce costs is the challenge of good urban governance, and the vital contribution that decision makers can make.
S.yneq? with recognized high prioriq isrues
12. Enhancing adequate pedestrian and bicycle traffic in a city is not an isolated subject. but can and should be addressed in combination with the following “agendas“: * Employment generation and economic recovery Public health improvement (drainage in particulnr) * Environmental quality improvement (air quality. noise, trees) Traffic safety * A more independent role of women (stimulated by low-cost and socially safe mobility)
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E,,Zppl”VlW~l
generarim profirms
Deckion muking
13. There is an important macro-economic effect of the two infrastructure improvement menus mentioned in para 15 below. in particular that for NMT access infrastructure. This is the employment generation effect of the works. Government financed infrasmcture programs are a well known economic policy instrument against recession (e.g. in the US and Europe in the 1930s. Japan in the 90s. RSA’s Mandela government after 1995). Their applicability and success depends strongly on the local conditions. Their popularity among leading economic advisors varies. Some advise against this type of policy. because it has a strong internal market orientation. However, there is an increming recognition that for Africa such policies are one of the essential ingredients of efforts to reverse the current stagnation. 14. Senior decision makers will usually not themselves be involved in planning. design and implementation of road improvement and traftic management schemes. Yet. they need a good understanding of the mobility problems that their cities face. and of how these can be addressed. Unfortunately. the group deciding on urban transport infrastructure investments in African cities is more diverse and much less firmly rooted in the cities themselves than in other pans of the world. A better balance is needed three-fold * between decisions made inside the city and decisions made outside it. between decisions made by public authorities and by the urban communities concerned (the users). between priority attached to the interests of car traffic (high-income) and to the interests of pedestrian. bicycle and bus traftic (the large low-income majority).
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XVI
SSATPpilor pmjecrs
se,ierolfindings
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE m m c IN AFFXA~' CITIES.VERSION 1.3 JAN Z W I
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15. General findings of the pilot projects: Two straightfonvard menus exist for improving pedestrian and bicycle mobility. The interventions on these menus have a high benefit/cost ratio and create a strong reduction in pedestrian and bicycle traffic accidents. A reduction with an order of magnitude appears to be possible. Applied in an entire city, they will significantly improve the efficiency of 311 traffic, motor vehicle tr.afk included. They are: Intervention menu 1: pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure (chapters 3.2 and 12). Intervention menu 2: traffic calming (chapters 3.2 and 12). In medium-size cities. cycling provides a high mobility to its users at low cost. 9 Development and implementation of effective mobility policies and interventions, that properly reflect the local priorities. by a permanent full-time municipal staff team is feasible. if the conditions for success are created and controlled. Municipal governments require a process of several years of hands-on training to achieve this. * Where conditions for its success are met. user participation creates a sound public opinion platform. and a positive publiclprivate partnership. Although risks of abuse of user participation for hidden agendas exist, these can be controlled successfully. * Specific African urban road design standards including NMT must be established and used.
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Urban ~ c l i r i n
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16. Urban cycling findings: In medium-size cities, cycling is viable and can provide an attractive mode of urban travel. To make its potential benefits materialize. the main challenge is to maintain traffic safety, to improve the network of cycling routes and 10 enhance affordability of bicycles and cycling by women. * In big cities, cycling is in general not possible now without raking a severe accident risk. To enable cycling in these cities, large scale traffic calming programs are required first of all. and secondly: large scale improvement of access roads and tracks to NMT standards. The provision of separated bicycle tracks along large traffic anerials is a wrong starting point for an urban cycling policy. Cycling has a long-term potential to increase the mobility of women drastically. * Bicycle promotion in the absence of a bicycle safety program, that is actively and successfully implemented, is advised against in cities where now the bicycle traffic accident hazards are high. The affordability of bicycles can be improved effectively by a bicycle price reduction policy. This policy can consist of a complete tax exemption (import duty. VAT, bicycle tax) and targeted bicycle purchase subsidies for special groups (e.g. women). Attempts that were undertaken in the pilot project to establish bicycle credit schemes were all unsuccessful, indicating that under the present conditions in the pilot cities micro loans for bicycles are not an attractive option.
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Userporriciparinn
17. User panicipation findings: Requiremenrs Mutual m s t benveen community and government * Open user platform membership. Early implementation of the first intervention. * Specific (localized). and focusing on doing things (concrete interventions). No affiliation with political parties. * No personal financial benefits. Benefifs rlrar can be creared More transparency in identifying problems More equity in deciding on priorities. More financial accountability, and hence: better value for money. * Optimism and pride (something can be done). In some cases: direct community share in financing (tax by-pass, avoid double tax!). Forces rhar morivare rn upriqhf paniciparion Traffic accidents, high risk of accidents. * Bad access in residential areas (or seasonal inaccessibility). * A high percentage of family income being spent on transpon Security hazards of hips after dark.
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EXECllTlVE SUMMARY
XVll
Urban t r a ~ p ~policies rt in Africa Figure 1 Transport costs in cities in Africa, per trip
Low-cos1 urban rrairl policies The m w s in figure 2 indicate what policies are available to reduce the costs of urban transport for the a\,erage vaveler in an African city: 1. Increase the speed. directness and safety of pedestrian traffic. This primarily requires: proper access walkways. exua NMT-only route links to avoid detours. and separate walkways and frequent crossings along aJ1 important MT roads. 2. Enable the safe use of a bicycle for longer distance trips. If the traffic situation does not allow to cycle a large number of km per year. the bicycle is not attractive as a low-cost transport solution; if a large number of Vips can be made safely, the bicycle is a very attractive option.
3. Reduce the trip distance of the most imponant daily trips.
5
lripdistancc 10 knl
Unir cosr per mode of rranspon Figure I shows the approximate unit costs of uansport for the traveler. The costs shown are the sum of the financial costs (shoes. bus ticket, car, bicycle) and the time costs. The value of time assumed for the calculation is low: 50% of the lowest hourly urban wage in East Africa. In most cities. bus means mainly minibus or shared taxi Annual COSI of urban I ~ S P O R perperson , Figure 2 shows the approximate total expenditure of a person on urban travel in a city in Africa. assuming that s h e would use the same mode of transport for all trips. The car has been left out, as irrelevant for the mobility of the large majority of the population. The lines indicatc that for the average trip panem. walking and bus have roughly the same cost. It should be added that the value of time is not he same far every person. For example the value of time of those that have no productivity is almost nil (children. idle young adults. old people), so for them walking is always much cheaper than a bus. Thecost line for cycling has an interesting shape: very flat. The reason is that the vehicle cos& are largely fixed capital cost; the operational costs are low because no fuel is required. Cycling more kilometers therefore by-andlarge only costs the time involved,
4. Reduce the cost of bus Uanspon for the passengers. Such a reduction has two components. First: price compelition to reduce the profit margins of the operators, which in many cities are currently high; this price competition has to come from making the competing modes, walking and cycling, more attractive and less expensive (in paiicular: faster and with a lower accident cost risk). Secondly: an increase in bus operation efficiency - i.e. a decrease in cost per passengerkm - by more efficient passenger loadinglunloading (bus bays) and a more efficient traffic flow.
Figure 2 Transport COSIS in cities in Africa, per year
I
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bicycle
v 3.000 6.000 distance wveled per year M)
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Introduction
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Chapter I
Background
Content These guidelines focus on urban pedestrian traffic and bicycle traffic. They also deal with conflicts and common interests between pedestrian and bicycle traffic and other traffic, in particular public transport (bus) and car trait. By necessity, their re~ommendations include the motor vehicle carriageway as well. It is not possible to make sound urban road designs for one category of traffic without integrating those properly with the facilities required for all other types of traffic. It is precisely the one-sided focus on motor vehicle traffic that has created the present highly inefficient and unsafe traffic conditions in African cities. We hope that the ideas and recommendations in the guidelines will put pedestrian and bicycle traffic in African cities “on the map”, and have a stimulating effect on their development. The Worldbank Sub-SaharanAfrica Transport Program Pilot projects on urban mobility and non-motorized transport were taken up in Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Morogoro and Eldoret in 1995. They were a follow-up to a series of studies of urban mobility and non-motorized transport that were undertaken in the World Bank‘s Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP), during 1993194. Those studies, presented at a seminar in Nairobi (with papers from Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and Kenya), confirmed that walking and - in some cities - cycling are a very important ingredient of urban transportation in Africa, typically 50% or more of all trips, and require adequate policies and facilities. In all cities that were analyzed in the initial studies, such adequate facilities were largely or totally lacking, and current urban road design practices did not take them into account.
Pilot projects The best way to explore instruments that enhance efficient walking and cycling in African cities was deemed to be testing possible instruments in practice in pilot cities, and monitoring the findings. Four cities were chosen: Dar es Salaam and Morogoro (Tanzania), Nairobi and Eldoret (Kenya). The reason for this choice was to be able to compare two large cities and two medium-sized cities, as well as cities with different levels of cycling. Morogoro has a 20% modal share of cycling (more than buses and private cars together), Eldoret 10%,Dar es Salaam 3% and Nairobi 1%. The testing process in pilot cities simultaneously addressed: Engineering and planning User participation, as a way to articulate the priorities of the majority of the population Organization of urban road infrastructure planning, construction and maintenance
4
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIANAND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRfCAN CITIES, VERSION I .3 - JAN 2001
The targets of the pilot projects were: * Identify implementable policies and interventions to increase the positive contribution that urban walking and cycling can make to efficient and affordable urban mobility. * Find a feasible model of planning, implementing and maintaining such policies and interventions at the municipal level; with priorities that reflect the broad general public interests, including those of the large low-income majority of the urban population. * Document the costs and benefits of those interventions and policies. Determine whether walking and cycling policies and interventions in cities in Africa require substantially different approaches, or could, with some adaptation to local conditions, use the current European or North American design standards and practice.
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The conclusion that urban road planning and design in Africa requires specific guidelines that thoroughly reflect the urban and socio-economic conditions of the African continent. has led to the preparation of these guidelines. Aim of the guidelines
The guidefines aim at providing urban planners and engineers with a coniprehensive set of working methods and design recommendations. These should enable them to prepare: * Road upgrading (spot-) interventions that enhance safe and efficient pedestrian and bicycle traffic; * Urban road rehabilitation and new construction plans and designs, in which the requirements and interests of pedestrians, cyclists, bus passengers and car passengers are all taken into account in a proper manner. The executive summary and the introduction are meant as an overview, and to highlight the importance of good facilities for pedestrians and cyclists. The planning and design parts aim at providing methods and ideas that can contribute to (i) making urban roads safer, more efficient and more attractive for pedestrians and cyclists; (ii) the planning and design of coherent urban pedestrian and bicycle networks, and the selection of urban road designs that enhance an economically and environmentally sound urban development, and by doing so: (iii) increasing the mobility of the tow-income majority of the population and reducing their spending on urban transport, by significantly improving the lowest-cost modes of transport. The section on user participation aims at communicating a number of practical methods, and lessons learned concerning user participation in the field of urban mobility. Discussion and Feedback
An important purpose of these guidelines is to trigger feedback from those with experience with urban roads and traffic in low-income cities. With the same purpose, elements of the guidelines were published earlier during 1997, 1998 and 1999 in conferences: Tanzanian Roads Association (Dares Salaam, Sept 97, two papers). VeloA~istralis(Perth, Oct 97, three papers). the Worldbank Transport Forum (Wash DC, April 98, one paper), the World Conference on Transportation Research (Antwerp, July 98, four papers), CODATU VIII (Capetown, Sept 98, five papers), the 78-th TRB annual meeting (Washington, Jan 99, four papers), CODATU IX (Mexico, April 2000, two papers). The findings and recommendations have also been presented and discussed in national seminars in Tanzania (Sept 1997 and Dec 1998) and Kenya (Oct 1997). The s~muiatingreactions and comments received on the papers and during discussions have been an important factor in the decision to shape the guidelines the way they are now presented. Without being able to mention all persons involved, we gratefully acknowledge the value of their comments. We hope that the exchange of ideas will continue with this version 1.3 of the guidelines. Verification
In June 2000, a three day expert group meeting was organized by IHE on behalf of Veloniondial2000 (of which it was a part) and the Worldbank, funded by DGIS. One of the purposes of the meeting, gathering around 80 senior experts and policy makers in the fieid, half of them from Africa, was to verify the relevance and validity of the methods,
CHAPTER 1
BACKGROUND
5
intervention menus and design recommendations contained in version 1.2 of these guidelines. The conclusion was arrived at that the experiences arid recommendations reported are relevant and valid, and deserve dissemination. With of course the ramifications given on the cover page and page 2, and underlining that this is a starting point rather than a set of final methods and reco~iiinendations. Vision and initiative Visiorz
The most important asset that is required to create a positive urban environment is a vision of what such an environnient should look like, and the commitinent and confidence to take the necessary initiatives that must and can be taken to slowly make that vision become a reality, step by step. The hidden agenda of these guidelines is to provide information and ideas that make a c o n ~ i b u ~ i oton the formulation of promising urban development visions, and of methods that facilitate taking feasible initiatives. The ai-ticulation of a clear vision on the desired urban development and on the role of the transport system in that development will probably reveal significant conflicts of interest between different groups or categories of people (st~eliolders).Transport policies that are seen as desirable by some may be seen as undesirable by others. Examples of sometimes disputed urban transport policies are: pedestrianizing parts of city centers, sub-centers or residential neighborhoods; prioritizing public transport vehicles in traffic jams; or creating safe traffic conditions for cycling. Therefore, a broad-based debate is required. The clash of interests and opinions in such a debate will usually make things clearer and lead to the formulation of policies and possible actions to improve the city that can be supported by a broad majority of inhabitants and a coalition of interest groups. Having a vision does not automatically lead to having the influence to take effective initiatives to implement policies and interventions. However, where a strong vision exists, shared by many people, the process of struggling towards implementing it is a valuable process in its own right, and produces positive results.
6zitirrtive
The success of planning efforts lies in their ability to inspire, and to trigger initiatives. The inevitable conclusion at the end of the pilot projects is that, although good technical knowledge and understanding is important, and a~thoughexamples are very useful to demonstrate to skeptics that straightforward interventions can create significant positive impacts, none of those are a substitute for vision and initiative. Without vision and initiative of at least a nucleus of positive, committed persons it is not possible to create much improvement in the urban mobility conditions of our African cities. To begin the introduction to these guidelines with a paragraph about qualities that one can neither plan nor design for may seem to be contradictory. The reason to do it, is to underline that the final success of planners, designers and others involved in the process does not primarily depend on the technical quality of the reports that they produce, but on the quality of the vision and of the initiatives that they generate. Visions in the minds of professionals, but equally and more importantly. in the minds of political leaders, of coniinunities and private parties (“users”, “stakeholders”) and of government staff.
A lesson /errnzed
The above is not new, and not theoretical. It is a lessons learned. In all pilot project towns, the achievements depended directly on the amount of initiative, of the users and stakeholders as well as of the professionals involved. A few examples: * Using the opportunity created by the bicycle proniotion cai-ried out in Morogoro, the bicycle-hire operators themselves took important initiatives, such as the establishment of an association; and successful innovations were undertaken, such as the introduction of ladies bicycles for female clients. * The most successful activities concerning pedestrian routes and public open spaces were those where user platforms were active over a significant period of time, one or two years, and took initiatives (e.g. Yombo NMT bridges, Mwembe Ladu open space, see chapter 13). * Newly constructed raised zebra crossings initially led to severe complaints by car drivers, that demanded to demolish the crossings immediately. The defense by the community
6
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
members in the area, that had been involved in the planning and implementation, prevented that the highest municipal authorities yielded to the complaints. The resolution of the conflict came from (i) small changes in the design, making it less uncomfortable for car drivers, but not less effective, and (ii) after some time: the almost complete disappearance of traffic accidents on the road concerned. The increased safety was experienced and appreciated by all parties. It became understood that what was initially seen as a conflict of interests was in fact a common problem, and that addressing that problem had created a win-win outcome.
Chapter 2
About the guidelines
Intended users of the guidelines Engineers, project managers, planners, UP iniplernenters
The guidelines have been written for those involved in planning, designing, managing and improving urban roads and traffic in Africa as a municipal or national government staff member, as a committed stakeholder or as a consultant.
Decision makers
The executive summary and the introduction (chapters 1-4) have been written primarily for another group: senior decision makers involved in transport policy and urban road infrastructure investment decisions. The executive summary and chapters 3 and 4 highlight the most important considerations concerning pedestrian and bicycle traffic, that should be an integral part of decision making on urban transport policies and urban road infrastructure investment priorities.
Planning and design philosophy
The guidelines have in the first place been written for engineers and planners that are actively involved in urban transport in Africa. However, by adding sometimes detailed nontechnical explanations, and including an overview of the planning process and a large number of examples, it equally aims at being valuable for social scientists, economists and non-professionals(/non-government stakeholders) that have a task, interest in, or commitment to the subject of urban mobility and transport. Easy access of this second group to the relevant planning and design information can in fact give the subject a new impulse. Broadening the discussion from a purely technical one in engineering circles to an inter-disciplinary one, which is also open to participation by users, is of vital importance for innovation. However, such a broader discussion requires a level playing field, where professional technical knowledge is not used as a weapon to impose one’s views, but as neutral tool that can be jointly used by all concerned. The guidelines hope to contribute to the adoption of this type of a planning and design philosophy.
Balanced decision making
The group involved in decision making about urban transport infrastructure investments in African cities is more diverse and much less firmly rooted in the city at hand than it is in other parts of the world. The decisions were often in the hands of national and international decision makers with a limited knowledge of the city Concerned and an incidental rather than long-term involvement. This partly explains why the mobility problems of the large cities have become so big. This observation is not a criticism. The role that “outsiders” play(ed) has often been triggered by a low level of vision, initiative, managerial and professional skill and financing capacity at the municipal level, and was often wellintended. And, well-managed diversity can also have a positive effect. However, a more balanced process of decision making is urgently required to find a way to re-establish better and also more equitable mobility conditions for the city inhabitants. A better balance is needed three-fold: (i) between decisions made inside the city and decisions made outside, (ii) between decisions made by public authorities and by the urban communities concerned (the users), and (iii) between prioritizing the interests of motorized(car) traffic (highincome) and the interests of pedestrian and bicycle traffic (the large low-income majority).
Perception of urban mobility problems
The most important bottlenecks for more NMT inclusive urban transport polices in Africa are not technical. The main bottleneck is the negative “image” of pedestrian and bicycle mobility in the minds of decision makers. These guidelines aim at contributing to a change in that image: by demonstrating that this is a professionally mature and in no way technologically backward subject, 9
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES. VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
8
* by showing a range of successfully tested NMT iiifrastrLict~ireand traffic calming interventions, * by showing that these interventions usually also have positive side effects for the other modes of transport. and * by providing decision makers with comprehensive guidelines that they can let their staff use to get started in this field.
The approach adopted in the guidelines To find durable urban transport policies and to identify interventions that can bring both immediate and long-term improvements requires going through the entire process o f
A complefe overview
1
monitoring (as the basis for problem recognition nrzd quunl$cation)
planning design
I
iinplenient~ti~n monitoring lfor ver$cation of effects arid coizrinued problem qunntificniiorz)
I
At first sight this may seem a long and complex process. However, once a municipal or national government agency has developed the skills and experience that are needed to go through this process successfully once, the second time will be much faster, and thereafter routine will develop. Once a good urban traffic planning and engineering unit exists, it will turn out that this leads to much better and faster formulation and designing of proper interventions, and that addressing the transport problems of the city improves signi~cantly compared to the earlier efforts. An isolated case-by-case approach is often defended by time pressure, a limited budget, or the argument that something is better than nothing. However, later judgment often proves this approach wrong. Many examples exist where its effects were negative rather than positive. For example, in a recent case related to the pilot project in Morogoro, thoughtIess road 1-ehabili~tionresulted in costs of increased traffic accidents that were higher than the benefits from reduced travel time and vehicle operation costs (reference: chapter 13.21). Or, in case of bicycle promotion, negative bicycle-image effects can easily be created by constructing dedicated bicycle tracks in non-cycling cities, that turn out to be unsuccessful. Sfurt iiiiproviizg existing roads
It i s vital to concentrate on improving existing roads first. In the often rapidly expanding cities, new roads are of course needed. However, new roads will only give real value for money if they can be linked to an efficient existing network. The guidelines provide ideas and methods that facilitate gaining control over the entire process of improving existing roads as well as designing new ones in such a way that they also serve pedestrians and cyclists well. It has sections on immediate interventions (chapter 7 and chapters 11,12,13),as well as sections on the development of long-term policies and urban road infrastructure networks (chapters 8,9,14,15 and 16). It focuses on pedestrian and bicycle traffic, but with a strong accent on the relation between those two modes and motorized transport.
Tlzese guidelines There are a number of differences in approach between these guidelines and standard urban compared to stnixlurcl transport planning. The standard approach is travel demand modeling. Who makes trips and ???i?r8od.s how many? (trip generation), from what origin to what destination are those trips made? (trip distribution), by what mode of transport is the trip made? (modal split) and how are
CHAEER 2
ABOUT THE GUIDELINES
9
the routes of those trips chosen on the road network of the city? (trip assignment). In practice, the complete method is not often used, not in cities in high-income countries and certainly not in African cities, for two reasons. First of all there are a number of serious criticisms concerning the reliability of longerterm forecasts that are made with the method. Therefore, traffic growth oriented approaches are often preferred, whereby policies are determined by the growth of traffic, the actual and desired modal split developments over time, and de-bottlenecking of the existing road ~nfrastructure.Secondly, the costs involved, and the study time required for a good travel demand study are significant, the approach is technocratic and unless used with great care, difficult to integrate with genuine user participation. The approach chosen in these guidelines uses the basic travel demand step (measuring trip generation, trip origins and destinations, and modal choice by means of a household survey), but uses a different approach from there onwards. The seven reasons for choosing this different approach are explained below. These guidelines focus on pedestrian- and bicycle traffic, route networks and facilities. However, the same approach can be applied with a focus on e.g. public transport.
1. Total costs. The cost aspect of urban travel is of primary importance in African cities, and must be clarified right from the start of the planning process. In the standard urban transport planning approach, costs are usually dealt with in the final stage of decision making only, in most cases limited to a comparison between the costs of investment in different road construction packages. However, the cost of road infrastructure, although high, is always small compared to the total cost of making the trips. Yet, in conventional urban transport planning the total cost of urban transport is often not even calculated, and not considered in decision making about what the most desirable urban transport policies would be. It should be noted that total costs can be defined in such a manner that they include environmental costs and the economic multiplier effects of the road construction technology and of different modes of transport. This further increases the importance of an approach that clarifies the total costs. In high-income countries, a one-sided decision making focus on the infrastructure investment costs faced by the government may be understandable, since the affordability of making trips is not an issue at the household level, although it is undesirable and increasingly challenged. In African cities, affordable mobility for the entire urban population is so much the central issue that the total costs of urban transport must be made perfectly clear and must play a central role in decisions on urban transport policies. A proper understanding of the total cost implications of urban transport is needed to appreciate the importance of efficient pedestrian and bicycle traffic. 2. Roitte suppi-y is a triggei: There is a need to reflect the importance of the route network supply for the urban travel pattern that develops over time. In particular in cities without significant (effective) land use planning, this must be taken into account in an up-front manner. The determination of the desired medium-term networks of main pedestrian and bicycle routes is therefore included as an important element (10-year horizon).Note: because of their focus, the same has not been done in these guidelines for the bus route network and for truckdcars, but can of be done in an analogous manner. 3. In~remeiita~i~?proye~ieiits. There is a need to concentrate first on incremental improvements, through spot interventions. This means that the planning method must include a much more detailed way of looking at what actually happens on the roads (“micro”) than standard urban transport planning does. However, at the same time it must be assured that such incremental interventions fit within a sound route network concept, and are consistent with longer-term route network targets (“the network is the framework”). The method adopted in these guidelines therefore determines the most desirable pedestrian and bicycle route networks at an early stage. 4. Combined plantzing atid engineering. There is a need for better integration of the planning and the engineering aspects. This is reflected by combining both aspects in the same guidelines. It is also reflected by the primary importance attached to the use of a clear road hierarchy and to safety and efficiency of road design for all modes of transport. In standard urban transport planning, road designs are often not considered yet. If road designs are prepared as a completely separate step, after all planning decisions have been taken, one often sees that the practical design choices may undo decisions about priorities
10
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
that were thought to be made in the planning stage (for example a priority for safe pedestrian crossing of roads). 5. Pernzanent monitoring. There is a need to establish and maintain a reliable quantitative basis for taking decisions about transport infrastructure investment and transport policies. The use of that data base must combine a full appreciation of the (always modest) accuracy of the data, computational transparency and avoidance of complex mathematical models. Systematic monitoring of a robust set of key data adds much more to understanding and properly anticipating urban mobility needs than at a few irregular moments conducting large-scale urban transport studies -usually more than a decade apart and inconsistent in approach. 6. Careful trafic behavior observation and route network inventoiy. There is a need to include a field inventory method for pedestrian and bicycle routes, and field observation of traffic behavior. This creates a good opportunity to involve users in the planning process. Their experience in this field is very valuable and usually has a much wider coverage of different routes, reflects a larger variety of conditions (time of the day, weather, changes over time) and is often more to the point than that of the professional planners and engineers can ever be. Experience shows that this mechanism works well in user participa~ion.It greatly facilitates discussing iniprovemen~needs and intervention priorities systematically and in an unbiased manner. 7. De-bottleizecking. There is a preference for “de-bottlenecking” as the basic urban transport planning strategy, over demand forecasting. This preference re8ects the reality that much of the urban road network already exists and that even large new investment schemes are always small compared to the existing road network. Moreover, standard travel demand forecasting is invariably used to justify large-scale new construction programs for motorized traffic, and adding an “ N M T component to this will not change that practice. Rather. it will give it an additional sense of legitimacy and appropriateness that it does not have, since it seldom (i) treats the pedestrian and bicycle traffic at the required level of road network detail, nor (ii) clarifies the total costs of trip making (which would immediately put the perception of the performance/cost ratio of the different modes of urban traffic in a totally different - and confronting - perspective). A final reason to use a de-bottlenecking strategy for extension of the urban road network is that this allows much better incorporation of the aspect of travel demand management. Road infrastructure supply in practice is the most important land use development instru~entat the disposal of African municipal authorities, and should be used consciously (see (ii) above).
Use of the guidelines
First reading
The recommended first reading sequence is: summary and introduction, then chapter 13 (examples), then chapter 12 (intervention menus). After that, the focus shifts from “what” to “how”: chapters 5 and 6 (basic aspects of urban pedestrian and bicycle trafic), chapter 7 (preparation of an NMT action plan), chapters 17 and 18 (user p~icipation),and chapters 14 and 15 (design concepts and recommended designs).
Recommended use
The sequence in which the guidelines can best be used depends on the moment in the “project cycle” at which the document becomes available in a city. However, there is also an independent logic in using the guidelines in a certain sequence (maybe in parallel to their immediate use dictated by the particular circumstances). It is advised to think of roughly seven stages: 1.Establishment, in the municipality, of a proper organizational set-up for urban mobility planning and implementation, of a user participation set-up, and of financing arrangements for interventions. 2. Preparation of a user needs plan and of an NMT route network inventory and problem inventory (at this stage start arranging a quantitative monitoring set-up). 3. Preparation of an NMT action plan. 4. Preparation of long-term NMT network plans (only the networks, as the framework for intervention selection; no urban mobility plan yet).
CEAPTER 2
ABOUT THE GUIDELINES
11
5.Design of a first package of interventions (using: design concepts, detailed design aspects). 6. Appraisal of the proposed interventions (and the action plan), approval and a start with implementation (after the first package, the second, etc.). 7. Development of a complete long-term mobility plan and policies. At the start of this stage conduct a household survey. (note: start stage 7 as soon as first implementation under stage 6 has started). The reasons to adopt the seven stage sequence are: I?nple$ne~~~ i ? z ~ e ~ ~ e ~at~the i o nearliest s passible nzomen~.The earlier the whole process brings tangible results in the form of implemented interventions, the more chance it has to be effective, to succeed, and to grow stronger. The approach must therefore aim at spot improvements on existing roads first. These can be implemented quickly and have positive effects that boost confidence. Usually, interventions for pedestrians have the best chance of creating highly visible and appreciated immediate effects. rnterventions that create significant traffic safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists wilI be unchallenged, and are - because of the strong emotional impact of traffic accidents influential in creating a broad carrying capacity for further interventions. No false promises in user participation. No start with user participation should be made unless the organizational set-up has been agreed on and before it is certain that funds are available to at least implement a number of first intervent~ons.Starting a process of user participation based on vague promises which later turn out not to be true is harmful. Creafe a lenrning process. Experience should be established at a modest scale first, by means of a sinall number of spot interventions. It should be recognized that this is a learning process, difficult, and that the results of the first activities may not yet be satisfactory. Preparedness to accept mistakes is important. They are common, difficult to avoid, and, if dealt with in an open manner, valuable as an opportunity for learning. Mistakes only become dangerous if they lead to cover-up attempts or accusations that X or Y are to blame. * Plan core NMT route networks at an early stage. The NMT network context in which spot interventions have to fit should be investigated before the first interventions are implemented. Aim ar making rhitzgs happen fast eriouglz to boost mot~vat~oii and coii~deiice.It is recommended to go through all steps with reasonable speed, reaching stage 7 (mobility plan) for the first time before the end of year one. The approach is cyclical, so after having properly started stage 7, stage 1 is revisited, upgraded and expanded as desirable, etc. Learning is more important than perfection. Repetition is the key to success. Gradually, the spot interventions, the NMT network plans, the mobility plan and urban mobility policies will become better and better. User participation guidefines The user participation guidelines (chapters 17, 18) contain recommendations that are directly applicable in Tanzania. The necessary i~odificationsfor applying these methods in other countries in Africa should be judged by those involved in doing so. Conditions and traditions in other countries may be different from those in Tanzania. Generalizations are considered risky, but examples stimulating. Geographic area
The World BanktUNECA “Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Progran”, covers the whole of Africa with the exception of the countries along the Medite~anean(Morocco to Egypt). However, significant variations in specific conditions in urban areas in Africa occur between places such as Nairobi, Morogoro, Dakar, Lagos, Bulawayo. Abidjan, Johannesburg etc., and the user of the guidelines will have to combine the ideas provided here with a detailed knowledge and understanding of the specific conditions in the city s h e is working on. For shortness, Africa i s used throughout, instead of Sub Saharan Africa.
12
CUIDELlNES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSlON 1.3 JAN 2001 ~
Language
The guidelines have been written in English to facilitate international communication. Specialized equations and specialized professional terminology have been used as little as possible. It is expected that the use of English will not create a bottleneck for professional users in Africa, apart from in Francophone countries. Because of the language, the direct usefulness of the guidelines for members of urban interest groups is limited to those with higher education and fluency in English. We expect that those can use the guidelines as a source of ideas, and as a tool to check proposals made by professionals. However, to be of general relevance to p ~ i c i p a ~ i nusers, g a translation of at least parts into the national language would be required (chapters 1,2, 3,4, 5,6,7, 12, 13, I7 and 18). Vocabulary
In the text of the guidelines a few abbreviations are used frequently: NMT Non-motorized transport. NMT here includes pedestrians, cyclists and pushcarts (but no animal traction) MT Motorized traffic MT includes minibuses, buses, cars, trucks, motorcycles/scooters Public transport, offered by PT companies or by informal operators PT User participation in the planning and implementation of interventions UP ADT Average daily traffic
Chapter 3
Summary of findings and recommendations
3.1 Is the wban mobility issue important?
For decision makers, several questions must be answered before a new issue such as urban mobility is included on the priority list of subjects that deserve attention and action: * How urgent are the problems, and for whom are they urgent? Can significant improvements be achieved if the decision is taken to tackle the problems? * How visible will improvements be, and to whom (direct effects, publicity)? * Will tackling mobility problems positively influence “public confidence” in general, and good governance in particular? * Can tackling mobility problems positively influence economic development? How does mobility relate to high-priority subjects on the urban political agenda? * Can tackling mobility problems make a positive contribution to addressing recognized high-priority problems (is a win-win coalition with other issues possible)? Are there risks involved in taking up the mobility issue? Urgency
Most cities in Africa have a low income (city product). Urban transport systems of a highincome city type, based on car traffic and relatively expensive public transport, cannot provide for the mobility needs of their population, because they are financially out of reach. Yet, most urban road infrastructure construction focused on motor vehicle traffic, and car traffic in particular. The findings of the SSATP pilot projects in Kenya and Tanzania lead to the conclusion, that this has resulted in urban transport systems that: * fail to provide a large number of the low-income inhabitants with the minimum level of mobility that is required for economic and social participation in the urban community, impose a far too high transport burden on the average low-income household: expenditure of up to 30% of household income and long travel times, increasingly also fail to provide proper accessibility within the city to the small high group that can afford to have a car or motorcycle, and demand a high traffic accident toll and environmental degradation toll. Over the last decade, the mobility problems have increased significantly, as a result of the continued growth of the urban areas and a corresponding growth in urban trip distances - in search of income, services and the necessities of life. There is no indication that unchanged urban transport policies can prevent a further growth of mobility problems. Aflorduble nzobiliry
Building the economy of African cities requires adequate mobility at an affordable cost. To achieve a situation of adequate mobility is complex task. It requires much more than rehabilitating roads or constructing new ones; it requires rehabilitating the urban transport system itself. Rehabilitating the urban transport system means: reconsidering the role and the contribution that the different modes of urban transport can make, improving the efficiency and safety of each mode, and enhancing a cost-effective balance in use between the different modes of transport.
Massive amount of pedestrian trafic
The volume of pedestrian traffic in cities in Africa is very high. In the big cities roughly half of all trips are entirely on foot and those that make use of a bus involve significant walking as well. In medium-sized and smaller cities, the share of all-pedestrian trips increases to 6070 %, and cycling often plays a significant role as well. More than cities in any other part of the world, African cities are pedestrian cities. This should not be interpreted as a negative qualification. Where pedestrian traffic can use proper dedicated pedestrian infrastructure,
14
G U I D E L I N ~FOR P E D E S T ~ A NAND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION I .3 - JAN 2001
this contributes to the attractiveness of a city. The most attractive parts of high-income cities are often their pedes~anizedcity center parts or residential areas. An innovative transport policy for African cities would be to approach solving the mobility and accessibility problems from the pedestrian tr&k end. Travel cost r e ~ u c ~ ~ #The n target of an urban mobility policy must be cost reduction. The total amount of money spent on moving around in the city must go down, not up. In the longer run, the effect of the policy must be that a significantly lower percentage of the city income is spent on transport. Mobility of people and urban freight is an input into the urban production machinery, and right now its cost is much too high compared to its contribution to the product. Under the prevailing economic conditions in African cities it should not cost more than 10-15%of the direct costs and 10%of the available productive time. In reality it often costs as much as 25% of the direct costs (and even worse than that in terms of foreign currency), and up to 1520% of the productive time. It is important to realize that the cost of urban road ii~rastructureis only a small percentage of the total cost of urban transport. Typically it is below 10%of the operational costs (consisting of the direct cost of the trip, the value of the productive time spent on urban travel, cost of traffic accidents and cost of negative environmental effects -primarily health effects).
The reduction in total cost that must be achieved has to be the result of a combination of an increase of the amount spent on road infrastructure and its management, and a much larger decrease in operational costs and indirect costs (accidents, environmental costs). It is clear that this creates a difficult governance problem. The municipal government controls the infrastructure, and has to invest more on its part. But it does not have much control over the operational cost part, nor does it directly benefit from operational cost savings. Urban road investinenr with minimal risk of adverse effects
Confronted with a lack of control over the operational effects of its investment in urban transport infrastructure, the municipal government can best make its investment choices in such a manner that it minimizes the risk that, contrary to its objectives, a further increase in the operational cost of transport is stimulated (for example by generating a further growth in trip distances). The two investment menus explained in chapter 3.2 focus fully on triggering an operational cost reduction and have a minimal chance of creating an undesired further increase in transport costs. These two menu’s are: 1. improvement of pedestrian and bicycle access infrastructure and route networks, and 2. spot improvements to existing roads, in particular traffic calming. Improvement potential
Addressing urgent problems in the absence of effective instruments can be an economic or social necessity. It will in that case mainly be a matter of human capital, i.e. awareness raising, public debate, changing public and private behavior, law, etc. However, before taking the decision to invest significant amounts of financial capital in tackling a problem, it must be verified that there are effective instruments to use. Good governance also means: investing management skills and money where the most positive results can be achieved (value for money, high benefitkost ratios). Znstnrments with a high B/C ratio
Effective instruments to improve pedestrian (and bicycle) mobility and safety exist. The most immediately applicable interventions are of a small scale, of a spot intervention nature, and do not require large sums of money. Their application is straight forward, and their benefithost ratio is high. The reason that their benefitkost ratio is so high is that their primary function is to “repair” serious deficiencies in the existing urban road networks. The second class of interventions that can significantly improve the mobility of most urban inhabitants and at the same time reduce their transport cost burden is the large-scale provision of basic pedestrian and bicycle access infrastructure and coherent networks of pedestrian and bicycle routes. These interventions require a longer preparation time, but can also be implemented well as a long-term incremental program, that starts at a modest scale. Pedestrian and bicycle access and network improvement investments also have a high benefitkost ratio.
CHAPTER 3
SUM MAR^ OF FINDINGS AND ~ C O M ~ E N ~ A T ~ O N S
15
Tested examples of both classes of ~ s ~ ~ m(spot e n i t~ ~p r o ~ e ~ eon n texisting s roads, and pedestrian and bicycle access infrast~ctureand route networks) can be found in chapter 13. Effect on public confidence
i an rorad investments always reveal which intevests get ~ ~ -
Experience shows that the urban road i n ~ a s ~ policies c ~ ~ pursued e by the ~ u ~ c i (or pa~ national) authorities are highly visible, and in the way they are shaped clarify their basic priorities. As an example, the main ~nderlyingreason why user participation efforts in the SSATP ~ pilot ~ project r in~Nairobi ~ failed to produce a positive result, was that inhabitants of the pilot area perceived the g o ~ e ~ eurban n t transport policies as elated to their needs, and had no expectation that this could change. Precisely the opposite was experienced in the Temeke district in Dar es Salaam, where the pedestrian route and the Mwembe Ladu park rehabili~tionhad a very positive general public appreciation effect and publicity impact, and attracted more interested h i g ~ - ~ e ~visitors el than any other municipal ~ o v e ~ i ~~ ~e ~ni ~ aint the i v area. ~
16
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 JAN 2001 I
Bicycle hire outlet in Morogoro advertising recently introduced ladies bicycles.
User participation is essential to identify the most urgent needs. Severe access problems, frequent traffic accidents and being taken seriously strongly motivate low-income citizens to participate.
CHAPTER 3
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
17
The experience gathered in the pilot projects that underlie these guidelines is of a very modest scale. It would be inappropriate to generalize our findings concerning building public confidence. However, according to the team members as well as the user platform members involved in those relevant improvement inte~entionsthat were carried out with real user participation in Dar es Salaam, Eldoret and Morogoro, it is possible to make things improve, and this provides the self-confidence of being able to make a distinctive contribution. Effect on economic development Lower costs o j production
Transport costs are one of the components of production costs. In the paragraph above on “urgency”, the fundamental importance of bringing down the total cost of urban transport was underlined as one of the indispensable elements in a policy to restore a healthy urban economy. There is another important macro-economic effect of the two menus mentioned above, and in particular of the menu for impro~~emen~ of access infrast~cture:the employment generation effect of the works themselves. Government financed infrastructure programs are a proven economic policy instrument to fight economic recession, from their first emergence at a large scale in the US and Europe in the 1930’s until recent applications in Japan and in the RSA. Advocates of glob~lizationoften advise against this type of policy, because it has a strong internal market orientation. However, the African continent has in general lost rather than gained from the changes in the global terms of trade that occurred over the last decade, and may need to develop more internal strength before exposing openly to the outside in all sectors of the economy.. Experience with large-scale road infrastructure construction programs in countries in Africa in the past shows that these often did not have the high internal market stimulation effect (local economic multiplier effect). The reason is the near absence of a national road building industry, and the lack of a road building technology based on nat~onalIyproduced materials and equipment. In formulating economic stimulation infrastructure programs in African cities one must therefore carefully select the type of program. Construction of pedestrian access infrastructure is an option with a high internal market inultiplier effect. It is highly employment intensive and based on local building materials (e.g. a high share of precast concrete elements and stone masonry for drains).
Lower houselzold travel costs
The need for reduced cost of urban travel exists equally at the level of individual households. In low-income households in a large city, the percentage of the income that is spent on daily transport (bus fares) can reach as high as 2 30%. That money only allows the income earners to make a daily trip to work, and other members a few incidental bus trips per month. All other trips have to be made on foot or cannot be made at all (data: Dar es Salaam). This is an extraordinary high travel cost percentage, in view of other basic household needs. The practical possibilities to reduce a l~ousehold’stotai cost of travel (direct costs plus travel time costs) are the following: - increased walking speed - reduced trip distance - reduced bus fare (and in case of congest~on,increased bus speed) - availability of a bicycle to make the trip
Reducing hoitselzold travel costs
The instruments that are available to enhance each of the above four household travel cost reduction options are shown in table 3.1.
G U I D ~ ~ i N EFOR S PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
IS
Table 3.1 Instruments to reduce household travel mts * Inovased walking speed (25%) 1. General provision of bener pedestrian access mcks
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2. Separated walkways along collector roads and urban corridors. with enough capacity for uncongested flow, 3. Safe p d e s h a n crossings. Reduced rrip dismnrc (25 10 5O%J I . Construction of NMT-only shoncurs. to create networks of direct pedestrian and bicycle routes, 2. Increased economic production and service provision in residential areas, due to area upgrading tin which good access infrastructure plays a significant role). It should be noted that the general trend during the last decade has been in the opposite direction: increasing trip distance. so this is a long-term policy.
* Reduced bus fare (20 I D 40%) 1. Competition from more efficient and attractive pedestrian traffic.
2. Competition from safe bicycle oaffic. 3. Efficient bus bays (pedestrian I bus interface),
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4. Other measures unrelated to NMT (first priority: bus lanes on congested roads). Urban cycling (50%): 1. Restored traffic safety. making urban cycling possible again. 2. A coherent bicycle route network (mostly in calmed-down mixed uaffic). 3. A targeted program to enable cycling by women and secondary school children (increasing availability of a personal bicycle. change in attitude towards cycling of women),
( 1 ) The number in brackets indicates the maxini~inicost reduction effect per group of insr~iiiei~ts. The percentases of the different care-orics cannot be addcd up. However, the target to reduce the household travel costs by 50% i n rotal, to lialf their present level, c n ~cenainiy i be aclzeved over a pcriod of a decade, i f the various instruments in this table air combined and used with vigor and commitment.
BUS- ~ ~ l k It is interesting to note that for economically important trips (where the value of time c ~ ~ ~ i ~ ~ e t ~ counts), ~ ~ o i the ~ average low-income person cannot reduce his cost by deciding to walk instead of taking a bus. On average, the value of the extra time required for a rfi 5 km walk is equal to the cost of the ticket of a rfi 5 km long bus trip. It appears that now that the urban bus services are almost entirely provided by private minibus operators, the price of the bus ticket depends on the willingness of the passengers to pay, and not on the cost of providing the bus trip. The expectation that due to privatization of the bus services the price of the ticket would go down, due to the beneficial effect of competition, apparently did not materiaiize. Where this conclusion holds (bus ticket price = willingness to pay = value of time required for trip on foot), it means that the competition which cnii force [heprice of the bus ticket down is uiore eficient wnlkiizg. If walking distances can be reduced by providing more direct walking routes, and if walking speed can be improved by providing better walkways with enough capacity to avoid pedestrian congestion, this will significantly reduce the time costs of the walking alternative, and thereby create a significant competitive pressure on the bus operators that cannot be eliminated by a~angeinentswithin the bus operator sector. Mediurn-size cities: ~ireveiiliuii
In the mediumsize and smaller cities, the mobility situation is in general significantly better, because trip distances are significantly smaller. For those with a bicycle available in a mediumsize or small city there is in fact no mobility problem. They can make all desired trips and neither the costs nor the travel time involved exceed 10-15'46 of their financial or time budget. In these medium-size and smaller cities the challenge is to prevent a development towards the current big city conditions. One must realize that at the current urbanization rate, a city of 250,000 inhabitants in 2000 will probably have 400-450,000 inhabitants ten years from now.
CHAPTER 3
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMM~NDATIONS
19
Syaergy with recognized high priority issues
Enhancing adequate pedestrian and bicycle traffic in a city is not an isolated subject, but can and should be addressed in combination with the following “agendas”: * ~ t z ~ ~ j r o ~ z ~ ? ? e ~ j ~ a~~(protection~of - or restoring ~ - attractive ~ environmental ~ and ~ living conditions in cities). In many cities motor vehicle traffic is the single most important cause of environmentd degradation. The most fundamental option to reduce the negative effects of transport on the urban environi~en~ is to ensure that a ~naxinium number of trips is on foot or by bicycle, which both have no negative environmental impact. Existing “clean air” initiatives deal with the reduction of vehicle exhausts. This improves air quality, but also reduces the ~~vironmenta1 constraint on a frrr&er growth of MT, and in that way stiinu~atesan increase of the volume of motor vehicle traffic. Total pollution depends on the volume of MT times the unit pollution per vehicle, so an increase in MT volume partly nuIIifies the effects of a decrease in unit pollution per vehicle. Therefore one should, in parallel to exhaust reduction, also prioritize poIicies that enhance urban pedestrian and bicycle traffic. These reduce the need for a growing volume of urban motor vehicle traffic, and thus enable a really effective policy, that reduces both the number of polluters and the unit pollution per polluter. Initiatives to protect and increase the urban tree cover can be combined effectively with a widespread walkway provision program, Economic recouety a i d etnploymeni generation. The relationship between a program of improving urban pedestrian and bicycle traffic and economic recovery programs has been discussed in the previous paragraph. Plrblic health iF?z~~i.o~jet?~e?z~, Ade~uateurban drainage is a basic necessity to improve sanitary conditions and thereby health conditions. Integration of urban pedestrian access infrastructure provision with the provision of drainage is a fogicai necessity. Without drainage, access infrastructure is very vulnerable to erosion. Fine-mazed urban drainage that has not been combined properly with the road infrasfructure is very vulnerable to damage by motor vehicles. Combined construction saves significant amounts of money and greatly facilitates the maintenance of both components. Another positive effect of improved pedestrian walkways on public health is that the direct exposure of pedestrians to toxic vehicle exhaust gases is reduced and that light foot and Ieg injuries are reduced. Elimination of open road shoulders and constraining the main motor vehick traffic to collector roads and urban corridors will have a positive effect on dust levels, which in many cities is one of the most important air quality problems. Tra@c safe@. The high trafic accident toil in African cities is welt known. The fact that most victims are the ones outside the vehicles (pedestrians etc.) rather than the ones inside is also well known. The experience of the SSATP pilot projects in Tanzania and Kenya makes clear that a systematic urban traffic calming program, based on the requirements of pedestrian and bicycle traffic, can vastly reduce the number and severity of accidents. Shaping urban traffic safety programs as an integrated part of a program to establish proper infrastructure for pedestrian and bicycle traffic can create a win-win coalition. The traffic safety in~ei~entions become much more focused and effective because of a systematic application rather than a “black-spot” approach, and traffic calming and pedestrian infrastructure interventions can profit from the indisputable and emotional ~ m ~ o r ~of ~ not n c kiiling e peopie with our roads. A more ~ i r d e ~ e rrole ~ ~ eof~~i ~’ o i ?Affordable ~ ~ ~ ~ . and safe mobiIity has a high value for women. In medium-size cities (and later in large cities, after traffic safety has improved sufficiently) the promotion of cycling by women can play a significant role in defining a more free and modern role of women.
-
Risks
The most significant risk that large-scale programs to enhance urban pedestrian and bicycle traffic are confronted with is not that they would not be successful, but that they are not understood and accepted by the leading economic, social and behavioral groups because they are perceived as not in line with life-style role models, and with high-income city
20
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFlC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
models, which are essentially car-based. These factors are the probable reason why in the past decades little attention has been given to urban mobility problems of the low income population, and to an urban infrastr~icturethat is safe and efficient for pedestrian and bicycle traffic in particular, 3.2 ~ i n d i n of ~ sthe SSATP pilot projects
General findings * A straightforward approach to improving urban pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure exists. Once applied on a massive scale throughout an entire city, it will have a highly positive impact on the efficiency of all traffic flows, motor vehicle traffic included. The ingredients are: MENU 1 : NMT fac MENU 2: Traffic calming. Investments in these menus have a high benefitlcost ratio. In tested examples the following values were estimated (see chapter 13): - pedestrian walkway pavement: B/C = 2 to 5, depending on the pedestrian volume; - traffic calming on a collector road: BIC = 1.5 (on accident reduction benefits only). * Serious urban pedestrian and bicycle traffic accidents can almost be eliminated by a suitable program of road and intersection redesign and traffic calming. In case of systeniatic traffic calming on a 2 km long collector road section findings indicate that accidents are reduced by a factor 10 (ten times less than before). This means that the accident risk per vehiclekm on that road almost came down to the E u r o p e a n ~ Slevel. * In medium-size cities, cycling provides a highly improved mobility to its users: 50% more trips and longer trip distances than non-cyclists, at a unit cost of 9 1 USD ctkm. (compared to a unit cost of 2 3 USD ctlkni for a bus ticket; excl. valuc of time). Most cycling is on mixed traffic roads ~ b i c y c l e ~ Twith ) , average motor vehicle speeds of 2030 kmhr and maximum speeds of 50 kmlhr. With relatively simple and low-cost measures, cycling can be made attractive for, and available to, a much larger proportion of the population. In cities with a significant amount of cycling, the highest potential for an increase in cycling is among adult women and among secondary school children, as many adult men already cycle. In non-cycling cities, young adult males are the first target group. Municipal governments require systematic training and organizational support over a long period of time to enable them to develop the “corporate knowledge” to: a. identify mobility problems, b. plan and design a program of i~tervent~ons and transport policies, and c. supervise the implementation by contractors and consultancy firnis. The opportunity to test expected improvements on a small scale first turns out to be highly productive. In other words: learning by doing, and from analyzing the reasons for failures and successes with an open mind. Where conditions for success are met, user participation creates a public opinion and political platform, and a positive publiclprivate cooperation during planning and implemen~ation.Attempts to abuse user participation as a rubber stamp, or to achieve hidden agendas, transform it into a negative force. * Specific pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure design standards are required for cities in Africa, as part of specific urban road design standards for African cities. Designs needed that refiecr Afr-icon urban cnmfirion.7
The pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure designs that are needed in cities in Africa differ from European or American ones. Concepts and principles are similar, but practical design recoi~imendationsdifferent. For African cities the emphasis must lie on: 1,A simple, uniform and ~ransparen~ road hierarchy; 2. Roads that can efficiently and safely accommodate a mixture of MT and a high NMT volume; 3. High construction strength and cost effectiveness, i.e. robustness against damage by overloaded trucks. inconsiderate drivers, and periods of lack of maintenance: 4. against violation of traffic rules and dangerous traffic behavior of all road users, i.e. the roads niust have a self-enforcing speed limitation and safety character, and not depend on enforcement by the traffic police.
CHAPTER 3
SUMMARY O F FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
21
The mobility improvement menus MENU 1: Pedesfriati arid bicycle ~ h 7 ii~rastruc~ure ~ T ~ facilities.
Eleinenta~NMT access injkstructure: n massive back-log
The items are further described in chapter 12, with examples in chapter 13. It is important to note that the menu is so short. There is no large variety of things that must be done. The menu is extremely easy and evident. The only thing that matters is scale. This menu must be implemented on a massive scale. Not one kilometer of walkway, but hundreds of kilometers of walkways, in mega cities thousands of kilometers. Not one or two missing links, but hundreds of missing links. Not ten or twenty crossings, but hundreds or thousands of crossings. This is an uncomplicated, but very large task that will require at least a decade to complete in the medium-size towns, and longer in the large cities. The important thing is to start as soon as possible, and to continue with dedication. The longer one waits, the larger the backlog, and the more difficult and expensive it will be to deal with it.
Table 3.2 Mobility improvement MENU 1: NMT infrastructure 1. Separate pedestrian walkways that are inaccessible for motor vehicles.
2. WalWcycle-only “missing mad links” (small bridges etc)
3. Safe pedestrian crossing facilities on all roads. Frequent. not imposing sipnificant detours on pedestrians. 4. As pan o f a serious and significant program to make safe cycling in mixed tnftic possible on most roads of the city (sce menu 2): separate bicycle racks on main bicycle routes.
~ ~ ~ ~ MENU 2: Ea$c c a l i~i~enieritioiis. This menu, shown in table 3.3 below, is also not long, but it offers more choice options than the NMT infrastructure menu, to suit the requirements of different traffic situations. It is iniportant to use the same traffic calming instruments systematically in similar situations, to increase the clarity of the traffic calming policy for all road users, and for vehicle drivers CIenrrouddhierurchy, in particular. It is important to underline the road hierarchy with the choice of traffic calming measures, to clarify the fact that traffic calming is not a general attempt to make safe and snzootlz vehicle traffic slower and less attractive, but a general attempt to re-establish safe and rt-nffic c ~ ~ c ~ { ~ ~ f j umotor iz smooth traffic cii-culationconditions, of which drivers and pedestrianskyclists both benefit. Item 9 in table 3.3. is the only element of traffic calming targeting the bus - pedestrian traffic interaction, that has been tested in the pilot projects. It is an important one. Public transport drivers, letting passengers in and out and waiting for passengers at any point along their route has a number of drawbacks. It increases the accident hazards in general, and it i s particularly negative for cyclists, because the bus always crosses their path when pulling over to the side of the road. The chaotic stopping of the busses also reduces the capacity of the road network by the queues and overtaking maneuvers that it triggers. Safety depends on the bus driver-passenger interaction, and hazards cannot be removed by an isolated attempt to enforce a restriction on bus stopping to dedicated areas or bus bays. The bus bays must also be more attractive and safe spots for the passengers. This can be done by providing a proper pavement and shade at the pedestrian side, by Table 3.2 Mobility improvement MENU NMTatinfrastructure locating the1:bays convenient points in the walking route network, by providing safe crossings at the bus bay location and by providing frequent bus bays. 1. Separate pedestrian walkways that are inaccessible for motor vehicles. More disciplined and efficient (nziizi)bus traffic
2. WalWcycle-only “missing mad links” (small bridges etc)
3. Safe pedestrian crossing facilities on all roads. Frequent. not imposing sipnificant detours on pedestrians.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFK IN AFRfCAN CITIES. VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Table 3.3 Mobility improvement MENU 2: Traffic calming
Trcftic cuhiihip 011 erisring roads, wilh s p r bnprui~erne~irs (srarr wirli rhrse) 1 . Raised zebra crossings (combines with itcm 3 in menu I).
2. Speed humps. 3. Intersection corner and shape rCCOnSlNCtiOn: smaller comer radius. separation betwecn carriageway and shoulder, redesign of Y to T-shape. Hard separation between road shoulder and carriagcway along sections. 5 . Raised platform intersection (combine with reconstruction (3) and pavement repair). 6. Traffic lane winding past B crossing island (goes with item 3. in menu I) 7. Median in a 2x1 wide-lane collector road. 4.
8. Nmowing with bicycle slips, a n a wide-lanc collector road with bicycle lanes.
Improying rite inre,fojnce henwen pedesn.io,i rraf/ic orid has rrafic 9. Frequent bus bays combined with safe pedestrian crossings. along a limited number of efficient bus routes. Nea consmicrioii or complere rehobilirorion of roads 10. Shon straight acclions in new access roads. 11. Design: selection of the proper lane width and no use of open road ishoulders I?. Low-speed roundabout.
Traffic safety
Proper rand iilf,ns?riicture imeri~entionsC L ~ E resfore irrban traflc s4fery
Results that were achieved in traffic calming tests in the pilot projects indicate that traffic safety on collector roads can be restored with interventions from the traffic calming menu listed above (see chapter 13.22). Trip transit time nieasurements indicate that traffic calming interventions do not have a significant effect on the total travel time of a complete trip, the travel time does not increase (1). The reason is that in urban fl-affc the trip time is almost independent from the top speed on certain road sections, but instead depends on intersection and other delays. Restoring traffic safety as meni~onedabove does not mean that atI accidents can be eliminated, rrr&spoIisibletm& behavior, drunk driving and waiking, grave errors, etc. will continue to occur. However, the findings indicate that the severity of the semaining accidents is also reduced. Traffic calming experiments on major traffic corridors could not yet be carried out in the pilot projects, but there i s no reason to expect that the findings will be fundamentally different. However, the main corridors clearly ask for a higher average MT speed, and require a traffic calming approach that is different from that on collector roads. Continued experimenting is required to arrive at proven solutions for Afiican traffic conditions.
Pofic behnviar and eaforcemenr
The main price that has to be paid for safe urban roads is a change in attitude: the preparedness to give priority to another road user. Unfortunately, it appears that the personality profile of a small but increasing number of drivers makes them consider that price very high - and one that they don’t like to pay. Yet, it has to be accepted by all vehicle drivers that they cannot be allowed the freedom to drive on urban roads at any speed they Eke. or drive at their own discretion outside the motor vehicle carriageway or parking areas.
{ I ) Effect catised hy xraffic calming measures on wnsix speed. Paper presenicd at the Tanzanian nmiond Urban mobility and NMT seminar, December i5,!6, Dwes Salaam. Avemx transit speeds of the tr&c we% measured on a ntiil?&of 3 to 6 kn long roads sections (with similar road wiiitti, i&ffic inteiisiiy and composition)wllh and without traffic calming measures. No significant differences in average speed were found.
CHAPTER 3
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND R E C O ~ l ~ 4 E ~ ~ A T l ~ N S
23
~ e ~ - e ~ ~ o r c i n ~Consequently, for the time being, the only effective policy is an enforcement that is physical (concrete) physical, not legal. In other words: not enforcement through the traffic police, which in inrervetitioiis practice is too weak and too easy to dodge, but through (re-)constructing the roads with such features that excessive speed will result in serious discomfort or even damage to the vehicle. The test findings show that such damage is far from theoretical. The amount of damage created on test sections by vehicles hitting obstacles such as high kerbs, bollards, T-blocks etc. was significant, and apparently more costly to the vehicle than to the concrete. The accidents almost disappeared, however, including the expensive vehicle-to-vehicle collisions. Moreover, the amount o f damage caused by vehicles hitting obstacles appears to have a downward trend. There is a learning curve, and the damage is a transitional penalty (learning the hard way), rather than a permanent cost factor. Fake scq%tyf,arn zebra painting
Tests in Nairobi with painted zebra crossings without accompanying speed curbing measures show that such crossings do not increase traffic safety. but rather tend to increase accident hazards, by making naive pedestrians undei--estimatethe risks. A continued use of painted-only pedestrian crossings must be strongly discouraged (see chapter 13.8).
Sleeping policerireiz and silent feacl~ers
Paraphrasing the popular notion in traffic safety enhancement, of the combined need for “Engineering, Education and Enforcement”, the conclusion is that for African cities this means: engineering (implement decisive traffic calming ~ n t e ~ ~ e n t ~ osilent n s ) , teachers (concrete, but very eloquent) and sleeping policemen (always there, and fair).
Simple concrete block separation Between carriageway and shouldcr is very efiectivc in ereatin. a safer traffic flow and in concentrating bus stopping in siinnltaiieously provided bus bays. This intervention phy%cally enforces safer driving.
Urban cycling Cylitzg in men’iunr-size cities
The experience in the two mediuin-size pilot cities shows that urban cycling is viable and can be an attractive mode of urban travel in Africa. In Morogoro cyciing has a 20% modal share, in Eldoret around 10%. If traffic safety can be safeguarded and the affordability of bicycles improved, there is potential to increase its market share, and in that manner make a significant contribution to achieve better urban mobility at low cost. The most iInpo~antconstraint to cycling in Morogoro is the cost of the bicycle in relation to income. Fifty percent of all households cannot afford to buy one. The bicycle hire business in Morogoro is substantial, with around 200 micro-entrepreneurs operating around 1500 bicycles and a market share of i6% of all trips (roughly half the market share o f mini buses). All roads inside the town, before mid 1999, had a pavement quality that made high speed impossible. There were very few bicycle accidents in the town. To maintain that safety after pavement rehabilitation i s the main challenge now (see chapter 13.21).
23
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 JAN 2001 ~
In Fldoret, the cycling situation is comparable. The affordability constraint is slightly less important due to higher incomes. However, the unsafe traffic conditions for cyclists on the two most important trunk roads that pass through the town have a negative impact on cycling. Unlike in Morogoro, where the highways to Zambia and West Tanzania were given a by-pass in the 1980’s, the highways to Nairobi, Uganda and Kisumu pass through the town center. In Eldoret, the safety situation for cyclists has to be improved actively to safeguard cycling as an important mode of travel in the future. Cycling in big cities
In Nairobi as well as in Dar es Salaam, the traffic conditions are generally so unsafe for cyclists that cycling declined greatly in the 1980’s. In Dares Salaam, cycling is still possible without too much risk of accident in some parts of the city, outside the center. The number of cyclists has slowly increased again since 1995. At this moment an estimated 3% of all trips are by bicycle. The recently improved traffic safety on a number of collector roads, through speed humps and raised pedestrian crossings, seems to play a positive role in encouraging more people to cycle.
Cyclirig by woriierz
Partly as a result of the bicycle use hierarchy in the household and partly because no tradition of cycling by women has yet developed, cycling in the pilot cities is almost entirely limited to men. This is not so everywhere in Tanzania in e.g. Mwanza, cycIing by women is common. The first bicycle promotion activities aiming at increased female bicycle ridership met with a positive response. Encouraging women to cycle appears to have a significant long-term mobility improvement potential, but must be combined with efforts to assure sufficiently safe traffic conditions for cyclists, and to implement road design standards that incorporate the infrastructure requirements of urban cycling.
A package of bicycle promotion activities was carried out in Morogoro and Eldoret, and Bicyc~~~~or~zotiuiz received positively. Table 3.4 gives a summary. No bicycle promotion activities have been carried out in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam until now. In Nairobi, a mixed pedestrianhicycle NMT track network has been designed and will hopefully be constructed in the eastern part of the city in 2000. When it is ready, including safety measures along the entire routes, and crossings in particular, promotional activities can be taken up. In Dar es Salaam, a program to address the backlog of traffic calming works must first be prepared and started. First, the decision has to be taken to restore traffic conditions that are safe enough to cycle, on enough roads in the city. Then, a bicycle promotion program can be designed and implemented, in parallel to the implementati~nof the traffic calming works. Bicycle promotion in the absence of a good bicycle safety program, that is indeed implemented effectively is advised against, if the bicycle traffic accident hazards in the city are high.
User participation The experience with user participation in the pilot projects in Tanzania was positive. The lessons learned have been summarized in chapters 17 and 18, and include suggestions on how to run with UP in practice, in mobility improvement projects. Durable urban NMT ]nobility iiiiprovenient programs depend on positive cooperation between a number of different players with different interests. The main players are: road users, pedestrians and cyclists in particular, but also bus drivers and passengers, and car drivers; inhabitants of neighborhoods; the business com~nunity;the governinent as the provider of the infrastructure; operators of public transport services; elected politicians. The most effective instrument to achieve something positive in practice is the actual i~npIementationsof interventions that (i) are perceived by a large number of people as beneficial to themselves as road user: (ii) require little maintenance or operational control; and (iii) do not require difficult administrative procedures. Hard work arid honesty
To engage in serious user participation is not difficult, but it is a lot of hard work. In general, positive forces in the municipal organization that want accountability and clear priorities like user participation. This creates the additional advantage that the user participation process, if carried out in an unbiased manner, reinforces the position of positive forces within the municipal government.
CHAPTER 3
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMM~~DATIONS
25
Table 3.4 Illcycle prontotion options
-
bicenriv;..r ro e,np/oycrs ro esroblish hicycle crcdir or savings .sc~zme.s Finding: markct conditions and attitudes m unfavorahle to credits prc-financed by employers for their employees. The opposite model, that of cmployee savings. is more successful. In Eldoret. where many successful savings societies haw already existed for decades. the savings society of a large factory started B bicycle credit scheme for its membcrr;. Thcre was a maximum of 300 panicipants and 311 the bicycles were taken within two weeks. * Incemiimf o r bicycle ,sale-on-rrc.dir,sc/rcrric.~ I>? bicycle dealers Findins: this is against the current business tide. The market moves away from small credits to poor clients. considered too risky hy horh lenders and clients. htcntrives f i r . bic?cle lease (hire-parchos~) cortrrocrs Finding: B positive reception of the idea hy hicyclc hirers in Morogoro, hut their financial position was too weak 31 the time (1990)to allourthein to pre-finance enough bicycles: only two ciises of lcmc were tested. with success. Prontorio,ml l~icycleroles In ivonwi (oJladie,~ bic?cle.sJ.nrtrl 10 clrildre,r otferinRsecotrdon sclrools Finding: the schcme. giving a 1520% discount. WAS quite popular. Thc response of women shows that there is a significant potential for more cycling hy women. now less thnn 5% of all cyclists in Morogoro. The response to the scheme also shows that the price elasticity of the bicycles is high 3 s m i l l price discount creates a significant increiise in the numher of buyers. Consequently. an impon taxNAT exemption to stimulate bicycle use will have a significant effect. * A siipporr prograrrr r o bic?rle hire operafors Finding: a positivc response. and awn initiative of the hirers. Ladies' bicycles. previously not used for hiring. turn out to attract more women a clients. To the hirers surprise. men also like them. for their gwitcr riding convenience. CwliirS Iiwo,is bt secondon .se/rnols Finding: very popular. among girls 3s much as among boys, and a very uscfiil Iona-tmn promotion activity. Worth susraining over 3 long period. Bicycle pnrkitlfi Finding: a lower use than cxpccted. Success of a hicycle parking depend, on the locxion and its risk of theft. In Morogoro wcn a small fee had an inhibiting effect. * Gerreral bicycle pioritorion pttblicir? Bicycle mces. a "bicycle day" with n parade. and other promotional activities were undertaken 10 strengthen the imagc of the bicycle as a tnodcm and attractive mode of urhmi tmnspon. A bicycle mce for women was a success. and women rclt its message: a hicycle will increase your frcedoni to move around at your own wish.
-
-
The list of requirements that must be fulfilled to create an effective and stimulating process of involvement of users is simple, but not necessarily easy. The list of benefits that can be obtained i s also simple. but far from meager. The gist of requirements, benefits and niotivatin~forces has already been included in the executive summary.
Avoid “marreno” (talk i ~ i r r h doing) ~~i~~
In Kenya, more problems were encountered with user participation. The main difficulty appears to have been a lack of seriousness on the part of the upper level of the municipal and national government departments involved. In the Nairobi pilot project, as soon as it became transparent that the “government side” did not appreciate hearing points of view that where different from their own, the “users” mirrored the way they perceived their governmental counterparts, and tried to transform the process into an allowance machine. It was then discontinued. In Eldoret, the UP process at first developed positively, but a long delay in iInpiementation of a significant volume of works that were promised under a national government urban road infrastructure project resulted in a near standstill. Unless there is a clear sign that user priorities will be recognized, and unless something significant is in fact done, the UP process will remain weak, and unable to spark a positive development. The Eldoret example illustrates how a lack of seriousness and speed on the side of the government frustrates the UP process. Unw~llingnessor inability of users to take initiatives was not the problem in the case of Eldoret, as i s demonstrated by a large number of
26
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAX 2001
effective self-help groups and savings societies in the city, and the success of bicycle promotion in schools. Institutional and financing constraints
These guidelines do not deal with two aspects that are of vital importance for decision makers: (i) institutional and professional capacity bottlenecks for NMT oriented urban transport policies and infrastructure investments and (ii) bottlenecks in the f i n ~ c i n gof such policies and investments. The reason is that most issues in these fields are outside the main orientation of the guidelines, and can better be discussed in a broader forum. The only exception is user participation in NMT projects. User participation is a vital element in the institutional innovation that is needed to arrive at a much more demand (user) oriented approach to urban transport, and was an essential ingredient of the pilot projects. InstitutionaI and professional capacity and financing issues were dealt with in detail at the Expert group meeting on Low-cost Mobility in African cities (Velomondial / World Bank, at IHE Delft, June 21-23 2000); in particular, financing of urban NMT interventions and professional capacity in NMT planning and engineering as important conditions for success, For more ideas on these issues the reader is therefore referred to the proceedings of the expert group meeting (IHE Delft, March 2001; contact
[email protected]). However, three lessons learned in the pilot projects are important to record here: Differences in social, political and economic conditions and traditions, even between cities in the same country or neighboring countries, are so large that generalizing about organizational bottlenecks does not help much in addressing those in a specific city. * The same appears to be true for financing problems. These relate to willingness and detemiination to undertake certain tasks as much as to the potential advantages and disadvantages and (im)possibilities of different financing mechanisms, and generalizing about the later on the basis of pilot project experience does not add significantly to the existing knowledge and experience in this field. * The third and most important “lessons learned” can be summarized as follows: institutional (/organizational) and financing problems and bottlenecks experienced by (in) our pilot cities are not “NMT specific”. No special difficulty in financing NMT investments was found, that was determined by the NMT nature of the investment. The difficulty -which exists- lies in the willingness of decision makers to attach priority to NMT, and is political in nature rather than financial or institution^. Bottleizeck~for NMT: iiiiuge und understanding
The experience of the pilot projects indicates that the bottlenecks for the formulation and iniplenientation of NMT policies and investments are not institutional or financing difficulties that are different from those experienced in all other sectors of government policy. Recognition and implementation of urban NMT/mobility policies was, and is, constrained by the awareness, understanding, and priority attached to the NMT issue at professional and decision making level.
Urban NMT investtnents are conzparatively easy
The pilot project experience indicates that the organizational and financing difficulties could in fact well be lower for NMT than for other urban transport fields. Investment in pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure has very limited economy of scale effects, and can thus be undertaken much easier in a step-by-step manner and cope with fluctuations in the available cash flow, than for example investment in mass public transport schemes (such as light rail), or urban highways. The benefits from the NMT investment equally come step by step, rather than only materializing after a large scale project has been fully completed. NMT investments create immediate benefits and are characterized by a short payback period. Moreover, as in the case of private car and motorcycle trafk, pedestrian and bicycle traffic are private modes of transport for which problems of efficient supply of the transport service do not exist in the way they constrain effective public transport policies.
CHAPTER 3
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
27
Small size of individual implementation contracts is sometimes mentioned as a specific organizational problem facing NMT projects. The pilot project experience does not confirm this. Implementation control problems in the pilot projects related to two aspects: * variations, because the interventions were experimental, and * supervision tolerance tradition. The first aspect will disappear once large scale standard implementation takes place, the second one is not NMT specific. In fact, the organization of NMT interventions with user participation added an additional set of checks and balances that had a beneficial influence on the supervision and cost control quality. Small size of individual loans for NMT investments is also sometimes mentioned as a Lnrge scale integrated urban specific bottleneck for NMT projects. The pilot project experience does not confirm this. In area u i 3 g r u ~ i ~ ~ ~ the field of infrastructure investments there is no reason why, if larger scale financial arrangements are preferred by either the borrower or the lending institution, these cannot be formulated. The total backlog in NMT access infrastructure or in traffic calming facilities is enormous, and very sound large programs to address those in their own right can be prepared and implemented at short notice. The pilot project experience indicates that it is in fact recoinmendable not to treat NMT as an add-on for the poor to large traditional urban road infrastructure projects. An NMT focused approach will facilitate proper integration with other urban high priority sectors such as drainage of unplanned areas to improve health conditions, water supply networks in those areas, slum upgrading, restoration of tree cover and the stimulation of small businesses. Where in the pilot project a relatively large NMT budget was in principle availabIe as part of a large urban transport infrastructure project (in Kenya), the actual expenditure of this money turned out to be strongly delayed, for a combination of reasons. Prominent among those was the low priority attached to NMT at the decision making level , in the complete absence of specific NMT financing problems. Bicycle ~ f f o r ~ ~ i b i ~ In i ~ the : field of bicycle affordability, the pilot project experience indicates that micro-loans rehrced bicycle price, for bicycles are not a suitable instrument to increase bicycle affordability to the poor or to no micro-loam specific underprivileged groups. The overheads and risks associated to such micro-loans, for both the borrower and the lender, were found to be prohibitive under the present circumstances in the pilot cities. However, this does not make it impossible to influence bicycle affordability in a significant manner. An uncomplicated instrument is readily available: a bicycle price policy, consisting of: complete tax exemption (import duties, VAT, user tax) and targeted purchase subsidies for specific groups, such as women.
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Chapter 4
Urban mobility conditions and problems in Africa
Conditions
Typically, some or most of the following urban transport and mobility conditions are found in urban areas in Africa: Pedestrians dominate the use of the road reserves for trips on foot, for outdoor trading or social contacts, for just passing time, or in the case of children, playing. A large proportion of all urban trips is entirely on foot. In the biggest cities this goes up to 50%, in medium-size towns to 60-70% (note: in conventional urban transport studies the number of pedestrian trips is often underestimated, because of estimates based on traffic counts on main roads, or surveys that measure pedestrian trips inaccurately). Most other trips use public transport for much of the distance, but also involve considerable walking. A modal share of the car above 10% is an exception, in most cities it is lower. The modal share of cycling is low in the biggest cities - a few percent - in some medium-size cities it is much higher, and cycling is in fact the second important mode. In some countries, in particular in West Africa, motorized two-wheelers (moped, motorcycle or scooter) have a significant market share, and come second in modal share. Traffic lane marking on the c ~ i a g e w a yas well as a clear separation between the road shoulder and the carriageway do not exist; the use of the road by motor vehicles, pedestrians, carts, bicycles, mopeds, etc. is chaotic and dangerous. A high proportion of all motor vehicles on the roads are commercial vehicles, for public transport (buses, minibuses, shared taxi) and freight (trucks. pick-ups), and small numbers of large push carts that operate on the carriageway. Motorized three-wheelers and tricyctes are very rare, unlike in Asia. Drivers often show minimal respect for other road users, and the proportion of tired commercial vehicle drivers that make too many working hours per day, is high. The number of old motor vehicles with technical faults, such as bad brakes, is substantial. Enforcement of traffic rules and regulations is minimal, and legal penalties and financial compensation obligations in case of an accident are sometimes easy to escape. The average passenger throughput per meter of road cross-section per day is up to ten times higher than it is in Europe or North America, for example an ADT of 120,000 persons on a 2x1 lane coflector road. The capacity utilization and the cost effectiveness of the urban road infrastructure for both NMT and MT is usually high. The reasons are: 1. the high number of pedestrians, 2. the high proportion of high-occupancy public transport vehicles, 3. the small road network length per head of population and 4. a less pronounced rush hour, as a result of a high proportion of jobs in the informal sector and a public transport supply that is not based on maxiinuin peak demand, thus forcing passengers to spread their travel over a longer period. Problems Problenzs at household level
Typically, the mobility problems that affect the inhabitants of large cities in Africa are: High and often unaffordable costs of urban travel, and as a result: Severely suppressed mobility and low economic and social participation of the urban poor. Expenditure of a far too high proportion of household income and available time on daily travel. Long travel distance. Due to fast city growth and insufficient economic development and services in the new, often unplanned parts of the city, trip distances have increased strongly during the last decades.
30
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
* Poor route infrastructure network, in particular of walking and cycling routes, and poor access in general, in peripheral and low-income parts of the urban area. High number of traffic accidents; most of the victims are non-motorized road users. * Poor pavement quality. On pedestrian walkways there is often no pavement provision at all. * Outdoor insecurity, in particular after dark.
Problems at city lcvel
The mobility-induced problems that affect an entire city, seen as an economic production and market system that requires efficiency, have already been described in chapter 3.1: The need for reduction of the direct and indirect cost of transport. Lack of NMT ~ n f r a s ~ ~ c t u r e
Until now, the provision of adequate infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists has largely been ignored. This concerns independent pedestrian and bicycle access infrastructure and routes, as well as walkways, facilities for cycling and safe crossings on existing roads. In most cases, the omission was without even thinking about the issue. The implicit argument has often been that carriageway (re-) construction for motor vehicles was the first priority, and that the available budget was so low that no money should be spent on anything else. The iiiiplication of this thinking was never analyzed carefully, either in terms of its impact on the mobility and the travel costs of all urban inhabitants (rather than on vehicle operating cost), or in terms of benefitlcost maximization of investments in urban transport infrastructure. The problems listed in the paragraph above are partly the heritage of a neglect for pedestrian traffic, and to some extent for bicycles.
NMT/MT buluiice
However, as shown in these guidelines, there is an intimate relationship between the infrastructure requirements of pedestrians and cyclists and those of motor vehicles. The first and most important task is to address the backlog of missing NMT facilities in the existing road network. The second inipo~anttask is to avoid that new road construction and rehabilitation projects again ignore NMT aspects, and thereby aggravate the mobility problems of a large number of urban inhabitants instead of reducing them. The challenge is to arrive at a balanced provision of traffic infrastructure for both MT traffic and NMT traffic. One of the reasons that it has been so difficult to achieve such a balance is that many people automatically think of traffic as MT traffic and never realize that NMT traffic is there just as well, and that in most African cities in fact NMT trips outnumber MT trips. A balanced provision of infrastrvcture starts with a balanced perception of what urban traffic is.
~ l ~ ~ ~ ~ o von e l ~ l e ~To~ deal t s with the backlog in NMT facilities, improvement packages of the type described in
existing roads
chapters 7, 12 and 13 can be implemented. The combination thereof with regular road maintenance is attractive. The advantages are (i) that it reduces the total costs involved compared to doing the two separately, and (ii) that regular maintenance will take NMT aspects into account and can avoid works that lead to an increase of traffic accident hazards (see chapter 13.21). To integrate NMT facilities properly in road construction and rehabilitation projects, the
most logical approach is to establish national urban road design standards that properly include NMT facilities and make them obligatory. That should prevent that the NMT provisions are eliminated at the moment of final decision making, as a way of reducing costs to comply with budget limitations. In case costs are expected to exceed the available budget, the total length of road should be reduced, and sound design standards for both MT and NMT maintained.
How to react to urban road congestion? In a situation of road congestion, should road widening and building urban highways without lanes for pedestrians and cyclists be considered? In most cities, the signal that something must be done about the road network is when serious congestion slows down the traffic on the central parts of the network during several hours per day. Unfortunately, the
CHAPTER 4
URBAN MOBILfTY ~ O N D ~ ~ O AND N SPROBLEMS IN AFRICA
31
response triggered by the congestion problem in many cases is to build additional general motor vehicle lanes in existing road corridors, or to build sections of urban highway. This is unfortunate, because the final impact of that urban transport policy is often negative for the mobility of a large part of the population. Road widening without designing proper walkways, service roads, crossing facilities and traffic calming measures, and in some cases dedicated bus lanes or bicycle tracks, creates a number of negative effects: it increases the number of accidents; * it increases the difficulty of crossing; * it makes cycling increasingly dangerous and in the end impossible; it encourages car dependent residential development far from the city center, which in turn creates an extra demand for road space. 0
0
Urban higliwuys?
Urban highway construction often leads to: inaccessible barriers for NMT with only a few, for cost reasons, grade-separated crossings; * lack of access along the highway sections, and as a result the concentration of high density business development near the highway entranceiexit nodes, which increases trip length; the expectation of some of the road users that high-speed travel by car to the city center will be possible, which in turn encourages car owners to seek a house in a remote part of the city. Doing that creates long-distance car travel, and thus stimulates congestion; lack of money, because all money is used for highways, and little is left for spending on urban traffic management, pavement maintenance, pedestrian routes and NMT improvement interventions, that would have a better benefitlcost ratio.
Dealing witlz congestion
If not road widening and urban highway building to reduce congestion, then what? A full answer to this question is outside the scope of these guidelines. However, having made the statements in the two paragraphs above about what should not be done, the question cannot be ignored. A basic law concerning the shape that urban development takes, should be the basis of the urban mobility policies: the supply of urban travel infrastructure determines the longterm land use pattern changes and the location choices of inhabitants and businesses (where to seek a house, where to set up a business, an office, a shop?). The main arterial road corridors in urban areas should therefore primarily be looked upon as attractive, accessible zones to set up economic activities, and not as minimum travel time connections between remote origins and destinations. This means: MT and NMT access to the land along the entire corridor must be good, so sei-vice roads are required along the corridor (see chapter 15). * Lateral NMT access towards the business activity zone along the corridor must be good, connecting to residential locations at the back of the business activity zone, at short distance. This allows many trips to be NMT, and a residential area without motor vehicle transit traffic (which is concentrated in the corridor). Perhaps the most difficult aspect of dealing with congested urban roads is not to look at them as a failure, and not as a problem that must be solved immediately. One can also try to appreciate the aspect of high capacity utilization of the transport infrastructure. The standard definition of “level of service” of transport infrastructure in road design manuals is: “very good” if the road is almost empty, a traveler experiences no hindrance by other traffic at all, and “very bad” if the road is completely full, the capacity utilization at its peak and consequently each road user’s freedom to move at any desired speed is seriously constrained by the presence of all other road users. It is interesting to realize that this definition of “good” and “bad” is the complete opposite of the usual one adopted in economics, In economics one would classify an investment in a productive facility that has a very low utilization as wasteful. The argument made above is of course a s ~ i n ~ l i ~ c a t i o n , but is useful to underline the need to aim at an urban transport system that achieves a high capacity utilization.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES. VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Accepting a certain amount of congestion for certain types of traffic can be used as an effective instrument to enhance a high capacity utilization of the urban transport infrastructure and as an instrument to enhance a low-cost urban transport system. Mobility policy priorities? Chosen priorities nzainly reflect lobby group strengths
In most cities there is no platform of people that clearly articulate the needs and interests of pedestrians and cyclists, nor for that matter those of bus passengers. Ideally, the municipal government decisions on mobility policies should be based on an objective assessment of the mobility needs, and of the benefits and costs of public investment in urban travel infrastructure for the urban population at large. In practice, priority for a certain mode of transport - pedestrian, bicycle, minibus, stage bus or car- primarily depends on the existence and strength of lobby groups in favor of that mode of transport. Walkways? Bicycle tracks? Bus lanes? There has been no effective lobby for them. The fact that the urban transport investments that received priority created meager results for most inhabitants, and a severe inequity in mobility, has so far not led to a change in priorities. In order to create more cost-effective, more balanced and more durable African urban transport systems, priorities have to be reconsidered. Technical knowledge of how that can be done is certainly important as part of that process, and it is hoped that these guidelines will make a contribution in that respect. However, the decisive factors are the vision of the decision makers that fundamental changes in priorities are needed, and their initiative to plan and implement such changes: create better mobility and accessibility, at a much lower cost.. Pedestrian and bicycle route networks
Beware of single isolated NMT infrastructure coiistructioiz projects
The network is the franzewola
One of the factors that contribute to the unsatisfactory state of urban mobility is that most attempts to improve it were isolated projects without a real foundation in the municipal government. After completion there is no follow-up. The next attempt may be in a different part of the city, and be based on different concepts. The result is "patchwork". For motor vehicle traffic, patchwork type road improvement does not create so many problems. MT is not a vulnerable mode of transport. If parts of the road are not in good condition, the trip remains possible, be it less comfortable and slower. However, for pedestrian and even more for bicycle trips, the possibility of making the trip depends on the quality of the entire route. If parts of it are in good condition, but other parts are in bad condition, the bad parts are a decisive deterrent. A few dangerous sections or almost impassable points make the entire trip impossible or very unattractive. For example, a bicycle trip that has to pass over a narrow bridge with a high traffic volume and no room to cycle will not be made, because the cyclist is, rightfully, too scared by the risk of having a traffic accident on that bridge. Whether the rest of the trip would be possible on a nice bicycle track does not matter, the trip cannot be made. For pedestrians and cyclists, a sufficient constant route network quality is of vital importance. Methods to analyze route quality and to design a complete network of NMT routes are explained in part I of the guidelines. A comprehensive pedestrian and bicycle policy and a route network concept are indispensable requirements for a successful long-term program to enhance pedestrian and bicycle mobility. Urban road design standards
The need to establish clear urban road design standards that incorporate proper NMT facilities has already been pointed out above, as well as the need to prohibit the (re)construction of roads to design standards that do not include the minimum facilities required to assure NMT traffic capacity and safety. Having said that, what are those minimum requirements? Part I11 of these guidelines contains detailed recommendations in that respect, but it is useful to touch upon four important aspects here.
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33
Nairobi, 1994. Lack of NMT infrastructure.
Road widening. What at a glance looks like a nicely improved road in reality is a very mixed blessing. Constructed in an urban area, this type of road design which completely ignores pedestrian and bicycle safety and facilities, creates very dangerous conditions. The road shown was built (rehabilitated) in Morogoro in July 1999. It killed three people in the first four months after re-opening. Later modifications can make it safer again, but at an unnecessary high cost, and inferior to a good initial design. What makes designing good urban roads so difficult? a highway design orientation? a pressure for low-cost construction, with a disastrous effect on the total real costs? oversight? lack of interaction with all road users and the communities living around? The ability to learn from mistakes is an important quality. (Note: from the inclination of the car in the small bend you can see that it is driving fast.)
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
THREE CORNERSTONES OF PLANNING
Observation
Analysis
Participation
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35
Road shoulders
Road shoulders are a standard feature of i-ural roads, trunk roads and highways, outside cities. They have a road base function as well as a drainage function, and also provide room for emergencies (vehicle breakdown). They are not intended for a regular traffic function. The existence of such open road shoulders in an urban situation creates very unsafe and undefined traffic conditions. Usually the space is used for a variety of conflicting purposes, such as walking, parking, loading and unloading (passengers and freight), overtaking maneuvers and petty trading. To eliminate this problem, the urban road design standards in these guidelines recommend the complete absence of road shoulders. The area directly parallel to the carriageway can be used for well designed bus bays (every 400 m, long bays in view of the higher number of buses and minibuses), or freight loading bays, or parallel parking lanes, or open drains, or walkways that are separated physically from the carriageway. Open, undefined road shoulders, which are a major cause of traffic chaos and traffic accident hazards should not be constructed at all in the urban area.
Walkways
Often, the argument is heard that since so little money is available to build motor vehicle carriageways, no money can be spent on walkways. The findings of the pilot projects indicate that this argument does not hold for two main reasons: (i) the absence of proper walkways forces pedestrians onto the carriageway in many places, which significantly reduces the MT flow capacity of the roads and is a major cause of accidents, and (ii) the benefithost ratio of walkway construction is high, often higher than the B/C ratio of MT carriageway construction.
Carriageway width
The issue of carriageway width is a good example of the need to integrate the pedestrianand bicycle- and motor vehicle aspects of the design. Traditional practice in Africa, based on trunk road design, is to construct seven or eight meter wide undivided carriageways (3.5 or 4.0 ni wide lanes on 2x1 lane roads), assuming that this optimizes the road capacity. However, in most urban networks, the carriageway width has little influence on the road capacity, which is largely determined by intersection capacity, delays created by direct plot access, road blockage as a result of accidents, and frequent on-road stopping of public transport vehicles. The maximum driving speed of motor vehicles goes up with increasing camageway width, and the waiting time and accident hazard of crossing increase disproportional with increasing road width. Therefore, these guidelines recommend to adopt a 3.0 m wide traffic lane for MT on collector roads. Where this is needed for capacity reasons, this can be extended by a 1.5 m wide bicycle lane. Adoption of a carriageway width for urban roads that enhances driving at a low speed: 1 . does not reduce the capacity of the urban road network. 2. increases safety, and 3. does not reduce the capacity of the urban road network.
Pedestriari crossing of urban corridors
In North America and in European countries, examples of pedestrian crossings of urban dual carriageway roads by means of pedestrian crossing islands between all traffic lanes are rare. Four lane (2x2) and six lane (2x3) roads without any median are even quite common in some countries. On such roads, all pedestrian crossings are then protected by traffic lights, with a separate pedestrian phase, or are over- or underpasses. Elsewhere, crossing such roads is impossible without severe accident risk. In African cities, traffic lights are much less frequent, a pedestrian phase is rarely available, and even if existed, the respect for traffic lights by drivers in off-peak conditions is often erratic. For crossing pedestrians this makes traffic lights an unpredictable risk factor rather than a reliable safeguard. Initial, but not yet completed tests and analysis indicates that central medians and inbetween-lanes crossing islands are an efficient way of making dense pedestrian flows and dense vehicle flows cross each other safely, with minimal delay on both sides.
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PART I
PLANNING METHODS
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Chapter 5
Characteristics of pedestrian and bicycle traffic
Demand for walking and cycling
The most obvious reason why it is important to plan and design proper road infrastructure facilities for pedestrians and cyclists is the existing high volume of pedestrian and - in some cities - bicycle traffic. In chapter 8.3 a method is presented that provides a comprehensive overview of the traffic volume and composition of a city. Applying that method to a typical district of Dar es Salaam shows that around 50% of all trips are entirely non-motorized, mainly on foot; private car traffic is around 6%. For Nairobi, a similar figure is found. In medium-sized cities, trips on foot are even more dominant, and cycling can be substantial as well. For example, in the pilot city of Morogoro, Tanzania, two-thirds of all trips are entirely on foot, and another 20% are by bicycle. PT has a market share of around 12% in Morogoro, and private car traffic of 4%. In Eldoret, a medium-sized city in Kenya, comparable figures are found (cycling there is around 10%). Large parts of the urban population in Africa cannot afford to spend a significant amount Affordability of travel of money- on personal daily travel. Many of the urban poor cannot even afford to spend any cost money on travel. They depend on the lowest cost form of transport: walking. The remaining trips are mainly by public transport which include significant amounts of walking as well, to and from the bus. The second really low-cost mode of travel in a city, after walking, is the bicycle, which Potential of cycliizg per trip costs roughly one-third of the least expensive form of public transport in buses or minibuses. The findings of the pilot projects show that cycling is an attractive mode of transport for many inhabitants of African cities, provided that two conditions are met: * it must be possible to cycle safely, without a significant risk to becoming the victim of a traffic accident, and the person must be able to afford the purchase of a bicycle. In a city such as Morogoro, where cycling is reasonably safe at this moment, almost all households that can afford it, own a bicycle.
High v o l ~ m of s pedestrian C J I I bicycle ~ traj’ic
0
Safe infiastructure for walking and cycling is a jirstorder priority
Given the above patterns, urban transport policies in Africa should address the provision and proper management of safe pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure as a matter of first priority. Otherwise, the travel needs of the majority of the population are neglected. In the case of each specific city, it is important to initiate the formulation of well informed urban transport policies with an overview of the composition of the entire urban travel market. The next chapter describes a method for obtaining such an overview. Modal characteristics of pedestrians and cyclists
Facilities for pedestrians and cyclists must be carefully harmonised with the characteristics of their users. Important modal characteristic that walking and cycling have in common are: Vulnerability. In case of a collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian or a cyclist the Vulnerability iiz chance that the accident will result in serious injury or death of the pedestrian or the accidents cyclist is considerable, even at vehicle speeds of no more than 30 kmhr. (at the moment of impact). In that type of accident, vehicle passengers are seldom at risk. Low infrastructure requirements. Pedestrians can pass over narrow tracks and bad Low infinstructure pavements, where it is impossible for vehicles to penetrate, and the same is to a slightly dependence lesser extent true for cvclists. Where substantial climbing is involved, slopes of more than 50 m and more than 2-3%, Slopes hinder cycling the usefulness of a bicycle is limited. On steep slopes cyclists should walk, using the walkway rather than the carriageway. 0
40
Negarively uflecred by detours
Eficienr rood use
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
0
Sensitivity to barriers. Pedestrians can achieve a speed of ~fr5 km/hr. This means that their travel time is highly dependent on the ability to travel in the straightest possible line between their origin and their destination. Pedestrians always look for shortcuts, for the very logical reason of niinimizing their travel time. Making a significant detour is always very unpleasant for a pedestrian. For example, crossing a river may entail a walk 2 km downstream to find a bridge, and then 2 km upstream again, increasing travel time by almost one hour. The trip may become unfeasible because of its total length. The same applies to crossing big traffic arterials. When distances between safe crossing points for pedestrians are more than 200 to 300 meters, invariably pedestrians will take considerable risks crossing in-between. Design features that one occasionally finds, like a footbridge every 3 kxn, result in almost complete inaccessibility of the other side of the arterial for trips on foot. Cyclists can move three times faster than pedestrians, and can cope with detours better than pedestrians. Nonetheless, cycling routes without detours are strongly preferred. The maximum pedestrian or bicycle traffic capacity per m2 of walkway (road) is higher than that of car traffic (see part 111). Taking into account the much smaller space requirements of pedestrians and cyclists on intersections, their road-use intensity is comparable to that of public transport in minibuses and buses in mixed traffic. Only high frequency public transport on dedicated infrastructure (e.g. bus lanes) has a higher roaduse intensity.
5.1 Pedestrian and bicycle traffic requirements
User requirements Based on inte~ationalexperience, it can be concluded that there are four main requirements Route ~?~f~a.~frzfcrure that represent most wishes of pedestrians and cyclists regarding the infras~ructure.When re~~ireii~~~?is planning and designing for pedestrians or cyclists, these requirements must play an important role. They are mentioned below and fui-ther explained in Chapter 6.3.
Table 5.1 Walking and cycling: user requircments 1. Safcry
2. Cohercnt network of direct walk and cycle routes
3. Comfon 4. Arlracrivc walking and cycling environment
Difleel-ewesberioeen pedesfrinns aid cyclists
Pedestrian and bicycle traffic have a lot in common, and planning and designing for them simultaneously is desirable. However, important differences in their requirements also exist. The most important point is that when traffic intensities are high, pedestrian traffic and bicycle traffic cannot be mixed (see chapter 6.3).When the traffic flow on a route is low, pedestrian and bicycle traffic can be mixed on the same track. In most situations urban cycling mixes much better with motor traffic on the c a ~ a g e w a ythan with pedestrian traffic on a walkway. It is therefore deceptive to think in terms of an “NMT” network, as if there would be such a thing as a single combined walldcycle infrastructure network. Walking and cycling networks should be planned separately.
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CHARACTERISTICS OF PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC
41
Provider requirements
Affordability Ofp24bliC For most urban governments in Africa, affordability of travel infrastructure construction investment in iirban and maintenance is a problem not unlike the problem of affordability of personal travel to infi-astructure the individual inhabitants of the city. Severe financial constraints pertain in both cases. The chances for the inhabitants to reduce their individual mobility problems strongly depend on the ability of the municipal government to address urban travel infrastructure problems successfully. The affordability of public urban travel infrastructure is right on the critical path of urban mobility improvement. For that reason it is not only important to clarify the infrastructure needs of individual pedestrian and bicycle travelers. It is equally important to clarify what is required of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure from the point of view of the public provider (the municipal or national government), in order to make proper provision feasible. From the experience gained in the pilot projects, the following four requirements appear to be important:
Table 5.2 NMT infrastructure: provider requirements 1. High benefitlcost ratio
2. Cost effective consrmction
3.Low mainrcnancc requirements 4. Initially: experimental value. learning
Cost effective construction Strong jiiaizcial constraints make it important to to include rhe cost aspectfully in the planning
Traditionally, in many road engineering projects, cost and cost- effectiveness aspects are hardly included during the planning stage. The demand for roads of a certain specification is analyzed first and planned accordingly, quite independent of the costs of the roads. This practice is acceptable, if there are no significant road infrastructure financing problems, and cost effectiveness is largely a matter of final quality control without much influence on whether a road will be constructed, and to what required specifications. However, if significant financing constraints do exist, it is vital to include the cost aspect in a major way during the planning process. Failure to do so usually leads to plans that cost too much and cannot be financed. The consequence of that is that around the time of final decision making about implementation, the financial constraints force significant alterations in the plans. Such changes are then usually made without feedback to the planning stage, with the result that decisions are taken that contradict important objectives of the plan. Including the cost aspect fully during the planning stage can prevent unchecked and infeasible financial consequences, and the possibility of final decisions which forsake the original planning objectives. The example in chapter 13.21 is a good illustration.
Cost conrrol us the insrrurnent to create trust in rlze municipal government
There is another reason why emphasis on the cost aspects is important during planning. The experience of the pilot projects has made it clear that there is a widespread disbelief among the general public that the public authority is concerned about cost effective spending of the available money. As long as this suspicion dominates the relation between the general public and the municipal government, it is difficult to establish good participation of the “users” in planning and implementation of interventions that can bring genuine improvement of the mobility situation. It appears that the only way to overcome this deadlock is for the government involved to openly demonstrate in practice that it is capable of planning and constructing cost effective urban road infrastructure.
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GUIDELlNES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
The stakes are high. More cost effective urban road infrastructure - quite possible seeing the current practice - can increase the value obtained for the money invested, providing for more urgent needs, and having greater strength and durability. It can also trigger a positive user participation atmosphere that is needed to create the capacity for increased local financing of the required infrastructure, either indirectly through taxes and user charges or through direct community financing of part of the costs. High benefitkost ratio
In view of the severe limitations in funds available for maintenance, improvement, and new construction of urban travel infrastructure, it is important to select investment priorities with a high benefidcost ratio. In general, this means giving first priority to spot improvements, combined with TrafJic calming maintenance of existing roads. The examples given in part I1 of the guidelines show that B/C ratios of walkway improvement are high for all walking routes with a high utilization. Walkways Investments that create a modal shift towards the use of bicycles also have high B/C ratios, Modal shift to cycling and the same is true of investments that prevent growing traffic hazards that would reduce the existing volume of cycling.
Low maintenance requirements The reality is that proper road maintenance rarely takes place at this moment in African cities. There is no reason to assume that this situation will drastically change within the next five to ten years. This means that construction choices that have a low initial cost at the expense of a relatively high maintenance cost are not attractive. If the regular maintenance fails, the loss of asset value will be rapid. As a general rule, strong and durable constructions with low maintenance requirements are to be preferred. Initially: experimental value, learning, demonstration
In most - if not all - African cities there is no established tradition of providing pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. This means that experience has to grow step by step, to find out what the best solutions are that fit the travel demand, traffic behavior and conditions of a certain city. The safest way to create such experience is to implement a large number of small interventions one by one, and to learn from the results. Initially, interventions with a high learning and demonstration effect are to be preferred. They play a vital role in the public debate about the desired urban transport policies and infrastructure. 5.2 Sufficient road reserves
Too narrow road reserves: widening for motorized traflc leaves no space for pedestrians and cyclists
Many newer parts of African cities grow in a largely unplanned manner. As a result public land reserves for roads and other public infrastructure have often not been determined and legally registered. Even where this has been done, the reserves are often not enforced in the field and are occupied by houses and businesses. In such areas, when roads need to be constructed or widened in view of growing traffic, there are major difficulties. For large roads (collector roads, corridors) the solution usually is demolition of structures that lie on its alignment. However, even if such a solution may be possible with some difficulties for a few big roads, the new road reserve will often be made as narrow as possible, and the temptation to omit proper walkways or service roads will be substantial, so as to reduce the immediate conflict with the people and businesses that must be displaced. The result can be seen in many road Corridors: almost the entire road reserve is used for MT carriageways, and proper movement of pedestrians and cyclists is difficult and dangerous.
Land use densificarion makes iilfoimal shortcut routes disappear
For access roads, demolition usually is not an option at all, and it may be difficult to officially establish a satisfactory network of coherent and direct NMT routes. The overwhelming majority of movements on the access roads and tracks is non-motorized. In the initial stage of unplanned new development, the density is not high yet, and many
Unplanned city growth
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CHARACTERISTICS OF PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC
43
informal footpaths exist, together forming a dense and direct route network. However, over time, as the land use density increases, more and more informal routes are closed by people or businesses that do not want others to pass near their place. The detours that pedestrians Public NMT networks and cyclists are forced to make grow, and eventually no satisfactory network of NMT routes must be legally remains. Pedestrians and cyclists are increasingly forced to use the big roads, but these also face an increasing intensity of MT, have too narrow reserves to absorb the total demand for established motor vehicle-, pedestrian- and bicycle traffic and become unsafe and inefficient. Municipal action plait for open public lurid urgently needed
The scenario sketched above is not a theoretical one, it is what has happened in many cities during the last two decades. The municipal government faces two tasks in this field. The first is to re-establish satisfactory route networks for pedestrians and cyclists in the existing built-up areas. The second is to prevent that the same happens again in the next decades in new areas that are being occupied now. Methods to plan pedestrian and bicycle route networks will be treated in chapter 8.
Recor,inieiidations about road reserves
This paragraph underlines the importance of safeguarding sufficient road reserves, but it does not include any practical recommendations yet about how that should be done in practice. Those recornmendations can be derived from two other parts of the guidelines: chapter 8, which deals with establishing the desired alignments (the route network), and chapter 15, which deals with the recoinmended designs for each category of road.
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Chapter 6
Urban road networks
6.1 Function, Shape and Use of roads There is a strong relationship between the function, the shape and the use of a road or intersection. This interdependence can be visualized by showing them as a triangle (figure 6.1). Planners and engineers are continuously challenged to (re-)establish the balance between the three. Function
Function is a planning concept
The FUNCTION of a road is defined as the purpose for which it has been provided. In other words, its function is what it is intended to be used for. A road can simultaneously have several functions. For example, access to houses, or primary arterial transit traffic of motor vehicles. As is clear from the example, different functions can be difficult to combine. To minimize the conflict between different functions on the same road, and to maximize the efficiency and the safety of the traffic flow, urban road network planners adopt a functional classification of roads in distinct types, and a road hierarchy (see chapter 6.2 and table 14.1). The road function is a planner’s concept, which is reflected in the design of the road, its traffic management and the traffic regulations. For example, heavy truck traffic can be forbidden on a certain road, because that road does not have that function. In reality, the planner’s concept and the regulations may not always be recognized or respected by the road users, and a road may be used differently from the use intended by its provider. The two most important functions that a road can have are truansib (through-traffic) and access to the plots, buildings, houses, etc. along the road. In addition a number of other functions or sub-functions can be distinguished: (i) role as public transport route; (ii) role as bicycle traffic route; (iii) role as walking route; (iv) shopping function; (v) parking; (vi) provision of direct plot access for MT, etc. Shape
Shape is measurable
The SHAPE of a road is defined as its actual physical form. This is the product of its geometric design and pavement design, its actual construction, and the later wear and tear, damage and maintenance. How much road space is available to each transport mode, and of what quality is it? This includes possible traffic signal controls. Designing and supervising the construction and maintenance of the shape of roads is mainly the task of the traffic and road engineers. The actual shape of a road can be different from its design, for example because pavement maintenance has been neglected, or because driver behavior has changed a walkway into a parking area, etc. The shape of a road (or intersection) can be observed and measured. The relevant variables are: lane width, corner radius, type of pavements, pavement defects, road base strength, dimensions and current status of drainage structures, median islands, kerbstone and other lane demarcation elements, etc. Use
Use is nieasurable
The USE of a road is defined as the actual traffic composition and behavior plus all other activities that are carried out within the road reserve. Usually it is a reflection of the function of the road, but the actual use of a road can also be different from its intended function. The use of a road (or intersection) can be observed and measured. The variables to be measured are: traffic volumes, speeds, driver behavior, accidents, vehicle delays, waiting
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Variations and changes in use pattern
times for pedestrian crossing, waiting times for left and right turns, number of parked vehicles, space occupied by kiosks andor street traders, etc. The use of a road can change over time, due to changes in land use (activities) along the road, or due to changes in other roads in the road network. Such changes are often sudden or temporary, so observations of road use must be made with care.
Problem analysis
Incompatibility befiveenfunctioiz, shape and use
In observing and analyzing traffic problems, it is extremely useful to distinguish between the function, the shape and the use of a road. Most traffic problems can be described as the lack of balance between the shape, the function and the use of roads. For example: if an intersection is inefficient, and creates frequent delays and congestion, or if it is dangerous and the scene of many accidents, the causes can be analyzed by observing at what points and at what times of the day its use (traffic volume, composition and behavior) is not compatible with its shape. For example: wide corners that invite minibus parking at the corner and contribute to intersection blocking, or high speed on one of the intersecting roads, creating long delays for vehicle turns idout of the other road, or long crossing distances in the absence of a median pedestrian crossing island. This in turn creates high waiting times for pedestrians that have to cross and serious accident hazards, or driver behavior that is incompatible with the function of the road, for example speeds far above the speed limit in shopping streets or residential streets. In practice, function, shape and use often become imbalanced, as usage expands. A road constructed twenty or even only ten years ago is likely to have a different usage now from what it was designed for. The actual shape may also no longer be according to the design, because maintenance may have been inadequate. The function of a road can also change over time, because other roads change or are added to the network, which will influence the traffics preferred routing.
Restoring the balance Often, imbalance between function, use and shape results in unsafe and inefficient traffic situations. There are three categories of intervention to restore the balance.
The reason for showing the three intervention categories in table 6.1 is to underline that road reconstruction may not be necessary. Reconstructing a pavement or changing the geometric design is expensive, and not the only type of intervention that is possible. In many cases other responses, such as changing the function of a number of roads in the urban road network, may be more sensible. For example: if not enough road space is available to realize a design (shape) that can properly accommodate the current use of the road, solutions can be found by either influencing the use or reconsidering the road’s functions, or by changing its shape, or a combination. Shifting parking from along the road to new off-road parking lots may make space available for a proper walkway or for a cycle lane. “Traffic calming interventions that adjust the shape (e.g. raised zebra crossings) can influence driver behavior (speed) and thus restore traffic safety for local residents and school children. By changing the road function transit traffic can be eliminated from the road by creating a traffic circulation (e.g. with short one-way sections) that makes the route unattractive for non-local traffic. Etc. To find a good balance, alterations to all three corners of the triangle should be considered. In the plan preparation protocols annex, an intervention report format is provided that applies the concept of Function, Shape and Use to facilitate problem analysis and the formulation of intervention objectives. 6.2 Road categories and hierarchy
All roads in an urban area together form the road network. Not all roads have the same importance or have the same function for the movement of traffic. For proper planning of the road network, it is important to classify roads into a number of types, according to their
CHAPTER 6
URBAN ROAD NETWORKS
Figure 6.1 The triangle of Function, Shape and Use
Table 6.1 lspes of intervention Adjust the shape
e.g.: - Build traffic calming svUctures - Construct walkways - (Re-) construcf &e carriageways
Influence the use
e.g.: - Establish and enforce parking resuictions - Relocate kiosks and street traders - Ban truck traffic
Change the funclion e.g.: - Provide (or convert) otlier routes for uansit uaffic. - Pedestrianize (convert to pedestrian route or market or shopping area)
41
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC 1N AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
main function. The functional classifications used in different countries are quite similar, although there are some differences in the vocabulary used. The classification in these guidelines conforms with the terminology that is currently used in Kenya and Tanzania, based on the UK tradition. Table 6.2 and figure 6.2 give an overview. Four main types of urban roads are distinguished. Each type will be briefly described below, as well as some aspects of the road functions. Part I11 of the guidelines provides a more detailed classification (table 14.1) and design recommendations per type of road. Access road
In a well developed urban road iieiwork, 70%or inore of the total road length are access roads
Access roads (streets) (1) provide access to houses, shops, offices and plots. Final access to buildings is always on foot, irrespective of the mode of transport for an earlier part of the trip. Urban access streets are first and foremost pedestrian territory. Access streets can also be completely pedestrianized, providing no access to motor vehicles at all, or only for service vehicles or freight at certain hours. Access streets form a large part of the public open space in a city, and also have to provide a play area for children. The road reserve should provide space for this function as well as for walklcarriageways and drainage. Bus routes on access roads should be prohibited, because they jeopardize safe and comfortable movement of pedestrians and cyclists on the access streets, as well as a safe residential environment for children. Apart from some, in CBD’s or high-income neighborhoods, access streets at present usually have a compacted earth or gravel pavement. For access streets, a good instrument to eliminate transit traffic is to impose an MT traffic circulation in loops, without straight-through connections. The connections between these loops can be provided as NMT-only routes, to enable pedestrians and cyclists to follow a straight route. Sometimes such NMT-only direct connections can effectively be created by constructing NMT-only bridges. This also saves a lot of money, because these are inexpensive. Bridges for MT can be limited to collector roads and corridors, and sometimes a local collector. Local collector road
It is use@ to discriminate betwen minor collectors (local) and irmjor collectors
The most i m p o ~ a nfunction t of a local collector is to provide access to economic activities along the road. For shops, small businesses and workshops visibility of their location i s highly important, so many of them like to locate along this type of road, in particular if it is also an important pedestrian route. This gives extra importance to the provision of goad walkways along local collector roads, as a good instrument for economic stimulation of the local economy by increasing the amount of small business locations with good accessibility. This type of road also provides the link (i.e. transit) between access streets and collectors and corridors, but this is only meant for traffic with its origin or destination in the neighborhood concerned. Longer distance transit traffic of motor vehicles should be minimized.
Minor collectors can provide safe inixedtrafic cycling routes
Local collector roads are important as cycling routes. They have an MT traffic volume that leaves plenty of space for cyclists, and with simple traffic calming measures can be made safe and attractive enough for cyclists. If a good network of local collector roads exists, cyclists can often select routes that avoid more busy and dangerous collector roads or corridors without proper bicycle facilities. Bus routes are in general not desirable on local collector roads, but in some cases where the distance to the nearest larger type of road ~collector/distributor)is big (more than two km), allowing a bus route may be desirable. In that case, special attention for traffic safety is required. In many cities, local collector roads are the lowest class of road expected to have a bitumen carriageway pavement. Walkways along local collectors are in general absent or undefined and unpaved. (1) The words access road and access street are used interchangeably. “Street” more directly depicts the urban character and the dominance of the access function. Access road is preferred in the classification terminology.
CHAPTER 6
URBAN ROAD NETWORKS
49
Table 6.2 Functional classification of urban mads Access
Trnnsir
Public frampon
Access road (grid distance: 100-500 m)
Access to buildings and plots
no MT transit important for NMT transit (direct mutes)
not allowed
Local mllector
(5W2.003m)
Access to buildings and plots, connection to access streets
MT uansit to be discouraged strongly
sometimes. depending on mad network
Collector/ distributor ( I .000-5.000 m)
Access to buildings and plots. connection to access streets
transit to, from and within city districts
carries the main bus routes
Urban Corridor (4.000-10.000 m) main carriageway
No plot access
city-wide transit. link to national highways
carries the main bus mutes
Funclion: Type:
No NMT service road
Access to plos. link to access streets
no MT transit main NMT transit mute
not allowed
One type of road has not beenclassification included here, because it of has no NMT traffic function: a grade-separated highway. Table(1)6.2 Functional urban roads
Access
Trarisit
P
Access road (grid distance: 100-500m)
Access to buildings and plots
no M T transit important for NMT transit (direct routes)
n
Local collector (500-2.000 m)
Access to buildings and plots, connection to access streets
M T transit to be discouraged strongly
so ro
Collector/ distributor ( 1,000-5,000 m)
Access to buildings and plots. connection to access streets
transit to, from and within city districts
c
Urban Conidor (4.000-10.000 m) main carriageway
No plot access
city-wide transit, link to national highways No NMT
ca
Furictiori: 7jpe:
50
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Collector road
Collector roads connect local collectors and access streets to corridors, as well as to other local collectors and access streets. For many trips within a city district, whether entirely pedestrian or by bicycle or including a bus ride or by car, a collector road will be the highest class of road used. The desirable distance between collector roads depends on the land use density and the MT volume. Usually 1-3 km. Typically, a collector road is a bus route. Collector roads in the CBD and in district centers are concentrations of economic activity
Collector roads also have an important access function for the activities along the road. Many shops and offices are located along them. The structure of African cities (in particular the scarcity of road frontage locations) does not allow an urban road network concept of collector roads with a transit function only and no direct plot access, as is now dominant for new urban roads in Europe.
D@cult to design
Because of the variety of functions that they combine, and the diversity of the traffic flow, collector roads are often the most difficult urban roads to design and to provide proper traffic management for, i.e. safe movement of all modes of traffic, a high capacity utilization and a smooth traffic flow. Urban corridor
Transit function: smooth city-wide trafic
Access function: prinie activity location
Transit arid access inust be separated b y providing service roads
The most important function of urban corridor roads is to provide for efficient transit traffic from one part of the city to another. Traditionally the corridor network is radial towards the central business district (CBD), but increasingly the demand for efficient traffic movement between other parts of the expanding city, outside the CBD, necessitates corridors that have no relation to the CBD. The second, and almost as important, function of urban corridor roads is that, because of the optimal accessibility that they give, they are a prime location for important urban activities, such as office buildings, shopping centers, large markets, and large businesses. Urban corridor sections outside the CBD have a significant potential to develop as important activity concentrations and reduce the need for longer trips to the CBD. To allow these two functions to be combined in a positive manner, the transit and the access traffic in the corridor have to be separated by providing separate service roads and the elimination of direct plot access to the transit carriageway section, and by the elimination of intersections between access streets and the transit carriageway of the corridors. Failure to construct and manage the corridors in such a manner that their two functions can be combined effectively tends to create traffic chaos and safety hazards, as well as a reduction of their attractiveness as a business location. The preferred distance between parallel corridors is usually quite high, in a square road grid, it varies between around 3 km in the central parts and 6-10 km towards the urban periphery. Road network hierarchy
While planning an urban road network it is important to adopt a road hierarchy. An urban road network is characterized by a high density of road links, and a large number of intersections between different roads. Usually it is possible to make a choice between a variety of routes to go from one point to another. The efficiency of the intersections largely determines the efficiency, i.e. the average flow speed, of the traffic movement. The way the route choice of the road users determines the intensity of conflicting traffic flows at intersections has a strong effect on the occurrence of delays and congestion. Creating a clear road hierarchy is one of the most powerful instruments that a traffic Road hierarchy is an instrument to achieve engineer has to enhance an efficient traffic flow in the network, and simultaneously limit eficient traficflows the negative side-effects of the traffic as much as possible (accidents, foul air, noise). City-wide transit traffic concentrated on corridors
The principle is to (1) concentrate the longer distance motor vehicle trips within the city on urban corridor roads for the biggest possible part of their trip, and (2) assure a smooth flow of traffic on those corridors.
CHAPfER 6
Elintinate iransit t r a ~fro~n c access roads and local collectors
An effective road hierarchy that concentrates M T on the corridors is the basis for making cycling safe on access roads and local collectors
URBAN ROAD NETWORKS
51
This requires priority for transit traffic on the corridors, provision of access to activities along the corridor by means of separate service roads, a limited number of intersections (no intersections between access roads and the transit lanes of the corridor), and lot of attention to efficient intersection design and management. By concentrating MT trips on the corridors the trip distance usually increases a bit, but this is more than compensated by a higher average travel speed and less fuel consuming acceleration/deceleration. The complementary principle to (1) is to eliminate MT transit traffic completely from access roads and local collector roads. Doing this is beneficial for MT flow efficiency. because the number of intersections encountered per MT trip decreases and thereby the total intersection delay. It is also beneficial for local residents and local traffic in access streets and on local collectors, because the MT traffic is reduced, resulting in a more pleasant and safer urban environment. Keeping access streets and local collectors free from transit traffic is also a vital instrument to enhance cycling. Access streets and local collectors that are safe to cycle on provide the possibility to cycle on around 75-80% of the total length of urban road network. Complementary bicycle facilities on the main collector roads and corridors (including the ability to cross them safely) are of course still needed to enable cycling throughout a city, but those facilities are really complementary to the basic provision, which is access streets and local collector roads where one can safely and comfortably cycle. Failure to create a well understood and accepted road hierarchy in an urban network leads to a situation where large numbers of MT drivers attempt to find all kinds of “shortcut” routes. This results in many more inefficient intersections, longer average travel times, extensive damage to the shortcut routes that were not constructed to take heavy traffic, and a spread of traffic hazards and pollution throughout all neighborhoods. In other words: lack of network hierarchy creates a negative sum game: the losses are much greater than the gains that individual drivers may sometimes think that they can make. Urban road classification and design standards
Desirable: approved urban road classification and design standards that include pedestriapand bicycle provisions
In many African countries, no officially established classification of urban roads exists so far based on a clear definition of road functions with corresponding design standards. Usually, only a general national classification and design standards exist, based on highways and rural roads. This practice has had a negative impact on road networks in urban areas, because of the differences between urban and other roads. On urban roads: (i) design standards must prominently include pedestrian and bicycle traffic facilities and (ii) special attention must be given to intersection design. The design of the intersections is in fact more important than that of the sections, and has a big effect on the total cost. The use of designs that were essentially trunk road designs has contributed significantly to the creation of unsafe and inefficient urban road networks.
Traffic conflicts related to the road function Access-transit conflict
Two conflicts between the access and the transit function are typical: The first is motor vehicles that make a right turn into a plot entrance across the opposing traffic (in left-hand traffic). If the vehicle has to wait in the middle of the road it creates delays and the vehicles behind it will try to bypass it via the road shoulder. Moving into the entrance it must cross the walkway, often without paying attention to pedestrians because finding a gap in the vehicle stream absorbs the driver’s attention. A median is a good instrument to make this maneuver impossible and eliminate this conflict. The second is a high number of plot entrances across the walkway (and bicycle lane or track), which create serious problems for efficient and safe pedestrian and cycle movement. The detailed design of plot entrances across a walkway or cycle track must fulfil1 a number of requirements: (i) have a continuous flat walkwaylcycle track pavement without kerbs or slopes; (ii) have a slope or hump at the entry point from the carriageway to eliminate high vehicle speed; (iii) have a miaimal radius of the entrance; (iv) include blockage of MT entry on the walkwayicycle track, with bollards etc.; (v) have a minimal width and provide no place to park without blocking the entrance; (vi) allow no entrance if in practice vehicles cannot park inside. Special difficult cases are entrances to parking areas and fiiel stations.
52
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES. VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Corijict betweei~ public trai7sport, trafic safety and cycling
The presence of public transport vehicles on a road has a significant effect on the traffic pattern and the road user behavior. This is particularly true for “infonnal” public transport in minibuses, shared taxi, etc. The driving behavior of these vehicles is dictated by (i) the commercial need to attract as many passengers per day as possible and (ii) the fatigue of the driver, caused by long working hours. In the absence of public transport vehicles, roads are safer and more attractive for cyclists. For the design of an attractive network of cycling routes it is therefore important to attempt to concentrate the bus routes on the urban corridors and the collector roads. This results in safer traffic, and thus a better chance for cycling. At the same time it results in more efficient P T routes can be shorter and stops for passengers fewer.
The ubserzce of motoriced two/tlzr-ee wheeler taxis appears to be,fiivomble for urban cycling
It is interesting to note that in most African cities, unlike in Asia, informal “door-to-aoor” public transport in sinall motor vehicles (in Asia mostly three wheelers) does not exist. The combination of (i) PTon concentrated main routes, and (ii) a proper walkway infrastructure creates a more attractive urban transport system in t e r m of total costs, safety and pollution than the ‘‘Asian’’ model, which in contrast is characterized by polluting door-to-door informal motorized public transport and a higher percentage of private motor vehicles, most of them motorized two-wheelers. The African experience in cities with significant door-todoor informal public transport appears to confirm this (for example motorcycles in Nigeria).
Vehicle speed, tr-afic In urban traffic, a good average speed of travel depends on creating a fluid flow, at modest flow and traflc safety speed, and with small speed differences between different vehicles. The average speed indications given in table 14.1, which is an extension of table 6.2, seem to be low at first sight, compared to the top speed that a car can reach. However, they are in fact significantly higher than the average speeds of MT that are achieved in reality in most large cities around the world for most of the day. In many cities, the average speeds during daytime are below 20 W h r , and lower values have been reported as well. Average speed means: total travel time from trip origin to trip destination, divided by the total distance traveled. The maximum spot speed that a vehicle can reach at isolated points in the urban network are quite irrelevant for the total travel time, but create severe traffic accident hazards. Therefore, the maximum design speed of a road is an important variable in urban road design, but it plays a role which is quite opposite to that in highway design. In highway design, the task is to make the vehicle driver remain safe at the highest speed that can be expected. In urban road design, the task is to forces the driver to slow down to or below the maximum safe (= design) speed, by making it clear that above that speed the driver would bring himself in danger and significant discomfort. In urban traffic, the vulnerability of pedestrians and cyclists is much higher than that of motor vehicle passengers. Obstacles that, if hit by a car, create damage are an essential ingredient of urban traffic safety policies. Their role is threefold: (i) they constrain MT to the carriageway, (ii) they warn drivers against too high speed, and (iii) in case of a driver mistake they stop a vehicle by means of a collision, thus protecting pedestrians.
6.3 Pedestrian and bicycle traffic: four requirements
In chapter 5, the four main user requirements of pedestrian and bicycle traffic were introduced. They are explained below. A set of criteria is attached to each of the requirements. The criteria are formulated to clarify the requirements. The criteria can be measured with parameters. Recommended maximum and/or minimum values of these parameters can be formulated. Pedestrians aid cyclisrs do riot m i x well on the same track
When pedestrian and bicycle traffic intensities are high they cannot be mixed. When the intensities are low enough, they can be mixed on the same track (for volumes see chapter 16). In most situations, urban cycling mixes better with MT on the carriageway than with pedestrian traffic on a walkway. The reason for this is that the speed difference between pedestrians (walking at 4 to 5 km/hr) and cyclists (traveling at 20 to 25 km/hr) is too high (a factor four) to allow efficient mixing at high intensities. On mixed traffic local collector roads and collector roads the relative speed difference between MT (40 to 50 km/hr) and cyclists (20 to 25 M h r ) is less (a factor two).
CHAPTER 6
URBAN ROAD NETWORKS
Cycling: focus on planning of rlze core bicycle 7WtWor.k
For planning of the bicycle network, normal practice is to concentrate on the bicycle routes that serve the most important destinations in a city andor city district. The core network of bicycle routes has far less links than the network of pedestrian walkways. Typically, a grid distance between bicycle routes of approximately 500 m to 1 km applies (comparable to the average grid distance between local collector roads). The statement above that bicycles and pedestrians do not mix on the same track when the density is high, applies to the network of main bicycle routes. However, access to the main bicycle network i s by means of other access roads and tracks, that form the pedestrian network. On these roads and tracks cycling and pedestrians mix well.
Walking: separatdy consider short distance uccess and long distance wilki7zg
For planning of the network of pedestrian routes, two levels must be considered separately. First of all, that of pedestrian access within neighborhoods and from residential neighborhoods to nearby markets, schools and shops in the district, and to bus stops. The second level is that of longer distance walking routes within the city, which connect between districts and to the CBD and important industrial areas. These long distance walking routes will often coincide more or less with the core bicycle network. Where corridors and (1ocaV)collector roads are concerned, pedestrians require a separate walkway, not shared with cyclists. On NMT-only routes, the cyclists and pedestrians can best have visually separated lanes of their own, as soon as the volume of cyclists is significant.
53
The requirements explained below were initially formulated primarily with the network of core bicycle routes in mind. However, they apply in general to both neighborhood pedestrian routes and long distance pedestrian routes and to the core network of bicycle routes.
Trafic safety
Personal safe&
1. Safety The routes used by pedestrians and cyclists must have a low risk of traffic accidents. The ininimuni requirement is that walking and cycling are not more dangerous than other modes of transport. In particular cycling in large cities is at present much more dangerous than traffc in general, its share in accidents being 2 to 5 times its modal share. A second important safety aspect is personal safety against robbery and harassment, in particular after dark. Important factors that reduce the security risk are good visibility, street lights, a high pedestrian and bicycle traffic volume, and communi~ysurveillance at critical points. 2. Coherent network of direct walk and cycle routes The networks of pedestrian and bicycle routes must have no gaps and must be linked to the main points where cyclists and pedestrians begin or complete their trips. Directness means that the network provides pedestrians and cyclists with a route which goes as direct as possible to their destination, without detours or long waiting times at crossing points. 3. Comfort Comfortable pedestrian/bicycle movement means: minimal hindrance by other pedestrians or cyclists, i.e. a capacity large enough to avoid pedestrian or bicycle congestion, a reasonably smooth and hard pavement, no steep gradients (applies to cyclists), proper waiting areas at bus stops and road crossings.
4. Attractive walking and cycling environment The environment surrounding the pedestrian or bicycfe route must be conducive to walking or cycling. Important factors are: trees that provide shade, clean routes (absence of solid waste or excrements), kiosks and shops along the route but not encroaching the walkway or cycle lane, small public parks along the route, that can serve as a resting place, no close exposure to traffic exhaust and noise. Conjict between reqirirements
Occasionally, the main requirements can be conflicting, as the following examples show: The direct connection is through wasteland, where there is a risk of being ambushed. The safest connection requires a detour to an intersection where a big road can be crossed with traffic light protection, or a to a footbridge 2 km down the road.
54
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
There is no fixed rule for dealing with these conflicts. In general, safety of the route is the most important requirement, followed by directness. On a core cycle route, in addition to safety and directness, comfort is important. For a neighborhood cycling connection, directness is much more important than comfort. It is important to maintain the overall quality of a route, and avoid high investment on any particular requirement, which may compromise other requirements. The classic example is a footbridge over a big road: it provides a safe crossing point, but the detour to get to that point and the discomfort of climbing it often results in a low use of the facility. If, on the other hand, a bicycle /pedestrian bridge with proper slopes is constructed over a big road, on a spot where it serves as part of a direct cycle route, the bridge is likely to be useful and popular. Total route quality The worst spot strongly affects the quality of an entire route
Spot-imnprovenients first
The overall quality of a route from its origin to its destination is largely determined by the worst part of the route. One or two serious trouble spots can spoil an entire route. This is one of the reasons why it is usually a waste of money to develop so-called high-quality cycle routes in cities where cycling is not safe enough in general on access and local collector roads, and where it is therefore not an established mode of transport. Invariably it turns out that such a route -beautiful as it may be- has weak points, in particular the parts of the trip before one enters the route and after one leaves it, that undermine its utility. A program to eliminate serious trouble spots in a network of routes with good cycling potential does not require large investments and has a good chance of being successful. Constructing (expensive) new bicycle tracks in city with few cyclists does usually not create sufficient total route quality on enough routes to generate much cycling. Measuring the four requirements
Route quality assessment by measurement
Criteria for measuring the four requirements are listed below. The quality of pedestrian and bicycle routes can be assessed by measuring or verifying the variables in table 6.3. For many criteria, the quality can be measured at individual spots or for separate links in the network. In that manner trouble spots in the network, where the quality is low, can be identified. The overall quality of a part of a route depends on the combination of the score on all criteria rather than on a very high score on only one or two criteria.
Route inventoiy and
In the next chapter, it will be explained how the table above can be used to produce an inventory of the quantity and quality of accessible pedestrian and bicycle routes. This inventory, carried out in the field, is also extremely useful because it gives the persons involved in making it a much better idea of the problems faced by pedestrians and cyclists, and of the potential to improve the situation. Experience shows that the inventory always immediately produces a long list of possible interventions to improve the routes.
network inventory
Warrants Warran1s: not reconmended
In theory, the recommended maximum and/or minimum values of these parameters could be laid down in officially approved so-called warrants. For example, a criterion for directness of a route is the need to make detours. The parameter used is difference in distance between the shortest route using the existing public road network and the straightline distance. A warrant could specify that if more than N pedestrians per day use a route that involves a detour of more than x meters, a more direct public route should be added to the network if that is possible at a reasonable cost. For example: more than 1,000 detourkm per day, or an ADT of 1,000 making a detour of more than 1 km, or an ADT of 2,000 making a detour of more than 500 meters. The use of warrants is a common approach in some fields of engineering and engineering traditions. In practice, it is mzot recommended to formulate NMT warrants apart from a few cases (such as crossing facilities, see part 111), because they can easily lead to a rigid approach to the improvement of NMT route networks.
CHAPTER 6
55
URBAN ROAD NETWORKS
Table 6.3 NhlT route quality specified with criteria Reqairer,it.nr
crircrion
Safety
*
continuity
A
detour distance route i s easy to find constant route qu:ility freedom of mute choice
#missing links actual distancc / slmight line distance consistcnt and c l c x road sign5 #big chaiieer in quality per km # alternative mute choices
*
* * ’ *
actual average speed travel speed pavement smoothness traffic obstruction5
delay vulnerability to weather # slnpb (for cycling)
gradients (for cycling) Atuactiwncss
wrifi
recordcd number and type ofnccidenta traffic conflict counts at k q spots tmflic safe? prrception (interview) recorded uilscs of violcnrc prceptiiin of security (inten,ieu-i ‘I spnts with sight distance <SO m
*
Cornforl
~ I P ~ I S I Oor P
traffic sccidenrs conllict with motor traffic feeling of safety in mffic occum-nce of harassment feeling of security \,isibility socid conwvl
’
Directness and cohcrcncc
I‘arinble m
cleanness of track and rides * trec cuvcr. rhadc \,iaibiliry at night feeling of atmctivcness cxposurc to intense traffic resting places “activity environnicnt” +
..a. .
,.I #din!. spou per km hn.5 of rh;dcd track cxislcnce of functioning street li+ pcrccivcd atuilctiwncss (inter\,iew noirc and air pollurirm Ic\,cl ‘I small pmhlpl.ioes to sit per kin #shops. kiosk\ CIC. per kni # trees per
The most important criteria have been marked with an *. # stands for "the number of'
Decision making per case, including a B/C esrittiate
A much more flexible approach is to have a careful look at each individual case, make a rough benefitkost analysis, attach a high importance to the views of the users directly involved in the case, and together with the users reach a conclusion. 6.4 Significantengineering aspects during the planning stage
In most cases, many personnel in a project staff team involved policy planning for pedestrian and bicycle traffic will have no engineering back~round,and the same is true for partners in the user participation process. Experience shows that better insight on the part of the non-engineers into some traffic engineering aspects and terminology helps to facilitate the planning process and prevent engineers from having more information and better und~rstandingthan others, and controlling decision making. In the paragraphs below some engineering aspects that are important at the planning stage are reviewed briefly.
56
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - IAN 2001
Traffic management
Uiziforriiiry rind visibility
“Traffic management” is the application of all instruments that are available to (i) reduce congestion and facilitate a smooth flow of traffic for all modes of transport, by increasing the capacity utilization of intersections and roads and (ii) increase road safety by better controlling the flow of traffic. Traffic management is concerned with making more efficient use of the existing infrastructure. Typical instruments are: provision of clear road lane markings and allocation of separate lanes to special users (bus lanes, bicycle lanes), traffic circulation indications and road signs, traffic priority rules, parking rules, enforcement of traffic rules, pedestrianized streets, one-way streets, pedestridcycle-only routes, restrictions to truck access in certain streets or times of day, peak hour changes in allocation of traffic lanes to specific users and in right of way, relocation of street traders, operation of traffic lights, and traffic police control of intersections. The uniformity and visibility of the road design helps a lot to improve the recognition of the intended traffic circulation by users: drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. This reduces the risk of mistakes and thereby increases the safety and efficiency of the road network. In practice a lot can be done to improve the unifoimity of the traffic lane markings, road corner alignments, crossings, bus stops etc., starting with a systematic use of colors. Improving the uniformity and visibility of the road network appearance is a key part of the traffic management tool kit. Traffic calming “Traffic calming” is the general heading of a special group of traffic management instruments. The initial concern that led to the development of this group of instruments was traffic safety: reduction of urban traffic accidents and their severity. With more widespread application of traffic calming instruments it became clear that these also have a positive influence on the efficiency of motor traffic flow and road capacity utilization, in three ways. 1. Reducing the difference in speed between vehicles and between different points along the same road. This reduces the disturbances and thereby increases the average speed of all vehicles. 2. Reinforcing the road hierarchy: slowing down vehicles significantly on access roads, moderately on local collectors, less on collectors and least on urban corridors discourages “sneak routes” and leads to a heavier concentration of longer distance urban trips on the main corridors, which increases the efficiency of the flow. 3. Reducing the number of accidents: this reduces the number and seventy of traffk jams that are caused by accidents. The worst traffic jams tend to be caused by traffic accidents. The typical instruments of traffic calming are: speed humps, medians, traffic islands, sharp corners, raised crossings, road narrowing, more corners in access streets, and cuts in access streets that change motor traffic access to circular loops. Vehicle speed
Driving tusk Field of view
Stopping distance Iiiipacr energy
Excessively high speed in relation to the traffic situation is the main cause of severe urban traffic accidents. It also is the main cause of “near misses” that create traffic stress. Speed has a strong influence on urban road safety for the following reasons: The difficulty of the task of driving increases when the driving speed increases. The higher the speed, the harder it is to react properly to the behavior of other traffic users. The higher the driving speed the narrower the visual angle of the driver. At high speed s h e will not notice what happens directly beside the road. (figure 14.9). Pedestrians crossing the road can be overlooked easily. Pedestrians often misjudge the situation. They see the vehicle perfectly well, and wrongly assume that the reverse is also true, The higher the driving speed the longer the braking distance; it increases with the square of the speed (figure 14.7). The impact energy in a collision increases with the square of the vehicle speed (figure 14.8). In a collision between a heavy and a light mass, if the collision would be elastic, the pedestrian would bounce out of the car with a speed of roughly (1-2m/M)*2*Vcar (for a car with mass M, a pedestrian with mass m, speed of the car at the moment of impact: Vcar).
CHAPTER 6
URBAN ROAD NETWORKS
51
For example if the car speed was 40 M r , an elastic pedestrian would bounce out at 72 k d h r . Unfortunately, humans are not elastic, but easy to deform. The injury is proportional to the energy transferred in the collision, and therefore increases steeply with increasing car speed. Urban road capacity bitersectioiis determine the capacity
The capacity of urban roads in most cases depends on the capacity of the intersections. Intersection delay determines the average speed in the network. Apart from the situation where a road section is blocked (e.g. after an accident), the road section capacity seldom constrains the urban road izehuork capacity. The implication of this fact is that the design of efficient and safe intersections is a much more important aspect of urban road design than the design of straight sections. Accommodating the needs of all traffic modes at and near an intersection often is a difficult task, since it includes cars, trucks, buses, bus stops, cyclists, pedestrians. Availability of enough land (a big enough road reserve) for intersections is often more problematic than for straight sections. Legal road reserves usually make the mistake of defining straight reserves without widening at the intersections. Sometimes this has served as a reason to forego the required road space for pedestrian walkways, medians and traffic islands, and led to chaotic and dangerous intersections. The needs of pedestrians cannot be ignored. Complete intersection redesigns inay be needed to restore a proper balance between the requirements of different road users. Separariizg or mixiizg pedestrians, cyclists, nzotoi- vehicles. The issue of mixing or separating pedestrian, bicycle and motor vehicle traffic is also discussed in part 111 of the guidelines (figure 14.1, 2, 3). Considerations that are important during the planning stage have been included at this point.
Separation ut network level: good bicycle routes via mixed traffic minor roads aizd NMT-only shortcuts
An efficient use of walking and cycling as modes of urban transport depends most of all on the ability to find direct, safe and comfortable routes between the trip origin and the trip destination. In practice, pedestrians and cyclists will chose their routes as much as possible via NMT-only shortcuts, access roads and local collector roads. First of all because these will most probably provide the shortest connection (their density is much higher than that of the collector roads and corridors). Secondly because these routes are safer and more attractive by the absence or low volume of MT. It is interesting to note that traffic counts on the main MT roads always show a modal share of NMT that is far below the share that is found from household interviews. The reason is precisely the phenomenon described above: pedestrians, and to a lesser extent cyclists, avoid the main MT roads as much as possible. Only where there are no alternative connections, will they use them. This knowledge can be used while planning good facilities for pedestrians and cyclists. To a large extent these can be created by properly improving the access road and local collector networks. Before deciding to make high investments in, for example, bicycle lanes or tracks on collectors or corridors with a high MT traffic intensity and a severe general lack of road space, it is important to investigate route alternatives! It is important not to restrict the thinking about mixing or separating MT and NMT to a particular road, but to first of all apply it at network level.
Safety as a reason to separutp MT and NMT
The maximum speed of MT at which it can still be mixed safely with pedestrians and carts lies around 20 kmhr. For mixing MT and bicycles the maximum lies at 50 k d h r . Separation of pedestrians and bicycles on road sections does not eliminate traffic accident hazards for them. In fact, crossing of the main MT traffic corridors and collectors is often the most dangerous part. Therefore, in a city with high traffic accident risks for pedestrians and cyclists, the ranking of priorities to improve the situation is: 1 . Safe crossings, at intersections and mid-block, 2. Separation between pedestrians and MT on all roads apart from access roads, by means of walkways, 3. Traffic calming, to create safe cycling conditions on all local collector roads and most collector roads,
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
4. Consider bicycle lane markings on wide-lane collector roads, or provision of bicycle traffic capacity on service roads along urban corridors, or separated bicycle tracks. Road capacity us reason to separate MT and cycling
Traffic engineering handbooks include relationships between the width of a road section and its maximum capacity. Such relationships show an increase of road section capacity with increasing road width. The explanation for this increase is the reduced friction between MT and other, slower, traffic on the roads, for example bicycles, or static objects such as parked vehicles. Based on this logic, it would be desirable to provide a separate lane for bicycles, or a separated bicycle track, as soon as road capacity problems emerge. But in practice this situation usually does not occur on urban road sections. The reason is that almost invariably the capacity bottlenecks are the intersections, while the road sections iii-between still have enough capacity. That means that in practice there is usually no reason for separation of bicycle traffic and MT purely to increase the MT road capacity. For local collector roads it is therefore recommended to always maintain mixed MT and bicycle traffic on the same lane. However, for collector roads with and average daily traffic of more than 5,000 motor vehicles, allocating separate road capacity for cycling is recommended (see fig. 14.2), because this allows more comfortable cycling and creates a significantly higher capacity for bicycle traffic. Whether this road capacity for cycling should be provided by means of a wide-lane carriageway with bicycle lane markings or by means of a separate bicycle track depends on the speed of the motor vehicles. Mixing of, or separation between:
Pedestrians / M T
Pedestrians and motor traffic (MT) can be mixed on access roads. This requires slowing down the vehicles to below 20 km per hour. In all other cases pedestrians require a walkway, separated from MT.
Pedestrians /cyclists
Pedestrians and cyclists can be mixed on access roads and on walkways (mixed NMT tracks) as long as the pedestrian volume and the bicycle volume are low enough to avoid a capacity problem. When pedestrian intensity is too high, the pedestrians will make cycling impossible.
Pedestrians / carts Carts / MT
Carts can always be mixed with pedestrians. This requires a minimum smooth pedestrian walkway width of 1.2 m, and adaptation of the cart design to operation on walkways. Carsized push carts cannot operate on a walkway. They are acceptable on access roads, but on all major roads they form too great an impediment to the efficiency of traffic circulation to be acceptable in the longer term.
Bicycles /carts
Carts should not be mixed with bicycles apart where bicycles and pedestrians are mixed.
Bicycles / MT: 011 most roads mix
Bicycles can be mixed with MT on local collector and collector roads. This requires that actual maximum MT speeds are limited to 50 km/hr, and that sufficient road space is available to prevent competition for road space between cyclists and cars (cyclists will always lose).
Bicycles / MT: in some cases separate
On collector roads in low density parts, with mainly a transit function, cyclists and motor traffic cannot be mixed, because of MT speed. On urban corridors, cyclists and MT should not be mixed on the MT transit carriageway. Cycling can be mixed with MT on parallel service roads where MT speed is limited to a maximum of 20-30 M h r .
Trafj'ic cnlnzirig f o r cyclists on undivided corridors
In the case of wide urban corridors without a separation between MT transit traffic and MT access traffic, a type of traffic calming could be considered that creates a kind of service road character (i.e. low speed) on the traffic lane(s) along the walkway, which would also increase the safety of cyclists.
CHAPTER 6
URBAN ROAD NETWORKS
59
Bicycle traffic safety No bicycle promotion without a trafic safety progrant for cyclists at the same time
Since bicycle traffic safety is a largely unexplored field in Africa, a few general remarks are included at this point. Motor vehicle traffic and bicycle traffic no longer mix well when vehicle speeds exceed 50 kmhr and/or the combined MT and bicycle intensity is too high compared to the capacity of the road to leave significant road space to cyclists. Speed and high volumes of MT traffic are threatening to cyclists. It is irresponsible to embark upon the active promotion of urban cycling without simultaneously and effectively implementing a bicycle safety policy. A good bicycle road-safety plan combines two targets: reduction of risk and severity of accidents involving cyclists, and reduction of the traffic complexity for cyclists. The way in which car and truck traffic, public transport, parking and pedestrian traffic are integrated with bicycle traffic is crucial. There are many ways to achieve these targets, as described elsewhere in these guidelines. Some important ones are briefly mentioned below.
A complete network rather than isolated routes
An increase of the number of route choices for cyclists will increase the possibility for individual cyclists to avoid situations that they find dangerous or threatening. The number of route choices can be increased by establishing a more complete network of upgraded bicycle routes, mostly via access streets and local collector roads. This gives the cyclist the option to select the safest cycling route, in hidher opinion, for each destination.
Design standards
The design standards that are adopted strongly influence both the safety of cyclists, and their sense of safety. The width of MT lanes, intersections corners, crossing distances, etc. are factors to which the cyclist is very sensitive. Working on safe cycling facilities means a lot of attention to details.
Attention to details
Extra protection of cyclists at dangerous spots
Extra protection for cyclists is desirable in situations of threatening encounters between motor traffic and bicycle traffic. This can be done with short sections of separated track, traffic islands that provide a safe stepping stone at difficult crossing points, limitation of the width of plot entrances, traffic light phases for cyclists /pedestrians etc.
Discourage MT “shortcut” routes
Reducing the transit traffic on local collector roads, by appropriate traffic calming and circulation interventions increases bicycle safety.
Pavement niaintenarice with special care for carriageway edges
Attention given to good road maintenance, especially along the edges of the carriageway, increases bicycle safety. In mixed traffic cyclists often use the outer edge of the carriageway. Unfortunately, this is often the part that is damaged most by pavement faults and potholes, in particular where pavements were constructed without side restraints. Such potholes force cyclists to make sudden moves towards the road axis, unpredictable for MT drivers and therefore dangerous. They also increase the chance of a cyclist falling while being overtaken by a large truck - a typical nasty bicycle accident.
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Chapter 7
Action plan for pedestrians and cyclists
Time horiZof7 is short: The planning horizon of most inhabitants of African cities is short. The problem of earning iinrnediate positive income, health, supporting family members, etc., focus attention on the period immediately effects ahead. There is a strong need for immediately useful interventions that pay back quickly. However, these must not unintentionally create big problems in the future. “No regretspackage” A package of immediately useful interventions that are also positive in the long run is called a “no regrets” package. Establishment of such packages is an important task of engineers and planners. Having said that, it must be underlined that making the choices should not be the role of planners and engineers, but the subject of an ongoing public debate. For spot interventions that should be a debate within neighborhoods and with direct stakeholders, for the long-run policy context it should be a debate across the entire city population, a “the city we want” debate. Minirizuriz package size
A series of relatively sinall iizterverztion packages, one ajier the other
This chapter describes how “no regrets” packages of NMT infrastructure improvements and traffic calming can be prepared. The desirable size of the package is not further discussed. As a general rule, a package of interventions must have a certain minimum size. It must have a visible impact in practice and avoid creating the impression of working on a “drop in the ocean” without real relevance. It must also be large enough to be attractive for contractors to be involved in, because this strongly increases the strength of the implementing party (the municipal government or the municipal government in cooperation with user representatives) in negotiating a sharp price for the works. It must also be large enough to maintain a reasonable balance between the time, energy, and cost spent on preparation plus supervision and the volume of implemented work. However, the package must not be too large. It must be implementable within a period of 3-5 months in order to create the required speed of implementation, and be implementable within one dry season. Instant cost and quality control is also much easier for reasonably sinall and quickly executed packages. The best formula is to generate a series of comprehensive packages, each package being small enough and managed as a separate project activity in a short period of time. After successful completion of one package, the next can be implemented.
7.1 Route determination and route inspection The izefivork is the franizework The esseiztial starting point: observation in the field, to be suniniarized in nzaps of the rmte network
Systerizaticpackages, no “patchwork”
The first step in the preparation of an action plan for immediate improvement of pedestrian and bicycle traffic infrastructure, is to make a careful analysis of the present condition of the network of roads and tracks that are available to pedestrians and cyclists for their movement. The only way of doing that is by making a precise field inventory of the actual routes that pedestrians and cyclists use, and translating that into maps that show the most important walk and cycle routes and their quality. Automatically, the maps also shows the total network formed by all routes together. These maps of the network are very important, because this overview of the network is the framework within which it is possible to judge the relative importance of improving certain routes, and the need to create additional routes in parts of the network where proper direct connections are missing, and pedestrians andlor cyclists are forced to make long detours. The route network is also the framework to judge how suitable a package of interventions is for creating an efficient connected route network, and does not lead to a disjoint “patchwork” of short isolated routes.
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Figure 7.1 shows the place of route determination and route inspection in the project cycle. The rest of this paragraph explains how to carry out the inventory, i.e. route determination and route inspection, with a combination of map making and field observation. As argued before, it is better to analyze the walking routes and the cycling routes separately, and to make separate maps of both. However, for the method there is no difference between the two in how this must be done, so in the rest of this paragraph walking and cycling routes will both be referred to as “route” or “NMT route”.
Fipure 7.1 Steps from problem recognition to implementation of interventions (the project cycle) INITIATIVE
PROBLEM RECOGNITION MONITORING (obsenwtions) PROBLEM ANALYSIS DECISION TO ADDRESS PROBLEMS
PLANNING
I.ROUTE DETERMINATION (inventor).) Preparation of a map showing a11 imponant walking routes Preparation of a map showing all imponant cycling routes 2. ROUTE INSPECTION Preparation of lists of the detailed problems of each route. and what can be done to reduce thore problems at each spot
SELECTION
FIRST SELECTION OF INTERVENTION OPTIONS Based on prohlem priorities and rough cost indications PART A for direct implementation spot intewrntion (direct) PART B: for later (re-)consmction of entire roads (long-term)
DESIGN
Continue here with pan A only: SKETCH DESIGNS OF INTERVENTION ALTERNATIVES PRELIMINARY BoQs and COST ESTIMATES
SELECTION
SELECTION: NO REGRETS INTERVENTION PACKAGE #I
PREPARATION
DETAILED DESIGN BoQ and COST ESTIMATES CONTRACTING ARRANGEMENTS
DECISION MAKING IMPLEMENTATION CONSTRUCTION SUPERVISION COMPLETION TESTS, FINANCIAL AUDIT USE
MONITORING (ohsewation of intcwention effects) MAINTENANCE
Route determination NMT route categories
It is useful to make a distinction between three categories of NMT routes: main routes, secondary routes and “other routes”. In practice, the total number of roads and tracks in an urban area that can be used to walk or cycle is large. It is impossible and also not useful to make an inventory of all of them. The inventory of routes must concentrate on those with the highest volumes of pedestrians and cyclists: the main routes.
CHAPTER I
ACTION PLAN FOR PEDESTRIANS AND CYCLISTS
63
The inventoiy is not an inventory of the NMT routes along the main roads, but one of the actual routes that are used most intensively by pedestrians and cyclists, wherever those are. They may partly be over tracks that are not part of official road reserves. What is a route? Routes of the users
Routes of the planiiers
Match p1aitner.s’ routes with user routes as good as possible
There are two different ways in which routes are defined. The first is by the user. The person that walks from a trip origin to a trip destination will follow a sequence of roads and tracks, that slhe finds the most convenient way of getting to the destination: the route of the user. The second is by the planner. A planner looks at the map (and for verification in the field as well), and identifies a continuous route from a central point in one area (for instance the middle of a residential area) to an important destination that attracts a lot of pedestrians or cyclists. In practice, the two can be different, for instance because at certain points the users prefer to take a shortcut, or because the users disperse in all kinds of directions within a neighborhood (the “central point” in the neighborhood is a theoretical idea, and not the point of origin of many people). The chance that the routes of the users are not entirely the same as those identified by the planners is great in case of pedestrian traffic, a bit sinaller for cycle traffic, and sinall for MT. Cars can hardly move where there is no carriageway, but pedestrians can also move where no walkways exist. It is therefore vital to make sure that the routes of the planners, to which improvements are proposed, are the same ones as the routes of the users.
A mis-match is a waste of money, even if it is only by 25 meters. For example, the planners may have planned a walkway on one side of the road, but for some reason most users prefer to walk on the other side, and continue to do so even after improvemcnt of the “planners’ route”. It is not always possible to avoid some difference between user routes and the planned routes (also not all users make the same route choice), but it is important to match the two as closely as possible.
A route: where to walk, where to cross, where 10 cycle?
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
The matching does not automatically mean that the planners’ route must exactly follow the present trajectory that the pedestrians find the most convenient in the current situation. It is possible that better and more attractive alternatives exist and that most users would prefer to shift to a new route if it was improved or created. The planners’ route would then be an improvement. But it is important to check carefully with the users whether this is true or not, because if the planners think that a new alignment would be an improvement but most users don’t think so, the planners’ route will remain heavily under-utilized. The four main route requirements discussed before, in para. 6.3, are a vital aid for proper checking. Sclzerrzatic example Of Cl rOl4fe
Figure 7.2 explains what is meant by a route, by showing a schematic representation of a variety of types of roads and conditions that a traveler is confronted with on a trip from home to work or school. The drawing has been made “through the eyes of the traveler”. It is interesting to compare this with table 6.2, which shows the abstract road network categorization that is used by the planner. For proper route determination the planner must look at the routes through the eyes of the user, not from an abstract road hierarchy point of view.
Figure 7.2 Sketch of a pedestrian or cycle route, as seen by a user ROUTE ELEMENTS
TYPICAL PROBLEM
NO or BAD PAVEMEN1
NO SEPARATEDWALKWAY ALONG COLLECTOR ROAD
OBSTRUCTIONOF PWESTRIANS AND CYCLISTSBY WAITING BUS PASSENGERSAND BUSES
BARWER (NO BRIDGE OR TUNNEL) INSECUREAREA -ER
(OETOUR TO BRIDGE)
FLOODED
NMT R O U E IMPASSABLE IN RAINY SEASON
II
DETOUR AROUND DENSE UNPLANNED SETTLEMENT POLLUTEDAIR ALOhG HIGH WAY, ACC.DENT RISK BECALSE OF WALK NG ON UNPROTECTEDROAD SHOULDER
[
REA
SOLID WASTE ON ROUTE
LONG WAITING AT INTERSECTION CYCLISTSNOT ALLOWED IN COUNTER FLOW DIRECTION
LONG CROSSINGDISTANCE (NO ISLANDSOR MEDIAN)
NO BACK-ENTFIANCE TO PLOT FOR NMT
WORK PLACE
ONE ENTRANCE IN LARGE WlLDlNG
source: A. Pettinga. NMT lraining notes
CHAPTER I
ACTION PLAN FOR PEDESTRIANS AND CYCLISTS
65
NMT route network sketch
Before starting detailed field observations, a list of the routes that are to be inspected must be determined. These routes together form a first rough sketch of the present network of NMT routes. The list can later of course be changed if the field observations show that the actual routes that are used are not the same as the ones on the list. The preparation is done as a desk study, with the help of topic nzaps, that summarize available information. Map making Base map
The first task is to find the best available map of the city or part of the city that will be analyzed. For big cities it is better to carry out a route inventory for only one part or district at a time, to avoid that the work becomes overwhelming. The preferred scale of the map is I: 10,000 (or, if the area is too large, 1: 25,000). It is convenient to work with a map that shows the entire area on one A3 sheet of paper, to keep a sufficient overview over the area as a whole (with 1:10,000 this means showing f 2.5 x 3.5 km on the map, with 1:25,000 that is 6x9 km). For route inspection, it is desirable to have 1: 5,000 maps (or even 1: 2,500), to allow precise enough description of the features of the route.
*
Topic maps:
Land use
Future land use
Main trip attractors (trip destinations) O/D-pattern
Traffic accidents
Barriers
Public transport
Main MT routes and trafic volumes
Copies of the base map are used to visualize and summarize the information about a number of aspects that are important for pedestrian and bicycle routes. The recommended topic maps to prepare are: Existing land use: where are the residential areas, commercial areas, industrial areas, the CBD, satellite centers, and how many people (approximately) live or work in each area? The numbers can be written on the map or given in separate tables per zone of the city or area. This type of information can usually only be found for administrative wards. If no data (e.g. census) can be found, rough estimates may be made. It is important to avoid interventions that are inconsistent with already known developments that will take place later. It is therefore useful to also prepare a map of the expected (or planned) future land use 10 years from now. The main use of this map is for longer-term planning of the pedestrian and bicycle network (see section 8.7). Important destinations of a large number of trips. The precise locations of these can be marked on a map. Destinations to look for: large factories or office buildings, schools, markets, shopping streets, bus stations, health centers, hospitals, sports grounds, etc. Straight lines can be drawn on the map between central points in the residential areas and the main destinations (land uses CBD, industrial area, satellite center) and trip attraction points (markets, schools). At this plan stage, reliable data on trip origins and destinations tend to be unavailable. They may later be produced as part of preparing a mobility plan. If no reliable data are available now, one can work provisionally with the two above mentioned topic maps. This will already give a reasonable indication about where to expect the largest flows. A map showing all fatal accidents and serious accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists in a year, by approximate location. The number of accidents in a city can usually be obtained from police records. Sometimes overviews are already available per street, sometimes one needs to look into the individual accident reports of previous years to be able to produce an overview of the locations of accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists. Police records are not always complete, in particularly on cases without serious vehicle damage. A map showing the important barriers that pedestrians and cyclists cannot cross, or only cross with difficulty or risk: rivers or swamps, highways with heavy traffic, large fences, steep hills, etc. A map showing the public transport routes and the important bus stations and terminals. A map showing the urban corridors and collector roads. If available from traffic counts, traffic volumes on these roads should be added in a table, if possible per mode of transport (ADT and peak volume).
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Figure 7.3 Example of a map with schematic O D lines
Identifying routes for inspection With the help of the topic maps and walking in the area (to verify the desk information) routes can be identified that form the core of the present network of routes that pedestrians use, and the core network of bicycle routes. In addition attractive route sections can be identified that may not exist at this moment (for instance because of barriers), but would, if created, improve the network of routes significantly.
Draw O/D line pattern
Select roads that match the O/D lines Deal with “gaps”
Check with maps of accidents, barriers, MT soluine
Determining a first route network sketch can be done as follows: 1. Draw straight lines on a map that connect the main destinations of trips with the main origins. The basis for these lines is the O/D pattern map and the map with trip attractor locations. Long trips will often be partly made by public transport, in which case only the lines to the bus routes (terminals) remain on the map of pedestrian routes. 2. Search for those roads or known pedestrian shortcut routes that form the continuous route that most closely follows the straight lines. 3. If the resulting first main route network sketch shows strange gaps, where no connection is shown between important routes, look at what might be the reason, and maybe adapt the network sketch. Ideally, the distance between two routes in the outer areas of a large city should not exceed 2 km for cyclists and 1 km for pedestrians. In high density areas, these distances should respectively be 1 km and 0.5 km. 4. Look at the network sketch compared to the topic maps of traffic safety, motorized traffic volumes and barriers, and indicate on the map where potentially dangerous or difficult points exist on the routes. Also mark other points where a “route” is expected to lack essential comfort or attractiveness. These points should be checked carefully during the field inspection.
CHAPTER 7
ACTION PLAN FOR PEDESTRIANS AND CYCLISTS
Label the routes, and iizake a map showing all routes
5. Label individual routes (as if they were e.g. public transport routes), define a starting
61
point and an end point, give each route a different color on the map, give it a name. The final results are the maps of pedestrian routes and bicycle routes, each with an end point, a starting point and a trajectory shown on the map. These are “planners’ routes”. toute inspection
Verijkatioii
The first route inspection task is to verify whether the route as it was determined on the map is also an important user route. To do this, through observation, find out where most people walk (or cycle) within the broad area of the detemiined route (within 200-300 meters on either side of the route as sketched on the map). If the observation gives no clear result, conducting a few precise traffic counts on screen lines may be needed (a screen-line is a line between two points, more or less at right angles to the main traffic flow, whereby you try to count all pedestrians (or cyclists) that cross that line at any point. First observe where important numbers of people cross the line, then count the numbers at all these points. This shows you which route alignment alternatives in practice are the most important ones. In observing the pedestrian flows one must be aware that many pedestrians walk to work in very early morning hours, sometimes starting from around five in the morning. It has to be assured that these are included in the analysis. On the basis of the verification, the precise current alignment of the route can be established. It is possible that the route inspection leads to a recommendation to change the alignment at certain points. Such a change in alignment should not be made because it is desired by planners, but only if the improvement offered by a new alignment is appreciated so highly by the users that they will shift to the new one. Inspection protocol: annex 1
Now a route inspection must be carried out for each of the routes that are the outcome of the route determination process. This can be done by using the route inspection protocol in annex 1. The field inspection must be carried out by walking the entire route, and making detailed observations. Other methods produce inferior results. The objectives of the route inspection are: Locate all problem spots along the route, and diagnose the problem Estimate the urgency of each problem Make a first list of the intervention options (optional) 0
0
7.2 Selection of interventions
Once the networks of pedestrian routes and cycle routes have been identified and their problems analyzed, the stage is set for the search for the most effective and efficient interventions to improve pedestrian and bicycle traffic. This search can be carried out by combining (i) the findings of the route inspection, which also gives infomiation on the probable causes of the problems, and (ii) part I1 of these guidelines, which gives a wide Intervention selection range of tested examples of interventions. The intervention selection table in chapter 12 can table in chapter 12 be used as a first tool to look for the interventions that are most suitable for each route, followed by looking at the examples. In addition to that, another intervention selection table has been composed and added as annex 2, which further explains the distinction that was made during the inspection between causes of problems that relate to either the use of the road, its shape (design), or its function. Logically, the reasons why a certain problem occurs also contain a clue to how it can be addressed. Interventions to improve the pedestrian and bicycle mobility can be searched for in the same three fields: influencing the use of the roads, changing their design, or changing their function. In most cases, interventions that influence the USE of the roads (often doing so by making small spot changes to the designs) fall in the category of traffic management, traffic calming, or pavement maintenance and spot improvements to pavements. These are direct interventions that are very suitable for an action plan. Examples are shown in chapter 13.
Search for effective arid ejjicient iizteiventions
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Also coiisider long term changes
Interventions that change the overall design of an entire road, or of a package of roads in a network, or completely change the function of important roads in the network, require a much longer preparation time, usually have a much longer-term influence, and have a much higher cost. It is important to also consider these types of interventions at the moment of searching for the best interventions to address the observed problems, even if they cannot be included in the action plan that is under preparation. In some cases the conclusion can be that the only real improvement can come from a more wide-ranging intervention such as “X’, and that the package of short-term interventions can only bring temporary and partial improvement. That assessment must be brought into the longer-term mobility policies planning and transport network planning that is dealt with in the next chapter (8). The intervention selection table in annex 2 is an aid to preliminary identification of the longterm interventions that are probably desirable. Its use is explained in the annex.
Table 7.1 From selection to implementation 1. Prepare a list of attractive intervention options.
2. Discuss the options on the list and priorities with all involved. Make a provisional shon-list.
3. Prepare sketch designs for cach intervention. based on actual site data. plus a simultaneous cost estimate based on acomplete BoQ estimate. Briefly describe the expected benefits of each intervention. 4. On the basis on the cost estimates per intervention. the awilable budget, the design proposals for each intervention and the expected knefits of each intenmtion. discuss and decide on priorities: the provisional first package for implcmcntation. 5 . Prepare a detailed desig and a complete BoQ for each intervention. also for small ones, that are simple. 6. Prepare an intervention prepamlion rcpon for each intervention. according to protocol annex 3. 7. Final round of discussion and decision making. At this moment include clear agreements on: - work plan for implementation. with clearly defined tasks and persons in charge; - delegated authority of those who are to implement the work - processing of official approvals; - budget and actual availability of money for payment; - type of contract and supervision; - type of contract negotiation and award; - time schedule: - arrangements for cost and quality control. 8. Final official approvals of designs and budget release. 9. Contract negotiations and award. 10. Start the pmedure for preparation of the next package. with the aim of starting its implementation when the previous package and its cost and quality control are ready. 11. Execution of the works, supervision. 12. Execution of independent cost and quality control. 13. Observe effecu and make complete intervention repon (add last p a From ~ protocol annex 3). 14. Discuss findings with all concerned, and formulate lessons leamed to be incorporated in next packages.
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ACTION PLAN FOR PEDESTRIANS AND CYCLISTS
69
Intervention selection process and implementation Avoid dorninatiorz of the selection process by erzgiiiecrs
Once the route problem inventory is ready, the process of reaching consensus about a package of interventions and its actual implementation is straightforward. It is mainly an organizational process, and the most difficult part is to involve all stakeholders properly in preparation and decision making. It is better to have the process coordinated by a social scientist rather than by an engineer, to avoid dominance of the process by engineering factors and design preferences. To avoid duplication, no further comments about the process are made here. What follows is only a list of the steps towards implementation.
brzplerrientaiiori led by miciiicipul teain is
The experience of the pilot projects is that once a capable team has been established and a good network of user participation and other contacts has been established, it is possible for a municipal team, with some support of professional experts, to complete steps 1-14 that are listed in table 7.1 in 6-9 months, depending on the size of the package.
feasible
Immediate focus on good cost estimates
One observation is important. The cost aspect will invariably be of great importance for two Trmsparerzt cost control is a condition reasons. First: only a clear proof by the municipality that it is capable of implementing works that are good value for money, and are fully and openly accounted for, can restore for corifirlerzce confidence of the general public that a government-public partnership is worthwhile, and that commitment from the side of the public will not be betrayed. Second: budget constraint will always determine the size of the package, and an initial suggestion of a far bigger package than is financially feasible must be avoided. It always creates frustration, conflicts of interest in the process of throwing interventions out, and pressure for cheap solutions of inferior quality.
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Chapter8
Urban Mobility Plan for pedestrian and bicycle traffic
Action plan first
It is recommended to prepare an action plan first, for immediate improvements to existing roads for pedestrian and bicycle traffic (see chapter 7). The preparation of a longer-term mobility plan can best start at the moment that an action plan is well on its way to implementation. Adopting this sequence will prevent wasting energy on a fruitless planning effort, but is also sound because the establishment of an action plan (i) dictates a practical orientation on implementable interventions, and (ii) creates a lot of valuable experience and knowledge about mobility problems, which is needed as an input for a mobility plan. During the preparation of a mobility plan for NMT, work on further action plans should continue in parallel. For successful continuous work on the improvement of urban pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, a longer-term mobility plan is essential. It provides the policy framework and vision, an overview of costs and benefits, and sound pedestrian and bicycle network plans that are consistent with MT road network development plans.
Planning backgro-oulzd In many cities, planning departments tend to concentrate on land use planning, housing and plot allocation, and pay little attention to transport problems. Similarly, engineering departments tend to concentrate on road construction and maintenance, and have little attention for road network planning and the effects of mobility on land use and city growth. Integration of the future plans of these two departments and developing a real dialogue with the city inhabitants concerning “the city we want” is an important target of the preparation of a mobility plan for pedestrian and bicycle traffic as outlined in these guidelines.
lbble 8.1 MobUily plan, m m m e o d e d table ofcontents ckapter contents
1 2
SWOT of h e urban Iranspofi system (Strengths. Weaknesses.0ppo1"hes. Thrrats) Overview of the exisnog mad infrasmrcture and land ure lnventny of exisnng pcdcsuian mutes and bicycle mutes - Map of public Transpon mutes and major motor vehicle roads - Maps of land use and imponant mfiic atmcton M a c m d y s i s of the present mobility: mnspon system performance and costs Mi-analysis ofthe present mobility: understanding changes in the uansponsystem Analysis of the present mobility a plan of user needs Invesliganon of differenl urban Wnspon policy sxnanos Choiu of mobihty pohnes Design of the network of pdesman mutes and that of bicycle mum hat must bc established in the next tcn y m Choice of design standards ~
3 4
5 6 7 8 9
Relatioii to standard urban trmsport planning
The methodology that is outlined in this chapter for the preparation of a mobility plan for pedestrian and bicycle traffic differs considerably from standard urban transport planning, and in particular from travel demand modeling. The reasons for this difference have been explained in chapter 2. One additional reason is important though: the level of network detail that can be taken into account in road networks that are used for “trip assignment” is
I2
Integration of NMT tr-afic iri forecustirzg of MT traffic flows is advised against
Siniilur uietkocls of household truvel survey, modal split etc.
why integrate engineering and plunnirig ?
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION I .3 - JAN 2001
limited. For the roads that form the core arterial MT network in a city - the urban corridors and the district collector roads - traffic flow volume calculations and predictions make sense, but for a finer road network specification the inaccuracy of traffic flow predictions based on travel demand forecasting becomes so large that such predictions are useless. However, pedestrians and cyclists typically make use of precisely this fine-mazed network of NMT tracks, access roads and local collectors for much of their total trip distance. An attempt to “integrate” NMT in a standard urban transport planning method that is developed to analyze and predict the main arterial private motor traffic and public transport cannot escape the dilemma that large parts of the NMT routes cannot be included in a sensible manner. In practice “integrating” an NMT component in an MT planning method is usually done to avoid criticism that “NMT is ignored”, and usually results in marginal attention to NMT aspects. However, if the intention is not to avoid criticism, but simply to develop a good urban transport policy for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, there is no reason to plan for it with the wrong tools. Integration between NMT mobility planning and MT traffic plans can be achieved more successfully by (i) comparing the recommended policies and interventions that come out of the two different approaches, evaluating their relative merits and seeking fruitful combinations, and (ii) deciding on the main transport system priorities on the basis of a macro-judgement of the performance and cost of the different modes of urban transport, as explained in chapter 8.3. In one respect, planning for urban pedestrian and bicycle traffic uses the same methods of analysis as planning for motor vehicle traffic: the analysis of trip making behavior of individuals. It is in linking the travel needs and behavior to the road infrastructure network that NMT requires separate treatment. The use of a household travel survey and the analysis of trip generation, vehicle ownership, location choice and modal split are methodologically analogous to MT traffic analysis. In most cities, the efficiency of the traffic flow and the maintenance of the existing road network are issues of great concern. Invariably, there is a long list of immediately required improvements in traffic management, traffic safety, road maintenance, and addressing the huge backlog in pedestrian walkways and access tracks. This task of the engineering department is already formidable, even without thinking about longer term developments. Why prepare a long-term mobility plan for pedestrian and bicycle traffic together with urban planners?
Growing trip distance Why do urban mobility problems grow? Largely because of one factor: trip distance.
During the last forty years, urban trip distances have grown steadily world-wide, also in Africa, for a number of reasons. How to react with sound transport and land use policies? Good pedestrian and Cities where this question has been answered with reasonable success are rare. One of the bicycle inzfiastriicture reasons is that transport policies have concentrated on alleviating congestion problems (capacity constraints) on the main arterial roads. This has encouraged long distance trips, call help to reduce and has left the problem of decreasing efficiency and marked share of low-cost short to trip clistarices medium distance modes of transport unattended. A mobility plan for pedestrian and bicycle traffic is an instrument to end this neglect for efficient short and medium distance trips and for internally efficient city districts. I n niediunz cities prevention of big mobility problems is still possible
It is important to see the diseconomies of scale of transport in large urban areas, and to realize that medium-sized cities may be the key to a more manageable urban development in Africa. In those cities, the focus must be on prevention of strong trip distance growth. A mobility plan can help to achieve that.
Lack of control
The current problem with land use planning for African cities is that instruments to carry out what the plans intend not be found or used. Most cities have been overwhelmed by unplanned development. To establish effective urban transport and land use planning will be a step-by-step process that all important “players” in a city must be part of. Complex land use or transport models cannot make a useful contribution at this moment. Yet, proper observation of the facts, clear analysis, and understanding of the main forces that determine the developments is required. The role of the professional planners and transportation engineers is to gain that
New directions?
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13
understanding, by analytic methods as well as by learning from “experts by experience”: the inhabitants that know the city inside-out. Forces, players, instruments
Forces Players
Iizstriiiiieiits
The aim of planning is to influence the development of a city in a positive manner. To make this possible it must fulfil1 three conditions. 1. The forces that determine the development of the city must be understood. Without this understanding, sensible planning is not possible. 2. All the players that together shape the city must be involved. Without them, the support to make a plan succeed is missing. The forces have a face: they are the decisions that individuals take on how they conduct their affairs and react to others. 3. Instruments must be found to influence developments in the desired direction. Without these, plans will remain theory.
Tdhle 8.2 Urhan transporl system forces fircc
derm,tirrirtg ficrors
traffic generation
- time and money available for travel
(mobility) localion choice
-
vehicle ownership modal split
-
dislwce elasticity (transport cost and lime) - availability of an aHorddblc house or building - altractivencss of the location
price elasticity (car. bicycle) price elasticity (of modal choice) - attraclivcncss of each mode of lravcl
Muriicipnl initiative
A planning process will only take place if someone takes the initiative. The municipal government is the party that in view of its mission has the authority and responsibility to take this initiative. It is recommended to carry out a planning initiative in three work streams (tasks) that in parallel deal with understanding the “forces”, interacting in a positive manner with all “players” and developing effective “instruments”.
Task one (forces)
The first task is to identify and analyze the forces that determine the long-term development of urban transport. These are not the same in all cities. Table 8.2 lists forces that are dominant in many African cities.
Task nvo (players)
Task two is to identify the main “players”, and the influence (power) that they have over the various aspects of the current use and future development of urban transport and urban expansion. Establish a working structure to involve them in the planning exercise. Use LFA (logical framework analysis) and SWOT techniques (see annexes).
Task three (instrunzents)
Task three is to identify instruments that can be used effectively in practice by the municipal government, or be “negotiated” between different interest groups. The provision of carefully selected types of traffic infrastructure is probably the best instrument at this moment. Traffic calming interventions are at the top of the list, together with access infrastructure in neighborhoods and districts. It is recommended to take decisions about road rehabilitation and construction priorities based on a long-term mobility policy, and not to let them be dictated by the traffic congestion or the pavement quality at the moment.
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Planning is a learning process Shared learning
A planning process creates the framework that enables learning: learning about transport problems and ways to reduce them, and the costs involved; learning about the interests and problems of a variety of different population groups and economic parties; learning about the possibility to formulate implementable plans that are supported by a large number of players, to do things or - equally important - to prevent undesired developments; and learning about the effectiveness of interventions or policy measures, and about ways to improve that. If this learning process is shared by all the people from different backgrounds that take part in the planning process, it will increase the coherence, the commitment and the strength of the planning group. At the personal level, the ability to keep learning is a key determinant of success. The method to develop a mobility plan that is outlined below is meant to create such a learning process. Continuous plan adjustment
Reconciling shortfenn needs and longterni objectives
Focusing
Under uncertain conditions, everyone’s planning horizon is short. In many business sectors investment plans with a time horizon of more than five years are a minority, and many households plan weeks ahead rather than years. However, to guide the development of a city in a manner that has future value, requires a longer-tenn vision. A mobility plan has to make those two ends meet. It has to put strong emphasis on the formulation and implementation of feasible and immediately appealing steps, but must also assure that those steps create no obstacles on the way to a positive long-term development of the city. This balancing act calls for continuous plan updating, carried out by committed professionals from within the city. This replaces the traditional urban transport or land use plan that is prepared, approved and then used the way it is for a long time. The continuous monitoring and plan adjustment process, carried out by capable staff, is in fact more useful for reaching the best decisions than the written plan itself. The focused staff and the focused policy debate on mobility and transport issues within the city are the most important output. Mobility plan targets
The precise targets of a mobility plan in a particular city can only be formulated as part of the planning process. Table 8.3 lists the important general targets.
Table 8.3 Targets of an urban NMT Mobility Plan 1. Provide efficient route nerworks for pedestrians and cyclists 2. Reduce the growth of urban nip distances 1. Reduce the household spending on urban travel 4.Use road building as an instrument to: - enhance economic activity increase the quality of neighbarhods - minimize segregation of activities and of population groups 5. Minimize the negative impacts of urban travel: traffic accidents - air pollution and noise
Planacceptance
A user participation process that involves all important “players”, can lead to a more broadly supported planning process. However, the practical number of persons actively involved in UP is small (dozens, or hundreds at most). Ninety-nine percent of the city inhabitants have no involvement or notion of what the group of planners is doing. Therefore, if the planning group develops a good “product”, that product has to be sold. Logical arguments seldom play a decisive role in selling (“marketing”), whether to the
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general public, the business community, or the political and administrative leadership. Emotional arguments are much more influential. The table below lists the emotional forces that play an important role.
Table 8.4 Mobility policy marketing occeprance of
emoriorial force
Tr@c colmin~
traffic safely. traffic accidents
Foir mod nenuor%
personal safety. lower risk of violence in the streets
fair for all population groups and all modes of mavcl
Prioric for lowcosr mobilir?, walking. cycling, (mini)bus
hope for economic growth
Organizing the planning process
To create momentum: work in quick complete planning cycles, with increasing accuracy
In practice, it is not always easy to organize a planning process in such a way that it becomes a positive and inspiring activity. The risks is that it is too much desk work, too slow, or ineffective. The best way to reduce this risk is to carry out the planning process in fast cycles: go through all steps of the process in short time, in a “quick and dirty” manner, repeat the cycle and add a bit more detail and accuracy, and then repeat the cycle again, now trying to reach the desired completeness and accuracy in all steps. Doing this creates a much better overview than first completing one step entirely, for example, data collection, before
Table 8.5 Mobility plan preparation time frame period
onhdn.
ourpar
month 1-3
complete one full round through the guidelines on how to produce a mobility plan
first draft mobility plan
month 4 5
distribute draft widely for discussion. and c~refully document all reactions and suggestions
repon of all reactions
month 6-8
complete second full round of revising and improving all parts of the mobility plan
mobility plan, second draft
month 9-10
second discussion period. plus testing council reaction. in preparation for approval procedures
repon of all reactions
month 11-12
third round of revision. prepare moniroring plan
mobility plan. version 1.1
month 13-14
discussion in council, amendments. approval
mobility plan. approved by council
after one year. during 2 months:
monitor acNal developments. draw conclusions, modify plan a needed
list of recommended changes. submined to the council
(mobility plan version 1.2) after two years
repeat the same monitoring and revision each year
etc.
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-
doing anything else. In fact the minimum time required for the preparation of a useful first outline of a mobility plan for a medium-sized city is a one-week workshop with about ten capable participants, followed by two weeks of report writing. This assumes proper advance organization such as collecting the required basic information and materials (e.g. base maps of the required scales), and engaging a capable workshop moderator. Give the mobility plan the status of an approved “workplan”
To facilitate working on a mobility plan it is desirable not to give the a plan a high status, which would make it more subject to lobbying, but that of a working document that may contain imperfections, and which will gradually be improved the longer it is used and adjusted. The time schedule of table 8.5 can be adopted. 8.1 SWOT of the urban transport system
Irlerztifiiizg and exploiting strz.ngtlzs and opportunities
Stakeholder analysis SWOT workshop
Circulate draft report for coniinents/ corrections Meeting to confirm the validity of tlze final SWOT report
An analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is a useful method to obtain good qualitative insight into the urban transport system. The difference with a “problem analysis” is that a SWOT pays equal attention to positive aspects. The SWOT approach was developed in corporate management rather than in traditional planning, with the aim to avoid a too strong focus on problems, at the expense of being aware of strengths and opportunities. Attempts to improve the performance of an organization are always more successful if they cleverly use existing strengths and opportunities. Attempts to improve highly problematic aspects of an organization can easily fail unless there is a strong enough part that can be used as the starting point for improvement. Abandoning highly problematic activities is often a better strategy than investing much energy and money in weak fields. Public authorities are of course different from private companies. The national or municipal government has a responsibility for the public interest and cannot simply decide to abandon certain activities or tasks because they are problematic. But an innovative and businesslike (entrepreneurial) approach to problem solving is certainly desirable.
A SWOT that is produced by a larger group of people from diverse backgrounds tends to be better than one that is produced by one or two people, or by a group of people that all have the same background. In a group of people an aspect overlooked by one can be noticed by another, and a critical debate on perceived strengths, weaknesses, etc. can deepen their understanding significantly. The reported output of a SWOT also remains dependent on a skillful and unbiased rapporteur. For a SWOT as the first step in the preparation of a mobility plan, the following approach is recommended: 1. Conduct a stakeholder analysis with the group of initiators (annex 4). 2.Convene a SWOT workshop with a group of 15-20 people from a wide range of backgrounds, essentially covering the entire range of “players” and making significant use of the transport system users (the experts-by-experience). Apply a participatory workshop method, to avoid that it is monopolized by the most eloquent or self-confident group members. (protocol: annex 5 ) 3. Write a draft SWOT report, and circulate it to the contributing persons for feedback. Convene a feedback meeting and discuss the different points of view. In case there are important uncertain or contested points, work out a brief study program to verify or research these points. 4. Carry out the study program and finalize the SWOT report. Convene a final feedback meeting, or, in case of a large number of discussion points, another workshop (also use a participatory method). 8.2 Overview of existing land use and road infrastructure networks
Base niaps
A method for the inventory of pedestrian and bicycle routes has already been dealt with in chapter 7. In the mobility plan, four maps (already explained in 7.1) must be presented with more prominence than in an NMT action plan. These maps are: (1) the current (e.g. 2000) land use, (2) main trip attractors, (3) public transport routes, and (4) main motorized traffic routes maps. The reason why this must be done is that in a mobility plan it is of great
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importance to create an integrated view on the transport system development in the next decade. The four maps showing the current land use, PT,and MT situations are a good aid to achieve that, because they summarize a large amount of information in a comprehensible manner, and can, with some explanation, be understood and interpreted by most people, including those who are not professional planners or engineers. This last aspect is important, because part of the value of the mobility plan lies in the fact that it is discussed with all stakeholders before it is adopted. For a good understanding of the current land use map, it is informative to add another map that shows the historic growth of the city: in one color the land that was newly occupied between 1990 and 1999, in other colors that between 1980 and 1989, and between 1970 and 1979. Such a map clarifies the rate of change that the city has to accommodate. It is useful to add a page with written explanation to each map, that highlights its most Written explar~arioris important features and problem spots. In a later chapter of the plan, the same maps come back, but now as forecasts of how the FUtl4172 rlevelopment land use, the spread of trip attractors and the public transport and motor vehicle traffic route IlICZ]?S networks are expected and/or desired to be ten years from now (e.g. 2010).
8.3 Macro-analysis of the present mobility: transport system performance and costs
Carrying out the SWOT analysis kills two birds with one stone: it establishes a contacts network with stakeholders that are willing to contribute to advance the subject, and it articulates the urban mobility and accessibility agenda in such a way that further debate becomes useful and targeted. The map-making exercise summarizes the required information about the travel infrastructure networks and the land use in a comprehensive and understandable form. Now the next step is to quantify the basic information that is needed to understand the scale, composition, performance and cost of the transport system. Coniprelzei~siblearid reliable transport systenl infornzation
The most important issues to clarify are: how many trips are made in the city every day, by what modes of transport they are made, what distances they involve, what they cost, and how much time they take. An elementary aggregated model to quantify these issues is explained below. Once the information has been obtained, it is possible to start looking for answers to the following questions: What does the current travel situation cost (money and time), and what mobility, comfort, and accessibility does one get in return? * How do the existing system parameters (trips made per day, average travel speed, unit cost per passengerkilometer and per tonkm, accidents) compare to other places, where different urban transport scenarios were developed? What explains the differences? Can a transition to a more satisfactory urban transport system be created? 0
Urban trip volume and trip distances Mobility (trip generation and trip distance)
The first basic dimension of an urban transport system is the number of trips made and the distances involved. The trip pattern as it exists at a certain moment in time is not the “demand for transport”, but the equilibrium at that moment between demand and supply. Modes of transport
Modal split
Unit cost of travel Unit speed of travel
The second basic dimension of an urban transport system is the modes by which the trips are made. In each distance class, what is the share of the main modes of transport? The combination of trip generation, trip distance distribution and modal split provides a complete specification of the trip pattern in the urban transport system (urban freight is left out of consideration here). The basic modes of urban travel are walk, bicycIe, (mini)bus, car, - and motorized twowheeler as a separate category if their number is significant. The characteristics that are taken into account here are their costs per km and their average travel speed (chapter 9).
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Performance matrices
Required source: household travel survey
An overview of the number of trips per mode of transport, the distances trawled, and the travel time involved provide a comprehensive picture of the technical performance of an urban transport system. It should be measured by means of a household travel survey (see annex 9). By adding the cost, the “value for money” aspect can also be assessed. All this information can be summarized in three matrices explained below: Mobility matrix
WJ)
Travel-timematrix
defined as:
x. . = observed (estimated) number of trips with mode of ‘J transport i, in distance class j.
defiized as:
’
TU)
Cost matrix
C(id
t.. = x . . ” ; d . J v . 1J ’J J . d. = average trip length in distance class j J vi = average door-to-door travel speed using mode of transport i
defined as:
c.. = x..*d.”;cm.+t..‘4 1J IJ J . 1 1 J Ct d. = average tiip length in distance class j J cmi = unit costkm of mode of transport i ct = average value of travel time
Estimation of the mobility, travel time and cost matrices
The mobility matrix can be estimated directly from the outcome of a household survey, and checked against data derived from traffic counts (see annex 10). The travel time matrix can be estimated from the mobility matrix by adding the observed average door-to-door travel speeds. If possible trip speed measurements per distance class should be taken, since average door to door speed increases with trip distance for most modes of transport. The cost matrix can be estimated from the mobility matrix and the travel time matrix by adding observed unit costs per mode of travel and the average value of time. The unit-cost measure can be in direct costs, or also include secondary effects of transport (accidents, pollution), as appropriate for the purpose of analysis. The cost matrix can also be calculated for financial costs only, leaving out the travel time costs. The total travel cost matrix as defined here does not include the costs of the transport infrastructure (roads, tracks). 8.3.1 Case studies: Dar es Salaam and Morogoro
The easiest way of explaining the interpretation and use of the performance and cost matrices defined above is with the help of an example. This is done below, with data from a part of Dar es Salaam (the Temeke ward, with 150,000 inhabitants) and Morogoro (the entire city, with an estimated 200,000 inhabitants). First the different matrices are presented below. The data are expressed in percentages rather than in total numbers, to facilitate their interpretation.
I
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Table 8.6 Mobility matrix Temeke (DSM) disrmce (b) 0-2
2-5
5-8
>X
roml
Walk
23
20
4
0
47
Cycle
0
2
i
0
3
Bus (Pn
2
6
8
27
43
CX
0
1
1
4
6
lord
26
29
14
31
I00
mode
Source: SSATP pilot projects, ‘93 HH survey; Trips by adults only. 100%= 196,000 trips. Total no of trips per adult (>=15 years old): 1.96/day. (The numbers in the table above dirfer a bit from those shown in version 1.2, as a result of correcting printing and rounding errors).
Table 8.7 Mobility matrix Momgom 0-2
2-5
5-8
>B
l”Id
Walk
21
33
7
0
67
Cycle
2
8
4
3
17
Bus (PT)
I
3
1
7
12
Cm
0
0
2
2
4
told
30
44
14
12
100
disraace (km) mode
Source: SSATP pilot projects. ‘96 HH survey; 100%=220,000 trips per day. Total no. of trips per adult (>=I5 years old): 1.7/day.
Case specijTc reniarks
It must be noted that the observations below have been added as example of interpretation and use of the data, and a step to clarification of issues. They are specific to the case given, and should not be generalized, but replaced by a similar analysis for the city where the method is applied.
Mobiliiy matrices, some remarks
* In both cases the overall mobility is low, less that two trips per adult (as explanation of the case, per day (going and coming back = 2.0 trips). Based on international data, this value should be 3.0 or more in an efficient urban area . * Walking is the dominant mode of transport in both cases. The number of very long trips on foot in Temeke is low. This partly relates to the distance between Temeke and the main employment locations in the city, which is up to 7 km (Temeke is an old low and lower middle-income area). In new low-income areas at more remote locations higher walking trip distances can be found. Cycling is the second most important mode in Morogoro (a medium-size city). Additional analysis shows that the main limiting factor for increased use of bicycles in Morogoro is their affordability. 0
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
* Cycling is almost absent in Dares Salaam. Additional analysis shows that the very unsafe traffic conditions in DSM are the main reason. * In Dar es Salaam, bus traffic (mainly by “informal” minibus called dala-dala) is the main carrier of trips that are too long to walk (in the absence of the bicycle option). However, in Morogoro urban bus traffic is secondary in importance to cycling. * Private car traffic is unimportant as a means of personal trip making for the large majority of all travelers in both cases.
Table 8.8 navel Time matrix Temeke (DSM) 0-2
2-5
Walk
12
30
I1
I
54
Cycle
0
1
1
0
3
Bus
0
3
6
30
39
Car
0
0
I
4
5
Iotal
12
34
19
35
I00
dimrice ( A m ) mode
Source: SSATP pilot projects. Average travel time per person per day: 1.3 hrs.
Travel time, some remarks
* The average measured door-to-door walking speed is low: 3-4 kmhr.
* The average time that Temeke inhabitants spend on daily travel is comparatively low (only 1.3 hours, around 40 minutes per trip). This relates to the reasonable density of services in the area and its closeness to the CBD and industrial areas. Compared to other residential areas in DSM the mobility situation is in fact relatively good, although the low 1.9 trips per person per day indicates that there is already a significant suppressed demand. The door-to-door speed achieved by bus travelers is roughly the same as that of the (few) cyclists: 10-12 kmlhr. Only the longest trips, of 7 km and more, are a bit faster by bus. * The door-to-door speeds achieved for trips by car (15 k d h r ) are comparable to those for buses, because most are during rush hours. Outside the rush hour the door-to-door speed by car is a bit higher (up to 25 k d h r ) , an average speed mainly determined by intersection delays. This actual average speed is in marked contrast with the beliefs and actual behavior of many car drivers, who think that by increasing their maximum speed on straight road sections they can significantly reduce their travel time. In reality this is not true. The only effect of the high spot speeds that occur as a result of this behavior is a strong increase in accident rates.
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Table 8.9 Total Travel Cost matrix Temeke ( DSW (i101ic.s:dirpcrfinnnciol
COSIS
of rrnwl onl,: crcluding rime cosr.~)
>R
Walk
Cycle
Bus (FT)
7 0
3 0
0 0
0 0
0
1
0
1
0
3 3
7
35
4.5
7
36
-17
0 0
3
6
32
41
4
7
40
52
5
17 8
7 I5
71
100
77
I00
0 Car
total
13
0
3
0
1
Source: SSATP pilot projects. Area size 10km2, 100,000 adult inhabitants. 100% (direct+tirne cost) = 17 mill. US$/year, of which I3 million (77%) are direct financial costs and 4 million (23%) are the value of time costs. The average direct cost per adult/day lies around 0.4 US$/day( 1994). Road infrastructure capital and maintenance costs, accident and pollution costs have been omitted.
Total travel costs, some remarks
0
0
Due to the low average value of time (chapter 9.2), 77% of all costs are direct costs, although almost half of all trips are on foot. There is a strong imbalance between the cost distribution and the modal shares: car traffic only makes up 6% of all trips (9% of all tripkm), but requires 52% of all direct financial costs and 41% of all total costs of daily travel including the value of travel. A reliable estimate of the total income of the inhabitants of the area is difficult to make. A report by the Economic Research Bureau of the University of Dar es Salaam mentions average per capita incomes in 1995 of US$ 139 (national average, Nat.Bur.Stat. estimate), US$ 165 (ERB estimate for W.Tanzania) and US$ 400 (ERB estimate for the most affluent cities in W.Tanzania). A detailed house-hold budget study (Developing a poverty baseline in Tanzania, TNBS and Oxford policy management Ltd., DSM May 2000) estimates the per capita income in Dares Salaam at 2.2 times the national average, or US$350 in 1994. Using this estimate of US$350, Temeke being a typical average part of DSM, leads to the conclusion that the inhabitants of Temeke spent an estimated 25% of their income on direct costs of daily transport (excl. value of time). The only mode of transport with a significant potential to reduce the expenditure on transport in Temeke and simultaneously increase the number of trips is the bicycle. It now provides 3% of the trips (and 3% of the tripkm’s) at only 1% of the total costs. It direct costs are three times lower than the bus and it covers the same trip distances in approximately the same travel time. The ability to cycle safely within Dar es Salaam could reduce the percentage of the income that the households concerned spend on daily transport from 25% to around 10%, and have a major poverty alleviation impact. The estimated asset value of the road infrastructure in Temeke (including the share of other DSM roads that Temeke inhabitants use) is difficult to assess, but based on the total road network length in DSM (of 1,400 kni) it can be estimated at US$ 40-50 per inhabitant, (assuming an average asset value of US$ 100,000 per km of road, which in view of the average condition of the roads is optimistic). 90% of this amount relates to MT roads. The corresponding annuity cost of capital plus maintenance cost is around US$ 7 per capita. The estimated average expenditure on road infrastructure in Temeke over the last years has been 25-30% of that amount, revealing an effective desinvestment (i.e. a reduction of asset value).
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* From the calculations presented above it is clear that the costs of the road infrastructure are low compared to the actual expenditure on transport. A reasonable road infrastructure (in balance with the economic conditions of the area) could be provided and maintained at a cost of around 5% of the expenditure on daily travel. There is enough money for urban road construction
The conclusion from these calculations is that there is enough money in Temeke to pay for an appropriate and safe infrastructure, that would give its inhabitants a higher mobility at a significantly lower cost. The problem is that effective government instruments and political will were so far lacking to make a transition from the current pattern of expenditure on transport to a much more efficient and low-cost urban mobility scenario. Road space requirement priorities
To assess priorities with respect to the demand for road space, the modal shares in terms of passengerkm are the relevant measure. In the case of Temeke (DSM) and Morogoro, the passkm shares are:
Temeke
Morogoro
walk
cycle
bus
car
rota1
24 51
3 22
64 19
9 8
100% 100%
These data indicate that the two most important immediate road infrastructure requirements are for bus and pedestrian traffic in Dar es Salaam, and for pedestrian and bicycle traffic in Morogoro. The important pedestrian infrastructure requirements are: (i) walkways separated from the motor vehicle carriageway and (ii) safe crossings. It is important to note that traffic counts on the main roads often show a modal share for walking that is much lower than the one shown in the mobility mati-ices which are based on household travel surveys. The reason is that many trips on foot use shortcuts and informal tracks and avoid the main roads where possible, since on those roads appropriate space for them is lacking and walking is dangerous. If one calculates vehiclekm in the network instead of passengerkm, and omits the bicycle as a vehicle, the private car comes at the top of the list (car occupancy: 2, (mini)bus occupancy: 20). This reflects the well- known aspect that in African cities cars, although only carrying a minor fraction of all trips and of the passengerkm volume, claim a lion’s share of the available road space on the core network of urban roads. 8.3.2 Accessibility indicators
There is one important performance, or rather adequacy, aspect of the transport system that has not been quantified through the mobility, travel time and cost matrixes: accessibility. Accessibility and mobility are two sides of the same coin. Mobility describes the trip making of the travelers in the system, accessibility describes the ease of reaching activity locations (residential, employment, services). Two indicators for accessibility can be used to supplement the mobility matrices: the Accessibility cost radius (ACR, measuring travel cost), and Accessibility travel time radius (ATR, measuring travel time), within which a fixed number of potential customers for that activity can be found. (p;y) stands for: p = the access purpose, y = market size. The accessibility cost radius for 50,000 workers (ACR(work; 50,000)) of a certain industrial area is defined as the annual travel costs within which 50,000 potential workers can be
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found (are their residences located such that they can reach it within an annual travel budget of US$ X?) For example: an ACR(workers; 50,000) = US$% means that the Iabor market that the area can draw workers from within a travel budget of US$ 55 per year is 50,000 medwomen big. To reach a labor market of 100,000 people might for example be possible within a US$78 annual travel budget. By relating that amount to the worker salary one can judge how good the industrial area i s located in terms of accessibility for workers. Similarly, the ACR can be calculated for potential customers of a market, or shopping center of school. The accessibility travel time radius (ATR) is defined as the door-to-door travel time within which e.g. 100,000 potential clients can reach a certain market: X minutes. For example: a shopping center having an ATR(c1ient.s; IOO,OOO> = 68 minutes nieans that the buyer-market that the shopping center can attract clients from within a one-way travel time of 68 minutes per trip is 100.000 clients big. The ACR and ATR can also be measured the other way round: y = a fixed cost or time budget, and the measured quantity is the size of the market that can be reached within that budget (e.g. ATR(c1ients; 30 min) = 46,000 clients). The lower the ACR (measured in cost) of the important activity locations andlor the lower the ATR (measured in time), the higher the combined adequacy of the transport system and the land use in providing good accessibility. If they are measured in potential visitor volume (accessible market size) within a fixed money or time budget: the higher the ACR and ATR, the more accessible the location. Estinrated ATRs in Terneke
In Temeke, ATRs and ACRs are IOW compared to the newest occupied parts of Dar es Salaam. For example, of the Tandika market in the area: the ATR(clien1s; lOO,OOO)= 2 28 minutes, i.e. within 28 minutes, 100,000 potential clients can be found. Apparently this should be (and is) a busy market. Or calculated the other way round: the Tandika market ATR(c1ients; 30 min.) = 2 115,000, and its ATR(c1ients; 45 min.) = f 240,000. By improving the pedestrian route network leading to the market, its ATR(c1ients; 30 min.) can be increased from 11S,OOO to 190,000. This gives a good indication ofthe high potential that simple improvements in the pedestrian walkway infrast~cturehave to boost the economic performance of this market. The ATRs and ACRs in Temeke are quite acceptable because the mixture of urban functions is quite intense, land use density high and segregation between different population groups not very strong (an inheritance of past social and housing policies of the Tanzanian government in the 1970s and early 80s). In newer, less central parts of Dar es Salaam, ATRs and ACRs are significantly worse.
Another example: the ACRfwork; US$ 20) i.e. the number of employnient opportuiiities that can be found within an annual travel budget of US$ 20 by a person living in Temeke, i s approximately 8,000 (work places) if living in Temeke center and 4,000 if in “Mamboleo A”. For US$ 20/year, bus transport is out of reach, so under the present CircLimstaiices the person can only walk, which including time costs has a unit cost of approximately 20 Porerrtial accessibility TsNkm (1996). The most promising strategies to further improve ACRs and ATRs, in to get the accessibility cost radius (ACR) down, is to make safe cycling to i ~ p r o ~ ) e i i z e ~ t ~particular o~ adjacent areas, and eventually to the CBD, possible. cycling The availability of the cycling option (safe cycle routes) would increase the ACR(work, 20 US$) for a person living in “Mamboleo A” from i 4,000 to t 20,000!
8.4 Micro-analysis of the present mobility: understanding changes in travel behavior ~nderstandingchanges in the transport system is only possible if one knows what the changes chat occur are. Reliable regular observation of the transport system characteristics and of tbe transport user travel behavior is a necessary condition. The regular monitoring of the performance and cost of the transport system as described in 8.3, for example by estimating new mobility matrices every two or three years, provides a good documentation of the macro-changes that occur in mod& split, trip distance and travel cost and time.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Uiideisraizdiizg rile 1pcisons why
However, the reasons why changes in the transpoi-i patterns occur can be many. Most changes are the effect of (i) changes in the numbers and locations of city inhabitants and econoniic activities, (ii) changes in travel behavior, and (iii) travelers responses to changes in the supply of transport infrastructure and services. To get a better understanding of urban transport and of how it can change, the conceptuaI framework of the travel demand model is very useful. Figure 8.1 shows it. It breaks the demand for transport and the mechanisms that determine it down into the following main components: * Trip generation Trip distribution Choice of mode of transport and time of travet * Route choice * Transport network supply * Location choice of households and economic activities Vehicle ownership 0
Figure 8.1 The travef demand model
1
Location choice (Land use)
Income
1
I
1 Car ownership
1 1 I
.
Price ioiiciesj
t
I
I Car availability
Travel costs
I
Set of available modes of travel
~
\ ,
Generalized Travel costs
1 ; Time of the day
1 :
(assignment)
:
Congestion (real travel time) ,11 3
_ _ _ _ _ _ 11,
_ _ _ _ _ ”
note: thc blocks inside the
: dotied box are often
; csrimoted simul!ancously,
; I
:
. _different _ _ _ combinations _ _ _ _ . _;_ _ _ _ _ _ I
in
After: Roger Mackett. Tlie role o f wave1 demand models in appraisal and policy making. In: Impact assessrnenI and project appraisal, Voi 16, nr.2. 1998.
A research ugeitdn
Estimation of travel demand sub-models has not been carried out in the SSATP NMT piIot projects, because of the priority attached to the establishment of implementable interventjon menus and urban road design standards that properly accommodate NMT. However, research with these models on African cities is an important tool to develop better
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understanding of the opportunities for and threats to different long-term transport policies. The highest priority have: individual choice models of modal split, location choice and vehicle ownership. A detailed analysis of the determinants of trip generation, modal choice, location choice, vehicle ownership etc. is beyond the scope of these guidelines (1). Only a few brief remarks will be included below about each of the model components and the micro analysis needed to understand changes in travel behavior. Note the difference between travel behavior and traffic behavior (which is discussed in chapter 9). Understanding the determinants of changes in travel behavior is essential in order to gain insight into the longer-term developments that can be expected in urban transport, and into the probable effectiveness or ineffectiveness of policy instruments that could be used to steer that development into a particular, desired, direction. Location choice
High priority area ,for research
Vehicle omzership
High priority area for research
Trip generution
Location choice models are less well developed and less generally used in transport studies than the components of the traditional four-stage travel demand model (trip generation, distribution, mode choice and route assignment). It is an urgent area of further research that should bring more quantified understanding of how the supply of transport infrastructure and services determines the pattern of urban expansion and land-use change. Circumstantial evidence indicates that in African cities the impact of accessibility on location choices of both households and businesses is great, as can for instance be observed from the typical radial expansion of the large cities along the roads that are leading out of town. At the same time, poverty often dictates households to accept informal settlement in undeveloped areas where access problems are so big that the constraints that this creates to their mobility almost exclude them from economic and social participation. However, well researched evidence of how this entire process takes place is largely lacking. As a result, proper understanding of possible instruments to guide the urbanization process in a more positive direction is also largely lacking. The determinants of bicycle ownership have been investigated in the pilot projects by means of household travel surveys that also recorded vehicle ownership. The two determining factors were found to be firstly traffic safety for bicycles and secondly the affordability of a bicycle. However, the second factor only comes in play where a large number of potential cyclists judges the safety situation to be acceptable (2). The findings also show that in Tanzania and Kenya social status aspects are not a significant reason for not cycling, apart from for the small high income population group. In West Africa the status aspect plays a more wide spread role as a constraint to urban cycling (3). For the preparation of good longer-term mobility policies, the determinants of car ownership and of motorcycle (hoped) ownership are equally important. More research into this aspect is urgently needed -more research into bicycle ownership included-, for example to get a better understanding of the possible role of vehicle price and fuel price policies. Vehicle ownership can be analysed well with the type of individual choice model described in a bit more detail below for modal choice. The aim of the trip generation sub-model is to estimate the number of trips made per person per day, depending on the characteristics of the person and the location of activities in the urban area (work places, residential areas, schools, markets, shops etc). As an input it requires (i) travel behavior and socio-economic data of the population (for estimation), and land-use data per traffic zone (for making aggregate trip volume forecasts). For reliable estimates a travel survey is required (a household travel survey supplemented by surveys for “non home-based trips”). Examples of estimation models are Category
(1 j The reader is referred to for example: Ortuzar and Willurnsen, 1994. Modeling Transport. Wiley&Sons UK. sec ed.; Transport in the urban environment (Ch.8). Institution of Highways and Transportation, ’97, UK. ISBN 0902933 213. ( 2 ) GSambali, M.Zuidgeest and M. de Langen, Determinants of cycling in medium and large sized cities in SubSaharan Africa. Proceedings of the World Conference on Transportation Research, Antwerp 1998. (3) J.M.Cusset, Low cost mobility in West African cities, proceedings of the Expert Group Meeting on Low-cost Mobility in African cities, Delft 2000.
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Analysis (a market-segmentation technique) and Multiple Regression models (with trip rates as the dependent variable and income, vehicle ownership, age distribution etc. as independent (explanatory) variables). Trip distribution
The aim of the trip distribution model is to estimate the number of trips made per day (or in the peak hour) between each traffic zones in the city and all other zones, depending the travel resistance c i j between them. The general form of the model is Xij=cl"Pi"Aj'~f(ci,j),whereby: = the number of trips between zone i and zone j Xij = a model constant (estimated from the base year data set) cl Pi and Aj = trips produced in zone i, trips attracted to zone j f(cij) resistance function (estimated from the base year data set) Traditionally, this model is estimated for an aggregated trip Origin-Destination (0-D) matrix, rather than based on the destination choice made by individual travelers. However, such disaggregate modeling can also be applied to the distribution model, in that case often estimating combined destination and mode of transport choices. In both cases the database is either a HH travel survey or a roadside 0 - D survey. Urban 0 - D inatrices based on traffic counts are unreliable.
Modal choice
The aim of the modal split model is to estimate the number of trips made per day (or in the peak hour) by each mode of transport (car, bus, walk, bicycle, motorcycle). The individual (or "disaggregated") choice model, that analyses the modal choice made by individual travelers is the most attractive model to gain a better understanding of the factors that determine this choice. The usual database is a household travel survey, supplemented by travel time, -distance and -cost estimates based on the available transport network. Examples of variables used to explain modal choice are: travel costs and time per mode, income, availability of a vehicle to the traveler etc. For forecasting the model -estimated on individual travel data- is calculated with zonal averages of the explanatory variables for forecast years, to estimate the percentage of trips by car, bus or other mode. In relation to bicycle and pedestrian traffic the potential of the modal split model lies in the insights it can provide into the variables that explain the modal choice, and can thus be considered as transport policy instruments. Forecasting pedestrian and bicycle traffic volumes on specific roads and tracks within sensible error margins is usually not possible because the required level of detail in specification of the route networks cannot be reconciled with the availability of corresponding sufficiently accurate household and activity location data (unless for very specific small areas and trip purposes). The basic form of the disaggregate choice (logit) model is: Prob(i) = exp (U(i)) / X exp (U(i)), whereby: i=I,M
Prob(i) = probability that mode i will be chosen U(i) = the "utility" of mode i, usually of the form the form: U(i) = a1 + a2*X1 + a3*X2 + a4*X4 + ...,whereby: al, a2 a3 etc. are coefficients that are estimated statistically, and X1, X2 etc are the variables that explain the choice behavior. The model specification requires care, because a variable can only explain differences in utility between different modes if it assumes a specific value for that mode (different from the value it has for other modes). So for example income cannot directly be used as an explanatory variable, because it is the same for each mode of travel. Trip assignrizent (route choice)
The aim of the trip assignment, or route choice, model is to estimate the number of vehicles moving per day (or in the peak hour) on each road link of the transport network in the city. Its inputs are an estimated 0 - D matrix per mode of transport, and the road network of the
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city and its travel resistances. Usually the assignment model is not estimated statistically but carried out with an algorithm that is considered logical and gives intuitively acceptable results (compared to traffic counts). Realistic algorithms use a speed-flow relationship per road link. More recently, disaggregated route choice models have also been developed, some of which simultaneously consider modal choice (multi-modal route choice). However, for understanding of travel behavior in African cities these models appear to be of much less importance than the earlier mentioned location choice, vehicle ownership and modal choice.
8.5 Plan of User Needs Suggestions for approach and contents Do nor inzpose a restrictive format
UP guidelines: chapters 17 and 18
Overly precise guidelines for the production of a Plan of User Needs should not be given, because an essential quality of such a document is that it articulates the needs perceived by the users in the way they themselves consider most suitable. Forcing the production of such a document into a rigid framework by prescribing its table of contents can be counterproductive. It might reduce the freedom of the UP members in articulating what they consider to be the most important aspects. What follows below are therefore suggestions only. For details about user participation, refer to chapters 17 and 18; observations concerning a Plan of User Needs as part of the preparation of a mobility plan are included here.
The people involved make the difference
It is important to be aware of the complexity of a user participation process. This complexity has more to do with the psychological factors involved than with the difficulty of the mobility issue. More than for any other subject described in these guidelines, success of UP depends on the people involved, their commitment, motivation, endurance, skills, and self-confidence.
Meeting techniques (see annex 6)
Participatory workshop methods have been described in annex 6. These methods can also be used in single meetings, and of course in any language. Their main target is to ensure an exchange of ideas and points of view in which all participants get a fair chance of making their contribution in the way they really want to, and that the process is not exploited by a sinall number of participants for pursuing their agendas. Experience has shown that this is an important practical concern, and requires a lot of attention. One aspect not touched upon in annex 6 is illiteracy. It is important to assure that illiteracy does not exclude those concerned from contributing to a written document such as a Plan of User Needs. Many of the UP participants have limited skills and experience in reading reports or putting things in writing. This means that often a professional (usually the social scientist in the team) will be called upon to articulate things in writing. This requires extra attention to prevent distortion of the outcome. Some ways of dealing with this problem are: Frequent feedback meetings that are only for verifying whether the outcome or conclusions of earlier meetings are indeed reported in a accurate manner. The verification process requires joint reading of the text, and discussing it in detail. This is takes time, but has to be done. In meetings, maintain writing sessions (for feeding ideas and opinions into the discussion more anonymously), but make a neutral “writer” available, who can write for individual participants what they instruct her to write, without commenting on it. It is recommended to use a woman for this task. Tape-record important sessions, to facilitate making accurate minutes.
Veripcation
Writing support
Tape recording Relarive importance of the mobility issue
At the start of a document that articulates the user’s mobility needs it is important to deal with the relative importance of that issue compared to others such a water supply, sanitary and health conditions (sewerage and drainage, waste), security, unemployment. If it becomes clear that (i) one of those other subjects is much more important; that (ii) devoting attention and energy to the mobility issue would weaken the attempt to address the more important issue; and that (iii) no advantage can be created by combining the two, it should
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probably be recommended to postpone tackling the mobility issue. If the mobility issue is not the first priority, but can be addressed in a sensible manner without reducing the possibilities of addressing other problems, it can be taken up with confidence. In fact, the interventions that are required to improve the mobility situation are often not so difficult. In that case creating a positive example in the simpler “mobility” field inay in fact help in finding solutions in the other problem areas. Drainage problems can and in fact should always be addressed in combination with mobility problems. Purpose O ~ user N needs clocuriient
The main purpose of a separate user needs document (plan), formulated by a diversity of community and interest group members, is to have an independent look at mobility issues documented by the users, and in that manner prevent dominance of the technical way of looking at them that was outlined in the previous paragraphs (maps and data). A permanent balance between the two perspectives, the professional- technical-performance one and the user one, is important to create broad support for interventions, and to assure that interventions that are planned address the most important user needs. A Plan of User Needs can be continuously improved and updated to serve as a permanent guideline for the municipality, provided to it by its clients (the inhabitants), as a point of reference to evaluate whether or not the desired improvements are achieved (or negative developments that one fears are stopped or prevented). Plan of User Needs: organizing
At the moment that one begins the preparations for making a user mobility needs plan, a SWOT of the urban mobility situation has already been prepared with a group of people from diverse backgrounds (chapter 8.1). That group has probably been invited by the initiators from their network of personal contacts, selected on the basis of social background, interest in the subject and quality of ideas and opinions. For a SWOT analysis that type of group selection is OK, but for the preparation of a Plan of User Needs that articulates the needs of the population of the city or a city district at large, it is desirable to have a group that in a more unbiased manner mirrors the diversity of the population, and also reflects the size of the different groups (for example, has only 510% members that own a car). The following steps can create a sufficiently legitimate user platform (see chapter 17). Organize (municipal staff) and conduct a large number of focus group discussions on the step 1: focus gro1rp mobility issue with a variety of groups of inhabitants and interest groups. Issue open di.scitssion.s invitations, also published in newspapers, for these focus group discussions, making it possible for groups or individuals to make their interest in participation known. Prepare a summary report of the focus group discussion and discuss it in a meeting with all contributors. to verify its accuracy. Step 3: user-platform Create a general user platform (user working group, user expert group), with the task to prepare a Plan of User Needs as an important part of its terms of reference (also see selectiori chapter 17).
Sequerlce of steps towurds establislziiig a groicp of people that can p r e p r e a PIari of User Needs
0
0
0
Plan of User Needs: contents Possible plan coritents
The contents of the preparation work could be: * Inventory of experiences, problems and desires in relation to mobility (starting point: focus group discussions report) Inventory of locations where improvements are urgently needed, and description of what would be desired there. This serves to clarify the scale of the problems. * Articulation of important user needs, one by one, in detail: - What exactly is needed? - Whose need is it (which group in the population)? - Why is it a need? Why is it important (criteria, priority ranking)? - How should it be addressed? - Who should Do What to address it? - What conditions must be fulfilled before it can be addressed?
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The report that is produced could have the following chapters: 1 . Role and authority of the UP, what are the rules of the game’?It is useful to articulate how the municipality and the communities can and want to cooperate in a mutually respectful and fruitful manner. No influence without real contributions, no rights without obligations, but also no contributions without legal rights. Can this vicious circle be broken? 2. An overview of existing conflicts of opinion and conflicts of interest concerning mobility problems. It is useful to give a realistic picture of the extent to which conflicting interests might at a later stage frustrate decisions about implementing interventions. By openly discussing them they will become easier to handle. 3. How have the mobility problems changed over the last ten to twenty years? Are they less now, or worse. and why? 4. A list of the most important mobility problems and needs (this resembles the outcome of the weaknesses and threats part of the SWOT analysis). 5 . Detailed analysis of the most important needs. What? Whose needs? Why important? How addressed? Who can Do What? Conditions? 6. UP recommendations. 8.6 Urban transport policy scenarios What is ( I scenario?
A transport scenario for an urban area is brief summary oi: An assumed set of transport policies and the use of corresponding infrastructure investment and management instruments. An assumed set of urban land use policy choices and use of instruments. An overview of uncontrolled (and possibly hardly controllable) factors that influence the actual development of the transport system. A narrative description of the desired gradual changes in the transport system, why they are wanted, and how different instruments are expected to create the desired changes. In other words, a consistent story of how the transport system could develop, as a result of a certain set of policy choices. 0
A “thought” experimerit about different shapes that urban transport could have iii firture
A transport scenario for a city is a realistic picture of what transport developments in the city can be expected if a certain set of policies is adopted and implemented. It is important for a scenario to be clear, and to be formulated in such a way that everybody can understand it and form an opinion about it. It is important at this planning stage to prepare different scenarios of how the city and its transport might develop. This makes it possible to assess the long-term attractiveness of different sets of transport policies. The scenario exercise is first of all useful to emphasize that there is not one automatic future, but that it is possible to influence the way in which the transport system (and the city expansion) develops, and that significantly different choices are possible. Different people have different preferences. The use of scenarios is a good method to discuss these differences, because the scenarios add a dimension to the debate: the long-term consequences. It is important that a scenario is as realistic as possible, and that the assumed effects of policy instruments have been studied carefully and are supported by empirical evidence. A scenario should not be wishful thinking.
Why are sceriarios important?
Scenario’s are often the best way to discuss and compare different visions on urban transport developments with a wide variety of people. That makes them important as a stepping stone in a mobility planning process. They also enable the articulation of ideas that cannot be forced into a rigid framework of data, and they create room to reflect on longterm developments without being buried under the overwhelming presence of immediate problems. Urban mobility (transport) scenarios for a particular city can best be made by people that know the city inside-out, and in relation to economic, social and environmental developments.
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No isolated NMT scenarios, but integrated NMT/MT
Isolated non-motorized transport scenarios are not helpful because of the strong interrelationship between all components of urban transport. For example: in many respects bicycle traffic more closely resembles car traffic than pedestrian traffic. Scenario prototypes
Scenarios must be defined and given a name per city, and in form must be specific for each city. It is not useful to attempt outlining what they could look like. To end this paragraph three scenario prototypes are mentioned, because internationally these have played an important role in the past, and because all practical policy choices in any city will need to determine where to strike the balance between them. “Do nothing” scenario
Urban highways scenario
Traffic deiiiaiid n~aizageiizerzt sceiznrio
As a starting point it is always useful to describe as carefully as possible what can be expected if no clearly defined transport policies are formulated and implemented. In many cities in Africa the current municipal governance and financial conditions have created a “do nothing” situation. This does not mean that nothing at all is being done to the urban transport infrastructure, but it means that what is done is a sequence of unrelated reactions to events (including grabbing sudden financing opportunities from outside), without clear long-tenn policy. In the current practice this also means no policy for pedestrians, bicycles, or public transport priority lanes, etc. Usually the effect is increasingly chaotic traffic for all, with pedestrians, cyclists, and cart pushers as the biggest losers because they are weakest. One extreme scenario is that of “building oneself out of congestion” by constructing a network of grade separated urban highways, that connects the central parts of the city to new city development, residential as well as industrial, over a long distance and enable daily commuting by car or (mini)bus over long distances between suburban residential locations and centers of employment and services. It should be noted that “suburban” should not be interpreted as only high or middle income residential areas in the “countryside”. The Republic of South Africa, for example, has an urban structure with large amounts of lowincome suburbs (“townships”). The use of specific modes of transport for specific trip purposes can be enhanced or restricted. This can be done by directly supportive policies for a specific mode, or by restrictions on the use of a specific mode, or a combination of the two. In many cities demand management with the aim of restricting private car use for journeys to work to the city center have been introduced successfully in recent years. Policies to enhance efficient walking and cycling can also be found in many cities. However, both are still rare in Africa. In inany cities, one instrument of travel demand management has until recently been largely overlooked, or used silently because of its potentially controversial nature: the nonprovision of higher capacity urban roads to accommodate all the potential “travel demands” of car traffic. Yet, there is a clear relationship between present and planned (anticipated) urban road infrastructure and the land use (activity settlement) patterns of a city. If there is a high level of service provided (and further planned for) on a certain type of road and part of the transport system, individual players react to that with the location choices of their homes and businesses. Area upgrading in low quality city districts, with a high level of accessibility and road space quality improvement, trigger increased local economic development and more short distance trips. Urban highways trigger more long distance trips. Each supply creates its own demand. Road supply is therefore a powerful instrument. Scenario selection
Selection criteria: -future travel costs - mobility - rrcrvel time
After the relevant scenarios have been articulated, a choice must be made. Which is the desired scenario to be used as the basis for the policies that are recommended in the mobility plan? How the preferred scenario can best be chosen cannot be said unambiguously. However, the preceding chapters provide some objective criteria for the choice. Recommended criteria are: The estimated total future transport cost per inhabitant in relation to available income, The mobility per inhabitant, and The average Gavel time per inhabitant. 0
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These can be estimated for each scenario from the base year total transport cost, mobility and travel time matrices (chapter 8.3), in combination with the estimated changes in trip generation, modal split and trip distance distribution that characterize each scenario (see chapter 8.4).
Infrastructure costs Environmental irnpiict
Plan of User Needs
Corisistei2cy with SWOT
Other criteria are The estimated total road infrastructure requirement (investment costs) in each scenario. The expected environmental impact of each scenario. Another important element in the selection is the assessment, by the municipal staff and decision makers as well as by the users themselves, of the extent to which the different scenarios meet the main user needs, as rhey have been specified in the Plan of User Needs. Finally, the different scenarios can also be compared to the outcome of the SWOT analysis (chapter %I),to verify the extent to which they take advantage of the opportunities that were identified, can prevent the threats from materializing, and relate to the strengths and weaknesses of the existing transport system. 8.7 Choice of mobility policies
Checklist of policies
Table 8.10 provides a checklist of policies fields in which a choice must be made. It is recommended to make each heading in the left hand side of the table a separate paragraph in the mobility plan chapter on policies. This part of the guidelines deals with methods, so it is not the place to discuss the content of different mobility policies. This paragraph is only underlines that the choice of mobility policies should be made at this stage in the mobility planning process. For each policy field, it must be investigated what options and instruments the municipality has at its disposal. Thereafter the best choices concerning each policy field must be discussed with all parties that take part in the planning process.
Criteria for policy selection
The criteria to select policies in each field are similar to the ones used to select a scenario. In practice one cannot predict all the consequences of each policy, so it is recommended to concentrate on two aspects: the contribution that a policy is expected to make towards the preferred transport scenario, and the impact of each policy on future mobili~y,travel time and cost, user needs, road network requirements and environmental quality.
Focus oftke mobiIity plan: pedestrian and bicycle trofic
One thing should be taken into account in preparing the mobility plan. It is a plan with a focus on the pedestrian and bicycle traffic and infrastructure, not a complete plan for all modes of transport. However, motor vehicle traffic must be included in as far as integration of, or conflict between, motor vehicles and pedestrians and cyclists is important for the pedestrian and bicycle policies. An example can make this clear. Parking of motor vehicles is iinporran~in all cities. Different parking policies are for example: (i) unrestricted parking along all roads; (iif paid parking along all roads in the city center; or (iii) a ban on parking on some or all important roads in the city, etc. Each policy has different implications, not only for parking itself, but also for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. If, for example, money for investment in urban roads is highly constrained, it is a waste of money to park motor vehicles on bitumen. In cities with a severe shortage of well-paved roads, a ban on parking on all local collector, collector and conidor roads is very sensible. However, it: is only sensible in combination with the provision of enough off-road parking lots and a serious enforcement policy, in particular enforcement that walkways or cycle lanes or tracks are not illegally used for parking. Such illegal parking completely frustrates efficient pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Therefore, parking policy choices must be included in a mobility plan for NMT. And analysis of parking behavior (observations, survey) is required to avoid policy choices that will fail due to failure of enforcement.
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Checklist of mobility plan policies
0h.wwtfion.v A summar) of a11 policicr that concern walking. An examplc of onc of thc imponant aspccts i t must covcr: how can blocking of walkw:!ya and walking routes by street traders or pnrked vehiclcs bc prewnted etc.
A summnry of all policies that concern cycling. Examples of imponant aspects i t must cover: - on what roads to use mised cycling, where separated cycle tracks. whcrc mixed service roads? - policics that increase the affordability of cycling
-
bicycle parking policies. etc.
Examples o f imponant aspccts it must cover: - motor vehicle rpced targets on different types of roads instruments that can be used on different types of roads to impose thc desired spccd lercl, and 10 m:Le clcar 10 the road user what type of road i t is - recording of xcidcnls. analysis and reporting - vehiclc inspection
-
In general: how to assure that all road r~scrvesarc used by the intended use~s.:md not abused for other purposes. and how can the efficiency of the traffic flow he improved? Includcs: traffic circulation (use of one way sweets. restricted turns. limited access for heavy vehicles etc.) parking - inlcrscctioii and road redesign
-
A brief summary of thc policies that affccr public trannpon. The municipal gorcmmcni involvement should conccntrate on: - bus licenscr and routes (and maybe tariff limits) bus stops and stations. and their use by bus driven
-
Listing: 1.u.for what purpose i s the tax collected. annual revenue. what are thc cevcnucs used for? I n practice. sound policies i n this field are often lacking. No g w d register of ofticial road reserves and open space reserves i s kept. nor established in arcas where the city grows. In most cases, the smallest required road rercmcr (NMT access roads and tracks) are not included in the registers or official maps at all. Traffic induced loss of tree c o ~ e roften creates aerions urban environmcntal degradation. Policies? Orcrview of land use policies. including the related municipal tax policies
This para. can best list the waftic behavior problems. and the policies 10 address them. for example: driving too fast, irresponsible ovenaking, not giving right of way. driving dangerous vehiclcs. drunk driving. Also includes: - waffic police instructions and behavior in practice - legal penalties and their fair application - uniformity of road layout. use of colors and signs
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8.8 Design of the future network of pedestrian routes and bicycle routes
With all the information in the preceding chapters of the mobility plan in hand, it is now easy to make the final step: translating the desired (expected, planned) development of the urban transport system with respect to pedestrian and bicycle traffic into a map that shows the target for the pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure maintenance, reconstruction and new construction for the next ten years. The map shows the walkway network and the bicycle route network that should be realized at the end of the 10-year period. The only additional choice that remains to be made after deciding on the route network map is that of the design standards that should be adopted for the different routes in the network, which is discussed in the next paragraph. Pedestrian routes Walkway network: different maps for city, district, neighborhood
A single plan map for the pedestrian network of an entire city is not practical. The required density of pedestrian routes is so high, that the map would only be confusing. Three scale levels should be used: entire city, district and neighborhood. The typical size of a district is 10-20 km2 (up to 300,000 inhabitants), that of a neighborhood is 1-3 km2. Pedestrian routes at neighborhood Ievel
At the neighborhood level, it makes sense to prepare a map that shows all paved or compacted walking routes, official road reserves as well as those that are not officially classified. Various required improvements of access roads and tracks can be indicated on Neigliboi.lioor1inups are not to be included this map in different colors. In a mobility plan it does not make sense to include more than in a in a city mobility one map at this level of detail, as an example. However, it is essential to produce these maps for all neighborhoods in the city. They are the basis for establishing the official road plan reserves, and make sure that also the small NMT-only routes are officially classified as road reserves. Failure to do this will at one moment or another lead to big problems and conflicts, and eventually result in a low quality walking route network, with far to many detours to be efficient. Integration of On this map, the integration between the construction of walkways and drains in the walkway and neighborhood should be shown. drainage plan Map: scale 1: 5,000
Network plan inup only have to show route alignnzent
In most cases a 1: 5,000 map (i.e. 500 meters is 10 cm on the map) is convenient for planning purposes. It gives a reasonable amount of detail, but also allows a reasonable overview, which gets lost if the maps are more detailed. For inclusion in reports, it is recommended that maps of this scale are reduced to A-4 paper format. For professional work the map of the original scale and size must be used. Maps that are used for the detailed desi,on of interventions are of a much smaller scale, 1: 500 (50 meters is 10 cm on the map) for road sections, and scale 1: 200 for difficult parts and for intersections.
Neighborhood improvement plan
Planning the improvement of neighborhood access streets and tracks, and of larger access streets or local collector roads where workshops, small businesses, and shops are located, and of market locations and public open spaces is an impleinenrnrion plan for that neighborhood, not a mobility plan. One can make and implement such a neighborhood development plan on the basis of the ideas and policies that are articulated in a mobility plan for the city. It will usually also include other urban infrastructure such as water supply, drainage etc. to avoid double work and even damage. A neighborhood development plan can, of course, also be prepared without having a mobility plan available, but then misses a lot of clarity about how plans for the neighborhood fit into the development of the district and city as a whole, and into the pedestrian and bicycle route networks of the city. The methods dealt with in the previous chapter (for making an action plan) can be used for planning the pedestrian and bicycle network of a neighborhood. However, for making a longer-term development plan it is important not to deal with the travel infrastructure in isolation. Chapter 13.19 gives an example of such integration. At the larger neighborhood level more elements should be added: locations of schools, health centers, and shops/small
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markets. Are more needed, and if so, where? What are the best locations for bus stops, and what are the best walking routes to/from bus stops. The pedestrian network density follows from the structure of the residential neighborhood: all houses must be accessible on foot. Pedestrian routes at district levei The core network of pedestrian routes in a city consists of the arterial pedestrian routes in each city district. In the different districts an efficient network of direct and safe arterial pedestrian routes is required to provide good pedestrian access to all important destinations in the district. A map of these “trip attractors” was already made as part of the tasks described in chapter 8.2. The hierarchy of the pedestrian routes does not necessarily correspond to that of the motor vehicle network. The most important arterial pedestrian routes in a district (those that carry the largest volumes of pedestrians) can in part follow roads that for MT only have an access or local collector function, and on certain links an arterial pedestrian route can follow an alignment of its own, where no motor traffic is allowed or possible. Arterial pedestrian routes that are not along the main urban motor vehicle corridors are often more attractive for pedestrians: safer, better air quality, and often more direct. When planning future improvements to the pedestrian route networks, this must be taken into account. Experience shows that routes that are for NMT only (pedestrians, cyclists, carts) are attractive locations for small businesses, street traders and kiosks. A high votume of NMT means a large number of potential customers, comparable to busy bus stops and bus stations. Creation or improvement of such NMT-only routes creates a stimulus for microbusiness activity in the district (see chapter 13.6). Pedestrian route network plan map, year T+10 The starting point for the preparation of a niap of the network of main pedestrian routes in a district that is wanted 10 years from now is a good map of existing roads and pedestrian routes. the “base map” (see chapter 7.1). Step 1 Identify missing links in the existing network, and to identify alignments that can be chosen to provide for the missing links. In most cases these will be N~T-oiilyroutes or shortcuts. Add those to &hebase map as dotted lines. This exercise will usually have been carried out earlier, as part of an immediate action planning effort (chapter 7.1), but most of the dotted links wilI in reality not have been constructed yet. The new map is the “base+” map.
E-~IJ “desire liiirs”
Estiiiirtte pedesrricirz sliare of the trips
Step 2 Make a map with the expected main future (T+IO) trip origins and destinations in the district (from a map of the expected/planIied land use in T+lO, and a map showing the expected locations of major trip attractors, existing and new (see chapter 7.1, section on map making). Draw lines between the most important trip origins and trip destinations that either have their origin or their destination (or both) in the district. Note that not all trips are on foot, a significant part will be by bus (in that case coining on foot from the nearest bus stops). some by bicycle or car. Step 3 Make an estimate of the pedestrian share in the trips along each desire-line on the map that has just been compiled. Only a rough estimate will be possible, the actual pedestrian volume will be related to the quality the pedestrian walkway infrastructure as finally provided. The pedestrian modal share can be based on the present modal share per distance class (mobility matrix, chapter 8.3). Generally: the shorter the distance between trip origin and destination, the higher the pedestrian share. Note that this step does not make an estimate of the number of pedestrians for each OiD pair, and that the origins and destinations used on the niap are not centroids of zones, but the actual locations of the main attractors (destinations) and the locations of the main origins (usually residential nei~hborhoodsor bus stops/stations).
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Step 4 a. On a new map (a copy of the “base+ map”), draw the main future pedestrian trip desire lines in the district, by drawing on it all desire lines from the map that was produced in step 2 with a pedestrian share of more than 113. Create rile draft T+lO b. Match these desire lines with the network that is already shown on the map, and in red, pe~estriannetwork mark lines that are not sufficiently covered by the network as already on the map. c. Identify possible alignments to cater for those extra route requirements. d. Compare the network after (c) with updated (T+10) maps that show: Test compatibility - the expected main motorized traffic corridors (existing plus expected new construction with other aspecls or road widening in the next 10 years); - other barriers (existing and expected, e.g. new building sites). The easiest way of doing that is to put the pedestrian route network map after step 4c on a transparency and put that on top of a niap showing the T+lO main MT road network and the barriers. This will show the conflict points between the two: traffic safety problems, road reserve, and right of way problems. e. Analyze future conflict points, and if possible adapt the pedestrian network in such a manner that the number of conflict points is redriced. If it is anticipated that an important NMT route along an existing road corridor will create serious problems in future (e.g. due to road widening), it may be possible to find a different parallel alignment for the NMT route, or to make a choice for a completely new road alignment to provide extra motorized traffic capacity, instead of increasing the number of lanes in an existing crowded corridor. Conflict points that cannot be avoided by adapting the network must be solved through appropriate design of the points concerned. Pedestrian trip desire lines
Do not create big detours to eliminate conflict points
Note that the possibiIities to eliminate conflict points that come from routes crossing big urban corridors are limited. because the detours that pedestrians are forced to make when using their main routes must be minimized, so as not to frustrate efficient pedestrian movement. A detour of 500 meters already takes an additional 7 minutes, and a few such detours will make the route concerned inefficient and unattractive. So the deviation from a straight line of a pedestrian route for crossing a main urban corridor should not be more than 250-300 meters. This means that the distance between two safe pedestrian crossing points along the urban corridors should not be more than 500-600 meters. For crossing points between pedestrian routes and collector roads or local collector roads. the deviation of the main pedestrian routes should in principle be almost nil: a crossing should be provided in the alignment of the pedestrian route. Note: in central parts of the district, pedestrian routes can, over a large part of their length, be “destinations”, i.e. have a high density of shops, small businesses, traders, etc. along them. It i s useful to indicate on the pedestrian network map which parts of the network these are, because it has important implications for the design of the walking space there: there has to be sufficient space for clients of the activities as well as for “transit” pedestrians. The network of main pedestrian routes that is shown on the map after step 4(e) is the draft “pedestrian network wanted ten years from now”. A last check must now be carried out on whether the recommended pedestrian T+10 network in the mobility plan should be this draft network or still needs to be adapted. This check is in two stages:
Test or2 user requirements
Step 5 Test the draft network against the “user” requirements: Safety, Attractiveness, Comfort (see chapter 6.3). Route directness has already been taken into account in the preceding steps. An important aspect of route attractiveness, safety, and comfort is that the entire trip from origin to destination must be enabled by the network. If the network does not connect the trip ends properly, and 6ne very unattractive link remains. the entire route is unattractive. The most unattractive or dangerous or uncomfortable network link maker the difference (this is also important for cycling). Step 6 Test against “provider” requirements (government): * Cost effectiveness. High demand: focus on the highest density traffic flows to maximize the utilization of the facilities. Reasonable costs: avoid route Iinks that demand high
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Government land use optimization policy
Prepare Jinal map
Verificationcfield)
Check road resenw
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
investment, unless a more detailed analysis shows that it has a positive benefiucost ratio (for example: bridges over large rivers). Note that the further cost-benefit analysis of the route infrastructure only needs to be carried out at the moment of preparing implementation plans, and mainly serves to decide properly on route design standard (e.g. pavement smoothness) rather than on route existence. Availability of sufficient public road reserves. Sufficient route network density. In case the distance between the main routes is significantly larger than the distance that is desirable from a land use optimizing point of view (i.e. 1 kin for main pedestrian routes and 2 km for main cycle routes), the municipal government can consider providing extra links, with the purpose of creating much better accessibility to these unserved areas, as a policy to enhance their development. NMT only “corridors” are a low cost way of doing that. In particular if urban cycling is possible in a city, the accessibility of large parts of the land in the urban area can be improved drastically in this manner. Step 7 Label individual main routes, define their starting point and end point, give each route a different color on the map, give it a name. The final result is the desired pedestrian network for the year T+lO. (Note that these are “planners’ routes”(see chapter 7.1).) Step 8 Verification (a): physically WALK all routes again with a number of people, as now shown on the map, in as much as this is possible (parts of the route may be missing at present), and write a brief route report. Use that report as a check on having overlooked important aspects that make the route as shown on the map less desirable, or unfeasible. Verification (b): discuss the proposed route network with a user platform of people from within the district that know the place well and discuss with them whether the network as now recommended is indeed the best possible network in their opinion. If not, reconsider. Step 9 Based on the check against road reserve availability (step 6), make a map showing for which parts of the routes there is no legally established road reserve, or an insufficient one (total road reserve width is too narrow to combine all functions that it should have). In all those cases, sufficient road reserve has to be legally established as soon as possible. Note: on the map with the pedestrian network it is not necessary to indicate the required width of the walkway. That is a detail that can be worked out later. Important is to secure the availability of a sufficient road reserve. Pedestrian routes at city level
Map: scale I : 25,00O/SO,OOO
For small and medium-sized cities (up to 200-350,000 inhabitants), the total area that must be covered is of the district size described above. For the large cities, the scale of the whole city (the whole urban area) is really different from that of a district. In such cities it is desirable to gradually reduce the need for the very long distance trips on foot, which in many African cities are common at this moment. Since affordability of other means of transport is in most cases the reason for walking, the highest potential to reduce long distance walking lies in making cycling possible. An increase in efficiency of bus services and a corresponding reduction in the cost of a bus ticket can of also help, as can a change in land use pattern that allows a more efficient location choice for either trip origins or trip destinations. However, even though encouraging very long distance walking trips is not an objective of the pedestrian route network, that network still needs to be well-connected and continuous throughout the entire urban area, The reason is that efficient walking between neighboring districts must be possible. As soon as that is possible for all neighboring districts, the pedestrian network in the entire city is by definition connected properly. Moreover, it should be realized that the “district” is a planners’ concept. District boundaries usually have little meaning to the people living in a city; for them the urban area is more or less a continuum, in which they need to travel. Someone living near to the boundary of one
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“district” may only need to walk for 1 or 1.5 km towards a job location in another district. The pedestrian route to make that possible should exist. The purpose of a map showing the main arterial pedestrian routes in an entire urban area is to check whether there are no missing connections is between neighboring districts. In practice, in large cities, a mobility plan for pedestrian and bicycle traffic will in most cases be prepared for one district, and not for the city as a whole. In that case, the pedestrian connections to all adjacent districts must be incorporated in the network design at the district level, and a separate map with a network for the whole city is not needed. If one wants to make the mobility plan for an entire large city, this is only possible for the pedestrian network, if network plans at district level are made first for all separate districts. A sensible overview of the main pedestrian routes in the city as a whole can only be given by combining the information given for the individual districts. A city-wide bicycle Note that the same is not true for the bicycle network. Due to the much higher bicycle route network map is a planning instrument speed, the bicycle network for the city as a whole is important.
A city-wide arterial pedestrian route network map only serves as n consistency check
Bicycle routes Getting stai-ted with
cycling
The formulation of the desired longer-term route networks for pedestrian traffic poses no fundamental problems, it is only a lot of work. In all African cities, the volume of pedestrian traffic is overwhelming, and the need, usefulness and feasibility of better walkway and walkway route networks beyond doubt. However, the same is not true of bicycle traffic. In virtually all large African cities cycling does not play a significant role, apart from niche markets such as petty traders that use bicycles. In some countries cycling is popular in medium-sized and small cities, in others cycling is rather unimportant there as well. There is a huge difference between planning a bicycle route network for a city where cycling is an established mode of transport with a significant modal share (say 10%or more of all trips), and bicycle planning for a city where cycling is marginal. How to start cycling in cities without a cycling culture
What kind of cycle route network?
In cities without an established cycling culture, the construction of a network of separated bicycle tracks has a high chance of resulting in failure. Opening of such a network does not mean that there will immediately be a high volume of cyclists using it. It takes time for travelers to see that a change in their modal choice would create significant benefits for them, and then to make the change in practice also takes considerable time - in particular for a change towards cycling, because that involves the decision to buy a bicycle. Having a certain length of separated bicycle network neither guarantees that cycling on those cycle tracks is safe at intersections or road crossings, nor that cycling outside those tracks is safe enough, or even possible at all. In practice, all trips will only be using the core bicycle network (separated tracks in this example) for part of the trip. The rest of the trip is in mixed traffic on other roads. If on those roads safe cycling is not possible, the availability of the separated cycle tracks of the core cycle network will be insufficient to enable a change in modal choice. If, after the construction and opening of a new piece of road infrastructure -in this case a separated bicycle track- this infrastructure remains unused by the group of road users that it is intended for, it will without doubt be taken over by other road users. Even if the target group of cyclists would be there in sufficient number, there would already be competition over who wins the new track in practice, which the cyclists in most cases could only win with extra support by enforcement against abuse of the track. If the cyclists are not there in the beginning, they will not be able to win the track back in future. It is for that reason recommended NOT to start with a network of cycle tracks in a city where cycling i s marginal. What then does “preparation of a map showing the desirable, network of bicycle routes 10 years from now” mean in practice in a city where now cycling is unimportant? The answer to that question can best be broken up in two questions: (1) what is the best area to plan a bicycle network for? and (2) what type of route network can best be aimed at.
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Strategic choice 1: First: what is the best area to plan a bicycle network for? For bicycle routes, the most in what area to start? important scale is that of a district and of a city as a whole. Bicycle traffic (with trip distances up to 15 km being feasible) potentially covers an urban scale similar to bus traffic and private motor vehicle traffic, with the exception of urban-suburban trips. Mediudsniall city: citywide Big city: selected districts
In medium-sized or small cities the answer to the question above is therefore easy: the city as a whole. But in big cities this is not the answer. In big cities the best thing to do is to start at district level, in the district where the cycling potential can be assumed to be biggest. This is probably a districts with: a low or low/middle income (for the lowest-income population, bicycle ownership will in most cases be too expensive), a high proportion of medium distance trips to work (3-8 km long). The trip to work is economically the most important, and now probably made by bus; here the cost savings potential of cycling is largest, a moderate motorized traffic density (i.e. not the CBD), and no significant gradients. Only after cycling has succeeded in becoming a significant mode of transport in one or more of such districts, will it make sense to start thinking about and planning for city-wide cycling (one observation: “district” should not be interpreted in the sense of administrative district boundaries; all important “adjacent” origins and destinations of trips in the 3-8 km range should be taken on board as much as possible).
Eying the wrong things to introduce cycling has a negative effect
From international experience it is clear that a realistic attempt to introduce cycling as a significant mode of transportation in a city cannot always follow the approach that is the easiest politically. High profile attempts to promote urban cycling -often linked to elections or efforts to attract funding for city development- are sometimes seen as politically attractive, cycling being perceived as a good ingredient to establish a poverty alleviation or environmental image. High profile then may go hand in hand with ambitious plans to build cycle track networks. If such top level attention for urban cycling can be translated into a realistic long-term approach to urban cycling (including a start with traffic calming and not with bicycfe tracks), it can have a positive effect. However a focus on high profile bicycle track investments can have a negative effect. In the worst case it creates a (predictable) failure, with the result that people start to believe that urban cycling in this particular city does not make sense after all (“we tried it, but it never worked”). More realistic bicycle policies may then not get a second a chance easily.
Secondly: what type of route network can best be aimed at? In a big city where no Strategic choice 2: ivlzat route network tc I significant cycling exists, one of the important reasons for lack of cycling will probably be the lack of traffic safety for cyclists. Or formulated differently: a complete lack of road aim at?
Safe lnixeri trurSfic routes
Missing links
space on the most important roads where a cyclist might ride safely. In such a situation the recommended manner to try to facilitate cycling is: Identify a network of possible cycle routes using existing roads, where cycling in mixed traffic could be made safe with appropriate traffic calming measures, and road capacity would not create an immediate problem. As far as that last aspect is concerned, it is highly improbable that the capacity of road sections would be a limitation to the possibility of mixed cycling. In practice the intersection capacity is always the limiting factor, or section delays created by stopped vehicles (accidents, (un)loading or right-turn plot access (left-turns in traffic driving on the right). Identify missing links in the network that would make cycling routes more direct, and investigate the possibilities of providing those missing links (shortcuts). In practice this will probably be by making pedestrian-only routes accessible for cyclists, probably requiring pavement improvements and a slightly wider track, but in such a manner that they remain inaccessible for motor vehicles. Investment in bicycle track facilities on such missing links has no risk of failure comparable to that involved in building major cycle tracks along busy urban roads. The missing links are usually relatively short, and will always be walking routes as well. Even if cycling does not increase quickly, the track will already be well-used by pedestrians and carts.
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~ e ~ g ~ i b u r access ~ ~ o o d At the neighborhood level, the accessibility by bicycle is properly provided for as soon as proper pedestrian access is guaranteed, because small numbers of bicycles can be mixed routesfor bicycles with pedestrian traffic on the smallest tracks. Important (main) bicycle routes can also pass are the walking through a neighborhood as part of the district and city network, and then also provide routes neighborhood access.
Improved cycle routes in cities with cycling
In cities where an established cycling culture exists, the requirements for bicycle network planning are quite different. From the SWOT analysis, the inventory of the existing bicycle rontes and their problems, and the Plan of User Needs, a fairly complete picture already exists of what bicycle traffic the network of bicycle routes should cater for 10 years from now.
Preparing a bicycle mute network inup
The same two aspects that are important in cities without cycling are of course also important in cities with significant cycling: (i) safe cycling in mixed traffic on most roads in the city, and (ii) provision of missing links in the bicycle network. These two elements are vital to keep cycling alive and attractive. In cycling cities, however, the most important challenge of the bicycle network planning is the establishinent of a core structure of independen~bicycle arterial routes (tracks] throughout the entire city, which are clearly recognizable as a special investment in improved urban cycling. This redefines existing urban cycling in a important manner: from a way of moving around that has somehow always been there, is taken for granted, and has to try to survive without support when the motorized traffic intensity goes up, into a mode of urban travel that can and must make an important contribution to create a more modern city, with a better mobility for all its inhabitants, costs less and has fewer negative impacts on the city environment . At this moment in time, such an investment in urban cycling infrastructure will in all cases mark a fundamen~lchange in urban transport policy. Such a change has been made in the last two decades in a large number of cities in Europe and in a few in Noi-th America, but not yet elsewhere in the world. As mentioned above, this change can only have a chance to succeed if there is already a significant cycling culture; it cannot be made “from zero”.
Table 8.11 Preparation of a future bicycle network map
srep
0 1
2 3 4
5 6
7
co,,re,,r Staning point: map of present main bicycle routes Identify missing links Draw the important fuNre OiD lines Indicate, by line thickness of OID lines, their cycling potential Match the lines with the existing roads. mark problem links in red Identify good alignments for the problem links, and routes in general Check draft network against conflict with motorized mftic and other barriers (natural, real estate. nilways) If possible. adapt the draft network to reduce conflict, but not at the expense of introduction of imponant detours. The maximum acceptable e x m detour of cyclists for a conflict point is 1 !an (maximum distance between crossings over long barriers: 1
8 9 10
Label the individual merial routes, give them a name, and give a brief description, including an overview of the improvements needed Verify the validity of the planning exercise (mainly desk work) with a complete field check of all entire routes List network portions where mad reserve d w s not legally exist or is not wide enough
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As long as one takes into account the aspects mentioned above, for “non cycling” and for “cycling” cities, the steps to make the map showing the desired network of bicycle routes are quite similar to the steps to make the 10-year development map for the pedestrian network. They are sumi~arizedagain briefly in table 8.11 above. Justification of the pedestrian and bicycle networks
At the end of this chapter in the mobility plan, it is important to give a brief narrative explanation of the “10-year development” network maps for walking and cycling routes. Careful argumentation is required as to why this is the desired option, and before finally accepting the plan, arguments should be shared with all important interest groups in the city. The desired function, use, and shape of the important links in the pedestrian and bicycle networks should be discussed. A clear vision on how the transport system can contribute to balanced multi-nodal land use development in the city that allows trip distances to remain affordable short, should also be articulated.
Reserve beizefifkost calculations for jusrification of investnzent proposals For route rzefivork just$cation, use indicators of lrunsport system ~ e ~ o r n i a n and c e cost
At the end of this paragraph of the mobility plan, it is useful to add a short section on the plan justification. It is recommended to cover two jus~ficationaspects: the policy aspect, in particular a list of the important narrative arguments that justify the proposed networks, and the economic aspect. The economic aspect can be dealt with by means of a brief benefitkost calculation, which can be prepared of the type used in chapter 13. However, it is not easy to do this for the entire network, because that is a combination of existing links, links that must be improved, and new links. At this stage of mobility planning, no investment proposal is available that covers all link improvements and new links. In practice, separate proposals for improvement packages in parts of the network will usually be processed one by one. It is better to limit the use of benefitkost calculations to concrete intervention packages. To appraise the justification of the proposal for the network as a whole, it is better to relate it to the choice between different transport system scenarios. Quantitative indicators for the impact of different choices can be calculated with the help of the performance and cost matrices of section 8.3. On the basis of those indicators the attractiveness of the scenario that includes the proposed pedestrian and bicycle networks can be compared to that of other scenarios, and that of the “do nothing” situation.
8.9 Choice of design standards An important reasons why urban traffic in most cities in Africa is inefficient and chaotic, is that many roads have deficient designs. Often, a good detailed design was never made at all, and many geometric design details were decided by the contractor on the job. In other cases the design was essentially that of a trunk road or a rural road. Even in cases where urban roads were specifically designed, they usually did not reflect the traffic composition of African cities, dominated completely by pedestrian movement and informal bus traffic. but rather reflected European, American, or Japanese design standards.
Lay down urban road design standards in the mobilityplan
~unicipalitiesusually have no specific role in the adoption of road design standards in a country. However, in most African countries specific urban road design recommendations do not exist. It is therefore to be recommended that individual municipalities themselves, prior to the start of specific road projects, make up their mind about what they, the city council, and the city administration consider the most appropriate designs for their roads. In part I11 of the guidelines, urban road design recommendations are dealt with in detail. It is recommended that in a mobility plan, the municipality articulates a precise choice of the design standards it will adopt. Inclusion of the corresponding detailed design drawings in the mobility plan and approving the mobility plan as an official council document can then guide those concerned in the later detailed design of city roads in making the proper designs choices.
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Standard for assessing exisring road desigris in the
There is another important role for urban road design recommendations: they provide a reference point for judging existing road designs. By comparing the existing situation with the recommended design for the same type of road, deficiencies in the current design (shape) of the road can be identified, e.g. the width of carriageway, intersection dimensions, crossing distances and facilities, etc. It is useful to have such a point of reference. This facilitates the process of diagnosing existing problems with road shape (design) in a systematic manner.
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The urban road design standard re~ommendationin chapter 15 mainly concerns the geometric design. However, another aspect is also important: the choice of constI~ction technology. These being public investments, there is a clear Iogic in basing the choice on the economic costs of construction, i.e. taking into account the economic shadow costs of foreign currency expenditure and of unskilled labor. Benefit/ cost catcuiations should also be based on economic costs, and not on the financial costs (= contract amounts) of the works (annex 15). In practice this in most cases means a preference for an employment- intensive construction technology and choice of materials such as concrete brick or slab pavements, concrete side restraints, kerbs, slopes, etc., or €or example water bound (slui-ry) macadam as a road base, and masonry drains.
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Chapter 9
Monitoring
Data collection and analysis The need for reliable informat ioiz
Sound rizorzitoriizg is also possible if one starts fivm scratch
One of the most important aspects of planning for the transport sector is the reliable monitoring of what is actually going on. Without reliable information about the numbers of trips that are made, their costs, the travel times involved, traffic volumes, traffic accidents, road pavement conditions, etc. it is almost impossible to develop sensible transport policies, or take good decisions about road maintenance, traffic management, or the rehabilitation of roads. Unfortunately, in most African countries reliable information about the transport sector is very limited. Often, reliable estimates of road network length and actual pavement conditions are only partially available, and the availability of other types of data is even more scattered, in most cases related to a project, which only covered a certain aspect, region or city, and time period. However, there is no reason to be too concerned about this usually weak starting point. Once the decision is taken to undertake a serious monitoring effort, it can be carried out without too many difficulties, and “lack of data” never has to be a reason why planning takes long, or decisions are postponed. This chapter does not provide a detailed treatment of how all the various aspect of transport and traffic can be measured. The methods can be found in standard transport planning and traffic engineering textbooks. The purpose of this chapter is to give a brief summary of some key aspects of monitoring urban travel, with an emphasis on pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Monitoring is not a very useful manner to identify problems. Problem identification can much better be done with e.g. SWOT methods (chapter 8.1). Monitoring usually comes after identification: quantifying how big a problem that was identified is in reality.
Purposes of inonitoriizg: - problem inveiztory - learning - docunzentiizg changes
Monitoring can broadly serve three quite different purposes. The first is to find out how big existing problems are and to identify interventions that can bring improvement, the second is to find out what the effects are of a certain intervention, and the third is to get an idea of how the transport system (or a certain aspect of it) develops over time. The first and second purpose relate to the current situation and short-term changes, the third purpose relates to longer-term changes. The immediate and short-term are in practice usually related to the identification and implementation of interventions. Part I1 of these guidelines deals with a large number of such interventions. The description of the interventions in most cases includes data that quantify the conditions before the intervention was implemented and show why the intervention was considered necessary, and also includes data that quantify the effects, and show to what extent the intervention indeed improved the situation. In practice, knowing a relatively limited number of factors is sufficient to select proper interventions. Useful details can of course be added, but the core factors - and how they can be measured - are the ones listed below (tables 9.1 and 9.2). Each of the measurement types are briefly dealt with in the annexes.
Moiiitoriiig shape: see chapter 7
One important aspect of monitoring has already been dealt with in chapter 7, monitoring the shape of the route networks: making precise road (route) infrastructure maps and an inventory of the physical conditions of the roads (or un-classified routes), such as pavement quality, drainage quality, etc. In this chapter, monitoring of the use of the road network is dealt with: the volume of travelers and by which modes of transport they travel, the speed of travel, etc.
Monitoring use: tlzis chapter
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9.1 Monitoring as an aid to improve existing roads
Table 9.1 Monitoring for problem inventory and for preparation, and evaluation of interventions fnr1or
10
be- memttred 6y:
traffic volume & composition
traffic counts
vehicle speed
spot speed measurement
average travel time
journey time measurement
traffic accidents and conflicts
police records. traffic conflict obsewalion
lraffic behavior
tmftic observation
Traffic volume and composition
A variable that is always important is the volume of the traffic, and the composition of the traffic. Most traditional traffic engineering textbooks describe and analyze the traffic mainly in terms of “passenger car units” (pcu), which is logical in a situation where the large majority of all travel on a road takes place in cars. However, in most African cities the passenger car is only of secondary importance as a carrier of the daily urban travel volume. Pedestrian movement and travel by public transport (now mainly “informal”, and using various types of vehicles) together carry the large majority of all trips, and in secondary cities two-wheelers are usually also much more important than cars, or even more important than buses. The pcu is thus not a useful measure for monitoring traffic volumes, road capacity, etc. in African cities. It is therefore recommended to always conduct traffic counts that: * count all separate modes of transport, including pedestrians, bicycles, carts, motorized two-wheelers, all types of motorized public transport (shared taxi, minibus, bus, etc.), light trucks, medium-sized trucks and heavy trucks, and passenger cars and pick-ups; in reporting mention each mode (vehicle category) separately (no conversion to pcu’s); * include an estimate of the average number of passengers using each vehicle type, and with that number estimate the total number of travelers per mode rather than only the total number of vehicles. This last aspect is particularly important to arrive at a proper description of movement by public transport, which always has much higher numbers of passengers per vehicle than any other mode of transport. Road capaciQ uti1i:utioiz estimates iiidicate improvenzeizr poteritid
Reliable traffic counts are a cornerstone of the description and analysis of road use. Obtaining reliable counts is in fact not easy (see annex 10). The traffic counts can be used to analyze the efficiency of the traffic flow by comparing the actual flows that have been measured on a specific road section or intersection with the maximum travel volume that that road, given its design (number of lanes, walkway width, etc.), could be expected to cany. A difficulty with this comparison is that reference values for optinially managed roads and intersections are almost always expressed in pcu’s and based on North American or European experience. However, the comparisons are still useful as a rough indication, and comparisons within the same city between roads/ intersections with more or less flow disturbance can of course also be made, and it is possible to evaluate whether over time the traffic volumes (number of passengers that are accommodated) on a road under saturated flow conditions (as occur in most African cities on the main roads during the peak hours) can be increased.
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In case the maximum capacity of a road (including its pedestrian traffic capacity) appears to be well below what could reasonably be expected from the demonstrated capacity of similar roads (or intersections) this indicates that there is a potential to improve the efficiency of the traffic flow, and by doing so increase the capacity. An important factor for increasing the efficiency of the traffic flow is the disciplined Inefficiency cairserl l ~ y traffic behavior of the road users. This in particular concerns giving right of way to other UdVerSe bChOViOr: road users in all cases where that will significantly reduce the delay experienced by the road - intersection lockirig - crossirig delays user that is given the right of way (car driver, pedestrian, bus driver, or cyclist), without creating a significant extra delay for the road user that gives priority. The classic example - trafic accidents of this is intersection locking, but a similar case is “minor” streams crossing “major” streams. Traffic accidents are also important in this respect. They are often caused by lack of driver discipline and not yielding to other road users (whether they had the right of way according to the traffic rules or not). In many cities, the worst traffic delays are in fact created by accidents. From international experience it becomes now clear that in urban areas so-called trafic caliizing is a very effective method of enforcing better driver discipline, in particular discipline not to drive faster than the speed limit, slowing down at crucial points such as intersections and important NMT crossings, and not to overtake via the lane of the opposing traffic. Part I1 of the guidelines gives a number of traffic calming examples. Capacity iricreuse: rraflc management and traffic cf11~11ir1g
To measure eficieizcy increase: delay tiieasui-eellietits
For measuring the capacity increase of the road network (or a specific intersection), traffic volume measurements can be used, but they must be used with care, in view of the substantial variations that they show in most cases. To verify the capacity increase effect of interventions, two additional measurements are more direct, and can be carried out without too much difficulty shortly before and after an intervention: traffic delay measurement and measurement of the traffic speedkaffic volume relation (see annex 14).
Measure the relative irnportance of different modes of trarzsport
Where interventions will be implemented to improve the efficiency of the traffic flow for a particular (or several) mode(s) of transport, the traffic volume should be counted before implementation. The main reason for doing so is to document the relative importance of the different modes of transport that use the intervention spot, in terms of the total numbers of travelers rather than vehicle numbers concerned. Drawing conclusions about intervention impacts based on traffic counts at the spot is not easy. In practice it will not always be possible to carry out a traffic count in both wet and dry season conditions before the implementation. In that case it is extra important to make beforehfter comparisons only between counts that were held under similar weather conditions (best in the same month of the year). Traffic volumes at one particular point can fluctuate considerably, so a befordafter count can show large variations that may not be the effect of the intervention, but have another reason (such as other roads being temporarily closed for reconstruction, having had their pavement improved, being increasingly jammed, or shortcut NMT routes that have been blocked by fences or buildings). In practice it is often difficult to identify such other changes, so spot changes in traffic flows must be interpreted with care.
Systematic “11-poitit” traffic coiints: a tool f o r long-term plaririing
Modal split estirtiate from trafjc counts is not reliable
To get a good insight into the development of the traffic situation in a city, it is recommended to select a fixed number of strategically chosen points in the network (say 10 in a medium city and up to 50 in a big city), and to count the traffic at those points systematically, twice per year (wet and dry season) for one full week. A time series of these counts will (already after three years) become increasingly valuable as a source of information to support clever urban transport policies. The counting points should be chosen in such a manner that they capture the main flows expressed in numbers of people that move. This means that some of the counting points should be on important “NMT-only” routes. It is not possible to estimate the overall modal share of the different modes of transport in a city by means of traffic counts on a number of roads. The counts only show the modal shares on that road. The differences in modal share between all road sections in a city are so large, that sampling representative road sections for counting the traffic is not practically
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possible. The only way to get reliable overall modal split estimates is from household surveys, combined with an estimate of business trips and freight traffic. counting procedures are briefly reviewed in annex 10. Traflc c o ~ ~ ~ ~ i ~Traffic g Vehicle speed
The spot speed of vehicles is an important indicator of how the road is used at that spot by the various categories of road users. The spot speed of the motor vehicles to a large extent determines the traffic safety situation at the spot concerned. Its measurement is briefly reviewed in annex 11. Average travel time
The average travel time of the various modes of transport is probably the most important performance aspect for the user, togethcr with the cost. It can only be measured in a reliable way by making a large enough number of characteristic trips in the city, from their origin to their destination, to allow an estimate of the average travel time and the variation in travel time between different days and between different times of the day, which has an error margin of less than 20%. Usually, 50 observation per specific trip will be enough (if there are no large random variations between different days). Estimating average door-to-door travel times in a reliable manner from spot speeds measurements is impossible. Estimating average door-to-door travel times from the average speed of the different components of mul~~-modal trips is possible (usually: walk-bus"walk~,but has to include the waiting times involved in changing from one mode to the other, or from one bus to another. It also requires an estimate of the average length of the access and the egress trip on foot, not from interviewing about access and egress times (answers are ajways unreliable), but from actual measurement. An estimate for one mode based on average in-vehicle speeds (or walking or cycling speeds) in different parts of the network is also unreliable, and usually overestimates the real door-to-door speed (i.e. under-estimates the travel time), because the waiting times are more important than the highest vehicle speeds, and tend to be inaccurately represented in average in-vehicle speeds on various types of road. The reverse is possible of course: once reliable door-to door speed estimates have been made, estimates of the different average speeds in different parts of the network can be made that are consistent with the total average speed. The door-to-door speeds of travel in most urban areas are IOW,and the speed differencc between the different modes of transport are usually quite small, much smaller than the difference in "operating" speed or maximum speed that the vehicle can achieve would suggest. Table 9.2 gives some typical values, averaged over a variety of cities.
'Igble 9.2 mica1nrban door-tc-door travel speeds M r walking cycling in mixed traffic mopedscooter private car minibus stage bus stage bus on bus lane nework urban light rail
3-5 10-12 15-20
15 10-12 8
I2 12
From: Replogle (19921, de Langen (1993), and data from Nairobi and DSM (1998).
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Traffic accidents and conflicts
Accuracy of accidenr data
As mentioned in many places in the guidelines, urban traffic accidents are important indicators of the quality of the transport system, and have a big impact on its cost. Directly, because of the cost caused by the accidents, and indirectly by making it difficult or impossible to use the lowest-cost and most efficient mode of urban travel, the bicycle. One problem exists with all traffic accident recording systems that the traffic police operates: that of missing records. Usually the traffic police presence is low in large parts of the city, and alarming them after an accident is not easy. Moreover, sometimes the person that caused the accident disappears quickly before the police or the victim can get him, in particular in case of an accident between a motor vehicle and a pedestrian. It is also common for injury accidents without serious damage to the vehicle (typical in case of vehicles hitting pedestrians) that a guilty driver reaches a settlement with the victim (paying himher) which includes not to involve the police. The coverage in the police records is usually quite high in case of serious vehicle damage, and in particular in the case of vehicle-vehicle collisions, because the police record is a requirement of the insurance companies. In the case of a fatal accident, it is in general recorded, even if only the victim i s found, but usually the police records significantly underestimate the number of non-fatal accidents.
Accidents as an indicator to measure the ejject of ~nre~entio~is
Even if accident records are more or less reliable, it is not so easy to use them as an indicator for the effects of interventions. The reason is that in many places where interventions are implemented, there have been no or at most one or two accidents recorded in the recent past. So if in the year after the inteNention there is also no accident at the spot, it cannot be said whether there has been a statistically significant reduction of the number of accidents. Even with, for example, 400 persons killed by the traffic per year in a city such as Dares Salaam, there are only a few notorious “killer roads” where the number of accidents has been so high that a statistical analysis of changes in accident numbers is possible, and even then it is more relevant for the road as a whole (say over a length of 2 km) than for one individual spot along the road. It is therefore recommended to implement traffic calming interventions, that aim at restoring traffic safety systematically over at least a longer road portion and to analyze the impact on accidents for that entire portion rather than per individual point.
Pufic conflicts as an indicator
To analyze changes in traffic behavior and general traffic safety conditions at a certain spot, more statistically relevant information can be obtained by not measuring accidents, but by measuring so-called traffic conflicts. These are defined as situations in which there would have been an accident had not one of the parties involved at the last moment avoided it (for exainple by changing direction or braking strongly). On many intersections twenty or more of such “near accidents” can be found during a day. So if after an intervention this number goes down to e.g. ten, it is easier to say something relevant about the reduction in conflict numbers and their types.
Points ~ ~ i ~ i conflicts are not by dejiiiitiori the points were ninny people are killed by the trafic
There ~ y is an important distinction between traffic conflicts and accidents, in particular the fatal ones. Most points with many traffic conflicts are known as dangerous to the people that use them every day, and they are therefore cautious. Many fatal accident turn out to happen on places where the people involved in the accident did not consider the situation dangerous. A high number of traffic conflicts at a certain point does not automatically mean a high number of accidents, and the reverse is also not automaticalfy true: a small nuniber of conflicts does not directly mean a low accident risk. However, if a low number of conflicts occurs in combination with low vehicle speeds, this, according to the experience of the pilot projects, reduces the risk of serious accidents significantly.
Accident analysis and Annex 12 briefly reviews traffic accident analysis and traffic conflict m e a s ~ e m e n tand conflict i~Ieasureme~i~analysis, referring to available methods.
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Traffic behavior
Observations of traffic behavior are very important as a method to understand the reason why certain problems occur (e.g. the locking of a specific intersection, or the typical road shoulder chaos on many African ui-ban roads). It is in most cases not easy, and also not useful to “reduce” the traffic behavior observations to quantitative indicators. Unambi,ouous measurements as well as interpretation are often dependent on the situation, so such indicators can be developed for special research purposes, but are not easy to use in a standard manner. Visital expert obsei~iat~~i7 af flze spot
The recommended approach to traffic behavior observation consists of three elements: First: sitting down at the spot and observing what goes on for one or two hours, in different conditions. The most dangerous conditions often occur in the late afternoon, when it starts becoming a bit dark and the visibility suddenly deteriorates. Observations around that tinie are important. The same is true for the very early morning conditions, when often large numbers of pedestrians use the roads. Things to look at are the apparent stress of the road users. shown through things such as running across rather than walking across, hooting, shouting, letting other vehicles or pedestrians pass or pushing through, sudden maneuvers onioff road shoutders, overtaking, large speed differences between different vehicles, vehicle with/without lights (in the early evening), vehicle speed in corners, etc. Based on the observations a narrative summary can be written that suininarizes the main findings. The personal observations can be complemented by interviewing a number of people around the spot, asking them for their opinion about the traffic situation. Usually an open interview is the best method. A difficulty with this obsei-vation method is that it requires considerable experience to do it properly. An inexperienced observer wilt come back with a meager report, so it is not useful to delegate this task to junior empfoyees (unlike for example traffic count, which can be carried out by relatively unskilled staff, as long as instructed properly). A good road /traffic engineer should make it a matter of personal pride to become a good observer.
P~7~fogl*up~?~
Second: taking photographs. Good photographs that tell a story about the traffic situation at a certain point are not so easy to make, but one can of course take ten photographs and only use the best three. While making photographs, it i s iinportant to have a clear idea of what one wants to show on the photograph. if for instance that is the pavement quality, or the proximity of buildings, or aspects that are important for the geonietric design, one will usually wait for a moment with little or no traffic. If the purpose of the photo is to show a certain aspect of trafiic behavior. it is only possible to make a proper one if one knows what is wanted on the photo. For example, if road crossing is very difficult and many people run across, one has to wait for a moment that clearly shows this, then take the photo. This is also true for e.g. intersection locking, lack of lane discipline, dangerous stopping nianeuvers of minibuses on road shoulders or dangerous overtaking. In the interpretation of the photographs, one has to be aware that they never show the “avei-age”traffic situation, but are always an example of a particular aspect, and say littfe about how often such situations occur. Third: a video. A video film also requires professional skill to shoot properly, but is a bit easier to interpret, because it shows the traffic situation during a certain period (say shots of 1-2 minutes). This allows easier interpretation of what one sees, and gives a better “average” picture. Videos can be powerful instruments to get a cewain message across, for instance about the real composition of the traffic (numbers of pedestrians , nunibers of bus passengers, number of car passengers) or e.g. about traffic safety aspects. Their use is usually restricted to workshops and meetings, to supplement the information that is made available in the form of e.g. written reports. Intervention effects: design of a monitoring plan
Once a certain type of intervention has been implemented many times, and has been found to always have the desired effect, the need for detailed monitoring of each new intervention
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reduces to a limited number of standard checks, which can be made part of the intervention completion tests. However, until that time, it is important to monitor the effects of interventions carefully. The recommended monitoring plan has the following steps:
Table 9 3 Preparation of a monitoring plan swp timing
hefore
ncriwir?
articulate intervention objectives
before
select indicators to measure achievement of objectives
beforc hefore
articulate intervention targets (desired indicator values) measure indicators heforc intervention (and documentation by means of photographs)
after I month
measure indicators after intervention (and documentation by means of photographs)
after 6 months measure indicators after intervention (and documentation by means of photographs) compare measurement data before and after write report. including a description of simultaneous other changes in the road network or other factors that influenced Ihc intervention spot
Bef o d a f t e r with/witliout
The standard options for testing the effects of certain new interventions in the road network are: beforehfter and with/without comparisons. For individual interventions, beforehfter i s usually the easiest comparison, and also the one that is easiest to interpret. However, the differences that are found cannot always be explained as statisticdly “proven” effects of the intervention, because unrelated changes in the traffic flows can be mixed in, In general: the more directly an indicator is influenced by an intervention, the easier to interpret changes in its value as the effect of the intervention, for example: the speed of motor vehicles at a spot where a raised zebra is constructed. If speed measurements show that before the average speed was 40 kn/hr, and the V(S5S) was 55 km/hr, and that afterwards the average speed is 14 km/hr and V(SS%) is 20 kmhr, there is no difficulty in drawing a conclusion, and the statistical significance of the difference beforeiafter can be calculated without problem. But if the number of accidents at that spot was one in the year before and zero in the year after, it cannot so easily be concluded that the reduction in accidents due to the intervention was 100%. The numbers invoIved are too small, and a package of interventions should be analyzed rather than a single one. For individual interventions, it is recommended to limit the indicators to those that relate directly to the intervention at that spot (e.g. spot speeds of vehicles, waiting times, travel volumes and infrastructure capacity (maximum number of travelers per hour at the spot, per mode). For packages of interventions, average travel speeds for a certain part of the trip, and accidents should be added, which can only be judged in case of a tangible number of interventions that reinforce each other. It is also attractive to snake a with/without comparison for those last indicators (accidents, average door-to-door speeds), if possible. That means that in the inonitoring plan one specifies two comparable areas in the city with similar amounts and types of traffic accidents in the past, one of them the area where interventions are implemented and the other an area where nothing is done. After the implementation of the interventions, the accidents in both areas (with and without interventions) are then compared again, to see whether the accidents in the area with the interventions are now significantly less than in the “without” control area. The same can be
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done for door-to-door travel times, taking a number of routes with significant improvements and a number of routes without any iniprovements. In the pilot projects no wit~without comparisons have been made, because the scale of intervention was to small to do so (no area-wide improvements could be tested, only localized ones).
hf easiiring/recording Reporting
It is important to maintain precise records of the actual measurements that were carried out, and not just file reports made on the basis of the actual measurements, that may only mention certain average values. This enables additional analysis at a later stage, if desired. It is recommended to integrate reporting of intervention effects into complete intervention reports, which also include qualitative information such as a narrative explanation of the findings, pictures, newspaper articles, user opinions(interviews). 9.2 Monito~ngas an aid to gong-term transport policy preparation
Table 9.4 Monitoring for mobility planning and transport policy preparation he memured by:
factor
10
lravel volume per uanspan mode
household survey
vehicle ownership
household survey
lrip making behavior
household survey
travel COSLC
invenloly of componenl- cosis and fares
Long-term translmrt policy preparation is not a substitute for addressing urgent needs
Table 9.4 shows four factors that should be quantified in order to have sufficient information as a basis for preparing and deciding on urban transport policies. The data are not enough to make a good plan. To be effective they need a context where (a) a clear initiative exists to develop and implement good immediate and longer-term urban transport policies, (b) the organizational and user participation framework for doing so has been, or is being, established, (c) a debate on policy options and scenarios takes place, (d) sufficient quantitative information about the physical shape of the urban travel infrastructure is also available or being made available (see chapter 7.1), and (e) an action plan exists to address urgent urban mobility and urban road infrastructure problems. This list of the “requirements” for making it worth the effort to establish a database that enables the investigation of sound longer-term transport policy choices is, adInittedly, long. The reason for adding it here is the lesson, learned in the SSATP pilot projects, that if the context sketched above does not exist within the top administrative and political levels of the city or country involved, the chance that the information can contribute to a positive development of the transport system is small.
Indepeizdent morzitoring of the transport systent status can help to (a) expose policy failure, and (b) stimulate s o u n ~ i ~ t upolicies re
However, even if the conditions mentioned here are not fulfilled, it is still useful to document the indicators of table 9.4, because this will in future make it possible to compare the situation then with that in the past, say 5 or 10 years ago to see what changes are taking place (now the data to do so are in most cities lacking!). If at this moment the urban governance situation makes it impossible to implement sound urban transport policies, it would be highly positive if independent professional circles in the transport sector (e.g. within the universities) would, as a study object and for later use, document the indicators properly, and conserve the i n f o ~ a t i o nfor later use. This will be highly valuable. One of the big problems of urban transport planning in most African cities is that there is no reliable “memory” -often not even through good narrative documents, let alone measured data. Without such a memory, it is much more difficult to make forecasts and develop successful urban transport policies.
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Travel volume per transport mode The most important dimensions of the urban transport system are the number of trips, the trip origins and destinations (distances), the modes of transport used for the trips and the costs involved (see chapter 8.3). The best method to estimate these is to conduct a household travel survey (annex 9). A few general remarks are made below. * The required size OS a survey depends on the methods that are chosen to analyze the data. Sample size If a census-type measurement of the trip patterns is the target, which gives a good idea about the trips coming out and going to each neighborhood (small zone) in the urban area, the survey size should be 2 1% (large city, high population density) to 2% (medium city) of the population. For example, for a city of 1 million this means -elO,OOO respondents. However, if the purpose of the survey is not to obtain a statistically reliable estimate of trip origins and destinations, but only to get a reliable estimate of the number of trips made (mobility), trip distances, modes of transport, trip purposes, etc. (i.e. leaving the spatial (“traffic zone”) dimension out), substantially smaller sample sizes are sufficient (1,000-3,000, depending on the level of detail wanted). By using so-called disaggregate statistical methods to estimate parameters of trip making models, it is possible to also make estimates of trip origins and destinations from such smaller surveys, provided that a minimum of socio-economic data of the popula~ionin different neighborhoods of the city is available population number, income indication, unemployment 5% indication). These methods can be Sound in transport planning textbooks. Random sampling of respondents (households) turns out to be difficult in African cities. Random sampling is Yet, it is the cornerstone of survey reliability. The main problems are: the total population cfijj5cultin African per area of a city is often not known; sampling by house address is impossible; interview cities teams are often afraid of going deep into poor unplanned neighborhoods that they have never been to before; non-response may relate to literacy and income - unless good Test proper precautions are taken; answers may be misleading if questions were not well understood understanding of by the respondents or the interviewer. All the above mentioned problems can be questions carefully overcome by careful management of the conduct of a household travel survey. Careful testing of the questions and the surveying technique, and good training of the interviewers is required. It is an inexpensive technique, because it mainly requires labor and thinking. In Afi-ica: low-cost * During the data analysis. the q u e s t i o ~ n ~ r emust s be checked carefully for errors in coding, missing answers, clearly m j s ~ n t e ~ r e t equestions, d or entirely useless forms. Careful error Next, the representativeness of the sample for the entire population must be checked by checking two criteria: the male/female balance (usually around 50i50;in cities with many migrant workers: a higher % of males), and the age distribution. A few other checks against nonWeightfactors to representativeness of the sample should also be made. In case of a clear under- or overcorrect for over- or representation of certain groups in the sample, weight factors must be applied for under- representation correction. Vehicle ownership The best way to obtain an estimate of vehicle ownership is also by means of a household survey. Vehicle registration data are usually not reliable at city level. Many motor vehicles may be used outside the capital city where they are registered, and registration of e.g. bicycles and carts, if it exists, will be related to municipal taxes, so could be far from complete. Question on vehicle ownership are included in the questionnaire that is added as an example in annex 9. Trip making behavior
For a more detailed understanding of the current mobility in a city, suppressed mobility, and differences in mobility between different groups in the population, cross-tabulation of various variable measured in a household survey is a convenient method. Variables for this type of analysis are included in the HH survey in annex 9.
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Travel costs A good estimate of the cost of urban travel by each different mode of transport is of vital importance to arrive at a good understanding of the urban travel situation in African cities, and its chances to develop towards providing better mobility for the city inhabitants, which requires less of their income than it currently does. A simple overview of the unit costs per passenger km of the various modes of urban transport is not easy to give, since there are significant differences between countries, depending on e.g. the type and age of vehicles used, utilization levels, infrastructure quality, driving behavior, and taxes or subsidies (the last two affecting private financial costs to users, but not national economic costs). However, the differences between countries in unit cost of transport are much lower than the differences in per capita incomes of the same countries. It is therefore sensible to give a rough overview, as in the table below.
Tahle 9.5 Typical average unit cos(s of transport in SSA
US% c e m per ~ m s e n p r k m Walking Cycling in mixed traff~c Mopedlscoorer
0.I
-
0.4 0.9 4 - 8 15 - 3 0 3 - 4
Private car
Mini bus Large bus
2.5
Note: the collective modes are calculated for the most basic comfort level, operated in situations of a high load factor. From: Replogle (1992), de Langen (1993).
Most motor vehicle cost elements (vehicle, spares, fuel) have similar prices world-wide (excluding taxes) and have to be paid in foreign currency. Therefore, the relative costs of travel by motor vehicle as a percentage of income is high in poor countries, even if that is in overcrowded buses. In this respect the transport sector is different from sectors where the local labor costs and local inputs cost component is so important that their relative costs are comparable in countries with very different income levels. In the transport sector, absolute costs -in foreign currency equivalents- are fairly comparable internationally. Therefore, urban transport systems in developing cities cannot be analogous to those in Europe, North America or Japan, the costs involved being too high relative to available income.
Unit costperpasskm in DSM (Tanzania) (as an example)
As an example of the actual cost in one particular city, table 9.6 shows the estimated average unit costs of transport of the four main modes of transport in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in 1996. It gives separate figures for the direct financial costs and the time costs.
Table 9.6 Financial cost of urban transport in Dares Salaam (1996) (I US$=600 Tsh) walk
1
C?Ck
bus
cn,
dircct cos1 (Tshlpassenprkm) time costs
6 6
20
I50
18
5
4
dirccl cost +time costs
19
12
25
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CHAPTER 9
MONITORKNG
Value of rinze
Assuming 10 workable hours per day, 50% of all adults being able to use travel time savings productively, and a minimum daily wage of Tsh 1,200 (1996, 2 USS), the estimated value of travel time is 60 Tsh per hour (10 US$ cent). The cost estimate for bus trips is based on the fare (Tsh 100 for an average 5 km trip), so it includes the operator profit. The costs of the infrastructure and of external effects such as accidents are not included in these estimates. The table shows that cycling has the best performance/cost ratio of any urban transport option. Note that taking into account travel time, the cost of walking is not all that low. It costs significantly more than cycling, and almost as much as bus transport. Travel by private car is financially out of reach of all but a small percentage of the population of Rar es Salaam ~aroiInd6%).
Use financial costs or economic cosis
The method of calculating the unit costs per mode of transport can be chosen depending on the purpose of the analysis: financial or economic analysis. For financial analysis the current inarket prices must be used, corrected for yearly inflation in case of monitoring the development of the transport system over time. For economic analysis the usual corrections to financial costs should be made to estimate the economic cost, most importantly: elimination of transfer payments (subsidies and taxes), the use of shadow costs for foreign currency costs and for labor costs, and inclusion of indirect costs that the transport system is not financially charged for (mainly costs of accidents and environmental costs).
as required
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9.3 Forecasting and monitoring
Tradiiioizul travel clernarid forecusts can be misleudiag:
Forecasting the future travel demand in cities in Africa is confronted with three important factors that make it difficult to use a travel demand forecast as the basis for road infrastructure construction requirements, also for the pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure requirements.
The first factor is that the choices that are made for the extension of the main road corridor network in the city shape the land use development. Accessibility is one of the most crucial and the road design sfroizgly i i ~ ~ ~ e ifile z c e factors that determine where the cities grow, and how land uses change. Good accessibility is scarce, so its price is high. This tends to trigger changes in land use whereby gradually demand for ~raveE low-income populations and businesses are expelled from locations with the highest accessibility, i.e. CBD’s, urban corridors and urban ring roads, or maintain themselves through very high residential and activity densities. How scarce good accessibility is has an important cffect on this process. Therefore, urban corridors that provide good continuous access along their entire length, with service roads, have a different impact compared to urban highways with nodal access points (the concept now prevailing in car dominated cities). The trajectories chosen for new roads have a strong impact on the growth pattern of the city: new activities (trip origins and destinations) are attracted to where the roads are built. The design of the roads also has a strong impact: urban mixed activity road designs will enhance mixed land use and short trip distances, urban highway designs will enhance segregated land use and long trip distances.
1: the road network
2: the road design clzoices sirongly iiiflucizce ilie iizodalsplit development
The second factor is that the design of the roads as well as the network design have a strong impact on rhe modal choice. The more proper walkways are lacking, and the network of walking routes is faced with impassable barriers that force overly long detours, the more trips will either have to be by bus, or will not be made at all (suppressed demand). If safe cycling is not possible, the modal share of cycling will be minimal, but there are also cities where cycling is safe, and the modal split of cycling is 20% or more. Both aspects (provision of good walkways and safe cycling) to a large extent depend on the roads that are provided. So one cannot derive the package of roads that is “demanded” from an assumed independent travel demand that can be forecasted on the basis of simple assumptions of population growth and per capita incomes: the roads that are built to a large extent determine what the demand for travel by different modes of transport will be.
3: cat; moped, bicyclc ownership and suppressed demaiid
The third factor is the combination of income level, vehicle ownership and suppressed demand. There is a strong relation between income level and vehicle ownership. In all African cities many people have a strong desire to buy a car as soon as they can afford to
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
do so. In most cities this cannot be expected to have a strong effect on the total modal split in the near future, because of the current and expected economic conditions. However, it can have an important impact on congestion levels. The total length of road in most African cities is small compared to the total population. Even a small increase in the percentage of car owners in a multi- million city can increase the car density per km of road so much that movement of all traffic becomes inefficient. Therefore, the growth of the road space occupied by one mode (private car), which itself only serves a small market segment, has a big effect on travel in all other modes: their travel time, travel costs and traffic safety. The mobility constraints that are thus created already lead to a significant amount of suppressed demand in many African cities now. As an example, in one of the pilot towns it was found than persons with a personal vehicle (car or bicycle) make 60% more trips per day that persons that can only walk or use public transport. There was no difference in the number of trips made per day between those with a bicycle and those with a car. Total effective travel demand thus depends critically on the development of vehicle ownership, whereby the provision of road infrastructure plays an important role. The provision of safe bicycle infrastructure could lead to a strong increase in the number of trips made per person -if enough persons can afford a bicycle. The combination of more car ownership and increasing congestion could lead to lower public transport efficiency, and thus higher costs and more suppressed trips. Such complicated relationships make it impossible to forecast travel demand independent from the transport policies and the investments in the road network that are chosen. Transport policies cannot be based on travel demand forecasts, the policies determine the effective travel demand developments, for example through the taxes that apply to the different modes of transport -import tax, license cost, fuel tax.
Motorized twowheelers
Another uncertain vehicle ownership factor that influences travel demand strongly is that of motorized two-wheelers (moped, light motorcycle, scooter). In different African countries, motorized two-wheelers have a very different market share. In east and southern Africa it is very small, in West Africa it is quite high in certain cities. The example of the development of motorized two-wheelers in south Asia shows that it can have a strong influence on the urban transport system, as soon as middle income groups reach a level of income where they can afford a motorized two-wheeler. Motorized two-wheelers also have a strong negative effect on traffic safety, for motorized two-wheeler users themeselves and for cyclists in particular.
For good longer-temi transport policies, annual monitorirtg is the best basis, not forecasting
In view of the three factors'mentioned above, it is impossible to make a reliable forecast of the development of the transport system of an African city without sufficient knowledge of the annual trends in mobility, trip distances, vehicle ownership, modal choice and costs of transport, and the way in which these are interdependent and relate to the road network provision and management. This means that for African cites the careful annual monitoring of the key dimensions of the transport system (see chapter 6) is much more important for deriving good transport policies and good road investment plans than forecasting studies. Monitoring after a few years enables to analysis of the relationships between the changes as monitored and underlying factors and provides a sensible basis for transport policy choices.
Chapter 10
Appraisal
Plan appraisal is a step in the project cycle that comes before decisions are taken about the implementation of the investment proposals or policy recommendations in the plan. Appraisal methods can be found in general textbooks. This chapter discusses briefly how plan appraisal functions in relation to the planning methods in the preceding chapters. Annex 15 contains a simple benefitkost calculation protocol for the estimation of intervention B/C ratios. Appraisal is quality control
External appraisal, preceding decision making Internal appraisal at regular intervals Appraisal includes: - technical
- institutional
- implementation - financiaUeconomic
Appraisal concepts as quality control inechanisrn during planning
Appraisal, as all quality control methods, has two aspects that should be recognized as being different, and important. The first aspect is that of who carries out the appraisal and at what moment, the second aspect that of the selection of the most useful appraisal methods. By defining appraisal as a quality control method, it automatically also becomes part of the work during the project identification, preparation and formulation phases. However, that does not reduce the importance of appraisal as a separate step in the project cycle. The two applications of appraisal, during the planning process and as independent “third party” advice preceding decision making, essentially, use the same methods. The difference between them lies in who appraises and when. The independent third party appraisal is at the end, and must be conducted by a small team of experts without previous involvement and without personal stakes in the outcome of the decision that is taken. Appraisal during the planning process is “internal” and at regular intervals during the process. Appraisal deals with technical aspects (is the recommended road pavement construction sound? Is the geometric design of an intersection sound? Is the integration of the road network alignment with the storm water drainage of the area sound? etc.); with institutional aspects (Is the road maintenance organization in practice capable of delivering the required amount of maintenance? Can municipal real estate development levies for the financing o f access roads be collected in practice? Can a well functioning user-platform be established, and will it be respected in its role by politicians? etc.); with implementation aspects (Are the arrangements for contracting, supervision and financial control sound?); and with financiaVeconomic aspects (Are the expected benefits higher than the cost? How are the benefits distributed over different groups and how are the costs distributed? Are there significant negative indirect effects? etc.). The technical, institutional and implementation aspects of appraisal have implicitly been dealt with in other parts of the guidelines, and will not been commented on in this chapter. The financial and economic appraisal is discussed briefly below. In the planning methods described in the previous chapters, the emphasis has systematically been on using three mechanisms to direct the planning process in a realistic and implementable direction: 1. careful definition of the objectives of an intervention or policy (purpose, “what”), of the expected benefits (the reasons “why”), of the indicators that can be used to assess success or the lack of success in realizing the objectives, of the targets (indicator values that should be reached), and of the specification (“how”). 2. a strong focus on empirical verification: detailed field inventory of routes, monitoring of the initial problems and of the effects of interventions. In other words: a strong focus on the entire process being a learning process, with a memory, and the ability to learn from successes as well as from failures. 3. frequent linking between transport-technical analysis and transport user needs and preferences, and permanent cooperation with a user platform. These three mechanisms reflect a strategy towards quality control.
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Wlio appraises wkerz.~ First of all, who appraises the value of what is being done, and at what moment? The 1-ecommendedapproach is to include appraisal as part of the planning process, and not leave it as something that only has to be done at the end, externally. To get a good internal appraisal, it is important that the team that is carrying out the planning process is composed of people with diverse backgrounds and experience, both within the professional group involved (not only engineers and planners, but social scientists as well, and these preferably in a management position) and by cooperating closely with a group of “outsiders” that represent the views of the users of the transport system. The aim is to have frequent “interim” assessments of the progress made, which involve these outsiders that have a position independent of the municipal government (/consultants) staff. Such independence i s a vital aspect of quality control: quality control can only function well if there are sufficient checks and balances between independent parties. The larger the number of people involved and the more open the process, the less vulnerable it is to one-sided views, or errors of judgement of one or a few persons, or to manipulation.
Secondly, with respect to the appraisal methods, the recommended approach is a strong emphasis on quantification, measurement, and narrative documentation of non-quantifiable aspects (see e.g. 9.1., section on design of a monitoring plan). A high importance is attached to nieasurable indicators and analysis of the indicator values that are measured. This choice of working method implies that the process of appraisal is embedded in the planning process, and that frequent preliminary checks can be carried out, and have to be carried out as an internal project management tool. Appraisal is not only a final step at the end, to judge the value of the final product, preliminary tests are conducted by the project team itself during the course of plan preparation (the actual work in practice is of course always more chaotic than this “model”). In a planning process many of the policies and interventions that are recommended on the basis of the plan are proposals that have not been implemented before. Their actual effects are still unknown, and the estimate of their expected effects has significant inc certainly margins. This complicates the appraisal process, because one also has to indicate how Error tnargirzs in probable it is that the estimated effects will have the predicted size. An important method predicted effects can to reduce this appraisal uncertainty is to test the effects of various types of interventions on a small scale, before taking decisions about large scale implementation. be signifcarif This is exactly what the role of the Urban Mobility/NMT pilot projects in Tanzania and Small scale tesririg is Kenya has been, and what is reported on in part I1 of these guidelines. In using the guidelines in other African cities, a similar planning process can also be established. As part a good method to reduce i i r z c e r ~ ~ ~ r z ~of it, interventions (or certain policies) can already be tested as part of an action plan (see chapter 7) and their findings appraised (“evaluated’)), before increasing the scope of the action plan and incorporating such interventions in long-term mobility plans. This underlines the utility of applying appraisal methods as a continuous quality control mechanism, internal to the municipal project structure of planning and implementing mobility improvements. Economic appraisal
Ecorzorizic justifccitiori is the critical mpproval factor
Intervention proposals are, more than anything else, on the critical path to the improvement of the mobility conditions in African cities, and the renewal of their transport systems. Words, written in reports or spoken at seminars (in SwahiIi: “maneno”) have no impact if they are not translated into intervention proposals that are then implemented. Implenientation decisions in practice always depend strongly on the ability to arrange for financing of the proposed intervention. Assuming rational and public interest oriented decision making, the financial and economic appraisal of a proposal differ from the appraisal of the technical and institutional aspects and of inipleinentation arrangem~nts. The technical, institutional and implementation soundness of a proposal are necessary conditions, but not sufficient conditions. If a proposal is not technically sound, it has to be revised. However, even if it is technically sound, that in itself is no reason to implement it. A positive appraisal of the technical aspects of a proposal does not give information on whether the proposed intervention is attractive to implement or a waste of money.
CHAPTER
ia
APPRAISAt
117
The only sufficient condition for a decision to implement is that economic justification exists, i.e. that the expected benefits of the intervention are higher than the expected costs, in combination with fulfilling sound technical, institutional and implementation conditions. In the transport It should be noted that in principle an economic justification does not necessarily have to sector beFte~f~cos~ consist of a quantifiable positive benefiticost ratio. Where decisions are based on macroanalysis can be economic or social policy grounds, cost effectiveness is the only required economic applied well criterion, for example in cases such as the provision of certain basic services like water supply or primary education. However, in the case of the transport sector, both direct and indirect effects of interventions can be estimated with a reasonable degree of certainty, and benefiticost calculations can be applied. These benefitkost calculations have to include the estimated costs of accidents as a standard component. Whether health implications and real estate value implications are also included is a matter of choice. For long-term planning it is recommended that they are, for interventions that aim at short-term improvement they can be left out of consideration, provided that the intervention that is proposed has no significant negative environmental impact, which for the interventions discussed in these guidelines is the case. They can be left out for the time being, because there is such a large number of immediately useful interventions to improve urban pedestrian and bicycle traffic which all have positive environmental effects as well, that the prioritization of these in~ei~entions can be based on travel cost reduction. Ratrking i i i f e r ~ ~ e f i ~ ~There o i 7 ~ is an additional macro-econoinic reason why this is true: the environmental cost of according to urban traffic are proportional to the total amount of money spent on the operational cost of ecoriotnic benefits transport (i.e.costs excluding transport infrastructure investments). The more money spent on transport movement per km2 of city, the worse the environmental destrttction that is rescrlfs in eizvironmentally caused on that km2. This also explains why the negative environmental impacts of transport souiid ~ r ~ ~ ~ ~ p o are r t ujorst in very high-density, car dominated, mega cities in Asia and Latin America, and policies relatively small in many African cities, apart froin the land along a small number of high density traffic corridors. Renewal of tree cover The only obvious case where the environmental benefits are the decisive factor for decision making is that of urban tree cover, which needs to be protected and restored in low income areas and city centers in a large number of cities in Africa as a matter of high priority.
Justification of long-term policies
The justification of long-tenn transport policies cannot easily be forced into a rigid framework of benefiticost calculations, and there is also no need to do that. Mobility plans are the recommended aids for the choice of long-term policies, and these cover a range aspects: (quantified) estimates of the costs of different transport policy scenarios, but also a SWOT analysis, a Plan of User Needs, and general considerations about mobility policies. Iizdicafors: - Cost~insserigerktiz - To of iiiconie
For economic justification of the long-term policies, the three recommended yardsticks are: * total transport system costs per kni traveled by a person in the city, * the total cost per average trip (trip, not km!) as a percentage of the average daily income per capita, * average trip distance. The total system costs per passengerkm (including time costs and accident costs) are an indication of the value-for-money aspect (how far can one travel for a certain amount of money?), but do not give an indication of the efficiency of the urban land use. The average cost per trip as a percentage of the per capita income is an indication of the affordability of adequate mobility (calculate per relevant population segment to assess transport system inequalities). The average trip distance is an indication of the efficiency of the land use. How the three aspects should be combined cannot be said without being able to interpret the data for the city at hand.
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GUIDELINES FOR P ~ D E S ~ R I AAND N BICYCLETRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITES, VERSION 1.3 - 1-
2001
Trips per p e r s o ~ d a ~An additional indicator i s the mobil~tyof different population se,gnents, expressed as total trips made per person per day. This provides an insight in the mobility of each popufation grottp (is their mobility sufficient, does it improve or deteriorate?).
Torul sysretti costs per inlzabitant
An other yardstick that can be calculated is the total transport system cost per inhabitant. An overali policy aim could be to minimize that mount, subject to constraints reflecting acceptable residential livelihood quality (no cost minimization at the expense of unacceptable high density housing conditions).
Accessibiliry indicators
Accessibility indicators (see chapter 8) can also play a useful role in assessing how well the transport system facilitates the easy conduct of economic activities (accessibility of businesses, services, markets, etc).
Scenario selection: lowest operational costs of trlms17ort
The q u ~ i t ~ t a t i economic ve indicators for long-term transport system appraisal mentioned above can be estimated without too much difficulty with the methods explained in the preceding chapters. However, a mobility plan for pedestrim and bicycle traffic as dealt with in these guidelines does not include a specification of all other urban transport i n f r a s ~ c t u r e requirements. Hence it cannot be used to produce a r ~estimate of the totat road ~ ~ f r ~ s t ~ - u c ~ u r e investment and m a i n ~ e ~ a n ccosts e associated with different transport policy scenarios. Therefore, a bertefiticost comparison for policy scenarios, comparabie to that of an intervention proposal, cannot be made with it. However, this is not a great obstacle to the comparison of different Iong-term policy packages. As already indicated in chapter 8.3, the total asset value of the urban infrastructure network i s only a small percentage of the annual operational cost of the transport on that infrastructure network. The annual expansion and maintenance costs are less than 10%of the asset value (in case of an extreme backlog of road infrast~ctureandlor an extreme growth of the city population this may be up to 20% for a short period of time). The differences in annual infrastructure (re)deveiopment costs between the different transport policy scenarios are therefore rather irrelevant in size compared to the operational cost differences of the scenarios. Taking into account the error margins in the estimates, it is therefore pointless to make benefit/ cost co~parisonsbetween scenarios based on differences in the costs of infrastructure, which are so small compared to the total system costs. Moreover, the transport system configurations with the highest operational costs almost invariably also have h e highest infrastructure investment costs, certainly in African cities where all transport is road- based (in the absence of signifreant urban raif networks].
~ Amex IS
e
~
eestimates ~ ~ for ~ appraisal o s ~of ~ n t ~ r v ~ n t ~ o n s
Annex 15 deals with simple benefitlcost calculations for the appraisal of interventions. The calculations are of the same type as those used in chapter 13 (examples of interventions~~ The use of financial cost or economic cost, the calculation of annuity costs of investment and the calculation and interpretation of B/C ratios are briefly discussed.
PART I1
IMPROVEMENTS ON EXISTING ROADS
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
Chapter 11
Improving existing roads
Iizterventioiz selectioiz Chapter 12 presents a summary table (12.1) that indicates in what problem situations particular interventions can be chosen. It is followed by a brief general description of the intei~ention“menu’s”, and of the conditjons under which each can be applied. Chapter I3 describes specific examples that have been tested in Dar es Salaam, Eldoret, Tested esninpies Morogoro or Nairobi. Examples often clarify more than theoretical arguments. Substantial space has therefore been allocated in these guidelines to document examples. A growing number of good African examples, covering a wide range of urbaii condition&, is an important target to aim at.
But first, briefly, why is it so urgent to make iinprovenient of existing roads the highest urban transport policy priority, particularly in African cities? This is because that transport policy creates more value for money than any other. It enables prioritizing investment in well defined separate improvements of the urban road infrastructure based on highest “beiiefit‘cost ratio”. Moreover, integration of these iinprovenients with regular road maintenance can also give maintenance a more challenging and innovative character, and liberate it from the feeling of failure and “too little, too late” that often surfounds it. Traditionalfocrts: carriageway for motor ~~eliicles
Most road designs in urban areas in Africa, apart from parts in city centers that were often designed in the 1960s and 1970s or before, have concentrated on bitumen carriageways for inotor vehicles. Pedestrian movement, cycling, and efficient operation of public transport have often been treated in a marginal manner. One reason for this one-sided focus is the unchecked assumption that maximizing the m2 road pavement was the most cost effective way of investing in road infrastructure, and that all other facilities were simply a luxury that could not be afforded under the circumstances. Another reason appears to be the usually strong orientation of road engineering towards national highways and rural roads, and on pavement design. As a result, roads in most cities in Africa leave a lot to be desired with respect to network design, road cross-section and intersection design, and road space allocation between walking, cycling, public transport and cars. This has created inefficient road networks that: increase the costs of trips; and in that manner * reduce the mobility of the urban inhabitants; and on top of that * lead to unsafe traffic, and high costs of accidents; and * make most inhabitants dependent on public transport - “captive”.
Capiive iruveiers
The captiveness of the majority of the population to public transport, that is greatly exacerbated by the difficulty to walk comfortably and efficiently and the near impossibility to cycle, is being exploited in a very capable manner by the mainly “informal” public transport industry, making it one of the most profitable business sectors in Africa, usually regulated now by syndicates of operators. Adequate road infrastructure that provides enough space and safety for pedestrian and bicycle traffic would allow many people to make more trips, and at a lower cost, within the time they have available, and enhance their mobility. But the backlog in proper walkways, safe crossings, etc. is enormous. Looking at that problem from the positive side: big opportunities exist to identify and implement immediately useful and beneficial improvements, that once implemented, will not be regretted by anyone. If only recognized, this is a field where municipal politicians and governments can be successful quite easily.
Large backlog of ~ e ~ e s t rand i~~i bicycle fucilities
The pilot projects in the SSATP have experimented with improvement of problematic spots on existing roads. The finding is that two simple interrelated menus of improvement options exist, that, if applied on a large scale, can improve the urbaii mobility situation drastically.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Further tests and more experience with these types of interventions will enlarge and enrich this list. The initial menus are shown below, and will be explained in chapter 12.2 and 12.3 (see also chapter 3.2).
Table 11.1 Interventions to improve existing roads COl~’~:(.o,?
qpe qf irrtenr,irion
MENU I : Prdeslrian and bicycle racililics
Walkways Missing Walk and cycle route links Pcdcslrion crossings,combined with vehicle y e e d reduction in ciripr wirh n ri,qn!ficarirpcrcenragc qicdisrr m/?: Scparaie hicycle tracks on main bicycle routes
MENU 2: Tmmc calming
R .saed ’ . rchra crossing Speed hump Inicrsection corner redesign (radii. T-shnpe, etc.) Sepmlian between road shoulder and cminpvily Pedesinan cmssing island Median Narrowing with hicycle slips (MT gate. hicycle side gates) BIN hnys, comhined with a raised crossing
these menus of interventions on a large scale will increase the niobility of the ~ m p ~ o ~ ~on e ~ e n Applying ~s existing roads inhabitants of African cities. In doing that, the legitimate interests of all modes of transport can be taken into account. Priorities should reflect the relative importance of each mode, the backlog from the past and the potential of each mode to increase mobility. This leads to the following overall priorities: 1. Pedestrian traffic: highest modal share and largest backlog; 2. Public transport :main mode for long distance trips; its frequency during the day is often good nowadays, but it has a profouRdly negative traffic safety impact and too high costs; 3. Bicycle traffic : cycling has a high potential to raise urban mobility fundamentally, at a very low cost, and with many recent technical innovations it is now a highly advanced modem urban transport technology. In medium sized cities cycling often already is an important mode of transport, in the big cities it can only be revitalized with a careful, bicycle sensitive transport policy. guidelines concentrate on engineering: road inf~structurechanges as the i n s ~ m e n t ~ e - ~ i ~ g i ~ ~ ~ e r i nThese g to create improvement of traffic safety and efficiency. Common wisdom is that such engineering is accompanied by two other “E’s”: enforcement and education. However, experience with urban traffic in Africa, in the SSATP pilot projects as well as elsewhere, strongly suggests that the potential to create im~rovementthrough these other E‘s is at this moment small, and that one must concentrate on interventions that explain themselves clearly, and function well without police enforcement. The physical design of the facilities must make it impossible to misunderstand them, and prohibitive to ignore them, through either discomfort or damage. Conflicts ofinteresr between modes of wansport
Often, different modes of transport compete for the same road space, and for the same limited amount of investment money. In the recent past the choices made between the interests of pedestrians and of car traffichave in most cities led to an almost total lack of pedestrian facilities. With increasing congestion, the conflict of interest between public transport and private cars also becomes stronger (conversion of general MT lanes into dedicated bus lanes?). The conflict of interests between informal public transport and cycling appears to be partly of a different, commercial, nature. Cyclists are not clients of
CHAPTER 11
Parallel interests of difSerenr ttlocles of transport
Care f o r details Robust nrettzrs: no big risk of selecting the wrong irztenteiztio,z
IMPROVING EXISTING ROADS
123
public transport, and the negative attitude of many minibus drivers and touts towards them seems to have an element of making the life of “competitors” difficult. The authorities responsible for the urban roads have to balance all these conflicting interests. As a result, transport policies are often political in nature and sometimes controversial. However. improvements to existing roads can in many cases be made such that they have a positive impact on several modes of transport at the same time. Many of the interventions described below can create win-win situations, which after some time are understood clearly by all concerned because existing problems or accident hazards that they are exposed to reduce. Care for the details of an intervention is the key to its success (strength, visibility, uniformity, etc.). Carelessness about these details will jeopardize its success. However, in another sense the menus are not delicate: in many situations several interventioi~s or combinations of interventions can produce a good result. Assuming that a proper problem analysis is carried out first, there is no reason to won-y that the “wrong” intervention will be selected. For municipalities that want to start implementing these menus, this conclusion is important. Although the selection of the best intervention in each case is important, no big errors can be made.
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Chapter 12
A menu of interventions
12.1 Selection of an intervention Table 12.1 below can be used for a first selection of intervention options. It indicates what type of intervention can be considered for addressing different pedestrian and bicycle traffic problems, such as low walking speed or dangerous traffic conditions for cyclists. The options mentioned in table 12.1 are not entirely restricted to those on menus 1 and 2 in table 11.1. Options such as parking restrictions and cleaning of mutes have also been included. However, these other options are self-exp1anator-y. The brief description of the intervention options follows menus 1 and 2. More detailed explanation follows by means of examples, in chapter 13.
Table 12.1 NMT infrastructure: intervention options in various situations PROBLEM
INTERVENTION OPTIONS
Pedestrians
Low walking speed
-
. . ~
Disoble trlticlc p d i n g or driving or, w a l h n y rcwrves. in pafiicular at plot entrances and intersection corners. Purpose: (a) keep walkways opn. and (b) avoid damage by vehicles to light walkway pavcments. Methods: opcn drains. T-blocks. bollards. low masonry walls. high drop kerbs. trecs. Allocafc srpurofe space to street r m d m along wwlking routes (and shop keepers along walkways). Purpose: enable enforcement of ban on occupying walkway reserve with tmding activity. Allocme reparafe mifirrgplots to taxi operafor.rnnd infomml pulrlic rmrwpon operafors. Purpose: enable enforcement. Solid wmfe collection depots. Purpose: enable enforcement of ban on random solid w s t e disposal: this reduces walkway blockage by unplanned solid w s t e dumping spots.
. Spot brrp,avernents 10 Pedestrians walking on the cmiageway
valhvay pawnenfs. Widen wolL7vay rercn% in cme of lack of walhoy cnpacir)r Purpose: reduce pedestrian congestion at places wirh high pedestrian flow intensities (at bottleneck sites in pmicular).
* On a c m roads with a n important pedestrian transit mute function: - Pedesfrionte.and provide with g o d pavement.
--
On access roads: Speed humps. Purpose: reduce speed of MT to safe values with frequent speed humps. Type: speed at hump 10 km/hr. max MT s p e d 20 kmlhr, average MT speed 10 km/hr. ail mffic remains mixed. I f ADT ofMT > 200.3 separated walkway should he considered. On all other roads: - Pmnide seporated wal!waw with good pavement, protect walkways against vehicle access and parking. and against occupancy by street trading. Or, in some cases: - Cornplerely prderrionized m m khoncur. lor high volume pcdestrian flows, using a parallel existing minor mad or new reserve.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 JAN 2001
INTERVENTION OPTIONS (continued)
Pedestrians Pedcstrians walking on the carriageway
A new or reconstructed network ofwalkways along large parts of the urban road network cannot be considered a spot intervention. it is a major network upgrading investment. However, icchnically it can be implemented in a piecemeal. step by step manner. The first srep can be - to dcmarcate the desired walkway reserve (in most cases on the existing road shoulder), - to block access to it for vehicles (in many cases by simple T-blocks or rehabilitated small open drains). and - to level and compact the existing earth pavement.
On road sections without an important transit function: Tnffic calming. reducing vehicle speeds to maximum < 40 M r , average 30 kmlhr. Purpose: to create a traffic environment where dispersed crossing is safe for able pedestians, and where vulnerable pedestrians have enough dedicated protected crossings. Methods: Raised zebru rrossings (target spot speed 2 20 km/hr).(l) - Medims - Roisedplaflonn intersecrioris (not tested by us, designed only) On roads with an important transit function: Provision of frequent safe crossing spots, combined with motor vehicle traffk calming (vehicle speeds to maximum < 50 kmlhr.average 3040 kmlhr, on corridors maximum c 60-70:average 40-50). Methods: - Median - Periesrriaji crosxing islands - Speed htrmps (type: max speed at hump 30 km/hr -corridors 40) Iwrsecrion corner redesign wilh a narrower radius - Reconsrntcr Y;irmcrioru to T-shape In retation to public transpt: - BJU buys conrbimi with raised zebra crossirrg - BIock rarrdom MTocccss on road ~hdulders(purpose: reduce chaos in passenger loading/unloading behavior of informal (mini)buses.)
Pedestrians dangerously crossing roads
-
-
Pedestrjims making long detours
-
Direct, p a d y paved, pedesrrian rva1ln-m~ connecriorls (without M T access). Purpose:establish legal road reserves for direct walkways, safeguard them against renewed future blockage by land owners, and improve pavement at bad spots. NMTbridges over inaccessible barriers. Purpose: crossing small seasonal rivers and swamps. railway lines, highways.
Pedestrian bus passengers Uncomfortablearid/ Bits boys wirh good puvement af pedesrrian side,combined with raised zebra cmmins. Purpose: concentnle passenger loading on convenient locations. with sufficient bay capacity, public transport safe traffic conditions. good walking route connections, safe road crossings, and a safe passenger wairing area,
or unsafe access to
Carts
Dangerous trafic conditions and/or loss of road capacity related to cart .traffic
Seporared paved walkways, uccessiblefor small/mdium size carts. Purpose: enable efficient operation of smaller sized and lighter push carts, combined with enforcement of a ban on large (car wheelbase size) push carts OR the motor carriageway on all but access roads. Note: enabling and enforcing a transition in urban freight (push-)cart technology towards more efficient small and medium size cart? is only possible in combination with a major effort to up,gmde the entire aaikway structure of an area.
(1) noution: for shortness, the ‘’4” has been used instead of “approximntely”
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127
PROBLEM
cyclists Dangerous mffk conditions for cyclists on the Carriageway
Generally: Vaffic calming, to m i m e safe mixed traEc conditions for all vehicles on the carriageway (trucks. buses, cars. motorcycles. bicycles). The methods selected depend on thc average MT Vafic flow speed target. On lower speed roads with a local function. humps and raised zebra crossings are the preferred Uaflic calming instrument. on roads with an area-transit function (speed target 30-40 kmlhr). uaffic islands. medians. narrowing with bicycle slips and mini-roundabut (yet to be tested properly in African urban conditions) are preferred. * On access mads: Speed humps. Purpose: reduce speed of MT to safe values with frequent speed humps. T w : speed at hump 10kmlhr. max MT speed 20 km/hr. average MT speed I0 knfir, traftic remains mixed. Note: humps also slow down cycling. and reduce pedestliamhicycle conflicts. * On local collector roads, and collector roads with an existing carriageway of73 meters wide or less: MT and bicycle traffic remain mixed on the snme carriageway. - Repair ofporl~oles0 1 0 , t ~rhe edge of the carriagewny. Purpose: avoid that potholcs along the edge force cyclists into the MT vehicle flow. - Raired zebra cmssbzgs (frequency: I per 300 m) - Raisgd plnrfonn inrersecrionr - biter.seciion corner. redesign with a narrower radius - Re~onsrrucrY-jrorcrio,~~ 10 T-shape * On collector roads, with existing carriageway width > 8.0 meters: - Wwally seporared b i q d e lmes (with lane marking matelials). Pothole repair in the bicycle lane. Vehicle parking ban cnforcenicnt for hicycle lane. Purpose: crmtc recognized bicycle rwd space. - Normwing with bicycle slips. Purpose: concentrate MT along road axis and bicycle traffic along the sides, to minimize conflicts. - Cmriituous narrow uwdian. Purpose: create much more quiet traffic pattern. by eliminating ovenaliing and right NmS into plot entrances. across the mffic. * On urban corridors: No limited spot interventions passible. Separate cyclc track or service road is required. This calls for a redesign of the road reserve and reconstruction of llic walkwaylcycle track andlor service road pan (the main MT carriageway may remain largely unchanged) See guideline section on recommended design st.udards.
Cyclists dangerously In addition to general traffic calming measures aiming at safe mixed traffic conditions: - Cmssing islandr (combined with pedestrian crossing. width > 2 m) crossing roads Purpose: facilitate crossing by making it possible to cross die two different traffic directions independcntly. Storage capacity of the island niust match the intensity of the crossing bicycle traftic tlow. Cyclists making long detours
-
D i r m cycle track connrcrioi: (combined with walkway in the same road reserve. but without MT access). Purposc: establish legal road reserves for direct cycle track. safeguard them against renewed future hlockage by land owners. and improve pavement on had spots. NMTbridxe over inaccessible harrier. Purpose: crossing small seasonal rivers and swamps. railway lines. highways.
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12.2 Menu 1. Pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure Walkways
On many routes, the average speed of walking can be improved significantly, by 20% to even 50%. Such improvements can usually be achieved at a low cost and have a high benefitkost ratio. Measurements show that average walking speed often goes down to 3.5 km/hr, and even as low as 2-2.5 km/hr in the worst cases of pedestrian congestion or inaccessible tracks. The factors that reduce pedestrian speed most are: Absence of walkways, unsafe walking on the carriageway, Pedestrian congestion (insufficient capacity, street trade, parked vehicles, waste etc.), * Bad pavement quality (loose sandy soils, mud, micro-detours), * Waiting time involved in road crossing (sometimes, for the old, or children or disabled, the possibility to use a route fully disappears). Missing walk and cycle route links
The directness of a route has a strong impact on trip time. In the smaller pilot cities, and in unplanned areas in the large cities, significant detours are related mostly to the absence of NMT crossing points over small rivers and other barriers. In the large cities, large fenced plots or neighborhoods also create significant detours. Construction of all-weather small NMT bridges (shortcuts) rank high in all user priority lists (improved accessibility), and where constructed are intensively used and highly appreciated. Crossings
In all African cities, efficient and safe crossing of roads by pedestrians is of vital importance. The number of people that walk and need to cross roads is large almost everywhere throughout the city. Usually, pedestrians cross roads anywhere, rather than at a small number of concentrated crossing points. In many streets, the people on foot outnumber the people in vehicles (buses and cars). To enable pedestrians to cross safely, the speed of the motor vehicles must be moderate at the crossing point. Vehicle driver behavior is such that many drivers drive at the highest speed that is possible at a certain point. Only few drivers slow down or stop to let pedestrians cross. Therefore, the speed of the motor vehicles has to be reduced to enable safe crossing. Traffic calming measures are required to achieve this. Safe pedestrian crossing and traffic calming are thus related. In fact, speed reduction at crossing points is the most important traffic calming instrument, or, the other way round, all spots where the traffic is slowed down to a maximum speed of less than 30 kin per hour provide reasonably safe crossing points for pedestrians. A simple, easy to recognize and effective pedestrian crossinghpeed reduction Raised zeO1-a crossing intervention is a raised zebra crossing. Slopes and width can be adapted to achieve the desired result with respect to speed reduction and pedestrian capacity at the crossing point (see chapters 13 and 15). Raised zebra crossings are particularly useful at all bus bay locations. Speed humps do not have the character of a crossing point, and will in general be perceived by drivers more as a pure speed reduction measure. Where it is important to assure that the MT speed never increases too much on a long road section, or at special points such as before bends in a road, speed humps are the most inexpensive way of forcing a speed reduction. They make crossing roads a lot safer. Pedestrian crossing iSlfIlld
A pedestrian crossing island can be used effectively to facilitate road crossing. By reducing the crossing distance to 3.0 meters, an island allows easy and safe crossing per single lane vehicle stream. In this manner, up to 1,000 vehicles per lane per hour can be crossed without significant waiting time. The island must be designed in such a way, that it is impossible for a vehicle to drive over it: pedestrians must be fully protected. A pedestrian crossing island also has a small speed calming effect, depending on the deflection of the carriageway past it.
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I29
Box 12.1 Walking Speed
To
asscss the economic value of improvcment of walkways. it is imponant tu kuow how that influences the rpecd of walking. Walking speed depends on P larger numher of facton: person or rrip purpose related Ihenlth of the penon: agc: loads being mrricd: quality of s h o w urgency (e.g. journcy to work in the morning): walking illme or wiih othcn -discussing: mute and pavemcnt related Imini-detours from a xmight linc requircd to avoid potholer. wastc. parked whicles etc.: p3VemCnt muphnrrr; pavement condition in case of rain -slippery. muddy: * wslkway capacity. When the pedcrrian voluliie crcreds the undirturhcd flmv capacity of thc walkway. walking rpesd is reduccd: pedeslrian congestion lscc ehiptcr Ih.21.Thc rcdiiction in spard can hc very suhsiantial. In w e of using the wine w l k w q in opposite directions. uwp'stion stms at much lower dcnritirs compared to a flow in one direction only.
-
-
The table helow shows findings of walking rpecd mcasurrmmts: (.".Ye:
1. Paved w l k w a y , uncongestrd. bi-directional.
4.6
5.0
5.3
2. Paved walkway. congested. bi-directional, bitumen. along collcctor road (ononc ride only)
3.5
n.r.
4.0
3. Cement stahilizcd track hi-directional. uncongcsted
4.6
".a.
5.2
4.5
4.9
5.1
5. Unpwed walkway. bad compaction. straight. dry. no mini-detours
4.I
4.4
4.7
6. Unpavcd mck. mugh pavement. potholcs and polluted. farcinF to mini-detours. dry. imcongerted
3.4
3.6
3.9
concrete slabs
4.Unprved wcll compacted walkway onc directional. uncongertcd along collcctor road.
Temeke. D~rcsSdwm.199XN9.
The three different speed meawres show the variations in wdking speed related to pcrsonal factors. Thc average speed is the average over all uscrs of the track. The normd speed is the avenge excluding Ulosc that walk very slow for prcsumahly person related re3sons lusually around one third). T h e top speed is the avcrilgr of the fastcrt 30%.All measurements were made in dry wveather. In niny conditions. unpaved mute specds go down to thr YGIUCS shown for case 6 in the tahk (or router e w n become impsssahle). unless they are well driniscd and very well compacted. If tuck conditions arc very bad. e w n lower walking speeds are found. e.g. 2.5 km/hr. in Eldoret. exrmplc 13.6 -hcforc imprarcment).
The dam indicate t h e walking speed first of 311 depends an the availability of n flat. uncongertcd. suaight pedesman walkway or uack. The walking speed on such Q mute dues not depend much on the precise type of pavement. as long as it is sniooth and firm (well compacted. and non-rlippcry in m e of rain). This means that the fin1 requirement is to pmvidr dedicated walkways or NMT tracks of sufficient capacity. If motor vchieler c m get access. they will, with thc result that the pavement is quickly mined (whethcr compacted soil or slabs or a light bitumen covcr). The great imponancc for pederuians of having a flat and suajght walking mute can also be observed from lhcir traffic hehavior: many dceidc to walk on the MT caniogeway. dcrpitc thc significant accidcnt risks that Illat involves (well known to them) nther than to seek a zig-rag passage behind parked whiclrr. dumped solid w m e . small kiosks. open holes left by utility companies etc. Thc increased concentration nf pcdcsrrians on thc carriageway during the rainy sason funhrr confirnis this. In addition to an increase in pedestnan mvel speed due to an improved walkway pavement. alignment and removal of obstructions. them is also the imponant possibility of reducing pedestrian travel times by eliminating mute detours lhmugh new walkway network links (chap. 13.5 and 13.6).
The pawmcnt choice is more
B maner of minimizing the combined costs of consmction and maintenance to keep a uack in g d condition. These depend to a large cxtent an the local conditions: possibility to successfully hloek all motorvehicle m f i e fmm the nack. dninnge. ninfall and emsion conditions. type af Iw-alsoil (see chapter 13.4.).
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All tests indicate that it is difficult to concentrate crossing movements of pedestrians to a small number of dedicated crossing points. Pedestrian behavior that shows concentration on a few crossing points can only be expected where high-volume pedestrian routes exist that lead straight to the crossing point. Experiments with pedestrian crossings and speed calming measures indicate that on collector roads in densely built-up areas and on urban center roads it is in fact better to slow down the motor vehicles systematically to an average speed of 30 km/hr and allow the pedestrians to cross where they want. This reduces the interference between the vehicles and the pedestrians: more pedestrians slip through the vehicle stream without risk or causing delay. Bicycle facilities Safe cycling in mixed trafic is the backbone
Cyclists must be visible for motor vehicle drivers
Separation options
Bicycle lanes on mixed trafic roads
Separated bicycle track
The first requirement for cycling in African cities is that the traffic is safe enough to cycle. Special separated bicycle infrastructure is of secondary importance. Traffic safety for bicycles first of all has to do with the speed of motor vehicles. Where vehicle speeds reach 60-80 k d h r , cycling is dangerous. It is not possible to eliminate the accident hazards in a simple manner by giving the cyclists separated tracks of their own. They still have to cross the roads at all intersections, and mid-section if a cyclist needs to reach a destination on the other side. Without special traffic calming (safety) precautions, all those points will be dangerous. Cyclists coming from a separate track (unexpected, because they were not seen on the camageway before) are sometimes in more danger than cyclists that share the carriageway with the motor vehicles. Vehicle drivers never cause accidents on purpose. The most dangerous situations for cyclists arise if the vehicle driver does not see them, or only sees them when it is almost too late to avoid an accident (and in reverse: if the cyclist does not see the vehicle, or too late). therefore: to make widespread urban cycling possible, the cyclists must be highly visible as part of the traffic. The best way to achieve that is by mixed use of the carriageway on most roads (see chapter 14.2). There are two reasons for giving bicycles a separated track: lack of road capacity and a high design speed for motor vehicles. The separation options are: a bicycle lane as part of a carriageway shared with motorvehicles, a mixed traffic service road parallel to a transit MT carriageway, a separate bicycle-only track, a separate NMT-only track (bicycles and pedestrians). Brief comments on bicycle lanes and separate tracks follow below, more detail can be found in chapter 16. When road capacity is a problem, giving separate lanes to cyclists on a combined carriageway is the first preference, because in this way intersection design is easier, and the flexibility of the road use greater. A requirement for a bicycle lane on a shared carriageway is that the speed of the motor vehicles remains below 50 km/hr. The so-called “narrowing with bicycle slips” is an instrument to enhance better MT and bicycle lane discipline on a mixed carriageway with bicycle lanes, and simultaneously moderate MT speeds. Where congestion starts to build up on urban roads, this usually is caused by a bottleneck in intersection capacity, while the sections still have enough capacity. This means that creating enough space for cyclists at the intersections is an important aspect. The use of wide crossing islands (medians) is believed to be the best solution for this, because it creates a protected spot for the cyclists at the center of the intersection. A tested example could not yet be included in this version of the guidelines. When the reason for separating the bicycle from motor vehicle traffic is the speed of the motor vehicles, a bicycle lane is no solution. The only possibility is full separation of the cyclist from the high speed MT. This can either be a mixed traffic service road, or an NMTonly track (mixed pedestrian/cycle/cart), or a bicycle-only track. In case of separation, careful design of the crossing points at the intersections is very important, where the motor vehicles and the cyclists meet again. If those points are not safe and efficient, the value of a separated cycle track will be minimal.
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A MENU OF ~ T E R ~ E N T I O N S
Mised NMT-only track: for independent bicycle routes without MTaccess
If a mixed pedestriadcycle track is chosen, attention must be given to its capacity requirements, to avoid that too many pedestrians make cycling impossible. This type of bicycle track is usually chosen if the separation of a cycling route from a high speed MT corridor is carried out by selecting a completely different separate alignment for the bicycle route, partly consisting of route sections without MT access. Pedestrians can of course also use such routes, which will often be attractive shortcuts for them. It is thus desirable to assure that the track capacity is sufficient for both pedestrians and cyclists. The possibility to cycle along the major urban corridors is essential, to enable cycling throughout an entire city. Based on the pilot project experience, including that of a recently rehabilitated urban corridor in Dar es Salaam which has "all-mixed" service roads, a mixed service road along the main corridors appears to be the most attractive option in large African cities. It not only enables cycling, but simultaneously also creates large benefits for pedestrian traffic and for traffic flow efficiency on the MT transit section of the road. Moreover, its carriageway will remain more or less unobstructed because it also serves for access MT traffic.
Cycling on a service road along urban corridors
Bicycle tracks alorig tiiaiir roads,for use by cyclists only
131
If a bicycle-only track is chosen, the question must be asked whether the present bicycle volume is large enough to protect the track from being invaded by other users (street traders, pedestrians or parking vehicIes) until the time that the cycling has increased enough to claim the track convincingly. Recent experience with such bicycle tracks (outside the SSATP pilot projects, in e.g. Lima and apparently also Accra) shows that too low volume bicycle tracks are hard to defend long enough. In the pilot projects, experimental evidence is limited to tests with two short sections of new separated bicycle track in Eldoret, and observation of the usage of old existing cycle tracks in Dar es Salaam. The findings indicate that segments of separated bicycle track along roads in the central part of a city with an equally urgent shortage of pedestrian walking space will be completely or largely taken over by the pedestrians, and that either sufficient traffic calming on the main carriageway, or a service road solution should be adopted. For one pilot town, Morogoro, where cycling i s the main mode of transport after walking, a road rehabilitation plan has been designed which for an iniportant corridor has separated cycle-only tracks, combined with sufficient parallel walkway capacity and MT access to low density plots along the road via side roads only (see chapter 13.20, planned construction in 2000).
12.3 Menu 2. Traffic calming on existing roads Speed hump and raised zebra crossing A variety of traffic calming interventions have been tested. The most effective and inexpensive option is a speed hump. The logical combination is that of speed humps and pedestrian crossing. However, speed humps have a number of disadvantages that must be minimized. The conclusion of our testing is that the best way to do this on urban roads in Africa i s to construct humps with precast concrete blocks (for slopes), a short flat top, and approaches with a strengthened ~oundationand brick pavement. The initiaf ~nvestmentin this type of hump is roughly 50% higher than that of an asphalt concrete hump, but including maintenance it costs less. In fact this is a design which is almost identical to that of a raised zebra crossing. ., Raised zebra crossirzg On all locations where there is a significant concentrated pedestrian crossing volume, such as at bus bay locations, intersection corners, or an NMT route crossing at a mid-section point, a raised zebra is recommended, 4 m wide or more -depending on the pedestrian volume. As an alternative to having crossings at an intersection protected by speed humps or a Raised platform raised zebra in each approach road, it i s also possible to raise the entire intersection. The intersection only slopes are upward when getting on to the intersection and down when getting off. No practical test with this option was possible so far in the pilot projects, but experience with raised zebras suggests that it will function properly. Speed hump
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The common speed hump problems that need to be minimized are: * Potholes in the bitumen pavement near the hump (main cause: insufficient foundation and pavement strength for the vertical forces that are created on the pavement by vehicles moving over the hump). Irregular shape of asphalt concrete humps, and easy deformation over time (solution: humps of precast concrete blocks; these have a dependable standard shape and good durability and strength). Bad visibility of the hump. Road signs do not improve this situation much. One meter high steel bollards, painted black and white (reflective) appear to be the best option. Concrete block humps have a lighter color than asphalt, and are therefore more visible. Discomfort for motor vehicle passengers and higher vehicle maintenance costs. Flat top humps create less vehicle damage problems compared to round-top ones. If the driver adapts the vehicle speed properly, they create no vehicle maintenance cost increase and little discomfort. * Indiscriminate use of humps, and failure to differentiate height and slope in line with the road hierarchy, makes vehicle drivers lose their sense of road hierarchy. Since good road hierarchy is an important i n s ~ ~ m e ntot increase the traffic flow capacity, this is undesirable. Separation between road shoulder and carriageway
Open road shoulders along urban roads greatly increase the traffic accident hazards. An open road shoulder creates an undefined area along the edge of the carriageway, that is used for a range of conflicting purposes: walking, parking, picking up and dropping bus passengers and freight, street trading, overtaking maneuvers. Construction of a physical separation between the carriageway and the shoulder largely eliminates this problem. On existing roads, the use of triangular concrete “T-blocks” i s an effective and inexpensive solution. T-blocks command respect from drivers and make the vehicles stay on the carriageway. Bollards are in practice more easily damaged. The locations where it is most urgent to create an unmoun~ablephysical separation between the carriageway for MT and the road shoulders, which are in that manner allocated unambiguously to pedestrians, are: intersection corners; bus bays; 25 meters on both sides of raised zebra crossings, speed humps and crossing islands. Carriageway-road shoulder separation should also be used all along straight sections to secure a safe walkway. Intersection corner reconstruction
Many of the existing intersections in African cities have been designed according to highway standards. As a result they are wide and allow high vehicle speed. On urban roads, high speed of vehicles that turn left or right at an intersection brings no advantages. On the contraiy, wide intersection corners create a number of significant problems: accident:hazards as a result of high vehicle speed at a spot where low speed is required to achieve a safe traffic situation; signi~cantlyincreased carriageway width near the corner and thus increased crossing distance for pedestrians and cyclists, which increases the waiting time for a proper gap in the vehicle stream; and use of the excess space at the corners as waiting area for taxis, carts and minibuses (the more so if the road shoulder at the corner is open). For such intersections, r e c o n s ~ ~ c t i owith n a smaller corner radius is an effective traffic calming measure. It reduces the speed of the vehicles without causing discomfort, and thus significantly increases safety. Pedestrian crossing also becomes easier, because the crossing distance is reduced. The recommended design radius is one that is just enough to accoInmodate the design vehicle (the largest vehicle that is allowed; for most roads a HGV to pass at 15 k d h r f , 0
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133
Many existing intersections are not rectangular, but of irregular shape, and with only three approach roads. If one arm of such a junction intersects the others at a small angle, the speed of turning vehicles can be high (so-called Y-junction). Reconstruction of Y-junctions into rectangular T-junctions is an effective traffic calming measure, which greatly increases traffic safety.
Bus bays On many roads a high percentage of MT is public transport, in most cases minibuses. Unlike passenger cars these often stop to pickup and drop passengers. This stopping/departing has Reduce chaotic a strong influence on the traffic flow pattern and its safety. The more chaotic the stopping stopping of buses for behavior, the more negative its impact on safety and traffic flow efficiency. Therefore, the passengers provision of frequent and large enough bus bays, and minimization of stopping of buses elsewhere is an essential ingredient of traffic calming in any African city. Acceptance of frafic There is an additional reason why the provision of good bus bays is important. Many of calming by (niiizi)hus the traffic calming measures mentioned above will initially be experienced by public drivers transport operators as being “against” them and restricting their freedom to drive as they like, Yet, acceptance of these measures by (mini)bus drivers is important to arrive at a more quiet, safe and efficient traffic flow. Bus bays are positive provisions, specifically made to facilitate (mini)bus drivers, and are also perceived that way by most of them, provided they are constructed at the right spots, of the right dimensions, with the right pedestrian crossing facilities, and of the right quality. In that manner, bus bays are not only an instrument to improve the chaotic stopping behavior of buses, they are also an instrument to create a positive attitude of bus drivers towards traffic calming progranis. Cycling arid (niini)bus befiavior
For the success of urban cycling a more predictable stopping behavior of brlses is important. A high frequency of unpredictable vehicle movements towards the side of the road makes cycling in mixed traffic significan~lymore difficult than it is in traffic where most motor vehicles are private cars that move in a disciplined straight flow. A more positive attitude of bus drivers towards cyclists is also important. The preparation of a traffic calming program that is perceived by bus drivers as taking their needs into account contributes towards creating the more relaxed traffic behavior that is needed for urban cycling.
Median
Median in a 2x1 lane road
Median in a 2x2 l a m road
On urban roads, overtaking another vehicle by using the lane for the opposing flow invariably makes the traffic situation more dangerous. When the roads get near to saturat~on,overtaking also has a negative effect on road capacity. An effective traffic calming measure on two lane roads is to construct a continuous median between the opposing flows. Its effects are: 1 . elimination of overtaking, so a much more quiet traffic pattern, 2. excessive speeds are eliminated by constraining such vehicles behind vehicles that drive at normal speed, and 3 . the median enables dispersed pedestrian crossing along the road section (it must be wide enough, >= 1.0 m, and protected enough, with a kerb). The carriageway on each side of the median must be wide enough for vehicles to pass broken-down vehicles or pushcarts (recommended: 4.5 m, subdivided in a 3.0 MT lane and a 1.5 m bicycle lane; no parking on the carriageway allowed).
A median in a dual carriageway road (2x2 lanes or more) is essential for safe pedestrian crossing. Without a safe waiting point in the median, crossing a 2x2 lane road safely is almost impossible for pedestrians and cyclists, unless there is a traffic light with a pedestrian phase, which is also respected by all drivers. A wide median is recommended on all urban roads with a dual carriageway (unless they are highways with entirely gradeseparated intersections and NMT crossings).
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Road narrowing with bicycle slips Speed reduction
Narrow carriageway sections have a speed reducing effect, caused by the fact that opposing vehicles cannot drive simultaneously through a narrow section at a high speed without risking a collision. Passage is only possible for two vehicles simultaneously at a IOW speed (around 20 kmlhr).
~liff?tTteliiig
On wide lane mixed traffic roads with a significant bicycle volume, and in parlicuiar when the road has visually marked bicycle lanes, a narrowing with bicycle slips simultaneously achieves two goals: 1. The speed of MT is reduced, making the road safer for cyclists, and 2. The bicycle flow and the MT flow are channeled in their respective lanes: the motor vehicles towards the center of the road and the cyclists towards the side of the road. This channeling decreases the €riction between the two flows, and in that manner increases the road capacity. The so-called bicycle slips are 1.0-1.5 in wide side gates for bicycles, on either side of the middle gate for motor vehicles, separated by traffic islands (see chapter 13.16 and chapter 15).
Chapter 13
Examples of interventions
Cases: a method of explanation
A good way of explaining how the menu's of interventions can be applied is by giving examples. The examples given below are all from the pilot projects cities: Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Nairobi and Eldoret. This means that the variety of traffic conditions in which they have been applied is significant, but does not yet cover all urban environments in Africa. The represented conditions are typical for most medium-sized cities, as well as for most parts of the big cities that lie outside the CBD. The intention is to add more examples in next guidelines versions, from a larger number of African cities and countries. Note to version 1.3
More examples are needed
Some important examples are still missing, such as of pedestrian and bicycle facilities and traffic calming on the largest urban comdors, and of service roads along urban comdors that enable cycling (see designs in chapter 15). The first reason why these are still lacking is that many of the most urgent mobility problems have to do with badly designed and maintained, or totally absent, neighborhood access tracks and streets and collector roads. User participation as the basis for selecting priorities automatically leads to a focus on these problems, close to where people live. Secondly: there is a hesitation among urban authorities and traditional road engineering consultants, both foreign and national, to consider reshaping the large urban corridors in response to the requirements of pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Hopefully, demonstrating that for all other urban roads NMT and traffic calming interventions create substantial benefits, for motor vehicle traffic as well, will reduce these reservations. It is important that proper solutions for the big urban comdors are tested. The main corridors play an essential role in pedestrian and bicycle mobility. In the present situation they are often the most inaccessible and dangerous roads that pedestrians and cyclists are confronted with. Crossing them safely is a big problem, walking along them is often slow and cumbersome, and cycling along them is in most cases very dangerous. Assumptions used in cost-benefit calculations
Currency
Annual intervention costs
Annuity cost of capitul
Maintenance costs
In the examples in this chapter calculations have been made about costs and benefits. The following assumptions were used: All costs and benefits have been expressed in US$ equivalents of Tsh (Tanzania) or Ksh (Kenya), to eliminate effects of exchange rate changes during the project period, as well as to facilitate international comparisons. From 1996 to 1998 the exchange rate of the Tsh to the US$ varied from rf: 550: 1 to 660: 1, and of the Ksh from rf: 50: 1 to 60: 1 . Total annual costs include the capital cost of the initial investment as well as the maintenance cost. To calculate the annuity cost of capital (the yearly costs of interest and depreciation), an interest rate of 10% has been used (applied to constant costs, i.e. net interest excluding inflation). The lifetime of the interventions varies according to their type. For most interventions N=lO has been assumed (raised zebra, humps, traffic islands, etc). For a few (NMT bridges) N=20 has been assumed. With regular maintenance the effective lifetime of the interventions can turn out higher, and thus annuity costs lower. With i=10% and N=10, the annuity costs are 16.3% of the investment. With i=10% and N=20, the annuity costs are 11.7% of the investment. Maintenance costs also depend on the type of structure. For interventions vulnerable to pavement damage or collision damage, 5% maintenance costs per year have been assumed (over the total intervention cost). For static interventions such as the NMT bridges, 2% has been assumed. The maintenance assumptions for NMT pavements are listed in example 4.
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A realistic estimate of the economic value of time savings is difficult. It depends on the assessment of whether or not the time saved can be used for productive activity, and it depends on the estimated value-added that can be produced per time unit (wage is the usual proxy for this). In the economic situation of Tanzania and Kenya, official employment rates are not very useful to assess the potential for productive use of time savings. Most adults with a low income (i.e. almost everybody) are engaged in a variety of private activities that are essential for the household economy. This is particularly true for women. Therefore, in the calculations all time savings of adults (age >= 15) must be taken into account. To avoid over-estimating the value of time savings, the productivity per hour has been assumed to be low, based on a minimum unskilled wage, divided by 10 hours per day. Of this value, 50% has been taken, i.e. it has been assumed that only 50% of the time savings can be used productively. In Kenya this works out to 15-20 US$ cents per hour in Nairobi and 10-15 cents in Eldoret; in Tanzania 10-14 cents in Dares Salaam and 8-12 cents in Morogoro. This has been rounded down to a flat 10 US$ centdhour of time savings. This can be considered the lower limit of the real economic value of the time savings. Walking time .savii~gs Box 12.1 gives an overview of walking speeds. For calculation of benefits in the examples,
a time gain of 4 minutes per pedestrian km has been assumed for the improvement of a route from a bad condition (where has a rough pavement and forces to significant mini-detours) to a good condition (flat, unobstructed) -unless specified differently. This corresponds to an increase in average speed from 3.5 to 4.5 kmhr (an increase in speed from 3 to 4 km/hr corresponds to a 5 minutes time gain per km, from 4 to 5 kidr to a 3 minutes time gain per km). Costs of accideizts
An estimate of the costs of accidents is also difficult to make. The numbers used in the calculations are, in US$ per:
-
person killed in accident seriously wounded person light injury vehicle damage
KenyaRhnzania 3,000
250 0 300
( UK)
(132,000) (16,000) (15,000) (1,500)
These estimates are based on average current incomes and on repair costs of second-hand cars in Tanzania and Kenya. They are IOW compared to traffic accident cost estimates in e.g European countries (in the table above, compare to numbers in brackets, from the UK). This has been done to avoid over-estimating benefits. For a fatal accident the estimate is based on direct cost plus loss of economic output of the victim. In earlier studies, the Kenyan Ministry of Transport has used much higher figures: US$ 25,000 for a fatality, 400 for a serious injury, 160 for a light injury and US$ 1,600 for vehicle damage. Adler (Economic appraisal of transport projects, WB, 1987) mentions cost estimates ranging from US$ 200 for light- and 1,900 for serious injuries, and of 2,200 for fatalities (India) to US$ 12,300 for fatalities (Kenya), and recommends to limit accident cost estimates for project appraisal in developing countries to damage (vehicles and other), medical costs and loss of output only. The difference in the person related costs between the KenyaRanzania values and the UK roughly corresponds to the difference in per capita incomes (150). For vehicle damage, the costs difference is of course much smaller. No costs of light injury have been taken into account here because light injuries are not reported with any reliability in the accident statistics. In general, the accidents appear to be under-recorded in the police accident records. Even in Dar es Salaam, where a good accident recording system has been in place since the end of 1995 (MAAP, TRL), it was sometimes not possible to retrace accidents that were reported by people in the pilot area in the police accident records. By comparison to numbers used in other studies (such as TRL (UK) Overseas road note 10, Costing road accidents in developing countries, 1995), the cost estimates used here are on the lower side. As a result, the estimates of the avoided costs of accidents used in the calculation of the benefitkost ratios in the examples can be considered as lower limits.
CHAPTER i 3
EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTIONS
137
:XAhlPI,E 1
UNOBSTRUCTED WALKWAY
UTERVENTION
A narrow side street off the main mad in the town center, opposite the intercity bus station. is ar important pedestrian shortcut route to the northern part of the town. However, using it was ofter difficult because the narrow passage was either blocked by street traders or parked vehicles. 01 muddy in the rainy season.
nc&ound
The intervention was implemented in two stages. First, side street access for cars was madt impossible and a raised zebra crossing was constructed on the main road, to prioritizf pedestrians on this route. The effects were satisfactory: the traffic safety a1 the spot was restorec and the amactiveness of the short-cut route increased. However, problems remained: parking or the pavement. street traders increasingly blocking pedestrian transit traffic in the side street which had become more attractive for traders in view of the increased number of pedestrians and bad pavement quality of the side sueet. The steepness of the initial slope of the raised zebr; (1:6) made many drivers stop completely before driving over it slowly. This occasionally create[ short queues. A number of changes were made to rectify these problems: the slope of the hump was madf more gentle (1:9), more bollards w e n constructed to make parking on the walkway impossible a slab pavement was laid on the walkway through the side street, and areas in the side stree’ where street traders could be accepted were demarcated with lines of high wooden poles, ir consullation with the traders involved, After this second round, the route functions ver) satisfactorily. The pedestrians now cross safely and can move on the walkways, without the n m to mix with the motor vehicle and bicycle traffic on the main carriageway.
ocntion
Morogoro (pop. 200,000). Tanzania
:ONDITIONS before)
1. Pavemen:. In front of shops along Old DSM Road shopkeepers have cmated a concreti pavement (mainly cast at the spot). The other walkways are compacted rnurram. When vehicles often park and in the side street, polholes accumulate wafer when it rains, an< transform the “walkways” into a difficult terrain to pass. 2. Traffic volume. The estimated number of pedeslrians crossing at the intervention spot is 730( in 12 hours (counts). The maximum motor vehicle flow along Old DSM Road is 870 vehhoui (total both ways), from 1000-11:00 AM - a peak time indicative of the fact that motoi vehicles play a commercial role here rather than a significant journey-to-work role. 3. Motor vehicle speeds. Before the intervention, the estimated ~ ( 8 5 %speed ) was 43 !unibr. This weed went down 10 11 kmihr with the initial raised zebra dove. and to 16 kmJhr after making the slope more gentle. 4. Modal split. The 1996 modal split of the traffic along Old DSM Road was:
I
mode: #wits
Walk
Cvcle
Bus
Minibus
Car
Tntck
m.evcle
%
40
36
1
1
7
I2
3
100
(in eouniiog mis. not mMng into account vehicle wupaneyl
‘ROBLEMS
1. Pedeslrian crossing is unsafe. Non-fatal accidents happen regularly. 2. For vulnerable pedestrians (young or old, disabled) waiting times are long, and protect& waiting areas are not available. 3. The walkways are often blocked by parked vehicles and street traders. 4. The pavement of the side street is in bad condition. Using it during the rainy period is z problem.
)BJECTIVES
(in combination wirh :he raised zebra crossing) I. Enable unobstructed pedestrian movement on the walkways, in particular through the short. cut route, and eliminate pedestrian walking on the carriageway. 2. Create safe traffic conditions aunear this spot. in particular for crossing pedestrians and fox cyclists moving on the main carriageway.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BiCYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
SFFECTS
(in combination with the raised zebra crossing) 1. Obstruction of pedestrian movement by street traders now is minimal, and parking of vehicles on the walkway has been eliminated. Pedestrians no longer have to walk on the carriageway. 2. Road safety athear this spot has been restored. No accidents have been reported after implementation of the intervention. 3. The attractiveness of the pedestrian short-cut route has increased. 4. Motor vehicle access having been eliminated, the walkway pavement remains good, also on compacted earth parts. 5. Slowing down cyclists with the raised zebra is also a useful effect. It almost eliminates unpleasant (although not very dangerous) conflicts between speeding bicycles and pedestrians (before, bicycle speeds of up to 30 kmntr were not uncommon).
30STS
(including the raised zebra) 4,500 US$. No B/C ratio has been calculated for this intervention. It will be comparable to that in examples 2 and 7.
iaised zebra crossing between the regional bus station and the walking route through the side street. Situation before side street pavement and location of street traders.
Side street after paving and arrangements with street traders.
Map showing the position of the improved route in the pedestrian route network.
CHAPTER 13
EXAMFUS OF rNTEEVM0NS
139
XAMPLE 2
WALKWAY IM.PROVERlENT ALONG A ROAII CORRlDOR
YTERVENTION
The walking mute improvement package included: (a) mnmction of a separste walkway along the regional hospital fence, separatfd from the parked taxi and mini-buses (pavement compacted m m ; low masonry walls around flower beds w e n used as part of the separation), (b) walkway rewnsmction in front of a fuel station and reconsbuction of an adjoining Yjunction to T-shape, (c) consbuction of three MIC calming spots to improve crossing safety (narmwing wuh bicycle slips at two intersections and speed humps in fmnt of the hospital), (d) c o n s ~ ~ ~ tofi ofour n pedesman bridges over small streams (or open drains), and (e) small spot impmvements to walkway pavement (levelling with compacted m m ) .
lackgmund
Often, the speed,convenience and safety of walking along urban s w t s in Africa ts determined strongly by the difficulties encountered at specific spots. examples of difficult spots are areas where buses and taxi’s either park or stop, fuel station entrances, lack of aossings over open drams (which forcespedestrians to walk on the carriageway), and generally the lack of a pmtected sepmte walkway. Hence, walking mutes can he significantly improved by taking care of the problem spots along the mute. O h there is no direct need for a much more expensive upgrading of the entire mute, after the main difficulties have been removed. The mute improvement shown here includes examples of several typical problems.
acatwn
Momgom (pup. 200,000),Tanzania
mid
Gouaoa to ~e mg+md hospital afterrrcoosvunian.Separationhy meam of small flower beds. No1 visible: minibus station m he left hand side and tani stand on the right-hand side.
:ONDITIONS before)
1. This road is one of the most important pedestrian routes in Morogom, from residential areas in the east towards the city center. The pedestrian ADT increases as the mad gets nearer to the
center, where it reaches amund 1O,OOO/day. 2. Existing soil is of reasonable quality. If shaped properly and not damaged by parked vehicles, a compacted soil footpath remains accessible during rains. 3. The MIC on the main carriageway is a mixture of motor vehicles (-t 40% of all vehicles) and cyclists (+ 60% of all vehicles). 4. The bitumeu carriageway is 8-10 meters wide and of fair pavement quality (i.e. isolated potholes here and there, that have been filled with gravel). Total improved walkway section length: 900m.
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES. VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
140
PROBLEMS
1. Several dangerous spots where pedestrians have to walk on the carriageway, in particular where two small streams pass under the road in big culverts. (see map). 2. The regional hospital entrance, where pedestrians have to find their way across an area blocked by chaotic mini-bus and taxi parking. 3. A dangerous long crossing distance (of around 20 m), created by a fuel station entrance at a Y-junction. 4. MT speeds are too high (>40-50km/hr) in view of the traffic conditions.
3BJECTIVE
Create a safe and convenient walking route along this road.
spot improvements to walkway pavernen
WALKING ROUTE IMPROVEMENT MOROGORO total length of section shown: 1 kilometer note: roadwidth NOT to scale
3verview of the locations of the different improvements along the route.
Walkway along the hospital fence, separated from taxi stand and mini-buses by poles and small flower beds.
CHAF’TER I3
EXAMPLES OF ~ N ~ E R V E N T ~ O ~ S
141
EFFECTS
The improvement of the walkway was very positively received by the public, pedestrians as we1 as other road users. It was interesting to note that “fine-tuning” of the initial improvement: strongly increased the public appreciation of the intervention, because that upgraded the entire route. This fine-tuning was mainly to resolve remaining bottlenecks (with spot repair o pavement, protective concrete bollards at the reshaped junction, and walkway re-alignment) The travel (walking) time reduction after improvement is an estimated 4 minutes per krr (measured by moving observer).
COSTS and BENEFITS
Zrzvestment: US$ 18,000. Of this total, US$ 12,000 was for pedestrian bridges on both side oj the road over two small streams and repair of the existing culverts there. A~~~~~ cost: annuity cost of capital investment 2,400 US$; annual walkway pavemen maintenance 1,800 US$. Total: 4,200 US$/year. In considering the costibenefit ratio of tht. intervention, it should be taken into account that the absence of pedestrian crossings over the streams at the two intersections seriously reduced intersection capacity, by forcing the higt volume of pedestrians to use the carriageway. The associated accident risk is also considerable Annual benefits. The estimated average time gain is 4 minutes/km, the current pedestrians AD? 8,000, so the benefitiyear is 14,400 US$. This gives a B/C ratio of 3.4 (!), based on increasec walking speed alone (not counting accident reduction).
ConcZusion
In this example, the economic benefits of improving the walking route are much higher than the associated costs. The difference between benefits and costs is so large, that an intervention like this one should have a very high piioiity in any municipal plan for application of the recurrenl annual municipal budget for roads. It is probable that for other pedestrian routes with a similai pedestrian ADT the same conclusion is true.
Walkway separated from carriageway in front of fuel station entrance.
Simple pedestrian footbridge over side-drain, at intersection. Previously pedestrians were forced to walk on the main MT carriageway here.
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GUIDELIiWS FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - IAN 2001
EXAMPLE 3
PEDESTRZAN ROUTE NETWORK DEVELOPMENT
NTERVENTION
This intervention consists of the construction of a pedestrian route towards a newly co~stmcte~ market (& 500 meters track). Part of the track is paved with slabs, part of it with compactes gravel. The track alignment is partly without MT crossing; one access road along the marka wa for that purpose converted into a dead-end road on one side and a circular MT-access loop o: the other side (see map), with the result that MT transit traffic on it is no longer possiblr Simultaneously, as part of the test intervention, drains were constructed and the MT carriagewti improved (gravel standard). The route is part of a larger route network, which still has to b, improved at a later stage to obtain the full benefits. The old part of ward 14 is a planned area, 8 km from the CBD. It was developed in the 1960s as a mixed residential and commercial area.After the 1970s. hardly any road maintenance o new construction was carried out. Economic activity went down, unplanned residentia development grew strongly. The area has a high population density, despite the fact that almos all the houses are ground floor only. Since 1997, attempts have been made to strengthen th, economic activity in the area again. Currently, the central part of Temeke is undergoing i significant change. A large market has been constructed (a 20,000 square meter wallec compound). This is expected to bring a lot of commercial activity back. Not only will the marke itself house a lot of businesses, it will probably also make it more attractive for other businesse to open up in the immediate surroundings, to profit from the customers attracted to the area. Due to these developments, the requirement to have safe and direct pedestrian routes fo the main travel flows inside Temeke -which are on foot -,gains in importance. However. at tht same time, proper traffic calming is required to assure pedestrian safety, because the MT wil also increase. Planned parking facilities will also become much more important, to preven random parking from creating traffic chaos. Finally, a greater "secondary CBD' function il Temeke will increase the number of relatively short distance trips within the area. These an ideally suited for cycling, which costs less and is faster than both mini-bus and walking, for thc trip distances concerned. Moreover, it provides a vehicle for carrying goods. Forward planninl of transport infrastrucmre in the ward to deal with all these changes. and to use the associate< oppomnities, has not been taken up seriously yet.
bention
Dares Salaam, Temeke ward 14, Tanzania.
'an Of Ule route. before intervention.
Same part of rhc mute &er intervention.
CHAPTER 13
CIONITIONS
EXAMPLES OF I N T E ~ ~ E ~ I O N S
143
1. The people living in the area and those that do business there have conflicting interests as well as parallel ones. Those that illegally occupy part of the road reserve with their business (obstructing NMT) can easily see a municipal initiative to upgrade the walking routes as a threat, because the walkways require the public land that they now use as their own. Other businesses, that depend on being accessible for their customers (most of them coming on foot) welcome improved walking routes. 2. Construction of pedestrian walkway facilities in the area is not possible without proper simultaneous drainage (re-)construct~on. 3. Construction of pedestrian walkways in the area is not durable, unless the pavement of the most important access roads for MT is also repaired to at least gravel standard. Failure to do so will make pedestrian facilities so superior to motor vehicle facilities that it will not be possible to stop vehicles from using on them (and destroy them quickly in the process). No bollards or other obstacles could prevent that. They would be taken away, as experience showed in earlier tests with interventions that were highly contested by some vehicle owners.
Part of the route, before intervennon
Same part of the route after intervention
PROBLEMS
1. Transit traffic. The high density of residents, combined with the high number of commercial customers in the central part of the ward, inakes it highly undesirable that the roads in that area attract a significant amount of transit traffic. Transit traffic has to stay on the surrounding urban corridors: Nyerere Rd., Mandela Rd. and Kilwa Rd. 2. Night-time parking of trucks. 3. Inefficient traKic flow at key intersections. 4.The main pedestrian routes in the area do not follow the coliector roads, but cross them at right angles towards the central part of the ward, or the adjacent industrial area outside the ward, or to bus stops along the collectors. Many routes have no official right of way and no pavement. All access roads in Temeke are in bad condition, Motor vehicles and crosion have transformed the leftovers of roads into a sandy desert (with pools of stagnant water during the rains). 5 . Drainage is bad in most parts of Temeke. The main reasons are that (i) existing drains quickly silt with sand due to heavy erosion (most of the soil is bare and lacks vegetation cover such as grasses); and (ii) are hardly maintained (de-siited); and (iii) were partly destroyed by motor vehicles, mainly trucks (e.g. parking on drain walls).
03JECTIVES
1. Create safe, direct and comfortable access on foot or bicycle to the central part of Temeke from all residential parts of the ward, as part of a good traffic solution for accessibility of the new market and its surrounding area. This means that the pedestrian network development shown in this example is part of a larger plan, involving: - efficient motor vehicle circulation on the colIector roads in the area, - mini-bus routesistops on the collector roads only,
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
- a pedestrianized core access network to the market froin three sides, with a minimum number of crossing points with MT roads, - good motor vehicle access to the market for freight traffic (supplies) and businesses in the central area, - concentrated parking lots for motor vehicles, no parking along the collector roads in the central area. 2. Demonstrate that a good NMT route from the unplanned area at the back of Temeke to central Temeke can be constructed at modest costs, and significantly improves the mobility of residents of that area. EFFECTS
1. The immediate positive effect on the image of the area surprised all involved, and created a very positive response. This was reinforced by the fact that walkways, drains and improvements to the MT carnageway werc combined, which creates a situation with benefits for all parties involved (also for those that identify their own intcrests primarily with MT). 2. The average number of daily users of the new walkways cannot be assessed properly at this moment, because the new situation, including the new market, has to reach an initial equilibrium. Initial traffic counts iinmcdiately after opening of the new walkways indicate pedestrian ADTs at different spots of 1,000 to 4,000.
COSTS and BENEFITS
bzvest/nent: US$70,000. Of this total, US$ 15,000 is for walkways. 19,000for MT carriageway reconstruction, and 38,000 for drains. The main cost item is drains. Without good drains, the usefulness of the walkways and the market area as a whole becomes minimal in the rainy season, and erosion due to lack of drains will quickly ruin the walkways. This is typical. Without proper drainage, road improvements, whether walkway or carriageway, are short-lived. Compared to the costs of the drains, those of walkways are much lower (unit costs: walkway + MT blocking: US$5-12 /m2, depending on type; stone-masonry drain: US$40-70 h l ) . Aiznlral cost: annuity cost of investment and periodic maintenance 12,000 US$/year. From this total, US$ 3,000 is for walkways (500 in), including pavement maintenance of 1,000 US$ (@ 0.5Iin2). Benefifs: The average travel time gain of a trip on foot using the new walkway is estimated to be 4 min. per km of walkway (from bad to good pavement condition). Per pedestrian ADT of 1,000 this means a benefit of US$ 2,000 per year. This implies that the estiinated pedestrian break-even traffic for this walkmg route (4 meter-wide walkway) is:
ialkway section over Mwembc Ladu (newly developed as city park).
Walkway section with two plot entrances, bollards yet to bc piit in place to block MT froin the walkway. A cost effective solution: drain in the middle, MT one side, NMT other side.
CHAPTER 13
Break-even trafic for a iiew 4 meter wide ~ ~ a l k ~ ~ a y
EXAMPLES OF I ~ T E R V E ~ T I O N S
iww
paveiiient fype
mui-rain concrete slabs
145
previous paveiiieizr condition
Break-even pedesrriuri ADT
bad bad
2600 3200
The estimated maxiniuin peak walkway capacity of a 4 meter-wide walkway with two-way walking and some disturbance by street trading is 2,000 persons per hour (effective transit width 2.0 meters, speed 4-5 km, LOS “acceptable”, see guidelines, part 3). This corresponds to an estimated maximum ADT of i2-15,000 per track, which is compatible with approxiinately 20,000 daily visitors to the market area, after the market has been developed completely.
Corner with no MT through traffic, to create completely pedestrianized access from one side.
Map showing the location of new market and of the improved walking routes towards it. At one corner of the market MT passage has been cut-off, to create a pedestrianized access situation from one direction.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
EXAMPLE 4
WALKWAY PAVEMENTS
[NTERVENTION
In different interventions described in other examples, various NMT pavements have been applied. These are: compaction of existing soil, compacted rnurram (a specific kind of local gravel), cement stabilized soil, pavement slabs of different sizes and premix (bitumen).
Yackground
The choice of pavement materials for walkways was not included in the program of test interventions as a primary issue. Tests concentrated on the walking route (mobility) aspects rather than the pavemenrs. A much more detailed series of tests that focus on the pavement materials themselves is appropriate. It is important to realize that such testing must be camed out separately in different countries, because the costs of the various components involved can differ significantly between countries. For compacted earth pavements, the quality of locally available deposits will also create significant cost differences within the same country. Some initial findings are listed below. In interpreting the cost data one should be aware of the fact that for elements such as concrete slabs and walkway side restraints no well-established building materials industry exists in Tanzania or Kenya. Consequently the costs mentioned here can be reduced significantly in case of a larger continuous program, that creates economies of scale (in both production of elements and in labor productivity and quality of construction).
Location
Dar es Salaam and Morogoro, Tanzania; Eldoret, Kenya
ZONDITIONS
Specific to each location. For example: loose sandy soil, black-cotton soil, slopes, lack of vegetation cover of adjacent soil. The pedestrian ADT also is important, but in the first place for the walkway width. For lower ADT’s the initial response is a narrower track, rather than a lowercost pavement.
?ROBLEMS
I. Damage to walkway pavements caused by motor vehicles. 2. Erosion by storm water. 3. Insufficient water run-off or self-draining soil properties. 4.Lack of availability of low-cost paving blocks and construction skills. 5. Lack of arrangements for reguIar maintenance.
3BJECTNE
Facilitate selection of the most appropriatepavement type, in a specific locatiodconditionscase.
PAVEMENT ALTERNATIVES hipacted earth
Almost all walking routes in Tanzania and Kenya have an earth pavement, compacted by daily pedestrian use. Where drainage conditions are good, local soil properties reasonably good and use is by pedestrians only (or pedestrians and cyclist only), a compacted earth track usually has a fair to good quality, suitable for walking. Walking speeds on a smooth, hard and dry earth track are the same as on walkways paved with compacted rnurram, concrete slabs or premix. This means that for many walking routes it is better to concentrate on spot improvements and drainage.
Cement stabilized soil
If the existing soil is sandy enough, cement can be used to stabilize it. A test track was constructed with 7%cement mixed into the upper 10 cm layer (one 50 kg bag per 3 m2). This soIution appears to be stronger than compacted rnurram, and to have better properties during rains (but can only be applied if the availabIe soil has enough sand and no organic matter). With proper grass cover of the sides of the track, side restraints can be omitted. Clay soils can be stabilized with lime.
Compacted rnurrani
When the quality of the existing soil is not good enough, but soil deposits of good quality are available within a reasonable distance, walkways can be paved with compacted imported soil (locally used: murram,i.e. a reddish gravel with a higfi iron content). The preferable soil is of the type that is also used as base material for roads, but the size of aggregates in the soil should
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Tide restrain1
EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTIONS
147
be small. Mixing with river sand improves the drainage properties. The most important weakness of a murram pavement is that it becomes softer when it is wet, and then it is vulnerable to heavy wheel loads and erosion. When a murram track is properly shaped to make rain run off well, it will not become too soft, and as long as protected against MT entrance, remain in good condition. The most vulnerable spots are where the water run-off accumulates; these erode quickly. To reduce the vulnerability of a murram walkway, concrete side restraints (100x6~20 cm) can be used. Side restraints facilitate and reduce maintenance work and in most cases have a BIC ratio >1. Exceptions are low volume tracks, self-draining soils and tracks with good grass cover of the sides.
Sutface dressing on Compacted gravel base
To protect a compacted murram walkway against rain, surface dressing can be applied. This is an attractive protection, but requires considerable skill to apply properly. Most contractors need extra training (labor intensive surface dressing practices have been developcd; ref. UN ILO ASIST, Harare, Zimbabwe). For a walkway, fine aggregates must be used (smaller than for surface dressing of a road). A surface dressed walkway pavement requires regular maintenance (minimum repair cycle: once per year). If maintenance is inadequate, potholes will develop. If these remain unattended the result is a pavcment that is worse than compacted m u m m without surface dressing. Protection against MT access i s essential, since basc and pavement strength is too low for MT wheel loads. Since the track surface looks like a bitumen road, the temptation for vehicle drivers to use it will be great. Therefore it cannot be recommended for wide walkways without decisivc blockage of MT access.
Concrete slabs with side restraint
A concrete slab pavement of 30x30 cm slabs, laid on a sand bed, provides a good and durable pedestrian walkway pavement. Like all other walkway pavements, it needs to be protected against MT access, because the foundation strength and slab strength are not enough to cany MT wheel loads. In particular trucks and loaded pick-ups will damage the pavement immediately. The slabs require side restraints (100x20~6cm). The image of this type of track was found to be highly positive; it lifts the status of the route. This gives it an additional areaimprovement impact, on top of its effect on convenicnce and speed of walking. Most contractors need training in the skill of laying pavement slabs with side restraints. Neither slabs nor proper side restraints were available in Tanzania and Kenya as standard building materials. Production on an isolated project basis increases their costs and reduces their quality.
h r g e concrete slabs When concrete slabs are larger and thicker, they can be laid without side restraints. Minimum without side restraint dimension then is 50x50~7.For wide tracks, the cost of the extra thickness cxceeds the cost of side restraints. For narrow tracks (e.g. residential access in high density unplanned areas) the heavy and large slabs without side restraints are probably more attractive. These slabs can also be stolen less easily (e.g. 60x60~7cm= 63 kg). In places where the adjacent soil is bare, without grass cover, and exposed to significant erosion, the track will have to be re-laid properly every year after the rains. However, this requires no material costs and only a small amount of labor. Failure to re-lay the track properly will make it harder for pedestrians to use it and for cyclists and carts it becomes almost impassable. 1
Premix bitumen, Compacted gravel base
Instead of surface dressing, premix bitumen can also be used to seal against rain and wear and tear from pedestrians, bicycles and carts. This solution is more expensive, but has the advantagc that it is technically easier to construct properly. The elasticity of this pavement is also better than that of surface dressing, so potholes develop less easily. Protection against motor vehicle use is equally needed (when a walkway or walkkycle way base strength and pavement thickness is applied), but again difficult because the track resembles a motor vehicle lane. When the track is properly shaped, side restraints may not be required.
Bitumen emulsion, Compacted gravel base
Another sealing is with bitumen emulsion, which is a rather new product on the market in Africa. Further tests with this type of walkway finish are still needed. Probably, a mixture of bitumen emulsion and sand will be the preferred option. Application is relatively easy.
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The costs mentioned in the table below are derived from average costs of construction in the tes interventions in the pilot projects. This sample is too limited to get a reliable cost estimate, ii particular where costs of maintenance are concerned. The table above is therefore indicativi only. Larger scale construction of walkways should allow costs to be reduced subs~n(ia1ly.11 case of large scale application, concrete slab walkway pavements should cost +. US$7/m2. :OSTS UItif cost (in US$ hn2)
Estiimred anrzual iimiiiteizniwe (US$hr2)
Annual nmiiztenance ns % qf initin1 costs
Estirirared total cost (per m2/year)
Compacted earth
1.5
1.O
4.5
0.5-0.75 0.5-0.7
30-50 O/n
Compacted murram with side restraints
10-15 %
1.4
Cement stabilized soil (no side restraints) Concrete slabs (30x30) with side resrraints
3.5
0.5
15%
1.1
10-12
0.2
2%
I .9
Concrete slabs (60x60) Surface dressing (repeated annually) Prernix bitumen (3.5 cm) Bitumen emulsion
11-13 7.0
0.1-0.2
1-2%
I .9
1.4-2
20-30%
2.5-3
10-13
0.6
5%
2.6
(?I
0.8
10% (?)
c 2
Qpe:
8
The cost table suggests that where sufficient pavement smoothness and compaction can bl achieved by aligning, shaping and compacting tracks with in-situ soil, this IS always the leas costs so~ution,although the annual maintenance costs to keep such walkways in good conditioi are much higher than those of slab pavements. The next -and much stronger- solution, which i only applicable where the composition of the existing soil allows, is a cement stabilized eartl track (in clay soils, stabilization with lime can be an option). If that is not possible, a compactec track with imported gravel and side restraints is the least cost option. Cement stabilized soi tracks and compacted murram tracks both also require substantial annual maintenance. If tha maintenance fails. the tracks will soon be in bad condition.
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;lab puveiiieiit
EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTIONS
149
The solution with the highest durability and the lowest maintenance costs is that of a concrete slab pavement. Wider application of such pavements in Africa is at present constrained by lack of contractor skills and lack of standard production of slabs. Bitumen pedestrian pavements require more maintenance than slabs, and are vulnerable if regular maintenance is not carried out. A disadvantagc of bitumen walkway pavemcnts is that in appearance they cannot bc recognized so easily as walkways where access for cars is forbidden, although using a reddish colored bitumen might reduce this problem.
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EXAMPLE 5
NMT BRIDGE
UUTERVENTION
In this example a two meter-wide bridge was constructed over a small river, which is almost dry in the dry season, but impassible without a bridge when it rains. The bridge is of a culvert type. Riverbed protection against erosion turned out to be required, and was provided with gabions.
Sackgmund
The implementation of this example has taken almost two years. The reason was not that it is technically complicated, but that it was treated by the pilot project team as a 1009i user participation case. The intervention was short-listed by the user platform in Temeke. The area has large unplanned parts, due to strong population growth. Most of these have big accessibility problems. Direct NMT routes towards the center of the ward (schools. markets,jobs, bus station) meet with a small river banier that is difficult to cross. The area served by the NMT bridge shown in this example is called "Yombo island". Since the direct benefits of this NMT bridge were obvious, a specific user platform was established by the local community, in cooperation with the municipal pilot project team, with a well defined terms of reference. This included that there would be a significant contribution from the local community, financially or through labor, to the cost of the bridge. and that the community would take care of future maintenance. After this had been agreed, the Yombo NMT bridge was constructed. with a labor contribution from the community. The first rainy period after construction, the bridge functioned well, but in October 1997 extremely heavy rains damaged one of the ramps of the bridge (see photo) (note: the same rains - nicknamed "el-Nifio rains" - washed away a large number of road bridges in Tanzania and Kenya). The required repair was an unexpected early test for the maintenance ability of the community. The municipal team communicated its preparedness to pay for the cost of the materials required to repair the damage (j5OSO of the total costs), if the community was willing to do the work. During the dry period after the damage, a long period of "struggle" developed. The community implicitly decided to test whether if they refused to do their part, the municipal team would, out of embarrassment. repair the bridge on its own. After six month it had become clear that was not going to happen. Then, the community made a deal with the municipal team and the bridge was repaired by the community with DCC materials and supervision. The quality of the work turned out to be very satisfactory.The mutual satisfactionafter the repair was great.
Locarion
Temeke, Dares Salaam, Tanzania
CONDITIONS
1. Small river, sandy soil, considerable erosion.
2. A lower-middle income population. Many inhabitants in this unplanned area own the house that they live in.
3.During the initial plan preparation. there was an appeal, from the top people involved in the process. to construct a combined NMT/MT river crossing, partly because of the fact that no earlier cases were known where this type of facility had been built for NMT only. However, after a while the NMT-only concept of the bridge and the route that it serves was generally appreciated and supported. 4. In the dry season the pedestrian ADT before construction of the bridge was 1.300. In the rainy season this was reduced to half or less, depending on the water level. PROBLEMS
1. Lack of proper direct routes for pedestrians, cyclists and carts, from unplanned
areas to
markets, schools and bus routes (stops).
OBJECTIVES
Create a good direct NMT route between the Yombo island and the central part of Temeke.
EFFECTS
1. Good and direct NMT route created, without bottlenecks, highly appmiated by those who use it. Micro-commercial activity is starting to develop along the route. The pedestrian volume after opening of the bridge went up by f 50%. and continues to increase. Bicycles (do0 per day) and small push carts (*50 per day) now also start using this route. 2. The community concerned, and the user platform in particular, is proud of having achieved the building of this NMT bridge and to have overcome the problem of its repair later on.
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JOSTS and SENEFITS
EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTIONS
151
Total costs US$ 11,000, including the labor cost equivalent of the community contribution for initial construction plus later repairs (mainly riverbed protection with gabion). Annual costs including maintenance: US$ 1,500. Benefits. The pedestrian (95%) plus cycle ( 5 % ) ADT after construction is 2 2,000.The precise benefits are difficult to estimate because no before and after trip origin and destination surveys are available. The estimated average trip time gain due to the new NMT bridge is 5 minutes (average over existing and diverted trips, and dry and wet season); the time gain for existing traffic from easier passage at the bridge location is around 1 minute in the dry season, and 2 minutes in the wet season -for those that were still wading through. For the others the detour via the nearest dry crossing (a railway bridge) requires 15-20 minutes. The corresponding value of the travel time gain is f US$ 6,000 per year. The estimated B/C ratio of the intervention is 4.0.
VIeeting of the “Yombo-bridge” user platform.
Damaged bridge shortly, after the el-Niiio rains.
Repaired NMT bridge in a period of heavy rain.
The NMT bridge, after repair. Note the gabion protection of the shore.
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES,VERSION 1.3 - IAN 2001
152 ~
:XAMPLE 6
NMT-ONLY ROUTE
VTERVENTION
The intervention consists of the construction of a low NMT bridge - over the summer bed of 5 river (pillars with reinforced concrete deck). construction of a paved connecting track into thr town center, provision of an extra 1.5 meter-wide steel bridee (1 = 20 m) over the Dermaneni part of the river, and improvement of the track section towards the residential area. I
*
'ackgmund
The NMT route in this example already existed before. It developed after a new low-income arez grew to the south of the town center, 10 which it is the shortest route (see map). Initially, it could only be used when the water level in the river that the route crosses was very low. In the early 1990s, a 1.5 m wide footbridge over the main riverbed was constructed as a gift by a club 01 high-income Eldoret citizens. This improved the usefulness of the route substantially. However. during the rainy season the route remained difficult to use or impassable, because of the very bad condition of the tracks on both sides towards the river, and the water in the flood plain. The intervention consists of constructing a cast concrete walkway bridge over the flood plain; adding another 1.5 m wide bridge over the main riverbed (to avoid congestion at the bridge), establishing an official mad reseme for the route north of the river, and construction of a paved NMT track on that reserve. The intervention was selected by the so-called Eldoret Transpon Committee, a group of stakeholders representing a wide range of groups in Eldoret. Constructing a proper NMT route at a spot like this involves significant costs. Often, decision makers tend to assume that such a high investment in an NMT route is a waste of money. However, the estimated benefitkost ratio of the intervention shows that it is a sound cost recovering investment (see below).
ocation
Eldoret, Kenya.
:ONDITIONS
I. A 60 meters wide flood plain to cross, with stable river banks and stable soil for bridge foundation at 1.5- 2.0 meters deep. 2. No official right of way (public road reserve) for most of the mute, which developed spontaneously (as do most shortcut pedestrian routes).
'ROBLEMS
1. Existing route difficult to use or impassable during the rainy season. 2. Pavement of the existing route is in very bad condition. The walking speed on the route was measured before the intervention was implemented. For crossing the flood-plain and the highly polluted connection towards the town center, an average speed of 2.5 M r was found.
'he route towards the town center before the intervention.
The new track towards the town center.
1. To create a good, direct all-weather NMT rorite from the south towards the town center, that can be used by pedestrians as well as by cyclists. 2. To establish a legal right of way for the route, to prevent that later, with increasing densification of the land use in and near the center of Eldorer, land owners construct fences or buildings that interrupt the route. This danger is not hypothetical, as recent examples in Eldoret have shown. 1. Opening of the new “Sosiani causeway” NMT route was widely appreciated, by its users as well as by Eldoret inhabitants in general. 2. ”Be improved attractiveness of the route has started to influence the land use along the route, in particular at the city center end. It will be important. to protect Fhe route against its own success: encroachment by kiosks and street traders onto the main track must be prevented, e.g. by creahng an open area of at least two meters wide between the fronts of kiosks and the paved walkway. 3. The example has a positive impact on public opinion in favor of investment in dedicated facilities for NMT (walkways, cycle tracks, crossings, NMT only routes). 4. The effects of the “Sosiani causeway route” on the volume of pedestrian and of bicyck. &a&c were a bit complex, because at the same moment the traffic safety of an alternative river crossing route, serving partly the same 0-D’s, was strongly improved (bridge in Kisumu road, example 13). As a result, unexpectedly, the pedestrian volume on the improved Sosiani causeway route at first decreased (from 6,5O~/dayto 5,5aO/day). The changes in travel and route choice patterns were analysed by means of road-side interviews. This showed that: - firstly, on both routes combined bicycle traffk increased with around 500 cyclists per day ~ ~ n e - w arepresenting y~ ‘an over 30% increase of the existing volume of cyciists); axI - secondly, on both routes combined pedestrian traffic increased with around 300 per day (one-way), representing an increase in pedestrian volume of around 3%. The components leading ro the pedestrian flow changes were: a significant change in routc choice of pedestrians back to Kisumu road, of people that had prwiousty made the difficult detour along the Sosiani causeway to avoid the dangerous Kisumu road bridge, PIUS * a small decrease in total number of pedestrians because of a modal change walk-to-bicycle; and a farger increase in pedestrians because of a modal change bus-to-walk. The shift walk-to-bicycle as well as the shift bus-to-walk were triggered by the improved traffic safety: pedestrians that had given s p cycling out of few for trafgc accidents, but still have a bicycle, now use their bicycle again; and people that took a bus to avoid walking the dangerous road section over Kisumu bridge now walk again. The largest pm of the modal shift towards cycling came from ex-cyclists that had shifted to the bus out of fear for traffic accidents, and now reverted back to their bicycle. A new traffic count on both routes one year tater indicates that half che initiaf modal shift
towards cycling that occurred immediately after the two interventions faded away. The new cyclists on the NMT-only route remain, but those on Kisumu road disappear again. The renewed reduction in cyclist numbers on Etisumu road is in fact quite logicat, because the route still has a number of other dangerous parts that remained unchanged; solving one dangerous spot does not make the entire route safe. The initial optimism of those that resumed cycling probably died out with the renewed experience of how dangerous other parts of the route still are. This is the same trend that one sees in Eldoret as a whole. Cycling used to be important, and bicycle ownership is high, with more than 50% of all households having one or more bicycles. At present its modal share is still around 10% of all trips, but it goes down slowly as a result of the increased traffic accidenr risk.
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The total investment cost of the intervention (300 m NMT track and bridge) were US$43,000. Total annual costs (annuity cost of capital plus maintenance): US$?,IOO. Betiefirs: (a) The pedestrian ADT is approximately 6,000 (and grows over time). The travel time gain foi pedestrians due to the new route is 3 minutes in the dry season and 8 minures in the rainy season (flood plain impassible, detour via Kisumu Road). This corresponds to US$ 15,000 per year. (b) Cycle ADT went up to 400 (was 100). Part of this increase i s a modal shift ~ a ~ k ~ t o - b i ~ y c l e . another part minibus-to-bicycle. Diverted bicycle traffic also occurs (sec above). For existing bicycle trips the advantage of the route improvement is estimated at 1.5 US$cents per trip. For a modal shift minibus-to-bicsclc the estimated cost saving is 23 US$cents per day (round-ti.ipj, and for a modal shift walk-to-bicycle the estimated net cost saving is estimated to be 1.5 US$cents per passengerkm, or t 12 US$cents per day (increase in direct costs, larger decrease of time costs). (Reference for cost estimates: EconnniicjzrstllZciIrior2 oj iizves?nzenfs in Urban NMT itlfccrstnrctum; National NMT seminar Tanzania, DSM Dec.1998). Estimated total saving for the current bicycle traffic: US$ 14,000 per year. (c) The increased land value along the city-side part of the track, due to attractiveness for street traders, estimated at US$2,000/year. (d) To avoid double counting, the reduced traffic accidenfs during the rainy season -when previously Kisumu Road had to be used as a detour- have not been included in the B/C ratio for this inte~ention. The estimaIed total BIC ratio i s 4.4 (a+b+c). This i s high. It means that the ~nvcs~iiieiit in the route will be earned back after only one and a half years. The conclusion i s that it IS a sound economic policy to invest heavily in direct and safe NMT-only routes on newly established road reserves, unrelated to the existing MT road network. One observation is useful, to place this BIC ratio in proper perspective: the same profitability (a pay back period for invcstnicnt of one to two ye ) is widely reported for the informal mini-bus business, in particular in the large cities. There is a dear relationship between the high piofitability of the mini-bus industry and the captiveness of the average traveller to the minibuses. This captiveness has at least in part been created by the absence of safe pedestrian and bicycle route networks. ~mmediately.of course, the question arises: '*If this type of NMT invesIment IS so profitable, why has it not been made a long time ago?' The answer IS simple, but its consequences are not easy to alter. In the case of the mini-bus industry, the benefits go to the person that makes the investment, In the case of NMT investments by the municipal authority, the benefits go to the general low-income public, not to the investor (/the decision maker). So how to get the investment financed?
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EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTIONS
155
156
EXAMPLE 7
GUIDELINES FOR P E D E S W N AND BICYCLE TRAmC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - IAN 2001
RAISED ZEBRA CROSSING
NTERVENTION
The intervention consists of the construction of a number of raised zebra crossings of the desigr shown below. In most cases the slopes were constructed with precast concrete blocks and the pavement on top with bricks. At the sides zebra-painted steel bollards are used to assure visibility (preference: > 80 cm high) and a row of T-blocks is placed to eliminate MT access t( the walkway near the crossing point.
lackground
Ten raised zebra crossings were consmcted in the pilot pmject in Dar es Salaam (Temeke ward) and one in Marogoro. Different heights and slopes were used to find out fhe reduction in vehiclf speed that different slope and height combinations bring about in the trafk conditions ir Tanzania. The tests showed that in Tanzania the variety in vehicle type and, more importantly quality is much more pronounced than it is in Europe or the US. The clearance below I significant number of vehicles is less than it should be accnrding to the vehicle specifications, either because of failing suspension or overloading. This means that flat-top humps (a raisei zebra crossing is a flat-top bump) create much less damage to vehicles than humps. As a resull raised zebras -previously unknown in Tanzania - were welcomed as a better alternative to humm and applied in other projects.
acarion
Temeke road, Dares Salaam, Tanzania
:ONDITIONS
1. A large number of pedestrians cross this,road. As an example, the estimated pedestrian AD? on Mahunda sueet near the intersection with Temeke Road is 10.000. The average pedestriar ADT crossing Temeke Road at the locations where a raised zebra is constructed (see map) ir approximately 2,200. The concentration of pedestrians is highest at junctions with side streets. but the activities along this mad section are so dispersed that pedestrians cross everywhere. 2.During the day, motor vehicle traffic ranges between 500 and 1,000 vehicles per hour (twoway). Most vehicles a n mini-buses (“dala data”), which results in a peak hourly passengei flow on this road of about 15,000 passengerslhour in the peak direction. 3. Dala dala’s stop randomly on the road shoulder to (un-)load passengers. 4. The estimated ADT ofcyclists on Temeke Road is 1,000-1,400, depending on the section. The bicycle ADT on Mahunda Street is e 2,300.
’ROBLEMS
1. Crossing the mad is dangerous for pedestrians, due to the high speed of motor vehicles. combined with the unwillingness of most drivers to slow down to let a pedestrian cross. 2. The high speed of vehicles increases the risk of vehiclelvehicle collisions, which when they occur: - create a lot of damage, and - create a significant traftic delay (traftic jams). 3, Due to the high top speeds of motor vehicles. cycling in mined lraftic is dangerous.
CXAPTER 13
EXAMPLES OF ~ N T E ~ ~ E ~ I ~ N S
157
DBJECTRES
1. Create a caimed down traf5c pattern along the entire section of Temeke Road, allowing safe crossing for pedestrians at most points along the road. 2. Create crossing points with a low vehicle speed, where vulnerable pedestrians (elderly. children, etc.) can be sure that they can always cross without danger (create “green spots”).
EFFECTS
I. Very positive for pedestrian and cyclists: traffic accidents on the road section where raised zebra were c o n s t ~ c ~ esystesnati~aIly d were aImost eliminated. Safe crossing becomes possible and bicycle safety improves significantly (see example 22. Aggregate effects of traffic calming). 2. An unexpected positive effect was created by the concentration of dala dala stopping, where bus bays were constructed adjacent to the raised zebras (see example 14, Bus bays). 3. Positive for motor vehicle traffic: reduced cost of accident damage, and no significantntincrease in average speed on this road section. The unchanged average speed is the combined effect of lower max~mumspeeds (-1, reduced intersection waiting times (+), and less delay caused by random stops of mini-buses (+). 4. Negative for operators of large carts. The raised zebras are difficult obstacles for rhem (although easier than road humps of similar height). A systematic introduction of raised zebra crossings on all local collector roads and collector roads in the city will probably make thc operation of large pushcarts so unattractive, that the operators are forced to change to other smafler - types of cart, that can be operated on pedestrian walkways. From a traffic circulation point of view, this should probably be regarded as a positive effect of the large scale introduction of raised zebras. 5 . The pedestrian waiting times at raised zebra crossings are not reduced, but on the contrary. increased. This effect is caused by two in~red~ents. (i) Slowing down the vehicles does not influence the size and distribution of the inter-vehicle gaps, nor increases the willingness of the drivers to yield to pedestrians that cross. fiif Traffic calming of an entire road section leads to more dispersed pedestrian crossing. This reduces the overail pedestFifiar?/ motor vehicle interference and the corresponding delays. However, at the raised zebra sires, one now finds a greater percentage of the more vulnerable pedestrians, that wait for longer gaps before crossing. 6. Safe pedestrian waiting areas must be provided, that cannot be accessed by motor vehicles (either for bypassing the raised zebra or for parking). This improves the attractivei~essof using the crossing point for pedestrians, and it improves the recognition of the crossing point by ail road users. Interviews with road users confirm that most peopie feel more safe and at ease after rhe &a@c calming interventions. It is inreresting to note &at pedestrians say that drivers arc no[ now more polite towards them, nor more often let them pass. On raised zebra crossings, vehicles push through as much as they can, and pedestrian waiting time did not go down. 7. Proper integration of the pedestrian crossing facilities in a network of improved main walking routes enhances the use of the crossing points. Such a pedestrian route network can partly be over separate access road reserves rather than along the main MT roads (see example 3). 8. The driver behavior at a hump seems to be more unifoim in Tanzania than it is in Europe, ~ r o b a b ~due y to rhe higher i ~ n p o ~ a attached nc~ to the risk of vehicle damage. This seems to apply equally to &hers of new vehicles and to drivers of public transport vehicles. While the latter seem to drive rather recklessly at some points, one will not see them drive fast over a raised zebra or speed hump. 9. The visibility of the raised zebra is very important. Painted white stripes give little improvement, due to sand and dust accumularing on the road surface and to quick wear and tear. The legally required traffic signs also do not help much to improve the visibility of a raised zebra. The most effective element are (i) high vertical iron pipe bollards (> 80 cmf, painted with black and white stripes, and $3 white painted T-blocks that protect the pedessrian waiting area from vehicles that might attempt to by-pass the raised crossing over the road shoulder. Precast concrete sloping blocks can also be painted with black and yellow triangles.
158
Jnifortnity of design ‘trength
:OSTS and lENEFITS
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES. VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Uniformity of design throughout the entire city is also important to achieve easier recognition by vehicle drivers. 10. The strength of the hump foundation and pavement is very important. If it is not great enough, pavement damage will develop quickly directly in front of and behind the slopes. Tests were conducted to minimize this: * by the application of a brick pavement in front of and behind the raised zebra (the tests have already shown that on top of the raised zebra brick pavement is much stronger than bitumen; and * by the application of an extra cast concrete foundation. The initial findings are positive, a next version of the guidelines will report on longer-time effects on pavement damage prevention. Typical costs of a raised zebra crossing which is constructed on an existing road are around US$4,500, -including accompanying measures. The corresponding annual costs are US$ 1,000, including maintenance. Benefits. Five raised zebra crossings were built at the first test section along a part (40%) of Terneke road in Dar es Salaam. In the 6 months before the intervention 12 accidents occurred there (with 3 hospitalized victims) During those six month no fatal accidents occurred, but in the previous year there were five (on Temeke road). In the six months after the interventions, the accident number went down to 2 (with 1 hospitalized victim). A benefitkost cstimate based on these accident numbers gives:
US$ - annual costs of the intervention (5 raised zebras) - avoided costs 1 fatal accident - avoided costs 4 serious injury accidents/year - avoided costs of 16 vehicle damage accidents
5,000 3,000 1,000 4,800
The corresponding B/C ratio is 1.75. It is interesting to see that the avoided costs of damage to vehicles (i.e. benefits to MT) are equal to the costs of the interventions. For a more general overview of the traftic safety effects, see example 22.
Raised zebra crossing in a collector road. Note h e protection of the pedestrian waiting area with T-blocks. The slope of this raised zebra consists of a bitumen pavement overlay on a concrete sloping block foundation. Pavement on top: bricks.
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:XAMPLE 8
PAINTED ZEBRA CROSSING WITHOUT SPEED CALMING
VTERWNTION
Ordinw zebra crossings were provided at ten spots along a dual carriageway in Nairobi, Kenya The provisions consisted of improved pavement of the pedestrian waiting area and the walkwa3 approaches to the crossing point, demarcation of the waiting area with steel bollard, paved area! in the central median of the road (including crossing slabs over the drain), painted ordinary zebr; crossings on the carriageway and road signs waning of the zebra crossing ahead. At one spo (at a roundabout) guard rails were placed to channel the pedestrians towards the crossing poin (to discourage crossing over the central island).
‘aciqmund
logo0 Road is a dual carriageway with a median (2x2 lanes), and a major urban corridor ir Nairobi. A number of alternatives to provide safer pedestrian crossing were worked out. The need for safe crossing facilities is difficult to dispute: more than 20 pedestrians and cyclists art killed per year on Jogoo Road (5 km long), most while attempting to cross it. The modal splii of inhabitants of this area of Nairobi is approximately: 10% by car, 45% entirely pedestrian anc 45% bus trips with pedestrian access and egress. The decision making process that followed was typical for the great hesitation amon! engineering depalrments in cities in the developing world to take pedestrian traffic seriously Although in theory driving this 5 km long section with an average speed of 100 km/hr insteac of 50 km/hr would create a time gain of 2 minutes, in practice intersection delays dictate average speed of 15 kmh (peak) to 30-40 kmhr (off peak), and the fact that many vehicle: speed up to 100 kmhon shorl sections where they can has no effect on their total journey time It only makes the road very dangerous. Yet. all crossing alternatives that included an element of traffic calming were rejected, with the argument that they would trigger a strongly negative reaction from car owners. The conntm proposal of the decision makers was to provide a large number of conventional painted zebra crossings, without alterations to the existing motor carriageway. They expressed theii expectation that this would significantly improve the pedestrian crossing conditions and reduce the number of accidents. Drivers, once aware of the designated zebra crossings, would respect pedestrians much more than without zebra crossings. It was agreed to test whether this was true or not.
acotion
Nairobi, Kenya
:ONDITIONS
a wide median, with an open drain. The carriageway has a different width on different sections. As a result the number of lanes is ill-defined. On the narrowest sections it is lwo lanes (in both directions), but at other points three cars can drive parallel to each other. This situation makes the traffic flow pattern chaotic, encourages overtaking and reduces the total road capacity, due to the “turbulence” of the flow. No traf!ic lane indications are visible on the pavement. A number of U-turngaps in the median increase the accident hazards. 2. The pavement was in reasonably good condition at the time of the painted zebra crossing tests. A year after the tests the road was resurfaced thus enabling even higher speeds), without alterations to its shape and without construction of acceptably safe crossings. 3. When there are no queues, only 27% of the vehicles drive at a speed below 50 km/hr (the speed limit). The highest measured speeds are around 100 kmlhr (measured at mid-block
‘ROBLEMS
1. High volume of pedestrians crossing. The road is a barrier between large residential areas and
1. The road has
the main industrial area of Nairobi. Large numbers of pedestrians cross Jogoo Road daily (see below). The MT volume in the morning peak (towards CBD, at the CBD end of logo0 road) is around !,7W can, 300 mini-buses, 40 big buses and 60 trucks per hour (canying an estimated 16,000 persons). This is not higb for two traffic lanes, yet there is a substantial traffic jam in the peak hours. created by inefficient traffic flow at the intersections. 2. Pedestrian crossing volumes were measured at the ten intervention spots. The total average number crossing there in the morning peak (630-8:30 AM) is 19,000,in the evening peak (1630-18:30PM) it is 18,600. Significant numbers cross in-between the counted crossing
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spots. The total number of persons crossing the road in the peak hours is estimated to be 809 of the number of MT passengers traveling along it. At several points, the number of crossin; pedestrians is also high outside the peak hours, probably outnumbering the MT passenger that travel along the road. 3. Twenty (20) pedestrians and cyclists were killed by the traffic in 1996. 4. The most dangerous traffic conditions are in off-peak periods (including evenings and night) when speeds are much higher than in the peak periods. 5. Driver behavior in general is rude towards pedestrians and cyclists. IBJECTIVES
1. Provide safer conditions for pedestrian crossing. Indicator: a reduction in pedestrian accidents.
SFFECTS
1. Observations showed that there was no change in motor vehicle driver behavior. Drivin;
continued as if the zebra crossings did not exist. 2. No change in vehicle speed distribution was found. The average V(S5Sj speed before wa 63 kmkr ; V(85%) after = 64 km/hr. 3. The average waiting time in the median, before crossing, was 20 seconds (time used fo crossing 5-6 sec. i.e. walking as fast as possible or running), with an average vehicle flow o 1,500 veh./hr. Theoretically, with this intensity and crossing time, the average waiting timi for a suitable gap in the vehicle stream is around 50 seconds (chapter 16). This means that ii practice many pedestrians take a considerable risk by using a very small gap between twc vehicles (as confirmed by the high accident rate), or cross jointly with a larger crowd, forcin; the vehicles to slow down. 4. The number of traffic accidents did not go down after the interventions. 5. Pedestrians appreciated the increased comfort of well-paved pedestrian approaches anc waiting areas at the crossing points, and the provision of the crossing points led to a sligh concentration of the crossing movements to the designated crossing areas. 6. It turns out that no positive safety effect was achieved at all. Therefore, the conclusion is tha the painted zebras risk to increase accident hazards, by wrongly suggesting to naivi pedestrians (e.g. children) that they can cross safely. To avoid fake safety, it was decided tc let the paint fade away. ZOOSTS and BENEFITS
Total cost of provision of ten upgraded pedestrian crossings (each crossing 2x2 lanes) was US! 32,000. There was no reduction in accidents or in pedestrian waiting times, so the benefits weri zero, and the BIC ratio 0.
Guard rails were constnicted at some places as part of the test. They channelize most pedestrians, hut cannot prevent that some ignore them. Note (hat the zebra paint at this spot has. six months after construction. almost faded away.
I
/ Sketch of the zebra crossing at the end of the road. Guard rails wer used to channelize the pedestrians.
CHAtTER 13
EXAMPLES OF lNTERVUSI?ONS
EXAMPLE 9
163
SPEED HUMP
NTERVENTION
In this example three round shaped speed humps were constructed. Hump height: 10 ern, slope 1:lO. material: asphalt concrete.
fackgrortnd
After the negative results of tests with painted-only zebra crossines in Nairobi. a follow-un test was made on a collector road in the same area, near two primaq schools. The traffic situatic was reported by the school teachers to be dangerous for pupils, and accidents had occurred. Tt road, which is a mini-bus route, is quite busy. The test shows that a series of speed humps is vet effective to reduce vehicle speeds, and creates a much safer traffic environment.
ocarion
Nile Road, Nairobi, Kenya
-
Nile mad, Nairobi. (not 1e scale)
:ONDITIONS
I. Fair bitumen road surface, wide straight road section, passing schools. 2. The road is not an arterial, so no objections exist against speed humps. 3. ADTmotor vehicles 3,100. 4. Average number of pedestrians crossing in from of one of the schools: 620 children + 21' adultslday (similar numbers near the other schools). 5. Highest measured speed ("before") 105 km/hr; V(85%)=62 !adhr. 6. The initiative came from the teachers of one of the schools.
'ROBLEMS
Collector road passing the location of two primary schools. The road width (7-8 metcrs), pavement quality and the absence of nearby intersections invites speeds that are too high for thi spot. Accidcnts recorded by the police: fatal 0.75, serious injury 2.25, slight injuly 6.5 (avera3 over the four years before the intervention; records pmhably incomplete).
)BJEWE3
1. Create saie traffic conditions for pedestrians, in particular for crossing. 2. To achieve this, reduce MT speeds to 15-20 kmhr at the location of the humps. (note: in many countries the provision of this type of traffic safety precautions near schools i a road design obligation).
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FFECTS
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
1. The speed reduction was from a ~ ( 8 5 % )speed of 62 km/hr befort: to a ~ ( 8 5 % )of 20 kmh (in-between the humps): the target was achieved. 2. After construction of the humps no dangerous traffic conflicts were observed anymore, ani no accidents were reported in the year after construction. 3. Reactions of the pedestrians were very positive (general users, children, parents, teachers: Initial reactions of drivers were mainly negative, but verbally only, and disappeared over time Negative reactions in terms of irresponsible driver behavior were not observed. 4. The travel time by car over the 300 m stretch with the humps increased by 18 seconds. Th average transit speed after the intervention, of 26 km per hour, is still significantly above thl Nairobi network overall average. 5. No impact of the humps on road capacity was found. The determining capacity bottleneck i the intersection with Jogoo road. 6. No impact on motor vehicle route choice was found. The conclusion is that climination of speeds of ovcr 40 km per hour strongly reduces scriou traffic accidents. No reports were received of accidents caused by the fact that a vehicle drive approaching at too high speed was surprised by the presence of the humps.
/----e
Mid Class speeds. KMIHR
The 'before' 85 % cumulative frequency speed = 62 kph The 'after' 85 % cumulative frequency speed = 19.3 kph
:OSTS and :ENEFITS
Costs were US$2,400 for five road humps. This is equivalent to annual costs of US$ 510 (incl maintenance). Reliable accident data are not available. Therefore, the number of seriously wounded acciden victims has been calculated that must be prevented for annual accident reduction benefits tc break even with costs. This is 2.0 per year. Available -incomplete- police records and anecdotii evidence (by school teachers) indicates that the number of prcvented injury accidents i significantly higher.
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XAMPLE 10
PEDESTRIAN CROSSING ISLAND
VTERVENTION
In this case four traffic islands were consmcted on a 350 m long road section, three of them wit a pedestrian crossing, and one as traffic separator at a Tjunction. The islands ax 2.0 m wide an 12-15 meters long, constructed with high kerbs and further strengthened with T-blocks. At th edge of the road a shoulderlcaniageway separation was constructed with kerbs, but the fin; conclusion is that in similar cases the shoulder separation can better be made with T-blocks. The request to construct safer pedestrian crossing facilities along Temeke Road at this test sit was formulated by a platform of people living near the location. The reason was the frequer occurrence of accidents involving pedestrians. In the morning and afternoon many schoc children (of Temeke primary school no.1) cross the road here. The initial request was for raise, zebra crossings, similar to the ones constructed on another section ofTemeke Road (see exampl 7). However, for testing purposes the NMT project team proposed to construct pedestria crossing islands.
Pedestrian crossing islands were expected to have two advantages over raised zebra: (a) They allow independent crossing of the two traffic directions, thereby require a smalle inter-vehicle gap and thus reduce the waiting time and provide a safe crossing oppormnig provided the physical protection while waiting on the refuge island is completel, guaranteed; and (b) They cause less discomfort to vehicles (no bumping). They were also expected to have a disadvantage: (c) The speed reduction created by an island is usually much smaller than that created by raised zebra or hump. All three expectations turned out to be correct (see below). It was decided to constmct on, additional speed hump at the test location, to discourage the small remaining number of fast an, irresponsible drivers. This successfully suppressed high speeds. acafion
Dares Salaam, Tanzania
:ONDITIONS
1, Fair bitumen pavement. 2. MT flow well below the maximum road capacity. The highest observed total flow (two way is around 500 vehiclesibour. As a result, speeds are often quite high.Average motor vehicl, speed was 44 M r , the average of the 10% highest speeds before intervention: 60 km/lu Most traffic is transit (i.e. has no Uip destination or origin in the neighborhood). 3. 10% of the vehicles on the road are bicycles. Around 75% of all persons moving along tbi road travel in mini-buses. 4.The number of pedestrians crossing the road on the section where the crossing islands wen constructed is 4,000 - 5,000 per day.
CHAPTER 13
‘ROBLENS
E X ~ M P ~ EOF Si N ~ ~ Y E ~ T i 0 ~ ~
167
1. Unsafe crossing conditions far pedestrians, as well as unsafe walking along the road. The lac1 of safety is caused by the combination of two factors: fa) high vehicle speed (relative to thi type of road and roadside activities); and (b) completely open and undefined road shoulders This leads to a crossing distance of 9 meters, exposure of those walking along the road tc sudden maneuvers of vehicles, and, where the shoulder is blocked by a parked vehicle, thc need to walk on the carriageway. 2. Unsafe traffic behavior, Vehicle drivers often misjudge their speed, braking distance anc maneuveiing skill, with the result that hitting of static objects along the road is remarkabl! frequent (bollards, electricity poles, other). A significant number of pedestrians cross the roac dangerously. I. Provide safe pedestrian crossing facilities. 2. Slosv down the motor vehicles to around 40 kmhr by means of the carriageway deflectior around the isfands, without causing discomfort. 3. Increase the safety of cycling, as a resuit of reduced vehicle speeds.
The observed effects of the pedestrian crossing refuge islands were: 1. The average waiting time of pedestrians at the road shouider, before crossing to the island was found to be roughly equal to the average waiting time 6n the island before crossing to thc other side of the road. This demonstrates that one indeed crosses the two apposing vehiclc flows independently. 2. Xmposing lane discipline on MT and strongly reducing the possibility to overtake creates i more quiet traffic pattern. As a result, many pedestrians do not bother to rnake a small detou to cross exactly over the islands, but cross in-between, with a waiting pause i n the middle o the road if needed, in the “shadow” of the island. This habit of waiting in &hemiddle did no exisi previously; apparently it was considered too dangerous then. It is uncertain whether the perception of these pedestrians that it is safe to cross in-betweer the islands is correct. Traffic o b s e ~ ~ a r indicate ~ ~ n s rhat irresponsible driving did not disappea completely. A few cases were reported of a driver overtaking B slow vehicle in front b3 passing the island on the right-lrand side, against the opposing rraffic. The topography of thc location allows such a violation of the traffic rules, because the section is straight an( provides excelIent sight distance on the opposing traffic flow. 3. The initial design narrowed the c ~ i ~ a ~ past e w the a ~island ~ to 3.0 meters. Most drivers as we1 as traffic engineers of Dar es Salaam City Council considered this to be very narrow. Having the entire carriageway deflcction past the island at a constant width of 3.0 meters was seen a: too restriclive. To a large extent this perception reflects the road width that one i s used to Maneuvering simulations with a computer show that even the largest truck/trailei cos~binat~ons can pass on the 3.0 rn lane without d ~ f ~ c u ~provided ty, that they reduce theii speed to around 30 kmihr. Soon after’construction the kerbstones at tlte test site that align the carriageway at the roac shoulder were damaged by large trucks. This happened as a result of unwillingness of thr drivers to slew down enough. It has not been possibie to verify whether part of the damagt was in fact created on purpose. The strength of the initially constructed kerbstone war insufficient to survive being hit by heavy trucks. Constructing the carriageway / shouldei separation past the islands with T-blocks would have been better. Such a separation is lesr vulnerable to damage, and moreover commands more respect from drivers (fear for damage to vehicle tyres) and therefore enhances lower speed. 4. At the moment of repairing the damage to the kerbstone, the carriageway was widened to 3.2. 3.5 m in the deflection; 3.0 ni was only maintained at the crossing point. Afterwards, vehiclt: tyre traces in the sand that accuniulates on the carriageway indicate that in reality a 3.0 meter. wide carriageway is in fact adequate for all vehicles.
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EFFECTS :cont.)
Effects on jehicle speed
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
5. After widening the carriageway again, the speeds also went up again, almost to the level ( the speeds before the intervention. The table below gives an overview of the speeds before the intervention and after tk intervention, in three cases: A= initial carriageway deflection design (3.0 m wide), B= carriageway widened to 3.2-3.5 m, and C= situation B plus one additional speed hump.
Before Top speed (Kmhr) Average speed
A
B
c
60
45
60
49
(52)
(34)
42
34
(C: the speed measurement spot is within the section of the islands, at the same spot as before, not at the location of the hump; values in brackets are estimates based on a small sample (N=50), so less accurate
6. In response to realistic worries expressed by the user platform about the again insufficiei safety after the widening, it was decided to construct an additional speed hump within tb section with the islands. This created a speed reduction to 20 km/hr at the hump an sufficiently low speeds elsewhere, and in general safe traffic conditions. 7. The use of a continuous line of kerbstone at the road shoulder side to align the carriagewa deflections turned out to have undesirable effects: (i) increased accumulation of sand/dust on the carriageway along the kerbstone; this particularly unpleasant for the cyclists on the road; and (ii) obstructed water run-off water now has to flow along the kerb line and causes increase erosion where it finally flows sideways; and (iii) increased speed of vehicles, compared to single element separators such as T-blocks ( bollard. Conclusions
a. A pedestrian crossing refuge island is a very effective way to create a safe pedestrian crossin point with minimal pedestrian waiting times and no delay for motor vehicles due t interference with the pedestrians. b. To create a safe traffic situation, the island must be designed carefully. The following requirements apply: - Miizirnunz islaizrl width 2.0 nz, i.e a minimum carriageway deflection of 1.O m. Where spac allows, a wider island increases the carriageway deflection and therefore the spee reduction effect. - Carriageway with a constaizt 3.0 meters width in the entire deflection. This forces vehicle to slow down to approximately 40 km/hr (large trucks: 30 km/hr). - Where the risk of drivers overtaking the island at the wrong side exists, a total island lengt of 30 meters is recommended and low median longitudinal humps (on the road axi! beyond the tips of the island to prevent overtaking on the wrong side of the island. - Carriageway alignnzent at the road shoulder with T-blocks. These cannot be ignored b drivers without damaging their vehicle, do not obstruct drainage and do not enhance was1 deposits on the pavement. - High colzsrructiolz strength of the island, including T-blocks or heavy concrete bollard th; guarantee complete safety of waiting pedestrians in case of driver error. - Good visibi1ir)t of the island reflective arrows on the island indicating the direction c traffic, high bollard painted blacldwhite to show the location of the crossing poin carriageway alignment with T-blocks painted white (or yellow), island kerbstone painte blacldwhite (or redyellow). Test with reflective paint on kerbs and T-blocks produce disappointing results, probably due to high amounts of dust.
CHAPTER 13
COSTS and BENEFITS
EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTIONS
169
The construction costs per island were US$ 3,300. Roughly 25% of this amount is for the island itself (constructed with high kerbs), 50% for the carriageway alignment at the road shoulder side (in the test, constructed with kerbs; T-blocks are less expensive), and 25% for other items. The construction costs on an existing road depend on the current carriageway width, because that determines the required amount of extra carriageway around the island. At the time of new construction or road rehabilitation, this extra cost element is almost nil. The annual costs (capital + maintenance) of a new traffic island in an existing road lie around US$ 1,200. The traffic accident reduction benefits in the test example have not been calculated, because the effect of the islands was difficult to separate from other traffic calming tests conducted along the same road. An estimate of typical accident cost savings on a collector road (in Dar es Salaam) with fully adequate traffic calming is 4,000 - 5,000 US$ per year per km road (see example 22).
Crossing island seen from the pedestrian direction. Note that the Pedestrian crossing island in a collector road. Note the sand/dust concrete blocks on the island are essential to create sufficient proteclion deposit on the carriageway against the kerb at the left, showing that the for pedestrians that wait before they can cross the next vehicle flow. widening of the traffic lane past the island to more than 3.0 m (as done in the test) was unnecessary.
Large bus passing a median island. The island shown is at a T-junction, this one has no pedestrian crossing. the island on the other side of the side-road has a crossing. This photo clearly shows that it i s the size of the carriageway deflection that causes the reduction in vehicle speed.
Overview of three crossing islands in a row. Note the very good sight distance along the road. It allows seeing opposing vehicles from a long distance. This encourages higher vehicle speed and increases the risk that an irresponsible driver attempts illegal overtaking maneuvers. Carefully chosen ways to block the driver view on distant opposing traffic will encourage more prudent driving and increase safety.
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-1
EXAMPLE 11
ROAD SHOULDER SEPARATION MT-NMT
MTERVENTION
In this example a 500 meters long collector road section with previously open road shoulder was lined with T-blocks. Different intecspacing between the blocks was used on different part: to test whether the gap width significantly influences the effectiveness of the separation from pedestrian safety point of view.
Sackground
An important reason for traffic flow inefficiency and lack of traffic safety in African cities is htm chaotic condition of most so-called "road shoulders". In a proper urban road design a real shoulder does not exist in the same way it exists on inter-city trunk roads or rural roads. Ths need for a strong road base remains the same, but in an urban area the space on top of thi "shoulder" must have a well defined function. It should be either a walkway, separated from thl carriageway and inaccessible for vehicles, or a strong open dmin, or an MT parking lane, o r , median inaccessible for vehicles, etc. Unfortnnately, many roads in African urban arms havl trunk or rural road designs, with undefined open road shoulders.
Location
Dares Salaam, Tanzania
W p i d use of an wbm road shoulder on twwo-lameonidor road in Anolheherexample,this one in Eldoreer, Kenya. qairohi between the industxinal area and I :e low-income residential mas.
SepamliOn wiul T-hlocb. Note that the miniLbus has just stopped on the camageway to let a passcngcr OUt. Pederitians behind the line of T-blocks are completely dared.
CHAPTER 13
EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTIONS
171
~O~ITIONS
1. Urban collector road. 7 meter-wide carriageway, 1 m compacted gravel shoulder covered with sand, 2-3 m extra shoulder of naturally compacted sandy soil. The unpaved area parallel to the road is up to 5 m wide, but is at some spots fully occupied for business activities. 2. MT frequently drives onloff the road shoulders. This inakes walking there unsafe and unpleasant. A large part of this MT use of the shoulder consists of random stopping by minibuses to pick or drop passengeis.
'ROBLEMS
1. ConJicfitig uses. Where undefined urban road shoulders exist, different activities compete for them: (a) pedestrian moveiiient (often no other walking space is available), (b) street trading, (c) vehicle parking (peiinanent and vehicles waiting for customers), (d) vehicle loading and unloading (goods, passengers), and (e) emergency traffic movement (past an accident 01- traffic jam, to avoid collision with opposing traffic, etc.). This mixed use creates ~nefficien~ and unsafe condi~ionsfor pedestrians and cyclists. It also creates a friction, which sometimes reduces road capacity.
2. Dmzage to roadpavetizenr arzd ro drnins An additional problem of open urban road shoulders is that they are the main source of damage to pavements and drains. It starts with the formation of holes in the shoulder by vehicles. These accumulate water, the road base becoines soft, the pavement cracks at the edge, and potholes start to eat into it from the sides, helped by vehicles that drive on and off the shoulder (worst where pavcinent side restraints have been omitted to reduce construction costs). The destruction of the road shoulder also catalyzes the destruction of the drainage system. Stagnant water that cannot get into the drain iiiakes the soil soft and undermines the drain, which then is no longer strong enough to withstand e.g. a heavy truck that hits it when parking.
3BJECTIVES
1. Separate the carriageway pavement physically froni the shoulder. The separation inust Be impassable by motor vehicles (unless at spots where vehicle access is intended); Require miniinal maintenance (strong and difficult to darnage); and * Create no drainage or solid waste accumulatioii probleiiis or encourage uii~n[endeduse of the separators. 2. Reshape the road shoulder space into a proper walkway that can also be used by carts (minimum requirement: proper soil compaction). 0 0
3FFECTS
1, Motor vehicle inoveinent onto the shoulders is no longer possible. The pedestrian rno~Jement on the shoulders becomes much more relaxed.
2. On the lest section, the number of mini-buses that stop at other spots than in bus bays has been reduced to aImost zero. This effect depends of COUCFC on the simultaneous construction of good bus bays at each end of the road shoulder separation test section (see example 14). 3. Traffic movement in and out of plot entrances along the section does not create significant disturbances. 4. A space between the blocks of 3 - 4 m appears to be enough to provide a safe separation. However, this does not prohibit pcrpcndicular parking, so on sections with a high parking pressure the inter-spacing of the blocks must be 1.20 m if parking is to be prevented. 5. The observed damage to T-blocks suggests that the annual maintenance will be around 2-3% of the investinent, and their lifetime around 15 years. However, good production quality control is required to achieve this. 6. Vehicle top spceds are reduced slightly, probably because visually the road looks narrower. More tests with road shoulder separation with T-blocks are needed in different situations before more detailed conclusions can be drawn. If such tests confirm a speed moderating effect (e.g. caused by fear of drivers to damage their vehicle), this measure can also be included in the list of speed reduction measures.
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ClOSTS and BENEFITS
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Costs of applying so-called T-blocks (see photo) as separator depend on the gaps between the blocks. With 2 blocks per 3 meters total blockage of motor vehicles is achieved. With 1 block per 3 meters vehicles can still get access at a very low speed. The investment costs for 2 blocks per 3 meters are around US$ 10 per meter of road shoulder. Annual costs: US$ I .60/meter (costs of capital plus maintenance). Benefits. The test section in the exainple is too short to allow reliable estimates of benefits. The test only demonstrates the practical performance of the separator. Based on T-block costs, it has been calculated what the improvement has to be for each category of benefit to br the costs. Benefits from reduced traffic accidents have not been included. * Iiicreaserl vnlue of tlze road shoulder space for efficient single purpose use, e.g. walkway. Assuming an average increase in walking speed due to the absence of disturbance by vehicles of 2 minutes per km of road (15% faster), the benefit per daily personkin is 1 US$ in a year, corresponding to a break-even pedestrian ADT of 1,600 on each side of the road (the actual pedestrian ADT along the test section is around 4,000). Reduced cost of paiwnierit mnointenciiice. The current cost in Tanzania of resurfacing an existing carriageway with 5 cm new premix, including pothole repair, is 2 40 US$ per meter of 3.0 m wide lane (annual cost of capital: US$ 7). The break-even increase in pavement lifetime that justifies the T-blocks as separator is approximately two years. The experience with the test road, which had open shoulders, is that four years after its reconstruction (in I994/95) serious pavement damage already exists on all locations with frequent vehicle movement over the road shoulder. Within two years inany spots, if unattended, will be in such a bad condition that, after only six (!) years, simple resurfacing is no longer possible and road base rehabilitation is required. I t appears that irrespective of any other benefit, tlie maiiiteiiaiice aspect alorie fully justifies the costs of T-blocks as separator on this fype of road. Increased capacity of tlie carriageway. The average new construction costs for a 3.0 m wide urban road lane, without side restraints, drains, culverts, intersections, and NMT facilities in Tanzania are roughly US$ 60 per meter (annual cost of capital: US$ 12 per meter lane). This means that an increase in effective road capacity of 13%, due to reduced traffic flow obstruction from friction at the shoulder would make the investment in the T-blocks break even. More tests are required to find out what road capacity increase can be created by disciplined mini-bus stopping in dedicated bus bays. (note: section capacity usually is not the limiting constraint, that are the intersections)
Coiidttsiait
For improvement of existing roads with open road shoulders, T-block separators can be recommended. Designs with undefined open shoulders should not be accepted for new construction or rehabilitation of urban roads. Separators such as T-blocks or open drains are recommended.
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EXAMPLES OF INT~RVENTIONS
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES. VERSION 1.3 J4N 2001
:XAMPLE 12
INTERSECTION CORNER REALIGNMENT and reconstruction of Y-junction to T-shape
VTERVENTION
Three cases of adapting intersection corners are described below: Case 1: realignment of the corners with hard separation between the carriageway and the shoulder along a smaller radius than before, without carriageway reconstruction. The “shoulder” arva behind the blocks is enlarged a bit and the carriageway area reduced correspondingly. * Case 2 introduction of a traffic island with a slip-lane for bicycles, to make a wide Y-junction nanower. This intervention was combined with reconstluction of the approaches to a bridge (with a median: example 13 below). Case 3: reconstruction of a wide Y-junction to a T-junction. This involved a complete new alignment of the last 100 meters of the Y leg, to make it meet the other mad at right angles (T-shape). The new corners were designed with R=12,and a traffic island was consuucted.
-
ocations
Temeke @SM), Tanzania; Eldoret, Kenya: Temeke (DSM), Tanzania
UCkgr”L,nd
Many urban intersections in Africa have not been designed but simply came into being by paving irregular old road alignments. Or they were designed according to highway standards (vety wide). As a result, many urban intersection corners invite high speed. Moreover, the shoulder area is often not separated from the carriageway, mulling in a large undefined area at the corner. In areas with low economic activity this space remains empty, and further encourages high vehicle speeds. In areas with a lot of activity, the space is contested between mini-buses, taxis, push carts and street traders This leads to a chaotic intersection with a reduced capaciry. Rcalignmeni of the intersection corners to appropriate dimensions with separators between the shoulder and the carriageway is an intervention that can be carried out easily and at a low cost.
’o.st Teduction Case 3 was implemented at the time that the road was given a new bitumen pavement. If it had trough coatbinerion been carried out in isolation the cost would have been more than double the US$4,000 that it
Zith periodic mirttenance
costed now (including a pedestrian crossing island), as part of the repaving. This illusvates that by including (re)designs and pedestrian fac maintenance and rehabilitation schemes their costs can be reduced significantly, in particular when thc use of asphalt concrete is involved andior the use of heavy equipment for compaction. Therefore, integration of pcriadic maintenance with implementation of traffic calming and NMT interventions is strongly recommended. However, this does not mean that it is better to wait for road repaving or rehabilitation, if that will no1 take place in the near future. The B/C ratios of interventions described in this chapter are based on implementing them in isolation. The fact that they are high indicates ihat even as separate improvement “aftewards” they are value for money.
!ONDITIONS All intersection corners along Terneke road are wide and open. It is diifcult to see where the Case I carriageway ends because of the sand on the paveincnt. Corners are frequently used by minibuses to stop. Case 2 Kisumu road is a main conidor leading into the city center. The comer that was realigned is immediately after a bridge. The side mad, branching off at 45’ is one-way traffic for motor vehicles (direction: to center). Pavement is fair, the speed of traffic high, v(85%)= 47 h i h r (highest observed speed 82 km/hr). Bicycle ADT towards the city (after intervention): left turn 1,100, straight 700. Case 3 Fair pavement on the straight legs, bad on the Y-leg. The expectation was justified that after repaving the Y-leg (Everett Street) the alieady dangerous junction would become very dangerous. The dominant driver behavior shows little concern for the safety of pedestrians or cyclists. The bicycle ADT on the straight legs is 1,800. ‘ROBLEMS
Open intersection corners, leading to (i) lack of protected pedestrian waiting areas at the corner. Case I and (ii) illegal use of the corner area by parked vehicles, causing a chaotic traffic situation and reduced road capacity.
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Cose 2 Widc 45' corner, leading to (i) high speed of left turning traffic. (ii) long pedestrian crossing distances and unsafe crossing conditions. and (iii) a high accident risk for bicycle trafic on,the intersection. Case 3 Y-junction bctwcen equal roads. with a high proportion of turns: (i) high speed of turning t n K c (occasionally mini-bus drivers cvcn incrcnse spccd 10 sli through n gap in [he opposing strcam); lii) the junction experiences a large number of traffic conflicts (20 conflicts per day classifiel "serious", using thc Swedish traffic conflict counting mcthod).
Case 3. afru mnstruction. A side rrrnrrk: ihc intcmtion does not Iwk very crowdcd. One sees six mini-huxs. Howcvcr. thc numkr or posccn er5 Insidc i\ high. nn avcnec of I ? at Ihi lime o f t h c d& lar&d 17.00PM). Should r h m hsvc lnvclled in cars onc would be lrmking 31 3 cm on ihc same rand N ~ C and C 3 con~plcrcly congcricd intcrscciion, 'Ihc Iwo-13rtc roads on this phom cnii C ~ T T ) nn . chiimmd 14.000 persona pc" hour during thc pcak.
h e 3. Thc doricd linc shows the nlignmeni of the old Y-junction.
3Jse f . Shoulder of a gravel side-mad Kpivdied from Ihe carriageway.
Case 2 after consmctirm of the island.
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IBJECTIVES
Create shorter crossing distances and safer traffic conditions by realigning the carriageway corners to a design speed of 10 k n i h for a truck with trailer (smaller vehicles can make the turn at a higher speed). Separate the shoulder from the carriageway to provide a safe pedestrian area, as well as to prevent pavement damage. * Discourage vehicle stops at the corner for (un)loading or waiting. Force turning vehicles to reduce speed (target: speed 50 M r ) .
)BJECTIVES
1. Visual separation between traffic lanes for motor vehicles (3.0 m wide) and bicycle lanes (1.5 m wide). 2. Enhanced use of these designated lanes by both MT and cyclists. 3. Speed reduction of MT. This reduction is expected from the fact that in the narrow (5.0 m) gate section two vehicles can only pass each other safely at a low speed, or one vehicle has to wait until the other has passed.
:FFECTS !@orvehicles
The road narrowing functions as expected. Driven react carefully to the presence of opposing vehicles, either by stopping in front of the nmow section to let the other vehicle pass (in particular if that is a heavier vehicle), or hy prmeeding at a low speed. In the absence of an opposing vehicle, drivers hardly slow down for the narrower section. The observed top speed before intervention was 60 !unh (independent of the presence of opposing traffic): the observed top speed after intervention is 55 kmhr (observed only in case of no opposing traffic). The speed reduction effct thus is a function of the traffic intensity. With higher uaffk intensities, the speed calming effect of this intervention increases. Compared to other traffic calming interventions the disadvantage of this one (narrowing) is that it does not reduce speed of MT at low tm%c volumes, unlike a raised zebra -which always functions in the same manner.
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CFFECTS licycles
When there are motor vehicles approaching from both sides, cyclists use the bicycle slips. If not forced by the presence of motor vehicles to use the bicycle slips, most cyclists use the middle gate. However, this probably is a peculiarity of this test. The reason is that the pavement of the middle section is much better than that of the bicycle slips. For proper permanent use of the slips, their pavement quality must be good.
’edestr-iaris
In the middle of the islands that separate the bicycle slips from the motorized traffic lanes, a low part has been provided (level with the carriageway) as a pedestrian crossing. However, to use that crossing point requires a detour of 25-50 meters. Most pedestrians do not bother to make this detour, but cross in front of the road narrowing, using the “shade” of the separating islands as a waiting spot, if needed. The existence of the narrowing reduces the effcctive crossing distance, and reduces the speed if vehicles come from both directions. The result is that crossing at this point is safe, even if one does not use the islands as “stepping stones”. Nevertheless, this intervention (effective for traffic channeling), is not ideal as a crossing facility. To improve their attractiveness as a pedestrian crossing, the islands should be wider (ideally 2 meters), and should be constructed in the center line of the main pedestrian route (not requiring a small detour).
ZOSTS and 3ENEFITS
The total cost per narrowing with bicycle slips are around US$ 1,500 (excluding the simultaneously constructed pedestrian bridges that can be seen on the photographs). To achieve the objectives of the intervention over an entire road section, an estimated 4 narrowings are needed per km, depending on the specific conditions, or US$ 6,000 per kin of road. Annual costs: US$ 1,200. The most important benefit is increased bicycle traffic safety. To estimate the value of this benefit one can calculate the extra transport costs that would arise in case an increased accident hazard would lead to a modal shift from cycling to mini-buses. The extra cost of such a modal shift are estimated at US$ 6,900 per 100 daily cyclists (300(days) * lOO(cyc1ists) +US$ 0.23 (per cyclist per day) = 6,900). If road rehabilitation in Morogoro is carried out without proper traffic calming and would as a result reduce the number of cyclists by 20% (shifting to the use of buses), for all users of the road in this example combined this would mean a travel cost increase of k US$50,000 per year. Calculation of a B/C ratio for this intervention is not possible in isolation; that has to be done for an entire road network package. However, it is clear that the costs of safeguarding bicycle traffic are roughly a factor 10 lower than the travel cost increase that would be the result of making cycling so unsafe that it gradually disappears. Bicycle traffic safety protection measures are very cost effective.
Narrowing with bicycle slips on a two-lane corridor in Morogoro. Notice separate walkways (in fact bridges over a large drain) parallel to the bicycle slips. Due to the lower pavement quality of the bicycle slip lane at this test site, cyclists prefer the middle section as long as no motor vehicle is close.
Similar narrowing with bicycle slips at another point. Notice that accumulated sand in the slip lanes and along the side of the road in general makes it attractive for cyclists to use the central p a l of the road. Proper cleaning of their road surface is essential for the success of bicycle lanes.
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SXAMPLE 16
BICYCLE LANE ALONG COLLECTOR ROAD
NTERVEN'MON
This test requires a minimal intervention: the marking of a visual separation, on an existing carriageway, between an MT lane in the middle and cycle lanes of 1.5 m wide at the sides of thc road. The first test is with road paint. If that creates satisfactory effectsbut is not durable enough narmw white pavement block strips can be tested.
larkground
The designs for road rehabilitation in Morogoro that arc planned for implementation in 1999. 2001 feature two different solutions for bicycle traffic on the main corridor and collector road!: in the city. Within the central part of the city, they have been designed for mixed traffic. witk systematic traftic calming through a Combination of raised zebra crossings (example 7). road narrowing with bicycle slips (examplc 15). and four roundabuts (three existing, one new). A test of the mixed traffic road design with painted bicycle lanes was carried out on an existing 250 meter long road section in 1999. 'lbo changes had been implemented there earlier: (a) construction of a walkway in front of a fuel station e n m c e (no more walking on thc carriageway). and (b) a Y-junction changed to a T-junction.
ocation
Morogoro. Tanzania
:oNDmoNs
1. Fair bitumen pavement condition. 2. Wide carriageway, 9 to 10 meters, no traffic lane demarcation. 3.High volume of pedestrians and cyclists. Pedestrian ADT 10-12.000, Bicycle ADT 10-1 1.ooO: ADT trucks (all types) 3 -3.500, ADT carhotorcycle 2.5-3.000; ADT mini-bus 500-600. 4. Traffic speed on this section Es moderate (30-40kmlhr). At one end a raised zebra crossing, at the other end a low speed roundabout.
'ROBLENS
The test section, after the changes (a) and (b) mentioned above, does no! p e n t problems. However, although the width of the road allows a m a i n separation between bicycles and MT (bicycles at h e sides, MT in the middle). such a separation hardly occurs in practice.
,BJEcnvEs
I. Efficient and safe flowof bicycles and MT on the road space allocated to each cyclists on bicycle lanes. MT on MT lanes. 2. Speed of MT remaining what it is now: average 30 kmihr.
mm
More testing is required in a variety of situations before conclusions can be drawn. Painting of the bicycle lanes increases the transparency of the mad design. but does not create a measurable further improvement of the traffic safety. Its impact on road capacity will only become clear in near-saturation conditions, which are not reached at this moment. Probably. systematic use of lane marking on al1 main roads of an urban network is needed to make mad u s get used to it and respect it. 2. Periodically removing sand and waste from the bicycle lane pans of thc carriageway is more important to enhance efficient use of the entire road width than h e lane marking as such. m e applies to enforcement of thc ban on parking on bicycle lanes (i.e. along the edge of the road). 3. In further tcsts one could consider painting the MT lanes in the middle narrower (5.5 meten instead of 6.0), to achieve an extra MT speed moderation effect from having a visuallj narrower road.
3om nad
Annuu1 costs:
3ENEFITS
1. The effect of the lane marking is inconclusive.
regular cleaning of the carriageway around US$ 150/km, cycle lane painting (maintenance twice per year) US$500 per km. Benefits: Estimated increase in total carriageway capacity of 5-205. However,this benefit only materializes when the road in practice reaches saturation (not the case at this moment). The cos1 of this type of 2-lane urban road with walkways is around US$ 300 per meter (annual cost ol investment and maintenance US$65.000 per km of road).
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Example of a collector road bicyclc lanes. However, this r o d is unsak for cycling for two re:isoiis: (i) due to the complete absence of speed reducing nieasiircs M T speeds arc high, and (ii) due to tlie
d
pedestrians have to walk on the edgc of the pavement, thus forcing cyclists to use tlie central part of the road. At some points parked vehicles foi-ce both pedestrians and cyclists to use tlie MT CalTiagc\\,ay. The I'irst intervcniions ncetled 011 this road are tliereforc M?' speed rcductioii (with raised crossings or bumps) and walkways. In tlie absence o l such iiicasiircs, painting "bicycle lanes" will only make thc road iiiore dangeroils.
Paved sui-lciccdressed lane, scpnrntetl from the MT carriageway by :I side restraint, which creates ii visual scp;iration. I-lowever. cycling is not scifc there for the saiiie 1-eason as on tlie photo above.
k
Road in Morogoi-o cciitei(section beyond tlie test section). Note that dirt along the edgc of the road as well as parking make cyclists move to the ccntei-. Ho\vevet-, with the present MT iiiteiisity this does not present problems (unfortunately. no good photograph of the test section is available).
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SXAMPLE 17
BICYCLE TRACK ALONG URBAN CORRIDOR
NTERVENTION
Construction of a 500 meters long bicycle track along an existing road by rearranging the parking and traffic lanes. The track is on the existing paved road shoulder, separated from the parking lane by high kerbs.
tackground
The main road corridor through the center of Eldoret combines its urban center function with an important transit traffic function (to Uganda). The road section in the city center was repaved in the 1980's as an undivided A 6 meter-wide 2x2 lane road (excl. the parking area). Outside the center it becomes a wide 2x1 lane road again. Some ten years ago, it was decided to create a 1 meter-wide median in part of the 2x2 section, in reaction to the high number of accidents. Reliable accident records are not available, but apparently the effect of the measure was positive. However, with growing traffic intensity, the accident numbers quickly rose again (see below). Apart from the median, no other traffic calming measures were implemented until now. On one side of the median the road has two lanes (one of which is sometimes illegally used for parking), on the other side (with most shops) it is wider and has two traffic lanes plus space for angular parking. Parking is irregular and includes trucks, with the effect that in practice only one wide lane is available for the traffic. Cyclist share this lane with the motor vehicles. On the side of the shops, space for pedestrian movement is very limited. The official walkway has been encroached on by shopkeepers with verandas. Walking at a normal speed is impossible there, so many pedestrians walk on the carriageway. The intervention example shown here is an attempt to reallocate the road space on the side of the road with the shops, by (i) enforcing that the shopkeepers keep clear of the walkway (the verandas have been build on the public road reserve); and (ii) construct a bicycle track, separated from the carriageway by parallel parked vehicles; whereby (iii) parking changes from angular to parallel. This also re-establishes two 3.0 m MT lanes on that side. The bicycle track can only be expected to function properly if it is not used by pedestrians, so the enforcement by Eldoret city council of an unobstructed walkway in front of the shops is essential.
beation
Eldoret, Kenya
ZONDITIONS
1. Chaotic traffic conditions reduce the efficiency and safety of the road. 2. Transit traffic of heavy trucks creates significant traffic accident hazards. 3. Fair bitumen pavement. 4. Insuficient pedestrian walkway capacity (in view of pedestrian volume). 5. ADT pedestrians 17-20,000; ADT cyclists 2.5-5,000 (varies per section); ADT motor vehicles 8-12,000 (varies per section). 6. Peak crossing volumes at main junctions: pedestrians 3-3,500 per hour, cyclists 200-350 per hour.
PROBLEMS
1. Very unsafe bicycle and pedestrian traffic along the main road conidor in Eldoret, Uganda road. Complete and reliable accident files do not exist. The available information indicates that on the whole of Uganda road in Eldoret (zk 5 km)an average of around 30 persons were killed by the traffic per year between 1993 and 1995 (i.e. 6 per km of roa& these were pedestrians and cyclists; accident numbers are gtowing over the years). 2. Inefficient use of the existing motor carriageway. 3. Very low walking speed (an estimated 2.5-3.5 kmlhrat the side of the shops).
DBJECTIVES
1. Create a safer and more efficient traffic conditions for cyclists. 2. Improve the attractiveness of cycling, and reinforce the user confidence that in the long term cycling will be safeguarded as a viable mode of transport by the municipal authorities of Eldoret. 3. Increase the efficiency and capacity of the MT flow, to demonstrate that "win-win" solutions are possible.
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EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTIONS
31d situation
I s9
New track. Note the complete insufficiency for walkway of the space under the verandas of tlie shops. Also note an angular parked vehicle in tlie background, in a plot entrance, obstructing the track.
Track section where the road is narrower and without a median. No Old situation. shops along the road here. The separated track provides a safe walkway for pedestrians. Here the track is also used by cyclists, because tlie pedestrian volume is not so high -although pan of the cyclists continues to use the carriageway to avoid being slowed down by the pedcstnans.
Map of the road network in the town center of Eldoret, with bicycle track test sections indicated.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
1. The municipality was unable to enforce that shopkeepers leave the verandas in front of their shops free for use as a walkway. In retrospect, it was in fact wishful thinking that this would be possible. Much more space is required for pedestrians at this road section than was available under the verandas of the shops (see photos, and chapter 16; the new track width is in Fact rather minimal in view of the pedestrian peak volume). As a result the pedestrians use the new “bicycle” track and almost all cyclists continue to use the MT carriageway, the new track being full of pedestrians. The new track in reality is a walkway, not a bicycle track. 2. It is a great improvement for pedestrian walking speed and safety that pedestrians now no longer have to walk on the carriageway, but on a separated track. 3. The new track remains free of parked vehicles. The separation with high kerbs effectively blocks MT access to the track. However, enforcement will be needed -also to prevent that shop keepers remove a few blocks to increase the parking space in front of their shop. 4. Parking is parallel to the traffic flow now. This creates a smoother and safer MT traffic flow. This has a positive effect for cyclists on the carriageway. However, the obligation to park parallel must be enforced; now and then a driver still parks angular. The total current MT capacity of the corridor is detemiined by the capacity of the intersections, at approxiniately 1,000 vchicles/hour i n each direction. On the straight sections between the intersections, that capacity can be provided by means of one wide MT lane. That means that without creating a capacity problem for MT, the existing carriageway can be rearranged into one wide single MT lane plus one bicycle lane. Additional traffic calming measures are needed, such as raised platfonn intersections, raised pedestrian crossings or pedestrian crossing islands with bicycle slip lanes, to complete a package of extra interventions that would result in safe cycling conditions (the test intervention as now implemented only solving problems of pedestrians).
COSTS and BENEFITS
The total cost of the new track is US$ 18.000 (US$ 30/m). I.e. the annual cost is of capital investment and maintenance is US$ 3,900. This is for a 600 m long section and includes all separators and pavement repairs, but not the pavement itself, which already existed as part of the old bituininized road shoulder.
Berzefir. The new track is a walkway; the benefit from increased walking speed is around US$ 1.20 per pedestrian per year, or US$6,000/year (assuming that half the pedestrian ADT conccriis walking longer distances). The track has a B/C ratio of 1.5 as a walkway, without taking into account its effect on pedestrian traffic accident reduction. Extra measures must be taken to achieve safe cycling conditions on the road. The associated benefits are (a) avoided costs of accidents involving cyclists and (b) avoided further modal shift bicycle-to-minibus. They are significant, as the following calculation shows. If only one fatal bicycle accident and four serious cyclist injuries can be prevented per pear (i.e. r 25% of the current accident rate), the avoided cost of accidents is 4,000 US$. The current trend is reduced cycling in reaction to increasing traffic accident hazards. If a 5% rcduction of cycling along Uganda road can be prevented by improved bicycle safety, the associated cost saving is US$ 14,000 (300 days“200 cyclists:;:0.23 US$cents/day). This again underlines that the benefits of safeguarding cycling as a mode of urban transport in Eldorct are high comparcd to the costs involved.
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EXAMPLE 18
MIXED NMT TRACK ALONG AN URBAN CORRIDOR
WTERVENTION
Construction of 400 meters of separate mixed-NMT track (2.5 meter-wide, premix pavement) two pairs of two speed humps (I:lO, 10 cm high), repairs to drainage culverts, construction of one crossing island where the track crosses a side street, road signs and painting.
Background
The reason for constructing this separated NMT track is that (i) pedestrians now can only walk unsafely, on unprotected open road shoulders and that (ii) the speed and intensity of M'I prohibits safe mixed bicycle and MT use of the same carriageway. This test section is along Uganda Road (same road as in example 17) where it enters the city of Eldoret, passing through an area with light industries and workshops. The vehicle speed on this section is high and many accidents occur. The Y-junction where the road enters the city is particularly dangerous. In Eldoret, cycling is an important mode of urban transport. Two factors will largely determine its further development: affordability (more cycling if incomes increase) and traffic safety (less cycling if the traffic becomes more dangerous). As long as cycling is seen to be safe, It is an attractive mode of transport for a large segment of the urban population, but if the number of traffic accidents involving cyclists increases further, and cycling starts being perceived as -and in reality becomes- a high accident risk mode, it will gradually disappear as a viable mode of urban transport. With the road (and intersection) designs as they are now, traffic safety in Eldoret decreases with increasing motor vehicle intcnsity. However, this is not a necessity. It is possible to increase the traffic safety of cyclists, even with MT volumes that are much higher than the current ones. This requires a careful program of (a) Provision of adequate road space for cyclists.Where road capacity problems arise for the combined demand of cycling and MT, safe road capacity for cyclists has to provided. In a struggle for road space, cyclists always are the weakest, and will lose; (b) Traffic calming to reduce the speed of motor vehicles to safe values, and to enhance disciplined, quiet and safe traffic behavior.
Lncatiorz
Eldoret, Kenya.
Overview of the track Total length 500 m.
CONDITIONS
I . Maximum vehicle approach speed from outside town 70-90 km/hr, at Mitaa junction V(85%)= 62 W r . In view of the function of the road, reduction of maximum speeds to 5 0 k W is desirable, but not much lower. 2. Substantial numbers of heavy truck combinations on long distance trips use this road (fuel tankers, trailers with containers, logs, etc.). 3. Fair pavement condition. 4.Daily traffic volume (12 hr count) at the intersection with Mitaa road (sec map): MT 10,200; cyclists 4,200; pedestrians 15,800
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PROBLEMS
1. Many accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists (see example 17). 2. No walkways. Pedestrians use the open shoulders. No safe crossings. 3. Cyclists share the camageway with MT, but in view of the high speed of motor vehicles and the interference with pedestrians this is unsafe. 4. The MT carriageway does not yet reach saturation in the peak hour, but the expected further increase of MT traffic and bicycle traffic growth cannot be accommodated on the existing carriageway in the long run (a by-pass for traffic tolfrom Uganda has been planned).
DBJECTIVES
1. A significant reduction in accidents. 2. Provision of adequate road capacity for both MT and cycling. 3. Improve the attractiveness of cycling, and reinforce the user confidence that in the long term cycling will be safeguarded.
EFFECTS Pedestrians
Most pedestrians use the track in both directions, except those with a destination on the other side of the road. After completion of the mid-block crossing protected by speed humps (see design sketch), the use of the track by pedestrians increased further, because it is now safe to cross from the track to the side with most industries. Most cyclists (70-80%) continue to use the carriageway. A week of active publicity and instruction to cyclists at the site, urging them to use the track, did not change much for a number of reasons: The speed humps are very effective in reducing MT speed at the most important crossing points (Mitaa junction and mid-block), and also reduce maximum speeds in-between the humps considerably. Cycling on the MT carriageway therefore is much safer now than it was before. Obstruction on the track by pedestrians. The track requires a sinail detour, and covers only 400 m of a much longer trip, the rest of which is in mixed traffic. The fact that most cyclists continue to use the MT carriageway is in itself not a negative result. Due to the new track, pedestrians no longer walk on the road shoulder, so the traffic situation is more transparent. Furthermore, the speed humps that were built to create safe crossing points have slowed down the traffic so effectively that mixed cycling is now safe enough on this section. The reality is that the new track primarily is a very useful and highly needed walkway. At the same time it provides a cycle track for those cyclists that feel too insecure on the main carriageway here.
Cyclists
Cyclehalk conflict
The problem of conflicting pedestrian I cyclist traffic characteristics and competition for the track was stronger than anticipated.The width (2.5 meters) turns out to be too narrow for twoway traffic of both pedestrians and cyclists. The NMT track capacity tables in chapter 16 recommend a wider track. For a peak pedestrian flow of 2,000 persons in one direction, a minimum of 1.0 meter is needed, and for up to 1,500 cyclists, another 1.0 meter-wide lane is needed. Combining the two on one track requires an additional “friction” width of 1.O meter. As long as the entire flow is in one direction, the track that was constructed (2.5 meters) should just be able to accommodate the flows (with small delays), but once opposing flows are also present, the track is too narrow. For the peak flows of this case (2,000 pedestrians and 1,000 cyclists), either one-way mixed pedestrianhicycle tracks of 3.0 meters on both sides of the road, or separate two-way tracks (on one side; 2.5 m for pedestrians and 2.5 m for bicycles) are desirable.
Accidents
Since completion of the intervention with speed humps (end of 1997), no fatal accidents have been recorded on this section of Uganda Road up to June 1999 (almost one and a half year), compared to an estimated 4-6 fatalities per year before. So the intervention is very successful.
Road capacity
The objective of assuring enough road capacity for both cyclists and motor vehicles has been achieved, be it in another way than initially planned. The camageway is so wide (9 meters) that the bicycles have their own space. It will be good to now paint MT bicycle lane separation on the pavement. Now that the traffic has been calmed down and pedestrians are no longer using the carriagewaylshoulders, the capacity for both MT and cyclists is more than enough.
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EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTIONS
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193
.
-_ The ncw rnck near the juncrion with Mitra mad (thc location of the apccd humps ha5 hccn indicalcd -and i s also clcor horn thc shon disuncc hetwcsn thc two lrucks that
arc visihlcl.
The ncw inck whcn it passes n ridc mad. N o k c cyclim on the lnck Enmnoc tor c ) c I t u s 10 ~ I i cmcl. (a1 thc cii) cenicr sidc). T h c rnm ihs i \ \ ivhlc hciwccn Ihc tuo cyclitls urges ihcm 10 use rhc new uscl.. a' nr well as on he cmiagcaay. pan of the lrnlfic d c t y wcck campatgn whcn the irscl, ww inaugurarcd.
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Aftr-activenessof cycling
The objective of improving the attractiveness of cycling in Eldoret has been achieved, by eliminating a spot in the road network that was extremely dangerous for cyclists. This spot produced a lot of negative publicity for cycling by all the nasty accident pictures in the newspapers. It is important that everybody can now see that it is possible to restore tr&ic safety for cyclists with relatively simple interventions.
Conclusion
A mixed NMT track of the type tested here works well for pedestrians, but not for cyclists. Too many pedestrians chase the cyclists away. The lesson is: provision of a separate cycle track will not work where there is a significant flow of pedestrians that has no proper walkway facilities. The pedestrians will occupy the new track. A track for mixed use of pedestrians and cyclists is unlikely to function well in case it is used in both directions. The different options appear to be: 1. If no sufficient walkway capacity exists: provide proper walkways. Only when walkways are there, a separate cycle track can function. 2. A two-way cycle track on one side of the road can only function properly if cycling is not mixed with pedestrian movement. 3. A mixed track for combined use of cyclists and pedestrians can only be hoped to function properly if (i) it is for traffic in one direction only (so a track on both sides of the road; and (ii) it is wide enough in view of the pedestrian and bicycle volumes using it
COSTS and BENEFITS
Costs. Total US$ 25,000. This corresponds to annual costs of US$ 5,300. NMT track: US$ 11 per m2 (US$27 per meter track length) Benefits 1. Enhanced cycling. Per 100 persons that decide to use a bicycle for their daily trips instead of a bus, the annual saving on transport costs is US$7,000 (see example 17). A 10% increase in cycling on this route would amount to 400 bicycle trips per day, i.e. 200 persons using a bicycle for their daily transport. A small number of isolated improvements is probably not enough to improve the bicycle safety so convincingly that it triggers a significant increase of the modal share of cycling. A more comprehensive long-term pro cycling program will be required to achieve that.
2. Reduced cost of accidents. The reduction in the number of fatal accidents on this section of Uganda Rd. after completion of the intervention is estimated to be five per year. The associated reduction in cost of accidents is US$ 15,000 (fatalities only, excl. vehicle damage and injury accidents). The estimated B/C ratio of this intervention is around 3, based on accident prevention alone. DESIGN DETAILS
The improvement option that was chosen for this section addresses the traffic safety problem for cyclists and pedestrians. Complete road redesign alternatives were not taken into consideration, because they were outside the domain of feasible tests within the pilot project. However, a broader analysis of the traffic situation along this road section leads to the conclusion that with a further increase in traffic a service road is needed, separated from the main carriageway, at least on the side of the industries; the conflict between access to activities along the road and transit traffic becomes too severe. The most attractive long-term reconstruction alternative for this road section appears to be: Reserve the main MT carriageway for MT transit traffic only, with a carriageway width reduced to 7 meters (no plot access from the main carriageway). Construct a service road along the industries side, with mixed MT and cycling and a separated walkway (all three modes for access only). For transit pedestrian traffic, use the now constructed track (two-way). For transit cycling construct an additional 3.0 m wide separate two-way cycle-only track, parallel to the transit walkway.
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XXAMPLE 19
URBAN OPEN SPACE REDEVELOPMENT TO CITY PARK
NTERVENTION
Redevelopment of a 40,000 m2 area of public land into a city park with resting and recreational facilities, as well as direct walkways for two important walking routes.
acation
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania
3ackground
Temeke ward 14 is a planned city expansion, built in the 1960s. The ward has a center planned for commercial land use (markets, services, shops, workshops). Later, the area grew Iargelq unplanned. Residential density increased in the planned parts; in surrounding areas individuals constructed unplanned houses, low-cost and some medium-cost (no slum development) Population growth was much stronger than commercial development, and the employment in the area increasingly lagged behind. Recently, attempts have started to revitalize the commercial employment in the center of the ward. Over time, the amount of public open space in the ward was reduced step by step, and the opportunities for people to rest outdoors and for children to play diminished steeply (more people, less space). In the process, thc natural environment of the area degrades steadily, although the number of trees on private plots and along access roads is still significant. As a result, the attractiveness of the ward went down. A blessing in disguise is that most roads in the ward have a very bad pavement and hence hardly carry MT. As a result, most streets are quiet and safe. In many of the unplanned areas, MT access is in fact almost impossible. In the middle of the ward, one large public open space remained (Mwembe Ladu, +.150x300 m), which gradually became used for activities such as parking of long-distance trucks (drivers sleeping overnight in Dar es Salaam) and open air trading. Disappearance of this open space would further confirm the degradation of the area. The user participation process that was established in the pilot projects signaled this as one of the important negative developments threatening an attractive environment for pedestrians within the ward. Pedestrian movement was interpreted more widely by the users than just trips to work, markets or schools, as including the ability to move around pleasantly within the area, find an attractive place to rest, play sports and, for children, play. In response to this, a user platform for redevelopment of the Mwembe Ladu was established and permission obtained from the city council to redevelop the place into a city park and eliminate the already encroaching undesired types of occupancy.
Mwembe Ladu development plan
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Yser parricipation
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The process of user participation that made the re-development of the Mwembe Ladu possible was extremely valuable as a learning process for all involved. Lessons learned have been included in chapters 18 and 17. The positive impact of the redevelopment into a city park exceeds all expectations. The use of the place increased steeply, for leisure and sports, but also the pedestrian routes crossing it, and created general satisfaction. But even more importantly, the psychological impact is surprisingly powerful. The fact that it was possible for a municipal project team to redevelop the park, together with a user platform, in the interest of the people living around it, without financial profit for those involved, and targeting the economically and politically unimportant inhabitants of this area, came as a total surprise for everybody in Temeke. The longer-term impact cannot be predicted, but at this moment this intervention is clearly triggering comparable initiatives in other corners of the ward, as well as in other parts of Dar es Salaam. Temporarily, it is also attracting a large number of high government officials and politicians that all want to see how this worked in practice. The most important underlying signal appears to be that, maybe?, going steadily down the drain is not inevitable, and that to reverse that trend may be more a matter of the right initiatives and commitment than a matter of money. Is “lack of money” perhaps just a suitable argument in many cases, to masquerade different priorities and lack of initiative and commitment? It seems that the Mwembe Ladu intervention triggers such thoughts.
PROBLEMS
1. Increasing population density and increasing pressure on remaining open land for vehicle parking (in particular trucks in this case) causes attractive public resting- and playing spaces to disappear. 2. Survival of existing trees on public open spaces and along road reserves is under increasing threat. Planting new trees that survive now seems to be almost impossible. 3. Commercial or residential occupancy of previously open public spaces and land reserves makes those impassable for pedestrians, and thus undermines the existing network of pedestrian routes. Many of the pedestrian tracks that disappear in that manner are not officially registered as road reserves, nor paved. They developed as convenient direct 01 shortcut routes, often away from the inain road network, and have been compacted by frequent use. Disappearance of these routes increases walking distances, and decreases the attractiveness of walking by forcing people to walk along roads with a lot of MT, without even having proper walkways along those roads.
C0NDITI 0NS
1. Lack of municipal government control over the actual use of public land in the city. 2. Solid waste dumps on public open land. Waste which is only erratically or not at all collected by the solid waste collection services. 3. Lack of vegetation cover on most public (and all other) open land. Since the land is also not paved, it is vulnerable to erosion. This erosion quickly fills up all drains. If drains are not cleaned from silt annually, they become blocked in two years time. 4.The soil in Temeke is quite sandy, which is positive in that the self- draining properties of the soil are reasonable. In many places water drains into the soil naturally. Only in places were it accumulates frequently silt has sealed the bottom (in particular where the soil was compacted by vehicles), and do stagnant pools remain.
OBJECTIVES
1. Redevelop Mwembe Ladu into a city park, only accessible on foot, to serve as playground for
children and a sports and resting place. 2. Pave the most important pedestrian routes that cross the park, in order to improve the directness and convenience of the pedestrian route network in the area. 3. Separate the solid waste dumping area from the park, in one of the corners, and enhance the construction of an official waste depotkollection point at that spot.
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197
ilwemhe Ladu, old situation. Note use as solid waste dump. The waste Mwemhe Ladu, old situation ollection depot shown below was built on a corner of the area seen on his photo.
qew solid waste collection depot, new separated from the Mwemhe Newly planted trees and the semi-desert in which they had to survive. >adu park by a masonry wall.
bees after roughly one and a half year
Overview of the area shortly after the re-development started. Taken around 17.00 PM, most people seen on the riaht half of the photograph stay there for playing, watching or talking \V%I friends.
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SFFECTS
1. Intensive use of playground facilities by children and young adults, to play football, netball boxing and other games. 2. Respect for newly planted trees. Intensive care was given by the user platform, e.g. watering almost daily for one year. Despite an eight months dry spell immediately after planting in Maj 1998, after one year 85% of the trees had survived, and -having reached the water tablestarted to grow fast. Vandalism sometimes occurred, but was successfully beaten off by the user platform members. During the following year a few more trees were lost, but the overal tree cover of the park develops well (see photos). 3. Increased use for celebrations of family occasions. 4. Intensive use of the main walkways across the park. 5. Highly positive impact on the image of the ward.
ZOSTS and 5ENEFITS
Phase I of the development involved an investment of around US$30,000 for paving walkways a separation that blocks motor vehicle access (various types of bollards), tree planting, drains Annuity cost US$6,000. A logical way to judge the cost-effectiveness of the investment is to look at the costs per use1 per year. In this case, the cost per user per year are approximately US$ 0.12 (half the cost of s one-way bus ticket). (Calculation: 50,000 people live within a kilometer and at one time 01 another use the park.)
7ost effectiveness is publicity n f eiveiztioiz
One can also look at the cost of this intervention from a public awareness campaign point of view. Around 150,000 people see the Mwembe Ladu regularly. Therefore, costing it purely as a one-off publicity expenditure, it costs 0.2 US$ per person reached. Considering the fact that the message “positive interventions are possible and can be carried out in good public private partnership” is transmitted loud and clear, the conclusion is that the Mwembe Ladu intervention is cost-effective from an awareness raising and attitude influencing point of view alone. In practice, the recognition of the usefulness of other test interventions in this pilot area increased significantly because of the positive appreciation of the Mwembe Ladu development. Comparison with other awareness campaign activities is difficult, because those diffex strongly in both costs and impact, depending on the case. Within the pilot project the only comparison that can be made is with a video made by the team in Tanzania to promote awareness of traffic safety, in particular in relation to cycling (which costed US$ 10,000). The video was used to raise the awareness of policy makers of the urgency of the subject, and was among others shown at consecutive national traffic safety week events (first in Tanga, 1998). Anecdotic evidence indicates that the Mwembe Ladu case had more direct influence on related developments in Dar es Salaam due to the optimistic quality of its “presence”.
Zoiiclusioiz
When a city embarks upon a program of improving pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure and of traffic calming, it helps a lot to identify a highly visible pedestrian domain such as the Mwembe Ladu, and to redevelop it as a community project. Such a starting point can build the confidence that improvements are possible, and can be more than just a drop in the ocean.
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EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTIONS
Planting of the first tree by the Temeke district commissioner capt X l i g a t i and the TUMU leader Mrs. Tembele.
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Part of the area is used intensively by playing children.
On public holidays the area is now used very heavily, and to great satisfaction, by the inhabitants of the ward.
A small kiosk I cafk was established on a corner of the area by the user platform. The profitability of the business showed both the increased attractiveness of the area as well as the difficulty to maintain a public interest oriented approach with (relatively) significant private profit opportunities so near.
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CXAMPLE 20
BICYCLE ROUTE NETWORK PLANNING AND DESIGN
NTERVENTION
The “intervention” described in this example is different from the preceding ones. It describes an example of plan preparation: planning and design of a comprehensive bicycle route network for Morogoro. The bicycle network plan has been adopted by the municipality as part of an “urban mobility plan”, to become an ingredient of its transport policies for the next decade, and in particular for its priorities in a number of road rehabilitation plans that are now in preparation.
.mation
Morogoro, Tanzania
tackground
In Morogoro, the bicycle is the most frequently used vehicle for urban trips. A household survey (1996) indicates that in Morogoro 64% of all trips are entirely on foot, 19% on a bicycle, 12 % by mini-bus and 5 % by car or other motor vehicle. A mini-survey in 1999 suggests that the sham. of cycling has increased by 2-4 %, partly because of a significant increase in bicycle hire. The modal share of mini-buses appears to be stable at 12%. A count of the total number of minibuses opcrating in Morogoro (+ 90) and of their average number of passengers per day (* 250) leads to approximately the same modal split estimate (25,000 trips out of 200,000 per day). The number of mini-buses in Morogoro increased between 1995 and 1998, and their profitability decreased. Their average daily occupancy in 1998 lies 25-40% below that in Dares Salaam, and their tariff is lower, 100 Tsh (1998) per trip compared to 150 Tsh in Dar es Salaam. This difference is very interesting. It shows that the mini-bus fare strongly depends on the captiveness of the passengers, or -in other words- on the availability and attractiveness of alternative modes of transport, in particular of walking and cycling. For most trips in Morogoro, both walking and cycling are much more attractive than they are for similar trips in Dar es Salaam. In Dar es Salaam NMT confronts higher accident risk, more detours and lower average speed. The fact that the mini-bus operators in Morogoro survive is indicative of the profit inargins of their colleagues in Dar es Salaam. Part of the bicycle trips in Morogoro are on rented bicycles (rented per trip or per hour, with or without “driver”). Mid 1998, a count showed 200 bicycle hirers, with on average 10 bicycles that they manage to rent out 7 timcs per day. This amounts to 14,000 trips per day, or a 6% modal share.
ivailabiliry and itrractiveriess of valkiiag and cycling ;trongly influences niiii-busfares
The road pavements in Morogoro are in bad shape. Only three internal roads (3-4 km in total) have a fair bitumen pavement, The Tanzam highway and Dodoma highway, passing outside the center, have good pavement (15 km within Morogoro). At this moment, there are several projects to rehabilitate main roads inside the city (14 km) (the first started in 1999). For these road rehabilitation projects, the municipal engineering department cooperated with the implementing national ministries and their consultants to achieve an integrated design of the required bicycle facilities. Sornc of the designs that were prepared by are shown as an illustration, together with some photographs of roads in Morogoro. Bicycle route wtivor-k, Design sratidards, Detailed design
The first step in this process was planning of the desired future bicycle route network in the city, thc second step was to provide design recommendations for the required bicycle infrastructui-e on different typcs of road, and the third step to make detailed proposals for the bicycle infrastructure on the roads in the rehabilitation projec?. All three steps were canied out and this paragraph gives an overview of the results. In principle, the implementing parties appreciated and integrated the recommendations made. However, in view of variations that could be made during implementation, for example based on cost reduction arguments, it is not certain whether the bicycle network will in reality be constructed as shown here (as shown by example 21).
PROBLEM
The bicycle is the vehicle that provides most urban trips in Morogoro, but road designs have so far not taken cycling into account. Therefore, rehabilitation of existing roads without changing their designs will have negative consequences for cycling: strongly increased traffic accident risk as a result of MT speed increase and a lack of road capacity for cycling. Should that happen, cycling in Morogoro will become more difficult and dangerous, and the share of cycling will go
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20 1
down. That would in turn strongly increase the total expenditure on urban travel in Morogoro and reduce the mobility of its inhabitants, because the average cyclist makes 50% more trips per day than a person that can only take a bus or walk.
IBJECTIVE
Design and implement a bicycle route network with the capacity to accommodate up to 40% of all urban trips in the long term, offering safe traffic conditions and direct routes. It is unfortunate that this intervention example is only on the drawing board at this stage, rather than one that has been implemented. It is a bird in the sky.
:ONDITIONS o be established 011 he firure bicycle letwork
Mixed bicycle and MT traffic on most roads On all road types not mentioned below, bicycles and MT should mix on the same 3.0 in wide traffic lane. This requires sufficient traffic calming interventions to maintain safe MT speed. Capacity problems are not to be expected on any of these roads within the next 10-20 years. Bicycle lanes along main roads in the center, visually separated from MT In the city centcr, the speed of motor vehicles has to be slowed down to around 30 kmkr, in view of (i) the overriding importance of the access function over the transit function of the road, (ii) the high volume of pedestrians that cross the roads at many points, and (iii) general traffic safety. Under those circumstances, mixed bicycle/MT traffic is to be preferred. In view of the volume of cycling, separate bicycle lanes in parallel to the MT lanes are required to maintain enough road capacity. On thc designs, 1.5 meter-wide bicycle lanes are shown. In off peak conditions these create sufficient capacity for all cyclists to remain within the bicycle lane. On some roads the peak volumes of cyclists may in future go up to 2,000 per hour. Then, bicycles will also have to mix with traffic on the MT lane. In practice, the total lane width, 4.5 in in one direction, is enough to accommodate two cyclists and one passcngcr car parallel to each other safely, as long as speeds are low enough (MT around 30 k d h r ) . Since the forecasted peak MT volume on the roads concerned lies between 400 and 800 per hour, this mixing is possible without creating capacity problems. Intersection efficiency is the critical issue, plus enforcement that no motor vehicles are parked on bicycle lanes. Separate bicycle tracks on the main bicycle routes outside the city center Outside the center, the land-use density is low. The total land area now occupied by f 200,000 inhabitants is k 60 km2 (area of 8-10 kin across). This means that corridor and collector roads outside the city center pass through low density areas. Limiting the spced of motor vehicles on such roads to an average of 30-40 km/hr is not desirable. Consequently, safe mixed cycling and MT is not possiblc on the main corridors and collectors outside the city center. Separated bicycle tracks are a requirement on those roads. The required bicycle track width must be calculated on the basis of a bicycle traffic forecast. For the important bicycle routes in Morogoro thc required peak capacities range from 1,000-2,000 bicycles per hour, in the peak direction. This means a cycle track width of 2.0 m or 3.0 m (3.0 where the required peak capacity is 2,000 bicycles per hour; see chapter 16). The designs shown here have 2.0 in wide one-way tracks. Part of the separate main bicycle tracks are proposed on independent (NMT-only) alignments, not along an existing MT road. Bicycle route network density If bicycle traffic develops positively in response to good traffic safety, good bicycle infrastructure and a gradual improvement of the affordability of bicycles, bicycle traffic on some of the main corridors in the city will reach capacity saturation in ten years time. For a positive development of cycling in the city it is therefore very important to provide good additional cycle routes, using local collector and access roads, linked with a number of “bicycle/walk -only” routes. The target bicycle network (2006) also shows these other routes. They serve two purposes: more attractive cycling (direct, convenient and safe bicycle routes), and more road capacity (prevent saturation on the main corridors).
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icenario 1: increased cycling cycling by worneiz
kenario 2: 7ycling grudually lisappears
EFFECTS ZOSTS and BENEFITS
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Urban transport policy Starting from the current urban traffic conditions in Morogoro (road network, role of cycling) i is possible to develop the urban traffic as outlined above: an increasing modal share of cyclini and a corresponding increase in personal mobility. A vital factor for the extent of the increase i: cycling by women. At present, almost all cycling is by males. The affordability constraint unti now has minimized the availability of bicycles to women. However, recent bicycle promotior activities in Morogoro indicate a significant potential for increased cycling by women. A different development of urban traffic is also possible. By excluding the construction o bicycle infrastructure and traffic calming facilities from road rehabilitation and constructior projects, the safety and convenience of cycling will be reduced, and will further deteriorate ovei time. In that case, cycling will gradually reduce to a marginal mode of transport Correspondingly, personal mobility will reduce or the expenditure of households on urban trave will go up strongly, or both. Yet to be seen in the field, after implementation. The average cost per km of bicycle track (2.0 m) is f US$ 20,000. Annual cost of investment plus maintenance: US$4,200. Maximum capacity of the track is an ADT of 9,000 (6x peak of 1,500hr). The average cost per km of bicycle lane (1.5 m, in addition to a motor carriageway that it i! structurally part of) is f US$ 20,000. Annual cost of investment plus maintenance: US$4,200. Maximum capacity of the lane is an ADT of 5,000 (6x peak of 800hr). The average cost per km of vzotortrufic Iane (3,O m) is ? US$ 60,000. Annual cost of investment plus maintenance: US$ 12,600. Maximum capacity of the lane is an ADT of 60,000 persons (6x peak of 10,000hr). Assumption: 75% of the vehicles in the peak are mini-buses (occupancy 12 passengers), c a occupancy 2.0, and intersection efficiency is high enough to allow a peak pcu of 1400. Note that although for road sections the costs of a separate bicycle track are lower per unit oi capacity than those of a bicycle lane on a wide carriageway, for intersections the reverse is true intersections with separated bicycle tracks are more complicated and expensive. All in all therc appears to be little difference in costs per unit of bicycle traffic capacity between these twc design options. On collector and local collector roads where the traffic intensity never gets near saturation mixed use of the same 3.0 m lane by both MT and bicycles is always the least cost and preferrec solution.
Infrastructure cost
Estimated minimum infrastructure cost per passengerkm per year type of lane:
cost per passkm
US$ separate cycle track (2.0 m) mixed traffic cycle lane (1.5 m) MT lane (3.0 m, 75% bus) MT lane (3.0 m, 25% bus)
0.0016 0.0028
0.0007 0.0014
For road sections. Assuming 100%utilization: an ADT of 6x the peak road capacity
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Typical access road in the center Morogoro. Pedestrian, cyclists and MT use the same camageway. Due to the pavement quality (not very flat compacted earth/gravel) MT speeds are always low and there are no traffic safety problems.
One of collector roads that will be rehabilitated and paved in the following years. At present the road is safe because the current pavement automatically assures calmed down traffic. To maintain safe traffic after paving, traffic calming is required (recommendation: raised platform intersections and raised crossings, a separate walkway and separated bicycle tracks. The section shown on this photograph has been redesigned as NMT-only connection, to achieve a safer and more efficient trafiic circulation (see drawing below).
Design for the proposed rehabilitation of Turiani road, Ngoto street and Lumuinba road. To assure safe MT speed where the road (Turiani road) connecting the Tanzam highway to the center enters the center of Morogoro, and to clearly mark the difference in road type outside and in the center, a low speed roundabout has been chosen.
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Bicycle lewom in primary Lehoolr in hfomgom.
Road in front of the ccntnE Momgom marker. Note [he dominance of pedestrians and cydiarb. The design
rccommcnd3tion Tor h i s m d is In.mw conrinuous medial 10 hdirnrc dtspcrwd nossing and kccp MT SpeCil.; low (dczign 15.5. nlwmaivc wiih medim).
~~
Proposed cmss-.wrion of Turinni mad.
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3peraring cost
EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTIONS
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Estimated operating cost per passengerkm: (Tanzania, Kenya, 1998) inode of transport:
cost per passkiii US$
bicycle mini-bus
0.01 0.03
Car
0.20
The costs of the car are for an ordinary sedan, driving 40 km per day with an occupancy of 2.0.
Total cost
Estimated operating and infrastructure cost per passengerkm: mode of traiisporr:
cost per pass. kin US$
bicycle on bicycle track bicycle on bicycle lane
0.013 0.016
mini-bus (75%)/car (25%), mixed car (75%)/mini-bus (25%), mixed
0.075 0.16
Assuming a capacity utilization of the infrastructure of 50% (ADT=3x peak capacity). In practice the capacity iitilization of bicycle lanes will be higher because in the ceiiter the peak factor is less (more traffic throughout the day).
Bicycle track - track cost (loo%, incl. unused capacity) - trip costs (ADT 800) Total cost
4,200 2,400
6,600
MT lane
- track cost (896, used capacity only) - trip costs (ADT 800, all in bus) Total cost Cost difference between bus and bicycle alternative
Conclusions
1,000 7,200
8,200 (1,600)
From the tables given above the following conclusions can be drawn: (a) In an urban situation, with a high capacity utilization, the costs of the road infrastructure arc low compared to the costs of moving on that infrastructure in any vehicle. (b) Investment costs in roads predominantly used by full mini-buses are the lowest pe passengerkm, but total costs of road and trip are 4-5 times lower for bicycle infrastructure thar for MT infrastructure that is completely dominated by public transport (mini-bus), and morc than 10 times lower than for MT infrastructure dominated by cars. The economic risk of investing in urban bicycle infrastructure is low. In the Tanzania and Kenyz case, with a track utilization as low as 800 bicycles per day, a cycle track still creates a cos savings per year of US$ 1,600, or a 35% surplus on top of recovering the annual cost of thc bicycle infrastructure.
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ZXPLANATION
The map of the Morogoro bicycle network plan that is shown here is part of the Morogoro Mobility Plan that was prepared by the municipality in 1996 and 1997, as part of the NMT pilot project activities.
‘n preparation
Part of the central road network of Morogoro will be rehabilitated soon, in three different international cooperation projects, two under the Ministry of Works, one under the Prime Minister’s Office. The municipal unit that prepared the mobility plan has advised all three projects on the road package selection and the designs that the municipality wants, and in particular what facilities for cycling, pedestrian traffic and traffic calming should be included. Both the Ministry of Works and the Prime Minister’s Office welcomed the advice. However, during the final design process not all desired features survived (see example 21). Several reasons appear to have played a role in that respect: Lack of experience with NMT of the consultants involved, * A higher priority for greatest total rehabilitated road length within a budget than for the highest benefitkost ratio of the money invested, Weakness on the side of the municipality to impose its priorities.
-
0
Nevertheless, if plans are implemented as intended at the time of the last preparation meetings end of 1998, the new roads will include a number of important bicycle tracks: Separate bicycle tracks along Turiani Road, Mazimbu Road and along Old Dar es Salaam Road (as shown on the map), * Corridors and collectors in the city center with a wide carriageway (4.5 meters each way) of which 1.5 ni is a bicycle-lane. If the traffic calming interventions that will be implemented turn out to be insufficient to keep vehicle speed low enough and the traffic completely safe, this will soon become evident from accidents, and hopefully trigger additional traffic calming interventions to restore safety. To be prepared
To fully develop the potential of cycling in Morogoro, a number of additional bicycle routes are of great importance. (a) Partly these are routes that use existing smaller roads (local collectors or access streets) that have bad pavement and therefore low vehicle speeds, and are completely safe to cycle. On those roads the only task is to take care that, should their pavement be improved, enough traffic calming interventions are constructed at the same time to keep them safe (black lines on the map). (b) Partly these are routes that follow the Tanzam and Dodoma highway. Those roads are dangerous to cycle (or walk) on; most fatal road accidents in Morogoro happen there. Parallel to these roads, at a distance of 10-100meters, separate NMT tracks (cycle and walk) must be constructed. In addition to that safe crossings for NMT must be created at at least 8 spots, with a combination of speed humps and median traffic islands (see map). (c) Partly these are new bicycle route connections (some exist informally) that are needed for cycling only (MT must be denied access on these routes). For cyclists, the new routes create significant shortcuts for trips to the city center as well as for other bicycle trips in the city. At the same time, creating this extra road capacity for cyclists on special bicycle routes reduces the number of bicycles on the main corridors and collectors, and thereby assures that the current capacity of these roads will be sufficient up to at least 2010 (see map). Tracks (b) and (c) can be constructed at a low cost, with an alignment independent of the MT roads, a pavement of compacted murram, and drainage ditches. Suitable pavement soil deposits owned by the municipality are available within 15 km.
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EXAMPLE 21
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
LEARNING FROM ERRORS OMISSION OF PEDESTRIAN and BICYCLE FACILITIES and TRAFFIC SAFETY MEASURES IN THE RECONSTRUCTION OF AN URBAN ARTERIAL
[NTERVENTION
Reconstruction of an urban arterial road to trunk road standards, i.e. a 7.0 meter-wide new carriageway (asphalt concrete) with 1.5 meter-wide open shoulders (surface dressing) towards an open drain. In general, along most of the road, there is no space behind the drains foi pedestrians to walk. No pedestrian bridges over side drains and small streams have been provided, pedestrians have to walk on the road shoulders at these points. No traffic calming measures were included. No protected pedestrian crossings were construcred.
Location
Morogoro, Tanzania.
Background
Unfortunately, the above described road was actually constructed in May-September 1999, after the decision had been taken by the responsible decision makers that due to “budget constraints” all facilities to assure traffic safety and proper NMT movement were to be omitted from the design. This decision was taken despite the fact that proper design recommendations had been prepared in detail by the municipality (see example 20). and despite the fact that during the actual construction the municipality asked the responsible project team to reverse the decision.
CONDITIONS
1. An urban collector road, with a high volume of pedestrians and cyclists. Bicycles comprise 55% of all vehicles on the road. 60% of all persons moving on the road is a pedestrian or
cyclist. The road is the main NMT route from the eastern part of the city to the center. 2. ADT on the busiest section: pedestrians 7,600, bicycles 6,200; cars 1,300; (mini)buses 130 trucks 3,200 (94% of them LGV), motorcycles 500 (traffic count 1996). 3. Before the rehabilitation the pavement condition was fair on some stretches and bad elsewhere. However, this did not create accessibilityproblems, also not in the wet season. For cyclists the pavement condition did not create a problem. MT, due to pavement conditions, had to limit its speed on most parts to 40-50 W. On the fair stretches, where speeds previously exceeded 60 km/hr, traffic calming interventions had been taken (under the SSATP pilot project) reducing the top speed to around 50 km/hr. 4. During 1997 and 1998 no fatal traffic accidents occurred.
PROBLEM
The problem that the road presented before being rehabilitated was one of pavement quality, which affected the driving comfort of motor vehicles negatively. The vehicle operating costs were also higher than on a road with good pavement (vehicle maintenance costs). For pedestrians the walking comfort was reduced by the dust of vehicles on sections with bad pavement (gravel/earth), and during the wet season the walking speed was reduced by the condition of the walking track. Cyclists were not much affected by the pavement conditions.
OBJECTIVES A s implemented
The objective of the road rehabilitation as carried out was to reconstruct a smooth and wide carriageway for motor vehicles, without any obstacles. An additional objective was the testing of asphalt mixes (cold bitumen). The objective as initially formulated by the municipality was to rehabilitate the road as a main pedestrian and cycle arterial into the town center.
Should have been
EFFECTS
In the first three months after opening, accidents on the new road already killed 3 persons. The road is very dangerous now, in particular for cyclists and pedestrians. Proof that this type of urban road rehabilitation brings no improvement, but in fact creates a significant deterioration of the overall mobility situation, could hardly have been given more convincingly (and sad).
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EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTIONS
209
Old DSM road, Morogoro after rehabilitation. October 1999. In the Old DSM road, Morogoro aftcr rchahilitation. Notice the "bus hay' three nionths after its re-opening, this road already killed three persons, design. due to very high vehicle speeds on the new wide carriageway with perfect pavement.
Same road, in front of die regional hospital, October 1999. Compare to photo's in exaniples 13.2 and 16 (same road, November 1998). Due to blockage of the walkway on the road shoulder, pedestrians are again forccd to walk on the carriageway. The hospital gate entrance is as chaotic as it was iii 1997, before the piior project intervention. but accident danger is much higher non'.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
CXAMPLE 22
AGGREGATE EFFECTS OF TRAFFIC CALMING
,rea-utiderraflc ubning
In the preceding examples individual tests have been documented. It is difficult to predict the overall effect of a package of traffic calming in an entire urban area based on individual cases. Unfortunately, the scope of the pilot projects was too limited to implement an area-wide approach . Yet, in Dares Salaam it was at least possible to implement a reasonably complete package of traffic calming along one entire road, Temeke road (a collector). This road of around 2.5 km long has been improved with a package of raised crossings (5). bus bays (4). crossing islands (3). one Y-junction reconstructed to aT-junction. speed humps (2), and (on a part) carriageway I shoulder separation with T-blocks. This allows to assess the aggregate effect of a package of interventions on trafic safety more convincingly than analysis of individual spot interventions allows.
iccident redrierion fects
The table below gives the number of traffic accidents along Temeke road from 1995 to 1999. The recording of the traffic accidents has been carried out independent of the pilot project. It was done (from 1995 onwards) with the MAAP traffic accident recording software developed by TRL (UK). The traffic safety unit that operates MAAP states that non-fatal accidents in 1995 (the first year) are probably a bit under-recorded; in other years all fatal accidents, all accidents involving serious vehicle damage and most serious non-fatal other accidents are believed to have been recorded, Light accidcnts are in general not recorded. Traffic calming interventions started in the second half of 1996. the last were in 1998.
Accidenrs on Terneke road Dar es Salaam
1995
1996
I997
1998
1999
Total accidents in which fatal victims
54 5
67
20 0
9 0
6
1
1
The conclusion from this table: it waq possible to reduce the accidents by a factor 10. Note that it is not possible to eliminate all accidents, and that fatal accidents may still occur incidentally (see record of 1999). 1shock
A shocking aspect of this conclusion (provisional as it is because of the limited sample of experiences that it is drawn from) is that it has not already emerged years ago -given the well known fact that traffic accident hazards in African countries arc extremely high compared to Europe or North America. It is not clear why not. Part of the explanation may lay in the reluctancy at decision making level to SenQUSly consider systematic full scale traffic calming also experienced in the pilot projects-, which is often perceived as being against personal interests as a car driver. The first tests in Dar es Salaam for example created an outbreak of protests by car drivers, demanding that the raised crossings would be removed immediately. It was only she fact that they had been planned with intensive user participation that prevented that the decision to remove them was aCNally taken. In Nairobi. the engineering department refused traffic calming tests on Jogoo road, despite the fact that this 5 km long urban conjdor takes around 20 lives of pedestrians and cyclists per year, and earlier tests with painted zebra crossings had shown complete ineffectiveness (see example 8).
-
rhe porential for strong reduction of urban rrufic Iccidents exisrs
large as the reduction at first sight is. it is not strange. The accident rate in cities in Africa lies at 25-40 fatal accidents per year per 10,ooO motor vehicles (TRRL report 839, 1984 ). Most of the victims are pedestrians, most of those are killed while crossing a road (e.g. in Ghana: 80%. TRL report 265, 1997). In European and American cities between 1 and 2 fatal accidents occur per year per 10,000 vehicles. The urban accident rate in Africa is 15-30 times higher. A major explanation is the highly unsafe design of most African urban roads. Why would it be impossible to reduce the number of accidents by a factor ten?
CHAPTER 13
EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTIONS
21 1
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
PART I11 DESIGN CONCEPTS AND RECOMMENDED URBAN ROAD DESIGNS
rable 14.1 n p e s uf urhan roads and their main funclions
.~~CCESS
FIl,\"CTlOh':
T)PE
Dovwi,,
ACCESS ROAD ?rid dialancr: 100-5UO m
NhlT
LOCAL COLLECTOR so0 111 - 2 kn, MT ADT < 5000
hlixcd
Separntcd
I'UBLIC TRANSPORT
M T SPEED ktnnlr
Acccss 10 plots
No MT !ransit.
and buildinss
Eliminate MT ihiuugli-traffic. Can bc pan of main NMT netusork
plots ant1 buildings. C O ~ ~ C C I S to L~CCLIS roads
Strongly di*coulagc
Access to
Access to plois and buildings, . conn~cts 10 access roads
Not allawed
30
v lilll
10 V a v IS \'design
Somctimus. depending on the hus rouic ncrwork
30
Carries the main
SO \'liin
bus IOUIL.~
40 Vdesign
I n low dcnsity parts. whcre higher MT speed is wanted
Carries Ihc main bus routes
50 I\ lim 40 v 2,SO \ ' d u r i p
MT W311Sil. hy the trnllic calming is uscd
hat
DISTRICT Mixed COLLECTOR 1 - 5 h MTADT: 5-12.000 DISTRICT COLLECTOR with bicycle irack or scn-icc road
TRArVSIT
Trmsil lo-from-in cily disuicts. Limited usc for city-
20
J\
lim
v a\,
30 Vdcsign
30 V a v
wide transit traffic Acccss function sccondnr). to
unnsit function
URllAN CORRUIOR J - 10 kn1
MT csrriapv\.ay
BIT
No plot access. No interseclions with acccss roads
City-wide 1r:msil and link 10 naionnl highwys No NMT allowed
Carries the min bus routes
70 V l i m 40 V a r SO \' design
Scn.icc road along cntirc cnrrid0r
NhlT
ACCCSS 10 plots and buildings. uonnccls 10 ncccss roads
No MT Iransit. Carrimes main NMT transit routes
No buses allo!vcd
30 V lim 10 V a v 15 Vdcsign
Notation: V h i : speed limit; V av: average iiniform flow speed; V design: design speed. Grid distance: average distance between two parallel roads of the same type. Note: Comparing the classification terminology in table 14.1 above to the US (ASHTOO) terminology, an urban corridor is roughly the equivalent of a “primary urban arterial’’, a district collector of a “ minor arterial”, a local collcctor of a “collector/distributor” and an access road of an access road. In the terniinology above “collector” is used although it equally “collects” and “distributes” traffic. Note: The classification above does not include highway (motonvay, freeway) as a category, because that type of road is prohibited for NMT, i.e. is outside the scope of these widelines. Because of their cost implications and land use effect, highways are rare in cities in Sub-Saharan Africa. In most cases, the urban cogdor design discussed in this chapter, with service roads, is considered to be the most appropriate one for the largest arterials in cities in Africa.
Chapter 14
Design concepts
14.1 Functional classification of urban roads
The functional classification of urban roads given in table 14.1 provides a rational basis for determining the most appropriate set of design standards for each type of road, based on its actual use. Such standards must further be based on sound engineering practice and sound principles of economic efficiency. For a general discussion of the road classification see chapter 6. 14.2 Mixed or separated MT and NMT?
A very important consideration in an urban road design is whether pedestrian andor bicycle traffic should be mixed with motor vehicle traffic or not. At the lowest residential access level, usually only movement on foot or two-wheeler is required, and all movement can mix on the same track. These tracks and roads are NMT domain. At the main transit level, the use of urban corridor carriageways is restricted to motor vehicles only, and NMT movement has to be completely separated. In between these two cases, a gradual increase in traffic separation is desirable. Decision trees to assist in making the choice are shown in figures 14.1, 2, 3. The diamond shaped boxes ask questions. Depending on the answer, one has to follow the lines that lead to the next box. Rectangular boxes show the desired mixing or separating to be applied, on the basis of the answers to the preceding question(s). If no further lines lead out of a box, all decisions have been taken. There are six issues that have to be considered carefully in relation to the decision about mixing or separating MT and NMT traffic volume (MT+NMT) * traffic capacity traffic speed traffic safety * the available road reserve the cost of construction. 0
0
The important decisions about mixing or separating should be taken at the planning stage (pai-t I, chapter 6). However, in practice road designs must often be prepared without having a proper corresponding road network planning document available. A few observation have therefore been repeated here. Section capuciiy
1. In urban networks, road capacity mainly depends on the intersections. On local collector sections, mixing motor vehicles and bicycles on a 3.0 meter wide lane does 17ut reduce the maximum road capacity.
Avoid daiigeruus road width
2. A traffic lane width that enhances dangerous overtaking of cyclists must be avoided. For cyclists, a road width that makes it clear to all drivers that overtaking of a cyclist is not possible in the presence of an opposing vehicle is safer than a width that is ambiguous in that respect. E.g.: on a 6.50 m wide road, speeds will increase, and the road width invites to overtaking maneuvers that endanger cyclists. If the traffic volume is so high that overtaking of cyclists independent of the opposing traffic is desirable, the recommended lane width is 4.5 meters (3.0 MT + 1.5 cycle lane, with lane marking; parking ban on cycle lane must be enforced). This usually is around an ADT of 5,000 motor vehicles per day (peak flows per hour higher than 4001200 or 300/300).
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Mixed jloivs require trc2jjk calrllillg
3. Mixing different modes of transport while allowing each of them to select its own speed freely, results in unsafe traffic conditions with many accidents, and also creates inefficient flows with frequent strong acceleration and deceleration. Mixed flows always require some form of traffic calming.
Mixing pedestrians and MT?
4. The possibility to mix pedestrians on the same carriageway with motor vehicles only exists where MT speeds are so low that they do not present a safety risk (maximum MT speed 20 km/hr). Apart from speed, mixing pedestrians and MT is not recommended if the MT volume becomes too high, because of the mutual hindrance. In figure 14.1, an MT-ADT of 500 is taken as the upper limit for mixing pedestrians and MT (both directions combined, peak flow of one vehicle per minute). In practice, mixing pedestrians and MT is possible on most access roads and on some service roads. On all other roads (local collector, collector and urban corridors) pedestrians cannot be mixed with MT.
Mixing pedestrians uiid bicycles?
5. Mixing pedestrians and cyclists does not create safety problems, but at significant NMT ADT’s the mutual hindrance becomes such that mixing is inefficient. High pedestrian volumes on mixed NMT tracks severely reduce the possibility to cycle there.
P11sh carts
6. Push carts should fall in the same category as pedestrians. It is desirable to separate them from MT in the same way as pedestrians. In practice, in most cities this will only be possible once separate walkways are widely provided, and made accessible for up to 1 .O m wide carts.
Mixing bicycles and MT?
7. If the desired uniform flow speed of MT is 40 kmhr or more (i.e. v(85)=50 k m h r or above), mixing of bicycle and motor vehicle traffic is not desirable for safety reasons. On urban corridors, and collectors in low density areas, cycling must not be mixed with MT traffic. On all other roads, bicycles and MT can be mixed.
Tjpr of sepui-ation
8. Physical separation. To create safe and efficient traffic flow conditions, the “mixing or separating” choices are not enough. The quality of the result depends completely on the quality of the separation, and the ability to assure that the roads are used in the way they are designed. In practice this means that all facilities dedicated for NMT-only use (all walkways and bicycle tracks) have to be physically inaccessible for motor vehicles. If they remain accessible, it will not be possible to prevent that they are abused by MT for parking, loading and attempts to by-pass jams.
CHAPTER 14
DESIGN CONCEPTS
217
pigure 14.1 Where to mix or separate urban MT and NMT traffic
L. Roads that only have an access function
residential only) industrial
Industrial access rd cycling-MT mixed, separate walking track sometimes desirable. (heavy road, HGV’s) (not further dealt with)
Access track NMT-only road, mixed walking, bicycles, carts.
Access rd (light) Mixed walking, bicycles, carts, motor vehicles. (only LGV access allowed)
Access road Separate walkways Cycling-MT mixed on carriageway. (HGV access not allowed)
Access road Mixed walking, bicycles, carts, motor vehicles. (HGV access
Nore: Motor vehicle ADT cut-off values include motorized two-wheelers (use a pcu of 1.0 in this case). They can he adapted to llie local conditions of traffic heliavior and traffic mix. In quiet traffic environments, where tlie actual MT speed does not exceed the desired values, inixed traffic can he maintained up to tlie indicated ADT values. This will usually be the case on unpavcd roads or paved roads with sufficient traffic calming provisions. Where this is iiot the case (higher speed, rude drivinz) i t is usually more effective and costs less to calm down the Waffic with interventions than to provide a separate walkway.
Typical access road.
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
218
Figure 14.2 Where to mix or separate urban MT and NMT traffic
B. Roads that combine a transit function with an important access function
Always provide separate pedestrian
A the road have a
30 km/hr
Yes
local collector road design speed 30 k m h r
collector/distributor rd design speed 40 k d h r
collector/distributor rd design speed 50 km/hr
mixed MT & bicycle narrow lane: bicycles and MT on same 3.0 m
mixed MT & bicycle wide lane: visual separation 4.5 m (3.0 MT, 1.5 bike)
separated MT / bicycle MT: 3.0 m lane bicycle track: >=I .5 m
Note: Motor vehicle ADT cut-off values include motorized two-wheelers (use a pcu of 0.5 in this case). They can be adapted to the local conditions of traffic behavior and traffic mix. In quiet traffic environments, where the actual MT speed does not exceed the desired values, mixed bicycle plus MT traffic is possible on a nmow carriageway up to the indicated ADT values. Where this is not the case (too high speed, rude driving) it is usually more effective and costs less to calm down the traffic with interventions than to provide a wide carriage way at lower MT-ADT values, because that would further encourage excessive speed and increase accident hazards.
Typical collector road
CHAPTER 14
DESIGN CONCEPTS
219
rigure 14.3 Where to mix or separate urban MT and NMT traffic
,
:. Roads with a main arterial transit function
j
access
Always separate transit from traffic access traffic
I
I
1
transit
,
I
Arterial transit road prohibited for NMT provide frequent safe NMT crossing points
Service road parallel to transit section, separated by open drain, median verge or barrier
no
mixed walk & MT track
+ Cycle track (separated) I no
I
I
all-mixed service road Walk&cycle&MT on same road on both sides of the main road one-way MT two-way cycling
c
Walkway, + mixed road: MT & cycle + MT parking lane on both sides of the main road one-way MT, two-way cycling
I
Walkway, + Cycle track (one-way) + MT lane (one-way) + MT parking lane
Note: Pedestrian and bicycle ADT cut-off are indicative only. The final design decision on mixing or separating Iias to be made on the basis of the local conditions, taking into account shops or markets along the road; the level o l road trading; MT parking needs; and local experience (based on traffic behavior) with mixing of pedestrian traffic with cycling and with MT access traffic. To assure safe traffic conditions, adequate tralfic calming interventions need to he taken, and special attention is required for difficult spots such as the entrances to the service roads at the intersections, fuel station entrances and bus stop areas.
A typical urban corridor.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
14.3 Access roads
In terms of road design, all access roads in cities in Africa can be considered to be “NMT domain” (industrial access road are a special case). On these roads, most of the traffic volume consists of pedestrians (sometimes also bicycle traffic and carts). This NMT traffic has priority over the motor vehicles that also use these access roads. Since pedestrians have priority, crossing facilities are not needed. All other modes have to adapt their speed and behavior to the pedestrians. This will not be done voluntary by motor vehicle drivers or motorized two-wheeler drivers. Decisive traffic calming measures must be included in the road designs, that dictate an average uniform MT flow speed of 10 km/hr and a maximum speed of 30 km/hr (the recommended speed limit on this category of road). The instruments to achieve this are frequent speed humps or a reduction of the length of straight sections to less than 100 m, followed by a corner, or “staggering” (chicane, i.e. a very short section where the road axis is shifted a few meters left or right). Different types of access roads are described briefly now.
Residential walking tracks Residential walking tracks without MT are the backbone of accessibility in many residential areas, in particular in unplanned areas. In principle, proper direct access tracks of this type to all houses are a sufficient provision. (To houses on plots big enough to allow parking inside, and where inhabitants may own a car, it is desirable to have the possibility of MT access. Such houses are usually already located along MT roads, and if not, they may have to accept remote parking of the vehicle.) Residential walking tracks can also be used by bicycles and carts. In practice, they will usually not be paved. Since no MT access is possible, drainage problems are usually minor (simple drainage solutions can be maintained more easily, in the absence of damage by motor vehicles). In combination with proper drainage facilities, paving small sections that are inaccessible during the rainy season will usually be sufficient.
CHAPTER 14
DESIGN CONCEPTS
22 1
Securing sufficient legal road reserves for these tracks is important, because with increasing densification of neighborhoods they will otherwise partly disappear, thus creating more and more detours for pedestrians. Arterial NMT-only routes
Direct walk and cycle routes that are independent of the MT road network are very important for pedestrians and cyclists. For them, these often are “main corridors” that create a significant reduction in trip length, and increase in travel speed and comfort, compared to routes that entirely follow the MT roads. Where, in cities with significant cycling, such routes are part of the core bicycle route network, a cycle track parallel to the walking track is desirable, to reduce the pedestrianbicycle conflict. In practice these routes will often be infomial “short-cuts” where direct connections are missing in the MT road network. These are important to enable more direct trips on foot between origin and destination. Improving and officially establishing them is one of the important pedestrian route network improvement policies. Where there is a high volume of pedestrian traffic, a pavement is often justified (estimated break-even ADT approximately 3,000, see part 11, intervention 3). Paving must be combined with proper measures to block MT off the track, to avoid loss of usefulness for NMT and to prevent pavement damage. Without such measures, paving increases the risk that MT will attempt using it. Carts can also use these routes. It is usually impossible to prevent motorcycles (scooters) from using NMT-only tracks. Where this creates accident hazards, speed humps are required to slow them down. Single lane access road
This is the lowest cost option for a paved access road that enables MT access. In many neighborhoods the MT-ADT on access roads is low, and the capacity provided by a single lane is enough. MT access for delivery of goods, waste removal and emergencies can be of importance. In view of the axle loads of the vehicles, a strong road base and pavement are required and the road must be combined with a storm water drain. Construction without a good drain is a waste of money. Where stone is available at a reasonable cost, a stone masonry drain is recommended for strength and cost reasons. All traffic, NMT and MT, uses the same carriage-way. For MT, one-way traffic can be imposed, or passing places can be provided every 200 meters, and a turning loop at the end. The road width and the mixture of all modes of transport will automatically slow down MT. Problems with overspeeding, if any, can be expected from motorized two-wheelers. If too high speed creates unsafe conditions, speed humps and corners are the instruments to reduce it. All modes use the same lane: pedestrians, carts, bicycles, cars, motorized twowheelers. Pedestrians have priority. Access road
This is the most common type of urban road. It is recommended to maintain completely mixed traffic on access roads, unless the MT-ADT becomes too high. A need to provide a separate walkway will probably only exist in a few cases. Usually, many access roads are unpaved and often have no drain. The road width depends on the land use density and the history of the area. In planned areas it is often wide (8-12 m), in unplanned areas often much narrower. Despite the often bad quality of earth or gravel access roads, reconstructing and paving them will usually not create a significant net benefit, apart from where they are important NMT routes with a high NMT-ADT. The reason is that the bad condition of the road usually does not lead to inaccessibility for MT (apart from during short periods of intense rainfall), although access by vehicle is slow and at higher vehicle operating costs. The positive side of the “bad pavement” coin is: traffic accident hazards are almost absent.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Cost effectiveness
General rebuilding of access roads, along the design recommendations in these guidelines (with good drains, pavements and traffic calming measures) is expensive, and is therefore often impossible to finance. In most cases other investments to improve mobility have a much higher benefitkost ratio and get priority, for example: * traffic calming on collector roads (with raised crossings etc.) * spot improvements to NMT access tracks * improving arterial NMT routes (which may include parts of existing access roads) * walkways along collector roads * spot improvements to access roads
Single ceiitral di-aiii alteriiative
In situations where improvement of the drainage in an area requires construction of a drain along an access road with MT traffic, but the available budget does not allow paving the road, a good option (if the road reserve is wide enough) is to construct a single drain in the middle of the road reserve, provide an unpaved MT carriageway (gravel) on one side, and a compacted earth pavement on the other side for NMT, inaccessible for MT. With this cross-section, one can in case of a high volume of NMT even apply a low-cost NMT pavement - inaccessible to MT - combined with a gravel MT carriageway. It is recommended to only consider paving access roads with a “minimal” design (open shoulders, no lined drain to save costs), if decisive traffic safety measures are taken simultaneously, such as constructing the pavement not more than 4.0 m wide (also saves costs) and with frequent speed humps (bollards to block by-passing them over the road shoulder). It is important to prevent that, for shortcuts, access roads are used as MT “rat routes”, or to escape traffic jams. One way of doing this is to construct MT access roads in circular loops, and “NMT-only” direct, straight connecting tracks between these loops for pedestrians and cyclists. An alternative: dead-end access roads for MT, with an MT turning point at the end (or at an MT road block in the middle), and with direct through routes for NMT only. If MT-ADT becomes so high that a parallel walkway is desirable, it is recommended not to change the classification to local collector, but to leave carts on the carriageway, and to assure enough traffic calming facilities to keep MT speed 2 m wide and designed as a traffic island. Construct bus bays of sufficient length (often 70-90 m) to accommodate the peak demand for bus stops. These bays require 3 in width in the road cross-section. This means that it is possible to use the same 3 m immediately behind the location of the bus bay to accommodate a sufficiently wide crossing island in the median. This results in a carriageway deflection that has an additional traffic calming effect. BUSbays locations combined with pedestrian crossing points should not be more than 300 meters apart. 0
Crossing plus bus stops in 2x2 lane collector
-
0
0
0
0
Revised road izetct~oi-kplaizniiig
walkway
Provide two lanes of unequal width: a narrow lane along the median (2.75 or 3.0 in) and a wide lane along the walkway (4.5 111, visually separated in a 3.0 in MT lane and a 1 .5 m bicycle lane), and enforce a parking ban. At bus bay locations, it may be desirable to make the bicycles pass at the back (the walkway side), on a short separated track. depending on the local traffic behavior and the bicycle and bus passenger volumes. Provide sufficiently wide walkways to accommodate both access and transit pedestrian movement. A minimum walkway width of 5 m is almost always required along this type of road; if the shopping or street trading function of the road is important, more than 5 meters is needed (see chapter 16). Use speed humps with a design speed of 30 k d h r to control MT speeds, at all crossing points (bus bays). Enforce a complete ban on parking on the road. Cargo loading areas can be designed similar to bus bays, using the residual width in the road cross-section in-between bus baykrossing locations.
(2) Revised road network planning: If the available road reserve is less than 30 m, conclude that a professionally sound fourlane urban road design is not possible and decide against widening.
CHAPTER 14
DESIGN CONCEPTS
229
Increase the MT traffic capacity of an alternative route. through an urban corridor that has a sufficiently wide road reserve to accommodate all modes of transport. Leaving the congestion on the problematic collector as it is, will force the excess MT demand to reroute. * Provide good direct bicycle route alternatives in parallel to the congested collector road, using mixed traffic access roads or NMT-only roads. * Establish general traffic demand management policies, including public transport priority schemes, in order to reduce the further increase of car traffic, and in order to - in the longer term - enhance a more even spread of commercial activities and services over the urban area.
0
14.5 Urban corridors
To prevent the traffic flow efficiency of the transit traffic from being seriously reduced by the access function of the road, the transit trafiic and the access traffic have to be separated on urban corridors. The recommended solution is to construct service roads. The transit traffic carriageway is MT-only domain. Service roads are mixed NMT-MT domain, where MT has to adapt its speed and behavior to NMT requirements. To enhance an efficient traffic flow, it is important to minimize the number of intersections that give access to the MT-transit carriageways by connecting access roads to the service roads only. The number of MT transit lanes is not the decisive factor for classifying a road as an urban corridor, although those usually are 2x2 or 2x3 lanes. If the MT transit traffic ADT is below 20,000, a 2x1 lane transit carriageway can be a good and cost effective solution.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Urban corridor transit carriageway Existing rouds
At present, the typical urban corridor in Africa has no service roads, and often has a large number of direct plot access points immediately onto the main carriageway. This usually makes the roads dangerous as well as inefficient. The reason a road has this shape usually is that over time it developed from an old radial road, going out of town, and was never properly adapted to the changed traffic and land use requirements of the expanding city. In the recent past, road rehabilitation projects often looked at and designed these roads with a European or North American traffic perception, as urban highways connecting suburbs to the CBD, and a focus on longer distance MT trips. This overlooks the importance of the corridors as locations of economic activity outside the CBD, that require good accessibility, vehicular as well as on foot, from nearby residential areas over relatively short distances.
Crossing of the MT trurisit sections
The main carriageway of urban corridors is MT-only, prohibited for pedestrians and cyclists. The only vital aspect for NMT is how to cross safely, without creating long delays for either MT or NMT. The recommended standard crossing facility is an at-grade crossing with the help of pedestrian crossing islands (see also chapter 16.7). In a traffic environment where it cannot be expected that traffic lights will always be respected by all road users, and will function 24 hours per day without faults, crossing islands are also required at intersections with traffic lights, to provide physically projected refuges on the trajectory across the corridor. At present, experience with pedestrian crossing islands in urban corridors in Africa is limited to islands in the central median. If wide enough, these always increase pedestrian crossing safety and ease. However, where the remaining crossing distances are long (>6 m) and MT speeds high (>60 kni/hr), they are not sufficient to create safe and efficient crossings (see chapter 13.8). Careful testing is required to develop the best designs for a range of African urban traffic situations. The design that is shown below is recommended for detailed testing.
CHAPTER 14
DESIGN CONCEPTS
23 1
Service roads
The recommended direction of flow on a service road is: one-way MT traffic (in the same direction as on the adjacent MT transit lanes), and two-way for pedestrians and access bicycle traffic. Transit bicycle traffic should only move in the same direction as MT. For service roads the most important design choice is whether or not pedestrian traffic can be mixed with the other traffic (cycling, access MT). Service road with walkways
In all cases with a significant pedestrian as well as MT access traffic volume, it is recommended to provide a separate walkway (see figure 14.3). This type of service road resembles a one-lane, one-way MT, local collector: mixed MT + cycle lane, parking lane, walkway. In view of the counter-flow bicycle traffic it requires a 3.5-4 m wide lane. The reasons to recommend this design are: In medium or high density urban areas, the commercial activity along urban collector roads is usually high, and easy access by both MT and NMT is required. The volumes of pedestrians and MT are so high that they cannot be mixed efficiently; The demand for parking is such that a short-term parking lane is required. Without such a lane it will be impossible to keep the walkway free of parked vehicles; A separate bicycle track will only function properly in this type of traffic environment if the bicycle volume is high. If the bicycle track would be empty compared to the other road space, it will be invaded by other users and thereby become difficult to use for cyclists; A wide walkway is needed to avoid pedestrian congestion caused by the conflict between those that want to walk on, at a high walking speed, and those that visit shops, look around, or want to sell things; If the volume of pedestrians is high and there is no separate walkway, the pedestrians will make cycling difficult, because they are so much slower. MT and bicycles move at the same speed on a service road, and can share its carriageway without problems. 9
0
AI1 mixed service road
Where the MT access volume is low, a fully mixed service road is recommended (see figure 14.3).This type of service road resembles a one-way MT access road (with two-way NMT). It is recommended to maintain a sufficient road reserve for future upgrading to a service road with a walkway. The reasons to recommend this design are: This type of service road will typically be provided in low density areas, with limited economic roadside activity. Most pedestrians will use it as a transit link, so pedestrian congestion is less likely. The peak pedestrian flow will also often be at a different time (earlierhter) than the main MT access demand (mid-day); The costs are considerably lower than those of a service road with a separate walkway.
14.6 Design philosophy for urban pedestrian and bicycle traffic Uniform design
To achieve safe and efficient traffic flows on an urban road network, it is important that all road users understand the road designs in the same manner. The aim of the road network designers and managers should be that all road users can easily “read” on what type of a road they are, or what type of other road they are approaching: It should be intuitively clear that on an access road MT has to give way to NMT and has to adapt its speed to a level that is safe for mixing with NMT; It should be the experience of all MT drivers that “short-cuts” via access roads and local collector roads are uncomfortable and do not create any time gain over selecting a route that follows the urban corridors; All road users must immediately recognize the location of pedestrian crossings; Each type of crossings should be uniformly designed (raised zebra the same everywhere, traffic islands of a similar design everywhere, etc.);
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All road users must immediately recognize a walkway;
a bicycle track, and see the difference; Each MT driver must be guided towards the desired uniform flow speed for a certain road by the physical design of the road and its traffic calming facilities, and intuitively understand at what speed s/he can safely drive.
* All road users must immediately recognize a bicycle lane or
The systematic use of agreed-upon design standards is one of the mechanisms to improve uniformity. But most roads will not be redesigned in the near future, so a uniform approach to road maintenance and to spot interventions to improve the perforinance of existing roads is equally important. The following elements can significantly support uniformity and quality: * The systematic use of color coding. In view of the common problems with dust during the dry season, it is recommended to use yellow and red paint on pavements and kerbs, rather than white and black. Different pavement choices for different types of facilities. For example: concrete slabs for walkways, block pavement for bus bays, block pavement for access roads (or gravel or earth), color difference between bitumen bicycle lanedtracks (lighter or reddish) and bitumen MT carriageways (black). A systematic use of trees along the main NMT routes. A systematic demarcation of the carriageway edge and intersection corners, with e.g. Tblocks or kerbs. * A systematic use of the same traffic calming instruments on the same types of road (for example, a speed hump with a design speed of 40 k m h is acceptable on an urban corridor at a logical spot (e.g. approaching a mid-block crossing), but not one with a design speed of 20 or 30 kmhr). Vehicle speed in urban traffic
Understanding the implications of vehicle speed in urban traffic is an important aspect of the design process. Other aspects of speed have been described elsewhere in the guidelines. This paragraph deals with: * vehicle stopping distance collision impact driver field of vision
CHAPTER 14
DESIGN CONCEPTS
Sroppirig distance
The distance that a car needs to come to a complete stop depends on its initial speed. Figure 14.7 on the next page assumes a car with good tires and brakes, an alert driver, and immediate strong braking. Even with those three assumptions, it is clear how significantly the chances to prevent a collision are reduced the more the speed goes up.
Collisioninipacr
Figure 14.8 shows the collision impact of a car, at three different speeds. The picture indicates how fast the seventy of the impact goes up with increasing vehicle speed. The energy content that is injected into the accident victim does not go up linearly with increasing speed, but with the square of the speed, i.e. the impact of a collision with a car that is still moving at 20 km/hr is 4x bigger than that of a collision if the car has already slowed down to 10 km/hr. At a residual car speed of 40 W h r at the moment of collision, the impact is 16 times greater than at 10 kmhr. For a pedestrian the chance to survive a collision with a vehicle with a rest-speed of over 40 W h r without serious injury is small.
Field of siew
Figure 14.9 shows the approximate field of view of a driver at different speeds. The picture indicates that a driver, in reaction to the speed of the vehicle, focuses more or less strongly on what happens far ahead. The driver, to be safe, must react in time to what happens in front of himher, during the next 8-10 seconds. At a speed of 50 km per hour this forces the driver to concentrate at a point 5 110-140 meters ahead. If the speed is 30 k d h r , this is 60-80 meters. The further ahead the focal point, the less the driver sees out of the corners of his eye of what happens at the side of the road, for instance a child that suddenly crosses.
233
Many pedestrians do not realize that drivers that move at high speed do not consciously see them standing at the side of the road. The pedestrian sees the car perfectly well, and wrongly assumes that this is mutual. The same problem occurs when it gets dark: pedestrians still see cars much better than car drivers see them. Most pedestrians do not realize that they are almost invisible, and hence sometimes take irresponsible risks.
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Figure 14.9 also explains why on urban roads a very good visibility in the driving direction, and in particular at a long straight road section beyond the nearest intersection, creates higher accident hazards: it draws the focus of the driver into the distance, at the expense of an overview of what happens at the sides, and by doing so invites to increase speed. The three pictures combined explain why, on an urban road with a high density of different types of users, a vehicle at a speed of 50 k d h r already is a dangerous object, and why at a speed of 70 km/hr it is extremely dangerous. For urban road designers it is important to keep these pictures in mind, as a protection against designing dangerous urban roads.
,affic calming: an urban transport strategy Le overall objective of urban traffic calming as recommended in these guidelines is to :ate a safe, efficient, and less stressed flow of traffic, with distinctly different aracteristics in three different road “domains”: An NMT domain, consisting of all access roads and tracks, where MT is partly allowed, but is secondary to pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Service roads along urban corridors are also part of the NMT domain, as are walkways along collectors; A mixed NMTlMT domain, consisting of thc collector roads, where MT speeds are moderate and cycling and MT can mix safely;
An MT domain, consisting of MT-only transit urban corridors, to provide eflicient and safe MT traffic throughout the city. For the MT domain, the important NMT aspect is that it can be crossed by pedestrians and cyclists without significantly delaying or endangering either MT or NMT traffic. achieve this overall objective, a number of specific objectives must pursued while (re-) signing the urban roads. Assure that: A constant uniform flow speed is enhanced, with minimal acceleration and deceleration of MT traffic. MT maximum speeds do not exceed the maximum design speed of the different road categories. This should as much as possible be achieved by adopting designs that automatically enforce themselves, independent of traffic police enforcement or voluntary respect for traffic signs and speed limits. The uniformity of the road network design encourages efficient route choice by MT (via the urban corridors), for longer distance trips within the city. The average difference in speed and driving comfort between these corridors and the other road domains must be such that this is a rewarding MT route choice. The overall road network capacity is increased by higher intersection efficiency (a more disciplined traffic behavior and less intersection locking). The number and severity of traffic accidents goes down. This also has a positive impact on the average speed in the network and network capacity. The worst congestion often occurs as a result of accidents. The establishment of an NMT domain of NMT-only and mixed access roads, which covers most of the urban area (everything apart from the main comdor network and collector road network): - significantly reduces the negative environmental effects of traffic (noise, air pollution); - by its combination with proper drainage significantly improves the sanitary / health conditions; and - enhances the safeguarding or re-establishment of proper tree cover.
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Traffic calming Traffic calming is an integrated part of the design philosophy for urban pedestrian and bicycle traffic, as explained in these guidelines. It is an urban road design concept that was developed during the last 10-15 years in h W Europe, and has gradually spread worldwide. However, only limited experience existed so far about how traffic calming ideas that emerged in the relatively disciplined and homogeneous urban traffic environments of Europe, the US and Japan should be translated to traffic conditions in African cities. Chapter 13 describes a large number of practical test examples. One general conclusion can be drawn from them: adapted to and designed for the conditions in African cities, traffic calming interventions have a great potential to create “win-win’’ improvement. They create positive effects for both pedestrians, bicycle traffic, and MT. This paragraph summarizes two things: (1) the objectives of traffic calming as an urban transport strategy and road design concept for cities in Africa (box on opposite page); ( 2 ) important effective traffic calming instruments. Iiistrurnents
The main design instruments on the recomniended traffic calming menu are listed below. The list begins with design instruments that, if applied systematically at the time of road construction or rehabilitation, reduce the need for a large number of the more “severe” instruments further down the list. The instruments from nr.7 downwards can also be easily implemented as spot interventions on existing roads.
Traffic calming instruments Physical separation between the carriageway and the road shoulder or intersection corner, to keep the MT on the carriageway. A just-sufficient carriageway width, that does not encourage MT speeds abovc the design speed of each road category. Intersection corners with a design speed of 20 km/hr, resulting in corner radii that discourage high speed turning movemcnts. Short straight seclions, or staggering (chicane) of the road axis in long straight sections. This prevents acceleration to high speed. Low-speed roundabouts at intersections * Raised interscction of local collector roads. Central median in a 2x1 lane district collector
0
0
0
0
0
Raised zcbra crossing.
* Speed hump, with the applicable design speed. 0
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Pedestrian crossing island. Design for a significant carriageway deflection to reduce MT speeds. Spot narrowing (“gate”). The opposing MT traffic serves as traffic calmer. In case of cycle lanes: bicycle slips, to enhance lane discipline of cyclists and MT.
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Design speed
Design speed and accident risk
The concept of design speed for an urban road is different from that for a highway or a rural road. For a highway, the design speed is chosen as the highest MT speed that can be reasonably expected on that road. This nieans that the design speed is often higher than the official speed limit. This is done to prevent that vehicles that drive at a high speed would endanger themselves, e.g. by not seeing obstacles ahead early enough, or by being unable to control the vehicle in a sharp bend in the road. The design speed of the road is not used as a tool to influence vehicle speeds, but as a tool to protect the vehicle passengers against accidents that might occur at high speeds, even if the driver is violating the speed limit.
Urban roads
For urban roads a different principle must be adopted: the design speed should be chosen equal to the desired ‘‘~(85)’’speed for that category of road. This means that the road design will discourage higher speeds. The reason to make this design speed choice for urban roads is that in urban traffic, the main accident hazard does not concern the driver and passengers inside the vehicle, but the other road users, outside the vehicle, in particular pedestrians, cyclists, motor-scooters, carts. The road design must therefore aim at discouraging high vehicle speeds that endanger other road users. On urban roads the criterion for design speed choice is the accident risk of other road users. The recommended design speeds for the different categories of urban roads are listed in table 14.1. Carriageway width
It is important to select the proper carriageway width for each type of urban road. In selecting the right width, the following factors must be taken into account: Effect on motor vehicle speed; Effect on overtaking of cyclists and traffic safety; Effect on pedestrian crossing distance; * Effect on construction cost; Pedestrian and bicycle capacity requirements.
Road shoulders
An urban road design detail with wide-ranging effects on the character of the traffic flow and on road safety is the road shoulder. The standard highway and rural road design is that the road base is 1.5 to 2.5 meters wider than the pavement of the camageway. The extra width is required for strength and stability reasons, and is called the shoulder. It is usually graveled or it receives a singe surface dressing to improve the water run-off.
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When the highway/rural road design with an open shoulder is used in urban areas, it creates chaotic and dangerous roads. The available space at the shoulder becomes used for a number of conflicting activities, such as parking, stopping to load/unload goods or passengers (bus, taxi), or wait for new passengers, walking, road trade, emergency maneuvers of MT, by-passing by M T of queues (e.g. a vehicle in front waiting for a right turn). In addition, pavement deterioration along the pavement edge is rapid because of the large number of vehicles moving odoff the pavement of the carriageway. It is therefore recommended not to design open road shoulders along urban roads. In an urban area, all road pavements should be constructed with a side-restraint to increase the pavement strength and life-time. Standard options for the design of the edge of the carriageway are indicated in the box below.
Carriageway edge options A hard separation with concrete T-blocks, bollards or stone boulders between the shoulder and the carriageway, and a compacted gravelkarth or concrete slab walkway at the shoulder-side. A lined open drain, with a walkway, cycle track or service road behind the drain. The recommended design for the carriageway / drain edge is an elevated masonry or concrete drain wall (kerb-high, from the carriageway-side similar to a kerb). A high kerb, separating the carriageway from a walkway (or from a grass verge or median). The kerb can be the front-side of a block drain with a slab cover, or have a shallow inverted block drain in front of it, or a piped drain below. A parking lane (gravel or surface dressing), separated from the carriageway by a concrete side restraint, flush with the pavement. The parking lane should be separated from the walkway behind it by a kerb or bollards or an open drain. Bus bay or freight loading bay. In view of the high numbers of public transport vehicles, a significant percentage of the road shoulder along bus routes is required for bus bays (up to 20%).
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Chapter 15
Recommended designs for urban roads. with emphasis on the NMT elements
Urban road cross-section designs are shown in Designs 1.8 . Examples of intersection designs follow in Designs 9.17 . Design recommendations for NMT and traffic calming facilities (crossings, MT-NMT lane separation. etc.) follow in Designs 18.24 . Although based on the experience of the WB-SSATP pilot projects, the design rccommendations have been generalized to average urban conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa . The designs shown are sketch designs. not examples of detailed designs . Their purpose is to support making the best overall design choices for a particular urban road design (project) . For example for a local collector. a wide carriageway collector with mixed cycling. a collector with separated bicycle traffic. or a particular type of crossing . In each design. the conditions under which it is applicable have been indicated (road function. traffic mix. etc.), and special points to pay attention to are briefly mentioned . A detailed design for a particular road can be worked out on the basis of the design sketches below. As a starting point a base map is required of the existing situation (prepared or actualized through a detailed survey of the actual road reserve) showing all side roads. obstacles. etc. and precise measurements (widths. lengths. gradients) . Use scale 1.500. and for difficult points such as intersections scale 1.200. Urban road section designs
Design 1 Design 2 Design 3 Design 4 Design 5 Design 6 Design 7 Design 8
page nr.
Access track. NMT only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 241 NMT-only route . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 Accessroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Local collector road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 Collector road with bicycle lanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Collector road with bicycle tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Urban conidor. with high-ADT service road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246 Urban corridor. with low-ADT service road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Urban road intersection designs
Design 9 Design 10 Design 11 Design 12 Design 13 Design 14 Design 15 Design 16 Design 17
Access road x Local collector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Access road x Collector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Access road x Urban corridor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Local collector x Local collector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Local collector x Collector (cycle lanes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Local collector x Collector (cycle tracks) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Local collector x Urban corridor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Collector x Collector (cycle lanes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Collector x Urban corridor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256
Urban NMT and traffic calming facilities designs
Design 18 Design 19 Design 20 Design 21 Design 22 Design 23 Design 24
Raised zebra crossing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Crossing with pedestrian refuge island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 Speed hump. and crossing with speed humps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 Urban road shoulders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 Road narrowing with bicycle slips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 263 Junction corner re-alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES. VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
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Access track, NMT only
DESIGN 1
Sections I
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! :haracteristics ’iincrion
For access only, typically in a residential area. Footpath.
Pedestrians. Bicycles and carts allowed. Connects to walkway, or to all-mixed access road (as in 15.3.4). or to service road. Never directly connect to MT carriageway of local collector, collector, urban corridor. ’rafic calrning The goal is: keep car traffic out. entrance block with bollards (heavy, non-removable), - an effective way of eliminating car passage is a 1 .O m wide Humps drain crossing with a concrete slab. This costs less than a culvert and it is easier to clean the drain. In case of significant hindrance by motorized two-wheelers. concrete raised kerbs across the track can be used as speed humps. On sloping sections. a stair-type construction with dropkerbs can be used. misers
hrersecfions
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attention to
slope 1 :2
piy p
I. Abuse by anall cors. Prevent abuse by small cars by blockage of the track at all its Stain entrances from roads with car access, and by short sections that cars cannot pass (crossings over drains. stain with drop kerbs - in sloping sections etc.). If cars abuse the track. this will result in significant damage to its pavement, base and drainage, and soon lead to its destruction, because the strength of the base and pavcmcnt will - for cost reasons - not be enough. Parked cars will frustrate proper pedestrian use of the track. For pedestrian-only use a compacted earthlgravcl pavement will in many cases be acceptable. with stronger pavement, such as 60x60 cni slabs, at a few difficult spots only (badly drained sections or eroding slopes, for examplc). Slab over drain 2. Drainage. Proper drainage must be provided where needed. The combination of improving area drainage with access footpaths is a logical one. Where drains face no risk of damage by MT, they can bc simpler. For the small ones, ditches will often be good enough. Timely removal of silt and minor repairs are always required to assure their effectiveness (minimum Ix per year, before long rains). 3. Trees.Greatly improve track attractiveness. Minimum height of tree branches is 4 meten. no scrubs (both for visibility reasons). 1. Safefy Good visibility is essential to reduce the risk of theft and harassment (“socialsafety”).The more the track is always visible from doors of houses. the safer it is. 5. Mororized nim-iihee/ers. Motorcyclesand scooters can hardly be denied access to this type of track. Few of them will not create big problems. However, where they start to create a significant hindrance for NMT because of their numbers, behavior or speed. controlling measures, such as speed reduction, will be required.
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RECOMMENDED DESIGNS FOR URBAN ROADS WITH EMPHASIS ON THE NMT ELEMENTS
IESIGN 2
NMT-only route
241
Sections
m ralsed crossing
m
characteristics Through route for pedestrians, bicycles and carts,independent of road for MT. Pedestrians, bicycles and carts. intersections Connects to walkway along collector or urban conidor, or to mixed service road along conidor (never directly to MT carriageway) ,or to all-mixed access road. rrufic calming The goal is: keep car traffic out. Methods: entrance block with bollards (heavy. non-removable), mid-section blocks with rows of bollards. crossing over open drains: two one-meter slabs (one per direction). distance in-between 2.0 m (>wheelbase of a car). . -. small bridges: 2.5 m, bollard at center line. Crossing over drain To prevent significant hindrance by motorized two-wheelers: prohibit use by motor two-wheelers (difficult to enforce); speed humps across the track (50-100 m apart); on slopes, a stair-type construction with drop-kerbs. attention to
hnction users
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R
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1. Route alignment choice. To improve pedestrian and bicycle mobility significantly, it is vital to establish a mute network of good direct walk and bicycle routes. This can be done in part by creating proper walkways along collector roads, and service roads along urban corridors. In addition, direct short-cut connections will have to be established as independent NMT-only routes (missing NMT network links). In many cases, informal unpaved pedestrian tracks already exist there. that can be formalized and upgraded. Often small NMT bridges must be included in the upgrading. Selccting the best walking and cycling routes for upgrading must also take into account the linkage with bus stops, i.e. provide good bus bays (or bus station) and crossing facilities where NMT-only routes reach collector roads and corridors. In case new large drains are being constructed in an urban area independent of the existing road network. it is rccommcnded to investigate the usefulness of constructing a major NMT-only routc alongside 2. Small bitsiness developmenr. Routes with a high volume of pedestrian traffic are atvaclive locations for small businesses (shops, repair shops etc.), as well as for street traders. This must be anticipated when an NMT-only mute is upgraded. Sufficient space must be made available for those economic activities to (i) encourage them. because this funher increases the attractiveness of the route for pedestrians (and cyclists) and the social safety of the route, and (ii) assure that the economic activities do not obstruct the NMT traffic on the track itself. and make the route unattractive for longer trips on foot (or bicycle). 3. Streer lighrs. For important Nh4T routes, it is useful to improve their attractivenessand safety in the evening hours. Street lights are an important facility to achieve that. in par~icularnear special points such as small bridges and sparsely populatcd passages between different neighborhoods. 4. fnvement. In general. the pedestrian ADT on important NMT-only mutes is so high that a good pavement is justified. The recommended pavement is concrete slabs, because of (i) easy recognition as an NMT facility (diffemnt from an MT road). (ii) ease and low cost of maintenance (mainly labor). and (iii) employment generation impact. 5. Mixing pedestrians and cyclists. Check expected pedestrian and bicycle ADTs to dimension track ptoperly.
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(note: not for industrial area access)
*
h-IOcm 1:o
U m
2 L
s!
-a -m 0
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alrernarive design: single lone access mad width: 3-4 m; MT oneway traffic, or MT passing places (per 100 m): reason to adopt single lane design: narrow road reserve, or to reduce costs.
:haracteristics
.
Stncrion isers 'ittersections
Access in residential area. for pedestrians, bicycles carts and MT (direct plot access). Pedestrians. bicycles, carts, cars, pick-ups. light trucks (c=5 Ton). Connects to the carriageway of local collector roads or collector roads, or to a service road along an urban comdor (not to the main carriageway) ,or to other access road. 'rafficcdming The goal is: keep MT speed low. Methods: - corner radius design for low speed. In general: R4.0 m: cxtra corners in long straight sections ("staggering"); - if the road is paved: j or
-
-
entrance speed humps from at (local/) regular collector intervals. roads design with raised speed crossing; 10 km/hr: distance
between humps: on average 100 to 200 meters. To prevent transit MT ("rat-routes", MT shortcuts):
-
-
1-1 I
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Staggering
access road alignment in loop, direct connection between different loops for NMT only; dead-end (for MT) road, with turning point at the end.
tttention to I. Dminoge. Paving an access road with MT access is advised against if no good drainage exists
or is constructed simulrancously.
!. foventenr. Many access roads are unpaved. Paving without constructing the corresponding traffic calming facilities is advised against. Brick pavement is recommended. Initial investment in brick pavement is a bit higher than bitumen pavement. but later maintenance is easier to manage and costs less. An important advantage of brick pavement is that it clearly
in loop
underlines the road function (access, and with mixed pedestrian traffic) as different from (local/) collcctor or corridor roads with a bitumen carriageway (transit function). I. Access roads rhar ore part of the nenvork ofNMTniain mures. The access roads that most obviously qualify for paving are those with a high pedestrian (or bicycle) ADT. In case of access roads with a high NMT-ADT and a significant MTADT, provide walkways. 1. Small Iminess dtweloprnenr. On access roads with a high volume of NMT anticipate growing business activity, i.e. reserve enough space in the road reserve for future walkways. Open drains on both side of the road tend to reduce the ease of contact with the buildings along it. To reduce this problem. a cross-section with a single drain in the middle can be considered. This can be done cither with MTon one side and most (but not all) NMT on the other side, or ! at the centerline of the pavement. as a shallow inverted block drain that can, with caution, bc i passed over by MT. In particular in slightly sloping streets, this is an attractive option. In view of erosion. this dcsizn is recornmended with brick pavement only. L.----.. 5. fmvenrion of HGVenirance. Prohibit entrance to access roads by heavy trucks (prevention of cmss wciions with damage).This can be enforced by creating entrance gates between heavy bollards, with a width single drain of 2.0 m. 5. fark!ng. In general. prohibit. parking on access road pavement. For residents. require parking inside private plots, or provtde central off-road parking lots. In business districts, parking lanes can be provided on gravel shoulden along the carriageway. On such access roads, walkways are generally needed. In that case, a good separation between the parking lane and the walkway is a necessity.
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RECOMMENDED DESIGNS FOR URBAN ROADS WITH EMPHASIS ON THE NMT ELEMENTS
243
I characteristics Connection between access roads and the main transit roads (collectorsand urban corridors). Access to buildings and plots along the road. Motor vehicle traffic, bicycles (mixed on carriageway); pedestrians and carts (on walkways). users infersections With access roads, (locall) collector or urban corridor. With urban corridor of four or more lanes, without traffic lights, only allow MT left turns (in left-hand traffic) (or right turns /rht). crossing At intersections and other important crossing points: raised zebra crossing. traffic calming Raised zebra crossings at intersections and bus bays, and mid-block, if more than 200 m from nearest safe crossing point. Design speed 20 kmlhr. - Intersection corner design speed 20 kmlhr. In general, to other local collector roads R=12 m; Minor crossing point protectcd by single speed hump (design speed 20 M r ) ; Impassable separation (for MT) between walkway and carriageway; for intersections between two local collectors: a raised platform intersection.
funcrion
-
I attention to 1. Plot enfmnces.Design speed: 10 kmlhr. Apply minimum requid entrance radius. Assure that MTcannot enter walkways
via plot entrances. No slopes or kerbs between the walkway and the entrance. Slope 1:lO. h=10 cm. between plot entrandwalkway and the carriageway. Adapt pavement strength of walkways across plot entrances (use bricks). 2. R w d shoulders. Many existing local collector roads have open mad shoulders. As a first improvement. for safety and availability of space for pedestrians, separate the road shoulder from the carriageway,e.g. with concrete blocks (T-shape. see 16.8). 3. Uniform design and visibilily. Use a standardized design of traffic calming facilities to assure proper recognition by vehicle drivers. 4. Bus srops. Provide frequent bus bays, combined with a raised zebra crossing (distance apart = 200-400 m). 5. Pavement. Recommended carriageway pavement: bitumen (e.g. surface dressing or pmnix). Important to underline road function. Recommended walkway pavement: concrete slabs (30x30 cm). If pedestrian ADT is too low to justify slabs: leveled and compacted soil. 6. Mixing MT and cyclisrs. Check expected MT-ADT. If smng increase is expected in next 10 years, consider a collector road design. 7. Parking. Prohibit parkin on the carriageway (too expensive to use paved road surface in that way; frustrates traftic function). Where a signikant demand for parking exists consider parking on gravel shoulders (proper separation from walkways; parallel parking is for that reason to be preferred), or separate parking lots. Clearly separate bus bays from parking lanes. 8. Tmes. Along walkways (not close to the drain). Select species with deep growing roots.
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
244
I
IESIGN 5
Collector road with bicycle lanes
Sectioni
3.00
MT
I
I
mmngmJ bicyds slips
--e
pedesbim Island
0
c
0
%
F
nmdian:~~~,.1OQi2.Oo rn
characterktics(nfewnce: nuo-lane road, one MTlane in each direction)
Transit traffic within a city district, connection to the main city-wide transit roads (urban corridors) Access to buildings and plots along the mad. users Motorized vehicle traffic and bicycles (mixed on the same carriageway, each in its own lane); pedestrians and cam (on walkways). crossing - For safe crossing of coIlector roads, at intersections and mid-blofk, p v i d e traffic islands (at midblock locations where important NMT routes cross or bus bay locations. or if the distance between crossing points is >200-400 m). In roads with high pedestrian volume and large diffuse m s i n g demand a continuous paved median, with a trafk island design. 1.0 m wide [for example in shopping s e t s ) . For crossing of a main NMT-only route. a wide raised zebra crossing can also be applied. rrrrgic calming Carriageway deflection from a s~raightline past traffic islands (design reduction: to 40 km/hr); - Long median (with vertical kerb, 1 m wide); Narrowing with bicycle slips, on long straight sections at 200 rn intervals (see Design U); Additional speed humps. where speeds would exceed 50 k m h . Design speed 30 W, Intersection corner design speed 30 kmlhr. In general. to other collector roads, R=I2-15 m; Impassable .separation (for MT)between walkway and carriageway; Painted cycle lane dcmarcation. or different color of cyclelanc pavement.
function
-
-
-
attention to 1. Lane ividrh ur infersecrionsund crossing poinrs. Do not d u c e the lane width of either MT lane or bicycle lane at intersections, since that creates a dangerous situa!ion for cyclists. The same applies in case of pedestrian crossing islands
at mid-block locations.
2. Plor enrmnces. Prohibit Nms idout of plots through o p p i n g traffic (right ~ m ins left-hand uaffic. lett turns in rht). If enforcement is unsuccessful and negative impact on tra ic flow and safety significant:construct a median. 3. Uni/onn design. Use a uniform application of traffic calming facilities to assure proper recognition of the mad network hierarchy by vehicle drivers. This means that the recommended crossing on collector roads is a t r m c island (which allows safe and efficient crossing a1 slightly higher MT speeds). whilc on local collectors a raised zebra crossing is preferred (design speed of 20 km/hr). 4. Bus sfops. Bus bays, combined with trsflFc island crossing (distance apan = 200-400m). The provision of a crossing island can be combined well with rhat of bus bays, because the bus bays necessitate an extra 3 m road width. and thus
create space for a pedestrian crossing islands between them (compare chapter 14.4). (Road shortlders, puvcnrenr, plor cnrmnre design. porking. fmex sce under Design 4)
RECOMMENDEDDESIGNS DESIGNSFOR FOR URBAN URBANROADS ROADS WITH WITH EMPHASIS EMPHASISON ONTHE THENMT Nh4TELEMENTS ELEMENTS RECOMMENDED
CHAPTER 15 15 CHAPTER
Collector road with bicycle tracks
3ESIGN 6 DESIGN
An alternative solMon sdution in case of higher plot access demand: all-mixed servjce service mad, road, 4m wide (walk+cyctefMT) (walk+cycle+MTJsee f5.8 15.8
all mixed service service road road
i.o0{2.00-
2.00
1 I
3.00 3.bO
No NOplot plot a m s ss h f rm ~ mmagewaJ m mnia ewad (must be be from from side side sfreets) streets7
-+
walkway bicycle track
-
+ MT
,r
4
- 4 - -Mf- - - - - - - 3.00
open drain
Sections
'
open drain
_ _ _ _ _ _ - -
245
245
busbap at all mssing mssing busbays points (not shown) poinfs
No MT access to walkway and bicycle track track and (blocks (blocksat all allsideroads) sidemds)
characteristics characteristics (reference: (reference: two-lane two-lane rroad, o d , one one MT MT lane lane in in each each dimction) direction) Transit traffic ain urban traffic and connection connection to to the m main urban corridors. corridors. Access Access to to buildings and and plots plots along city, where where MT MT flow flow speed speed of of 40 km/hr kmhr is desirable. desirable. along the the road. mad. In In lower lower density density parts parts of aa city, users MT users MT traffic traffic (main (main carriageway);bicycles bicycles (cycle track); pedestrians pedestrians and and carts carts (walkways). (walkways). crossing crossing - For For safe safe crossing crossing provide provide traffic traffic islands at at intersections, intersections, bus bus bay bay locations, locations, and and at at mid-block mid-block Ioeations here important locations w where important NMT routes routes cross cross (crossing (crossing point point distance distance < 4 200-400 200400m); m); traffic fraficcalming calming - Carriageway Carriageway deflection deflection from from aa straight line line past past traffic traffic islands; target: target: reduction reduction to to 40 40 km/hr9 M r ; -Additional mh; Additional speed speed humps, humps, where where speeds speeds would would exceed exceed 50 50 kMm rh . Design Design speed speed 40 40 kkm/hr; -- Intersection Intersection corner corner design speed speed 30 30 h k mh h. . In In general, general, to to other other collector collector roads, roads, R=12-15 m; m; -- Impassable Impassable separation separation (for (for MT) MT) between between walkway walkway hicycle bicycle track track and and carriageway. carriageway. function Function
-
attention attentionto to 1. 1.Access Access to toplots plotsand and buildings. buildings. On On this this type type of of road, road, access accesstraffic traffichas has to to cross cross aa bicycle bicycle track track and and aa walkway. walkway. This This means means that that itit is is undesirable undesirable to to have have aa significant significantnumber number of of plot plot entrances entrances (high costs costs and and negative negative impact impact on on traffic traffic flows). flows). IfIf the the access accessfunction functionof of the the road road is is important, important,consider consideraa service serviceroad road with with access access for for slow slow MT MT instead instead of of aa walkway walkway plus plus aa bicycle bicycle track track (Designs (Designs77 and and 8). 8). 2.2. Bicycle Bicycle ADZ ADI: Providing Providing aa bicycle bicycle track track in in aa situation situation where where the the bicycIe bicycle ADT ADT on on aa road road is is lower lower than than 2000 2000 is is advised advised against. against. In In order order to to enable enable cycling cycling in in such such aa situation, situation, where where MT MT speed speed on on the the collector collector road road makes makes mixed mixed cycling cycling undesirable, undesirable, itit is is recommended recommendedto to provide provide aa service serviceroad road for for mixed mixed MT, MT, bicycle bicycle and and pedestrian pedestrianuse use (or (or mixed mixed MT MT and and .). cycling, cycling,plus plus walkway; walkway;see see 11.). 3. tracks. In 3. bcution LocationofZVMT ofNMTtracks. In some somecases casesitit can can be be advantageous advantageousto to design design aa (wider) (wider)bi-directional bi-directionalbicyde bicycletrack trackon on one one side side of ain originsldestinations of the the road road instead instead of of aa one-directional one-directionaltrack track on on both both sides sides (depends (dependson on intersections intersectionsand and mmain origins/destinationsof of cyclists). cyclists).Same Same for for walkways. walkways. 4. 4. Detailed Detailed design design ofopen of open drain drain edges. edges. IfIf open open drains drains are are applied applied between between the the MT MT carriageway carriageway and and the the NMT Nh4T tracks, tracks, the the carriageway/drain caniagewayldrainedge edge must must be be safe safe for for MT. MT.The The disadvantage disadvantageof of using using an an open open shoulder shouldertawards towardsthe the drain drain here, here, is is that that ititinvites inviteshigher higher speed, speed,thereby therebyincreasing increasingtraffic trafficaccident accidenthazards hazardsat atcrossings, crossings,and andenables enablesillegal illegalparking parkingon onthe theshoulder. shoulder. The The recommended recommendedsolution solutionisis to to keep keepthe the traffic trafficlanes lanes3.0 3.0 meters meterswide wide and and construct construct an an elevated elevatededge edgeof of the the drain drain (as (asaa drop drop kerb, kerb, h=15 h=15 cm), cm), with with narrow narrow water water inlets inlets every every 4-5 4-5 rn. m, An An additional additional advantage advantageisis reduced reduced pavement pavementdamage damageas as aa result result of of having having aa strong strongside siderestraint, restraint, and and lower lowerroad-base road-basecosts costs(see (see 15.4). 15.4). (Road (Roadshoulders, shoulders,pavement, pavement,plot plot entrance entrancedesign, design,parking, parking, trees: trees: see see.under underDesign Design4) 4) (Uniform (Uniformdesign, design, bus busstops: stops:see seeunder under Design Design5) 5)
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRlAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFK IN AFRICAN CITIES. VERSION 1.3 .IAN 2001
246
)ESIGN 7
Urban corridor, with high-ADT service road
r'
Sections
building line (shops, offices, ...) ,,,, I . , , , ,
I r , , , , , , , , , , , / , , , , , , , , ,
haracteristics mefion
sers
mrsing
1. City-wide transit arterial, and connection to inter-city highways.
2. Access to buildings and plots along the road. 3. Main bus router; buses on MT transit lanes only (or dedicated bus lanes) -not on service rd. MT vaffc (main carriageway); bicycles and MT (service road); pedestrians, carts (walkway). - For safe crossing provide traffic islands at intersections, at mid-block locations where
wflc cdming nvn camageway) @ic calmi~g mviee mad) -
imponant NMT routes cross, and at bus bay locations (crossing point distance c400 m); Traffic lights with pedestrian phase at intersections with collectors and urbati corridors. Carriageway deflection past traffic islands (design reduction: to 40-50 kdhr); Additional speed humps, where speeds would exceed 70 km/hr (design speed 50 kmlhr); Intersection corner design speed 30 kmlhr. In general, to collector roads, R=12-15m. As on access road speed humps (design speed 10 kmhr): One-way MT; Two-way NMT; Service road entrances at intersections only, impassable separation for MT elsewhere.
Ittention to
. Service ,nod
design. A service road with mixed MT and cycling and a separate walkway is similar to an access road with a walkway (i.e. with an MT-ADT that makes a separated walkway necessary). The observations in Design 3 apply. No
buses on the service road.
. ~ l ! w 0 ycopocily Walkways along busy urban
corridors usually do not only serve transit pedesuians, but also those seeking access to shops. offices. artisans etc. They are also the scene of significant amounts of street nading (sellers that walk as well as those that sit down or have a small kiosk). It is important to provide enough space for such activity. for both the formal and the informal economy. The walkways have to be wide enough, or contain enough wider sections to accommodate them, to serve their different purposes properly. In practice this means walkways of 5 or more meters wide. . Purking. Parking lane along the service road is needed. Preference: parallel parking. Impassable separation from walkway! Median, cms.ving, pedesrrian bridges or rmderposses, plot entrances, defoiled design of open drain edges: see Design 8 )
CHAPTER 15 CHAPTER 15
RECOMMENDED RECOMMENDED DESIGNS DESIGNS FOR FOR URBAN URBAN ROADS ROADS WITH WITH EMPHASIS EMPHASIS ON ON THE THE NMT NMT ELEMENTS ELEMENTS
Urban corridor, with low-ADT service road Urban corridor, with low-ADT service road
DESIGN 8 DESIGN 8
MT 3.50 MT
3.50
L-
241 241
Sections Sections
transit transit
,.oo all mixed service road
;., characteristics characteristics
wm+MT
all mixed service mad mlk+c/de+MT
City-wide transit arterial. and connection to inter-city highways. Access and plots along I to buildings 1 the road. transit arterial. and connection to inter-city highways. Access to buiIdings and plots along City-wide MT traffic (main carriageway); pedestrians, bicycles, carts and MT (service road). users the mad. Fortraffic safe (main crossing provide traffic islands atbicycles, intersections, at mid-block cmssing users MT carriageway); pedestrians, carts and MT (senticelocations road). where important NMT mutes cross, provide and at bus bay locations point at distance c400 m); cmssiflg For safe crossing trafic islands at(crossing intersections, mid-block locations where important - Traffic lights cross. with pedestrian at intersections with collectors urban corridors. NMT routes and at busphase bay locations (crossing point distanceand 150
2.50 3.50
type flf jlflw
Bicycle lane on a mixed traffic road
A bicycle lane on a wide camageway district collector is recommended only if the average speed of MT on the road does not exceed 30 k d h r (design speed of 40, maximum of 50). The corresponding lane width is 1.5 m : 0.15 in (clearance to kerb) +0.75 m (cyclist) +OS0 m (clearance to MT lane); the remaining 0.35 ni clearance to moving MT is part of the MT lane width. In practice, a 1.50 m lane allows cyclists to overtake each other without hindering cars or minibuses on the MT lane (not possible when HGV pass). Its capacity can be estimated at k 30% more than a single lane separated track: 1,300 cychr. In case of a high bicycle density, or many goods bicycles, a 2 m bicycle lane on a wide carriageway road will be better, and have approximately the capacity mentioned above for a 2 ni wide separated track, as long as the lane is free from obstacles. Mixed pedestrian / cycle tracks
There are no good estimates available of the number of cyclists and pedestrians that can be accommodated simultaneously on a mixed pedestrian/cycle (NMT-only) track. Limited experience with a track of 2.5 m width in the pilot project in Eldoret suggests that in case
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
of a high pedestrian volume the remaining capacity for cycling is rather small (chapter 13.18). The minimum recommended width for a predominantly one-way mixed walWcycle track is 3 meter, widening at intersections to 2 m for cyclists and 2 m for pedestrians, with a separation between the two. For a bi-directional mixed NMT-only track with an important cycling function, 4 meter is recommended. Mixing of pedestrians and cyclists on the same track is less desirable when most bicycle traffic consists of long distance trips (5-15 km, journey to work). The desired top speed of the cyclist in this case is 25-30 kmhr. Such a speed does not combine too well with walking speed. 16.4 Carts
Movement of large pushcarts - with the wheel base of a car - on the MT carriageway of collector roads and corridors creates a lot of delay and unsafe traffic conditions. In urban corridors, carts should only be allowed on the service roads. On collector roads, they should not be allowed on the carriageway, but on walkways only. On access roads they must be allowed. In practice, the type of regulation sketched above is difficult to implement. The number of carts that operate in the urban area is considerable (usually concentrated on certain routes). Restriction of their movement to the access roads would deprive them of most paved roads. As a result of their construction (often from old car axles) these carts are heavy and difficult to maneuver, and depend on a paved carriageway. So restricting their use as recommended above would in most places make it impossible to operate them. Carts mix with pedestrians
In view of its speed (being operated by someone on foot), cart movement should be combined with pedestrian movement. Mixing carts and bicycles on separated bicycle tracks or on bicycle lanes is undesirable, in view of their difference in speed and width.
Urban cm-t policy
The solution to the problem of cart movement on main urban roads should come from a combination of three developments: A change in type of cart that is being used. The cart constructed from old car axles has to be replaced by a narrower one (wheelbase 1.0 meter), that can operate on walkways without too much difficulty. This type of cart is already quite common in many places (e.g. "Chinese wheelbarrow" type, with two bicycle wheels), because the operators also need to reach areas without paved roads. A heavier new type, 1.0 m wide, can also already be seen occasionally. Provision of paved walkways along all main roads (local collector, collector, corridor). This will allow the use of new (smaller) carts on the walkways (note: movement of carts on walkways is only possible if no drop-kerbs are used where walkways cross roads or plot entrances). * A focus on providing a proper network of access roads and tracks in all parts of the urban area. This will create far better direct routes for cart movement, away from the network of main MT roads. Support for urban cart operation is rare (better vehicles, better routes). However, combined with the provision of better access roads and paved walkways and banning the use of carts on collector and corridor roads, such support can trigger the desirable change in cart technology. An isolated ban on cart use on the main roads can be expected to have a negative impact on cart use and its useful economic function in moving urban freight, lead to conflicts and be difficult to enforce. 16.5 Section design details of walkways and bicycle lanes and tracks
Uniformity of walk and cycle routes and facilities is very important, to enhance a uniformity in traffic behavior. This should be kept in mind while making detailed design choices. Not only must the specific spot (facility) that one is designing be taken into
CHAPTER 16
DETAILED DESIGN ASPECTS
279
account, but the entire walking route or bicycle route that it is part of. Using different design solutions for the same type of problem along the same route is advised against. It is desirable that the same choices are made in cases with similar conditions, to create uniformity of the designs, and transparency of the intentions of the design with respect to the use of the road (facility) and the traffic priority rules. Walkway pavement
Walkway pavement options are: Cornpacted soil. Compaction of the existing soil can be a reasonably good solution for low density residential access tracks, if drainage is sufficient. Soft spots can be paved with a few concrete slabs. In that case large slabs should be used (60x60~8cm), because those can be used without side restraint. Stabilized cornpacted soil. Sandy soils can be stabilized with cement (7% mixture in the top 5 cm, i.e. c one 50 kg bag per 6 m2 track). Clay soils can be stabilized with lime. Proper drainage is important. At spots that are vulnerable to erosion by water the stabilization has no durable effect, and large slabs are recommended. * Concrete slabs. Concrete slabs provide a strong and durable walkway pavement. A slab size of 3 0 x 3 0 ~ 4cm is recommended, laid on sand (without mortar joints). Side restraint must be used in combination with this slab size (100x20~6cm elements, with a tongue and groove joint between the elements; laid flush with the slabs (also without mortar)). On sandy soils, only small quantities of extra sand are needed for the walkway base. Large concrete slabs (60x60~8cm) can also be used. These slabs can be laid without side restraint. * Compacted gravel. If the existing soil cannot be compacted properly (soft laterite, blackcotton soil, etc.), good material can be brought to the site. It is important to use a gravelhoil mix with sufficient self- draining properties (i.e. not too much clay inside), to allow stagnant water on the track to sink through the gravel. Proper shaping (slope 5 % ) is also important, as well as good compaction. On spots vulnerable to erosion use large slabs. Su$ace dressing. In case new gravel is brought to the site to achieve sufficient walkway base quality, surface dressing on top of the compacted gravel should be considered. This preserves the gravel much better, and if maintained well costs less in the long run compared to unprotected gravel. Also use concrete slabs at vulnerable points in surfacedressed walkways, where the surface dressing will not be not strong enough, for example where significant water run-off crosses the path when it rains heavily. An alternative to increase strength at those spots is to use concrete side restraints, flush with the pavement. Bitumen emulsion. Bitumen emulsion on compacted gravel can be used in almost the same way as surface dressing. Since it can be applied cold, it requires less skill of the contractor involved. Reconzrnerzded
paveiiient
Concrete slabs are the recommended pavement for important walkways and NMT-only routes with mainly pedestrians. The durability is good and maintenance inexpensive (98% is labor costs). On vulnerable sections it is also possible to use 20 cm mass concrete with a reinforcement net (without side restraints, combine with proper drainage solution). A grass vegetation cover of the soil along a walkway greatly increases its structural stability.
Availability ofslab pavement materials
Since paved walkways are not common at this moment in most African cities, high quality slabs of the required specifications are usually not available as a low-cost standard item. This includes halves, 10 cm thick slabs for plot entrances, side restraints and kerbs with tongue-grove joints etc. The building materials sector needs substantial technical advice and training to obtain the required knowledge and skills to produce proper materials.
Construcrion skills
Since paved walkways are not common at this moment in African cities, most contractors need substantial training to obtain the required skills.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Walkway, plot entrances
The general principle is: the pedestrians on the walkway have priority over traffic that enters the plot. This must be clear in the design of the entrance. Minimurn required width and radius
The recommended entrance width is 3.0 m with the smallest turning radius needed to allows access to the type of vehicle involved. A single lane should be used. For entrances to large business compounds or factories, with a lot of traffic, separate in and out lanes are recommended.
Alignment, speed control
The entrance should be at a right angle with the carriageway (T-shape), to enforce a low entry and exit speed. Y-shape entrances and exits, for e.g. fuel stations or parking lots, must be provided with speed humps to eliminate high vehicle speed.
No parking
Parking in an entrance, thus blocking the walkway, must be prohibited. A design is recommended with enough space between a gate and the walkway to store a waiting vehicle before the gate opens (i.e. a gate set back compared to the fence).
Same pavement, but greater strength
It is recommended that the same walkway pavement is continued in the entrance. However, higher road base compaction is required in the entrance and a higher pavement strength. In case of concrete slabs, 30x30~10cm ones or 1 5 x 3 0 ~ 8must be used in the entrance, or 10x20~8bricks.
No height difference The walkway should be flat past the entrance. If the walkway and the carriageway have a in the walkwa~(no different height, the entrance must slope upwards to walkway height, best with concrete drop kerbs)
sloping blocks, which further enforces low vehicle speed in the entrance.
No car access to the walkway
Accessing the walkway from the plot entrance with a car must be impossible (separation options: see chapter 16.8).
CHAPTER 16
DETAILED DESIGN ASPECTS
281
Trees
Trees are crucial to establish and maintain an attractive urban environment. They strongly improve the micro climate by providing shade. The great practical value attached to trees by all road users is obvious from observation of their behavior. Where a tree is available, the space under it is almost always occupied by traders, kiosks, people waiting for public transport or resting. Informal walking routes in most cases maximize the use of available shade. Taxi drivers, mini bus drivers, cai-t pushers and private car drivers all try to find a tree to park under. Unfortunately, the care for the trees does not correspond to their apparent value. Most trees are old, and tree cover in most cities is under threat. Planting of new trees along roads is sometimes undertaken, but to make them survive and grow large is often a failure. One of the reasons for a constant loss of trees is the motor vehicle traffic and its free access to most road shoulders, including under the trees. A systematic program to establish proper walkways that are inaccessible for MT can be combined fruitfully with tree protection and planting. This has a positive effect on the attractiveness of walkways (and of cycle tracks or cycle lanes). It also improves the general image of the neighborhood concerned (see chapter 13.19). Selection of the best type of tree and planti~i~gposirion
Trees along walkways should be selected for roots that go deep into the ground rather than creep just below the surface. They should preferably be planted 1- 2 meters from the edge of the walkway (on the outside). In case of a line of trees along a kerb or other separation between a walkway and a carriageway or parking lane. an unpaved 1 m wide verge is recommended (or 2 m if available; as well as a well considered selection of the right tree species).
Protection ofrrees
In the first two years after planting, protection against goats and other enemies is required. Effective and inexpensive plastic strips exist, that are commonly used in forestry to protect young trees against animals. However, surveillance and care by neighborhood inhabitants are the key to success, including watering in the first year. Preference is to prune trees regularly, to assure that once they are big enough, there are no branches lower than 4 m above the ground. Bicycle lane design details
l j p e of visual separatiorz
A bicycle lane can be given a broken or a continuous line marking. It is recommended to use a continuous line between the MT lane and the cycle lane, apart from where motorized traffic has to cross the cycle lane. There a dotted line is to be used (at bus bays, plot entrances, or parking bays). At intersections it is also recommended to use a dotted line to show the trajectory of the bicycle lane. The best visibility of lines on the pavement in African conditions is usually obtained by using yellow road paint. Due to pavement contamination and dust, the durable visibility of lane marking is often bad. At the moment of road construction or rehabilitation, it can be considered to apply a 10 cm wide strip of colored pavement blocks. However, this is costly, and may cause maintenance problems. Using the same money to provide more frequent narrowings with bicycle slips is probably a more effective way to guide MT and bicycles into their own lanes.
Pnvenzeizr color
If possible, it is recommended to color the cycle lane pavement reddish to give it higher visibility, by using a color additive in case of premix, and different gravel color in case of surface dressing. It is recommended to paint a bicycle logo at the start of the track, after every intersection, and every 75 ni in between.
Cycle lane and parking
It is important to prevent parking of vehicles on the bicycle lane. A number of options exist. * One important measure is to make it impossible for a vehicle to drive with two tires on a walkway or drainage edge, and by doing so park half off-road, half on the cycle lane. This is a safe and therefore attractive parking position from the car driver point of view, not exposed to the risk of being hit by MT on the road.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
* The second important measure is to provide enough -and big enough- bus bays. Without
proper bus bays, minibuses will be inclined to stop everywhere, and use the bicycle lane for doing so. * The third measure is the provision of enough (un)loading bays for trucks, for businesses along the road that require supply by truck. If the separation between the carriageway and the walkway is an open drain, a good place for such bays may be in side roads. A measure that can be expected to be effective -if combined with the first one above-, is the construction of a 1.0 m wide median between the two 4.5 m wide lanes. This will make it impossible to use the opposing traffic lane to pass a parked vehicle, so parked vehicles will be a much greater obstacle to MT on the road, thus discouraging drivers to park their vehicle in a position of a significant damage risk. a Another measure that is needed, is to provide enough parking space in side roads or offroad parking lots. If it is impossible to park within a reasonable distance, the parking pressure will become so high that preventing parking on the bicycle lanes will become very difficult. Finally, effective enforcement of the parking ban by the traffic police is a necessity. 0
If a separate parking lane is provided behind the cycle lane (i.e. between the cycle lane and the walkway or drain), it should be wide enough for drivers to get idout of the vehicle without too much interference with the cyclists. In case of parallel parking, a minimum of 50 cm clearance is required. This should be provided as part of the parking lane width, i.e. the parking lane should be 2.50 in wide (3.0 ni if trucks also use the lane frequently). Angular parking is advised against. Where angular parking is chosen, the clearance between the back of the vehicles and the bicycle lane should be 1.0 m to improve the sight-lines for departing car drivers. Bicycle track design details
The pavement quality of a separate bicycle track is important. The recommended pavement is either a surface dressing or 3.5 cm premix, both on a compacted gravel base. The pavement edges are important for the durability of the track. If the track is along a lined open drain (masonry or concrete), the flat top of the drain should be 25 cm wide to provide enough clearance from the drain, and function as a side restraint. A well compacted gravel track with small particle size at the top is also reasonably good, provided that (i) it has a proper slope for rain run-off ( 5 % ) ,and (ii) it is maintained annually (a simple and inexpensive treatment with a small roller, to fill holes and compact again). The use of concrete slabs is not recommended for bicycle tracks, because if they do not lay flat - e.g. due to damage - they become difficult to cycle on. Moreover, it is useful to make a clear distinction between walkway pavement and cycle track pavement. Gradierits
Gradients hinder cycling. Ascending, they increase the effort for the cyclist significantly. Descending, they increase the speed and the risk of accidents (and thus the need for good brakes). Descending, traffic lights or an intersection directly at the bottom of the slope should be prevented (flat section >= 10 meters). Bends at the bottom of a slope should also be prevented or minimized. Often, the site conditions dictate the slopes and leave little choice for the designer. but in case of rehabilitation and new alignments a chance may exist to select a slope that minimizes the difficulties for cyclists. Gradients on long slopes should if possible be kept =< 2%, and alternated with short flat sections of 10-25 m in length. For shorter slopes (not longer than 250 m) a gradient of up to 4% is usually considered acceptable (height difference 10 m). Larger height differences can probably be designed better with much steeper slopes, where cyclists have to walk up. This reduces the walking distance. Descending fast on such steep slopes should be made impossible by steps (a staircase design). Short artificial slopes (bridges) should be no more than 8% up to 3m height and 6% up to 4 m height, to allow cyclists to keep cycling.
CHAPTER 16
DETAILED DESIGN ASPECTS
Bi-direcrioiiul cycle rrucks
Whether it would be better to make a physical separation between the two cycling directions or not is difficult to say without experience with the traffic behavior in the city concerned. In general, bicycle design manuals recommend a separation above a certain volume of cyclists. A separation has a disadvantage in cases where the peak direction of the traffic is very dominant (most traffic in one direction in the morning and back in the afternoon). Without a separation it is in that case possible to use 2/3 of the track in the peak direction. Since it is relatively easy to constixct a light separation afterwards, it is recommended not to make it initially in such cases. On an important bicycle-only route, the recommended design is to have a 2.0 - 2.5 m track in each direction, with a grass middle verge of 1 meter, or an open drain in the middle. This also is more cost effective, because the capacity of two 2 meter tracks with a 1 ni middle verge is equal to or even a bit higher than that of one 5.0 meter track with bicycle traffic in two directions.
Plot entrance crossiitg a bicycle truck
For plot entrances crossing a bicycle track the same applies as in case of a walkway. The need to have a flat cycle track across the entrance (no kerbs or slopes) is even more obvious. In case of a plot entrance that crosses a separated cycle track as well as a walkway, it is important that both are without kerbs or slopes. If the cycle track has no slopes, but the walkway has, carts will use the cycle track instead of the walkway. At plot entrances, it is important to block the bicycle track for other vehicles than bicycles, including carts. Recommended: steel bollards, 90 cm apart.
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Mixed NMT track design details
On NMT-only network links, always design for two-way pedestrian and cycle traffic, since it will not be possible nor desirable to enforce one-way bicycle or pedestrian traffic. In pedestrianized CBD areas it is recommended to allocate an exclusive space to cyclists in the middle of the road, identified by e.g. a different pavement type. During off-peak hours that track can also be used for deliveries (freight, by car or pickup; pavement strength must be sufficient, use bricks). Puveineiir
In case of a significant use of the mixed track by cyclists, the pavement choice can best be adapted to cycling, i.e. no slabs (brick pavement is the most durable solution).
Mixed wolk/cycle track us U starter to erihuiice cycling
In a city with little cycling (left) and, at the present moment, too dangerous traffic conditions to promote mixed-traffic cycling, it is difficult to conceive a strategy to enhance urban cycling. In the WB SSATP pilot project in Nairobi, mixed NMT pedestriadbicycle tracks have been designed, to test the possibility of enhancing cycling on a number of routes with a high cycling potential, in the slip-stream of improved pedestrian facilities. At present, the traffic safety situation does not allow cycling in mixed traffc on collector and local collector roads, and the volume of cyclists is so low now that it would not be possible to "defend" a separate bicycle track long enough (i.e. keep others off), until the number of cyclists has increascd so much that cyclists dominate and thus own the track. The design provides NMT tracks on a continuous route between a large low-income residential area and the main industrial area on both sides of the road, 3 meter wide. with a premix pavement. This creates enough space for walking (mainly in one direction) and one line of cyclists (in the same direction), on each side of the road. On the crossing points (at intersections and mid-block) the track is widened to 4.0 ni and a short physical separation into a pedestrian and a bicycle part is made. Hopefully the tracks will be implemented in 2001, and can findings be included in a next version of the guidelines, together with those of other experiments, such as with cycle tracks in Accra, Ghana.
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Figure 16.7 Example of a mixed NMT track design
Soul-ce:NMT network designs prepared for Nairobi, for the Kenya Urban Transport Infrastructure Project (nor yet implemented).
NMT-only river (or creek) crossings
In chapter 13, two examples of bridges for pedestrians, cyclists and cart have been given. Design recommendations for such bridges have not been included, but a number of observations can be made: 1. It is difficult to calculate the maximum water flow that can be expected at a certain point. Verifying the precise catchment area is difficult. People around the spot usually know how high the water has come in extreme cases, but that record also tends to be inaccurate. In the case of calculating the minimal required water discharge capacity under a bridge or through a culvert, one must design for the highest recorded peaks. 2. A senior bridge design engineer in Morogoro, Tanzania, summed up his long experience in the following "law": all culverts will sooner or later be washed away. The reasons are: lack of maintenance of the culvert (silting or blockage), erosion and shifting of the river bed, and a too narrow design (more extreme rains than expected). The experience with the NMT bridge that was tested in Temeke (Dar es Salaam) confirmed the vulnerability of a culvert design.
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3. Well-protected foundations at the river bank (or extra in the river bed) are essential. Many small rivers and stream in urban areas have soft earth banks. If possible select a crossing spot where the riverbed has been stable for a long time; and if it is weak, reinforce and protect it, either with stone masonry pillars or with gabion protection. 4. A simple steel NMT-only bridge design (example 6 in part 11), appears to be the most attractive one in case a significant distance must be spanned. The construction can be relatively light, because only NMT uses it. If the bridge is more than 1.3 meters wide, one must assure that no small cars can use it (and thereby destroy it), with use of decisive steel bollards. Large push carts (with a car wheel base) must also be blocked, in view of their loaded weight. 5. A construction with a cast concrete deck on cast concrete pillars (as used for the river plain crossing in the same example) requires careful supervision, but then provides a strong construction. The large amount of form work makes it a labor intensive type of construction, which has a much higher employment generation effect than e.g. a steel bridge construction. 6. Calculations show that the of use cast concrete beams without reinforcement reduces costs, if the span is not too long (c7-10 m). In this case the beams must be much thicker (50 cm high in case of a 7 m span), but the cost of reinforcement iron are saved, and, equally important, the skill required for construction is less. Carefully supervise the use of the right amount of cement, granite aggregates, good mixing and slow drying. Walkways on road bridges and over culverts
Pedestrian walkways are an important element on all bridges in local collector roads, collectors and urban corridors. In the past, to reduce the cost of the bridge, proper facilities for pedestrians and cyclists have often been omitted. This leads to dangerous bottlenecks and MT-NMT conflicts at those bridges. This concerns not only the larger bridges over rivers and railways, where the problem is obvious; the problem often also exists at larger culverts that accommodate big drains or small streams. If at such spots no pedestrian crossing over the drain is provided, the pedestrians are forced to walk on the carriageway, under dangerous conditions.
In case of drain crossings, a reinforced concrete slab is usually a good solution (with a strong enough drain wall for extra foundation). For medium spans (4-25 m), a separate NMT-only bridge is often less expensive than making the MT bridge wider. This also has the advantage of providing a safe separation between MT and NMT. For long spans this may not be possible. In such a case a light additional cantilevered NMT track can be applied (see figure 16.8). The lightweight character of this construction preempts the temptation to later transform the walkway provision again into an extra MT lane.
Figure 16.8 Cantilevered walkway on a bridge
Note: the recommended separation between the new walkway and the MT lane is the existing railing that protects the MT from falling off the bridge in case of a maneuvering error. If the existing railing is insufficient, a 50 cm high steel guardrail is recommended.
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Impact cif bridges rhat An impassable bridge makes an entire route impassable. In part I, the importance of establishing a coherent network of direct walk and cycle routes was explained. If one NMT curinofpass section in a route is missing (impassable, or too dangerous), the entire route becomes more or less useless, good as other parts of it may be. The worst part of a route determines the overall route quality. Bridges are well known "black spots" that can spoil the coherence of walking routes and cycling routes. They require special attention. Traffic calming oii dangerous bridges
Sometimes it is impossible to establish proper separate walk and cycle facilities on a dangerous bridge, and pedestrians and cyclists must mix with MT on its existing carriageway, because there is no other route. In that case, the only solution is to slow down MT to a speed that is safe for mixed traffic with pedestrians, i.e. 20 km per hour. Chapter 13.13 shows a successful intervention of that type, in Eldoret, Kenya. Public safety of NMT routes
In many cities, the security ("public safety") of public open spaces (roads, parks) is not guaranteed at all spots and at all times of the day. At isolated spots and after dark, there is often a risk of robbery and harassment. This is a serious obstacle to free pedestrian and bicycle movement. In some cities mobility after dark is minimal. High riuinbers of pedestrians increase public safety
Two observations are vital for the design of safe walkways and cycle tracks. The first one is that the most important protection against insecurity comes from the presence of a significant number of other people on or near the walkway or the cycle track, whether walking, cycling, trading, or living close by (note: people in cars do not contribute much to increased safety of people walking or cycling along the road). That fact is the basis for policies to increase the public safety. Good walkways are an instrument to create greater public safety. Well-connected comfortable walking routes increase public safety. They concentrate pedestrian flows to those routes. This means more road users, and hence a safer route. Moreover, busy walkways attract informal sector businesses and trade, the presence of which further improves the public safety.
Access roads are attractive walking routes
The second observation is that access roads in residential areas are usually the safest roads, because there are always many people around (apart from in high income areas with fenced houses and compounds). This means that designing the main pedestrian walking routes and cycle routes via access roads improves their public safety (as well as of course their traffic safety). After dark, pedestrians and cyclists may well prefer to take a route via access roads and local collector roads, that is reasonably direct and comfortable, over using a route along an isolated urban corridor or Nh4T-only track with few people out on the road. Public safety, design and maintenance details
Attention for specific design details can further improve the public safety of walkways and cycle tracks: Wsibdiry below trees. Use trees for shade cover with their lowest branches 4-5 meters high. No bushes along walkways or cycle tracks. For vegetation cover only grassy vegetation or creeping shrubs should be used (not higher than 20 cm.). This improves visibility. No obscure corners. Avoid the construction of obscure track corners, maintain a sight distance in at least one direction of -r- 50 meters. At bridges, use fences that one can look through, that make it impossible for someone hiding below the bridge to suddenly jump on the track. Wide access road type underpasses. Where an underpass is used, make it a mixed traffic access road (6m wide), straight, as short as possible, without a significant downward gradient (the road on top should go up). It must be possible to look through from one end to the other. Walls to fall back 25', to prevent people from hanging against the walls. Height > 2.5 m (a convex ceiling is better, and also stronger). Provide lights (also requires a high enough ceiling).
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No closed fences around parks. Do not construct closed fences around a park, or high hedges. It must be possible to look freely through the park (no low tree branches), and to get out at any point. Since fencing against MT access of the park is essential, the boundary of the park can best be made with rows of thick concrete bollards, that can also be used to sit on. Route cleaning. Regular cleaning and maintenance of a route is important. The more attractive it is, the more intensely it will be used and therefore also be safer. Police and neighborhood surveillance posts. Provide space in the design for installing police surveillance posts or neighborhood surveillance posts at locations that are known to be risky. Provide a street light at that spot (street lights along an entire route are usually too expensive). This type of surveillance is often needed for NMT-only connections between different neighborhoods, over a small bridge or through "no man's land". Kiosks along NMT routes. Encouraging the construction of kiosks at such points can be a good safety policy. It may have a chance to succeed, because bridges concentrate NMT flow even more than walking routes in general, hence these are attractive locations. Good bus bays. A systematic bus bay provision, with a street light at the bus bay spot and connecting walkways helps to concentrate pedestrian flows to/from buses, and increases safety. Waiting for a bus is safer if more people wait at the same spot, and such a spot is also attractive for kiosks. 16.6 Intersection design details of walkways and bicycle lanes and tracks Walkways
Existing intersection corners
Current practice on many roads is that public transport vehicles stop at corners to let passengers in and out, or to wait for passengers. This happens in particular where the road shoulders are open, i.e. without separation between the walkway and the carriageway. This practice hinders the free movement of pedestrians and prohibits a free field of view for crossing. Another effect of open road corner shoulders is that in case of a traffic queue, left turning vehicles attempt to by-pass the queue via the shoulder, thereby obstructing pedestrians and creating accident hazards. To improve the situation, a physical separation is required between the walkway and the carriageway, and a corner alignment that provides no excess carriageway space that public transport vehicles can use to park.
Carriugewaywalkway separation
It is important that the separation between the walkway and the carriageway is decisive, i.e. unmountable for MT, HGV included. Separation options are dealt with in para 16.8. On intersection corners, extra attention is needed for strength. At crossings, bollards are required to prevent MT from using these to access the walkway.
Intersection corner radius
For the design of intersections that are safe for pedestrians and cyclists, it is important to use the smallest possible intersection radius, given the design vehicle. This (i) maximizes the walkway space (less pedestrian congestion); (ii) avoids the creation of excess carriageway space at the corner (less problems with taxi parking etc.); (iii) reduces the speed of MT turning movements (safer); and (iv) reduces the crossing distance for pedestrians and makes MT approach the crossing point at almost right angles (safer crossing).
Unobstructedfield of view of pedestrians
For safe pedestrian crossing it is vital that the pedestrians can see all the traffic on the intersection and on the approach road that they cross. This is only possible if they can wait safely at the edge of the carriageway at a spot that allows this overview. Wide intersection corners make it difficult to find such a point. The smaller the corner radius, the closer the pedestrian is to the road axis and the better the field of view.
Safe crossing facilities
The important requirements are: as short a crossing distance as possible, and a protected place with a good view on the traffic to wait for a good moment to cross. In case of high traffic volume the recommended design is to provide a safe extra waiting spot in the middle of the road (traffic island or median), and measures to reduce MT speeds at the intersection
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to 30kmlhr or less (on signalized intersections the design should assure that they are also safe in case the traffic lights are not working). Pedestrian congestion at intersection corners
Many intersection corners in central parts of the city are very crowded. Pedestrians move in several directions and have to wait until they can cross, and street traders find a corner an attractive point of sales because of the high volume of pedestrians, as do public transport vehicles. Three ways to create enough space for pedestrians and carts that move on the walkway are: (i) a tight corner radius (see above); (ii) eliminate kiosks at corners; and (iii) provide a sufficient walkway width at the corner (where possible shape private plot borders with 45/45-degree corners instead of a 90-degree corner).
No drop kerbs at crossing points
For the longer term, it is an important traffic policy to encourage the use of efficient carts that move on walkways. At present, most carts are too big and clumsy for that, and the pavement quality and lack of free passage on walkways are equally prohibitive. However, the recommended policy is to (i) allow and enhance efficient carts, as a useful mode of urban freight movement, and (ii) ban carts from the MT carriageway and cycle lanes, because they have a negative effect on the traffic flow efficiency. Intersection corners are of vital importance in a policy to remove carts from the carriageway to the walkway. That policy can only work if at all intersections carts can get onto the walkway without obstacles. Therefore: flush kerbs at the crossing point. Bicycle lanes
At this moment, experience with bicycle lanes and tracks in African cities hardly exists. The observations below need to be supplemented over time from increased experience with urban cycling in Africa. The observation below refers to intersections without traffic lights. This is the majority of all intersections on local and district collector roads. Bicycle safety on wide intersections
Lnne marking intersection
011
the
Safe bicycle movement on intersections is only possible if the MT speeds are moderate and if MT movement is predictable. For safe mixed cycling, the traffic calming menu explained elsewhere in the guidelines must be implemented in the approach road sections. Bicycle lanes should be provided only on urban roads with a high MT traffic volume and a moderate MT speed. In crossings on intersections on such roads, crossing islands (width >=2.0 m) help to discipline the traffic flows, and provide protection for crossing cyclists at the center of the intersection. In this manner, increased accident hazards for cyclists can be prevented, which would otherwise result from the large intersection size. Without this protection, it is more difficult for cyclists to cross the intersection efficiently and safely. Clarity of the road space allocation for cycling at the intersection is important. Experience in other countries suggests that different pavement colors are more effective than lane markings alone. A low, raised edge type separation between the cycle lane and the MT lane in front of a median island can support this. Separated bicycle tracks
Separating bicycles from MT at intersections is recommended in case of: a high MT traffic volume (MT-ADT>15,000) and/or high speed of MT (v(85) >=50), one of the intersecting roads having bicycle tracks. A separation of the bicycles limited to the intersection only is possible (changing from a lane to a separated track 20-30 m before the intersection). If space allows, this is recommended for junctions with a high traffic volume and a lot of left and right turning traffic. Two aspects of separation are important: the design of the dedicated track (prevent other users), and if an approach has an ADT > 5,000, a protected waiting area for cyclists between its two opposing streams, on an island or protected by an island is recommended.
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Advantages
Advantages of a separated bicycle track at an intersectlon: * It separates the bicycle traffic from a possible MT traffic jam at the intersection. At intersections with a high volume of cyclists this will increase the intersection capacity for MT, cycling and pedestrian crossing. In case the volume of turning MT is high (left and right turns), the level of conflict between this traffic and cyclists on bicycle lanes may become a source of significant traffic flow inefficiency, as well as a hazard for the cyclists. In such a case, a separate cycle track at the junction is a good solution. It brings the cyclist to a safer crossing spot at a short distance from the intersection, where the crossing distance is shorter, crossing is straight and the traffic flows are less complicated. It enables pedestrians to cross the bicycle stream before crossing the MT stream. This makes crossing less complicated and reduces the crossing distance. * It provides a protected place (on the track) where cyclists can wait for a good moment to cross. In the case of traffic light control, a separate cycle track makes it easier to provide a proper separate traffic light phase for the cyclists.
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Disadvaiitnges
Disadvantages are: The extra space that the separated track requires. Taking the cyclists off the carriageway hides them from the view of the MT drivers, to make them reappear unexpected at the crossing point (if the speed of turning MT is low this disadvantage will be small). If there is no clear argument to provide a separate cycle track at an intersection on a road that for the rest has cycle lanes, a mixed traffic intersection is recommended. Figure 16.9 shows a European intersection design with bicycle tracks as an example. Right of way between cyclists and MT
Two practical recommendations for separated bicycle tracks are: * Where a separated bicycle track crosses the MT carriageway of a collector road or urban corridor, make the cyclists give way to all MT (right-of-way for MT). Indicate this on the bicycle track pavement with a stop line. Where a separated bicycle track crosses an access road, let the track cross it on top of a wide raised zebra (1 m wider than the track on both sides), or between two speed humps. 0
Tlieoiy
In theoiy (i.e. according to most traffic laws), when a cyclist uses the same carriageway or a cycle lane with visual separation only, the right of way rule on junctions is that (i) the cyclist must give right of way to all MT that either crosses their way or merges into it, but (in the case of left-hand driving) that (ii) opposing MT that turns right across the cyclist’s path must grant right-of-way to the cyclist, and that (iii) MT moving in the same direction that turns to the left across the cyclist’s path must grant right-of-way to the cyclist. In case of a separated bicycle track parallel to a road, the same rules usually apply, unless traffic signs on the intersection dictate otherwise.
Practice
In practice (i.e. according to dominant driver behavior) MT drivers will not give right-ofway to a cyclist in any situation, irrespective of the theory. The first traffic policy and traffic safety education option that can be chosen is to leave the theory (the law) as it is, and simultaneously (1) underline in traffic education of children and publicity to cyclists that they are advised against ever attempting to take priority over MT in any conflict situation, (2) not to use traffic signs anywhere with right-of-way indications that show priority to cyclists, and (3) to calm MT down on all roads, to make bicycle-MT conflicts much less dangerous (conflicts will remain in a calmed down situation as well). The second option is to simultaneously: (1/2/3) do the same as in option one above, in particular systematic traffic calming, and (4) give systematic publicity to the section in the
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Figure 16.9 Example of an intersection design with bicycle tracks
Sourcc: Grontnuj engineering consultants, tlie Netherlands.
traffic law that dictates that all MT maneuvers that endanger a cyclist or a pedestrian are prohibited (in the law this principle applies to endangering any road user in general, so it can be specifically publicized in relation to pedestrians and cyclists), and ( 5 ) change the civil law in such a way that in case of an MT-pedestrian or MT-bicycle accident the financial liability for the accident costs always lies with the MT driver, irrespective of the cause of the accident (except in case the accident was intentionally caused by the pedestrian or cyclist). This is a matter of national law, and will take a lot of time, but will have a great impact on safe driver behavior.
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Cycling on roundabouts
Roundabouts have been used in limited numbers in urban road design in many African countries. However, reported African experience with bicycle traffic on roundabouts could not be found. In the pilot projects in Tanzania some experience was gained. In Morogoro, where the modal share of cycling is 20% traffic behavior was anaiyzed on four existing roundabouts. One high-speed roundabout on the Tanzam highway at the city edge was found to be dangerous. Three low-speed roundabouts in the city center were found to be safe. No test interventions on roundabouts have been carried out yet, nor tests of a roundabout as a traffic calming intervention on an existing dangerous straight intersection.
Old low-speed roundabouL in Morogoro
The roundabouts in the center of Morogoro resemble the one shown in figure 16.11, of a wide carriageway roundabout. They have similar radii, small separating islands in the approaches and a similar circulating carriageway width (6-7 m), but no visual separation between a bicycle lane and an MT lane. These roundabouts in Morogoro are safe for cyclists. MT always drives slowly, 10-25 h / h r (the current modest pavement quality enhances this). The mixing of bicycles and MT does not create significant problems. Circulating MT can pass circulating cyclists without a problem, but most cyclists drive as fast as MT, or faster. It appears that these roundabouts provide a better performance, in terms of delays (capacity) as well as in terms of traffic safety, than a straight intersection at the same spot would.
High-speed rounrlrrboirts
Low -speed rounduboirts
Roundabouts can be classified into two types: High-speed roundabouts, designed for use at high capacity junctions (ADT motor vehicles > 20,000) in arterial roads. They have large radials and wide entry and exit lanes, to maintain a high driving speed. Often they have dual carriageways. Cycling on the MT lanes of such a roundabout is dangerous. They are not further dealt with in these guidelines. * Low-speed roundabouts, designed for increased safety and capacity of unsignalized intersections. Recently, this type of urban roundabout has become very popular in Europe as a traffic calming intervention. Low-speed single-lane roundabouts have a maximum MT capacity (MT-ADT) of around 20,000 pcu. Their main features are: a single circulating lane (no weaving on the roundabout), tight radials and approaches at a right angle. They serve a dual purpose: increase intersection safety and prevent intersection locking. Cyclists and pedestrians benefit most from the first aspect, MT most from the second. 0
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Priority for circulating traffic
The essential "trick" that makes a low-speed roundabout function efficiently as an uncontrolled intersection is that the circulating traffic has priority over traffic that enters from the approaches. Since MT-MT weaving is not possible due to the circulating lane width, vehicles that leave the intersection have priority over those that enter it. This prevents locking, which typically results from a traffic behavior whereby drivers that enter the intersection block the exit of vehicles that are already on it. It should be noted that a capacity of 20,000 (MT-ADT) is high for an intersection between two 2x1 lane urban roads. It is interesting to note that the design shown in figure 16.10 differs from roundabout designs developed in the UK in the 1980s. These used approach lanes bent towards the circulating direction. This increases MT capacity by around 20%. However, the negative effects of this design are as significant: MT speeds go up, pedestrian crossing is more difficult/dangerous, and mixed-traffic cycling more dangerous. For a bicycle-friendly urban road environment, rectangular approaches are recommended. Design options for cycling on low-speed roundabouts
Narrow lane roundabout, mixed MT and bicycles
This type is applicable in case of 3 m lanes on the approaching roads (local collectors). It is suitable for intersections with an MT peak flow of around 1,000pcuflir. On this type MT does not overtake cyclists, but stays behind or weaves through (exiting MT, circulating bicycle). Serious conflicts between MT and cyclists on this type of roundabout are rare, due to the low speed and type of mixing. To make sure that there are no maneuvering problems for large trucks, the central island can best be made of a raised zebra type (block pavement, circular 10 cm high 1:8 ramp, and a small high central island only).
Source: Grontmij engineering, the Netherlands. Note: this is a sketch design, walkways and pedestrian crossings are not shown.
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Wide carriageway roundabout, with bicycle lanes
This type is applicable if at least one of the intersecting roads has a wide carriageway with bicycle lanes. In this design, MT overtakes cyclists on the roundabout, and crosses the bicycle lane when it leaves the roundabout, so there is an MThicycle conflict. The usual right-of-way on this type of roundabout i s that both the circulating MT and cyclists have priority over MT entering the roundabout as well as over MT that leaves the roundabout. There is no reported African experience with this visual bicycle lane separation and priority rule on a roundabout. Probably the right-of-way of circulating cyclists over MT that enters and leaves will not be respected. One option to test is to omit the bicycle lane marking and to only provide a 6 m wide circulating lane. This allows a cyclist to weave through the MT exiting streams more easily than when he is confined to a bicycle lane. As long as speeds can be kept low enough, this is also safe. To enforce a low MT speed on the roundabout, a speed hump with a design speed of 20 km/hr at the point of entry is advised. This will also enforce that entering MT indeed gives right-of-way to circulating MT.
Figure 16.11 Wide carriageway roundabout: MT and bicycle lanes
Source: Grontmij engineering, the Netherlands. Note: this is a sketch design, walkways and pedestrian crossings are not shown.
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It is expected that at high traffic densities (MT flow over 2,000 pcu/hr) this design will not work well, because the number of conflicts between bicycles and exiting MT becomes too large. The third type is then required. Low-speed roundabout with separated bicycle tracks
The bicycle crossing points are in the approaches (the entry and exit lanes). MT has right of way over cyclists at the crossing point. To make crossing easy for bicycles, there must be a median island that is wide enough for the cyclists to wait for a gap in the second MT stream. It must provide enough space for several cyclists at the time, so it should be at least 3 m wide, and the track on the island 4 m wide. In this design the track crosses the approach roads at right angles (90 degrees). The first car waiting to enter the roundabout should not block the bicycle crossing, so that should be 6 meters behind the stop line in the approach road. Calculations show that, depending on the percentages of right, straight and left turns from each approach, an MT capacity of 4,000 pcu/hr combined with a similar pedestrianhicycle volume must be possible, if drivers respect the circulating flow right-ofway. If they do not voluntarily, a speed hump on the stop line will force them to do it.
Source: Grontmij engineering, the Netherlands. Note: this is a sketch design, walkways and pedestrian crossings are not shown.
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16.7 NMT MT crossings
The different NMT-MT crossing options are: No control
This is the common situation on urban roads in Africa. It usually means a crossing distance on a two lane road of ~f:8 meters. The crossing behavior of part of the pedestrians (mostly young adults) is to wait in the middle between the two streams, without protection, which creates a significant accident risk. Other pedestrians often wait until larger groups have formed that push their way through and make cars slow down to let them pass.
Painted zebra without controls
In practice an only painted zebra crossing increases the risk for pedestrians by creating "fake safety", due to current traffic behavior and law enforcement practice (chapter 13.8).
Traflc hump
Traffic humps are efficient and low-cost instruments to slow down motor vehicles so much that crossing is safe. They do not significantly influence the waiting times for pedestrians, because most drivers still don't leave room for pedestrians to pass, but the risk of accident can be reduced strongly. There is no need to provide specific crossing facilities at the location of the hump, the low vehicle speed is enough (see chapter 13.9).
Raised zebra crossing This has the same speed reduction effect as a speed hump, but is more combrtable for vehicle passengers due to the distance between the up and down slopes. Raised zebras should be clearly designed as a crossing point (visibility). They are very effective at spots where a busy pedestrian route crosses a road, d o at bus bay locations. Pedestrian crossing island
The function of a crossing island is to create a "stepping stone" on the crossing path, where it is safe to wait in the middle, between traffic streams, before completing the crossing. The island reduces the crossing distance with a factor 2 (or more in case of more islands), which greatly increases the number of gaps in the vehicle stream that can be used for crossing. An island in the median does not automatically influence the speed of the motor vehicles. A straight continuous median in a 2x2-lane road will increase the vehicle speed (there is no longer the danger of the opposing traffic). A straight continuous median in a 2x1-lane road will in most cases reduce vehicle speeds, because it eliminates overtaking (the slower vehicles determine the flow speed) and visually narrows the carriageway. An island will slow down the vehicles if there is a deflection of the traffic lane past the island (greater speed reduction for greater deflections; little influence on speed if the lane is straight (see chapter 13.10)).
Pedestrian phase in trafic lights at intersections
Where traffic lights function well and drivers respect them this is a good solution, in particular for the urban corridors. However, it is important to have a median island if the crossing concerns four or more lanes (2x2), to avoid that slow pedestrians can be trapped dangerously - in the middle of the road when the light turns red. Currently, most African traffic lights have no pedestrian phase. This creates dangerous situations if the intersection is so wide that vehicles can turn right or left at a high speed. In off-peak situations traffic light crossings are often dangerous, either because the lights are turned off, or because some drivers no longer respect them if there are no crossing vehicles, or after dark.
Mid-section signalized pedestrian crossing
No documented African examples of this type of crossing have been found yet. However, discussions with pedestrians about the implementation of safe crossing points reveal a strong suspicion about the respect of car drivers for such lights. If 90% of the drivers would respect such signs and 10% not, this would make them even more dangerous, because the driver reaction would be impossible to predict.
Pedestrian bridge or underpass
If properly designed, these are a good solution for important NMT routes that cross large urban corridors or urban highways. However, due to their costs they are invariably far apart, with the effect that for many pedestrian trips they create big detours if on long urban road sections all at-grade crossings are eliminated and a few grade separated ones are far apart.
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Waiting time for crossing
Based on assumptions about the vehicle anival pattern in the vehicle stream, it is possible to estimate the average waiting times of pedestrians before they find a gap in the vehicle stream that is long enough to allow safe crossing (simulation model). Tables 16.10 and 16.11 summarize the pedestrian waiting times (random vehicle flow, no traffic lights).
Crossing island
Crossing accident risk
From the tables it is evident that without dedicated crossing facilities even at a modest traffic intensity (1,000 vehicles per hour) it takes a long time before a safe crossing gap occurs. A pedestrian, crossing a two lane road at normal walking speed, has to wait an average of 15 seconds if the crossing distance is 6 meters and 39 seconds if the crossing distance is 8 meters. If s h e has to cross a 2x2-lane road without median (crossing distance 12 m), it is already impossible to find a safe gap within 120 sec at a traffic volume of 1,000 vehhour (low for such a road). In both cases (2x1 lane and 2x2 lanes) the effect of providing a crossing island is enormous. Because the island reduces the crossing distance by a factor 2 and at the same time reduces the traffic volume of the stream that has to be crossed with a factor 2 as well, the waiting time goes down steeply. By providing a median and two extra crossing islands (between the two lanes in each direction), the average waiting time for crossing is only 18 seconds at a total traffic intensity of 4,000 (!) vehicles/hour. Without the extra islands and the median it is completely impossible to cross such a road safely. There is no direct relation between the waiting time for a safe moment to cross and the risk of traffic accidents. The risk of traffic accidents increases with increased waiting time because people get angry and take greater risks. However, the most important risk factors are an error of judgement by the pedestrian of the speed or distance of the vehicle, or a maneuvering error of the driver. These can also happen in the case of traffic islands. It is therefore important that in combination with the application of traffic islands the speeds of the MT are also moderated. In that manner, the crossing safety of urban roads can be increased greatly. For the safe use of pedestrian crossing islands, it is desirable that the vehicle speed at the crossing point is below 50 kmhr. If that cannot be achieved by the design of the traffic lane deviation past the island, additional low speed humps will be necessary. Recommended crossing options
The combination of the waiting time aspect and the crossing safety aspect lead to recommending the choice of crossing facilities on urban collector roads and corridors roads in Africa below. Figure 16.13 and 16.14. show the recommended crossing type depending on pedestrian and motorvehicle flow intensity.
I
class of road
recommended crossing
Access road Service road
no crossing facilities needed
Local collector
raised zebra speed hump
District collector
pedestrian crossing island (raised zebra) (speed hump)
Urban corridor
pedestrian crossing island, median as well as between lanes
DETAILED DESIGN ASPECTS
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197
Table Table6.10 16.102x1 2x1Lane Lanecrossing crossingsituations situationsand andcorresponding corresponding waiting waiting times times case: case:
11
MT MTtraffic trafficlanes lanes
2x 2x11
Facility Facility atatroad road shoulder shoulder Facility in median Facility in median Crossing Crossingdistance distance Crossing Crossingtime time
Open, Open,no nocover cover none none 88meters meters
Vehicle Vehicleflow flowper perhour hour
10 10seconds seconds slow slowpedestrian pedestrian
QQ== 500 500 QQ==1.000 1.000 Q Q==1,500 1,500 Q Q==2.000 2.000
33 2x1 2x1
44 2x1 2x1
Open, Open,no nocover cover none none 88meters meters 88seconds seconds quick quick pedestrian pedestrian
Protected Protectedwaiting waiting
Protected Protected waiting waiting ISLAND ISLAND 2x3 2x3 meters meters 2x4 2x4seconds seconds slow slowpedestrian pedestrian
(secorids) (secorids)
Wuiririg Wuiririgtime time (seconds) (seconds)
Wairirig Wairirigrime rime
QQ ==QI QI ++Q2 Q2
22 2x 2x11
none none
66meters meters 66seconds seconds quick quickpedestrian pedestrian
Wairirig Wairirigtiiiie tiiiie (secorlds) (secorlds)
14 14
88
96 96
39 39 II
**
65 65
44
II
**
44 15 15
* = more than 120 seconds, i.e. almost impassable
lhble16.11 6.11 2x2 2x2Lane Lanecmssinp erosPingsituations situationsand andcorresponding comJpondingwaiting waitingtimes be8 Table
ZXZ 2x2
66 M 2x2
77 M 2x2
88
MTtrafiic h a M Clanes Inns hlT
Facilityaratroad madshoulder shoulder Facility Facility in median Facility in median
Protcctcdwaiting waiting Protcctcd
Protcctcdwailing waiting Protected
Protectedwaiting waiting Protected
h l c c t c d waiting waiting Protcctcd
none "0°C
none none
centralmediao central median
Crossingdistance distance Crossing
meters I 12 ? meters 12 seconds 12 rccands quick pedestrian quick pedestrian
2x6 meters mcters 2x6
Cmssingtime time Crossing
12meters meters 12 16 seconds 16 seconds slow pedestrian slow pedestrian
centralmedian medlanand and central extra islnnds extm islands 4x3 meters meters 4n3
2x8scconds seconds 2x8
quickpedestrian pedestrian quick
4x4seconds seconds 4x4 slow pedestrian slow pedestrian
Vehicleflowpper hour Vebicleflou e r /roar Q ==@Ql Q2 @ I ++Q2
Waitingrimr time lWtiri,iy (seconds) (rerond.rJ
Wailingrimr time 1Voirinp (seconds) (.seconds)
Waitingrime time 1ttiirin.q (seconds) (.sern,rri.r)
Waitingrime hme Wiring
(seconds) (seconds)
1.000 QQ== 1.000 Q = 2.000 Q = 2,000 0 3.000 ~.==3.000 Q i2 = 4.000 Q = 4,000
*t
16 16
33
80 80
66 I11 I 18 18
case: 55 cnsr:
* = more than 120 seconds,
*
**
**
i.e. almost impassable
**
*
t
M 2x2
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Access road
On access roads all traffic types are mixed, and no crossing facilities needed.
Local collector
For local collectors, the systematic use of raised zebra crossings is recommended. At midsection locations where NMT routes cross and at bus bay locations, always use a raised zebra. On other spots, where the volume of crossing pedestrians is low but speed reduction desirable, a speed hump can also be used. At intersections with other local collectors another option is a raised platform intersection (the slopes 15 m before the center-line of the intersection, pedestrians cross directly behind the slopes, on the intersection). For local collectors, the safety aspect has priority. Transit MT has to be discouraged and a low MT speed is desirable. The fact that high pedestrian crossing intensities will create some delays for MT is acceptable.
District collector
For district collectors both pedestrian crossing islands and raised zebra crossings can be used. There is a preference for pedestrian crossing islands in those cases where an uninterrupted flow of transit traffic is desirable.
Urban corridor
For urban comdors an uninterrupted transit traffic flow has priority, though at a controlled speed, and it is not desirable that these roads have raised crossings every 200-300 meters. Moreover, a significant delay of the MT flow by crossing pedestrians, in particular at the intersections, will reduce the MT traffic capacity of the road, which is undesirable. Therefore a crossing solution is needed that allows pedestrians to slip through a vehicle stream without a long waiting time on their side, but also without significant disturbance of the MT flow on the other side. The pedestrian crossing island is the only crossing option that allows this. Its use is recommended on intersections, with and without traffic light control, as well as at mid-section ("mid-block") locations.
Figure 16.13 NMT-MT crossing- facilities selection Recommendations for 2x1 lane collectors and urban corridors
3000
2500
- 2000 5-a
2
1500
m
E. YI n 0
a IOOC
50C
(
protected waiting area at road shoulders
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Figure 16.14 NMT-MT crossing facilities selection Recommendations for 2x2 lane collectors and urban corridors
Median and traffic light control,or enlarged refuue islands
Median island plus refuge islands between lanes, 3m
16.8 Separation between NMT and MT lanes
A walkway will only function as intended if it is inaccessible for motor vehicles. This relates in particular to parking. Many examples exist of what was intended to be a walkway (according to the road design), but is in practice used for a combination of parking, vehicle loading/unloading and storage area, in front of businesses, workshops, garages etc. Some of these activities are in fact required at those spots. Therefore, a walkway can only be safeguarded as a walkway, if suitable space is allocated to parking and loading/ unloading within the road reserve or on the plots of the businesses involved. The separation devices listed in this paragraph must be seen in that context: they can only be expected to function permanently if there is no permanent battle over who "owns" the available public road reserve. All separation devices can be demolished by private individuals that have a strong will to do so. The options listed below have been tested for walkways and road shoulders. Suggestions about their use for bicycle tracks are also based on that experience (further experience with bicycle lanes and tracks in African cities is urgently needed). In case of a bicycle track there is additional competition: between cyclists and pedestrians that walk on the track (e.g. because the walkway is blocked by trading activities). A physical separation that makes it impossible for pedestrians to use a bicycle track does not exist. In practice, separation is only possible if the total walkway and bicycle track width is such that there is no capacity problem for either pedestrians or cyclists.
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Separation options along sections (see design 15.22) Open drain
This is a decisive separation. A walkway behind an open drain is usually well protected, and only vulnerable at plot entrances (where access over the drain exists), and at side roads.
T-block
T-blocks are "triangular" concrete blocks (see figure 16.15). They are used 1-3 meters apart, depending on the site conditions: 1.0 m where parking is not allowed, 3 m where vehicle access to plots behind the walkway is tolerated and only driving over the shoulder and loading/unloading on the walkway has to be prevented. Where large rock boulders are available at a low cost, these can be used as an alternative to cast-concrete blocks.
Figure 16.15 T-block, production drawing
i i
60
c
All measures are in cm
Bollard
Bollards can be used as separators along a section, but have the disadvantage of being vulnerable to damage, so they should only be used where the risk of damage is minimal. Wooden bollards can be used as separation between pedestrian and bicycle parts of an NMT track, either in the approach of an intersection (combined with widening of the track), or along an entire section (k one bollard per 10 meters). Wooden bollards can also be used as an inexpensive separation between a parking area and a walkway (in this case one bollard per meter).
High drop kerb
In view of trucks and 4WDs, the required minimum height of a drop kerb to be effective as a separation is 25 cm (violation of the access restriction must be anticipated; for structural stability the kerb must also be 25 cm deep, so 50 cm in total). An advantage of a drop kerb is that it provides a side restraint for the pavement of the carriageway. A closed block drain with a removable slab cover can be used as a drop kerb. This is a high cost solution, applicable in city centers, where available road space is an important constraint.
Line of trees
Trees must be 10-20 m apart, depending on the adult size of the species. Therefore, T blocks or bollards are required in the gaps between the trees. The blocks nearest to a tree must be positioned to protect it from being hit by vehicles. Unfortunately, examples of successful tree planting along urban roads are scarce, most lines of trees are old and gradually disappear due to damage. Lines of trees have a highly positive impact on the micro climate along a road.
Line of parked vehicles
Parallel parking on a lane adjacent to the carriageway creates a good separation between the walkway and the carriageway. However, when parking pressure increases, additional separation between the parking lane and the walkway will be needed to avoid rectangular parking, partly on the walkway (this also has a negative effect on the capacity and safety of
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the carriageway). There should be a space with a width of 0.80 m to allow free opening of car doors without hindering pedestrians or MT /cyclists. Guardrail
This is a high cost separation, but it has the advantage of creating safety against mismaneuvers by vehicles. A guardrail does not require a significant amount of space. It is recommended on bridges and on dangerous road corners. Guardrails with a fence on top can also be used as a separation to block pedestrians from crossing the road at an undesirable point.
A raised edge
A raised edge (see figure 16.16) can be used to separate a bicycle lane from an MT lane. It should only be used when the maximum speed of MT on the carriageway does not exceed 50 kmhr. An edge of concrete or asphalt is an example of a dividing verge that can be used if little space is available. Extra attention must be paid to the visibility of the edge, particularly in the dark. No signs, etc. should be positioned on it. Painting yellow is recommended.
Paved izarrow median A paved median can be used as a separation between opposing traffic lanes. Its use is recommended on district collector roads in high density areas (in the CBD, in other parts of the city in roads near markets, shopping/small businesses streets, etc.). It simultaneously provides traffic calming and the possibility for safe dispersed pedestrian crossing. Wide unpaved verge (grass)
Where the width of the road reserve permits, a walkway can also be constructed so far away from the MT carriageway that no cars will be tempted to cross the unpaved area between the two (which may include a drainage ditch). This solution will only be possible where urban density is still low. Over time, an increasing density will usually force a change in design. Access to the grass verge from the carriageway should be blocked (e.g. T-blocks). A wide verge is suitable for planting trees. On an NMT-only route that is part of the main bicycle route network, a grass verge is a suitable separation between a walkway and the bicycle track. Different pavements for walking and cycling are recommended in that case, to clearly show the difference between the two. Separation at intersections and plot entrances
T-block
The lowest cost separation option that is impassable for motor vehicles, is T-blocks with a 1.0 m gap between the vertical sides of two blocks. It is particularly good at intersection corners, because of its strength in contact with a vehicle, and because it usually does not damage the vehicle (unlike a collision with a bollard). For better visibility, a combination with bollards may be desirable, in particular in the middle of a walkway entrance. Some trucks have a chassis that is high enough to drive over a T-block without hitting it. Additional bollards may be needed in that case.
Bollard
These provide better visibility than T-blocks for blockage of vehicle access in side roads, but are much more vulnerable to damage. Low bollards (h= 40 cm) that are thick enough (>=30x30 cm) are popular as seats. Materials: concrete, steel or heavy pvc pipe filled with concrete, wooden logs.
Low iiiasoizly wall
This is a strong solution if rock boulders are used. It can be attractive as part of landscaping and surrounding areas for tree planting/parks. The area behind may be filled to the top of the wall. Low walls are usually popular places to sit on. Walls constructed of standard prefab building blocks or bricks are too weak for application in a traffic environment.
Narrow slab over open draiii
A 1 m wide slab over an open drain is an effective way to protect a walkway entrance against car use. If two parallel slabs are needed for capacity reasons, they must either be more than 2 m apart, or MT access over them must be blocked by bollards.
A raised edge
A raised edge between the MT carriageway and a bicycle lane can be used when the maximum speed of MT does not exceed 50 km/hr. A width of 25 cm is enough. For an example, see the drawing of a roundabout with bicycle lanes in figure 16.11. The same
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
302
@re 16.16 Construction details of raised edges Narrow raised edge (w = 15 cm) CARRIAGE WAY
E
1
+=-I
-Ill-
gap
filled with cement OOOrnrn raised ed e element 150x250~1 painted w%te
lOOrnrn for drainage
- of
concrete foundation
minted white
U!
Wide raised edge (w = 50 cm) E
1 H
filled with cement raised ed e element 500x250~1 OOOrnrn painted w%te concrete foundation
Hollow raised edge (difficult to override)
d
H
preferable filled with cement
tg-F--v 2
1
S
Lconcrete
- N M T TRACK
foundation
i
Construction detail of a paved median verge
for d r a i n a g e p u r p o s e s layed in c e m e n t o i n t e d white p p o r t c e m e n t i s needed
m m c o n c r e t e with n e t t i n g
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principle can be used for the bicycle lanes in front of median traffic islands on a normal intersection. To prevent damage by heavy vehicles the edges can best be low, strong and "over-ridable'' (e.g. 12 cm high with a 3:2 slope). 16.9 Construction aspects (see table 16.12) Pavement design, construction strength calculations, unit cost estimates, construction cost calculations, and pavement maintenance techniques and costs are not covered in these guidelines. Some experience from the pilot projects is communicated in chapter 13. Different pavement choices have been compared in chapter 13.4. The most important conclusion that was reached with respect to pavement strength and materials, is that for the type of interventions that were tested the best strength is achieved with: concrete blocks (raised zebra slopes, T-blocks, raised edges etc.) * brick pavement on MT carriageway parts (raised zebra top, bus bay concrete slabs with side restraint (for walkways) stone masonry drains. Unfortunately, the experience among road construction contractors with small elements pavements (bricks, slabs, concrete blocks) is too limited at this moment - at least in Kenya and Tanzania. It is highly desirable to enhance training and the acquiring of more practical expertise in Africa in this field. This also has an economic-policy advantage. Concrete elements require materials that are almost entirely available in the local market and the corresponding road construction methods are labor intensive, and are thus very suitable for employment generation programs. It is important to gain more experience with the construction aspects in the coming years, because it is clear from the tests that have been carried out that a careful and strong construction is of vital importance for the durability and cost effectiveness of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. The checklist of construction aspects that require attention (table 16.12) can be used as a reminder.
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rable 16.12 Construction aspects that must he checked Fouridariori streiigtli
- Pavement damage near speed humps and raised zebra edges can be prevented by strong construction. - The foundation strength is the most important variable. Carry out compaction tests.
Drainage coriditions
Constructing NMT facilities at places with insufficient drainage will lead to failure of the construction. - Combination of NMT infrastructure provision with drainage infrastructure is often very cost effective. For maintenance reasons open drains are recommended (or removable slab covers where the road reserve is too narrow and the space is required as part of the walkway).
Strength of coiicrete deiiients
- Careful supervision of construction/ production, good quality stone chips, slow drying. - Test prefab elements before using them.
Corripactioiz of the road base
-
-
In particular in case of spot interventions that involve cutting the existing pavement - Also: careful later sealing of cuts (with liquid bitumen).
Foundatioii depth of kerbstone (50% of the total height).
SJwterizatic use of side restraints Location of high bollards arid road signs
- Locate at spots where the chance of hitting by vehicles is minimal (T-block protection in front).
Wsibility of traffic calming measures
- T-blocks and bollards can be painted much more durably than the pavement of the carriageway. - Painted zebra stripes on the pavement are advised against. - Instead, use "zebra" painted high steel bollards to mark the crossing point. - Concrete slope blocks of raised zebras and prefab concrete humps have the advantage of a different color. - They can also be produced with a colored top layer. - White paint is susceptible to dirt, yellow paints are better, and have better visibility at night. - Tests with reflective white paint gave bad results due to dirt (dust). More testing is important. - Important: visibility at night. - Where a road with MT speed > 50 km/hr enters an area with traffic calming, a short section of brick pavement works well as a rumble strip -colored bricks add a visual warning.
Urzifortiiify iiz the use of traffic calming desigiis arid color
-
Durability of riiaterials
- Maintenance of roads is often erratic, and even more so of walkways and other NMT facilities. - It is important to select materials and construction methods that minimize the maintenance needs and costs.
NMT-MT separation
- After completion of works, an inspection is recommended to check the completeness of the separation between the MT area and all parts of the road reserve where MT has no right of access (walkway, bicycle tracks etc.). On the design drawings small "gaps" can easily be overlooked. Lack of attention to them will lead to significant damage to the NMT facilities.
This is important to improve recognition and proper use by all road users. - Their success increases due to better recognition and understanding by road users.
Look for opportunitiesto cornbine iniplenietitation of spot iriterventions with road niaintenance.
PART IV USER PARTICIPATION
About the User Participation guidelines This part of the guidelines is for social scientists that are actively involved in development projects in municipalities as well as at the national level. It equally aims at being understood and of interest to planners, engineers and others with a task, interest or commitment to the subject. By sharing the experiences that the pilot projects have had while working with users in the planning and construction of NMT interventions, the guidelines want to make engineers and planners see the need for involving users from the very beginning. The main difficulty that can be expected is that engineers hesitate to accept that users are experts in their own right and that they have a wide range of experiences to share. To make our cities more livable places, everyone has a role to play, both professionals and users, each in their own way experts in issues relating to the improvement of urban mobility. Vocubulr1y - User Pur-ticipution: Giving the people that use the facilities that are planned, constructed and managed by an organization (for example the city council) a say in the planning and management of these facilities (and in some cases also participate in their construction). - Developnierif project: An organized and planned series of activities to reduce a problem that the community is faced with. The initiative for such a project can come from within the community or from the public government. Ideally, it is directly controlled and/or implemented by the parties with a direct local interest (the users) or responsibility (the public authority). Note: the term development project should not be misunderstood as meaning: an activity that is being financed from donor support money. Unfortunately, this misunderstanding is rather wide-spread, and detrimental as soon as it creates the additional interpretation of providing ample opportunities for personal benefits for those involved through allowances, equipment purchases etc. A development project, as the word is used in these guidelines, may be entirely financed from local funds or partly from donor support funds. However, ideally the project set-up, management and priorities should depend on the problem at hand and the organizational setting of that problem, and be largely independent of the source of finance. - UMU: Urban Mobilify Unit. The pilot projects were implemented in the pilot areas through municipal staff teams consisting of a planner, an engineer and a social scientist. - UP: User Pla$orm. An organized group of people (stakeholders, excluding government staff) that takes part in the user participation process as the partner of the municipal government staff. Its organisation form depends on the precise form of user participation. Acknowledgenierits First and foremost, the team would like to thank all active participants in user participation groups in Temeke, Dar es Salaam and Morogoro. We greatly value their contributions without which this document could have never been written. We are heavily indebted to the municipal officials of the two pilot projects in Tanzania for availing the pilot teams with all the required support to carry out the pilot project activities. The implementation of the pilot project activities would not have been easy if the normal bureaucracy within the municipalities had to be followed. Every time the teams sent approval requests, permission was granted within a short time. We would also like to thank the communities of Temeke Ward 14 and Morogoro municipality for their willingness to have the pilot project implemented in their areas. Throughout the project period they were ready to work with the User Platforms and the project teams. The Ward Executive Officer and all the Area Street Chairmen in Temeke Ward and the Councilors in Morogoro municipality also deserve special mention; without them no significant move would have been realized. It would not be fair if we forgot to mention and give special thanks to the Temeke District officials, especially the District Commissioner, Capt. John Chiligati, for his tireless support and for recognizing our presence in his district. When the team was about to give up the DC was there to provide moral support and make things continue. Lastly, to everybody in Tanzania who in one way or another realizes the importance of caring for pedestrians and cyclists and facilitating their mobility and safety, we say thank you.
Rustica Tenibele, Asteria Mlambo
Chapter 17
User Participation in municipal programs to improve mobility
17.1 User Participation in municipal programs to improve mobility. Why? The role of pedestrian and bicycle mobility in our cities
A large proportion of the trips that inhabitants of our cities make are on foot: walking from one place to another. Even in the biggest cities (such as Dar es Salaam or Nairobi), where trip distances are often large, almost half of all trips are entirely on foot. The other half are almost all by minibus or bus, but even those trips also involve considerable walking distances to and from the bus. In our biggest cities fewer than 10%percent of all urban trips are by private motor vehicles. In the secondary cities, the share of entirely pedestrian trips goes up to two-thirds, and in a number of secondary cities, cycling is the second most important way of making a trip, followed by minibuses, and then by motor vehicles in number of users. All in all, in the biggest cities, 50% of the population uses almost exclusively NMT, 40% uses NMT for a significant part of their trips, and 10% use primarily cars. In the secondary cities, the NMT -only user group, including cyclists, is even as high as 75 to 85%. Lack of mobility is a serious bottleneck
Many of us realize increasingly that the economic and social development of our cities is often not as positive as we had hoped. Where things improve, they do so much more slowly than we would want, and in many urban areas the conditions remain as problematic as before, or they deteriorate. It now becomes increasingly clear that the urban transport problems are not just a daily headache, that one has to learn to live with, but that they are a very serious bottleneck for the healthy economic and social development of our cities. Many households in a city like Dar es Salaam have to spend 25% of their available income on daily transport, which only buys a daily round-trip to work by minibus for the head of the household and a few bus trips per month, for example to a market, by other members of the househoId. All other trips have to be made on foot, or cannot be made at all. For those trips on foot, there few proper walkways to make them comfortable, safe and quick. On the contrary, the number of pedestrians that are the victims of a traffic accident is high and many trips face important detours and difficult and filthy passages.
The affordable modes of travel have becoint inejjicieni and unsafe
In large cities, traffic has become so dangerous that safe cycling is no longer possible. Only a small number of people still dare to cycle, although cycling costs roughly three times less than a bus, and is, for most trips, as fast if one takes into account walking to and from the bus and waiting for the bus. Compared to walking, cycling is roughly three times faster. If one takes into account the value of the travel time, cycling costs are roughly only half those of walking. We have to face the fact that the urban transport policies that we have adopted in our cities in the past almost completely overlooked pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Instead, all efforts and investments concentrated on motor vehicle traffic, and on cars more than buses and minibuses. Why did that happen? One of the reasons certainly is that we simply copied what we saw happening in other countries, not least in richer countries that we thought of as models for our future. Another reason is that much of the investment in urban roads was financed through development cooperation, which offered roads for cars. But probably the most fundamental reason was that there was never a serious attempt to analyze and understand the transport problems in our cities from the point of view of the average city dweller, with hisher low income and daily struggle to make the best of it. Let alone that a
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serious effort was made to involve the average low-income transport user in the planning and implementation of efforts to improve the mobility situation in our cities. The pilot projects that led to the writing of these guidelines have concentrated on finding ways to improve the mobility and safety of pedestrians and cyclists in our cities. Finding out how users can best be involved in mobility policy planning and implementation was one of the important targets. NMT users were involved in a variety of ways. Chapters 17 and 18 summarize lessons learned during that process. Why involve the users?
One can ask why the users of non-motorized forms of transport should participate in planning and operation of technical facilities like roads, and bridges, and open spaces. The most important reason is that, in a very practical sense, the daily users are the real experts. They can provide a wealth of information that makes it possible to: Identify the most urgent priorities. The users can in fact almost do that on their own, the responsibility of the public authority being more to ensure that the users that speak up are indeed a realistic representation of all interests involved, rather than a very vocal group with rather special interests of its own; * Formulate those interventions that have the highest chance to be effective in practice. This is a cooperation between the professionals, coming with intervention proposals for priorities that were identified based on their professional experience and showing examples from other places, and the users, who can comment on these proposals and how practical they expect them to be in this particular case. Users are a source of strength
Users are a source of strength in development projects, but to acquire this strength in a new project, they have to be involved. One of the most important lessons learnt in our pilot
Table 17.1 Reasons for making User Participation an inlegral part of mobility projects The principles * Involve users as expen< by daily mvel experience. * Ensure that professionals, who are the expens by mining, make the right choices, which
-
improve the mobility of non-motorized transport USCR. Let users decide on their priorities for implementation.
Prncricol nspecrs
* Act as a pressure group to force politicians to listen and act in accordance with user needs. * Contribute towards monitoring and evaluation of the usefulness of the interventions. * Share responsibility for the intetventions, and get back-up for the project. * Improve the way people treat h e streets. no dumping of waste, etc. Enhance better maintenance of road facilities. walkways and care for uecs. * Create support forthe municipality in carrying out ils road and access track provision and management tasks. Enhance proper traffic behavior and use of the roads and tracks by all modes of transport (awareness raising). Sometimes the aspects of contribution of community labur for works, and of land to create space for roads and tracks. can be i m p o m t . However, fairness of that type of arrangements is very important. They require careful separate negotiation with those directly involved, and contractual documentation. User platforms as described here do not have any legitimate auhority in h i s respect. and can only play a facilitating role.
-
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projects is that once users are convinced that they are respected, met with dignity, and treated as important and equal partners, and at the same time valued for their contribution, they contribute to the work of the urban mobility unit with dedication, enthusiasm and quality which can later develop into power. User participation in NMT activities is an important asset to improving safety and mobility. The strength of the participation process depends mostly on the urgency of the problems that are addressed, and the expectation that the outcome of the entire process will in fact be positive for the user group involved. Experts by experience It is particularly important to have the user "expertise-by-experience" included in the project preparation in case the "experts-by-training", the engineers and the planners, are NOT experts by their own daily travel experience, because they neither travel in the project area, nor travel primarily on foot or by bicycle. Their own daily travel experience may in fact be largely a car travel experience, a fact that cannot be prevented from having a significant influence on their professional judgement of the traffic situation. The separation between personal travel experience and the travel problems of the bulk of the urban population -which have the highest priority of being addressed- is rather likely in our country, in particular at senior professional level. A similar misfit between the required professional knowledge and the daily travel experience of the professionals is usually much less pronounced in higher-income countries, where, (i) the share of car traffic is much higher, and therefore the logical priority to design roads and facilities for car traffic is higher; and (ii) the social status aspect of travel is much less important, and professionals can easier be frequent users of public transport, or walk or cycle. Requirements for and advantages of User Participation
Tables 17.2 and 17.3 below list requirements to make user participation work, and advantages that can be created, as they have been learned in user participation in the improvement of NMT mobility and safety that was carried out for a number of years in the SSATP pilot project in Tanzania and Kenya. What they list might seem unachievable especially due to the existing traditions of not recognizing the role that users can play in development projects. They have been seen as only 'receivers' of development projects for a long time, that can therefore be treated in any way. That time is gone and things must change. All in all, working with users can become a useful and enjoyable process to both parties, as well as generating significant advantages. User participation is a necessity for creating successful development projects in the field of pedestrian and bicycle mobility. All categories of user groups should be respected for what they can contribute towards their own development if projects are to be sustainable. It is important to remember that different user groups perceive problems differently. Hence the need to listen to all user groups when making an inventory of problems.
17.2 Different forms of user involvement and participation
How to start involving users
In these guidelines we assume a situation whereby the public authority (the municipal government) is the organizing party. Getting users involved can therefore be: I. The result of an initiative taken by the municipality to do so, or 2. A municipal initiative in reaction to general public requests to do, for example, through the press, or 3. A positive reaction by the municipality to a community initiative to do something about a particular mobility problem, for example, building an NMT bridge. If the start is (3), the procedure will be a bit different and more immediately targeted towards the model of a local User Platform (UP) than in case of (1) or (2).
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Table 17.2 Requirements to make user participation work * Muruol
WUSI
between the initiating team and the pmicipants.
* Acntnl iniplPmenmriori of at least some interventions that are prioritizcd
Localizing user participation, concentrating on specific interventions that all memben of a user platfonn have a direct inlercst in.
-
Avoidance of links 10 polirical ponies (to elected political representatives). Coniplere removnl of personalfinaiicinl incethes to the user participation. * Trnnsporenq, by making all information. priorities. smtezies. and actions openly avnilable to and known to all stakeholders in the city. * Accntmrability. By sharing in decisions, panners z e accountable to each other vis-8-vis the tasks they have committed themselves to. This includes financial accountability for intervention costs. * Eqsiq, because the groups which a e usually excluded from the decision making process have the opponunity to present their concerns and defend their interests. * Efficient?. By sharing information and taking decisions openly and in common, overlaps and duplication of efforts can be avoided. Actions have to be complementwy and mutually suppomve.
-
LniiguaSe. The working language of user pmiciparion MUST be the national language (so not in English). so as not to exclude most of the common users.
Table 11.3 Advantages created by user parlicipalion * Optimism and pride among the users hat improvement is possible. where there are joint efforts involved.
-
Copocie hrrilding. Users build their capacity if they are involved in identifying and working out solutions. Eventually. this leads to expanding their activities independent from professionals, thereby making their working life easier. * Less room for hiddm ageifdus.There is more transparency in the way different interesu are miculated and priaritized. This reduces the opportunities for cntertaining direct personal interests. * More fi,mnciol trunsporency and better cost control, The process increases financial transparency since COSIS of the interventions are discussed.
A well-informed start
A municipal team that takes the initiative for a new development project, and wants to establish a user platform, should make a careful start. In any community, there are people who matter, who are influential. Such people are respected by their societies. Also there are always people that are well-informed as to what is happening and who are able to pick up on trends in community attitudes and opinions. They know of even the small details in the community. They know how people generally feel about different issues confronting them. Such persons have to be found and utilized, as they can be instrumental in helping to assess community opinions and practices. They can be elected or traditional leaders, health workers, teachers, bar attendants, shopkeepers, parish workers, leading women and youth, street traders. These people can be the animators since they know the groups and structures. Having good information is a prerequisite for a municipal team when it wants to establish user participation.
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Who is who
As a first step to initiating user participation in a community it is necessary to know who is who, by preparing an inventory which will enable you to: 1.Establish good relations with community leaders, both the politically elected ones, and the informal community leaders. It is important that this relationship is maintained throughout the user participation process. 2. Assure that user platforms that are asked to participate in decisions on implementation priorities, consist of a satisfactory cross-section of all community interests and are not strongly influenced by one particular influential group or clan.
Attitude
Municipal teams should appreciate some principle ideas that underlie community-based activities: Communities know their problems; There are often many communities in one community "context", formal and informal, traditional and modem; Problems in the communities are many. We should make it clear, however, that our project deals with one particular type of problem, e.g. urban mobility. It is not right to raise the expectation that the project wiIl provide solutions for all problems, as it is not possible to solve them even with the best of our intentions.
311
0
Knowledge
Furthermore, it is necessary to know the essential characteristics of the population so that we can deal with them in the best possible manner and know what to expect from them. This will also allow the municipal teams to judge the appropriate type of user participation, depending on the nature of the planned activity. Different forms of user participation
Forin of UP depends on its content
User participation takes on different forms depending on the phase of the project cycle. In the case of Temeke for example, users of non-motorized means of transport were involved in different forms of participation during the three project phases: identifying mobility problems in the community, planning improvements, and implementing the interventions. The following sequence of user involvement was found to be quite effective: first establish contacts with a large number of different user groups in the city (or in the more limited project area), that have an interest in the matter. Then create one general user platform, and finally establish local user platforms for all interventions or packages of interventions that will be implemented. User Groups can identify all problems with mobility and the use of non-motorized transport that they experience; a general User Platform for the whole area can review, articulate and prioritize the problems mentioned by the User Groups; local User Platforms, set up near the required traffic interventions spots can take part in planning and implementation of a particular intervention. The level of user influence and initiative is different in the different UP forms ("models"). Which users participate?
The process of would-be participants coming forward and selection of user platform members must be treated with care and integrity. The following selection criteria can be used: Members live or do business in the project area where interventions are planned; Members must have a commitment to do something about the core problems, and express the willingness to spend time on project activities; The main mode of transport of the large majority of the members is non-motorized transport; The composition should be representative of the whole NMT user group in terms of gender, age, income, social and occupational categories.
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Table 17.4 User participation forms
Model:
User Gm,p
Gerreml User Plafonn
Iinponance of:
Local User Plafonri
Aumeness
User
campnip Associurion and pul~licity
Giving public information about all projectaclivities
U+
+++
+i
+
+
Listening to user problems and discussing with users
+++
+++
+++
+
+
User participation in analyzing problems and sening priorities
+
+++
++
0
+
User influcncc in decision making
0
+
m
0
+++
Attempt to chmge user behavior
0
+
+
m
+
User initiative to implement their own proposals
0
+
++
0
+t+
Private iniplementution andor management of public infmruuclurenandbv users
0
0
+
0
U 4
Unlike in the starting step described in the section above, having UP members with a large social influence in the community andor control over resources that are important for implementing interventions (e.g. land) is not an advantage. It may even increase the risk of conflict between broader community interests and direct personal interests. It is wiser to maintain good contacts with formal and informal leaders in the community at a personal level, and in their leadership capacity, and not as a member of a user platform. Both the municipal team and the UPS that are established should ensure such relationships with the existing leadership. Open UP membership and no internal UP hierarchy
Based on the experience in the pilot projects it is recommended to adopt a flexible approach to membership of user platforms and user groups. It is important that the influence of a UP is based on the quality of their ideas and contribution, and not on the basis of their status as a part of the project organization. It is therefore recommended to avoid strong hierarchy within a UP, to discourage special power for chairpersons, and to assign tasks such as chairperson or secretary for a fixed period, with the possibility to change afterwards. This will minimize the temptation of abusing a UP position of influence for private agendas. It is helpful to realize that variations in UP membership are possible, and positive. When new people join a UP, and see its importance, and others stop their participation in a positive manner, the circle of people that are or have been involved grows. An open membership structure means that: 1. Would-be new members can always make their interest in joining known. If they satisfy the selection criteria and if the existing UP is not already to large to work efficiently, they will be admitted as members. 2. In admitting new members, the representation of all different types of users in the UP must be maintained. If there are already enough members from one specific background, no additional ones should be admitted. However, in such a case the would-be member can put hisher suggestions in writing for consideration by the existing UP.
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3. Membership of sitting UP members that rarely or never attend UP meetings or contribute to UP work will be discontinued automatically. It is natural that personal obligations and priorities change over time. The person concerned should not see the discontinuation of hisher membership as a negative judgement. Neither should s h e become a burden to the UP. Experience with attempts to persuade non-contributing members to become more involved in most cases have short-lived and disappointing results. User groups
The procedures for identifying and contacting user groups can be more "light-weight" than is described above for User Platforms. User groups as meant here are short lived. and called upon for problem analysis and an exchange of views. The important thing is to achieve a good coverage of all interests and opinions in an area. The arrangement for a meeting can be made with someone representing the group, and the matter of who will attend the meeting can be left to the contact person and the group itself. Since discussions are held with a large number of groups, it does not matter much if a few are not so fruitful because of the less suitable composition of a group.
A~varenesscainpaign
In the list of user participation forms, awareness campaigns have also been included. The reason for doing that is that even if these are mainly a one-way interaction with road users, there is always a feedback that one can learn from. Moreover, experience shows that an awareness campaign is best prepared in cooperation with an active user platform, and carried out at a moment that many people in the area already know a little about project activities. It therefore does not appear first in the sections below, but is only dealt with after user platforms. 17.3 User Groups: identification of problems
In the problem identification stage, a lot of information has to be collected about the NMT users, pedestrians, and cyclists in particular, in the selected project areas. This necessary information can be distinguished in the following broad categories: Organizations, and formal and informal leaders in the community Diversity of social classes (level of education, occupation, ethnic group) * Reasons for traveling with non-motorized means of transport Problems experienced with pedestrian and bicycle mobility (NMT) * Knowledge, attitudes and practices about road use and safety 0
0
The formation of User Groups is an effective method for obtaining information about the last four subjects on the list. A project team (usually a municipal staff team), initiates a process whereby different groups have the opportunity to express their views. The project team selects NMT user groups with the aim of having Focus Group Discussions with them. Separate groups composed of pedestrians, of cyclists, and of cart operators are formed. To get a good cross-section of the experiences and opinions of different non-motorized transport users, user groups will be selected well spread out over the whole project area. To obtain a good insight in possible conflicts of interest and opinions between NMT users and M T users, a sufficient amount of information about non-NMT road users must also be obtained. Temeke Ward 14, in Dar es Salaam, has eight so-called Street-Areas, the smallest administrative subdivision. In each Street Area, User Groups of pedestrians, cyclists, and cart operators were contacted and invited for discussions. In most cases the groups were formed just for the sake of the discussions, but often there was a core of people that knew each other well and interacted permanently as a group. The groups were formed on the criteria of age and gender as follows: young men pedestrians, adult men cyclists, young men cart operators, old men pedestrians, women cyclists, old men cart operators, young women pedestrians, old women pedestrians.
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It is advisable to make separate groups for men and women, and for young people and older people, because of cultural ideas. In mixed groups, men tend to speak for women, and young people often keep quiet in front of older people, yet women as well as young people usually have different experiences, problems and strengths than older men. All in all, about 64 User Groups were formed in Temeke Ward 14, with an average of 10 participants. After the formation of user groups, Focus Group Discussions (FGD, see chap.17.10) were held with them about specific problems that users experience with their daily transport. These
Advantages of the "user-group" model * User groups are resourceful in terms of providing information on mobility problems, on
what can be expected to happen during the implementation of interventions and about the sustainability of projects in the area. Their contribution, therefore, is vital for thc successful initial inventory of the mobility and NMT safety problems in an area, of possibilities to reduce the problems, of road user behavior, of the most used NMT routes in the area, and of priorities for making improvements. * Due to the large number of user group meetings the subject, pedestrian and bicycle
mobility and safety, becomes much more widely discussed in the area, and the fact that the project initiative has been taken becomes much better known. This provides a good basis for latcr inviting people to become member of a general user platform.
Problems that can be experienced with the model People don't know of the existence of the project initiative, are suspicious of hidden agendas of the initiators and cannot imagine that anything useful will be done for them. Hence they do not want to cooperate. Lack of time for the user group members to attend meetings. Most of them live from hand to mouth and hence devoting their time to meetings is a problem. Lack of vision by the user groups. Most user groups would like to see their immediate felt needs attended to, they do not concern themselves with the future. * Prevailing poverty that faces uscr groups deters them from realizing their basic problems and means of solving them. User groups involved in political parties are vulnerable to being deceived by political slogans, and thereby tempted to abandon their own good ideas.
0
-
0
How to react to problems * Infoolin thc formal leaders in the community about the development project that is being
started so that they become the mouthpiece for the project organizers. Organize short meetings so that all user group members are able to attend without the feeling of having time constraints and having to do other things. * Raise the awareness of mobility and traffic safety problems through publicity, for example traffic safety events in primary schools. * Avoid becoming associated with one particular party or political program. This is vital, in order to keep good working relations with all parties, and to be taken seriously by all user groups. During the pilot implementation it became quite clear that there is a substantial difference between the priorities of the political leaders and the priorities of the general users.
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problems may range from concerns with road safety in general, to the absence of specific road links and speed humps in specific spots in the ward. Members of these groups are typically engaged in all kinds of socio-economic activities to improve their living conditions, including petty trading, small business such as the 'inama ntilies' (women food vendors), vegetable and fruit venders and second-hand clothes seller, e.g. 'machinga'. In some more permanent groups mutual direct and financial assistance is given between members.
17.4 General User Platform: articulation and prioritization of user needs In development projects, reaching the community is made easier when a User Platform (UP) is established. However, it takes time to develop well functioning UP. Municipal teams should be ready to begin building the UPS into coherent and motivated expert groups, in order to create self confident UPS which generally accept their own image and know what they can and should do to make their cities more livable. It is of vital importance that the UP also deals with organizational matters such as the interaction between the municipality and the community. The municipality and the UP need to cooperate in a mutually respectful and fruitful manner. The general user platform has to be composed of interested people from all corners of the project area. To have a workable group, it is recommended to have no more than 15-20 members. A restriction on membership in the general UP is that members should not represent political parties, nor be government officials professionally involved with the subject.
Tasks of the General User Platform The work of the General User Platform includes: discussing mobility issues in meetings that are open to the public; holding workshops with city councilors, elected sub-ward representatives, relevant municipal and national government departments and others; inviting comments, and to preparing a general work plan for future interventions. The UP members also walk through the area to identify requirements on-site. Accompanied by planning and engineering professionals, the community members learn to read maps and gain knowledge on technical and planning issues.
Core tasks To articulate important mobility and accessibility problems as faced by people living and working in the project area. This builds further on the focus group discussion summary report (from the user groups phase). Make an inventory of all important mobility and accessibility bottlenecks in the project area. Identify and document dangerous spots along road reserves and infornial tracks in the project area. Consider traffic accident risks as well as social safety risks (robbery, harassment, etc.) * Articulate solutions. UP members will be informed about the range of interventions that exist to reach improvement in mobility and road safety. List all ideas about how these problems can be addressed. Questions like these can be asked: What should be done? What can be done on short notice? Who can do what? * Rank the priorities for traffic interventions. Prepare a User Needs Document. 4
0
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Advantages of the "general user platform" model 0
The General User Platform can successfully guide the whole process of articulation and prioritization of user needs through the preparation of the User Needs Document.
* The General UP can easily interact with and get support from the Ward leadcrs, who are
government officials elected by the people in the ward, while at the same time keeping its independent position.
Problems that can be experienced in the model
The hererogeiieity of the community. The "community" in Temeke, for example, is very diverse, with people from different parts of the country, different educational levels, and different urban histories. Some people are used to cooperate with their clan members over a wide region, thus reaching a degree of self-sufficiency, others are not. In cities, most people tend to be concerned with their own family members only, living with them in the same household or scattered over town. Only when there is a common problem and when mutual trust has developed, will people without family ties jointly work for a solution. * The feeliizg rlzut oi&iiuiy citizens do not Izuve uny role in improving pedestrian mobility, bicycle fac es, or road safety; that all depends on the Dar es Salaam City Commission. This makes people reluctant to cooperate with other community members on matters of shared public interests, such as with fellow pedestrians to get better walking routes.
0
0
Allowaims influence the relation between a "project" and other parties. Good
cooperation with user group and user platform members may come to depend mainly on paying allowances. When this happens, it becomes unclear what the important reason for the cooperation is, addressing the problems or the allowance. This undermines the user participation. Unfortunately, the expectation of personal financial gain is often apparent at the beginning, where the word project is used. * Corztiiiuity.Participation of members of the General User Platform can be short-lived. In implementing the pilot projects it was observed that members were interested in participating during a certain period of the project, like in the case of Temeke, they were interested up to the period of writing the needs inventory. After the priority interventions had been decided on, it became clear to several members of the platform that the priorities of their own neighborhoods would not be addressed soon. At that moment they lost interest in further participation all together.
How to react to problems * Trai~spureizcyto all parties concerned. The UP should have complete understanding of all details of what the municipal team is doing. Nothing should be hidden, and there should be respect for what they are doing. 0
Slzured i-espomibility. Public participation and support is very imporlant to ensure sufficient carlying capacity for implementation of project plans. Apparently, the conccpt of shared responsibility and shared credit for success is valid in practice.
selfcor~firfeizceof the UPS and not to push them too much. Opeiziizg up fl7e UP n?emberslzip to members of particular interest groups that have
* It is important to build the *
developed initiatives themselves and ask the municipal team to be includcd in the UP, should be considered. It can make the UP more advocacy oriented and stronger.
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Possible problem solutions are also discussed in the UP. Here it is the task of planners and engineers to show the range of possible traffic interventions. For example, when people complain about speeding cars and buses on a particular road, possible solutions could be: making a speed hump, a traffic island, or a raised pedestrian crossing. All these interventions have a traffic calming effect. The discussion between the "users" and the "professionals" in this case therefore is mainly on the choice of the intervention that is the most suitable for a particular traffic spot. Exainple
A good example is a missing route link over a river, which was dealt with in the NMT project. The question was whether a new bridge should also be accessible for motor vehicle traffic or for NMT only. Since the route concerned is a main NMT route, without an existing MT traffic function, a small and well-built pedestrian bridge was found to be the most suitable. In the process, the project team has learnt that it takes time and much patience to convince some car owners and professionals that in a situation like this the user needs ask for an NMT-only solution, which is safer and more convenient for the users. and also has a much higher benefidcost ratio. A range of adequate NMT-oriented interventions exists from which one has to choose the most adequate for a specific spot. The fact that the project only dealt with non-motorized transport made it easier to keep concentrating on the investment in NMT infrastructure. Even in a situation where in view of user needs and value for money an NMT-only route is the only logical solution, traditional thinking that any new road connection must automatically be for motor vehicles is still strong, because no examples of well constructed NMT-only routes exist yet. 17.5 Local User Platforms: planning and implementation of interventions
A problem is felt more intensely, the more one is personally affected by it, and the closer it is to one's home or business location. The motivation to take part in improving the
situation increases likewise.
Advantages of the "local user platform" model
The establishment of several Local User Platforms instead of one General User Platform makes the municipal team's work easier - users develop solutions, the team does the coordination work. Easy to reach consensus, because the UP is small and members have co1nmon interests. Easy to call meetings and to communicate, share information and persuade each other, because all members are in the same neighborhood. The chance of success is greater if local users easily cooperate in planning and implementation. Once there is success, it is encouraging to continue with participation in the local user platforms. There is genuine commitment, no allowances are required. I
A new form of user participation becomes possible when the preparation of traffic interventions in specific locations starts. It is logical to consider that pedestrians, cyclists, and cart operators experiencing problems at the specific location are the most concerned with solving local problems. Facing the daily risk of crossing a certain road, or experiencing severe accessibility problems in going to a inarket or health clinic, makes the residents of that area keen to take part in the preparation and implementation of practical improvements.
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Problems that can be experienced with the model The municipal team has to deal with several Local User Platforms at the same time Giving guidance to a large number of planned interventions at different locations creates a high work load. Sometimes it is difficult for the municipal teams to attend to all the different UP meetings, especially if they are not well coordinated. This can be frustrating for UP members. This occurs in particular when the municipal staff are distracted to other municipal or personal activities, or not replaced by colleagues in case of illness. Sometimes it can be difficult for the municipal team to do all the follow-up to government departments that is required for approval and actual implementation of the many interventions that have come up. It is interesting to note that the list of problems that can be expected with this model is short. For example, problems with attendance of meetings, continuity, etc. are much less severe than with a general user platform. Delays. Delays in UP outputs must not be interpreted as a problem, but as a stage in user participation that must be given all the time it needs, even up to the point of abandoning a certain activity if its urgency is not great enough to set a proper UP initiative in motion. If one local UP moves slowly at a certain moment, the available municipal team energy and money can be used to support active and fast moving other UPS. Doing that creates a sense of rewarding the most active UPS, and thus works as a stimulus. Delays in municipal project team work have a negative impact on the success of user participation. A dedicated and capable municipal team is a key requirement for success. This is even more true in working with local user platforms on effective implementation, than in other forms of user participation. Characteristic of local user platforms is doing things and making things happen in the field. This can only be successful if both sides, but in particular the municipal government, are a reliable partner.
How to react to problems No pushing. If there is a delay in preparation for an intervention because a local UP is slow in carrying out its share of the work, or its part in mobilizing resources (in cases where that has been agreed), it is recommended that the municipal team does not take over the UP'S work, but simply waits. In the worst case this could lead to abandoning a certain intervention as a result of too low a level of commitment and interest of the local UP concerned. Apparently the urgency of implementing that particular intervention was not felt so strongly, and it is more cost effective to concentrate one's energy and money on other interventions. The experience in the pilot projects with attempts to push local UPS to work faster and better was quite negative. If the drive for progress does not come from the inside, pushing can even convert a community's emerging positive feeling of being supported by the municipality in achieving something valuable, into a negative feeling of complaints, and accusations that the municipality is the cause of the problems and should "solve them for us". The psychological attitude of "being a victim" is often just around the corner. A condition for success is to escape from that feeling, and to build the self confidence that one can address problems from within the community, with the municipal support offered. Good workplanning. The model requires good planning. Tasks must be divided carefully within the municipal teams, for efficient functioning. The team should consult standard work planning methods, and adopt one in a disciplined manner. Coordination between different UPS. Activities of the different UPS in the project area have to be coordinated properly. When all involved parties know what plans exist in the other UPS they will avoid coming up with plans that collide. This is important for the municipal teams as well as for the platforms themselves, and will avoid frustrations.
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The most innovative and successful form of user participation initiated by the pilot project has been the formation of Local User Platforms. Case studies of spot interventions and the users' participation are presented in chapter 18. Table 18.1 gives an overview of the roles of the municipal staff and the users in the process. The Local UP members take part in: planning, commenting on and if desirable proposing changes to design of the intervention; control during construction; sometimes in mobilizing resources (primarily labor); organizing repairs; and later, advising other UPS on similar interventions at different spots. Of course, it must be recognized that a project team and a User Platform do not always succeed in reaching consensus on a planned intervention. Different UP members can have different preferences. Business interests of, for example, bar, shop, or hotel owners or street hawkers may be stronger than their concern for traffic safety for pedestrians, cyclists and cart operators. There are also potentially negative effects of interventions like increase of rents after upgrading schemes. All in all, careful planning of the proposals is required.
17.6 Awareness raising and Publicity
Awareness raising and general publicity on mobility problems and non-motorized transport issues can be useful on several occasions and for several reasons. It approaches the "users" in a different way compared to the three user participation models explained earlier. The users are not approached as individuals that participate in a discussion and in activities, but approached in general, or as one particular group, such as primaiy school children, car drivers, or cyclists. Awareness raising activities are meant to influence traffic behavior, or to make people conscious that certain changes in the traffic situation, or walking routes are being made that ask for a certain way of being used. Another general target is to alert people on issues related to traffic safety. An additional idea of awareness raising in an early project stage in particular, is that people will learn to perceive mobility problems as something that they themselves can influence through their own behavior. Awareness and publicity as parr of userparticipation
It makes a big difference whether awareness raising and publicity is part of an approach that involves users as partners in a program to improve things in practice, or whether it is "educating" the public from the side of the authorities without doing much at field level, in parallel to the publicity. In the pilot projects awareness raising and publicity have only been used in addition to other activities. Without a visible attempt to improve things for NMT users in practice, such "education" can easily been as a cheap excuse that the municipality uses for not doing things, or even for indirectly accusing people that they, themselves, are the main reason for their problems. As explained earlier, messages that create a feeling of false promises and of not being taken seriously undermine the possibility for a fruitful partnership between the municipality and the general public to jointly address urban NMT mobility problems in a positive manner. Mobility problems are not something new to people's lives, but they are often seen to be so completely out of the individual's control, that it makes no sense to think of them as your problem. It is only frustrating to see something as your problem, if you cannot do anything about it. However, it is possible to learn to perceive mobility problems in a different way. To achieve that change in perception, the awareness raising must not concentrate on hammering on problems, it must concentrate on hammering what one can personally and as a community do to improve things. The awareness that a positive contribution is possible is crucial for users' involvement, because that type of awareness makes them realize what they would want, what that requires in practice, and what contribution they can make. Awareness of trafic accident hazards
Experience in the pilot projects shows that by far the most directly and emotionally penetrating mobility related subject is traffic safety, and in particular traffic safety for children. Traffic accidents are unfortunately common. Most of the victims in urban areas are non-motorized road users, and the impact of having a traffic accident on the person, household and family involved is severe. Thinking about traffic accident hazards, about the
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Advantages of the "awareness and publicity" model If the general public becomes aware that traffic safety is an issue of importance to the municipal government, by the fact that it organizes traffic safety awareness activities in cooperation with groups of common road users, willingness increases to: - participate in efforts to improve the safety situation by means of local interventions; - accept traffic safety interventions in a positive way, and use them as intended; - pay more attention personally to safe traffic behavior. Combined with implementation of traffic calming interventions, this can create a significant reduction in traffic accidents, their severity and costs, to individuals and to the country. Primary school children that are aware of accident hazards and of ways to avoid them can protect themselves better from the risk of accident. For parents, better awareness of the risks that their children run motivates to demand and support traffic calming interventions. Increased awareness of children in seconday schools of the attractiveness of cycling and lessons to learn to cycle change their perception of the bicycle as a desirable vehicle to make trips in the city. This is a long-term instrument to increase cycling, particularly by women. Awareness that filthy and run-down streets are not a law of nature, but the result of how all inhabitants and the municipal government together treat the urban roads and NMT access tracks, increases the carrying capacity for NMT network improvements and maintenance, and for personally polluting them less. * Awareness of mobility problems among users and stakeholders stimulates them to develop a vision of how these must be tackled, and what they can contribute. Awareness raising activities that are part of an active municipal program to improve the mobility and safety of pedestrians and cyclists are easy to implement and well received.
Problems that can be experienced in the model It is not easy to verify the effectiveness of awareness and publicity campaigns even if there are friendly reactions. Large-scale general awareness campaigns can be costly and have limited impact. The best approach: targeted campaigns combined with real interventions. Awareness campaigns without follow-up in terms of real activities have no lasting impact, or influence attitudes in a negative manner, as another example of "maneno" (the Swahili word for talking-talking, or less polite: bla-bla-bla). Most people are fully occupied with earning a living, running their household and solving their personal problems, and often live quite isolated, without strong social networks. It is not so easy to reach a large proportion of a community with your information.
How to react to problems
0
Before designing and carrying out an awareness campaign conduct a baseline survey on knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding safety, children routes to school, cycling, etc. Involve user groups and all stakeholders, such as the traffic police, in the awareness raising, for a greater impact. Use the media, local newspapers, local radio and TV to gain publicity for important occasions such as the inauguration of an intervention or an important meeting, and to give media coverage of the awareness raising activities. Traffic safety campaigns in primary schools or a tree planting program have greater effect if there is publicity at the same time.
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causes of accidents and about what is needed to reduce the number of accidents, automatically leads one to think of interventions such as walkways, safe pedestrian crossings, facilities for cyclists, etc.; in other words: to the menu of pedestrian and bicycle facilities and the menu of traffic calming interventions. Schools provide a positivefonvardlooking iiireiface
Many people and organizations can contribute to raising awareness on road safety: user groups and user platforms as discussed above, schools, children's groups, the traffic police. The more people make a contribution to the preparation and implementation of awareness raising activities, the bigger their impact is. The most successful awareness raising activity in Temeke, Dar es Salaam was the traffic safety campaign and song competition in Temeke primary schools, aimed at the children. The additional purpose of the campaign was to rapidly spread the messages on traffic safety and how to actively improve the pedestrian and bicycle mobility, through the children. And that is indeed what happened.
Video
Another awareness oriented activity was the production of an NMT traffic safety video. The video aimed to motivate professionals and policy makers to address traffic safety issues by means of NMT oriented interventions that will eventually ensure every road user's safety. that For those watching it, it turned out to be a powerful instrument for putting the issue on their agenda. The video, also meant as a way of showing the users common traffic accident hazards, and how to avoid them, contains: Shots of NMT users showing the risks they have to undergo while using the roads; Accident incidents to show the magnitude of the problem; Causes of road accidents such as poor design of intersections, speeding and ignorance about road safety; Tips on safety for the different user groups; and * Concluding remarks from the Chairman of the Road Safety Council. 0
Repeiitioii
As repetition is the key to lasting effect, a continuous NMT mobility improvement program that creates the instruments to improve the situation on the roads by planning and implementing interventions must carefully assure continuous publicity and awareness of what it is doing. 17.7 User Association: management and maintenance of public infrastructure
The option of a user association as a permanent legal entity arises when a facility needs permanent attention for its maintenance and successful use. For example, a user association can safeguard the proper use and maintenance of the pedestrian-only access tracks in a certain residential neighborhood, or assure regular cleaning of the riverbed under an NMT bridge to prevent siltation and damage to the bridge. The pilot project in Dares Salaam has been particularly concerned with the development of an open space in Temeke to become Mwenibe Ladu Park. This public park is attractive for pedestrians to walk through or rest in the shade of trees, and for children and young adults for playing and sports. The park needs permanent attention, to prevent motor vehicles from entering the space for parking or joyriding, to prevent encroachment by kiosk owners, dumping of litter by nearby residents, and to maintain the paths and the trees. For almost two years, the municipal pilot team and the local user platform that was established for the intervention of creating the park and the walking routes, cooperated to develop the park, with great success (see chapter 13). Throughout the second year, the activities aimed at establishing a user association that could protect the interests of the local users, and make the place flourish and further improve. It was thought that this would be the best and most appropriate way of assuring good pernianent operation and maintenance and therefore sustainability, in the hands of the "users". The underlying thought was that it could not be expected that the municipal government would be able to look after the place properly and improve it further, and that "privatizing" operation and maintenance was a much better solution.
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Who can be made responsible for operating and maintaining an intervention such as a public park, or for example a network of residential NMT access tracks in a neighborhood? Which community-based organization can take that responsibility? While setting up a user association for this purpose, for the example of a public park, several issues must be considered: * Identify those that have a commitment and permanent interest in operating the park in the way it is intended, as a public park, openly accessible for all (on foot only), Identify a suitable legal form that allows all users to have well-defined democratic control over the management committee, * Investigate possible sources of income for the user association to pay for maintenance of the infrastructure and for further development
Advantages of the "user association" model A User Association can be given a permanent legal status. Therefore it can obtain a license from the municipality to operate the park, or a long-term lease contract. with an annual lease amount to be paid to the municipality. This will give the association the right to exploit certain income generating opportunities as well as the responsibility for maintenance of the park infrastructure. * The association can build a resource base to pay for the maintenance. In the case of a park, for example, one possibility is to operate the park commercially by renting out fields to sports clubs, to ask fees from petty traders, to rent advertisement space to commercial firms, to allow wedding celebrations against a fee, etc.
Problems that can be experienced in the model Commercial exploitation of the park can be contradiclory to the original purpose of having an open park for the general public. The leading idea when investigating these issues is, how to fonn a viable organization that is in-between a loosely organized group with a weak legal position and weak operational qualities, and a clever commercial exploitation, profitable for the operator. On the one hand, a loosely organized group might allow the general public to use the park, but would not have the power to prevent undesirable activities of individual commercial users. On the other hand, a strong committee might prefer commercial exploitation, thereby excluding the non-paying public.
How to react to problems Assess the participating members, their interests and level of their commitment: ensure that the right people are involved. * Document progress regularly, making the association credible by showing interested parties that their issues and concerns are taken into account. Monitor the results so as to provide early waiting on the operation of the association. Monitoring allows concerned parties to make prompt decisions. 0
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Privatized operation and maintenance of public land and road reserves is advised against Conclusion
The outcome of the efforts described above was surprising. The final conclusion is that handing over the operation and maintenance of a public facility such as the Mwembe Ladu Park to a User Association is to be advised against. The reason for this conclusion was: Not only are there no reliable legal and practical guarantees that a User Association will operate and maintain the place in the best general public interest, but on the contrary, Events leading up to a planned handing over to a User Association showed that it is probable that after hand-over the place would be operated against the best public interest, and be exploited by those in power of the User Association for their direct personal benefit only. 0
In a case like this there are no natural checks and balances from a competitive market. The facility is a natural monopoly and the only one of its kind within easy reach of over 100,000 inhabitants. As a result, control over the uses association was seen as highly attractive, as a source of considerable influence and profit, and created considerable fighting behind the screens. The precise legal entity chosen for the user association appears to have little effect on the situation described above. For instance, the legal form of a cooperative association with open membership appears to give theoretical protection against abuse by the leaders of the association, but practical indications are that manipulation is quite easy, and to be expected. Legal action by disadvantaged users to stop that will cost too much money and time to have a chance of being successful. The same appears to apply to the new form in Tanzania of a CBO (community based organization). Other legal forms face the same problem. A very strict long-term lease contract, given by the municipality to a private operator, can also not be expected to function properly, because its enforcement cannot be expected to be strict. Legal action by independent users will also in this case cost too much money and time to be successful. The conclusions above were reached reluctantly, after a year of trying hard to develop a suitable model of operation and maintenance by a user association. Reaching them was forced by the events in the attempt to implement the user association model for the Mwembe Ladu Park. More than a year of experimenting with the operation made completely clear what was to be expected. Had the contracts for private operation been made in advance, before developing the park, the problems would only have been discovered after it was too late to reverse the model. Public governance Tlze publicgovernalice challenge
The experience described above is a case, and generalizing on the basis of a single case is not desirable. However, similar but less intensely guided experience in Dares Salaam with CBOs as operating entities in urban infrastructure suggests that it is not an isolated case, but one that touches the heart of the public governance challenge. The surprising, and certainly not actively sought after conclusion, is that the existing municipal government model is probably the best one that is now available after all: A professional public government staff that is appointed by an elected central government: 0
Checks arid balances
Controlled by an elected municipal council and mayor; Implcmenting its policies with active local user participation.
This model is not only the best for initial investment in infrastructure improvement and construction, but also for its operation and maintenance. Although far from perfect, this model has much better checks and balances between the different parties involved than a
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model where full operational and financial control over public land and infrastructure is given to private parties. Remedial action in case of abuses, although not easy either, is probably less complicated, because widespread public dissatisfaction has much more and direct impact if there are elected representatives. That is exactly why the model of an elected public government was developed historically. Muriicipal units with a direct own public accountability
The best approach appears to be to develop an innovative way of creating a properly functioning municipal unit in charge of operation and maintenance of a facility like this. This may involve contracting out certain tasks to commercial firms, under short term maintenance contracts. As a model this is different from privatization: the control remains fully in public government hands. Maybe a user association can also play a role in this way, as a permanent advisory committee for the municipal unit, but without final decision making authority, without revenue collection authority and without a profit making potential. 17.8 Issues in making user participation effective Basic requirements for the parties concerned
Slzareci expectarions
All that take part in user participation, NMT users, professionals and other must share the expectation that each party can and will make a valuable contribution. It should be stressed again that all work must be conducted in the national language, not in a foreign one such as English. This is vital, so as not to exclude many common users and to assure a more level playing field. User participation is a matter of cooperation between users and professionals. The users contribute their knowledge and experience of mobility problems and can sometimes make resources available (e.g. labor). They can prepare lists of interventions based on what they know. An important aspect is the procedure for the selection of interventions to improve pedestrian and bicycle mobility and safety.
Balanced decision inaking
The challenge must be to strike a balance between two extreme ways to select priorities. At one end, the municipal team decides entirely on its own, through the city engineer, on the list of interventions to be proposed to the city council for approval, and only uses the User Platform comments as advice. On the other end, the municipal team leaves the preparation of a priorities list entirely to the UP and then also lets the UP make the final choice of what is to be proposed to the council for approval, without interfering. Both have advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of the first option is that the municipal team has complete control over what happens. However, the disadvantage is that the UP will not be inclined to jointly carry the responsibility for the implementation choices, and will probably not have a great sense of ownership. Moreover, the selection might not cover all spots or even address their real needs. In this model it is also less probable that the UP would want to play a role in coinrnunity involvement in either implementation or maintenance of the interventions since there would be no realistic "ownership" of the ideas on the UP side. The advantage of the second option is that it lays total responsibility for the choices with the user representation, so nobody can accuse the municipal team of making the wrong choices. It might as well be possible to link unfiltered acceptance of user proposals to an obligation at the user end (Temeke population, or business comniunity doing business in Tenieke) to contribute a substantial part of the cost (in money or in kind). However, the disadvantages are that an insufficiently wide range of interventions could be proposed (e.g. traffic humps and foot bridges only). This would contradict the purpose of creating a balanced and integrated development of NMT facilities in the area, or result in far too expensive things being proposed, which could only create frustration. Another disadvantage would be that the municipality would not assume its own responsibility over infrastructure provision and maintenance, which could further undermine its authority and credibility.
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Respect diversity of interests
As mentioned in previous sections, communities are very heterogeneous. The average Temeke resident or Morogoro resident does not exist. Simple and good-for-all solutions are not easy to identify, because of the very different conditions that different people face. Professionals have to be cautious in working with such heterogeneous communities. Keep the following advice in mind:
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Do's and don't do's for municipal staff in user participation
Guide the discussions in meetings in such a way that not one or two members dominate the discussions. Give all members the opportunity to express their thoughts. Exei-t tireless efforts to make people understand the advantages of joint planning and implementation Do not show off your professional status. Show in your behavior that you respect their opinions. Show that you are prepared to cooperate, rather than impose your own solutions. Avoid tempers! Be patient!
Share the credit, share rhe blaiiie
In summary, the professionals have technical expertise, which they apply to make the most suitable traffic improvements. They can give input about what to do and how to do it. Together, users, professionals and other stakeholders can better plan and implement, and so, together they share the credits when there is success, and together they take the blame when there is a failure. We all share the credits, and we all share the blame! The contribution of the municipal government
Initiative
The most important contribution of the municipal government to the process of user participation is that it takes the initiative to set-up the process, or reacts positively to an external initiative to do so. Consequently it makes a capable and motivated team of municipal staff available to carry out the day-to-day user participation work, in cooperation with user groups, user platforms, etc.
Pronzpt decisions
However, there is another vital contribution that the top of the municipal government must continue to make throughout. That contribution is: prompt decision making on the intervention proposals that come out of the user participation process, and prompt approval and allocation of the required budget for those proposals that qualify according to the criteria that were explained to the "users" at the moment of starting the user participation. Usually, the decision making process involves both the professional top of the municipality, the city director and heads of departments, and the elected municipal council, or its works committee and/or its finance committee, which has the final political say. Prompt approval, and appropriate, quick and transparent procedures are vital.
Allocation of budget
The same is true of commitment at the top to support the municipal team members in the user participation process all the time, to take the whole process very serious, and to accept the UP priorities, or most of them. In the case of NMT, the decision makers have to reconsider the existing habits in urban road planning, budgeting, standard designs and specifications. Often it is desirable to simplify and speed up municipal approval procedures, for transparent decision making that can be understood and easily accepted by the users.
A good example is that of the communities and their user platforms in Temeke and Morogoro, who have been fortunate in that the municipal government responded quickly with concrete actions. However, when the top municipal government does not respond or takes too long to take decisions, the user platform and communities get discouraged and eventually loose interest in pa-ticipation.
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NMT problems and infrastructure requirements assessment: professional input Professional quuliry needed
The NMT user participation process requires high quality professional work. The quality assurance of the proposed interventions, as well as their credibility to the highest decision makers in the municipality, requires that the UP members' judgements and priorities are backed up and verified by neutral professional assessments of travel behavior, problem spots, etc. Particularly important is to produce a professionally reliable overview of problem spots in a certain area. The municipal team members and UP members must make a joint assessment to verify the problem spots indicated by the users, and identify which traffic interventions might best solve the problem. This assessment can best be summarized in a separate report, an "NMT problems and infrastructure requirements assessment" report, for which the municipal staff takes professional responsibility. User needs document: articulated by the users
The listing of NMT problem spots that emerges from focus group discussions with user groups, and is later completed by user platform members, must be balanced with the "NMT problems and infrastructure requirements assessment" that is carried out by the planner and the engineer in the municipal team. Priorities of NMT users and the observations of the professionals must be discussed and balanced in several feedback meetings. The outcome of these discussions can best be articulated in a separate report, this time written by the UP members, the "User Needs Document" (also referred to as "Plan of User Needs" elsewhere in these guidelines). This is a document that "belongs" to the users (the UP members), and the final responsibility for the document lies with the UP. The social scientist in the municipal team should assist the user platform in writing the report. It will be clear that both the "NMT problems and infrastructure requirements assessment" and the "User Needs Document" must be written in the national language. For further decision making, the user needs document is the most important of the two. The NMT problems and infrastructure requirements assessment report is an input to it. This shows the important role given to the priorities as expressed by the user platform members. However, the user needs document should not state priorities and intervention proposals that contradict sound professional judgement. Serious differences of opinion should have been settled before final reporting. If there is a need to do so, independent external professional advice could be asked for to solve such differences. Paying allowances or nothing at all?
User participation in development projects is often associated with paying allowances: meeting allowances, food allowances, travel allowances, task allowances. All together this form of remuneration lacks transparency anu is time-consuming for administration. The pilot project team in Temeke was keen to break away from the tradition of allowances and tried out other options. First, members of the General User Platform were paid a small salary at the end of the month as compensation for the time spent on project activities, according to their Terms of Reference. It did not work out well. Even with this fixed salary, some members attended the meetings very irregularly. Some attended, but did not think about and discuss important agenda items with their community in preparation, and hence either did not contribute, or only gave their own standard opinions. The second change was that the municipal team stopped paying UP member salaries completely.
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The project team observed that not paying allowances had a positive effect on user participation. The underlying principle is: If one really respects people's ideas and opinions about their own life and environment, then one should not buy these ideas with money. * If people are really interested in improving dangerous and troublesome mobility issues in their neighborhoods, then they should be prepared to share their ideas and time for free. Avoid paying allowances and salaries.
Open information about costs
Informing the general public and the direct users about the cost of road and traffic engineering interventions is not common, yet there are great advantages in being open about specified costs. Experience shows that when people, in particular the members of User Platforms, know about the costs involved, they take more interest in the construction works going on. In concrete terms, discussing the design drawings and the Bills of Quantities, and the costs, gives UP members the information needed to keep a controlling eye on the use of materials and funds. This gives a user platforni much better control over the interventions they have decided to prioritize. Giving complete information to the user platform, and in doing so also the general public, about the full cost of a traffic intervention: Contributes to their knowledge of the real costs of urban infrastructure provision, and thereby of its real value; Increases transparency of the project management; Promotes accountability of project unit staff to the users; Helps to mobilize additional community resources to implement and maintain high priority interventions.
Yombo NMT-bridge example
During the construction of Yombo Bridge I in the pilot project, the Local User Platform volunteered to store bags of cement in one of their member's houses. They counted the bags when they were brought, guarded them at night, registered them when they were taken out and monitored how they were used on site. The Yombo Bridge case study shows how information about the cost of the bridge helped the user platform to mobilize funds for further construction works. Having succeeded in getting the first pedestrian bridge built (Yombo I), residents urged the user platform to build a second bridge down stream. Construction costs were TShs.700.000/-. The pilot project team was willing to assist on the following conditions: The community should substantially increase its own contribution, compared with that of Yombo Bridge I, and the user platform should provide a work plan, with allocation of tasks, and indicating the various sources of funds and labor. The user platform approached the District Commissioner of Temeke, who then approached the Regional Commissioner of Dar es Salaam (both are stakeholders!). The latter decided to furnish TShs.500.000/-. Together with the TShs.100.000/- in their own bank account, the user platform considered that they had now raised a substantial amount of the required capital, and informed the pilot project team. The project contributed the remaining TShs.100.000/- and the Yombo Bridge I1 was built. The lesson learnt is that resource mobilization by the user platform had only been possible through their exact knowledge of the costs involved.
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17.9 About methods of setting up a user platform Setting up a General User Platform
ONLY establish a general user platform IF a sufficient carrying capacity exists to start planning and implementing NMT mobility and accessibility improvement policies and interventions. Then: 1. Write Terms of Reference (TOR)for General User Platform 2. Discuss draft TOR with key contacts 3. Invite candidate user platform members 4. Establish user platform 5. User platform holds meetings and working sessions 6. Prepare draft User Needs Document 7. Circulate User Needs Document 8. Convene a one-day workshop 9. Discuss the feedback in the user platfoim, finalize User Needs Document 10. Prcpare a work plan for the next step: implementing interventions that address user needs 11. User platform discusses the work plan and formulates is final recommendations for it 12. Dissolve General User Platform
UP TOR
I.Write a draft Terms of Reference for a General User Platform (UP) with members from all important interest groups, and froni all corners of the city, or of the part of the city that you concentrate on. The TOR describes the basic tasks of the UP, working rules and the position of the UP in relation to the municipal team it works with and the municipal government in general. An outline of the contents of a general user platform TOR is shown below.
Basic rask of the UP: prepare a "user needs document". Steps leading to this output: - articulate the important mobility and accessibility problems in general, faced by various people living and working in the action area (start: FGD summary report); - make an inventory of all important mobility and accessibility problem spots and bottlenecks in the action area. Precise locations to be indicated on a map; - make a separate inventory of all places in the areas that are dangerous in terms of traffic safety; - articulate possible solutions for problems. List all ideas about how each problem can be addressed. What has to be done? What can be done directly? Who can do what? - rank priorities. Period: The User Platform is established for a fixed period and task. Basic membership rules: - open membership. UP members are invited by the organizing (municipal or other) unit, or recommended by relevant parties in the area, or indicate their own interest in taking part. The only basic requirement is commitment to contribute to addressing the NMT problem in the area. Members that in practice no longer participate in the work automatically stop being members. New members can join during the process; - restriction on membership: no political representatives, no government staff professionally involved in the subject; - informal working style and relations within the UP. No hierarchy, chairperson has no powers. No formalized voting procedures over e.g. establishing priorities. Meetings are open to the public. Persons aspiring to attend a meeting as guest are welcome.
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Clear financial arrangeinerit: costs of meetings are taken care of by organizers (refreshments); - direct costs paid by members for agreed upon UP expenditures are paid back to them (based on receipts); - time spent by members on UP work is not paid for (no allowance). -
Discuss TOR Invite nzembers
Start UP
UP does its work
Report Publish widely
Discuss Docuiizent feedback Iniplerneritatioiz plan
Reconirneiidatiorzs Dissolve UP
2. Discuss the draft TOR with key contacts from the Focus Group Discussion stage. Make changes as desirable. 3. Invite candidates to become Urban Platform members. Convene first meeting. Announce venue and date, and arrange for publicity (press coverage). Discuss draft TOR, formulate changes if desired. Discuss draft work plan. Convene second meeting. 4. Hold second meeting: Establish the User Platform (UP). UP approves TOR (with desired changes from draft). UP approves work plan, and allocates tasks to members. 5 . Meetings and working sessions etc. until the tasks of the UP are performed. It is desirable to limit the time allocated to six months, as a target. Prepare draft reports during the process. Organizers and UP secretary jointly make minutes of all meetings. Other activities will be carried out by the organizers (the municipal team) in parallel to the general UP activities. One of them is an important input for the UP: a technical assessment of mobility problems and NMT infrastructure requirements by the planners and engineers. Another can be a long-term mobility plan, for which UP advice can also be asked in combination with advice from other interest groups or stakeholders in the city. Assure an open exchange of information between these activities, as the UP needs to know precisely what other activities are ongoing. Make sure that the UP output becomes an important input in the other activities. 6. Finalize the UP report and recommendations and print, as User Needs Document. 7. Circulate the User Needs Document to all relevant parties. (City Council members, elected sub-ward representatives, relevant municipal and national government departments, others). Ask for comments and invite them to a one-day workshop to discuss the document, its conclusions and recommendations and next steps. 8. Conduct the workshop (note: workshop methods explained in the annexes. 9. Document the workshop comments, discuss them in the UP and articulate UP reactions on the comments received. The UP formulates the final text of the User Needs Document, including its recommendations on how to address these user needs. 10. Organizers (municipal team), with input of UP members, prepare a work plan for the next stage: planning and implementation of practical interventions. This includes a plan for establishing local User Platforms for the preparation of specific interventions. 11. UP discusses the further work plan to address NMT mobility and accessibility needs, and formulates recommendations in that respect. 12. Dissolve the UP. Do so with a proper ceremony, to thank all involved. Take time to be proud of what was already achieved and to reflect on what was learned in the process, the plusses as well as the minuses. From the side of the municipality underline the great value of the UP member participation and contributions. Stopping an activity in a positive and forward looking manner that makes everyone feel good, is often more difficult than starting something. At the start everyone is still new and optimistic, expectations are high and difficulties underestimated. At the moment of ending an activity it is vital to really absorb the lessons learned, be realistic about what was achieved, get beyond possible criticism that may have existed during part of the activities, count the positive outcomes and accept the drawbacks without being negative about them. The ability to stop an activity in a good way is the key to the ability to start new activities successfully. It is the cornerstone of building experience and capacity. If desirable, establish a second general UP, with new members, a new TORand for a new - limited - time period.
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Setting up a Local User Platform After the decision has been taken to start preparations for an intervention at a specific location, the following steps are recommended for the proper establishment of a functioning local User Platform:
1 . Identify persons that are interested to participate actively 2. Invite interested persons to (themsclves) establish a Local User Platform
3. Explain in detail: - What can UP expect from you, and - What can they not expect from you. ONLY if a positive reaction is received: 4. Give potential UP members an outline TOR.See TORdetails below. 5. UP prepares its own work plan. 6. Work with the UP. Be transparent about the mutual obligations. The work consists of preparing, implementing and guiding the initial use of the intervention. Keep disciplined and complete files. 7. Monitor carefully what happens after implementation. Adjust as needed (fine-tuning). 8. End cooperation with the UPonce the intervention is completed and functions properly
Make contacts
1 . Identify persons that are interested to participate actively in preparation of plans and implementation of interventions that are identified as high priority in the User Needs Document (as needed to reduce accessibility problems andor increase traffic safety).
Invite partners to establish their U P
2. Invite interested persons to (themselves) establish a local User Platform, with the specific aim of addressing this problem. The local user platform will only function well if it has been established by the local community itself (local persons). Make it clear that many problems cannot be solved completely, but that the situation can improve significantly.
Defiiie roles and responsibility
3. Explain in detail to those invited to establish a local UP what they are in practice invited to. What they can expect from you as an organizer, what they cannot expect from you, what you expect from them, and what you do not expect from them. What they can expect from you in particular concerns: - the legal authorization to implement certain interventions (including the establishment of legal public rights-of-way where needed); - the professional work needed in planning, designing and implementing the intervention as jointly decided by the UP and the municipal team; - a financial contribution to the cost of intervention - between (0% to 100%); - a clear definition of the menu of interventions that the municipal support can be given for (in particular the financial support), in this case not for MT facilities.
Provide inforinatioiz
4. Supply the potential UP members with the outline of a TORfor a local user platform. Ask them to discuss this concept within their group, and to make their own choices about what they feel should be their TOR. Communicate what the organizing unit will require as a minimum before accepting to work with the UP, under this TOR.Check whether the TOR proposed by the UP fulfills the minimum requirements for being accepted by the organizing unit. If no UP can be established for a certain intervention from within the community, leave this particular intervention alone and concentrate on others. Recommended basic tasks in the TOR of a local UP: - be the interface in the community with the organizing unit for this intervention; - precisely articulate the objectives of the intervention, from the UP point of view; - prepare a proposal for a work plan, as considered best by the UP, leading to implementation of the intervention;
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discuss the preferred technical design for the intervention with the technical experts of the organizing unit (engineers); jointly decide what design to select; widely inform all community members of the plans for the intervention; organize the community contribution to the intervention; play an active role in enhancing good use of the intervention, including cleaning; monitor whether intervention objectives are reached.
Recommended basic nieiiibership rules: - open membership: the only basic requirement is the commitment to contribute to the implementation of this particular intervention. Members that in practice no longer participate in the work automatically stop being members. New members can join during the process; - restriction on membership: no political representatives, no government staff professionally involved in the subject; - informal working style and relations within the UP. No hierarchy, the chairperson has no powers. No formalized voting procedures over e.g. establishing priorities. Meetings are open to the public. Persons aspiring to attend a meeting as guest are welcome. Recommended financial arrangements: - meetings at organizers' place are taken care of by the organizers (refreshments); - meetings at the UP venue are taken care of by the UP; - direct costs paid by members for agreed upon UP expenditures are paid back to them (based on receipts); - time spent by members on UP work is not paid (no allowances); - a UP representative will be allowed to participate in an audit of the accounts of the intervention construction; - the organizing unit (municipal team) will be allowed to participate in an audit of the accounts of the UP, in case of a community contribution in money. Recommended obligations of the municipal team: - the UP will receive all information concerning the intervention cost estimates. - the UP will be consulted over the choice of implementation model (contractor, community contracting, force account with municipal supervision). UP riiakes its
work pla11
Do the work
5. The UP has to prepare its own work plan. The municipal team can give advice, but should never from its side make a work plan for the UP. Ask the UP to describe carefully in its work plan, what contribution of the local community (through the UP) is proposed e.g.: - Establishing a user consensus about the most desirable form of the intervention, particularly in case interests of different people might not be the same, - Specifying what the community inputs to the implementation will be, e.g. - site clearing and cleaning, - guarding during construction, - unskilled or all labor inputs to construction, - regular routine cleaning, etc. In case of a financial community contribution to the construction costs, the work plan should indicate the proposed manner to collect that money, (e.g. compulsory contribution by all house owners in the vicinity, or a temporary bridge toll, etc.).
6. Cooperate with the UP in planning and implementing the intervention. Be flexible in the cooperation and generous in the organizational support to the UP. Accept significant changes in the composition, and fluctuations in UP outputs. A lot of patience and commitment on the side of the organizing unit is a condition for success. Be completely transparent about the mutual obligations, of the unit and of the UP (the community)! - If the UP is delayed in living up to its obligations, accept that, even if the delay is long. - If eventually this leads to a complete failure to implement the interventions accept that. - Never accept to take over tasks or commitments that ought to be carried out by the UP /the community, out of embarrassment that the activities are not progressing. - Celebrate completion of the intervention with the UP and the community in general.
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Monitoring effects
7. Carefully monitor what happens after the intervention has been completed, in cooperation with the UP. There may be a need to adjust aspects that had been overlooked ("fine tuning"). This is a vital step in the process. Omitting the fine-tuning step creates a high risk that in the long run the intervention will not be effective.
Wrap-up
8. Officially end cooperation with the UP once everything is functioning well. If the UP wants to continue with activities independent of the municipal team after the end of the cooperation, the UP can be assisted in finding a suitable form for doing so. This could, for example, be support for establishing a user association. Setting-up a User Association
A user association as a permanent legal entity may be desirable in those cases where a facility needs permanent attention for its maintenance and successful use. The only example that has come up in the pilot projects so far is the case of the Mwembe Ladu Park. However, a similar need could develop once complete NMT-only access tracks have been constructed in a neighborhood, and needs permanent attention from the households living along them for cleaning, planting trees, waste collection, etc. These households should be the members of such an association, and would act as a track maintenance association. The difficulties that can arise in a case where the exploitation of a publicly owned facility can be highly profitable and where insufficient practical guarantees exist for a non-profit operation in the best public interest, have already been discussed earlier (chapter 17.7). However, there may be other situations where there is no risk of taking advantage of captiveness of the users, leading to unacceptable private profit making against the general user interests. For example: an NMT access track and walkway maintenance association in a certain neighborhood might function properly, and have the advantage of direct control over the expenditure of the money paid for maintenance by the directly concerned users. The money required for proper maintenance might be collected directly by the user association from its members, and -if paid- be deducted from the taxes that these have to pay to the municipal government. If the establishment of a User Association of the type meant above is being considered, the following steps are recommended: Reqiiirernents
1. Discuss the requirements for permanent use and maintenance of the intervention with the UP that cooperated in implementing it. Write the outcome down in a discussion paper.
Carrying capacity?
2. Investigate which persons /interest groups have a commitment and a permanent interest in using and maintaining the facility in the way it is intended. If it is probable that enough committed and capable persons can be found, proceed as follows:
Legal form and work plan
3. Identify a suitable legal form that has well defined democratic controls over members of the management committee, for instance allowing independent, open, and complete financial audits and technical performance audits; and dismissing leaders in case of bad performance or abuse. Briefly describe how the user association would carry out the envisaged tasks under this legal form.
Acceptability ?
4. Based on this "blueprint", investigate at senior municipal government level what interest exists in creating a legal contractual basis between the municipal government and a user association, in which the user association is charged with the envisaged tasks (for example that of maintaining and assuring the proper use of a network of neighborhood access NMT tracks and walkways). If a willingness exists to consider this type of arrangement, proceed as follows:
Trustworthy inanagernent
5. Identify trustworthy management committee members living nearby who are themselves users.
Evaluate viability
6. With the UP and the potential management committee members (may be in part the same persons), discuss the possibilities to establish a viable user association. Try to make it
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very clear what tasks the association would have, and how it would carry out those tasks. What could be the financial basis for the permanent operation? The challenge is to get something viable, in between a loosely organized group with a weak legal position and weak operational qualities but with the public interest as its guideline, and a clever commercial exploitation, profitable for the operator but not in the interest of the public. Make afiizancialplan 7. Investigate the financial aspect. Make a forecast of the expected annual revenues and
expenditures of the user association. Making this forecast is a good instrument to get an idea of the viability of the concept, and of the risks of abuses. Finalize user association proposal
8. Prepare a complete proposal for how the user association should be established, what its rules will be, what its contract with the municipality will be, what tasks it will carry out and how. If different options exist, describe the relevant alternative options. Prepare a Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis of the proposed setup, and of the alternative options (see annex).
Decisioiz by
9. Decision making, on the side of the municipality as well as on the side of the potential members and management of the user association: go for it, or not? If yes: establish the user association. This includes creating a starting capital for the association, and its permanent financial set-up.
govei-iiineizt
Summary
Development projects can use the following steps in User Participation, to suit their needs: FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS: Inventory of mobility and accessibility problems GENERAL USER PLATFORM (city, district or ward): Articulation and prioritizing of user needs LOCAL USER PLATFORMS per intervention: Planning and implementation of interventions USER ASSOCIATION (per facility, with a legal status): Maintenance and operation of special facilities
17.10 About focus group discussions
Why focus group discussions?
An NMT project team has the task of making an inventory of the perceptions of and attitudes towards mobility problems. This is necessary in order to present appropriate measures that will lead to adequate traffic interventions that can improve the situation. The best way to document the mobility problems facing NMT users is by conducting group interviews with communities residing in the project areas. Communities know their problems best, they only lack the means to solve them. The best defined and most practiced method for group interviews is the focus group discussion (FGD). There are various reasons for choosing group interviews to gather information: When time is scarce the reason may simply be to reach more individuals in a short period of time than would be possible through individual interviews (e.g. a wider geographical area or subject matter can be covered than through individual interviews). When there is a need to reach some specific category or group (e.g. women, local leaders, poor street traders etc.) in order to obtain new information, or cross-check the already available information.
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Group interviews/discussions provide an opportunity to elicit, confront and mutually check different perceptions and opinions. The dynamics of the group setting, provided the group composition is homogeneous, may stimulate a more open attitude and active participation among interviewees than in the case of individual interviews. Travel survey also needed
FGDs are not a suitable instrument for gathering information about the actual travel behavior of individuals. It is not a substitute for a household travel survey, but complementary. It gives an overview of user mobility experience, points of view and ideas. One important condition for holding FGDs is that the groups are well defined. In the case of the NMT pilot project, three main categories of NMT users are pedestrians, cyclists, and cart operators. Within these broad categories, more homogeneous subgroups were formed, by age, sex and place (all living in the same neighborhood).The purpose of the discussions with the groups is threefold: Inventory of all points of view, problems, and interests related to mobility. Explore the willingness of the group to participate in a User Platform (UP) through one of its group members if asked to do so, and through the UP share responsibility for the decision making in the project. Explore the willingness of the group to contribute practically to the implementation of interventions in favor of improved and safer walking (/cart) and cycling routes and facilities, use them as they are intended and contribute to their maintenance. 0
Steps in setting up Focus Group Discussions
Step 1. Form small groups of about ten people each from each category of users. Make sure that different sub-categories of users are represented, such as market traders, petty traders, shopkeepers, and daladala operators. Furthermore, make sure that women and men, children and adults are all sufficiently represented in the different groups. The required number of groups with which to hold FGDs in order to get a good overview is considerable. For example, in Temeke, 64 user groups were formed, with approximately 700 participants. It should be noted that the number is high because of the need to have groups from all corners of the area, and in this manner get an overview of all the practical problems in each part of the area, for example with accessibility, safety, etc. Most people know exactly what the problems are in their immediate surroundings, but may not know anything of the detailed problems in another corner of the area, where they rarely come. Step 2. The project team conducts FGDs with each of the groups separately, and makes sure that all participants get the opportunity to freely express all the different points of view. It is important to underline that this is the purpose of the FGD, and that the aim is not to arrive at a single "group opinion". Step 3. The project team makes a detailed report of each meeting, articulating the position of the group members. Ask group members to read the report to see whether it is completely correct. This is done for verification purposes. Step 4. The team writes a summary report of all FGDs. Step 5. Discuss this report in a big meeting, to which two members of each "focus group" are invited. This meeting is specifically for recording the interaction between the groups, the satisfaction with the accuracy of the report, the willingness to proceed, and views on how a general User Platform can best be set up. This meeting is an important opportunity to judge the support for an effort to improve the NMT mobility situation in the area. How big is the interest and the willingness from the side of the communities to take initiatives? Is it possible to establish an UP that is not a passive discussion forum used for rubber stamping decisions taken by the project team, but an active partner that comes forward with its own opinions and shares responsibility for decisions with the project team?
Chapter 18
Examples of user participation
18.1 Why focus on urban mobility?
Urban mobility implies movement of goods and people in the urban area facilitated by transport infrastructure and by different modes of travel. Good mobility is the ability to make all desirable movements between different activities easily, at a low cost, and using minimum time. Why has urban mobility become a problem? Rapid urban growth
Urban areas in Tanzania and elsewhere in Africa are rapidly growing. The reasons are (i) population growth within the cities themselves and (ii) migration, caused by a combination of unequal distribution of services, resource degradation and population growth in the rural areas. This rapid growth combined with inadequate resources means that most urban services are of a low quality or not available at all. Amongst failing services is transportation, both private and public.
Huge backlog in provision of infrastructure in largely unplanned new areas
FomierIy, in the 1970s, the much smaller number of urban residents used to enjoy reasonably good urban road infrastructure, which received reasonably adequate attention. Mobility was not a real problem. The remains of that infrastructure are still the backbone of urban road networks, but have to serve far larger numbers of people and vehicles and thus have become fully inadequate. There is a lack of public capital for road construction and maintenance and the average income levels of the urban population are now so much lower than thirty years ago that most of the population can only afford the costs for a very limited number of trips. Previously, a high percentage of the urban residents used to work in the modem economic sector and earned relatively high wages. Now, most migrants are lowincome and work in the informal sector for survival wages that are not significantly higher than those in the rural areas. Consequently, the per capita income in the cities has gone down. Current estimates for the city of Dar es Salaam and Morogoro show that motorized transport, mainly by bus, provides for less than 50% of the daily trips made by residents. The average number of one-way trips made per person in low and lower-middle income households is estimated to be less than 2.0, which is very low. Mobility constraints can thus be summarized as: Unaffordable transport costs: A large number of residents cannot afford the bus fare of approximately 0.2 USD per single bus trip of up to 7 km (for longer trips, one has to change buses). Traffic conditions: The existing traffic conditions have an overall negative effect on mobility. The chaotic and unsafe traffic conditions and driver behavior in particular make walking difficult and slow. Walking along the main roads is difficult and unsafe, especially because of the waiting and the danger associated with crossing, as well as the lack of pedestrian pavements or blockage of such pavements by parked vehicles or street hawking. Lack of NMT infrastructure: The assessment of the users on the quality of the route infrastructure indicates that the condition of the roads in general pose a serious hindrance to either walking or cycling. Convenient, direct and comfortable routes are hardly available, and certainly not over longer distances. The ruin or complete absence of a proper drainage system significantly aggravates the access problems. Cycling is not available as an alternative transport option in urban centers like Dar es Salaam, where it could provide low-cost and fast movement within most city areas for most non-work trips, as well as for work trips within a reasonable distance. For example,
Mobility constraints
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in Temeke most residents work in or close to Tenieke, or work in the city center, 6-8 km away. Due to unsafe traffic conditions, however, it is not possible to cycle, except for daring cyclists. Urbaii trarisyort policy objeclives
It is important that the level of mobility of the majority of residents be increased so that they can participate in a wider range of economic, social and household activities. The following two objectives should guide attempts to improve the transportation system in our urban areas: Create a balanced and cost effective urban mobility system that supports an efficient internal urban economic market and is affordable to the entire urban population. Support an urban development model that allows acceptable environmental conditions to be maintained in the cities: reasonable air quality, noise levels, tree cover and safety. 0
0
Equal treatiiierit of both MT arid NMT
Financial priority 1. iiinizage 2. riiairztaiit 3. build
Expecting successful promotion of NMT in isolation from MT is not realistic because all modes share the same fac es. The reverse is also unrealistic: improving roads for MT without taking care of the pedestrians and cyclists often leads to negative effects on mobility and safety that are even bigger than the positive effects. Cooperation and exchange of information between all parties that are actively involved in urban transport policies and urban development policies will increase the chances of positive contributions to success by each of them. One method that can help to create a better integration between NMT and MT transport policies and a better balance in the provision of NMT and MT infrastructure, is to prepare a coherent road network plan first, that includes both the required NMT route networks and the required MT route networks. User participation can make an important contribution by articulating the user needs and priorities that should be the basis for a balanced provision of NMT and MT facilities. A second method that can help to improve the performance of the route networks in the most cost effective manner is to adopt the sequence: 1 = manage (improved traffic safety, traffic calming), 2 = maintain and ,where needed, 3 = build. The sequence must be Manage - Maintain - Build and not Build - Maintain - Manage. First manage, improve and maintain the existing roads, then add new roads or NMT-only tracks, with the accent on missing or bad routes. The reason-why of this sequence is simple: "first come, first serve". In an always constrained financial situation, the risk of not properly carrying out tasks because of lack of funds increases the further down the list the activities are. If one starts at the new-roadbuilding end the reality has in the past been that attention and money for maintenance is far too little, and that aspects such as traffic safety and traffic calming get no attention and no money, or lip service and a few ineffective traffic safety education publicity campaigns.
18.2 The role of professionals and of users What is the important contribution of engineers and planners?
In Tanzania, like in many other African countries, design of most urban roads has concentrated on bitumen carriageways for motorists. Movement of NMT has been marginalized. Engineers have in the past given many reasons to defend the one-sided focus on motor traffic, ranging from "lack of funds" or referring to NMT provision as luxury, to a "shift from traditional to modernity". Moreover, design and construction of urban roads in the country is oriented towards highway and rural road design and on pavement design rather than on urban roads and traffic engineering. As a result, urban roads leave much to be desired in terms of road network design, cross section and intersection design, and road space allocation for walking, cycling and public transport. This has created inefficient urban road networks that reduce the mobility of the majority of the urban inhabitants. It creates unsafe traffic conditions and increases the number of accidents. Uiiderstaizriiiig
NMT needs nnd design concepts
Engineers and planners need to re-orient their thinking, and plan for all groups of users, MT and NMT. NMT pilot project findings reveal that adequate road infrastructure facilities allow the traffic to adapt better to the mobility needs of the population, to cost less, and to be safer. It is still common to find an urban road newly constructed, and then when after a
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few weeks the first person is knocked down we realize that MT speed control (reduction) had been required. There is an urgent need to plan such things well in advance, instead of realizing at too late a stage that something should have been done. To achieve this users and professionals must work together to come up with designs and solutions that address real problems identified by users, and not assumptions made by technocrats. A Mobility Plan (chapter 8), that addresses user needs as documented in a User Needs Document (chapter 17) is a good starting point. Such a plan starts with working out a package of interventions to improve the management of the already existing networks to get the best possible performance out of them, in terms of traffic capacity and accessibility of urban functions. What can users contribute to planning and implementation of NMT interventions? Daily travel experience
Users are experts by experience. Better than anybody else, they know the mobility situation. "It's the wearer who knows where the shoe pinches", as the saying is in most languages around the world. In the NMT pilot projects, users have been partners to the teams in many respects. They provided partnership in problem identification, prioritizing interventions and participating in implementation.
Table 18.1 The role of professionalsand users in an urban dcveloprnent project Municipal Staff Professioriul exper.t Imple,aentir~gpaiq
Users Expen by experience
Analyze problems Guide user pzuticipation
Share problem analysis List urgent problems Statc priolities
Analyze longer-term problems and area-wide context of problems Determine desired NMT nelworks Share longer-term plan alternatives with users Discuss intervention ideas with users
Formulate user needs
Prepare intervention design and cost estimates Adapt design in response to user vicws, if needed Propose implementatios package wirhin available money
Give reaction on how the proposed design would work in practice State priorities for implementalion package
Process political approval Prepare implementation work plan Supervise contrnctor andior implementing users Make repon5 available to UP
Create political pressure for approval if needed Carry out agreed tasks Take pm in supervision and react on progress repons
Monitor effects Jointly discuss findings Financial audit
Evaluate independently Jointly discuss findings Get access to report of financial audit
Carry out maintenance
In some cases, do p m of maintenance
Dirrcilj, nffected
Judge anractivcness of long-term plan plan alternatives Give ideas about interventions
(e.g. de-silting drains) Alen municipality in case of damages that need repair
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On all occasions they play a vital role. The role of the municipal technical staff (NMT team) was to guide the users in analyzing the problems and in deriving suitable solutions. Table 18.1 summarizes the different roles and contributions of the municipal staff (the professional experts) and the users. The last part of this chapter describes three cases of problems identified by users, matched with intervention proposals that the municipal staff was ready to test through experiments. One includes the lack of safety caused by the high speed of motorists and lack of proper bus bays (which results in traffic queues and makes pedestrian crossing even riskier). Others include lack of bridges (missing links that force pedestrians to make long detours), sandy walkways (making walking by the roadside difficult and inconvenient) and lack of walking facilities in general. The UP process in the three cases illustrates that users are experts in identifying their own needs and in judging possible interventions, and that it is possible for a municipal government staff team to have a good mutual working relationship with them. 18.3 Examples of user participation in NMT mobility improvement
Saksfactioiz ofdoing Learning
Being proud
The description of user participation methods given in Lliapter 17 and above is theoretical. To make it easier to understand what was meant, three cases have been described briefly below, as examples. The cases have been documented here with a focus on user participation, its strength and its difficulties and what can be learned from the experiences. A more technical description of the same interventions can be found in chapter 13. To make it easier to understand what happened, the events are described step by step, in the way they occurred. If we would only (proudly) describe the end results, it would lead to believe that go easily and without a lot of hard work. On the other hand, looking at the end result only would also give a limited and bleak picture, because we would overlook the fact that a lot of very valuable results were produced that cannot be seen on the roads, in the bus bays, or on the raised zebra crossings. Results that are stored in the hearts and the minds of all those that took part in the hard work (i) the satisfaction of both the user-participants and of the municipal staff of addressing serious problems oneself, (ii) learning how to get past the many frustrations without being blocked by them and without giving up, (iii) the pride of having achieved something, modest but relevant. These are feelings that any serious UP project is likely to go through. If one would be able to calculate the benefits of the whole user participation effort exactly, the conclusion would probably be that more than half of the benefits that it creates are psychological; that part of the benefits is the increased self-confidence that the mobility problems community members share can be tackled; that the will of users to do something can be the driving force that makes things happen; and that there is no need to passively accept mobility and traffic safety problems.
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18.4 Some lessons learned
The user participation lessons that were learned in the pilot projects are diverse even within the same country. In both pilot projects encouraging results came out, however, the level of success varied between cases. The main reason for this variation appears to have been a lack of clarity on roles and terms of reference for the established user platfomis, on the side of the municipal teams. In itself this is natural, because the municipal teams had to learn to work with user platforms. The terms of reference determines what a user platform is supposed to do within a given period of time. The experience is that lack of a clear TOR confuses the situation and reduces the quality of the result. The most useful lessons learnt during the implementation of the pilot project UP activities can be summarized as follows: * A strategy that concentrates municipal poject support on the priorities developed by the communities themselves stands a better chance of succeeding. The basic ingredient that the municipality must stimulate and thereafter demand is initiative from the ones that face the most acute problems. The driving force behind such community initiatives is the combination of the urgency of the problems that are tackled, the will to find solutions. and the self confidence that it is possible to create improvement.
Experience from the modest number of UP activities that were implemented indicates that communities are capable of developing their own priorities, working out solutions, and arranging for implementation. A start from the side of the inunicipality with doing small things that respond to local user priorities has proven to work satisfactorily. A problem is less felt by a "user" as the intensity of being affected by it becomes less. Hence the importance of implementing interventions with local UPS rather than with general UPS.
Being open about project costs contributes a lot to the credibility of the municipal staff as a reliable partner. In the process of implementing the pilot project activities, at first, the team was faced with accusations from the communities of itself "eating" the money for the interventions, for example in the case of the Sokota area interventions in Temeke (chapter 13). The team did not get nervous about the accusations, but reacted by giving open information about the project costs, effectively. Being visibly strict in supervision of a contractor at the site, and by continuing to make changes and repairs of damages until a satisfactory final construction quality is achieved, convincingly proves the point to the users that no misuse of funds occurs. Sometimes the effort to be cost effective and construct an intervention at the lowest possible cost level is perceived by some people as maximizing the budget leftover, as profit for the project team. The only effective reaction is openness about costs and transparency about how the total available budget is spent. The way to cost effective and fully accountable municipal administration that succeeds in getting value for money on all its expenditures, is a long one. But it is the only one that can create mutual trust between the municipal government and common city inhabitants such as the NMT users.
Cases
The three examples described on the following pages are: Case 1: Traffic calming Case 2: A missing-link in the NMT route network Case 3: A pedestrianized territory in a low-income area
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Case 1: Safe pedestrian crossing and traffic calming along Temeke Street Background
Shortly before the NMT pilot project started in the Temeke ward in Dar es Salaam, the national Ministry of Works had rehabilitated the pavements of a number of collector and arterial roads in the city, Temeke Street being one of them. This had the positive effect of making motor vehicle traffic movement on that road through the center of the Temeke ward much easier, especially in the rainy season, when previously the area was sometimes difficult to reach by bus or car. But it also had important negative effects, because it made it much more dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists to use or cross the road, in particular because of the high speed of many cars and buses, and many serious accidents occurred. When, at the start of its activities in 1995, the team contacted the inhabitants of Temeke to conduct focus group discussions many people expressed concern about this issue.
Initiative
How did we arrive at the crossings and bus bays interventions? The team made a walking route problem inventory to verify the problems that were mentioned by the user groups. Discussions were held in the general user platform on the findings. This led to intervention proposals made by the technical staff (the engineers) to address the problems, by building raised pedestrian crossings and speed humps and by rearranging some intersection corners. The UP appreciated these and other problem spots that came up, and in its first list of priorities came up with two interventions that it would like to see implemented first: * Crossings and traffic calming on Temeke Street, to make it safer and better for pedestrians and cyclists, and NMT-only bridges along the Yombo, to improve the connection between the "Yombo island" and the center of Temeke.
Diflculties
There were difficulties, however, in deciding on local priorities with a general UP consisting of people that live all over Temeke. Naturally, people would be in favor of interventions close to their own house. When that did not happen, the members concerned did not see any further reason for attending to the UP meetings, and did not bother to make significant contributions towards interventions. In one of the meetings to discuss local priorities some UP members categorically showed dissatisfaction over the priority list that was adopted by the UP. Like one member said: "I have been sitting in this meeting from the very beginning. Surprisingly enough, however, there is no mention of Tandika whatsoever while there are numerous problems in that area like the chaotic bus terminal and many others. Why the hell should I continue attending the meetings only to discuss other people's problems? Looks like they do not care for other place's problems. It is worthwhile to stay at home and do other activities that are more important to me."
How W E did it
The pilot team made intervention designs that were also shared with the UP. However, things were not that easy with the type of UP that we had, the general UP. By then, we did not have location specific UPS. The discussion of the details of the interventions with the UP members did not go very well, because most did not know the exact spot well enough, nor were they interested enough in the details of that spot. So in reality, the pilot team almost by itself decided on how the interventions could best be made, and the UP simply said yes to that. This was an important lesson and the reason to decide to work with a local UP for intervention preparations, hoping that this would result in many more contributions from the UP, which turned out to be true in later interventions. The intervention designs were then submitted to the Dar es Salaam City Commission for approval of their construction. The DCC approved the interventions as part of their commitment to carry out this NMT pilot project. Two contractors were selected to construct these interventions on Temeke Street (five raised zebra crossings, two speed humps in Mahunda Street and corner realignments). During the implementation, the political situation in the ward was tense, due to a byelection for a parliamentary seat, in which the opposition candidate that lost the presidential elections the year before stood as a candidate. This led to the instruction to remove the realignment of two intersection corners. The test realignment had been very effective in reducing the vehicle speeds and showing that pedestrian safety had priority; but it was
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carried out experimentally with (removable) oil drums filled with concrete, and was felt by political leaders to be controversial and untidy. Effects
Immediately after the raised crossings were constructed (July 1996), there was a wave of protests by car drivers to the Temeke Zonal Director and the District Commissioner, demanding that those terrible obstacles be removed immediately. This time the leadership reacted in a quiet manner and meetings were called involving the pilot team and the UP to discuss the issue. UP members strongly defended their priorities, made it clear that they were determined to keep them, and wanted the DCC top to acknowledge the importance of having these facilities for the pedestrians. In response to the user-position, the DCC decided not to give in to the car drivers’ protests and leave the crossings in place. However, on two spots the slopes were made a little less steep to be more comfortable for cars, but without reducing the effectiveness of the speed reduction. After the first raised crossings were constructed on Teineke Street and the first bus bays turned out to be a success, the approach was extended with two other bus bays, and stops were prohibited on the road shoulder in between, which finally produced a much more disciplined and efficient traffic pattern, both for NMT and MT. Reactions from the users are positive. This extension was done with continued general consultations, but not very locally initiated like some of the other spot interventions that were implemented later. The pilot team then tested a different technical design of a raised zebra in Mbagala Street, 500 meters beyond the end of Temeke Street . Since the testing mainly concerned finding the best construction method for the raised zebra, the engineers first thought of just doing their test without involving the people living at the spot . They wanted to do the test quickly and assumed that they now knew what the users wanted, only to find out that they made a mistake, and really should have discussed in depth with the local users first to identify the best precise location. This is an example that shows that user participation is not a start-up process, where after a while the engineers know it all and continue on their own. User participation has to be a permanent to guarantee that the right priorities are determined and the best intervention choices made.
The general effectiveness of the interventions was monitored, as well as the satisfaction of the users in general (other than the UP members). It was found that the interventions restored safety almost completely on this part of Temeke Street, and the interventions were judged very positively by their NMT users, with the exceptior. ,f pushers of big carts (for the small carts they work positively). After a while, car drivers found out that the road had become safer and that the crossings did not cause any significant delay in their trips, and no more protests were heard. Maintenance requirements of the pavements surrounding the raised humps must be taken care of, just as the maintenance of the road in general. There is no willingness or interest of the UP members to be involved specifically, as it is considered an obligation of the owner of the road (the DCC). Note: in another example, of an NMT-only bridge, involvement of users in maintenance was possible (see next example).
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Case 2: NMT-only river crossing to create a good, direct NMT route Backgroutid
Population growth in Tanzanian urban centers has led to large unplanned settlements. Proper access roads hardly exist and many of the main access routes are informal NMT paths, connecting the communities to services like markets, schools and hospitals across small rivers, which are difficult to cross, in particular in the rainy season. Temeke Ward 14 is dominated by unplanned settlements with accessibility problems, worst of all Mamboleo-B. The Yombo river separates it from other parts of the ward. This causes a lot of inconvenience, because it denies communities easy access to all kinds of services and facilities. The bridge problems featured in most discussions in the first general user platfonn.
initiative
How did we arrive at the NMT-only bridge intervention? In FGDs, participants expressed their concern about the problem of lack of direct routes for NMT to facilities such as markets, schools, health clinics and bus routes. In 1997, the Mamboleo-B residents asked the pilot project team to assist in construction of the bridge they had always wanted to enable them easy access to the central part of Temeke. Although the team's initial focus was more on improving pedestrian and bicycle traffic along the existing road network, for example by means of traffic calming, and the bridge was not its priority, our team took the issue seriously. The problem of the missing link was discussed in the project implementation workshops to get approval and endorsement at project level, which was received. A local user platform was then established to cooperate with the local community in preparation and implementation. Mobilizing the communities for the issue and forming a local UP was not difficult, since the benefits of this bridge are many. Community leaders played their role in the mobilization exercise, which they can do better than anybody else, but did not themselves become UP members (see chapter 17).
How we did it
Initially, there were many ideas from team members, especially engineers, on how to construct a durable bridge at a low cost. The international team engineer, for example, suggested that a floating bridge be constructed. Sketch drawings were discussed with the UP members, most of whom where worried that it would be impractical and vulnerable. Finally, a design based on large culverts was chosen, corresponding to ideas that some people around the spot had attempted to implement earlier, and for which they had already bought two concrete culverts. The team engineers prepared a design and a bill of quantities. The design drawings and the BoQ were discussed with the local UP. Final plans were prepared in close cooperation between the UP and the team. The construction work was contracted out. The contractor was told to recruit daily laborers from the area. It took six months to build the bridge. UP and other community members made contributions such as guarding and transport of materials.
Effects
Interested parties, the District Commissioner, the Zonal Director, Zonal Engineer, Area Street Chairmen for Mamboleo-A, -B and the Yombo communities were present when the team was handing over the bridge. The event was made public through the radio, television and newspapers. The NMT route over the bridge functions very well. It increases the travel comfort and reduces the travel time of those that use it considerably, and attracts an increasing amount of pedestrian traffic as well as some cyclists and carts (see chapter 13).
Secoizdury effects
Exceptionally heavy rains in 1998, nicknamed "el Nino", that washed away a large number of roads and bridges in the country, did not leave this small bridge undamaged. Riverbed erosion made one of its ranips collapse, although the main structure remained intact, and the route remained easily passable on foot in dry conditions. The UP reported that it wanted to repair the damages, but that it needed the support from the municipality to do that. The TOR of the UP for the Yombo NMT bridge specified that after initial construction the community will maintain it on its own initiative and costs. The unexpected early damage produced an unfair early test of that TOR agreement, but an important test as well. Unexpected external events are often unfair, but complaints do not help solve the problems that they create. If those directly involved do not solve the problems, nobody does it for them, and the problems remain or even become worse. The municipal team indicated that it was prepared to contribute the following from the side of the municipality: a technical design for repair (involving riverbed protection with
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gabions), the cost of materials required for the repair, and supervision of the repair works. The remaining input (costs) would have to be taken care of by the community, in the form of a considerable amount of labor that was required to carry out the job, and the initiative to start organizing and carrying out the repair works. It took a lot of time, almost until the next rainy season, before the local UP initiative to carry out the repairs materialized. Maintain clear roles and responsibility
During that whole period the municipal project team did not take over from the UP, but waited. This waiting was not easy. It involved frustration over lack of progress, concern that being too late would completely destroy the whole construction during the next rains, embarrassment of being left with a failure to report, etc. However, the decision was taken not to abandon earlier agreements with the UP, and not to mess up the mutually agreed roles and responsibilities. The reason for taking this decision was that doing so would seriously harm all other UP activities that the municipal team was involved in. The underlying message would be that the entire "UP" effort was in the end more concerned about pretending that users participate (to secure the job positions of the professionals involved) than with having the courage of finding out whether, and in what situations, that is actually true or not. It would mean that after all the municipal team did not consider the UP as an adult and equal partner that must stand for its commitments. Just in time before the next long rains the UP acted and the community contributed the labor for the repairs. The bridge was rehabilitated and fully resumed its useful function. The involvement in the construction of the Yombo-I NMT bridge and its later repair led the UP to see a similar problem of a missing link downstream. The UP decided to address it and started to organize the construction of "Yombo-I1 bridge". As in the case of the Yombo-I repairs, the municipal pilot project team only contributed a technical design for the bridge, technical supervision, and part of the materials. The UP for the Yombo NMT bridge has demonstrated that community efforts in organizing do not end with one issue. The UP on its own, independent of the pilot team, managed to organize and mobilize the communities in the neighborhood to do something about the access problem to their residences, that nobody else had noticed or cared for. It was the community through the local UP that provided a solution, much to the surprise of many, including the municipality and probably themselves as well. The final result in this case is a UP representing the local community, keen to protect "their" intervention. They know the benefits they are getting from it, and that it would not be there without the efforts that they made. They are proud of it, optimistic about their own capabilities and willing to attempt solving other problems. Two observations can be added here, to put this finding in perspective. Firstly, the initial initiative came from the municipal team, so from outside the community, and it took a committed process of guidance to get to the point that is reported here. Secondly the process of waiting for convincing UP initiatives after the unexpected damage of the Yombo-I bridge probably played an important role in the UP "coming of age", and getting beyond complaining about the unfairness of external events and conditions.
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Case 3: Development of a public city park in a low-income area Bdigi-oimd
In the city of Dar es Salaam demand for building land is very high. Through the FGDs it became quite clear that apart from their concern about mobility problems, communities also expressed concern about the rapid disappearance of open spaces in the ward that provide space for social activities, for cliildreii to play and for sports and resting. They gave examples of abused open spaces like RuvumdMadenge that were once used as recreational areas for many people living in that area. They blamed the authorities for letting away such important public spaces for developments other than their intended and traditional public use, which although not generating money for somebody is very valuable for all its lowincome users. When the oppoi-tunity for developing Mwembe Ladu open space in Temeke arose, residents were more than keen to join hands for it. Mwembe Ladu is one of the few open spaces remaining in the area. It has always been famous due to its two old mango trees that provide shade to residents around. However, the uncontrolled number of activities that were taking place in the open space left the area bare and less and less attractive.
Initiative
How did we arrive at the intervention to develop the Mwenibe Ladu open space? Having a pilot project in an area with Mwembe Ladu, which looked like a desert, and even, having an office shared with the ward executive officer on a corner of that same area, the municipal team could not resist the temptation of developing the area to make it look good. This had to be done, however, in collaboration with the communities and not otherwise. It was easy for the team to observe the movement and activities on the open space, especially with an office overlooking it. Many people are attracted to the area especially towards sunset, an undoubted indication of a need for recreational facilities. The number of people walking and sometimes cycling in and across the open space was so high that it justified development, both of pedestrian routes across it and of its potential as a playground, meeting ground and sports ground. Development of the open space was also recognized as important for the project to publicize its activities in the ward, and as it has turned out, in the whole of Dar es Salaam. The difficult movement of pedestrians, cyclists and cart operators due to the presence of a lot of loose sand was to be made easier by providing walkways. At the same time, people had to be provided with adequate shade from many new trees that were to be planted. To make the place look good, a lot of work had to be done. This included planting trees, preparing playing grounds for both adults and children and providing other recreational activities to suit the interests of different user groups.
Awareness
Development of an area such as the Mwembe Ladu also is an "awareness" intervention. Such interventions make people conscious and alert on issues of coininon concern, and henceforth influence behavior and public decision making. The Mwenibe Ladu development first of all aims at inspiring communities to plan and develop their recreational grounds for their own benefit instead of just waiting for the municipalities to do something for them. Secondly it aims at showing the importance and attractiveness of pedestrianized areas in the city that are not accessible for motor veliicles, and by doing so, showing the relation between care for pedestrian and bicycle (NMT) facilities and an environmentally attractive city that it is pleasant to live in.
How we did it
There are different approaches for developing open spaces, the most common being development by the municipal govermnent, or by NGOs or commercial firms. However, there are shortcomings to these approaches. There is usually a lack of sustainability of public parks or playgrounds provided by the government, or a loss of public access in case of exploitation by NGOs or commercial firms. Communities often lack awareness of the importance of such a facility, or influence on what happens to it. To make the development of this open space effective and sustainable, the municipal NMT team adopted a participatory approach by involving communities of the surrounding neighborhoods from the very early stages when the idea was conceived. The communities were given information relating to the importance and uses of open spaces. The team wanted the communities to get committed in the development of their own open space. One of the reasons to start a lengthy process of involving the communities in this manner, is that many people tend to think that it is the responsibility of the municipal government or even the central government to create a positive "development" for them of the city that they live in.
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We wanted to use a highly visible example such as the Mwembe Ladu to help people get away from that attitude, and replace it with the vision that it is possible for average lowincome inhabitants to contribute to creating the city that we want, and that their contribution is actually the vital condition for durable improvement and success. After a local user platform was formed and its role agreed upon (its TOR), a plan was prepared by the users, through discussions in meetings with community members that were not a UP member, and endorsed by all levels. Then the municipal team prepared a detailed plan in collaboration with the UP and the ward leadership. In the process of detailing all the steps that were to be taken if development of the open space was to be achieved, the importance of investing communities' efforts in the activity became more and more clear. For example: the communities' efforts were needed not only in the planting of trees, but even more important in their protection (including almost daily watering for nearly a year after planting). There is no way that the municipal team could have managed without the full commitment of the users. Eflects
The development of the Mwembe Ladu into a public park for many activities and the construction of good footpaths to create comfortable direct walking routes across it was carried out successfully, although further development of additional facilities is still desirable (see chapter 13). Working with the user platform over time considerably increased the UPS capacity to t&e initiatives of its own and to organize things.
Denling wif11conflicts Meeting the interests of the different user groups is not easy. Prior to its redevelopment, the open space was informally demarcated by different groups of users for different uses, such
as truck parking at night, dumping solid waste, football teams, the militia, petty traders, etc. Indirectly, these "owned" small plots within the open space. Naturally, when somebody comes up with ideas of developing that place for general public use, thereby denying or liniiting the previous private use, problems are likely to erupt. The municipal team and the UP were faced with problems from the so- called 'plot' owners who did not want the land to be tempered with by developments that were not in their favor. There were open protests from several sides claiming that their land was being taken away. It needed a lot of tolerance to deal with the situation. On several occasions the team was summoned to explain the reasons that led to the development of the open space without considering the interests of all user groups. As it happened, there were two major football teams using the open space. Some people for one reason or the other started questioning the reason behind the development, saying that it only favored one football team and left the other one without a field since other activities were planned instead. At one time, the municipal team was threatened that it would be taken to court if it continued with the idea of developing the open space and making some activities stop that had been there for years. The complaints went as far as the District Commissioner.
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Occasions like this make clear how important it is to work with a broad representation of the communities living around the place, in an open manner, through a well defined user platform, and basically trying to implement the priorities indicated by this user platform. The UP and the rnunicipal team jointly carried all efforts, including how to deal with conflicts of interest in a fair manner. This cooperation was evidenced when one of the two football teams organized a secret campaign to destroy all the trees during a football match that they organized. The UP mobilized the communities around the area including the police from the nearby post, and spent sleepless nights patrolling the whole open space for the purpose of protecting the trees from being uprooted, successfully. Still, there were several minor cases of secret vandalism in the very late hours of the night. In actual fact it was an expensive and bitter lesson to learn and it needed commitment on the part of the UP, the users residing in the area, and the municipal team to overcome these difficulties. There were moments that the implementing team (user platform and the niunicipal team) thought of giving up, because of the frequency of incidents. However, both were optimistic and confident that success would be achieved and were prepared to do what they could to realize what they had wanted to. A lot of hard work had to be invested in the redevelopment of the Mwembe Ladu into an attractive and open public park that all residents living around can enjoy. Conzinmiy kibor
Development of the Mwembe Ladu was done through direct labor. Conimunity members were organized to do all the required work on a daily basis pay. The main role of the communities was to protect the interventions, and it worked. However, for some types of work it was not so easy to get people living around the open space to work as casual laborers, in particular for footpath construction and construction of drains, which was carried out through a contractor. One of the reasons could be that this requires hard manual labor and is best carried out by someone doing it all the time. This was not a hindrance to finishing up the activities because where necessary additional labor was hired by the contractors, from outside Temeke. Hiring labor from within the Temeke area was given priority as a means of creating an extra benefit for the surrounding communities, in the form of income generation opportunities. The experience indicates that in a highly fragmented urban coininunity such as Temeke this has no significant direct positive impact at the local scale, although giving priority to labor from within the area was appreciated and effective as a gesture. The employment generation impact of this type of infrastructure construction works can probably be looked upon more fruitfully from an economic perspective at a city scale. and not as something that is very important at the local neighborhood level to create "ownership". Ownership is created by jointly developing ideas, taking decisions, by planning and implementing them, rather than by digging.
Futicre iiiaiiageiiient
It is not easy to assess what the best long-term method is of involving user organizations in the maintenance and management of public infrastructure and public land (chapter 17.7). There is probably no general prescription, apart from that there is a need to create effective checks and balances between the municipal government and the directly interested users of certain facilities. Lack of controls and lack of balance will in most cases lead to abuses after some time. Such abuses can occur 011the side of a user organization just as well as on the side of the municipal government or a private commercial operator. In the case of the Mwembe Ladu. the conclusion is that privatizing it to a user association that cannot be controlled effectively by the user population through democratic mechanisms is not a good idea after all. On the other hand, the standing experience of the current municipal government management and maintenance of public infrastructure without significant user influence or controls is also not attractive, nor is the idea of private commercial exploitation of public infrastructure and land in what will by necessity be an almost monopoly position. A lot more experimenting will be required before a satisfactory "dual" governance model has been created that has a good enough balance of power and a good enough system of controls and checks to assure efficiency, priority to public interests and integrity. With "dual" is meant here: the municipal government on one side (formed and publicly controlled in whatever manner) and local direct user (community) interest platforms or organizations on the other side.
ANNEX
PLAN PREPARATION P
1 Route inspection protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,351 Table 1. Route problem analysis Table 2. Route inspection form . 2 Addressing NMT-route problems through interventions in Use, Shape and Function . . 357 3 Intervention report protocol . . 4 Stakeholder analysis 5 SWOT analysis outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , 3 6 3 6 Participatory workshop methods ............... 7 Design workshop outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .370 8 Work planning check-list for de . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316 9 Household travel survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Traffic counts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .389 11 Speedmeasurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 12 Traffic conflict and accident observation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Unit costs of transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401 14 Other observations 15 Benefit-cost calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Focus group discussion protocol . . . . . . . . . . ,410
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A. Tools required for the route inspection
1. Map of the area with the route to inspect drawn on the map (or maps if the route is long). Preferred scale 1 : 5,000. Based on preceding desk study, already indicate the following on the map: - expected missing links (where the present route makes a significant detour), - accident black spots. This is a reminder to pay careful attention to these aspects at the indicated points. 2. Copy of table 12.1 (chapter 12, NMT infrastructure: intervention options in various situations). 3. Copy of the Route inspection table (annex 1, table 1, below). (problem types and their possible causes, in relation to use, shape and function of the road). 4. Measuring tape (long normal cord with 50 cm distances indicated with tape flags will do, in case an official road measuring tape is not available). 5. A stopwatch or good watch with seconds indication, to enable rough estimates of travel times along route sections and of waiting times for crossing roads and junctions. 6. Camera. Not absolutely indispensable, but strongly recommended for later reference and because pictures can be analyzed very efficiently afterwards with persons that did not take part in the inspection itself. 7. Empty Route observation table (annexl, table 2, below), to be filled with written observations during the inspection. 8. Writing pad, for writing additional general observations and making sketches of traffic situations and route details, for example on intersections to indicate where most pedestrians in practice cross the road. B. Procedure 1. It is desirable to carry out the inspection with a team of two or three persons. 2. The persons making the inspection must be experienced in observing traffic situations. The engineer in the team must personally be one of the team members. The inspection must not be delegated to technicians in the municipal staff, unless after careful field training. 3. Walk the entire route, and make careful observations of all route sections, intersections and special points. To avoid fatigue and reducing observation quality, do not make a route observation longer than two hours. For longer routes, the inspection can be completed the following days. The quality of the route inspection is important for the quality of all steps that follow. 4.Immediately write down the observations, do not wait with writing until back in the office. Make pictures of all important points and note down exactly where the photos are taken and in what direction. Indicate the time of the day of taking the photos. 5. At important points measure dimensions such as road width, width of the pedestrian route, crossing distance, length of a section where pavement improvements may be required (to facilitate provisional cost estimates later), width of junctions. 6. During the field inspection, do not yet attempt to make a selection of the most important findings and possible interventions. This can be done later. 7. After having completed the inspection, write a summary report that lists the important problems that were found during the inspection. At the end, a list of first suggestions about interventions to improve the route can be added, but producing an interventions list can also be postponed to the next step. A reason to already add a preliminary here is to store the first ideas that came up during the inspection. 8.The findings and suggestions now must be discussed with others (e.g. users). If it is considered useful, the sites can be visited again as part of that discussion, for further verification and getting more details and opinions. 9. After discussion of the inspection findings, the next step is to prepare a list of interventions that can be recommended, and to agree on the priorities.
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C. Desired output of the inspection
l . A field inspection report, with all the details written during the inspection. Store the detailed inspection sheet for future reference (do not throw them away after writing the summary report). 2. A collection of pictures of important aspects of the route. 3. A summary inspection report with: - an overview of the physical characteristics of the route: total length, detour factor, length of sections of different pavement types, NMT track width of different sections, total road reserve width of different sections. - a list of the relevant problems along the route, sorted in order of importance. - a description of the most important ones (-optional: a list with suggested interventions -without indicating priority-) D. Route problem analysis table (full table see next pages)
USE of the road
causes related to: tyye of problem :
SHAPE of the road
FUNCTION of the mad
I
I
I
I
I
I
Safety Directness Comfort Attractiveness
E. Route inspection form (full page forin, for copying, see next pages)
Location
observed problem
details of the observation
(first inferventiotz ideas)
1
2
etc Locations can best be numbered, plus given names for easier recollection. Mark the numbers on the route map
E Catchment area of a route Sometimes it is useful to have a better understanding of the catchment area of a route, i.e. the distribution of the trip origins and trio distributions of the people using a certain route. By measuring the catchment area of a route before it is improved and doing the same after it has been improved (and maybe other routes were improved the same time), it is possible to identify whether the reasons for an increase (or decrease) of the volume of users is generated traffic or diverted traffic (diverted to/from another route). The catchment area of a route can be measured with a small origiddestination roadside survey, held at a strategic section of route (minimum sample size 100 respondents). The origins and destinations of users can depend strongly upon the time of the day (early morning and late afternoon versus the middle of the day, and the day of the week (e.g. market days). An example of a survey form has been added below.
ANNEX
35 1
ANNEX TABLE 1.
ROUTE PROBLEM ANALYSIS
This table is meant as a check list and memory aid. It lists a large number of typical problems. For each problem a range of possible c a u ~ is e ~mentioned. It is imuortant to realize that without understanding the causes of a uroblem. it is very difficult to find a solution to it. The table is meant as a check against overlooking problems. Often there are more factors that together cause a problem, rather than one single cause. The table is not complete. Other problems and other causes exist, or a different formulation is sometimes more suitable. The table is not meant to reduce the inspection to a check on which of the problems listed in the table can be observed where along the route. The table considers the problems for each of the four categories of important NMT route requirements.
Problems and their possible causes, in relation to Use, Shape and Function causes related to: type of problem :
USE
SHAPE
of the road
of the road
Safety risk of being hit by vehicles that drive -pedestrians walk on carriageway where people walk -vehicles drive on walking-space to bypass other vehicles in jam -irresponsible overtaking -maneuvering errors at high speed
-no hard separation between carriageway and pedestrians -corner alignment at intersections is missing or badly maintained -potholes make cars drive on road shoulders -no space for NMT at bridges long waiting time before safe crossing -drivers refuse to slow down -long distance to cross opportunity occurs -many extra vulnerable users, e.g. -very wide intersection corner children, people carrying loads, .. -no protection from median or traffic -high vehicle speed increases fear islands and judgement errors no safe crossing opportunity -taking risk preferred over making -road invites to high speed detour to safer crossing point -no crossings with speed calming or traffic islands or traffic lights or grade separation insufficient visibility: -too high vehicle speed -no visible sign or structure that motortraffic cannot see NMT good enough -NMT cross without good watching shows where a crossing point is NMT cannot see MT good enough -visibility obstructed by parking -road corners allow turning moves at -visibility obstructed by kiosks high speed -advertisements obstruct visibility
FUNCTION of the road -no clear road hierarchy, vehicles use access roads and local collectors as sneak-route - road has too many functions, such as main MT transit, main bus route, shopping street, parking area -high volume of long distance transit traffic passing through the city
-urban highway or corridor with design speed of more than 70 km/hr, without crossing facilities
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causes related to: .ype of problem : Safety vehicles push bicycles from the carriageway
USE of the road
SHAPE of the road
FUNCTION If the road
-negative attitude of drivers towards cyclists -buses stop everywhere
.road has too many functions. Transit MT, parking and cycling cannot be combined on an undivided carriageway
vehicles pass bicycles very close at a high speed
-high vehicle speed
-too narrow carriageway for the traffic volume -carriageway width invites drivers to pass cyclists in the presence of opposing traffic, but is in reality not wide enough to do this safely -road width invites to high speed
-drivers enteringAeaving plots or fuel Fomplex traffic situation, vehicles can stations give no priority to NMT come unexpected from many sides -chaotic traffic behaviour at intersection -chaotic bus stop, in particular at corner risk of harrasment and security risk at night
Directness route makes a detour
-low volume of users -no social control from nearby activities -no police or community surveillance
-fence surrounding private plot(s) -no safe road crossing is possible -no suitable straight passage possible through unplanned area -very filthy section, or muddy most users avoid a certain part of the route -unsafe section due to traffic -risk of harrasment -demand for movement is in this isolated route, no connections to other direction only directions
-no traffic lane indications on an intersection, no dedicated space for cyclist -Y shaped intersections -no medians or traffic islands to channel traffic and provide protected spots for NMT -narrow passages where one cannot be seen from a distance -obstructed lines of sight, difficulty overlook the road ahead -no street lights
-absence of bridge over river or creek, or swamp area -crossing of main road impossible -very bad pavement quality -absent or damaged drains -absence of connecting side routes (missing linkages)
cyclist forced to mix on MT carriageway of corridors and high speed collector roads
. no
alternative routes exist
.no direct public road reserve is established
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353
~
USE ,f the road
SHAPE
FUNCTION
of the road
If the road
-obstruction by parked vehicles -obstmction by solid waste .obstruction by street traderskiosks
-no compacted pavement -bad pavement quality -bad pavement during rainy season -pedestrian congestion due to insufficient track width
-no space for transit pedestrians in shopping streets
:low cycling (and tiring)
.hinderance by motorvehicles .obstruction by bus stops -obstruction by parked vehicles .obstruction by pedestrians .obstruction by carts
-bad pavement -loose sand on pavement -potholes in side of pavement where cyclists move -congestion, due to insufficient road (or cycle track) capacity -uphill section
iow average journey spech
.frequent delays by MT movement idout plot entrances .unwillingness of drivers to make room to let cyclists pass in traffic jams .frequent delays at crossing points
-absence of road space for pedestrians at intersections -absence of road space for cyclists at intersections
exposure to bad weather
-no proper shoes
-lack of proper drainage -lack of tree cover -low lying sections that are flooded during heavy rain -crossings of small rivers and open drains that are impassible during heavy rains -open exposure to heavy winds
causes related to: ype of problem : Comfort ;low walking (and tiring)
.no priority to NMT on main NMT transit routes
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type of problem : Attractiveness dirt on the route
SHAPE
FUNCTION
of the road
3f the road
-dumping waste -track surrounding used a public toilet
-earth or gravel pavement that is difficulty to clean
-lack of sanitary infrastructure
-very low traffic volume in evening and night
-no street lights -no lane marking -no yellow or white painted marks along the route that increase its recognition
-no kiosk and shop activities along the road that remain open until late evening
-the track is directly alongside a carriageway with intense traffic -absence of a track forces to use a carriageway with intense traffic
-route is along a main motortraffic corridor
-lack of a resting place here and there
-absence of road reserve for main NMT routes independent of the motorvehicle network, NMT transit routes therefor condemned to congested traffic corridors
causes related to: USE of the road
bad visibility at night
exposure to intense traffic
hostile route surroundings
-filthy roadside activities
ANNEX
355
ANNEX TABLE 2.
ROUTE INSPECTION FORM
Location
Observed problem
Details of the observation
ocations can
:st be numbered and given names, for easier recollection. Mark the numbers on the route map.
(first intervention ideas)
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Route O/D questionnaire, to measure the catchment area of a route (questionnaire must be translated in the applicable language, don’t conduct surveys in foreign language) O/D SURVEY, city: INTERVIEW TEAM INTERVIEW POINT SURVEY DATE/year ................... DAY of the week ............... TIME of the day
........................ (code later)
INTERVIEW NUMBER=
OUESTIONS Where did you start the trip that you make now? (Write name of 1ocat.ion. Coding the zone directly is preferred. In case of doubt, ask the person a clarification Interviewer to cany a good map with zones indicated)
. . Origin (name) ..................................................................
Zone number= .................
Where do you go to ? Destination (name) .............................................................
Zone number= .................
Modes used for this trip? walk (1) buddaladala (2) bicycle (3) motor vehicle (4) (tick each mode used -more than one mode is possible, code later) Trip Purpose?
work (1)
markevshop (2) school (3) social (4) other (5)
Not to be asked. but noted down by interviewer without asking: age under 15 (1) 15-39 (2) 40+ sex male (1) female (2)
(3)
____--__________________________----------------------_-__-----------Note: stopping motor vehicles is not an easy procedure, one needs traffic police permission and assistance for doing that. To interview (mini)bus passengers. the easiest method is to board the bus at the stop immediately in front of the counting line and leave it a few stops later (do not interview passengers that board after the counting line; there is no need to interview all passengers on the bus, but try to also interview seated passengers in the back, because they may have been first in). In case of pedestrian and cycle routes, the survey can be limited to pedestrians and cyclist (asking cyclists for a minute to answer the questions is usually possible, but easiest at a spot where they are already slow (e.g. a raised zebra crossing). Bus passengers that get in/out the bus near to the counting line and then use the route as a pedestrian will of course be included automatically. Do not select respondents by pleasant appearance or guessed willingness to answer, but try to ask randomly, e.g. every 10th person that passes after the previous interview was finished.
ADDITIONAL OUESTIONS (OPEN QUESTIONS) (in case inclusion of user perceptions and opinions on routes and interventions is desired) 1. What main difficulty (ies) do you meet on this route (trip)? (describe; make sure that there is enough space on the form to write the answers; recommended: only use a single A-4 page, and also the back-side of it)
2. Has there been a recent change(s) in the severity of this difficulty What change was that? (describe)
yeslno
3. What can in your opinion be done to make that problem smaller ?(describe)
4. Is there something special that makes you select this route? (describe) 5. Have you noticed the new
................................
6. What are your opinions about it? * positive facts (describe) * negative facts (describe)
intervention ?
yeslno
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This is the third table in the guidelines that deals with the observation of problems and the identification of appropriate interventions to address them. It is important to see how the three tables can be used together to reduce the chance that an important intervention option is overlooked. Route problem analysis The first of the three tables is that in annex 1 above. It is a Route problern analysis table and the corresponding Route inspection form. These focus on obsewirzg the problerns properly, by looking at each of the four user requirements first (Safety, Directness, Comfort, Attractiveness), and then stimulates to think about what may be the c m s e of the problem (the Use, Shape of Function of the road?). In this way of looking at the problems the accent is in finding out what the problems are, not yet on how they can be solved. Intervention option inventory The second table is the Intervention options inventory form (see annex table 3). It tries to stimulate thinking about possible interventions in either the shape of the road, or in its use, or its function. In other words, uses the problem analysis (annex 1, problem causes, in relation to road use, shape and function) for finding attractive solutions. What possibilities exist to change the way in which the road is currently used? what can be done about its function? what about its shape?
In the intervention inventory table problems have been listed in groups corresponding to different traffic engineering elements. The problems are already formulated more or less in engineering terms, and not in terms of the final problem that they create (for example, “traffic accidents” does not figure in the list of problems, but on several point “too high speed” is listed as the problem). Many of the problems concern a problematic mis-match between the design of the road (SHAPE), its USE and its FUNCTION. An important aspect of an attempt to reduce the problems therefore is to improve the balance between these three. This can be done by either trying to influence the use of the road, or by changing its design (shape) or by changing its function. Annex table 3 below only gives some examples of intervention options, to explain the suggested use of this table. The user of the guidelines has to make a specific list of possible interventions in each precise case (s/)he is dealing with. The objective of this table is also to encourage thinking about changes to the road network that go beyond spot interventions, and involve complete road redesign, reallocation of road functions and the establishment of major extensions to the existing public road reserves, in particular for new NMT routes. For practical use it is recommended to prepare empty “Intervention inventory forms” of the same horizontal page format as annex table 2, and use those sheets to write down ideas. Intervention selection The third table is the Intervention selection table in chapter 12. That table focuses on immediately implementable interventions to address a certain problem, in most cases spot interventions. It lists a number of typical problems that pedestrians and cyclists can be confronted with at a certain location and gives ideas on various intervention options to do something about that problem at that spot. The best intervention choice of course depends on what causes the problem, so there is a relation with table 1, annex 1. The table in chapter 12 does not explicitly mention whether a certain intervention option targets a change in use, shape or function of the road, or a combination. The proposed interventions are almost entirely physical interventions in the shape of the road.
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4NNEX TABLE 3 INTERVENTION OPTIONS INVENTORY FORM Intervention in:
problem (examples): walkways - walkway does not exist, pedestrians walk on the carriageway . open road shoulder is dangerous to walk on . missing route link creates detour . pedestrian routes are obstructed by ... . walkway is too narrow (congestion)
+.... xossings . vehicle speed too high at crossing point - too long crossing distance . almost invisible speed hump or crossing point . sight lines near crossing insufficient . pedestrian approach to crossing point blocked . street use makes dispersed crossing desirable
USE
SHAPE
FUNCTION
block walking
build walking
make access rd
block walking legalize use
separution build bridge
make P-lane new road reserve
(exunzples)
ONLY SOME EXAMPLES ARE GIVEN HERE; FILL THE TABLE YOURSELF FOR EACH CASE. police control ..etc.
humps ..etc.
relocate crossing ..etc.
+.... bus stops . bus stop at place were crossing is unsafe
- traffic jam created by bus stopping behavior - no proper pedcstrian waiting area near stop
+.... pavement condition - potholes in road pavement - bad pavement of walkway - drainage blocked or absent - undefined edge of carriageway in road corner - damaged side kerbs or median island
+.... junctions - Y shape junction inviting to high speed - chaotic wide junction without lane markings - crossing distances for cyclists too long - lack of protection for safe right turn of cyclists - traffic priority on junction unclear - significant junction delays (congestion) - lack of storage lanes for turning traffic
+.... carriageway width and design - speed too high because road is too wide - speed is too low (congestion) due to - frequent vehicle stops at shoulders - frequent right turns to plot entrances - disturbance created by parking - pedestrians walking on carriageway - encroachment by street trading - one-way traffic encourages too high speed - road design allows dangerous overtaking
+....
cycling on motor carriageway - overtaking of bicycles by MT creates danger - motorized traffic volume is too high - motorized traffic speed is too high - iunction is dangerous for cyclists - &ad side activcies (pedesthans, parking) obstruct cycling
+....
In this table the problems are not articulated in the way they are observed (as in annex I), but in a more abstract way, often translated into traffic engineering terms.
ANNEX
359
PART A INTERVENTION PLANNING AND DESIGN Location
Name and short narrative description of the location, its recent history (such as changes in land use, population density or nearby road network),and expected future development. Add suitable map showing the location and surrounding area as annex.
Selection
Selection of the intervention spot and urgeiicy to address its problem Who took the initiative to propose an intervention at this point, and why, who did the decision making about the intervention take place (or will it take place), what parties are involved and what is their influence on the decision. What makes it urgent to address this problem, and who should be the main beneficiaries of an intervention at this location?
User participation
Briefly describe the user involvement throughout the intervention preparation and implementation process; for part B (after completion) to be supplemented by the user involvement in the evaluation. PROBLEMS by CATEGORY (before intervmtioiz; the function of road, its use, its design and present shape)
FUNCTION
Describe the function of the road section, intersection, route or network area. Are changes to the function desirable or not? feasible or not?
SHAPE, DESIGN
Inventory of the current condition of the pavements, road base and drainage. Provide exact measurement of dimensions such as carriageway width. Add drawings of the old design, if available.
USE
Describe the use of the road section, intersection, route or network area. Are changes to the function desirable or not? feasible or not? Precision in the description is desirable, based on good observation at the location by different observers during different times of the day and over a longer period of time. A detailed summary of the use of the road facilitates the exchange of ideas about the best intervention.
Traffic data (before irzterverztion)
0
Traffic accidents (before intervention)
Traffic count: ADT and peak hourly volume, for all modes of transport: pedestrians (separate count of numbers that cross the road), cyclists, mopeds/motorcycle, minibus, bus, car, truck. Vehicle speed distribution. Average section travel time. Measure for a 2-3 km long route including the location of the intervention. If relevant: delay measurements: pedestrian waiting times for crossing, average vehicle intersection waiting time of delayed streams (e.g. right turns).
Number and type of traffic accidents, from police records; add a remark about police record accuracy, and if relevant check with narrative records of the communities living near the location. REQUIRED IMPROVEMENTS (list all irnprovernerzts that are desirable)
Objectives
List all objectives of the intervention.
Expected benefits
List the expected benefits, by category; assure that measurement of the indicators -belowmakes it possible to estimate the actual benefits after implementation (include all relevant indicators!).
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Indicators
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Indicators to measure the effect of the intervention should be measured before and after the intervention. e.g.: traffic intensities for each mode of transport vehicle speeds number and type of traffic accidents number of traffic conflicts (standardized traffic conflicts count) waiting times travel times Where relevant mention a target value for the indicator after the intervention. E.g. speed: 85% of all vehicles to have a speed below 30 kmhr at the intervention spot.
INTERVENTION SPECIFICATIONS and DESIGN Type of intervention
Written description of the important elements of the intervention. Add a brief explanation why this particular intervention option was chosen.
Design drawings
Add complete drawings of the proposed intervention and pictures of the existing situation as an aniiex.
Design criteria
List the important design criteria and design parameters of the proposed design.
Material and costs
Add a summary of the estimated BoQ (bill of quantities) and cost estimates as annex. BoQ. Type, unit, unit rate (Tsh), quantity, cost. Depending on contract form, this report section may be treated as internal information until contract completion; pilot project experience suggests that open information on cost estimates has a positive cost control effect, provided that the cost estimates are good and reflect the lowest possible cost level with acceptable profit and risk margins.
Reasons for-choice of iimter-inls Brief motivation for choice of materials; in particular reflect on future maintenance requirements and costs. Maintenance
Specify maintenance arrangements: who maintains, source of funds.
Organization
Describe proposed type of implementation arrangements and type of contract. Describe the proposed supervision arrangements and responsibilities.
Total costs
Total estimated cost amount; depending on contract form and negotiations or tendering, do not publish cost estimates in published reports until after signing of contracts.
Sources of funds
List sources of funds and amounts, as relevant.
Time schedule
Specify time schedule for implementation.
Approval
Describe the final decision making and approval procedures, and mention the parties that have the final approval authority.
ANNEX
361
PART B INTERVENTION EFFECTS, FINDINGS of the completion report of the supervisors; include quality aspects (strength, ~ o ~ ~ l tests e ~ ~ o Summary n workmanship, accuracy, compliance with the design), final costs, type of and reasons for variations -if any, other relevant observations. Response
Geizeral user re-espoizse(stnted and revealed preferences) Give summary of the response of all important user groups - based on structured interviews; include response of motorized traffic users if relevant. * Give summary of the response of politicians and top officials - based 011 structured interview.
Effects
Eflects of the i ~ ~ t e i v e i ~ tchanges i [ ) ~ ~ : ~~?eff.~ured by the iiz~~cators * Document the measured indicators after completion of the intervention. Pay attention to possible differences in other conditions unrelated to the intervention (e.g. season, other road network or transport policy changes). * Be aware that the time period of monitoring after completion must be long enough to notice temporary effects (observe changes in first month after completion, after six months and after one year); in special cases it may be desirable to compare beforehfter measurements on the intervention spot with beforehfter measurements on comparable control spots where no intervention was made. 0
Accidents
Changes in trafic conflicts and accirlenrs Describe effect of the intervention on traffic accidents and its effect on perceived traffic safety (by users -derived from interviews, see above); in view of the importance of the subject, make this a separate paragraph, not included in the previous one.
Other changes
Describe any other relevant effects that were observed. Describe relevant developments at the location in the year after the intervention; only relate those to the intervention in case the relation is obvious, otherwise simply mention them.
Targets
Chmges compared tu targets Verify whether targets set at the preparation stage were met.
costs
Cost effectiveliess of die interventiorzs An assessment of the value for money aspect of the intervention: list items that were very satisfactory priced or too expensive in relation to their construction strength and quality; list I-ecommendations on technical ~mprovementsin choice of materials, working method or design specifications to be considered in a future implementation of the same type of intervention. ~ o ~ ~ t ~con-es~derati~~z.~ b e ~ z e ~ ~ Calculate the estimated Benefitkost ratio of the intervention.
Lessons
Lessons learned and recorrtnzeizrlatioiis List a brief summary of relevant lessons learned and recommendations for future application of a similar intervention -if any.
Annexes
LOCATION IN NETWORK (area map) DESIGN DRAWING. Proposals, with indication of changes as-built. * SITUATION BEFORE INTERVENTrON (series of photographs) * ~ITUATIONAFTER I ~ E R V E N T I O N(series of photographs) BoQ SUMMARY: preparation estimate and changes as-built
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A stakeholder analysis is a standard element in the preparation of policy plans and project formulation. Its purpose is to create a complete overview of all different economic and public administration parties, or interest groups or segments of the population that are involved in or affected by the policies or the project. Stakeholders are defined in a loose manner: a stakeholder is a (member of) a certain category of users or clients (example: “bus passengers”, or “female bus passengers” in case the position of female bus passengers is so different from that of male bus passengers that it is useful to describe them as a separate group), or a business that supplies a certain service, or a government department, or a certain population group, or an organization of market traders. The important thing is that each “stakeholder” is defined as a more or less homogeneous group with well-defined common interests. Sometimes a distinction is made between “users” on one side, defined as those at the “buyer”-end (the demand side), who have no relevant influence on decisions, and “stakeholders” on the other side, defined as the parties that decide or enforce policies or supply products and services (the supply side, the “seller”-end). In that perspective the users are usually seen as having little power, and the stakeholders as holding the power. Based on the experience of the pilot projects it is not recommended to use such a distinction, because it may lead to a rigid view on the role, responsibilities and potential of each group, which is only counterproductive. However, it is useful to have a clear insight in the real power of each stakeholder, because that has an important influence. Include this information in the analysis of the strengths of the stakeholders (the last element of the stakeholder analysis). A stakeholder analysis can be made by those that take the initiative for the policy preparation, or for the project formulation. It can also be made by a group that has been invited by the initiators, and already includes persons from a variety of backgrounds (stakeholders). A stakeholder analysis can have three elements: 1. Inventory of stakeholders. 2. Analysis of the interests and targets of each stakeholder, their alliances and conflicts. 3. Analysis of the strength of each stakeholder (or a full SWOT, see annex 5). The boxes below list the main questions that need to be answered in each case.
[nventory of stakeholders
1. Write down all parties or groups or organizations that are involved in or affected by the policies or project (use inventory method explained in annex 6 -in particular “writing session rules”). 2. Classify the different stakeholders in relevant categories (in one category: more or less parallel roles and interests, such as supplier of services, etc.) 3. Discuss whether the classification is satisfactory, Verify that all stakeholders are included Discuss whether the interests of one or more stakeholders should be given priority
Stakeholder interests for each stakeholder write down:
I. Targets (concrete interests) What does this stakeholder want to achieve; what does s h e need from other parties; What do other parties need from this stakeholder. 2. Conflicts. List the import conflicts that exist between this stakeholder and others; What differences in interests created the conflict; how valuable or damaging are the conflicts? What could resolve a specific conflict? What could create new conflicts’? 3. Problems. (focus on the top 3-5 problems). What are the most important problems that this stakeholder faces? What creates the problem? 4.Alliances. List the important alliances that this stakeholder belongs to.
Stakeholder strength
1. What are the most important strengths of this stakeholder 2. What are the vulnerable points of this stakeholder
ANNEX
363
SWOT =Analysis ofSTRENGTH and W E ~ K N E S (both S internal) and OPPORTU~IT~ES and TREATS (both extemal) SWOT definitions Strength and weakness are characteristics of (particular to) the city itself, or of a stakeholder itself. Opportuni~yand threat are external factors that the city is exposed to (or one stakeholder in the city is exposed to by another stakeholder in the city or elsewhere). For example: an efficient bicycle hire sector -as it exists in Morogoro- is a strength, a large and divers world market supply of low-cost bicycles produced in China and India is an opport~nity.Lack of walkways is a weakness, an increase in traffic accidents is a threat (created within the same city by one user group for another). The outline that is given below applies for carrying out the SWOT analysis in a workshop format. It is also possible to carry out the SWOT analysis as desk research plus interviews. In that case a similar agenda has to be completed. Desk research is easier to organize than a workshop with participants from most or all stakeholders, and in many cases costs less. A workshop also has a higher risk of being a bit chaotic. The big advantage of a workshop is that there 1s a direct interaction between persons from different stakeholder backgrounds, which brings out critical issues more directly and more pronounced. Another advantage of a workshop is that it reinforces the relation between the workshop participants and establishes a platform for the further preparation of and consultation about the mobility plan. If manageable, a workshop is recommended. In view of the length of the agenda, this will take a minimum of 3 days. An intermediate way of conducting a SWOT is to make one as desk research plus interview first and then convene a (shorter) workshop with people from all stakeholders to verify whether the draft repot of the desk research is correct, and how it should be adapted and finalized.
SWOT WORKSHOP TARGETS: GET AN OVERVIEW OF ALL STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR INTERESTS BETTER KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE PRESENT TRANSPORT SYSTEM BETTER KNOW AND UNDERSTAND PAST CHANGES and EXPECTED FUTURE CHANGES Not yet: IDENTIFY INTERVENTIONS DECIDE ON PRIORITIES or MAKE CHOICES
It is better to limit the scope of a SWOT workshop to knowing and understand in^ the issues, and avoid jumping to the formulation of ideas on how to solve specific problems. There is enough time and opportunity later in the process to do that. At this stage it confuses. It is often difficult to keep participants from jumping to ideas on how problems should be ideas that pop solved. They can be asked to prepare a separate list of their prob~em-so~ving up during the workshop, and submit that list at the end of the workshop.
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SESSIONS IN THE WORKSHOP Agenda part one. The pi-esenr sitiintiorz * Stakeholder analysis (see previous protocol)
Strengths of the transport system of the city Strengths of the land use pattern of the city * Weaknesses of the transport system of the city (“Weakness” can be used in the same sense as “problem”) Weaknesses of the land use pattern of the city Opportunities for the transport system of the city Opportunities for the land use pattern of thc city Threats to the transport system of the city * Threats to of the land use pattern of the city *
-
Agenda part two. Clianges in the past arid expected future chariges * Changes in Strengths and Weaknesses Changes in Opportunities and Threats (missed opportunities in the past, overcome threats expected new opportunities in the next 5 years, expected new threats in the next 5 years).
STEPS PER SESSION a. INVENTORY of the subject b. STRUCTURE all observations c. PRESENT and DISCUSS findings Articulated for “Strengths”(siini1ar for Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats):
a. List all aspects that you consider a strength of the transport system as it exists today. Individually, in writing (rules see below). b. Categorize the recorded strengths (workshop coordinator with the entire group) c. Discuss the picture that emerges. The discussion can include questions such as: - why is ........ a strength? what is the reason that it exists? - which stakeholder(s) are involved in its supply? and in what way? - which stakeholder(s) use it, benefit from it? - do negative side effects for other stakeholders exist? For clzanges: a l . Of the strengths and weaknesses the emerged from the previous analysis, list (individually, in writing) in what sense these changed in a major way in the past (did not exist .... years ago, became stronger, weaker, changed in character). Also list strengths or weaknesses that existed in the past and have now disappeared (exist no longer). b l . Categorize the recorded changes from the past (workshop coordinator + group) c l . Discuss a2. Of the strengths and weaknesses the emerged from the previous analysis, list: in what sense you expect that they will change in the next 5 years? Also list strengths or weaknesses that do not exist at this moment, but that you expect to emerge in the next 5 years. b2. Categorize the expected changes (workshop coordinator + group) c2. Discuss
345
ANNEX
METH~D A number of participatory workshop methods has been developed over time. The style and working- method recommendations given here combine aspects of a number of those methods (for example: Metaplan method, Werkgroep 2000 (the Netherlands, 1978); Logical Framework Analysis, NORAD (1990), Project preparation and evaluation workshop methods (EC, 1995)). For a workshop to be fruitful and efficient, it is important to take care of two aspects: (a) a logical agenda of subjects and (b) efficient functioning of the group of participants.
(a) The agenda: Step by step analytic progression The discussions must be conducted within a pre-determined general framework that: facilitates a step by step analytical progression of the arguments, uses a simple and well defined terminology, breaks the discussion up into manageable separate segments, and encourages the thinking about “reasons why”. Experience shows that very different subject matters can all be treated very efficiently in a very similar scientific manner. The logical structure of the workshop has been predetermined, independent of the subject matter, and is guided and protected by a workshop moderator on the basis of practical aspects such as time frame?, are new insights still coining up or is the discussion brain-dead?, etc. but without interference with the contents of the discussions themselves. Whether what is being said by this or that participant is true or not is unimportant from the point of view of the workshop f r ~ e w o r kIt. is of course relevant for the p ~ i c i p a n t to s find out about the importance and validity of the different statements, but consensus is certainly not required. A good inventory of all ideas and points of view -whether contradicting each other or not- is more impoi-tant than reaching conclusions quickly. “Rushing to conclusions” is undesirable; an unexpected and uncommon point of view may turn out to be very important and valid after some time. Simply re-iterating current “fashion” opinions has little value-added. The previous statement does not pass a judgement on current “general opinions”, those can be fully correct for very good reasons. But it i s useful to think about questions such as: i s a certain point of view equally correct for all parties involved?, how time-bound is a certain solution? etc. Example of an agenda
In the case of a workshop to carry out a SWOT analysis for a mobility plan, the outline of the agenda is listed in the previous protocol. An example of a workshop on strategic longterm planning for public transport in a certain urban area is: Agenda for a workshop on strategic PT planning 1. Stakeholders (who?) 2. Brief “SWOT” of the key stakeholders 3. Public transport problems analysis (what? why?) 4. Long-term objectives analysis (what? why?) 5. Alternatives analysis (how reach objectives, what can be done) 6. “SWOT” of one alternative 7. Verification, discussion day with panel of external experts 8. Consolidation (suggestions & recommendations, reporting)
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(b) EMicient group interactions
The second aspect is to assure optimal exploitation of all resources available within the group. Different people have different skills, and it is important to allow them all to contribute accordingly. For certain aspects a group discussion is very good and effective, for instance to get direct debate between conflicting points of view, but for other aspects discussion is very ineffective, for instance to make an inventory of perceptions and ideas of individual group members on a certain issue. The workshop will therefore adopt a variety of working methods, such as an inventory of facts or views by means of guided verbal enumeration (questions, moderator), inventory through written statements of the participants (for the more complicated aspects this normally is the most fruitful way), group discussion, presentation of propositions by one group-member to the entire group to communicate work done in sub-groups, creation of analysis flow charts, written comments by participants to earlier discussions or problem analysis.
The important basic rules are: Stop an activity as soon as it does no longer add something useful - Assure that all participants can input all their ideas and creativity into the process (eloquence, sharp observation of facts, clear analysis of problems are all different skills and care should be taken that nobody uses a too big share of the time talking. Group members that do not speak so easily must also be involved fully. Written statements can be further analyzed anonymously,there is no need to think about who wrote a statement). - Assure that the entire process is completed.This means strict keeping to the time schedule, and stopping the discussions on some aspects maybe before they are fully finished. - Keep good records of all said and written, and have daily work reports produced by the participants, summarizing the findings of that day. Doing that is very useful to increase the quality and relevance of the workshop report as well as to deepen the discussion on the next day, by all having individually reflected on the previous discussions. -
PLANNED WORKSHOP OUTPUT
Workshop report, summing up the discussions and findings. The report must be produced on the basis of workshop notes written by the participants, combined with workshop notes taken by the moderator(s). Editing will be carried out by the workshop coordinator plus municipal staff (ideally a municipal staff member has the skill to act as the coordinator). The draft report must be circulated for comments to the participants. It is desirable that the draft report is available within two weeks after the workshop. All participants must be asked to verify whether in their opinion the report articulates correctly what was discussed and concluded in the workshop. WORKSHOP OPERATION
The tables that follow give a summary of the “rules of the game”. It is useful to explain them briefly in the first workshop session, as a warming up. Practical experience with applying the rules will build up quickly. First of all, the targets of the workshop must be very clear to all participants right from the start. The participants must receive a brief workshop outline, including its targets and the corresponding agenda beforehand, to allow some personal preparation.
ANNEX
367
WORKSHOP TARGETS Generally: Clarifu alE key issues of the ~ v o r ~ s subject ~~op ARTICULATE the INTERESTS of ALL KEY STAKEHOLDERS UNDERSTAND CAUSE - EFFECT RELATIONS FIND THE CENTRAL LONG-TERM PROBLEMS * IDENTIFY POTENTIAL POLICY ALTERNATIVES Not yet: INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF INTERVENTIONS DECIDE ON PRIORITIES and MAKE CHOICES * DESIGN ACTIONS & I ~ E R V E N T I O N
STYLE PARTICIPANTS ARE EXPERTS TRIAL and ERROR NOPRESTIGE * NO PASSIVITY ALL IDEAS ARE WELCOME (“uncertain” ones can be very valuable) * MODERATORS HAVE an ORGANIZING ROLE ONLY: - They ask questions to clarify - They do not present their own views
STRATEGY Analyze the subject of the workshop in a sequence of logical steps * Use a large number of small steps (small steps can he understood quicker)
Take all steps quickly - to increase efficiency - (avoid that it becomes boring) Do not aim at consensus, allow differences in views to become clear Do not loose time on long discussions Stop a session as soon as arguments are being repeated I
SESSIONS IN THE WORKSHOP According to the agenda of the workshop
IN EACH SESSION, repeat THREE STEPS a. INVENTORY of the subject b. STRUCTURE all observations c. PRESENT and DISCUSS findings
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NVENTORY llterrzotive working inetliods L. GROUP DISCUSSION
Group members make statements verbally, moderator writes. Start with two minutes of silence for thinking, ask all participants personally one by one.
!. WRITTEN
~iithoutiiidicatirzg ivho has writferz tlie sfnreiiieiif Individwal participants write personal statements on cards (small sheets of paper). In most cases this is the preferred method, participants feel greater freedom to express theinsclves, in particular in a case where contested opinions are at stake and/or when significant personal status differences between participants exist. The inveiitory con also be made iiz sub categories, which speeds up the process of categorizing. This only hetps if the participants immediately understand the idea and its advantage. The first round of categorizing can in this case be done by the participants themselves by fixing their cards themselves on poster panels for each category. As an example of the use of different sub-categories in a SWOT workshop for a mobility plan: one can use the different modes of transport and the different land uses as categories. To make it work practically, cards of different colors are needed to write on (a specific color for each category). One then (e.g.) writes all strengths that relate to: pedestrians cyclists bus/ minibus car I truck
: green card : orange card : white card
: brown card
(for land use : residential : markets, shops : businesses : services
WRITING-SESSION RULES 1. WRITING TIME 5-15 MINUTES, DEPENDING ON THE SUBJECT 2. WRITE ONLY ONE STATEMENT PER CARD
3. WRITE IN LARGE LETTERS, TO ALLOW READING FROM A DISTANCE 4. SHORT AND CLEAR STATEMENTS, NO ARGUMENTATION Afrer wriring, iri the s f i - u ~ ~ u rsession: iii~
5. SHUFFLE CARDS (note: cards are further processed anonymously) 6. READ CARDS ALOUD, in the group or subgroup, and ORGANIZE THEM INTO CATEGORIES 7. CLARIFY UNCLEAR STATEMENTS THROUGH DISCUSSION (without explicitly asking the author to come forward and explain, seek clarification in group discussion) 8. ADD NEW WRITTEN STATEMENTS ON NEW CARDS, IF NEW IDEAS COME UP IN THE DISCUSSION 9. DO NOT TAKE AWAY WRITTEN CARDS, UNLESS ALL AGREE, OR IF TWO STATEMENTS OVERLAP COMPLETELY. 1O.EACH SESSION MUST BE REPORTED SEPARATELY, INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF ALL WRITTEN STATEMENTS (CARDS)
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ANNEX
STRUCTURE 4ltemutive workiiig metlzor1.s 1. GROUP SESSION. Moderator categorizes (fixing cards on poster panels), card-by-card,
text read by a participant, with coinrnents by participants on how to categorize. 2. IN ~ U B - ~ R O U PofS3-4 members
Each subgroup discusses and structures statements concerning one sub-category. - Attach statement cards to flip-over paper or poster panels in an organized manner, indicate which statements are considered the most important ones, and how the different statements relate to each other. - Prepare a presentation to the entire group of the outcome of the discussion in thc sub-group. - For the presentation. write new statements if desired, but keep the old cards available. The advantage of working with sub groups is thar more participants are active and that the need to present session findings to the other participants forces the sub-groups to develop a more or less clear view on the implications of all statements made on the cards. Making This the presentations also reinforces the confidence of the participants and the o~~nersliip. can be further exploited by rotating the presentations over a11 participants.
PRESENT, DISCUSS
In case of serbni ~ ~ z v e or } z ~f ~ ~~ ~~ i~i c~oft iwrifrerz i r i ~ curds ~ with tire entire group: I . BRIEF LAST DISCUSSION Verify that all opinions and ideas of the participants have been included properly In cme ~ ~ , s t i - i 4 c i ~in~ r~i i~~ gi ~ b g ~ ~ i ~ s : 2.1 PRESENTATION BY EACH SUBGROUP, WITH SHORT DISCUSSION 2.2 VERIFY Check by participants and moderator that all opinions and ideas have been included properly.
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How to prepare a detailed design step-by-step? It is often efficient to conduct a design workshop with all professionals concerned (also the planners and social scientists) at an early stage of the project preparation process. This assures that all involved share the same information and ideas, and can arrange what further role each of them has in the process. Probably, only the engineers among the participants have the skill to make a design Group cu~i~pos~fio~z drawing. This means that at the moment concrete design work is taken up in the workshop, the other participants must be coupled with engineers into small teams (one engineer only per team). Therefore, the composition of the total group must be such that at least one in three p~ticipantshas practical road design experience. Half the participants having design experience is better - some of the planners will hopefully have some experience with at least road network designs. A lot of individual work
In this type of design workshop, much of the time is to be spent by participants (or small groups of two or three participants) on individually working out design ideas and sketches. These can then be shared and discussed in a general meeting, but those meetings should be brief, and not be used to make designs collectively. The group meetings are for comments and suggestions only, then the participants go back to work individually on a revision or on the next task. This set-up requires competent management of the workshop by someone with good practical experience with the design process, but a neutral position with respect to the designs at hand. This annex describes an outline for a design workshop by listing the tasks that have to be carried out in such a workshop one by one. The workshop methods outlined in annex 6 can be used to enhance the efficiency and attractiveness of the workshop. As described below, the workshop requires one week. Conducting it in a special venue where all participants stay during the workshop significantly increases its efficiency and output. Task 9 (workshop report (has to be carried out after the workshop. Distribute all preparation materials at least one week in advance to a11 participants, to allow them to prepare by carefully studying the information (in particular for tasks 1 , 3b, 3c, 6). Task 1: Problem description
In previous project stages problem(s) have been located and described (see annex I. 2). The problem can for example be: accidents involving NMT, lack of walkways or walking route capacity constraints, insufficient NMT comfort or speed, MT congestion, bus-jams, illegal parking, street trading that blocks NMT routes, pavement quality or contamination with waste, lack of drainage, etc. Good problem description is of vital importance to understand what probably causes the problem(s). The first session in the workshop is to discuss the problem description with all participants, to discuss the probable causes, and to check all available information (if needed those that prepared certain data inputs can first explain those). Is it properly understood what causes the problem(s) (the “diagnosis” of the problem)? Do all participants agree on this diagnosis, or do differences of opinion exist? At the end of the first session (probably day one) such questions must have been answered. To analyze a problem the following material is required (prepare before the ~~orkshop): A written problem description, with an analysis of problem causes. * Map of the roads in the area concerned. Scale of map showing road network 1 : 5,000 flater, for designs: road sections 1: 500, difficult parts I : 200; intersections I: 200). 0
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* Traffic data (to be acquired out before the workshop): MT: - Peak and off-peak traffic volume of car, minibus, bus, LGV, MGV, HGV, motorcycles; - At junctions: percentage of vehicles turning left and right; - At sections: speed of MT.
NMT: - Peak and off-peak traffic volume of pedestrians, cyclists, big carts, small carts; - At important crossing points: number of people crossing. Task 2: Road network analysis
The next session, before one can start selecting interventions or making sketch-designs, is to have a look at the road network of the area in which one wishes to tackle problem (network including all important NMT routes that may not be official road reserves). In the design workshop it is important to analyze the road functions in a larger network (area of the city) in detail, in relation to the land-use in that area. This must be done for both NMT and MT traffic. The expected future developments of land-use in the area should also be investigated and discussed (collect this inforniation before the workshop). Network is the frumework
One must realize that the network always is the framework. A specific intervention must make sense in the context of the road network that it is part of. In particular it is useful to examine the current traffic circulation in the existing network, and to ask the question whether that circulation is “optimal”. In many cases it is probably not optimal at all, and various ideas can be generated to improve the traffic circulation. For example by cutting-off MT rat-routes (routes that drivers use in attempts to avoid traffic jams, or to reduce their trip distance). If a change in traflic circulation (which could be applicable for MT as well as for NMT) would be desirable, this will have a great impact on interventions that one should implement in reaction to the current problems. Every “spot” intervention must be appraised in the context of the network, and of desirable or expected changes in the traffic circulation. Questions must be discussed such as: What land-uses (economic and social activities) dominate the present demand for transport on the roads of the network concerned? What transport function (access or transit) has priority on which roads in the network? Do the expected future developments in the area depend on the safety and quality of the existing roads for NMT andor MT, yes or no? And I or do they depend on the (re-?) construction of new NMT andlor MT transport infrastructure? * If yes, what can be expected to happen in different scenarios of change in infrastructure supply? Try to articulate different scenarios of change in infrastructure supply for both NMT and MT, and to describe the expected effects of each scenario. 0
The purpose of this workshop session is to create a broader overview of the entire NMT and MT route networks and of the corresponding traffic situation, before focusing on details of specific interventions. Such an overview helps to avoid that one implements interventions that may solve a problem at one particular spot, but generate other problems elsewhere. This session probably also requires one day. Task 3: Select intervention proposals and prepare first sketch designs
When the problems are clear and the traffic situation in the relevant surrounding network is clear, the choice of interventions to address the problems can be discussed. This is the third workshop session. To maintain momentum (speed of progress), plan to complete sessions 3 a, b, and c in one day.
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For-niuluie sirirring points
The starting points for the design(s) must be clearly defined, in line with the function of the road. The following issues must be covered, for the relevant roads in the network (where interventions are considered, or which will be affected by interventions on nearby roads): * Which mode of transport must get priority in the design (pedestrian? bicycle? bus? car? truck?) * What vehicle speeds are desirable where? (see table 14.1; it depends on the road hierarchy) Design vehicle for pavement strength and turning radii (the heaviedbiggest vehicle allowed)? * What is the required road or lane capacity, also the walkway capacity for pedestrians? * Demand for parking? (number of parking places r~ be provided along the road or on parking lot) * Demand for public transport? (bus routes where? required size of bus bays?).
b. liiten~nfion selection
In the second -main- part of the third session the participants make a first selection of interventions that are seen as the most desirable ones and should be worked out in sketch designs. One can use the inventory technique with written statements described in annex 6. It is recommended that (i) good intervention inventory forms are prepared before the workshop and made available as information for the participants; and that (ii) a preliminary intervention selection has been carried out and documented (see chapter 14), and is also made available as information for the participants (both as part of the material distributed a week before the workshop starts). In this workshop session, the participants are of course not asked to reproduce the preliminary intervention selection that was cairied out in preparation of the workshop. On the contrary: a critical analysis and debate about what the most desirable interventions would be is called for at this moment. The outcome (the short-list of highest priority interventions) is not final, but only an interim step in the process (it can later turn out that the priorities should be partly of completely changed). For each selected intervention, clearly formulate what it is meant to achieve (its aims or objectives).
c. Skeicli rlesigizs
Now sketch designs are to be set up for the short-listed interventions (which Inay include the complete re-design of a road section or an intersection!). This should be done by participants individually (or in small groups of two, maximum three). Several (teams of) participants can work independently on the same intervention, to produce sketch-designs of alternative intervention options . After one or two hours all ideas can be exchanged and discussed. After that, the individual work continues until the workshop group as a whole is satisfied with the outcomes.
CL
(first drawings)
First make a sketch design that meets all the requirements, without taking into account the limitations of the existing situation. For road sections, intersections and items such as raised crossings make the first drawings at scale 1: 500 (use the information provided in the designs in chapter 15). Also make a few cross-sections drawings, this enhances the understanding of the design and its potential technical problems. One now has the “ideal” design. However, in practice there are always constraints that must be taken into account: * Is enough space available in the road reserve? Lack of space can severely limit the possibilities to apply the “ideal” design. This question will be answered in task 5 below. Is the B/C ratio >>I? And: are the costs of the designed intervention package within the now available financing budget?
ANNEX
Fiizaizcial ~-equirenieiits
373
At this moment, a first (gu)estimate of costs must be made. Required is a rough figure that at least indicates the relative cost levels of different intervention alternatives. Making a proper estimate is not easy. In practice the only reliable source of information is an overview of costs of recently implemented urban road infrastructure works of a comparable type. This overview has to be compiled before the workshop (as part of the preparatory information that is distributed in advance). The actual costs figures should be translated into “units”. For example: recent costs of a complete raised crossing in a two-lane road have been xxx US$ equivalents (ranging between xxx and yyy, at different sites); costs of complete rehabilitation of a 6 m wide carriageway (excluding drains) have been xxx per kin road length; costs of open masonry drains in recent works ranged from xxx to yyy per km of drain. Note that the units used at this moment are not the ones used for a BoQ estimate (see task 6 below, such as unit costs of a m3 asphalt-concrete, of a m3 of mass concrete. of a m2 of brick pavement etc.), but average costs of integral work-elements. Whether or not this step can be made properly in the workshop depends on the quality of the available cost data (the examples in chapter 13 can also be consulted rough cost indications). Similarly, a rough estimate should be made of the expected benefits of the intervention. This also requires preparation in advance of the relevant input data, in particular data on applicable (vehicle) operating costs for each mode of transport, value of travel time and applicable costs of accidents. By combining cost data and benefit estimates (estimates of avoided costs that are the effect of the intervention) very rough first B/C estimates can be made, as an input to task 4. Task 4: Articulate intervention design recommendations (choices)
When the possible intervention (design) alternatives have been sketched and discussed, a provisional decision has to be made which of them will be worked out. In view of the importance of these decisions it is desirable that the senior municipal staff that are responsible for recoinniending later final decision proposals to the city council participate full time- in the workshop: the city engineer and the city planner. Do not spend too much time on deciding which designs to recommend (half a day or less). The decisions taken are provisional anyway. However, discuss all arguments carefully. For each recommended intervention design carefully document the arguments why it is preferred (and arguments why other options were rejected). Include this in the workshop report. Task 5: Prepare detailed design sketches
This is where the search for the best possible design in the exact conditions of the site starts. The purpose of this task in the workshop is: To test in more detail whether it is in practice possible to acconimodate the preliminary design decisions within the available road reserve and constraints created by existing structures. It is important to carry out this task rapidly, and with rough sketches, but at the right scale (1 :200 for difficult points), because only at that scale it is possible to find out whether the “ideal” designs really fit. This task has not to be carried out for all roads and interventions, but can be limited to the ones that are a bit uncertain. However, it is recommended to work out at least one example of a prototype of intervention fully. For example, if eight raised zebra crossings are proposed, make a detailed design of at least one of them, on a surveyed map 1:200 with the correct spot conditions. To enable the preparation of a first BoQ, which makes it possible to make a more realistic cost estimate (task 6). 0
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Space requirements
The first sketch-design is now worked out into more detailed design sketches, in small teams again, led by the engineer in each team. The most appropriate scales to use are: sections 1500; junctions 1:200. First one has to copy the “ideal” design on a surveyed map of the existing situation. This can most easily be done with the help of a transparency, on which one draws the ideal design. By moving it over a surveyed map of the same scale of the existing situation, one can find out where available space gives problems. * Next, one can start thinking of ways to overcome these problems. For example: traffic lanes or walkways can be narrowed to a certain extend, the number of lanes can be reduced, parking can be removed from the road sections and concentrated in off-road parking lots or in side streets, etc. Adjustments to the design may require elsewhere.
Use drawirig-n~alls
The detailed design shows the precise radii of corners. An easy way of finding the smallest radius that accommodates all traffic is to use the drawing-mall transparencies of turning circles per vehicle (chapter 16). Be careful to use the drawing malls of the largest vehicle allowed on that road (in most cases a HGV -truck of 18 m). On intersections with a low volume of HGV, HGV turns into side roads can be accepted to use the lane of the opposing traffic. This prevents over-sized intersections (note that this also means: no traffic islands close to the intersection in such situations). If it turns out that there is simply not enough space for all desirable functions, the road functions themselves must be discussed again. Be aware that this concerns both the space requirements for static functions (such as street trading, displays in front of shops, parking, waiting areas for bus passengers etc.) and the space requirements for traffic flows. Change of road functions can for example be: re-routing MT transit traffic via other network links, or identifying alternative new NMT-only routes for pedestrian and bicycle transit traffic where that cannot be accommodated on the available walkway and carriageway space, for example in a shopping street. To find a solution that is practically feasible, close coordination between planners and engineers is a must. The solution must create a balance of function-use-shape. Finally, each sketch-design that is produced must be checked against the objectives of the intervention (3b) and the starting points €or the design (34.
Bill of Quaririties
A detailed design includes the exact choice of construction materials and methods. For example: types of pavement, segregating materials like kerbs, type of drains, etc. If possible, the pavement choice clearly distinguishes pedestrian and bicycle pavement from the MT carriageway, in case of separated tracks (materials, color). At this moment one can set up a first BoQ, by calculating all quantities that the design requires: m3 of road base repairs, ni3 of asphalt concrete, m2 of brick-, slab- etc. pavements, numbers of bollards, Tblocks etc.. This BoQ with all items and volumes (amounts, numbers of ..) specified, is input for task 6. It is of course not possible to prepare detailed designs and BoQ’s for a large number of interventions in a short time. Therefore in the workshop one must limit the work to quickly doing so for a few high priority ones only. The rest can be done after the workshop (applies to task 6 similarly). Task 6: Prepare a preliminary cost estimate based on the draft BoQ
A first rough estimate of the costs must be made now, to enable a better financial feasibility check. If it becomes clear that the costs for the design will be too high, the design can be changed now, or even a completely different intervention can be chosen. The purpose of making cost estimates at this stage is to prevent the unpleasant situation of finding out much later that the design is much too expensive. Make the estimate in the standard manner: * Use a unit-rate book (to be made available before the workshop). Consult with the ministry of works, which will in most cases either have a rate book, or have the
ANNEX
315
information required to make one. It may be necessary to add items that are important for NMT infrastructure but not included in standard urban road works yet (note: for precast concrete elements a reasonably accurate cost estimate can be made by applying a unit cost per kg; for bulk concrete cast at the site (“in situ”) a rate per m3 of concrete applies, plus a rate for form-work and for reinforcement iron). If no unit rate book for urban road works is available in the country, it is recommended to produce one. * Combine these rates with the quantity estimates for the main items of the work (task 5), such as: - site clearance (m2), excavation (m3), - ground work, fill, etc. - drains (per type) - road pavement (per type) - elements such as kerbs, side restraints, ... - street furniture (signs, bollards, ..) - etc. Add up the costs of all items to obtain the cost estimate for the intervention as a whole. As a check, compare with cost levels of comparable recent road works (see task 3), and with ‘rule-of-thumb’ data for acceptable road and NMT facilities costs. The preliminary cost estimate does not have a break-down to the level of detail of a final and cost estimate. For example, the amount of ground work can be estimated roughly, without specifying differences in the soil conditions, and an average unit rate will be used rather than specific unit rates for each type of soil. The final detailed design and BoQ must leave no important issues unclear for the contractor and the supervising engineer at site, but this is not yet to be aimed at in a design workshop. After task 4, which is dealt with in the entire group of participants, Tasks 5 and 6 are to be carried out in small teams again. Each team works on a design for one intervention only (or part of it), and makes the corresponding cost estimate. Aim at using two half days for tasks 5 and 6 together. Tasks 7 and 8 are dealt with in the entire group again, during the last half day of the workshop. Task 7: Assess the sketch designs and preliminary BoQ’s
The purpose of this session is to discuss the outputs of tasks 5 and 6 with the entire group of participants. The issues to discuss are: With the designs as now prepared, are the interventions expected to achieve their objectives? At the now estimated costs, can the interventions be implemented in practice? Are there suggestions for improvements of the designs? Task 8: Carry out a preliminary Road Safety Check
Quickly discuss whether as now designed the interventions minimize traffic accident hazards. Suggestions to improve safety, and questionable aspects of the design that were noted, must be listed for later analysis after the workshop. Task 9: Prepare a design workshop report
The report should be a complete documentation of what was done during the workshop and of the main discussions. It is very useful for future reference. A11 workshop participants should obtain a complete copy shortly after the workshop.
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How to prepare a detailed design step-by-step: 1. Map of the road Sections 1500, difficult parts 1 2 0 0 Intersections 1:200 Preference complete survey, with horizontal dimensions and gradients Minimum exact layout with horizontal dimensions, road reserve (owned by government), carriageway, road shoulders, drains, lampposts, underground cables or pipes, bus bays, buildings and fences, trees, kiosks, street trade locations, street “furniture”.
2. Traffic volume and directions MT: Peak and off-peak traffic volume ( car, minibus, bus, trucks, motorcycle). At important junctions: count of left and right turning traffic. NMT: Peak and off-peak traffic volume of pedestrians, cyclists, big carts, srnall carts. At important crossing points: number of people crossing. 3. Problem description (available from previous preparation stages) E.g.: NMT capacity constraints, lack of NMT comforUspeed, MT congestion, accidents, bus jams, illegal parking, lack of drainage, etc.
4. Proposed intervention type (available from previous preparation stages), and objectives of the intervention, reason why the sketch design was chosen and estimated costs.
5. Determine the design speeds and design vehicles 0 Determine priority mode of transport (pedestrian? bicycle? bus? car? truck?), Determine desirable speed regimes (see table 14.1, road hierarchy). * Determine design vehicle for pavement strength and turning radii (in most cases HGV, for access streets in residential areas LGV (HGV block required), for NMT-only routes wheel pressure of 500 kg (heavy cart))
6. Determine space requirement for static functions Specify assumptions for space requirements of: Drains (rainfall data?) * Parking of cars (mopeds) Parking of bicycles (and carts, at markets) * Tree cover, parkdgreens * Street lights * Access space in front of shopshuildings Room for kioskshtreet trade and client access 0
0
7. Determine space requirement for traffic flows Specify assumptions for space requirements of: MT carriage way (number of lanes, lane width) * Cycling (mixed or separate, lane width) Carts (on carriage way?, on walkways?) Walking (lane-width for transit pedestrians) Bus lanes or -ways, bus stopshays and stations * Storage lanes for righvleft MT turns, bicycles * Bicycle crossing: waiting space and refuge island Medians between traffic lanes Pedestrian crossing: waiting space and * Pedestrian crossing islands 0
0
0
0 0
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8. Check on road space constraints (lack of space) Check drainage conditions and adequacy 9. Prepare draft detailed layout and determine pavement choices Be careful to chose the right radii of turns, and availability of suitable turning circles for the largest vehicles on the road (usually HGV); use drawing-mall of the right scale to draw vehicle turning circles on the draft design (see chapter 16.1). Let pavement choice clearly distinguish NMT pavement from the M T camageway, in case of separated tracks (materials, color). Avoid bitumen NMT pavement where utility works are carried out regularly (underground cables etc.), and if the NMT track risks to be taken for M T road.
10. Draft Bill of Quantity Include all elements (ground work, road base, carriageway and walkway pavements, drains, intersection elements, crossings, bus ways, etc.). 11. Draft cost estimate and financial feasibility check
Use unit-rate book and compare with cost level of comparable recent road works. Compare estimated costs with “rule-of thumb” data for acceptable road and NMT facilities costs. Estimate recurrent annual maintenance costs and periodic maintenance costs. Make an estimate of the total average costs per year (of investment plus maintenance). 12. List cost reduction options Investigate cost reduction options, also if the cost estimate appears to be within the usually acceptable range. Look at both investment-cost and maintenance-cost iinplications (a cost reduction option may be proposed not because of its lower initial investment costs, but because of its lower maintenance costs -even if the initial investment is higher) 13. Estimate maximum traffic flow capacities and check with requirements Special emphasis on intersections (right/left turns on intersections). Check with capacity targets (longer term) and cui-rent traffic flows. 14. Check the adequacy of the design elements meant to reduce MT speeds To be carried out by ui7 inclepeiideiit per-son (criteria: safety and a clear road hierarchy). “Intrinsic”: short length of straight road sections, small turning radii, brick pavement on access roads, minimal carriageway width for the conditions that apply. “Forced”: humps, raised crossing or raised platform junction, mini roundabout, road shoulder obstacles (open drain, anti parking blocks/bollards, flush parking), crossing islands, “gates” with bicycle bypass, chicane etc.
15. Road safety audit To be carried out by ciii indepeitdeitt ~iei:ron. 16. Estimate maintenance cost and life-cycle costs, and Recommend changes in materials choices andor design if needed. To be carried our by iitdependent peimn, as secoitd opinioii. Pay special attention to existence of good road drainage! For predominantly NMT routes, estimate maintenance benefits and investment benefit from completely blocking M T out. 17. Analyze remaining unresolved problems, if any To do this it is desirable to consult with the main parties involved in the intervention proposal (city council, users at intervention location, others).
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18. Finatize the detailed design and the BoQ It may not be necessary to produce a complete detailed design 1:200 for the whole road or road network. In many cases numbered standard designs (for the case at hand, not “design standards” from a handbook^ can be given for the most frequent situations (different intersection types, fuel station entrances, private plot entrances, etc.), combined with a good layout drawing 1500 indicating at what spots which detail number must be used. When this approach is used, detailed daily supervision of the implementation is required.
Tender d o ~ ~ ~ i i e n t s und dmvings
The final output of the design process has to enable drafting tender- and contractdocuments and drawings. For the find BoQ, parts of the detailed designs may have to be worked out to construction drawings. This can apply to elements such as road subbase/base/pavement. drains, side restraints and kerbs, culverts and small bridges, traffic islands, raiscd crossings, bus bays, street furniture, etc.). For some construction drawings scale 150 may be required.
~ureriulsarid working methods
Clear materials choice decisions are needed. Attention must be given to: - Durability (strength); consider investment as well as maintenance cost implications. - Visibility for the road user, and making the intended use clear to the road user. - Availability of materials. - Labor requirements (labor based methods may be preferred as an economic policy). - Existing materials and constructions. - Consistency between materials choice for pavements and for drains.
319
ANNEX
The need for and use of household travel demand surveys
In most cases, the only way to obtain a sufficiently pJecise overview of all aspects of urban travel demand and travel patterns it to conduct a household travel survey. The number of observations required to obtain a statistically reliable estimate of the current trip pattern per mode of transport between traffic zones of origin and destination is quite large. Depending on the required detail in terms of traffic zones, a sample size in the order of 1% of the population may be required. Monitoring of peiforinance and cost of the urban travel system (see chapter 8.3). Repeated household travel surveys play a key role in monitoring the development of the urban travel system over time. Relatively small samples can be used to estimate the macro performance and cost of the urban travel system. The samples can be small because the O/D location aspect is left out, and only the trip distance dimension used. The relevance of monitoring of the macro-aspects of the urban travel system has been explained in chapter 8. Travel deinand models, behavior of travellers (see chapter 8.4). By using travel demand models, the data requirements for estimating trip origiddestination flow matrices can be reduced significantly, in particular by using so-called disaggregate (individua1,travel choice) models. Data from substantially smaller surveys (large enough to get proper estimates per travel-market segment irrespective of the locations of trip origins and destinations) are used to establish trip generation, distribution and modal split models. With these models O/D patterns per mode of transport are then estimated. In their simplest form these models are coefficients per travel market segment. Trafic counts
Additional information from traffic counts can be used as a check, to improve the O/D matrix estimates, but in many urban areas -in particular when most trips are made on foot or by public transport rather than by private car- traffic count data deviate strongly from household travel survey data. Common causes for the misfit between the two are: (i) the traffic counts miss all trips that do not use the main road system; and (ii) in situations where cars are highly expensive relative to average incomes and many car owners have a driver, the travel survey underestimates the extra trips made with the car by the driver during the day, in addition to the ones made and reported by the owner (respondent).
Forecasting
The most difficult aspect of travel demand is not to assess the current demand pattern, but is forecasting its future development. Traffic demand models attempt doing this by using forecasts of the values of so-called “explanatory (or independent) variables” (such as age composition of the population, employment, household incomes, future land use, future travel costs) in combination with the travel demand elasticities (model parameters) of the base year. (Further reference: standard text books on travel demand modeling). Travel survey types
Apart from household travel surveys, a number of other surveys can be useful in certain cases. A list is included below. Examples of these other surveys have not been included, apart from a short road-side O/D survey (in annex l), and an example of a more detailed question to investigate reasons why a traveller prefers travel by a certain mode of travel over alternative modes (at the end of this annex). HH survey (HH and person characteristics, #trips per person, trip purpose, trip origins/destinations, vehicle ownership/availability, modal choice, route choice). O/D survey (area or comdor road-side survey). User-origins survey, conducted at main attractors (markets, shopping streets, hospitals, schools etc). Special purpose surveys (attitudes, stated preferences, modal choice details etc).
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a route or through an area). Cost of transport survey (per mode). Travel time survey (sample of measurements with moving observer, no questionaire).
* Number plate survey (to estimate route choice or transit traffic on 0
0
Reference
Richardson, Ampt and Meyburg. Survey Methods for Transport Planning (covers all aspects very well). EXAMPLE OF A HOUSEHOLD TRAVEL SURVEY A survey form has been reprinted on pages 380-384. The following additional instructions must not to be printed on the survey form. Print some of them on a separate instruction sheet, in a summary form. All interviewers must have a copy of this sheet with them during the interview, to consult it in case of doubt.
1 . Operate in teams of two or three interviewers (preference: three), of which one female interviewer. One in each team is appointed as the team leader. 2. To iclerztiJjl the next household to be interviewed, proceed as follows: a. For each set of interviews your team gets a starting location (indicated as a dot on the city map by the survey leader). Go to that point at the starting time for the interviews (usually the survey leader drops the interviewers at the right spot, and later picks them up again). Around that location you are to interview a pre-determined number of households (for example three HH’s, in one two-hour interview period). b. From the point where you are (the start location or the the previous household) WALK approxiinately THREE MINUTES in a random direction, i.e. you start walking in any direction, take the first side-street or track to your left (or right if to the left there is open land or a long fence). Do not skip narrow street or track! Then take the next street or access track to the right, and count the fifth house after you turned into that street. Ask at that house whether the household living there is prepared to take part in the interview. If more than one household rents a room or rooms in the same house, interview ONE HH ONLY, and define the HH by the group of all persons that lives in the same rental unit (all in the space that falls under a single rent). It is possible that one or more of the persons in the HH that is defined in that way are a remote family member, or friend, or housekeeper, that stays there permanently. Include such persons as HH member. 3. bztroductiorz, reslJoizse or nori-response. Once an interview address (household) has been identified, the team leader explains briefly to the household what the purpose of the interviews is, and asks for their cooperation. Make it clear that the answers will be processed without names or address of the respondents, and will only be used by the survey analysis team. If the answer is NO, or unclear, do not try to persuade the HH to change its mind. You may ask whether they are really sure that they have no time, or do not want to give answers, but if the answer is no again, start from there to identify another HH (procedure in 2b. above). Never accept the offer of e.g. neighbors saying “if they do not want to answer, you can ask us”. This introduces the chance that the survey becomes biased towards those persons that want to convey a message of their own to the interviewers. That is fine in user participation, but NOT in a random HH survey. Record the number of HH’s that refuses to participate in the survey (the non-response). Note: if in the house that you have selected (as the fifth after your last change of walking direction) nobody is at home, simply take the house next-door (do not count houses with nobody home as non-response).
4. Choice qf HH nzembers to be iritemiewed: interview all HH members of 15 years and older. In some special case after the first three simultaneous interviews only one may be left. If it is likely that this remaining interview would take a lot of extra time, or would be disturbed by all other H H members now sitting around, it is better to omit it, and to only record that one (or two) potential respondents could not be interviewed. Make such a note
ANNEX
381
on the survey form of the head of the household, and if possible write down the age and sex of the person that was not interviewed. If the head of the household is not at home, still conduct the interview, if the HH accepts to respond, and ask the next logical choice to fill the form of the head of the household (in most cases the wife). Clearly indicate that the head of HH form was filled by the wife, because her husband was not at home. This is important, to discriminate these responses from those of female heads of household (there are often a significant number of single parent HH’s). Make sure that the female interview team member interviews the wife in the HH. (other female HH members may, if numbers dictate so, be interviewed by male interviewers, but preference is man-man, women-women).
5. Znterview pmceduls: the interviewer reads the question to the respondent, using exactly the words printed on the questionaire. Do not let the respondent him/herself do the reading (s/he can of course be allowed to have a look at the questionaire, but only before or after the interview itself’). Only if the respondent asks for a clarification the interviewer can explain the question using extra other words. The interviewer writes the answer on the questionaire. 6.Znterview, time of the r h y . The preferred time of the day to conduct the interviews is shortly after the end of the working day, say from 6.00 PM (depending on local working hours; it is important that a male head of household will in most cases have come home already. In some cases starting at 5.00 PM may be the preferred option in view of security). Assuming that interviewing one average household takes approximately 30 minutes (including finding it and introducing the interview), one team can interview 3 household per evening. Having 3 interviewers in a team is much better, because it speeds up the interview per household, reduces the interference between different household members that are interviewed and increases the feeling-at-ease of the interview team.
7. Interview, day of the week. Interview should be conducted on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (in this manner the questions -about the travel on the day beforeconcern normal working days, excluding Friday, Saturday and Sunday. If for a special reason one is interested in travel patterns towards mosques, churches, stadiums etc. a special destination based survey should be conducted. Note: experience with interviewing on Saturdays or at noon is disappointing. The choice to do so is sometimes made to avoid security risks (to avoid interviewing after dark), or to allow conducting more interviews on a single day. Those two targets may be achieved, but the problems that are introduced are so big that the entire survey may become almost useless (since it is too biased) (HH members not being at home, confusion about which “previous day” is meant -Friday is often not a day with the normal average travel pattern). 8. Preverit to irituitively select “ideal’’ HH’s for interviewing. Trial interviews have revealed that there is a risk that the interview teams will not follow a strictly random procedure to identify the HH’s. This can be out of fear to leave the bigger streets and go into small side streets (effect: bias towards higher income HH’s), it can also be by with preference picking the nicest looking houses (assuming that there the most friendly people will live, or the best educated; effect: also a bias towards higher income and education).
9. Interview Language. Always conduct the interview in the national language. The form must of course also be printed in that language. Never use English as the language to either print the form or conduct the interview, even not in cases where it is generally accepted as a second language in the country. Not interviewing people in their own language always creates a bias, both as a result of misinterpretation of questions and answers, but also as a result of exclusion of some non-english speakers as respondents. (Note: practical experience revealed that while using university students as interviewers it is important to be clear and strict about this issue, in particular where the university language is in fact English).
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10. Clothing and behavior. Interviewers should always wear clean and unspectacular clothes. Avoid wearing expensive looking clothes or shoes. Behave politely. However, if not treated in a well behaved manner by the respondents, do not accept that. Call the team together and leave the HH without further disputes or quarrels, stating that the the ambiance is not quiet enough to enable a proper interview. The mechanism of selecting the next HH at rt: 3 minutes away from the previous one is also to assure that the HH’s do not influence each other. 11. Travel on the previous day. The travel behavior that the interviewer must ask about is that of the previous day. This means that if the interview is on the Tuesday evening, the questions are about the trips made on the Monday. It is important to be very strict on this. Maybe the respondent did not make a trip on that day, or a very unusual one, and may suggest to tell you about his ‘‘usual’’ trip making. Never accept that. The question is about exactly what trips the person made on the day before (also not on the same day,the Tuesday in the example, because that would systematically eliminate the trips made in the evening of the day). If the person made NO trips, it also is a valid interview, and must be included in the database just as any other properly completed interview. 12. Use a separate questionaire for each separate person that is interviewed within a HH. Make sure that the HH number is coded correctly on all forms used in the same HH. Make the check immediately after finishing the interview, just before leaving. The answers to the questions for the head of the household will be filled on one form only (also immediately, before leaving, check that this is the case). These questions (HHI-3 in the example), must also be coded on the forms of the other HH members (by copying the answers given by the head of the HH). Do this immediately on the morning after conducting the interview, and on the questionaire, not only in the computer. The reason is to facilitate a later return to the questionaires to correct errors that are found in the computer database. After adding the answers to questions to the head of the HH, each person form is complete, and can be further processed independently. In case piles of interview forms get messed up, no problem arises now of not being able anymore which person belongs to which HH. 13. Interview each HH member individually and without spectators. Do not accept that somebody answers the questions for another HH member (or for a HH member that is absent at the time of the interview). Note: trips by young children are not to be recorded. But if for example a mother takes a child to school, that must be recorded as a trip made by the mother.
14.Definition of a trip: All trips to outside the house, which go further than the immediate surrounding of the house must be recorded (or go outside the immediate surroundings of someone’s place of work, for instance during a work break). Wandering around the house without a specific purpose or activity should not be recorded as a trip. Short trips on foot such as going out to collect water or to buy something nearby, or to bring something to somebody, which involve less than 10 minutes at the far end of the trip must be counted as ONE trip (going and coming back combined). Its estimated travel time is the total travel time for going plus coming back, but excluding the time spent for the activity at the far end of the trip. If the activity at the trip destination takes more than 10 minutes, two trips should be recorded: one for going and one for coming back (or going to the next destination) If a bus or daladala or a bicycle is involved, going and coming back should always be recorded as separate trips. Trips that involve the use of more than one mode of transport (e.g. walk to bus, bus, walk to shop), without activity at the points of changing modes (apart from waiting), must be recorded as one trip. The most common combinations are pre-printed as a specific mode of transport choice. For other combinations of modes, code is under the code for the most important mode used in that trip. For example: if somebody gets a lift by a car to a nearby bus stop, and then takes the bus to the city center, record as “bus trip”.
ANNEX
383
15.Map of rraflc zones. Provide all interviewers with a map of the city with precisely drawn boundaries between traffic zones, and zone numbers. Rehearse to assure that all interviewer are fluent in reading the map and in finding common trip destination on the map. Use the map to if possible immediately identify the zones of trip destinations during the interview. Coding of zones has to be done by the interviewer h i d h e r self on the survey sheet, preferably during the interview, or in case of confusion during the interview at home, immediately after the interviews of that day, on the basis of notes and/or memory. However, if you fail to identify a zone of destination, do not invent one, but code as “unknown”: 0. 16.Always coizcliict trial iizterviex*s(+50) to make the interviewers exercise and identify problems with the questionaire or interview procedure or organization or coding, before starting the regular survey 17. Coding. The best option is to code the interviews into the computer directly from the original survey forms, after it has been verified that all zone-codings have been made correctly. The most reliable manner is to have one person do the coding into the computer, during the period of interviewing, if possible on the day after an interview was conducted. If one works with four teams of interviewers, those will per day collect 2 3040 valid interview forms (average 3-4 per HH). For a short survey form, a single person will be able to input those in the computer in a day, for longer interviews two persons will be needed for the task. The advantage of doing it immediately the next day is that the person doing the coding can still ask the interviewers a question if some answers are not clear, or alert the survey leader in case of systematic errors in the interviewing. This volume of interviewing is not very high, a 1200 respondent interview will take approximately 1200/35=34interview days, or 8-9 weeks. However, the advantage is that the operation is much better to control than working with a much larger number of interviewers. The quality of the interviewers is a key factor of success for the survey.
18. Codes. All codes in the survey-form example given below are obvious, such as the actual number given in the answer, in HH1 and HH3 in the example below, * the pre-coded value (1,2,3,4 or 5) in HH2, etc. Yes should be coded (I), no should be coded (0). Include the HH questions in each computer record per person (see 12 above). Additional coding per person: * identification: 6 variables: HH number, person number within HH (1-n), interview zone (where the HH lives), interview team number, survey date and survey month. 0
Open question at the end: no coding. This is reading material for the survey analysts, to be compiled in a narrative manner. Only in case very consistent patterns of suggestions arise, we can try to quantify their occurrence.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES. VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
~ O ~ S E H OTRAVEL L ~ SURVEY "ERVIEW TEAM CODE (letter) "TERVIEW ZONE HOUSEHOLD NUMBER= (fill next line after HH interview compIetion:
SURVEY MONTH
......... DATE .........
Total interview forms in this HH=
QUESTIONS TO HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD (interview is anonvmous. no names asked) age 0-6
KH2. What is your HH income? low-low (put in the right money categories)
low
...
lower-middk
2
1
:circle right answer)
15-18
7-14
...
HH1. How many persons live in your household?
I . .
over 18 ...
upper-middle
high
4
5
3
HH3. What VEHICLES do you have in your household? Vehicles that are fully broken down and cannot be repaired without major costs should not be included.
Number (Ml actuaI number):
Bicycle Cart or wheelbarrow new second hand ... ... ...
Motorcycle/Moped
Car or Pick-up
...
...
PERSONAL questions (to be asked to all .persons...of 15 year and older INDIVII)IJAI,I,Y 1 PERSON NUMBER = ...
(fill afterwards. once interviews in tliir household have been CornpJeLeLd)
( i n d ihc. 3ntv.e.r th:ir npplics, imc per quciiion PI-2; d o n ' t ask :I pcrsirns sc\. hut illark ir )ourwll -unless i i
IS 1101 II~\.I:JUSI
P I . your age?
15-18 (1)
19-24 (2)
(4)
P2. your sex?
male
(1)
female ( 2 )
P3. Personal income? none
(1)
small, irregular
25-39
(2)
(3)
40+
yes, regular (3)
P4. your Occupation? (select the most important one, mark the answer that applies, one answer only) Full time employed, unskilfed labor (industry or office) 1 Full time employed, middle or high staff position 2 Daily labourer, unskilled /or part time job 3 House servant 4 Self employed (full time) 5 Working in own household (not payed) 6 Secondary school or Student 7 Unemployed 8 Not working, Disabled, Ill, Old aged 9 P5. Trip pattern Do you make the same trips on almost every day?
yes(1) / no (0)
P6. Was yesterday a typical day for your trip pattern?
yes(f) i no (0)
ANNEX
385
&
HH.Number&Derson nr =
NOW WE WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT ALL YOUR TRIPS YESTERDAY P7. Yesterday was:
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 3 4 1 2
TRIP FILE First ask all the questions P8-PI2 about trip 1, then come back to question P7 for trip 2 etc.(max. 4 trips can be recorded on this form -it can be printed to accommodate up to 6 trips), then ask P13, etc.
P8. Departure time?(circle the right time period for each trip) Trip 1 1 before 6.00 AM 2 6.00- 8.00 AM 3 8.00-12.00 AM 4 12.00-16.00 PM 5 16.00-18.00 PM 6 after 18.00 PM
Trip 2 1 2 3 4 5 6
Trip 3 1 2 3 4 5 6
Trip 4 1 2 3 4 5 6
Trip 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Trip2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Trip 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Trip4 1 2 3 4
P9. Trip Purpose ? To Workplace (self employed trade/ business) Going Home To School To MarkeVShops Visit Friends Business trip (for employer) Personal message, errand To Health care Other
P10. How did you travel ? (mark the combination that applies, one answer only) Trip 1 Trip2 Trip 3 1 1 1 WALK all the way to destination 2 2 2 Long WALK to save one bus, one BUS 3 Long WALK to save one bus, one DALADALA 3 3 4 Walk, nearest stop, BUS, walk 4 4 Walk, nearest stop, one DALADALA, walk 5 5 5 Walk, TWO BUSES or D, walk 6 6 6 Walk, THREE or more BUSES or D, walk 7 7 7 8 BICYCLE all the way to destination 8 8 BICYCLE, then a BUS or Daladala 9 9 9 MOPED or motorcycle 10 10 10 CAR or Pick-up PASSENGER 11 11 11 12 12 12 CAR or Pick-up DRIVER 13 13 13 EMPLOYER (Bus or pick-up) TRANSPORT 14 14 14 Other
5
6 7 8 9
Trip 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Trip 1 ....
Trip2
Trip 3
Trip4
P11. Where was the trip destination? (zone nr) .
....
....
....
P12a. What was your total travel time? in minutes
....
....
....
....
P12b.
....
....
....
....
out of which walking:
P13. How many trips in total did you make yesterday? (USC this
total number= ...
question as moment of reflection by the respondent, whether all trips made the previous day are properly recorded)
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
w 3
H H . ~ u ~ b e r ~ ~ enrr s=o n trip number: ...
=14. What was the must ~ ~ ~ ~tripu that r tyou ~ made ~ t yesterday? f the most important trip 15 not one of I-4just recorded, replace the trip 4 that you recorded ~y the most important trip, changing the answers to P7-12 to reflect the most important trip.
yes(l) / no (0)
P15. Could you make that trip with another mode of transport?
code = ...
P16. What mode of transport would that have been? (use codes of W O )
P17. What would have been your travef time in that case?
minutes = ...
PiS. Do you r e g ~ € ~make r € ~that trip with this other node?
yes( 1) / no (0)
Pig. That trip -the most ~ m p o r t a ~one t yesterday- where did it start ? (Write name of tocation. Coding should be consistent with previous page. Use this .W&B tocation €or later checks)
Zone number= ...
Origin (write name of street etc): P20. Where did you go to ?
Destination (write name of street etc):
Zone numbet...
...
Corridor code=
__.
P2 I .Which route (corridor) did you take (yesterday)? Corridor (write name of street etc): P22. Av~i~abiI~ty of aiternative modes of transport for this trip? (answer
~uestions)
a. Is there a Bus or Daladala connection that you could use for this trip b, Could you afford to pay the Bus or Daladala fare c. Could you have walked the entire distance d. Did you have a bicycle available -ready for use- for your trip yesterday e. Did you have a car (motorbike) available -ready for use- for your trip yesterday f. Are you able to ride a bicycle (Idid you before) E. Do you have a driving licence for a car
yesfl} / yes(1f / yes(i) / yes(1) / yes( 1) / yes(l) / yes(1) /
no(0) no (0) no (0) no (0) no (0) no (0) no (0)
P23. Xf you have no bicycte, why not ? (circle the answer, only one per column)
most important reason I 2 3
My health does not aiiow me to cycle I had a bicycle but it was stolen I find riding a bicycle unpleasant I cannot afford p-2buy a bicycle The risk of having a traffic accident is too high when you cycle I find riding a bicycle backward Women should not cycle The trips I have to make are too long, so cycling is not possible There is no place where you can park your bicycle without risk of stealing My clothing does not allow me to cycle Other reason
4
5 6 7 8 9
10 11
other reason i 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11
ANNEX
387
HH.Number&Derson nr =
OPEN QUESTION
(personal question)
[if more suggestions than I . number them)
Do you have a suggestion on something very concrete that could be done to make transport in the city much better for you ? (specify what should be done, where, and who should do it) (c.g. You, your Neighborhood, the Municipality, the Police, your Employer, the Bus Company, Bus drivers, ....)
observations by the interviewer: Observations may include irregularities that occurred during the interview, a mark"unre1iable" if you feel the respondents in this household did not respond seriously, or an interesting story someone told you about hisher experiences in the traffic.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION I .3 - JAN 2001
Sxample of a detailed travel survey question, to investigate the reasons why a traveler trefers travel by one mode of travel over other modes. Include similar questions: You go by bus, why not walk? not cycle? You cycle, why not walk? not bus?
21. You walked the entire way, Why did you not use a Bus or a Dala dala ? (circle if tile answer is yes) true bus or daia-dala service avaiiable for this trip. 3. There is (circle if the answer i s yes) true afford to pay a bus ticket. 3. I can B above is “Yes,true ”, taking a bus was not possible. Go to 0 2 now. ‘f tlte answer to A
did nor use a bus because: L.1 wanted to save money
(for all questions circle m, or circlc m)
?.On foot this trip is quicker 3.1 travelled with someone else or took a child or baby along $.I visited friends or a shop on my route 5.Waiting for Bus/ D a b dala takes too long (wherc you get in first, or change) 3.DaIa dalas Buses are unreliablie, you never know when they come 7.Yesterday the weather was fine for walking 3.1 like walking better than a bus or Dala dala very nice( l} I >.I find Buses: very nice( 1) I 10.1 find Dala dalas: I 1 .I’m afraid of being harassed or robbed in a Bus or DaladaIa 12.1 am afraid the Dala dala will have a traffic accident 13.Otherreason (write short answer) : Piease also mark the sin& most important reason with an arrow.
yes I no yes I no yes I no yes I no yes I no yes I no yes I no yes I no I don‘t care(2) I terrible(3) I don’t care(2) I terrible(3) yes I no yes I no
number=
Q2. You walked the entire way, Why did you not g g J g ? A. I had bicycle available for this trip. true (circle if the answer is yes) (circle if the answer is yes) true B. I had possibility to hire (or borrow) a bicycle for this trip (fiire answer to A and B above is “Yes, true ’’ , taking a bicycle was not possible. Go to 0 3 now.
I did not cycle because:
(for all questions circle m, or circle no)
1 .On foot this trip is quicker 2.1 travelled with someone else or took a child or baby along 3.1 cannot park my bicycle at this destination, l’m afraid my bicycle is stolen 4.My clothing forbids me to cycle 5.1 like walking better than cycling 6.My health forbids me to cycle this distance 7.0ur culture forbids women to cycle S.lf I cycfe other people Iook down on me Because the route thui would have to cycle: 9. makes a long detour 10. is unsafe: on a road with heavy traffic, and unsafe road crossings 1 1. is dangerous: risk of harassment, too lonely, no street lights 12. is difficult: badly paved or unpaved, too narrow or too steep 13. is unattractive: no shade from trees, filthy 14.0ther reason (write short answer):
Please also mark the single most important reason with an arrow.
Q3. You walked, is your route: Attractive: clean, shaded by trees, nice to meet people, etc. Direct: the shortest possible route without a detour Unsafe: the route involves significant traffic accident risks Dangerous: significant risk of harassment, too lonely, no street lights Difficult: badly paved or unpaved, too narrow or too steep Slow due to congestion: too many pedestrians on a too narrow track
yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
I I I I I I I I
yes yes yes yes yes
I no I no / no I no I no
no no no no no no
no no
number= yes yes yes yes yes yes
I no / no i no I no I no I no
ANNEX
389
Conducting traffic counts is a topic covered in regular transport planning textbooks, to which one is referred for further details. Here, only a few observations concerning urban traffic counts are included, related to the subject. In most cases, traffic counts carried out as part of the planning process described in chapters 7 and 8 will have one of the following aims: (i) estimation of peak traffic intensities on a road or intersection, in order to classify it in the right road category, and to assess what mixing between M T and NMT is possible; or (ii) estimation of peak pedestrian or bicycle flows on a route section in order to calculate the required track width (capacity); or (iii) estimation of the traffic volume and composition on a road before an intervention in order to later assess whether the traffic volume and or composition changed after the intervention; or (iv) counting of traffic flows on an intersection or crossing point or congested NMT route in combination with delay measurements, in order to analyze intersection (and crossing) efficiency and changes that occur as an effect of interventions. For the last application (analysis of delays), no average traffic volumes are required (or even useful), but only careful simultaneous counting of traffic volumes and delays during short periods of time, mainly in peak traffic conditions. Data can be used for direct analysis (e.g. graphs of waiting times of vehicles or pedestrians as a function of traffic flow intensity), or in an intersection simulation model. For the first and second application, correct classification of roads, assessment of the possibilities for mixed NMT and NMT traffic and NMT track capacity calculations, a high counting accuracy is not required. There is no need to get an ADT estimate with a low error margin. A good impression of approximate traffic peak levels is enough. This means that counts during a number of peak hours on two or three working days are sufficient. The use of short distinct 15-minutes counting intervals (three per hour) is recommended (see counting format below; instead of using cumulative counts over a period of several hours). For the calculations it is recommended to use a traffic volume 25% higher than the observed peak, as a safety margin and to take into account future growth of traffic. For the third application, obtaining reasonably low error margins is more important. Moreover, in this case making an estimate of ADT as well as of peak and off-peak traffic volume is desirable. The main sources of inaccuracy are: a. Too infieyuerir counts relative to the natural variations in the volume and composition of the traffic that is being counted (for estimates of the accuracy of traffic counts as a function of counting frequency and duration and traffic volume see standard textbooks). In general, the larger the flow the smaller the variations. For a flow in excess of 1,000 vehicles per day ten counting days will usually assure an error margin of less than 10%. In urban areas the traffic intensity on the roads that one wants to count is in most cases high (for both M T and NMT counts). If seasonal variations are expected to exist they must be measured by counting in the relevant different seasons; significant differences often exist between dry and rainy seasons, in particular in urban areas where accessibility during the rainy season becomes a problem. In practice, the variation in traffic flow can best be judged by comparing observed traffic flows on a number of counting days (e.g. 5 days), and between individual 15minute counting intervals. Usually there is a significant variation in urban traffic intensity between different days of the week (e.g. higher (lower) volumes on e.g. market days (Saturdays and Sundays)). If the purpose of the traffic counts is to later estimate a change in traffic volume in reaction to an intervention in the road infrastructure, one should therefore always only compare counts before and after an intervention on identical days of the week, times of the day and seasons. For this application (assessment of changes in traffic flow volume and composition), to arrive at reasonable enor margins (120%), it is desirable to conduct counts during five days (or more, if the observed variations are high).
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
b. Errors made during the counting can be mistakes (counting in wrong categories), incorrect time registration, negligence (not counting part of the traffic), or fabrication of fake data by counters. To limit these counting errors, one must train a dedicated group of counters -to be kept on-board throughout the project-, supervise them carefully, give very clear instructions, assure acceptable working conditions, and process data immediately after the counting for control purposes. For control purposes it is recommended that the person in charge of organizing the counts during a number of counting intervals him(her)self counts a flow (chosen at random, as a duplicate of the count of one of the observers, without this observer knowing). c. Data processing and interpretatiorz errors (such as errors in entering the data into the database). To eliminate these, original counting sheets should be filed accurately and a simple routine testing on the range of counting results carried out immediately at the moment of first processing. In addition, make sure that on the data sheet that is used, the flow(s) that are counted are indicated correctly, by means of an arrow (arrows) on the schematic intersection or road section sketch. And: make sure that one writes down the starting time of each counting period on the data sheet. Between 15 minute counting periods a resting time of approximately 5 minutes is recommended to allow careful documentation of each counting sheet. In case of simultaneous traffic counts and traffic delay measurement, use a counting intervals of 5 minutes (better concentration). Given the limitations of time and budget for traffic counts that in most cases exist, it is seldom possible to carry out such frequent counts that small changes in traffic volume or composition could be identified. Therefore, realistically, only large effects can be measured in this manner, in the order of magnitude of 25% or more change. Those cost-benefit calculation components that are based on the traffic volume (volume of users x benefit per user), such as VOC reduction benefits, modal shift benefits and travel time reduction benefits, cannot be carried out with an accuracy that is better than that of the underlying traffic counts (seldom better than k 20%). It is for that reason recommended to use uncomplicated and robust benefit-cost indicators only (see annex 15). Conducting the counts
Before conducting traffic counts an overall traffic observation plan should be made, which specifies the data requirements as well as how the data will be recorded, processed and used. The counting could e.g. be organized beginning with one week of daily counting. With four counting teams, working 4 hours per day each (in two shifts), four locations could be covered for 4 hours per day each (i.e. twelve 15-minute counts per day per location). In view of the expected traffic densities and the need to count both NMT and MT, one team requires for counters. Thereafter one could count on one day per week, with the same teams (for example teams of undergraduate engineering or social science students), the locations for counting being determined by the progress of the work. An example of a counting form for conducting hand counts is given below. Print actual counting forms in such a manner that each counter gets a form that only shows the flow and vehicle types that s h e has to count. Add an ikon (sketch) of the vehicle type in each row. This reduces the number of classification mistakes. The distinction between different MT categories that is used depends on the purpose of the count. Usually a distinction in (1) private cars or one-passenger taxis, (2) light goods vehicles (including pick-ups), (3) Heavy and medium size trucks, (4) minibuses (or shared taxis), (5) large buses, and (6) motorcycles is sufficient. For normal intersections (including T-junctions), only the traffic coming from each of the approaches has to be counted, counting each vehicle as either going straight or turning left or right. For pedestrians and cyclists (NMT) only count the total number per category approaching from each side, without discriminating in which direction they leave the intersection. In practice it is not possible to observe that accurately enough for a single observer, as soon as the traffic volume is significant.
ANNEX
391
For roundabouts, it is also not possible to observe accurately enough where an approaching MT vehicle leaves the roundabout, so for a roundabout the approaching and the leaving flows (the entry and the exit lanes) must both be counted. Since for roundabout capacity it is important how long vehicles circulate (turn left, go straight or turn right), it may be desirable to take a video of the traffic flows from a high point overlooking the roundabout, and count the traffic flows from the video. Instead of counting the number of incoming pedestrians etc. from each direction, it is sometimes more important to count the number of pedestrians, cyclists and carts that cross each intersection arm (without for pedestrians separately counting from which side to which side one crosses; cyclists and carts will in general cross in one direction only). This gives better infonnation about the required dimensions of crossing facilities and interference between NMT and MT (impact on intersection capacity). Similar counting forms can be made for road sections. For MT there are only the two traffic directions to count (a separate observer for each direction). For NMT, the easiest way of counting usually is with one observer for each side of the road, counting bicycles in the normal flow direction, and all pedestrians and carts on that side of the road, irrespective of their direction. On access roads and NMT-only routes the easiest way is to have one observer counting all NMT categories in one direction plus the odd MT vehicle in the same direction, and another observer for the other direction.
GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1 3 - JAN 2001
392
Exampte for ~ ~ ~ E R S E C ~ ~
TRAFFIC COUNT FORM Intersection name: ............
MT TRAFFIC FLOW THAT IS COUNTED: Show sketch of the intersection, mark the counted flows with arrows (count approaching vehicles only) Counted by (name):
DATE:
Duration of countin intervals (in minutes): INTERVAL 1 time= .........
GOING STRAIGHT
(15 minute intervals are recommended)
1 LEFT TURN
1 RIGHT TURN
I
I
CAR LGV MGV/H GV Minibus Larae bus etc. include all relevant vehicle cateaories INTERVAL 2 time= ........ etc.
GOING STRAIGHT
LEFT TURN
...
NMT TRAFFIC FLOW THAT IS COUNTED: Show sketch of the intersection, mark the counted flow with arrow. (Only count the flows ~ i p p r o a c ~the i n ~intersection)
Counted by (name):
INTERVAL 1 time= ............
1 PEDESTRIAN I 1 BICYCLE I SMALL CART
Etc.
...
DATE:
TOTAL FLOW FROM APPROACH
I
I
TURN
ANNEX
393
Spot (approach) speed measurement (harid riie~isiireirieritLit spot, with .stoptmtch)
1.Mensurirzg track. Mark a 50 in long measuring track with two vertical sticks (use ineasuriiig tape to get an accurate 50m!). Keep sticks and observers far enough from the edge of the carriageway not to influence driver behaviour. If convenient use an existing landmark (e.g. electricity pole) as stick 1. 2. Procecliire. Two observers and one stopwatch are required. For each measurement: 1. Give signal to helper to make observation on first vehicle that comes now. Cross vehicle type on data sheet. 2. Helper raises hand at moment vehicle passes stick 1 (where he stands), push stopwatch. 3. Observe moment vehicle passes stick 2 (where you stand), push stopwatch again. 4. Write time, in seconds. with 1 decimal number, on data sheet (for example: 4.6 seconds).
3. Rnriclorrz vehicle selectiori. For example: first complete your recording, then start counting vehicles and after letting 4 or 9 vehicles pass, measure the first vehicle that comes next ( 5 t h or 10-th; adapt number that you let pass unmeasured to traffic intensity).
4. Mark ~ ' r o i i gob.servntions ci.s,fcilse. If you suspect an error in tlie accuracy of signalling the correct moment of passage of the vehicle by either yourself or your helper, immediately put a cross through the measurement.
5 . Calibratiori check. Organize that someone with a vehicle with a speed meter of good quality drives past your observation point several times at a fixed speed (e.g. alternating 50 k d h r and 40 kidhr), for (rough) calibration purposes. The accuracy that you can achieve with this type of measurement is not too great, but in many cases sufficient if the measurement is carried out carefully. Assuming a maximum measuring error o f 0 3 seconds per observer, one gets the maximum error of the table below. The ei-ror will in most cases be a slow reaction. If the helper syste~iiaticallyis too slow in raising hidher hand, one will tend to over-estimate the vehicle speed (underestimate the time used for the 50 in). If the observer with the stopwatch is systematically slower, tlie speed will be underestimated. If both have random deviations in timing both ways, those will compensate each other in half of the cases, so the actual error will be a less than the iiiaximuin. After some exercise, a capable team can limit the total error to 0.5 seconds or less (so obtain twice the accuracy in the table below).
itieusured riirie to drive 50 i n (s.ssec.)
estirizuted vehicle speed Kw'hr
irrecisuririg error
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
90 60 45 36 30 25 22.5 20
1 1 1 1
18
(Sec)
I and if 2 2 2 2
error iiicirgin iiiter\:al i n estiniute
I 2 - 120 51 - 1 2 40-51 32 - 40 21 - 32 22 - 30 20 - 25 18 - 22 16 - 20
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Average speed measurement (moving observer)
To measure the average speed of a vehicle (or pedestrian) on a longer route, the only applicable measuring method is to follow the vehicle to be measured by a similar vehicle, that is driving behind it. To obtain a proper accuracy, use a route length of at least 3 km. For common O/D pairs drive the entire distance (3-15 km’s, as applicable). To obtain a sufficient accuracy, make 50 observations per route (both in the peak and off-peak), and calculate the average and the standard deviation. Door-to-door travel time measurement (moving obsewer)
For walk-only trips and bicycle trips, the door-to-door travel speed does not differ significantly from the average speed. However, for journeys by public transport and by car, there can be a large difference between the average in-vehicle speed (which includes invehicle congestion delays) and the average door-to-door travel speed, which in addition includes the time required for access to/from the vehicle (to/from door from/to stop or parking place) and the waiting time at the PT stop and possibly at interchange points. For car traffic, the easiest procedure is to estimate the average time required to get from the parking spot to the trip destination by a moving observer measurement, starting from parking vehicles. Already start counting the time at the moment that the car starts the parking maneuver, not when the passenger gets out of the car. At the residential side one can usually assume a “default” extra time of one minute for parking (in case of concentrated parking lots at a distance from the house, use the same procedure as at the destination). These can then be combined with average in-vehicle speed (see above) to calculate the average door-to-door speed. For bus traffic, the easiest option is to: (i) use a moving observer method for the bus trip (plus interchanges for the O/D pairs where that applies; actually make the trip by bus); (ii) estimate the average waiting time for the right bus from the bus frequency (measured at the stop). If not all waiting passengers can get on the first bus that comes, count the number of passengers that can get on as a percentage of those waiting; and (iii) while traveling on the bus, interview passengers about the time they walk to the bus stop from their trip origin and at their trip destination (in most cases they will be a bit too optimistic in their estimate). The more demanding option (only to be used if there is a reason for it, e.g. a special PT study) is to also use a real moving observer observation for the walking trip to/from the stop.
395
ANNEX
APPROACH SPEED MEASUREMENT FORM
(CAR, TRUCK)
SPOT WHERE SPEED IS MEASURED: (sketch) location name: ........... Date and Day: Time of the day:
Counted by (name):
1. Give signal to helper to make observation on first vehicle that comes now. Cross the right vehicle type on the data sheet. 2. Helper raises hand at moment vehicle passes rod 1 (where he stands), push stopwatch. 3. Observe moment vehicle passes rod 2 (where you stand), push stopwatch again. 4. Write time, in seconds, with 1 decimal number, on data sheet (for example: 4.6 seconds). Repeat 1-4. Pick vehicles at random (irrespective of their speed!). E.g. every fifth or tenth vehicle that approaches after you have fully completed the previous measurement. Speed calculation: afterwards.
Average speed=
km/hr
Standard deviation=
km/hr
V(SS%)=
km/hr
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES. VERSION I .3 - JAN 2001
Traffic conflicts
A traffic conflict analysis technique developed by the department of traffic planning and engineering of the University of Lund (Sweden) provides an uncomplicated method to observe and analyse traffic accident hazards. A traffic conflict is defined as a situation in which a collision would have occurred if road users had continued with unchanged speeds and directions (road users can be cars, trucks, pedestrians, carts bicycles, motorcycles, ...). 00.renwtioii
li'iiie-to-ncci~~eiii trrble
00.sei.iwtioii
izportiiig
CotTJlicts c m d iiccirieiits
Conflict observation is carried out by an observer overlooking the spot under analysis from a convenient point. The observer estimates the speed of the road user(s) and their distance to the point of collision, both at the moment that one or both road users take evasive action to prevent the collision. It requires some exercise to estimate speeds and distances; but after a week of training most observers can use the method properly. Distance estimates can be supported by simply measuring the main dimensions of the spot (carriageway width, distance between center of the intersection (or crossing point etc.) and typical land marks, such as electricity poles of traffic signs). It is also possible to use a video observation from a fixed camera, which is analysed later in the office. From a table (reproduced below) the so-called TA (time to accident) value can be determined. If the TA value is lower than a certain value (which is higher the higher the speed of the road user is), the accident is defined as serious. In practice, with such a TA value it is difficult to avoid a collision, although in almost all cases the road users actually manage to avoid the collision because one or both react well. The graph with TA values is also reproduced below. For each serious conflict a brief report is made, in addition to speed and distance to the theoretical collision point documenting the location (with a situation sketch), the weather conditions, pavement condition (wet or dry), time of the day, types of road users involved in the conflict, for pedestrians: sex and approximate age, avoiding action (braking, changing direction or acceleration), whether it was possible to adequately change direction (swerve) and additional special remarks about the causes of the incident, if relevant.(Reference: Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University, PObox 118, S-221 00 Lund, Sweden). Counting the number of serious conflicts that occur at a location allows to assess its level of traffic hazard. Repeating the same measurement after an intervention enables to assess the amount of hazard reduction that was achieved (only compare measurements under corresponding conditions (weather, time of day, visibility, traffic intensity, same day, etc.). However, one remark is important: there is no straight-forward relation between the level of accident hazard measured in this manner and actually happening of serious and fatal traffic accidents. In particular fatal accidents often happen unexpectedly at a location that was not considered dangerous by the road users (and may not be the scene of another fatal accident for years). Spots that are well known conflict points may on the other hand experience relatively few severe accidents compared to the number of conflicts, because the road users know that the spot is dangerous and are therefore more attentive. Traffic accident recording
To enable a proper documentation and analysis of urban traffic accidents. it is a requirement to establish a well organized accident recording system, in which all accidents reported by the police are recorded immediately after they occurred, in sufficient detail. A very suitable recording system has been developed over the years by TRL, which can be applied easily on a PC (MAAP, Microcomputer Accident Analysis Package). It is of course important to simultaneously assure proper instructions to the traffic police concerning the actual recording of accidents, to minimize under-reporting. Any recording system is only as good as the data that are entered into it. (Reference: Transport Research Laboratory, Old Wokingham road,Crowthorne, Berkshire, RGI 1 6AU. United Kingdom). (1)
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
Out-of pocket transport costs
For private means of transport (walk, cycle, motorcycle, car) the costs per passengerkin are the vehicle operating costs per passengerkm (estimation see below). For public transport two definitions of costs are important: the cost of the trip for the passenger and tlie cost of the trip for the bus service provider, assuming a norrnal 15% profit and risk margin. Public Tmz.sport iiser costs
The cost for the passenger can be measured by recording the fares. In some cases a flat rate applies (verify the average length of the trip for which the fare applies, for long trips passengers can sometimes have to use two or three buses). In other cases the fare varies per bus route depending on the total route length, in others the fare depends on the actual length of the trip of the passenger (different passengers on e.g. the same bus paying different fares, depending on where they get on and off). The fare also sometimes depends on the time of the day, being higher the more captive the passenger is (highest fares in the peak hours and after dark, lower price in the off peak period during the day). In some cases prices have to be negotiated. For recording average price in such a case let the recording be carried out by a regular customer (outsiders may get different prices).
PTprovirlercosts
The vehicle operating costs of a bus (or of a two- or three-wheeled PT vehicle) can be estimated in the manner described below. To obtain reliable figures, the best procedure is to have observers travel on the buses for a number of consecutive hours per day, recording tlie passengers numbers getting on and off during tlie trip. Experience indicates that this can also be done without a problem in informal public transport, as long as tlie procedure is discussed with the operator in advance, explained as meant to observe the average speed, waiting times and operational problems experienced by the buses, and the observer pays for every trip again at the turning point. From a sufficiently large sample of observations of this type reliable bus productivity estimates can be made, which is the most critical component of the vehicle operating costs per passengerkin. The cost of the vehicle, maintenance, tyres etc. can best be estimated by interviewing a sample of garages. The actual practices concerning licenses and taxes can best be verified by interviewing both the responsible collection agencies and a sample of operators. For proper NMT and mobility planning, it is important to have a proper overview of public transport fares as well as VOC's. First of all will tlie difference between the two give an indication about the fare reduction potential, and therefore the chances that improved NMT facilities will, by decreasing the captiveness of the passenger, trigger fare reductions. Secondly can an analysis of bus operating practice indicate how much improvement in bus productivity is possible, e.g. from passengers getting odoff more concentrated in bus bays. Both elements are important in designing good NMT policies, the target in all cases being good overall low-cost mobility policies rather than just enhancing specific modes (walking and cycling). Unit cost of different modes of transport
The vehicle operating cost of a bicycle can be estimated in the same way as in the example bclow, for a car (from the new price of the bicycle, tyres, etc; there is only no cost of fuel). For walking costs, retail prices of the average shoe must be used.
A simplified inethod of estimating the unit costs of transport by a particular mode of transport is given below. Relationships between e.g. the speed of a vehicle and its fuel consumption, or between the roughness of a road and the maintenance cost have been left out of consideration. As an example, the unit costs per passengerkm of a car have been approximated below (in financial costs only). In each particular case the proper unit costs for each of the components should be taken that apply in that case (country). The ingredients of the calculation (annual vehicle cost and productivity) are shown below.
399
ANNEX
Annual vehicle cost estimate (example: car) Cost o ~ ~ c The r ~ costs ~ ~ ofuthe ~ capital should be calculated on tlie basis of the current new value of
the vehicle (the replacement value). New value (market price) 20,000 (all values are in US$). Lifetime N=10 years, interest rate 12%. Annuity cost per year 17.7% (see annex 15). Annuity costs of capital
3,540
0~er.utior~uZ ~ f ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Ae proper ~zu~ estimate ? c e .of the costs of maintenance requires reliable data on maintenaiice costs in the past in the city (country). The costs of mainthing the engine and moving parts can differ significantly, depending 011 the climate, driver behaviour, m~i~teIiance discipline and road conditions. Since a lifetime of 10 years has been taken above, this example takes 10% of the new value for average annual maintenance costs during that period. For a bicycle a similar percentage of the new value can be taken as a first estimate (later investigate the actuat costs in more detail). The costs of vehicle tyres can best be estimated separately, not as part of maintcnance (this also applies for bicycles). The lifetime of the tyres (in km‘s) depends on the quality of the road pavement, of the tyre, and on user behavior. Local data should be used. This example takes 30,000 km per tyre.
^OStS
Maintenance costs 10% Tyres (30,00Okni/tyre, 15,000 velikIn’s/year)
2,000 300
Fuel. Fuel consumption per km varies depending on type of traffic (higher in urban areas, with much accelerationkfeceleration. Costs of lubricants are as a rule of thumb assumed to be 10% of the costs of fuel. Fuel consumption of 1 liter per 10 kin is taken here.
Fuel costs (10 kmil, 15,000 kin; fuel price 0.75 US$/l)
1,240
bisiir-ur~x.The
costs of accidents and theft risk can be estimated accurately from insurance company tariffs in those markets where reliable insur-ance for all costs can he obtained. In many developing countries this is not possible. In the calculatio~itlie damage and theft risk rather than the actual insurance premium has to be taken. In the example 10% is used. Insurance (10%)
2,000
Licenses iznd taxes. To be foiiiid out in each particular case. In the example licenses and vehicle taxes of 3% of the value of thc car are assumed.
rotat
Productiviry of !lie vehicle
Licenses and vehicle taxes
600
Lnbortr; profit crrzrl risk. Not applicable for private vehicle.
n.a. 9,680
The variables in which the vehicle performance (output) is measured are: (i) passengerkm, i.e. the number of kilometers that the vehicle has driven times the occupancy of the vehicle (the number of passengers inside -minus the driver, in case of an employed driver that has no own interest in the destinations that the vehicle goes to). (ii) tonkm, i.e. the total number of tons that the vehicle has each transported one kilometre (or: the total km’s the truck has driven times the average paying tonnage that it has carried per trip).
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRi4N AND BICYCLE TltAFI:IC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION I 3 - JAN 2001
0
0
,.
The first factor that determines tlie total production of passengerkin’s or tonkin’s is the techiiical availability of the vehicle to perform its transport function. In other words, how many days per year was the vehicle ready to drive, and how many days was it unavailable (due to being under repair. or waiting to undergo repair. breakdown during a trip etc. Waving a vehicles ready for use during 300 days per year (availabil~tyof 82%) is generally considered good performance. The second factor is: out of the total time that the vehicfe is available for use, how much is it actually being used. This is iioniially not expressed in days, but in hours, because in many cases a vehicle is for example used every day, but only in the morning and evening. Utilization can be measured as a percentage of the time that the vehicle is available, and it caii also be expressed in the total kilonieters that the vehicle drives per year (or average km’s per day). For the calculation of utilization as percentage of available time, the loading and unloading time of freight vehicles must be included. Achieviiig a high vehicle utilization is a key task of the management of a transport company. The third factor is: once the vehicle i s on the road, how much is it transporting. How many useful passengers are inside, aiidior how much useful (paying) freight’?For freight, the load factor depends heavily on whether the vehicle has return cargo, i.e. caii it load paying cargo at or near the point of delivery of its initial Ioad or not? For most types of urban freight the return cargo is zero. In addition it is of importance whether the vehicle cai~iesa full load or only a partload. For private vehicles, the Ioad factor is the average number of useful passengers during the trip. For a bus this is the total number of paying passengers. including those that only use it for part of the itinerary, weighted for the length of their trip.
Having estimated tlie annual costs of the vehicle as well as its total prodiictivity (in a consisten1 manner, the costs being a function of the annual kin’s), the deteriiiination of the unit costs is a matter of dividing the costs by the annual production.
Irr the exmzple annual production of passengerkm’s: Assume: annual km’s 15,000 kiii per year. Passenger occupaiicy 2.0. Thus, annual passengerkin’s: 15,000 x 2 = 30,000 passkin. Thus: Financial unit costs of the car per passengerkm is 9,680 / 30,000 = 32 US$ cent Unit costs of tra-ansportinfrastructnreper passengerkm or tonkm The unit costs per Tonkin or Passengerlmi of the transport infrastructure have not been included above. A rough estimate of them can be made quite easily: 1 . First aii estimate has to be made of the annual costs of the infrastructure concerned (per unit. e.g. per kin of road). This corisists of a combination of the annuity costs of investment (capital costs), and the annual maintenance and the costs of traffic management.
2. Secondly. an estimate has to be made of the total use of the infrastructure, per year. For existing roads this can be based on traffic counts. The traffic volume then has to be translated in passenger numbers and total freight tonnage (by multiplying the vehicle numbers with their average passenger occupancy and/or average load tonnage).
3. Thirdly, an estimate has to be made which part of the road (or other infrastructure) costs should be atti-ibuted to passenger traffic. and which part to freight traffic (andior other forms of traffic) (in the absence of reasons to do it differently, one could equate 1 passengerkm to 1 tonkm, and attribute costs accordingly). 4. Finally, by dividing the annual costs of the unit (e.g. km) attributed to passenger traffic by the total number of passengerkm’s travelled on the unit. one gets the unit cost per passengerkm.
ANNEX
40 1
Visual recording of traffic situations (“USE”)
It is useful to document the typical traffic situations that NMT and MT experience on the roads and NMT-only routes (i.e. the “~tse“of the roads) with a series of ph~~togi-aplis, Carefully register the dateiyear, time of the day, cityidistrict, road name and exact location at the back of the photo. Road use can differ strongly between different times of the day and seasons, so document both moining/evening peak and off-peak. and dry and rainy season situations. A well taken photograph gives a lot of information, aid can play a very useful role in professional analysis of problem causes and in design work. Photographs can also play an iinportant role in discussions (in user participatioii events as well as in workshops), because they can quickly focus peoples attention on certain aspects of what is being discussed. and strengthen the accuracy with which people realize (recollect) the reality of the issues that they are discussing. An archive that documents the traffic situation in the city ovei- a long number of years is valuable to assess changes that have taken place over time. Visual recording of road conditions (“SHAPE”)
Good photographs of road and NMT route conditions play a similar role as photo‘s of road use. Because for these photo’s it is important to see as much of the road shape as possible. one always tries to make them at a monient with very little traffic and p1aii-i day light (offpeak, middle of the day: in the rainy season during dry intervals). Document daylyear and location. A series of photographs is a standard component of a route inventory (see annex J ). I7isualrecording of interven~ions
A. Before and after, for analyzing and docuiiienting intervention effects. B. During construction, to document construction details, and as a supervision tool. Sicper-vision mid yiralig control
Photographs of interveiitions can play an important role in reporting on the intervention effects. They oftcn convey the impact of an intervention well. Make photo’s of both the “use” aspect and the “shape” aspect. For inteiventions with a less clearly defined location, such as cleaning solid waste along a route or parking control, one has to test which lype of photo gets the inessage aci-oss best. Good visual material is often the easiest and inost convincing way of reporting. Quantitative data are of course needed to ineasure the size and scale of effects and enable benefit-cost considerations, but for inost people numbers arc not the primary means of communication. Photographs of the work during construction are an important element of quality assurance. both for evaluating the technical quality of the work afterwards, and for an audit of the costs. For variation orders (deviation from the coutract design and bill of q u a n t i t ~always ~~ make careful photographs of the work while it is being carried out. Road use and traffic behavior observation
An uncomplicated traffic /urban infrastructure observation method combines three ingredients. Observation of * the shape of the road (or NMT-only route) (at the locatioii aiialyzed), the actual use of the road, and * the function that this road has in the urban road network.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
The third element (“function”) cannot be observed in the streets, it is a planners concept: consult a good road map of the city to have an idea of the function of a road in the road network of the city, e.g. residential access, transit corridor, etc. -see chapter 14, classification of roads. Orctdoor observarim
The most important skill that is required for observation of elements one and two (“shape” and “use”) is that of careful looking, and of making precise notes of what you see. No fixed i-ules can be given, apart from the rule that one needs to spend enough time. Observe the traffic situation at one point for at least 15 minutes from the same position (make yourself coinfortable), and make observations on different times of the day, including early morning and evening. Good observation is a skill that can only be obtained by sufficient field practice, and every traffic engineer should make it a matter of personal pride to become a good observer. An important aspect of good observation of the actual use of a road (a facility) is to avoid having (or immediately forming) your own predetermined opinion about what you expect to see. If you have a strong expectation that you will see a certain type of traffic behavior, you may actually think to see it, where unbiased observers might not see the same. As an example: if you are intuitively convinced that bus drivers have a very i-ude traffic behaviour and do not respect the needs of any other road user, you may have a great difficulty in correctly observing a behaviour that contradicts your “bias” (such as that the bus drivers in reality, at the location that you analyze, behave very cautious and with consideration for other road users). The key to proper observation is: look carefully and neutrally at what happens, and describe that well, without a judgement about what you see. And: realize that you will probably see very different types of behaviour by various types of road user and at different times of the day. So do not try to identify “the” typical road use, but document the variety of I-oad uses that you see. And: while documenting this variety, try to estimate the frequency of different types of behaviour. (as an example: the behaviour while crossing a road may be very different between a mother walking to school with a small child and a young adult. Apart from noting such differences, it is also important to know whether e.g young adults are approximate~y20 % of the pedestrian road users at that point, or 5%, or 50%). Organize your observations (the report that you file afterwards) under separate headings: * USE (watch how different categories of user behave 011 the road; record per category of road user). e USE (type and frequency of conflicts between different users). * SHAPE (design, and how it looks now: dimensions, types of pavenient and pavement qualities; include the road shoulders and walkways in your observation). Conflicts between road USE and road SHAPE. Conflicts between road USE and road FUNCTION. * Conflicts between road SHAPE and road FUNCTION. * Add a sketch of the location (road) that you observe and from what position you are looking, for later reference. Measure the main dimensions (e.g. road width) and add those TO you sketch. At the end add a summary of traffic accident hazards that you think exist at this location (-if any). 0
Observation of road and travel conditions by road users
Road usei-s. NMT as well as MT, are experts on urban travel by the fact that they travel daily, and know the trips that they always make well. As part of the user participation process, one can ask users to write down their observations on different aspects of their travel, such as safety, experiencing waiting times and traffic delays, inaccessible routes and the need to make detours. traffic behavior of other road users etc. In many cases, literacy (not being accustomed to write things down) may form a constraint for this type of user contributions, and result in a significant bias in the contributions that are made towards people with a high education. To prevent that such a bias would result in an unbalanced account of user interests, focus group discussions should be used (see chapter 17).
ANNEX
403
Traffic delay measurement Measuring and analyzing traffic delays is a good method to assess the efficiency of traffic flows, in particular for intersections, which are the most critical capacity bottlenecks in an urban network. An uncomplicated manner to carry out delay measurements is described briefly below. 1.The observation always concerns itself with only ONE traffic flow at a time. For example: left turning traffic on an intersection (always make sure to sketch the measured flow on the form).
2. The interpretation of the delay measurement is only possible if the col-responding traffic flow counts are available for exactly the same observation period, for all flows that are relevant to the one of which the delays are measured. I.e. the “delayed” flow and the opposing flows that are the reason for the delay. In the case that the delay measurements are used to verify the accuracy of estimates by an intersection simulation model, all traffic flows on the intersection must be counted for the same time period as the delay measurement. 3. The easiest way of calculating average delay in a certain vehicle flow at a certain point is to count the total queue length in that flow at that point in a glance, exactly every 10 seconds. If the queue is not too long (not more than 3-5 vehicles on average and never more than around lO), the counting error can be very small for a concentrated observer, if the observation is not continued for more than 5 minutes. The average delay can be calculated from the queue length (see 7. below). The standard delay measurement is based on two observations: a recording of all stopping vehicles (by putting a bar on the data sheet for each time a vehicle stops), and a recording of all leaving vehicles. A stopping vehicle is defined as a vehicle that conies to a standstill at the approach to (or in the entrance of) the intersection or roundabout. A vehicle that does not stop completely, but -anticipating a gap- continues to move a number of meters at a veiy low speed (5-10 km/hr) is also considered to be stopping. A vehicle that reduces speed slightly in anticipation of a gap, but not below say 20-30 km/hr is not considered to be stopping. A leaving vehicle is defined as a stopped vehicle that accepts a gap in the traffic flow at the intersection (the roundabout), and leaves. For stopping vehicles, look at the end of the queue. Vehicles moving forward in the queue are not recorded, until they leave the queue. One vehicle is either counted twice: once as stopping, and once as leaving, or it is not counted at all (if it proceeds onto the intersection without stopping). For leaving vehicles, look at the front of the queue. A single observer can in principle record both stopping and leaving vehicles, but two separate observers is easier (they must react to exactly the same time-period signaling). A synchronization problem between the two observers builds up if the queue is too long for accurate observation of both the front and the tail-end from the same spot.
4. In case immediately counting total queue length, only fill the last column on the data sheet below. In case counting stopping and leaving, calculate the sum of the stopping and leaving vehicles per 10 second interval later (in the office). In that case the last column (queue) is calculated from the queue length at the start of each interval, plus the sum of stopping, minus the sum of leaving vehicles.
5. Since vehicles that pass without stopping are not counted, the total number of vehicles in the “delayed” flow does not follow from the delay measurement. A simultaneous traffic count is needed.
6. Delay measurement based on direct observation at the spot is difficult. Not because the principle is difficult, but because the measurement itself requires great concentration. A stopwatch with a timer that produces “bleeps” every x seconds (the interval that is set, usually 10 seconds) is helpful.
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRJAN AND BICYCLE ‘TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
7. Delay time computation. The total delay-time of a11 vehicles in that flow during the observation period is estimated as the sum of number of vehicles in the queue at the end of each (10 seconds) interval, multiplied by the length of the observation interval (10 secondsj; Assirming a fluctuating, but not steadily growing queue, the average delay per vehicle during the observation period is the total estimated delay rime divided by the number of vehicles that passed during the observation period (from simultaneous traffic count!). (Note: in principfe it is also possible to use a different length of the observation interval, for example 8 or 15 seconds. 10 seconds i s considered a good balance between the increased stress for the observer that results from an even shorter counting interval. and the reduced accuracy (higher rounding error) that results from longer intervals.) Delay nieasureinents at intersections, carried out before and after an intervention, are ess the effect of the intervention on the capacity of the intersection. They can also be used to diagnose the extent to which existing intersections require improvement, for exatnple to reduce delays of bicycles on it. From the combination of the average observed delays and the traffic flows, the total intersection capacity can be estimated (best by using an intersection simulation inodel). Waiting time measurement at crossings
A related measLiremeiit is that of the waiting time of pedestrians (or cyclists) before crossing a road at a crossing point (without traffic light control). The way to conduct this measurement resembles that of the vehicle speed measurement: take every second, of fifth or tenth newly arriving pedestrian that wa~itsto cross as the unit to observe, after you hase finalized the observation of the waiting time of the previous one. For each “measured” pedestrian, record the time s/he waits at the edge of the road before crossing. In case of it failed crossing attempt, continue the waiting time recording until the person has successfully crossed. In case crossing is in steps (with a median or a crossing island), separately measure and record the waiting time at the caniageway edge and the waiting time in the middle of the same person (to be recorded as one pair). Since i n inany cases the variations in waiting time are considerable, measure 50-100 cases per location (depending on the crossing volume). Always record the site conditions: crossing distance(s), type of waiting area (exposed or protected, flatlpaved or unpaved), time of the day. weather conditions. visibility (plain day/ getting darkl night). To make it possible to interpret the traffic safety implications of the findings properly, the MT traffic flow on the road that has to he crossed must be measured simultaneously at the same spot, its well as the speed offlie MT. If the crossing is in one 1no~‘eineiit.the total flow can be measured without recording the direction or vchicle type. If the crossing movement is i n two steps, the flows that are crossed in each step must be counted separately. For further details about waiting times at crossing points see chapter 16.
405
ANNEX
DELAY MEASUREMENT FORM FLOW THAT IS COUNTED: (sketch)
Interiection. Counted bv THE COUNTING INTERVAL (6nc line) IS TEN ( 10) SECONDS (if
DATE
d\aildble use \topwatch with 10 SCL beep)
LENGTH OF QUEUE at start of period
I
I
4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
1
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Using a 10 second counting interval, the 30 rows above correspond to a 5 minute observation period
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION 1.3 - JAN 2001
There is a clcar need for a transparent analysis of the costs and expected benefits of (re)construction of urban road and NMT-track infrastructure, in particular in a situation where financing such infrastructure is difficult due to limited municipal budgets. Benefit-cost analysis serves two purposes. The first is to support rational decisions on where the available public money can best be spent, i.e. be spent in such a way that the total benefits generated to the public are as high as possible, and in addition reach the most important target groups best (in many cases the city inhabitants with low incomes, because these are more negatively affected by mobility problems than those with a high income). The second manner In which a benefit-cost analysis can be used is to support the local collection of the funds that are required to create those NMT (/MT) infrastructure improvements that will create the highest net profit for the city inhabitants. A fundamental problem of municipal finance in most cities in Africa is that of tax collection. Often the municipal authority lacks the credibility that whatever money is collected by it will be spent in the best public interest in a cost-effective manner. In such a situation the collection of municipal taxes is difficult or impossible, as is the establishment of municipal tax levels that realistically reflect the financial requirements of the municipality for carrying out its transport infrastructure provision and ~nain~enance task. Experience shows that little progress can be made in this area by concentrating on the tax collection side. A better approach appears to be to concentrate on convincing the public that -through a prccisely calculated one-off tax per houschold or person in the city or a city district- the city inhabitants have to pay for a certain well defined municipal investment (in this case in road infrastructure for NMT or NMT+MT), that they have themselves prioritized (user participation), and of which the expected costs and benefits have been estimated in a transparent manner, and are openly known to the public and will be subject to an equally open evaluation after having been carried out. In particular for urban transport infrastructure this approach makes a tot of sense, because the amount of money spent on urban travel is so high (see chapter 8), and for a significant part in fact wasted precisely because the required NMT and MT i n f r ~ ~ s t ~ c t iisi rnot e in place. Cost-benefit analysis Illt~orlllctoly
obserw tions
Cost-benefit analysis techniques are covered in standard textbooks or books that specifically deal with cost-benefit analysis in the transport sector. For more detail, reference is made to those. Recommended: H.A. AdIer. Economic Appi-aisal of transport projects. John Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0 80180342905. World Bank EDI series. In this annex no mention is made of the distinction between calculations in financial costs (market prices) and in economic costs -the later being the most appropriate basis for for determining the best strategies for urban transport (see observations on economic recovery programs in the executive summary and in chapter 3). For an explanation of this aspect, see Adler. The purpose of this annex is to outline the estimation of a few elementary cost-benefit indicators. For a number of reasons, these are limited to those indicators that translate all future costs and benefits to the present value of the average annual costs and benefits, without getting involved in discounting cashflows of predicted project costs aiid benefits. These reasons are: 1. The interventions on the menus in these guidelines all have an immediate effect, and need not to be justified on the basis of future growth of traffic. By converting the cost of capital investment to annuity costs and estimating benefits in current costs, and making all calculations in US$ equivalents, the calculation are easy to understand for all concerned (and automatically in “constant costs”). 2. The accuracy with which realistically the expected benefits of interventions can be estimated is rather limited. In many cases the error margin is 20-25%. This does not set -of these interventions apart from “normal” urban transport i n f ~ s t ~ c t u investment re which the accuracy of benefit prediction is in most cases even considerably lower due to
ANNEX
Project design choices
Transport benefits
4n7
the long-term forecasts that are involved, but is a reason to avoid more complex calculations that make the benefit-cost balance less transparent for the non-professional (most decision makers as well as most people involved in user participation), without adding significant information on the relation between costs and benefits. 3. The uncomplicated nature of the indicators used in this annex makes i t easier to see how a change in assumptions about for instance the value of time or the costs of accidents influences the expected benefit-cost balance. This increases the integrity of the debates about priorities. It is useful to appreciate the role of an uncomplicated appraisal of costs and benefits in making project “design” choices. Benefit-cost indicators can be used as a steering mechanism to arrive at the best final design result. Viewed in this manner, the benefitcost analysis process is a permanent ‘‘internal discipline”, applied to achieve good results during the process of making choices; and not just an instrument to sell the final product to decision makers and financiers in the end. Which transport benefits should be taken into account in each particular case is not the subject of this annex. Only a few observations: 1. The total costs of transport infrastructure per passengerkm or per tonkm vary widely with the traffic density. However, in the case of urban transport infrastructure the total annual cost of the infrastructure are typically low coinpared to the cost incurred for the travel on it. So designing urban roads in such a manner that they enhance getting the lowest cost of movement per passengerkm or tonkm is a strategy that pays. This means: minimizing the external costs created by the traffic (accidents, environmental damage), enhancing the most cost effective inodes of transport (cycling and public transport) and enhancing a high capacity utilization. 2. Transport is a cost factor and most transport “benefits” consist of a reduction in costs: lower costs with the project than without. Annuity cost of investment ~
Annuity cost of an investment of 1,000 Interest rate i L$etime N
8%
10%
12%
5 year 10 15 20 30
250 149 117 102 89
264 163 131 117 106
277 177 147 134 124
I (I.e. the annuity cost of an investment of 1,000 with a lifetime of 15 years and an interest rate of 8 % is 117)
Cost of borrowed capital consist of (i) interest payments and (ii) repayment of the loan (in most cases gradualIy). For capital invested in a facility (or infrastructure) the “real” cost are (i) the amount of money that could have been earned annually with the capital, had it not been invested in this facility, the “opportunity costs”, and (ii) the annual reduction in value of the facility (the asset), i.e. the “depreciation” (which can be as a result of technical wear and tear or economic aging or both). The actual financing costs can be higher, lower or equal to the “real” costs, depending on the conditions of the loan. For cost-benefit estimates the calculations are based on the “real” costs, not on financing arrangements. In the same way as with a bank loan one can design a repayment schedule that consists of equal annual payments during a fixed number of years (with an internal balance between interest and repayment that changes over the years), one can calculate the fixed so-called “annuity costs of capital” that applies for the real cost of a project investment.
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Assuming that the life tinre of tke ~ i z ~ ~ e ~ r ~is?N i ~years ~ ~ i r (depreciated to a residual value of 0 after N years) and that the oppoi-runip cost ofcapitrzl is i % (interest rate), the annuity costs of the capital are as shown in the table above (page 407). Values for intermediate lifetimes can be approximated by interpolation.
Note that to calculate the cunent annuity costs of an investment made some years ago. the replacement value of the initial investment niust be taken, i.e. what it would cost now. For investment in transport infrastructiire of the type discussed in these guidelines it is recommended to use an interest rate of 8%. The main reason for doing that is that the higher an interest rate for the initial investment is used, the less important the annual cost of maintenance become in comparison to the capital investment costs. This favors less expensive investment in short-lived constructions with higher maintenance costs over stronger constructions with low maintenance costs. For example: it could favor the decision to use a 3 cm thick asphalt concrete pavenient for a walkway instead of a concrete slab pavement. Experience has shown that this i s a counte~roducti~/e choice in a11 cases where it is not completely sure that the required maintenance will indeed be carried out. Stronger constructions are much less vulnerable to erratic maintenance, and therefore much less vulnerable to a fast loss of et value if the maintenance fails temporarily or systematically. Break-even traffic
An uncomplicated method to make a quick estimate whether cost-wise an investment makes sense in relation to its expected use, is to calcufate the “break-even traffic”. Q (break-even) =Annual Cost I Benefit per vehicle (or per pedestrian, tonkm, or passengerkm)
Q
= Flow of vehicles (or pedestrians or passengerkni’s or tonkni’s) Annual cost = Annuity cost of investment i average annual cost of niain&en~~nce + annual operational costs (if applicable) Benefit per vehicle Depends on the case, in the example below: value of the reduction in travel tinie
Example: Provision of a road section with walkways
Costs:
US$ Construction cost per km 40,000 US$ (both sides of the road, .;lab pavement. sufficient ni~~inter~ance. l i f e h e 20 years). - Maintenance cost/year per k m (2%) 800 Annuity cost of investment per kni (i=8%, N=20) 4,080 ~
Benefits:
Travel time gain of 4 ~ i n u t e s@/ ~f 0 centihour, i.c per passengerkm
Break-even traffic (800+4.080)/(300x0.007): 300 effective days per year. ADT: average daily pedestrian traffic.
0.007 ADT=
2,300
ANNEX
409
The calculation of break-even traffic (or break-even accident reduction etc.) is a good manner of judging the attractiveness of an intervention in a situation where it is possible to estimate the benefit per intervention user or per unit of intervention effect, but where it is not easy to predict the precise number of future users (or the number of accidents that will be prevented, etc.). In such a case, the break-even traffic is the minimum number of daily users of the facility that is required for it to be at least cost-recovering (benefits as large as the costs). If there is reason to expect that the actual number of users is more than the break-even traffic, the investment is attractive (the more the higher the number of users goes up). If on the other hand it is not probable that the number of users will get near the break-even traffic, the costs are too high compared to the possible benefits. Benefitkost ratio
A transparent and convenient method to estimate whether the expected benefits of an intended investment justify its cost, is to calculate the “benefitkost ratio”. average annual benefit of the investment
BIC = annual cost of the investment
If B/C < 1
benefits are lower than costs: implementation advised against (change or abandon). If B/C > 1 benefits are higher than costs, no objection. If B/C > 1.3 benefits are significantly higher than costs: attractive intervention. Always test how the B/C ratio depends on the assumptions used in benefit and cost estimates.
In practice, the B/C ratio of a large intervention will tend to be lower than that of a spot intervention, of which the main function is to repair a previous oversight in a road design or road network design that creates unnecessary high costs (for example accident costs, or the obligation to make a long detour, or lack of accessibility in wet weather etc.). For spot interventions that “repair” earlier mistakes or omissions, B/C ratio’s of 2 or more are often found. Such spot improvements should be carried out as a matter of urgency. For larger works, such as for example the construction of proper access roads and access NMT tracks in an unplanned area, a phased implementation is appropriate, starting with the highest density routes, for which the B/C ratio is highest.
Example: Traffic calming on urban collector road Construction of three raised zebra crossings on a 1 .O km section of collector road; the only benefits taken into account i n the example are the reduction in accident costs, other benefits of traffic calming disregarded.
costs:
Benefits:
Construction costs 10,000 US$ (concrete element slopes, brick pavement, sufficient maintenance, lifetime 10 years). - Maintenance cost/year (4%) - Annuity cost of investment per km (i=8%. N=10) Avoided cost of accidents - 0.3 person killed in accident @ US$ 3,000 - 1.1 seriously wounded @ US$250 - 4 severe collisions (vehicle x vehicle @ US$400)
400 1,490
900 275
1.600 2,715
BIC =
2,775/(400+1490)
1.5
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GUIDELINES FOR PEDESTRlAN AND BICYCLE TRAFFlC IN AFRICAN CITIES, VERSION i.3 - 36" 2001
1. LIST ISSUES THAT SHOULD BE DISCUSSED 2. F O ~ U L A T E OPEN QUESTIONS ON EACH ISSUE
3. FIND CONTACTS AROUND WHICH TO ORGANIZE ("ENTRY POINTS") 4. CIRCULATE OPEN INVITATIONS ("CALL FOR INTEREST") 5 . CONDUCT FGDs. The purpose of the focus group discussions is to discuss a specific topic or problem that is of relevance to the group members. The participants are supposed to discuss their experiences, interpretations, ideas and suggestions with respect to such a topic or problem. Each participant is free to comment, elaborate or criticize the views expressed by previous speakers. The FGD moderator (interviewer) should not make any judgment about the responses, and try to control body language that might communicate approval or disapproval. At the beginning of the FGD, the moderator purposefully sanctions and encourages alternative explanations and opinions. For example: "There are no right or wrong answers, but rather differing points of view. Please share your point of view even if it differs from what others have said. We are just as interested in negative comments as positive comments, and at times, the negative comments are the most helpful."
In each FGD: 5.1 EXPLAIN THE PURPOSE OF THIS FGD, and "rules of the game" Who are you as the organizer? What do you hope to get out of the FGD? - What will you use the outcome for? - Will there be further contact after the FGD? - Can FGD participants take initiatives of their own, related to what you are doing as the organizers? If yes, How? - Can FGD participants verify your "findings"? - Pai~icipantsget refreshments during the FGD, and after some time get the i-eport and further information, but no financiat incentive to participate. I
-
5.2 LEAD THE DISCUSSION - Prepare a quiet room for the discussion well in advance. Arrange chairs or benches in
-
I
-
a circle to create a picture of people having discussions and not people being lectured. Decide in advance how the recording of the discussions is going to be done. You definitely need to record all the discussion otherwise it will not be easy to remember after the session. If you decide to have a note taker, be sure that he/she records accurately what group members say and not what heishe thinks they have said. This is very important, otherwise the discussion report will not reflect what the people said. If you cannot trust someone to take good notes, then it is advisable to use a tape recorder during the discussions. If you (the moderator) decide to use a tape recorder, make sure that you have the required cassettes and batteries and test them in advance. Do not take chances. It is also important to note that the moderator cannot take notes and conduct discussions at the same time. Prepare note-books, pencils and erasers in the case of note taker. Welcome the group members, greet them kindly and invite them to their seats. Begin by introducing yourself by telling them your name, who you work for and why you
41 1
ANNEX
are there with them, and then let them introduce themselves. This will start creating an atmosphere of friendliness and easiness. Explain to them why you have called them. Like for example: "I have called you here in order to discuss some issues relating to your safety in traffic"; "I ask you to feel free to contribute to the discussion that we are going to have. Eveiybody in this group is very important and therefore I kindly ask each and every one of you to air your views on the issues that we are going to discuss. There is enough time for every one of you to speak, so do not interrupt others while they are talking. Let your colleague finish what he/she is saying, and then another one can take the floor"; "If you do not agree with what your colleague is saying, give your own view. But do not oppose herkim because those are her/his views. We are all adults here, so whatever anyone says is right in its own sense." Ask them politely whether they can allow somebody to write down what they are saying. Tell them it is not easy to remember all the good points that they will raise without recording them somewhere. If you are using a tape recorder, again ask them politely to allow you to use it. NEVER switch on the tape recorder without their consent. Remember that they are adults and they have the right to agree or refuse. So do not force them!! However, try as much as possible to create an impression that what they are going to discuss is too important to be left out without any proper records (which is quite true anyway, otherwise why conducting the FGDs?). Tell them that you are not very good at remembering things and you definitely don't want to forget their discussions. You could also tell them that you would like to use verbatim phrases in the report of what they are going to discuss. This will show that you are really serious and that you not there to waste their time, but to get their views because you respect them and you have confidence in them and, that they are your consultants in this particular issue. Start the discussion when you are sure that there is a go ahead from the members. During the discussion, introduce some probe questions if you are not sure of what has been said.
6. WRITE FGD REPORT OF EACH SEPARATE FGD Make a summary of all relevant views as expressed by the participants, without interpretation.
7. DISCUSS THE REPORT Briefly, with some or most of the participants to that particular FGD, discuss the report to verify its correctness. Give copies of your report to the participants of that FGD.
8. CHECK THE COVERAGE OF YOUR FGDs Have all important interest groups been included? Conduct additional FGDs as needed. 9. WRITE A SUMMARY REPORT OF ALL FGDs 10. WRITE A WORK PLAN FOR WHAT YOU WANT TO DO NEXT This work plan may or may not include a general discussion meeting, to which you invite participants of all FGDs. The purpose of such a meeting is double. For you as the organizer the purpose is to get feedback on your summary report and have the possibility to check whether your conclusions are shared by the audience in a meeting like this. For the FGD participants the purpose is to get infoimation on what came out of the FGDs in the other groups, on what the general conclusions are, and on what you now intend to use these conclusions for.
