2123NESTS-Nepal 140430meeting 1st-Draft
2123NESTS-Nepal 140430meeting 1st-Draft
2123NESTS-Nepal 140430meeting 1st-Draft
FIRST DRAFT
April 2014
Government of Nepal
Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT)
with technical support from
United Nations Center for Regional Development (UNCRD)
Nagoya, Japan
1
Table of Contents
1.
Introduction
....................................................................................................................................
4
1.1.
Background
...............................................................................................................................
4
1.2.
Environmentally
Sustainable
Transport
(EST)
and
relevance
for
Nepal
......
5
1.3.
Framework
of
strategy
formulation
..............................................................................
6
2.
Vision
..................................................................................................................................................
7
3.
Objectives
and
Targets
.............................................................................................................
8
4.
Key
Challenges
and
Opportunities
....................................................................................
9
4.1.
Major
Trends
and
Issues
..................................................................................................
10
4.2.
Future
driving
factors
for
transport
sector
in
Nepal
...........................................
12
4.2.1.
Higher
economic
growth
and
economic
restructuring
..........................
12
4.2.2.
Significant
change
in
the
pattern
of
spatial
development
.....................
12
4.2.3.
Rapid
urbanization
.................................................................................................
12
4.2.4.
Increasing
demand
for
transport
(all
purpose)
.........................................
12
4.2.5.
Increasing
demand
for
fossil
fuel
.....................................................................
12
4.2.6.
Climate
change
agenda
(emissions
from
transport
and
vulnerability
of
transport
system
due
to
disasters
from
climate
change)
................
12
4.2.7.
Introduction
of
new
technology
in
transport
sector
...............................
12
4.3.
Key
challenges
......................................................................................................................
13
4.3.1.
Making
adequate
investment
for
transport
infrastructure
..................
13
4.3.2.
Overcoming
technical
constraints
for
infrastructure
building
...........
13
4.3.3.
Decoupling
economic
growth
and
motorization
(cars
and
motorcycles)
.............................................................................................................
13
4.3.4.
Haphazard
urban
development
and
settlement
patterns
.....................
13
4.3.5.
Maintaining
environmental
and
safety
standards
in
low-‐cost
rural
roads
.............................................................................................................................
13
4.3.6.
Shifting
from
road
to
railway
mode
(after
railways
development)
..
13
4.3.7.
Promoting
non-‐motorized
modes
(NMT)
....................................................
13
4.3.8.
Enhancing
institutional
capacity-‐
regulation,
database
and
research
13
4.4.
Opportunities
........................................................................................................................
13
4.4.1.
Possibility
of
achieving
more
appropriate
physical
form-‐
Physical
structure
of
transport
and
spatial
system
still
evolving
........................
13
4.4.2.
Real
prospect
of
developing
a
comprehensively
integrated
transport
system
..........................................................................................................................
13
4.4.3.
Public
transport
is
still
dominant
mode-‐
just
need
to
keep
it
.............
13
4.4.4.
Good
prospect
for
commercial
viability
of
public
transport
due
to
higher
population
density
in
urban
area
......................................................
13
4.4.5.
Possibility
of
corridor
development
and
appropriateness
of
rail-‐
based
intercity
transport
.....................................................................................
13
4.4.6.
Real
prospect
of
zero
emission
public
transport
because
of
hydropower
generated
electricity
...................................................................
13
2
4.4.7.
Possibility
of
synergy
rather
than
trade-‐off
between
environmental
and
economic
dimensions.
..................................................................................
13
5.
Strategic
Perspective
for
EST
strategy
in
Nepal
......................................................
13
6.
Strategic
Components
............................................................................................................
15
6.1.
Investment
for
essential
and
sustainable
transport
infrastrcture
................
15
6.2.
Planning
and
development
of
integrated
transport
system
.............................
15
6.3.
Introduction
of
technology
for
efficiency
and
sustainability
...........................
16
6.4.
Priority
for
improving
public
transport
and
non-‐motorized
transport
......
16
6.5.
Travel
demand
management
(TDM)
..........................................................................
16
6.6.
Environmental
and
social
safeguards
........................................................................
17
6.7.
Enhance
institutional
capacity
and
undertake
reform
.......................................
17
7.
Strategic
Actions
........................................................................................................................
17
7.1.
Investment
for
essential
and
sustainable
transport
infrastructure
..............
17
7.2.
Planning
and
development
of
integrated
transport
system
.............................
18
7.3.
Introduction
of
technology
for
efficiency
and
sustainability
...........................
19
7.4.
Priority
for
improving
public
transport
and
non-‐motorized
transport
......
19
7.5.
Travel
demand
management
(TDM)
..........................................................................
19
7.6.
Environmental
and
social
safeguards
........................................................................
20
7.7.
Enhance
institutional
capacity
and
undertake
reform
.......................................
20
Annex-‐1
3
DRAFT
National Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Strategy for Nepal
1. Introduction
1.1. Background
Rapid urbanization and increasing economical activities in cities have dramatically
increased vehicle ownership and usage in urban areas of Nepal. The current patterns
of motorization adversely affect traffic congestion, air and noise pollution, and traffic
accidents and injuries. The unsustainable trends in transport sector as presently
observed would further worsen social equity, lower energy security, increase
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and destroy natural habitats and ecosystem, which
ultimately have adverse impacts on national productivity and human development. At
the same time, frequent natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and landslides
are on the rise across Nepal. These natural catastrophes cause the losses of a human
life and immense damage to public transport infrastructure each year. To make
Nepal’s transport system more productive, resilience, and sustainable, it is important
to strike a balance among economic progress, social equity, a healthy and protective
environment and people-friendly infrastructural development. The Environmentally
Sustainable Transport (EST) concept calls for all these essential elements to be
integrated at the level of policy formulation, plan preparation, infrastructure building
and transport service operation.
With an aim to create a new paradigm in transport practices and to build a common
understanding across Asia on the need for EST integrated into overall policy,
planning and development, the Asian EST Initiative was jointly launched by the
United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) and Ministry of the
Environment of the Government of Japan (MoE-J) in 2004. The main objective of the
EST Initiative in Asia is to integrate EST in the overall policy, planning and
development, by sensitizing the local and national governments, private sectors and
civil society. As a key component of the Asian EST initiative, UNCRD provides
technical assistance to developing countries for the formulation of National EST
Strategy. It aims to promote the EST in Asia to build a sustainable society through the
effective use of safe, reliable, socially inclusive, economically viable,
environmentally protective, people-friendly, and seamless transport system for the
benefit of all. The EST initiative is build on the objectives of the Bangkok 2020
Declaration-Sustainable Transport Goals for 2010-2020 and Bali Declaration on
Vision Three Zeros-Zero Congestion, Zero Pollution and Zero Accidents towards
Next Generation Transport Systems in Asia, and the Rio+20 outcome -The Future We
Want.
4
With the technical support from UNCRD, Government of Nepal, Ministry of Physical
Infrastructure and Transport is taking a lead to prepare the National EST Strategy for
Nepal in collaboration with other related government ministries.
The most critical challenge for policy makers is that they may need to go for a trade-
off between different dimensions of sustainability. There is a concern that improving
environmental sustainability of the transport system may undermine economic
efficiency. However, there is good scope of avoiding such a trade-off and achieve a
win-win solution. For this, it is important to focus on the indicators that serve the
underlying objectives across different sustainability dimensions. Public transport for
passenger mobility and intermodal freight transport are policy options, which can
produce win-win solutions.
5
accident reduction etc). Broader meaning of Environmental Sustainability demands
better integration of sustainability concerns into the sectoral policy. National EST
Strategy is expected to serves as an important policy guide to formulate
environmentally sustainable transport policies.
Figure
1:
framework
for
formulation
of
EST
strategy
6
2. Vision
The vision statement for National EST Strategy (2015-2040) for Nepal is set as
Safe: Transport infrastructure, vehicles and operating and maintenance system should
ensure adequate safety for the users.
Inclusive: Transport system should not exclude or impose any sort of discrimination
to any section of society (specially children, elderly, physically challenged, and other
marginalized peoples) particularly in terms of accessibility and ease of usage. There
7
should not be any physical or institutional barrier to use transport infrastructure and
services.
Key objectives and associated targets are listed below clustering under different
aspects of sustainability (viz economic, environmental and social). Also indicated is
the related transport subsector, namely intercity transport (ICT), urban transport (UT)
and rural transport (RT) where applicable (if not specifically indicated, the item is for
all transport subsectors).
Objectives Target/indicators
Economic dimension
1. Efficiency in investment and • Resonable IRR and profitability
service operation
• Operating cost per vehicle km
3. Secure higher mobility • Average travel speed in city area (30 km/hr) (UT)
8
5. Provision of reliable transport • Provision of schedule services (% of delay)
services
Environmental dimension
7. Ensuring sustainability in the use • Minimize use of arable land for infrastructure
of natural resources and nature
conservation • Minimize impacts on ecological resources (ICT, RT)
9. Minimize CO2 emissions from • Per capita CO2 from transport sector
transport
• CO2 emission per pass-km (## g CO2)
Social dimension
11. Improve transport safety and • Reduced traffic accidents (# per vehicle, # per
security vehicle-km)
13. Ensure gender equity in transport • % of all-women public transport vehicles; % seats
services for women
The vision, objectives and targets set above basically reflect the desirable path that the
Nepal’s transport development should follow. However, in a developing country like
Nepal, there is a wider discrepancy between the business-as-usual and desirable paths.
There is a range of factors that may act as barrier in perusing identified objectives and
achieving of intended targets. It is important to clearly understand such key
challenges in order to formulate effective strategies and actions. In addition, some of
9
the defining features of Nepal may also offer unique opportunities to achieve the
objectives of EST. This section first summarizes the review of key trends and issues
on various components of transport sector (Annex-1) and identifies key factors
driving the future trends. Based on such a review, key challenges and opportunities
for developing environmentally sustainable transport system in Nepal are identified.
Table 3 shows major trends and associated issues related to the different components
(sub-sectors) of transport sector of Nepal.
Table 3: Key trends and issues related to various components of transport system
Components Trends and Issues
Intercity • Road transport- always a priority investment in five-year plans
Transport
• Two districts yet to be connected to Strategic Road Network (SRN)
• Over 2008-13, annual rate of growth for four-wheel light vehicle was 8.4 %
• Car (includes van, jeeps) ownership rate in Kathmandu- 34 per 1000 pop
10
• Average road area ratio in urban area of Kathmandu valley is only 6 %
• Evening peak average speed in five busiest route is 8.8 km per hour
• Poor condition of infrastructure for NMT- walk ways and bicycle lanes
• NMT share decreased to 40.7% (in 20119 from 53.1 % (in 1991)
• Public transport mode share decreased to 47.8 (in 2011) in motorized trips
• Ten market towns (50,000 population) are being planned along the mid-hill
highway- road infrastructure is the key element of the plan
• Need of better public transport and NMT provisions in cities and towns that
are popular tourist destination (eg Pokhara, Janakpur etc)
Rural
Transport • Rural road initiatives since 1970s under IRDP
o Ecological damages
o Land-slide hazards
GHG • Per capita CO2 emission from fuel combustion is low (133 kg)
emissions and
• Growth rate of CO2 emission from fuel combustion is higher
local pollution
• Share of transport sector in total CO2 in Nepal is 45%- higher in the world
• For given per capita income, Nepal’s transport CO2 is still at the bottom
11
• Good prospect of developing low-carbon transport
• Important policy initiatives were taken in the past to control vehicle emissions
Transport • Road traffic accidents are in rise (in Kathmandu and at the national level)
safety
• Fatalities trend is on rapid increase at the national level (may be because of
rapid expansion of sub-standard roads)
12
4.3. Key challenges
4.3.1. Making adequate investment for transport infrastructure
4.3.2. Overcoming technical constraints for infrastructure building
4.3.3. Decoupling economic growth and motorization (cars and motorcycles)
4.3.4. Haphazard urban development and settlement patterns
4.3.5. Maintaining environmental and safety standards in low-cost rural
roads
4.3.6. Shifting from road to railway mode (after railways development)
4.3.7. Promoting non-motorized modes (NMT)
4.3.8. Enhancing institutional capacity- regulation, database and research
4.4. Opportunities
4.4.1. Possibility of achieving more appropriate physical form- Physical
structure of transport and spatial system still evolving
4.4.2. Real prospect of developing a comprehensively integrated transport
system
4.4.3. Public transport is still dominant mode- just need to keep it
4.4.4. Good prospect for commercial viability of public transport due to
higher population density in urban area
4.4.5. Possibility of corridor development and appropriateness of rail-based
intercity transport
4.4.6. Real prospect of zero emission public transport because of hydropower
generated electricity
4.4.7. Possibility of synergy rather than trade-off between environmental and
economic dimensions.
Nepal, a least developing country, is featured with some special characteristics, which
may demand specific perspective while formulating EST strategy. Transport
infrastructure and other physical system are at the very preliminary stage of
13
development in Nepal. This offers an important opportunity of better integrating
transport and land use at the national and urban level. The concept of integrated
transport has recently been broaden to achieve integration at different level, such as
integration at the planning level, at the investment level, at the operation level and
also integration between transport and other sector (such as health). As the overall
physical and spatial structure in a developing economy like Nepal is just evolving, it
is possible to go for comprehensive integration.
High population density and inadequate road infrastructure is another defining feature
of Nepal. The road space or the reserved right-of-way in major metropolitan area is
much inadequate to serve the rapid trend of motorization. Because of land scarcity,
land acquisition for roads is now a thorny issue even in non-urban areas. On the other
hand, the current national road network in Nepal is just for very basic accessibility.
The transport service has to be speeded up to cater a high-growth economy. Such a
condition in Nepal demands that public transport be fully utilized for mobility to
make efficient use of limited road space. In addition, railway may offer even better
option given the future scenario of large-scale demand for both urban and intercity
transport. Higher population density at the national and urban level further provides
an opportunity to run public transport services on commercial basis.
Source:
Adapted
from
Morichi
and
Acharya
(2013)
Figure
2:
Foundation
and
Pillars
of
Sustainable
Transport
14
software) instruments may not be that much effective. Hence, in Nepal, it is important
to adopt a strategic perspective that places equal emphasis on both hardware
(infrastructure and facilities) and software (institutional) aspects. In a way, integrated
development of infrastructure and facilities provides a sound foundation on which soft
policy measures can more effectively work (Figure 2). In addition, appropriate
physical structure (involving transport infrastructure and spatial patterns) would make
it possible to achieve a synergy rather than trade-off between environmental and
economic objective.
6. Strategic Components
The issues, challenges, opportunities and the strategic perspective discussed above
lead to few strategic components that require priority focus in the future in order to
deliver the articulated vision of EST in Nepal. Commonly discussed strategic
components in the literature include so-called Avoid, Shift and Improve (ASI)
strategies. Here, Avoid means avoiding excessive travel, Shift is about moving from
environmentally damaging to environmentally friend modes, and Improve means
improving various aspects of transport system. Though these strategic components are
quite relevant for the developed countries’ case, it may be incomplete or inappropriate
for developing countries. For example, in developing countries, investment for new
infrastructure or adoption of new technology (which may be just a conventional
technology in the developed world) might be more important than they are in
developed countries.
15
The
core
element
of
sustainability
is
to
make
the
best
use
of
transport
infrastructure
and
facilities
developed
with
scarce
capital
resources.
For
this,
it
is
important
to
plan,
develop
and
operate
transport
infrastructure
to
produce
a
truly
integrated
transport
system.
Such
an
integrated
system
allows
making
the
best
use
of
each
mode
offering
flexible
and
high-‐quality
transport
services
to
the
users.
It
is
important
to
achieve
integration
at
the
level
of
physical
infrastructure
(including
land-‐use
and
transport
coordination),
intermodal
and
network
coordination,
service
operation
(coordinated
scheduling
and
fare
integration)
and
regulatory
integration
(level-‐playing
field
for
competition
between
different
modes).
The
issues
to
be
addressed
by
this
strategic
component
include:
Transit
oriented
development;
Seamless
public
transport;
competitive
public
transport;
Transport
efficiency;
higher
mode
share
of
public
transport
and
NMT.
6.3. Introduction of technology for efficiency and sustainability
16
strategic
component
include:
lower
transport
emissions
per
capita;
public
transport
mode
share.
6.6. Environmental and social safeguards
This
component
includes
environmental
and
social
impact
assessment
for
transport
projects.
Because
of
vulnerable
topographical,
geological
and
seismic
condition
of
Nepal,
transport
infrastructure
projects
should
be
carefully
assessed
to
minimize
ecological
damage
and
landslide
and
other
hazards.
The
issues
to
be
addressed
by
this
strategic
component
include:
ecological
impacts
of
intercity
and
rural
roads;
Landslide
hazards
due
to
low-‐cost
rural
roads;
separation
of
community
by
high-‐speed
transport
routes.
7. Strategic Actions
This section presents a list of strategic actions under each strategic components
discussed above. At this stage of draft document, the actions are just identified and yet
to be put in the format of action plan showing a clear time line. This part will be
completed after the consultative meetings with the related government agencies.
Table 4 shows relevant actions for achieving the objectives and thereby delivering the
vision.
17
• Designate the road hierarchy and complete missing links in Kathmandu
• Invest for pedestrian and NMT infrastructure in Kathmandu and other cities
• Make provisions for bus terminals, bus stops, and transfer facilities
• Plan for future Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) routes and locate the high-
density housing (such as apartments) along the MRT routes
• Seek balance between the cost of private mode and public transport fare
• Recognize walk and NMT modes as the means of improving public health
18
Rural Transport • Undertake settlement planning/restructuring in the rural area before
planning for the rural roads
Intercity • Consideration for possible use of high-speed rail (HSR) in future for the
Transport proposed East-West railways routes (civil structure to be designed for HSR)
Rural Transport • Use of green road technology and bio-engineering to minimize ecological
impacts and landslide hazards due to construction of rural roads
Intercity • Planning for bus lane in newly constructed intercity expressway routes
Transport
• Pedestrian way and NMT lane along national highway
• Setting standards for pedestrian way and NMT lanes in urban areas
• Study for possible restriction of motorcycles and cars (during peak hour) on
the busiest routes in Kathmandu valley
19
Urban Transport • Reduce travel demand by
• Promote tele-commuting
20
research with some research center of public university
Intercity • Improve/enforce regulation for axle loads of heavy vehicles plying on the
Transport national highways
Urban Transport • Regulate use of motorcycle on some busiest routes (as a pilot project)
21
Annex-1
Major
trends
and
developments
in
the
transport
sector
and
its
impacts
In order to provide a broad picture on themes potentially related to EST, this section
describes major trends related to the sub-sectors of transport and some cross-cutting
themes (namely emissions and safety).
! In the beginning First Five Year Plan (1956-61), Nepal had only 624 Km of
roads and 59 km of railways. The planning for East-West highway and North-
South routes were conceived during the Second Five year Plan period. Review
of past plans reveals that successive plans placed policy priorities in
expanding road network to provide basic access and connectivity. However,
the pace of investment for transport infrastructure and physical achievement is
not so much impressive. Two of the district head quarters are still not
connected to national road network. Only 47 % of the Strategic Road Network
(SRN)- which is basically intercity road network- has paved surface, and the
rest is just earthen and gravel (Figure 1-1).
Figure
1-‐1:
Trend
of
Strategic
Road
(national
roads)
Network
22
planned (each for 50,000 to 100,000 population) at the major nodal points
along the Mid-Hill Highway. Likewise, KKHT project is planning to develop
land around the highway for possible townships involving local people.
! In recent years, Nepal government has given priority for nation-wide electric
railway network. Feasibility study for Mechi-Mahakali and Kathmandu
Pokhara routes have already been completed (total 1318 Km). The total
estimated cost for these routes is US$ 6.54 billion. Detailed project report
(DPR) for Berdibas-Simara Section of Mechi-Mahakali route has already been
completed while DPR for other sections is under preparation.
! Other major mode for intercity transport is civil aviation. Because, of longer
travel time by road, air transport has been preferred for time-sensitive
passenger. Other passenger segment that has to rely on air transport is from
remote areas, where road access is either unavailable or not reliable. Currently,
39 Airports are under operation, of which one is of international level, four are
of regional level, and rest are of local level. International airports in Nijgarh
and Pokhara are under planning stage.
2. Urban transport
Urbanization trend
Motorization
! Lately, Nepal has witnessed rapid growth of motorized vehicles. In 2013, total
vehicle number adds to 1,557,478, large proportion (78 %) of which included
motorcycle. Over 2008-2013, national level average annual growth rate for
motorcycle and 4-wheel light vehicles (car, jeep, van) remained as 19.5 % and
8.4 % respectively. Total vehicle population in Bagmati zone for the year 2013
23
accounts for 647,895 that is 41.6 % of the national figure. Vehicles registered
in Bagmati zone basically are plying on the roads in Kathmandu valley. From
2008 to 2013, average annual growth figure for motorcycle and light vehicles
in Bagmati zone recorded as 12.4 % and 7.9 % respectively (DTM 2014).
Figure 1-2 shows the trend of motorcycle and light vehicle population in
Bagmati zone. Car ownership rate (include jeep and van) for Kathmandu
valley is approximately 34 per thousand populations.
! One of the direct impacts of increasing vehicle population is in rapid increase
in motor fuel (diesel and petrol). From 2008 to 2013, annual Diesel
consumption increased by 2.36 times to 716,747 KL. Likewise, over the same
period, annual petrol consumption increased by 2.2 times to 221, 676 KL
(NOC 2014). This trend of fuel consumption obviously has serious
Registered
Vehicle
in
Bagmati
zone
(Cummulative)
600
s
d
n
sa
u
o 500
h
T
in
el
ci
h 400
e
V
f
o
r
e
b 300
m
u car
/
Jeep/van
N
Motorcycle
200
100
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
/9 /9 /9 /9 /9 /9 /9 /9 /9 /9 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /0 /1 /1 /1 /1
9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
9 9 9 9 9 3 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1 1 9 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Figure
1-‐2:
Trend
of
vehicle
(cars
and
motorcycles)
in
Bagmati
Zone
implications for climate change concerns.
! Urban areas in Nepal depend on road and non-motorized modes for mobility.
There is no urban rail system in Nepal. Road infrastructure is inadequate and
the network is with inefficient hierarchy especially in the largest
agglomeration of Kathmandu valley. Road network length in three district of
Kathmandu valley totals to 1,595 Km, out of 555 km road is managed by DOR
and rest is by local government units. Average road area ratio in five urban
administrative units (metropolitan city and municipalities) of Kathmandu
Valley is around 6 % of total urban area (Panta 2010). Such figure for the road
ratio falls in the lower bound range even by the standards in developing
countries. There are continuous efforts to improve road network by
constructing new roads, namely strategic missing links and roads along the
river corridors. Recently, government also implemented road-widening
projects in urban areas of Kathmandu valley. Despite such efforts, the pace of
road network expansion and improvement lags far behind the speed of
24
motorization. As a result, road traffic in Kathmandu valley is facing severe
congestion particularly during peak hours. JICA (2012) reports that average
traffic speed within the ring road is less than 20 km/hr. In the top 5 busiest
routes, evening peak average speed is 8.78 km/hr.
Data
Source:
JICA
(2012)
Figure
1-‐3:
Trend
of
mode
share
in
Kathmandu
! With assistance of ADB, Nepal government is currently undertaken
Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project (KSUTP) with the aim of
improving urban transport situation in Kathmandu Valley. The project
involves four distinct components, viz public transport improvement through
investment and management, improvement in traffic management,
pedestrianization of heritage areas, and capacity building for emission
monitoring and inspection. All of the project components have direct bearing
on the various EST components.
25
3. Rural Transport
Rural roads
! Nepal’s rural areas traditionally faced lack of access to road transport. Because
of limited budgetary resources, priority was given to complete the basic
national road network. The adverse topography and geology also posed
challenges to rural road construction. 1970s, some efforts were made to
construct rural road under the auspices of Integrated Rural Development
Projects. Provision of direct block grant to VDCs initiated in 1995 provided an
impetus to construct rural road mainly with people’s participation. In 1997 a
new department called Department of Local Infrastructure Development and
Agricultural Road (DoLIDAR) was established to better plan and implement
rural roads. DoLIDAR has issued guidelines for the District Transport Master
Plan (DTMP). Following DTMP, each district prepare District Road Core
Network (DRCN), which connects VDCs with the district head quarter or
Strategic Road Network (SRN) (DOLIDAR 2010).
26
safety risks. This has caused rapid growth of motorcycles in rural areas.
Motorcycle has replaced bicycle, a popular non-motorized mode until recent
years in the rural area of Terai region. Increasing motorcycle use has resulted
in more accidents.
! According to IEA (2013), Nepal’s per capita CO2 emissions from fuel
consumption in 2011 is only 133 kg against the world average of 4,504 kg per
capita. However, growth rate of emissions is among the highest in the world.
From 1990 to 2011, CO2 emission from fuel consumption increased by 395 %
in Nepal while the average figure for Asia and the world is just 172.5 % and
49.3 % respectively. In 2011, the share of transport sector in the total CO2
emission of the world remained as 24 % while that in Nepal is 45 %. Relatively
higher share of transport emissions in Nepal indicates importance of reducing
transport emission to address the issue of GHG emissions.
6000
Asian
countries
Other
countries USA
5000 CAN
KWT
4000 y
=
0.133x0.943 SAU AUS UAE
at
i
p R²
=
0.828
a
C
/g 3000
K
-‐
2
O
C 2000
rt RUS JPN DEU
o
s MYS
KOR SGP
an
rT
1000 THA
HKG
CHN
NPL IND
0
0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000
GDP
per
capita,
PPP
$
2005
price
Data
Source:
IEA
(2012)
Figure
1-‐4:
Transport
sector
CO2
per
capita
Vs
GDP
per
capita
! Figure 1-4 shows plotting of GDP per capita (PPP $) versus transport CO2
emission per capita across the countries in the world. The trend line has
reasonably good fit, and shows that GDP per capita and transport emission per
capita are strongly correlated (following a power function with exponent <1).
We can see that some countries are above the trend line while others are below
it. Per capita transport emissions in developed East Asian countries or region
such as Japan, Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong is below the cross-country
trend while that in north American and oil producing middle east countries is
higher than the cross country trend. Some rapidly growing Asian countries
27
such as Malaysia and Thailand are also above the trend line. Nepal is just at
the bottom of the trend line, but there is a risk of following upper bound
trajectory if the country’s transport system continues to depend on the road
transport with conventional fuel. On the other hand, for Nepal there is real
possibility of decoupling the GDP growth and transport emission by adopting
low-carbon transport system. Under such scenario Nepal may follow a
trajectory leading to a minimum level of CO2 emission with higher level GDP
per capita.
! Nepal government has taken series of policy initiative to address the problem
of vehicular emissions. Table 2 shows the chronological list of major policy
initiatives. As a result of the implementation of these policies, the situation of
vehicular emissions improved to some extent. For example, in 2003, average
annual PM10 concentration in residential area was 149 ug/m3, which dropped
down to 115 ug/m3 in 2007. Despite such improvement there is still an
upward pressure for worsening pollution because of increasing number of
vehicles and road traffic congestion.
28
Table: 1-1 Chronological list of major policy initiative targeting vehicular emissions
1991: Banned diesel three wheelers registration.
1994: Emission standards for in-use vehicles
1999: Banned three wheelers operated by diesel
1999: Subsidies for electric vehicles.
2000: Nepal Vehicle Mass Emission Standard EURO I.
2000: Stopped two stroke registration
2001: announced for ban of 20 years old vehicle, but not implemented.
2001: National Transport Policy
2003: National Ambient Air Quality Standards
2004: Two stroke three wheelers banned from operation
2009: National indoor air quality standard and implementation guideline
2012: EURO III standard
Fatalities
Injuries
2,000
National
Kathmandu
14,000
1,800 National
Kathmandu
1,600 12,000
1,400 10,000
o
N
s
1,200 o
N
s 8,000
iet 1,000 ei
il r
taa 800 u
j 6,000
F In
600 4,000
400
200 2,000
0 0
Data
Source:
MoPIT
(2013)
Figure
1-‐5:
Trend
of
Road
Traffic
Accident
(Country
Total
and
Kathmandu)
29
of vehicles also increases risk of accident. In addition, lack of pedestrian
facilities and public awareness about traffic rules and discipline makes
pedestrians more vulnerable to traffic accident. Figure 1-5 shows the trend of
traffic accident (injury and fatalities) at the national level and in Kathmandu.
Fatalities in Kathmandu modestly increasing but the is rapid increase in
fatalities at the national level. The key sources of national fatalities is traffic
accident involving public transport vehicles such as buses, vans or jeeps
operating on intercity routes or regional or district level routes. In appropriate
road geometry and poor road condition particularly in hilly regions are among
the major causes. In addition, negligence of drivers and poor quality of
vehicles are also the causes of frequent accident on long-distance routes. It is
an irony that public transport mode- supposedly a safer mode- is subject to
more frequent accidents in Nepal.
30