INTERNATIONAL ROAD FEDERATIONFEDERATION ROUTIERE INTERNATIONALE
IRF BULLETINSPECIAL EDITION
RURALTRANSPORT
VOLUME - 1
Credits and Acknowledgements
Contributing Editor: Barry Gilbert-Miguet, Communications, IRF Geneva
Editing and Supervision: Sibylle Rupprecht, Director General, IRF GenevaMaria Novikov, Special Programmes Manager, IRF GenevaBarry Gilbert-Miguet, Communications, IRF Geneva
IRF would like to thank the following persons for supplying articles, charts, comments and photographs for this publication: Adam Andreski (I.T. Trans-port, UK), Alemgena A.Araya (Delft University of Technology, The Nether-lands), Betty Babirye-Ddungu (UNOPS, Sudan), Dr Gerhard Metschies (Senior Transport Advisor, Metschies Consult, Germany), Gary J. Forster (Transaid, UK), Gianluca Dell’Acqua, Renato Lamberti & Francesca Russo (University of Naples Federico II, Italy), Gordon R. Keller (Geotechnical Engineer, USA), Maryvonne Plessis-Fraissard (MPF Consult: Safe, Clean, Affordable Transport for Development, USA), N. Vijayakumar (Co-ordinator, NATPAC, India), Paul
Starkey (Transport Consultant, UK), Rob McInerney & Luke Rogers (iRAP, UK), Robert Petts (gTKP), Susanna Zammataro (IRF Geneva).
Cover Photo: “On the way to the market“, Gerhard Metschies, Arusha-Moshi Road, Tanza-nia, November 2009
Publisher:
IRF Geneva2 chemin de BlandonnetCH-1214, Vernier/ Geneva, SwitzerlandTel : + 41 22 306 02 60 Fax : + 41 22 306 02 [email protected]
IRF WashingtonMadison Place500 Montgomery Street, 5th Floor, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, USATel: + 1 703 535 1001 Fax: +1 703 535 [email protected]
IRF BrusselsPlace Stéphanie 6/B B 1050 Brussels, BelgiumTel: +32 2 644 58 77, Fax: +32 2 647 59 [email protected]
www.irfnet.org
Copyright - Reproduction strictly prohibited. Extracts may be quoted provided the source “IRF Rural Transport Bulletin Volume-1” is mentioned.
Disclaimer - The contents and opinions presented in this publication are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of IRF.
© IRF Geneva, December 2010 - All rights reserved.
INTERNATIONAL ROAD FEDERATION
IRF BULLETINFEDERATION ROUTIERE INTERNATIONALE
SPECIAL EDITION
INTERNATIONAL ROAD FEDERATIONFEDERATION ROUTIERE INTERNATIONALE
RURALTRANSPORT
Senior Road Executives Course04 - 16 April 2011• Road Sector Reforms (4th to 6th April 2011)• Road Financing (7th to 9th April 2011)• Road Safety (11th to 13th April 2011)• Road Maintenance Management (14th to 16th April 2011)
BackgroundThe road sector is going though an unprecedented period of restructur-ing. Countries are improving management of their road networks, intro-ducing private sector finance, setting up new style road funds and changing the way they set spending priorities and manage their roads. Furthermore, road safety has become a major issue, with it being a recognized by the world community as an unprecedented endemic.
Who should attendRoad executives, members of roads boards, government officials dealing with the road sector, staff from international donor organizations, and consultants working on the road sector, staff from private sector such as construction companies.
2-week course (4 modules of 3 days)The two-week course consists of 4 modules of 3 days, involving presen-tations, discussions, group exercises and site visits. The courses facilitate an international exchange of ideas and common experiences, and provide a forum for the dissemination of emerging good practice.
Course recognised by:• The World Bank• UK Department for International Development• International Road Federation
More information can be obtained from the Inter-national Road Federation on www.irfnet.org or e-mail [email protected] or on University of Birmingham’s website at www.srecourse.org.
VOLUME - 1
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 |
These are exciting times as more
decision makers are becoming aware of
the vital need for the provision of Rural
Transport services and infrastructure to
lift rural communities out of poverty.
The enormous rural road programmes
in China and India demonstrate belief
and real government commitment to
achieving development through opening up access to rural
areas. Improved access to trade, services and the essentials of
life, throughout the year and at affordable transport costs, as
well as the possibility to sell crops and products and get them
transported in a timely way improve rural livelihoods.
The global Transport Knowledge Partnership (gTKP), under
the management of IRF, is enabling free-of-charge access
to Rural Transport experience and good practice through
its website (www.gtkp.com). Furthermore, both gTKP
and IRF are organising dissemination events (the First and
Second Rural Road Conventions, in Tanzania and China
respectively) and developing key tools and documents for
improved infrastructure and services delivery in the sector.
These initiatives include the Small Structures for Rural Roads
Guideline which is downloadable from the website and will
shortly be available in hard copy. We are currently working
on a Low-Cost Surfacing guideline for rural and urban minor
roads that will include guidance on over 25 surfacing types,
many of which are suitable for small contractor or community
implementation using labour based techniques. There are over
400 key documents of Rural Transport relevance available for
download on the gTKP website.
Regarding environmental issues, the IRF CHANGER
(Greenhouse Gas Calculator, available via www.irfnet.org) and
a discussion paper on carbon footprinting of surface options
break new ground.
In this Bulletin, we bring you other contributions from leading
practitioners and development specialists in the sector. We
invite you to share your experiences and knowledge for the
advancement of the sector and achievement of affordable,
sustainable and effective access for rural communities around
the world.
Robert Petts
Theme Champion, Rural Transport, gTKP
03
EDITORIAL CONTENTS
2ND INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON RURAL ROADS
Striving for More Sustainable Rural Road Transport
SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITSThe Yambio-Maridi-Farasika Road Project
An Integrated Rural Accessibility Plan: A Case Study of Nilambur Block in the Malapurum District of Kerala, India.
Rural Roads: The Wealth of Nations
CONSTRUCTIONA Simple and Effective Characterisation Technique for Granular Materials in Rural Roads
MANAGEMENTContracted Labour-Based Market Access Improvement in Zambia using a Management Agent
Low-Volume Roads Engineering Best Practices: Application and Training
ROAD SAFETYRoad Safety Management Using Crash Prediction Models
Sharing Rural Roads: Low Tech, High Impact Transport Solutions for Public Health
A Global Crisis
SHARING THE ROADWorldwide Trends in Animal-Powered Transport
04
06
14
17
22
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| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-104
2ND INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON RURAL ROADS
2ND INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON RURAL ROADS
Striving for More Sustainable Rural Road Transport
Susanna ZammataroDeputy Director General,International Road Federation, Geneva
In 2000, the Prime Minister of India pledged that: “India
must shine for the poor. India must shine equally in the
cities and the villages. Villagers should be able to reach the
rest of the world, and the rest of the world must be able to
reach them with great ease”.
China, another country carrying out massive rural road
construction programmes, demonstrably echoes this
ambition, with the Chinese Rural Road Programme
adopting “Asphalt and Concrete Roads for our Peasants”
as is its priority and slogan.
The benefits of road investments are today well known
and have been widely proven. Roads have helped to
improve literacy, health and quality of life. The services
and opportunities they open have reduced child mortality;
enabled more young people, notably girls, to attend
schools; and promoted more productive cropping patterns,
resulting in significantly increased incomes for average
households. Such sweeping benefits are just a few of the
tangible benefits brought about by initiatives to improve
rural road connectivity among remote and disadvantaged
communities.
There are many shining examples of pioneering projects and
best practices in this field throughout the world. Some of
the best and most inspiring were prominently highlighted
during the recent 2nd International Convention on Rural
Roads, jointly organised by IRF and the China Highway and
Transportation Society (CHTS), together with the Shandong
Provincial Transportation Department.
Attended by around 400 delegates drawn from 30 countries
worldwide, the event marked a major step forward in
global efforts to mobilise resources and knowledge for
the development of sustainable rural road transport. Held
over two intensive days (from 27-29 October 2010), the
Convention focused on a comprehensive range of issues
relating to rural roads. While the benefits of improving
rural roads were apparent to all, the constraints – notably
in terms of the human resources and financial capacity
required to construct, maintain and manage them – were
acknowledged by the assembled experts as universally
problematic.
Key drivers for Sustainable Rural Roads
Five key factors promoting sustainability were identified:
Appropriate standards and specifications based upon 1.
local resources;
Matching rural road design to the road task;2.
Quality control and financial accountability during 3.
tendering and construction;
Clarification of organisational responsibilities and 4.
management accountability;
Financing maintenance works.5.
China has made remarkable progress in improving rural
transportation through a programme of massive road
construction and by making public transportation available
to more and more rural residents. As highlighted by Feng
Zhenglin, Vice-Minister of the Chinese Ministry of Transport,
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 |IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 | 05
2ND INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON RURAL ROADS
in his opening speech, 94% of villages in China’s eastern
and central regions are today accessible by road; and the
figure for villages in western regions is 98 percent. Buses
currently serve some 98 percent (35,000) of China’s towns
and nearly 88 percent (553,000) of its villages.
A lot of work lies ahead, however, if we are to emulate such
success by reaching out to communities in other regions
and countries across the world – quite literally putting in
place roads to improved living standards and quality of
life.
The construction of roads, particularly rural roads, has been
viewed as a means of generating employment through the
adoption of appropriate labour intensive methods. While
the benefits of community participation in construction
and maintenance activity cannot be denied, it is simply
not realistic to imagine that every task can be performed
manually to the desired quality specifications. It is important,
therefore, to deploy labour-based techniques selectively
and sensitively. The adoption of uniform standards and
specifications for rural roads is a key means of ensuring
construction methods that are commensurate with
optimum quality. The latest innovations in construction
techniques, for example through use of admixtures
and additives with locally available materials, could also
significantly contribute to enlarging the global network of
rural roads to bring access, mobility and new opportunities
to the most remote communities.
Safety is another crucial element that should never be
neglected. Often, many informal means of transport in
rural areas of the developing world are simply not safe; and
this situation needs to be carefully reviewed with a view to
defining appropriate steps and strategies to minimise overall
risk. Safety engineering measures should be incorporated
into every design, and all designs must be safety audited. The
critical and complex issues of compliance and enforcement
also need to be addressed differently when dealing with
rural areas. Here, the designs and relevant provisions
should be based on the safe systems principle; and be self-
enforcing to the greatest extent possible. In addition, the
communities themselves should be actively engaged and
involved; and encouraged to assume a ‘watchdog’ role in
terms of both maintaining the safe road traffic system and
minimising any adverse impacts.
Among the participants at the Convention there was
consensus regarding the need for practitioners and
decision-makers to continue to meet on a regular basis to
share rural access, mobility and transport knowledge and
experience
Building on the momentum generated by the event, the
opportunity of forming an Asian Community of Practice
for Rural Mobility, Access and Transport is currently
being mooted. Such an initiative would not only ensure
ongoing innovation and sharing of experience, but also
enable effective means of narrowing knowledge gaps and
responding to identified training needs throughout the
region.
The Chinese and Indian delegations both expressed interest
in exploring the possibility of co-hosting such events on
an annual basis, alternating the hosting responsibilities
between the two countries. By offering to act as secretariat
for this new initiative, IRF has further cemented its long-
term commitment to the cause of rural roads and global
development.
Moreover, to ensure that the invaluable knowledge and
experience exchanged during the event can be readily
disseminated throughout those regions of the world where
it is most needed, IRF Geneva will make the full proceedings
of the Conference available on its global Transport
Knowledge Partnership (gTKP) programme website (www.
gtkp.com).
Some key papers and presentations will also be included in
a second volume of this IRF Special Bulletin on Rural Roads,
scheduled for publication in Spring 2011.
| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-106
SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS
SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS
The Yambio-Maridi-Farasika Road Project
Betty Babirye DdunguEnvironmentalist/Social Expert with UNOPS
Since 2007, UNOPS has taken over the role as UN sector
lead for basic infrastructure and settlement development
in Southern Sudan. Currently, the Sudan Operations
Centre (SDOC) is running 18 different projects supported
by various donors, including USAID, the Multi Donor Trust
Fund (MDTF), the World Bank, other UN Agencies and the
Government of South Sudan.
The Yambio-Maridi-Farasika Road Project
On 10th April 2007, UNOPS and MDTF, together with the
Ministry of Transport and Roads, Government of Southern
Sudan, entered into a Memorandum of Agreement for the
rehabilitation and construction of the 170 km Yambio-
Maridi-Farasika road corridor. The objective of the project
is to improve traffic flow between the State Capital and
the counties of Ibba and Maridi. The road is also part of the
National Road Network of Southern Sudan so the initiative
will further serve to facilitate the return of refugees and
internally displaced persons, enhance food security and
stimulate economic development within the region. At the
macro level, the road project is also expected to contribute
towards:
The creation of conditions that foster sustained peace •
and development;
The promotion of economic growth by increasing •
trade;
Enhancing national stability by facilitating the transport •
of humanitarian aid, as well as the resettlement of
refugees and displaced persons;
Increasing the capacity of the southern Sudanese public •
and private sectors in various facets of road maintenance
and management;
Improving road access, thereby reducing the cost of •
access to food and food production.
The construction of the Yambio-Maridi-Farasika road is
also taking place within the context of increased regional
road infrastructure investments linking the country to the
neighbouring states of Uganda and Kenya, as well as a
trunk road system that extends northwards on both the
western and eastern sides of the Nile to eventually link the
South with the North.
While it is too early to assess the overall impact of this
road project, it already constitutes one of the most visible
and tangible benefits flowing from the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement to the people of West Equatorial State.
With the improved road, food and other relief aid can be
moved by ground transport more efficiently, thanks to
lower transport costs, quicker delivery times and increased
trucking capacity. Moreover, the road is facilitating the
return of refugees and internally displaced persons and
attracting many prospective development partners.
Other positive impacts include the creation of job
opportunities to provide increased income for both women
and men, and improved mobility and access to social
services – especially health facilities and schools, which are
key to women and young children.
Attenuating Negative Impacts
On the other hand, care needs to be exercised to attenuate
any negative impacts of road construction that could
otherwise risk threatening the environment and biodiversity
of the State as well as people’s livelihoods. To this end, an
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 | 07
SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS
Environmental/Social Management Plan (ESMP) is being
implemented to address viable remedial measures and
enhance positive impacts.
One of the guiding principles of the ESMP has been the
establishment of an open and transparent relationship
between the project and communities in the vicinity
through a process of continuous consultation, conducted
in a culturally appropriate manner. The project regularly
provides the concerned communities with information
on operations that might affect them by organising
stakeholder workshops and village meetings, as well as
through pamphlets and community announcements.
Women’s groups and community leaders are specifically
targeted.
Safety awareness activities and training are undertaken in
those locations most affected by traffic, especially among
communities living near schools and markets in close
proximity to the road.
Tree Planting Activities
Pursuant to the ESMP, USD 77,000 have been earmarked
for tree planting and reforestation programmes. These
include a comprehensive roadside plantation strategy
directed at both private and forestry reserve areas where
trees and vegetation have been removed as a result of
the road widening exercise. Trees and shrubs will also be
planted between the road and public amenities such as
churches, schools and clinics so as to limit dust, enhance the
aesthetics, generate goodwill and promote environmental
awareness. Upwards of a hundred public places, including
schools, hospitals, clinics, churches and state offices, from
Yambio to Farasika, will be targeted. Again, the programme
has been designed to particularly benefit women’s groups
in the first instance, for example through the planting of
fruit trees.
HIV/AIDS awareness
The current prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in Yambio is 10%
according to the latest surveillance figures (UNICEF, 2010).
This rate is likely to rise with the increasing numbers of
migrants (including the road project workers) who have
moved into the area without their families. Poverty coupled
with a lack of resources, prompts women to engage in
commercial sex with project workers
The ability of communities impacted by the project to
defend themselves against the resulting increased risks of
infection depends largely on the success of HIV/AIDS and
other sexually transmitted disease education and awareness
programmes. Besides mitigating the socio-economic impact
of HIV/AIDS, the project recognises it has a corporate social
responsibility to contribute towards community prevention
and care efforts.
The project is, therefore, collaborating with existing
programmes and working in close cooperation with the
government of Western Equatorial State and leading
specialised NGOs. It has notably committed to working
with the Zereda AIDS Information Centre, which works
with communities and people living with HIV/AIDS. The
Zereda centre promotes information/awareness on factual
health and behaviour change issues, including positive
living, the ABC of prevention, the prevention of mother to
child transmission, and antiretroviral drugs. These activities,
which naturally also include the distribution on condoms,
will take place in Bangasu, Makpandu, Rimenze, Bodo and
Bazungua.
Surveying in progress
Embankment rolling
| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-108
SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS
An Integrated Rural Accessibility Plan: A Case Study of Nilambur Block in the Malapurum District of Kerala, India
N. VijayakumarCo-ordinator, National Transportation Planning and Research Centre, Kozhikode 673002, India
Nilambur Block Panchayat1 is located on the north-east
part of Malapuram district of the State of Kerala, India. It
covers an area of 1,080.57 km2 and has a population of
3,23,066 (2001 census). The tribal population forms 4%
per cent of the total population of the Block.
While, overall the State of Kerala is relatively well placed
in terms of rural connectivity, compared to other States in
the country, the situation is quite different for most of the
settlements in hilly regions in the State. Due to physical
constraints and the peculiarities of habitat distribution,
people living in such remote locations often have to trek
long distances, through hostile terrain, to reach the nearest
roads usable by motorised vehicles or to access basic
amenities like schools, markets and hospitals.
As the people living in tribal communities are very poor,
with limited income from marginal work or from their own
marginal farms, there is generally little scope for travel
outside the settlement. Nor are such communities usually
covered by initiatives flowing from rural connectivity
schemes.
The National Transportation Planning & Research Centre
(NATPAC) has, therefore, attempted to highlight the travel
constraints of tribal people, as well as their specific social
and economic characteristics, with special emphasis on
their travel needs. The resulting study has come up with
viable solutions for the hilly region of Nilambur, aimed at
mitigating the problems of poverty and unemployment
by adopting low-cost and labour intensive Integrated
Rural Accessibility Planning (IRAP) approaches to provide
mobility. The strategy identified for attacking the prevailing
structural (as opposed to transient or chronic) poverty
involves the provision of better infrastructure and services
specifically aimed at addressing rural accessibility/mobility
problems, and reducing isolation in accordance with IRAP
methodologies.
The conventional approach to rural road planning is to
provide connectivity to all weather roads. In the case of
Nilambur, however, this approach is less viable. The limited
number of beneficiaries, and the costs that would be
involved in maintaining the roads, act as stumbling blocks
to providing connectivity to such areas. Steps, therefore,
have to be envisaged to enhance mobility and improve
accessibility at a lower investment cost.
Scope and Objectives
The scope of the study was to to evaluate objectively the
mobility needs of tribal communities, who are socially and
economically disadvantaged and are residing in very remote,
hilly terrains. The study highlighted their accessibility status
and mobility needs.
The main objectives of the study were:
to study the household and demographic characteristics •
of tribal communities living in typical hilly areas;
to study the socio-economic characteristics that have a •
bearing on the transport needs of such tribal people;
to study the existing transport facilities, especially road •
transport; and
to suggest cost-effective solutions aimed at improving •
mobility.
Methodology
The data required for the study was collected from primary
and secondary sources. Most of the data was available
from various local bodies, including notably the Tribal
Development Department. Household surveys were carried
A typical bamboo ladder and hanging bridge across a torrent
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 | 09
SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS
out to collect information on socio–economic characteristics
and travel demand patterns. Tribal settlements with
restricted and/or seasonal accessibility were identified. To
evaluate the mobility, accessibility and travel requirements
of the tribal communities concerned, census type household
surveys were carried out in each settlement.
Study area
The study area consisted of 207 tribal settlements spread
over eleven panchayats in the Nilambur Block. Forty of the
207 tribal settlements in the Block do not have all-weather
road connectivity. The existing jeep road/cart tracks cannot
be used during monsoon seasons. These settlements can,
therefore, be classified as ‘inaccessible’, and the only real
mobility available to them is by foot along forest tracks.
Analysis of the data and findings
The study team visited all the Oors (settlements) identified
as having accessibility restrictions. Most of the roads
connecting Oors were muddy and rocky and found to be
difficult to negotiate – especially for transporting men and
materials - throughout the year. Nearly all the settlements
were either located on the fringes of forests or deeper
within, near elephant corridors.
Around 44% of the households had an average income
of rupees 2,000-2,999 per month, followed by 24% with
3,000–4,000 rupees per month. 19% had a monthly income
of more than 4,000 rupees and the remaining 13% lived
on less than 2,000 rupees per month. The overall picture is
far below the State’s average per capita income.
In terms of energy, 87% of the settlers were dependent
on the forests as their source of fuelwood, while 13%
relied on private estates near their colonies. The per-capita
fuelwood load used to be 23 kilos, the collection of which
involved an average walking distance of more than two
kilometres. For 60% of families, the rivers were the main
source of drinking water, with the remaining 30% drawing
their water from community wells.
Only 26% of the total families (645) were engaged in
fishing in the upstream areas of the Chaliyar river. 17%
were cultivating various crops, including plantains (small
bananas), tapioca, coconuts, areca nuts, cashews and
pepper, on a homesteading basis. Among children and
young people, nearly 50% were pursuing studies, with a
few attending high schools in nearby towns in the block.
58% of tribal families had to travel more than 2 to 12
km in order to reach the nearest shopping centres, often
using an Intermediate Public Transport (IPT) service made
up of auto rickshaws or jeeps running during the week.
For medical care, 67% of families preferred to visit primary
health centres while the remaining 33% elected to visit
Government hospitals by walking to the Block centre
directly, or to the nearest available bus route.
Accessibility particulars like distance to a road suitable for
motor vehicles; proximity of a bus route; types of available
roads, river crossings and bridges (intact or missing!) and
so on were also collected during the survey. 70% of the
hamlets were connected by foot tracks and 30% by forest
roads. The distance to a bus route for settlements varied
from 1 km to 12 km. The distance to the nearest road
suitable for motorised vehicles from settlements such as
Vettilakolly, Irutukuthy and Vaniyampuzha was more than
five kilometres.
Regarding travel characteristics, 15% of the total
population of the settlements surveyed, make regular trips
for the purposes of work and education. Out of a total
of 735 trips, most (29%) were for education, followed by
shopping (28%) and work (18%).
Malappuram District
| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-110
SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS
Mode and frequency characteristics indicated that, for 54%
of settlers, walking was the main means of travel – with
47% making daily trips, and 40% travelling on a weekly
basis. The remaining 13% were reported to travel rarely.
Improvement measures
Stakeholder participation in decision-making is an
approved procedure under IRAP planning. Accordingly, a
fully participatory approach was assured during surveys
and habitat visits conducted for the study. A number of
improvement measures were duly mooted aimed at solving
accessibility/mobility problems in the region.
Conclusion
The study was carried out among tribal settlements located
in a remote hilly region, with restricted accessibility, in
accordance with the IRAP methodology, as developed by
agencies like the International Labour Office (ILO). The aim
of the study was to evaluate accessibility/mobility related
problems in order to arrive at cost–effective solutions
with the potential to enhance accessibility and thereby
improve the poor living standards and quality of life of the
communities involved; notably by means of improvement
measures which could, in turn, generate additional
employment opportunities. The purpose of the study was
to evaluate the prevailing accessibility standards vis-à-
vis the mobility needs of tribal communities in the study
region.
_____________________________
An administrative division, part of a three-tier self government 1.
system operating in Kerala State. This comprises Grama (or
village level) Panchayats, Block Panchayats (as mainly referred
to in this article) and District Panchayats.
Name of settlement
Kandilapara
Ambumala
Palakkayam
Vettilakolly
Nayadampoyil
Chenapady
Kuttimunda
Mundakadavu
Uchakulam
Thazhe Thudumutty
Improvement measures suggested
Road improvement•
Remove vegetation•
Steps along the hill•
Electric fencing•
Solar lights•
Road development•
Causeway•
Electric fencing•
Solar lights•
Road development•
Cut vegetation•
Edge barriers•
Electric fencing•
Road development•
Causeway•
Causeway •
Electric fencing•
Solar lights•
Cutting vegetation•
Road development•
Side protection•
Pipe culvert•
Road development•
Cut vegetation•
Solar lights•
Road development•
Surface dressing of foot •
path to colony
Electric fencing•
Solar lights•
Road development•
Hand packed steps to hill •
top
Solar lights•
TABLE 1Improvement measures proposed for Selected Settlements in the hilly-
forest region of Nilambur Block.
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 |IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 | 11
SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS
Rural Roads: The Wealth of Nations
Maryvonne Plessis-FraissardMFP Consult: Safe, Clean, Affordable Transport for Development
Rural roads have only relatively recently received attention
in development research. The International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, or World Bank, moved
away from the World War II reconstruction mandate during
the early 1960s to start, and address, the “Third World”
development agenda. At that time, the development
process was not understood beyond the need to build
infrastructure. Development was pursued on a sector-
by-sector basis, giving priority to the larger “structural”
infrastructure. Rural roads were attended mostly as part of
agriculture sector investment.
Study of rural roads as a keystone to unbundling the understanding of poverty
During the 1990s, rural roads became the centre of intensive
and specific attention, in particular under the leadership
of the International Forum for Rural Transport (IFRT), and
through the studies of the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport
Partnership (SSATP). This work documented the economic
and social development impacts of rural roads as we know
them today. Its significance extended beyond the issues of
rural and agricultural development, and contributed to the
unbundling of the concept of poverty, and the corresponding
processes of social and economic integration. The need
to focus on the mobility of individuals, the importance
of transport services (and not just infrastructure) and the
prevalence of non-motorised and alternative modes of
transport were recognised. Importantly, the intra household
dynamic by which isolation – measured in terms of distance
to water, fuel and basic social services – perpetrates wide
gender gaps and constitutes a poverty trap was established.
Today, these concepts of access, services, participation
and gender equality are at the centre of the development
debate. Rural roads are no longer a feature of agricultural
policy; they have become a critical headline indicator of
development monitoring.
“To be poor is to be isolated”
When, in 2000, over 40,000 poor women and men in
50 countries spoke about their lives and the meaning of
Equator
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Pacific Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Indian Ocean
Pacific Ocean
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40
40
60
60
80
80
100
100
120
120
140
140
160
160
180
180
0 0
-20 -20
20 20
-40 -40
40 40
-60 -60
60 60
-80 -80
80 80
RAI (%)
0 - 32
33 - 49
50 - 70
71 - 86
87 - 100
Not available
Rural Access IndexSource: Rural Access Index global tables, 2007
| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-112
SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS
poverty, they did not comment so much about lack of
money. Rather, they denounced lack of security, as well
as uncertainty and isolation. Physical, social and political
isolation are core features of the poverty trap.1 A new
focus was set in the fight against poverty, and the role of
rural roads received new significance.
Rural access: a core poverty indicator
The Rural Access Index (RAI) measures the percentage of the
rural population with “access” to the transport network.
Adopted in 2004 as a headline Indicator of Development,
it is included in household surveys in a growing number of
countries.
Today, one billion people, or thirty-one percent of the
world’s rural population, live isolated from markets and
services: they live more than 2 km from an “all season
road” – i.e. one that is ‘drivable’ at all times of the year
(within, at most, six hours after rain) by the prevailing
means of transport, which is usually a non four-wheel drive
pick-up truck. Global poverty has been falling rapidly, and
is becoming more and more an urban issue as the world
urbanises. Still, isolated rural populations often overlap
with the “Bottom Billion”; those whose perspectives are
not improving and who live in the small “failing states”
– falling further and further behind the rest of the world’s
people.2
Investing in rural roads: a cost effective way to address rural poverty
Overall, many examples are found of the positive economic
impacts of rural roads. For example, the number of
kilometres of rural road per capita of population is the
most significant explanation of growth and consumption in
Southern China.3 Despite variability in returns, investments
in rural roads are found to have greater economic impact
than any other investment – before education, agriculture
and health, in India, Thailand, China, Ethiopia and
Uganda.4
Improvement of rural roads also brings social development,
firstly in the form of improved food security. In Morocco,
the positive and multifaceted social multiplier effect of
enhanced access to basic services has been documented.
It shows how greater girls schooling has advanced gender
equity; how reliable access to the city has improved the
quality of education and health, with better enrolment and
retention of teachers and medical personnel. Enhanced
access has also impacted wellness, productivity and the
environment by making butane more widely available for
household use.5
Investing in rural roads improves governance, participation and citizenship
Better attention to rural roads and appropriate community
participation has been shown to enhance the quality of
citizenship in Peru. Rural roads facilitate access to district
centres, polling stations and the centres of delivery for
democratic services. By lowering the cost of participation,
they have promoted involvement in local decision-making,
thereby enabling greater scrutiny and awareness on the
part of communities and, in turn, contributing to improved
democratic services.6 In other countries, such as Chad,
addressing the isolation of villages has been associated
with identification of communities with civil authorities
and the rural roads have been called “roads of peace”.
The ‘step-child’ of infrastructure in developing countries
Rural roads often receive the least attention in the
network. This is because they are funded from a number
of sources – at national regional and local levels. Similarly,
they are managed with inputs from central, regional and
local governments, and are situated at the intersection of
transport, agriculture and local government mandates. Brazil, Julio Pantoja (World Bank Collection)
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 | 13
SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS
They are alternatively an economic or a social asset. They
constitute a vast infrastructure asset, yet they are neither
cheap nor cutting edge. They are an infrastructure, not a
service, and yet a major part of their cost is recurrent. These
complexities make it harder for rural roads interventions to
achieve expected standards of governance and technical
performance. S. Fan summarises the predicament of rural
roads: they are the “step-child of infrastructure provision in
developing countries”.7
How many rural roads? Uncertainty and difficult decisions
Rural roads continue to be at the centre of controversies
regarding appropriate technical standards and fair cost
sharing arrangements. Internal rate of return methodologies
often underestimate impacts and ignore distributional
and poverty reduction effects. Budgets do not account
well for long construction times and delayed evidence of
benefits. Rural roads also interact with other investments,
making effects hard to isolate. While travel time to cities
is associated with decreasing crop production,8 no model
can set optimum investment effort. There is also little hard
evidence on the contextual factors that make a programme
succeed: high adult illiteracy may reduce the impact of
improved rural roads, while difficult terrains often show
the opposite effect.9 Almost everywhere, lack of data is a
major handicap.
Simplified modelling methodologies requiring less
information have been designed for low traffic volumes;
cost reduction and practical approaches such as spot
improvements have been developed to address scarcity
of funds or low population and traffic densities – while
focussing on the access and mobility issues that make the
difference for the poor.10 These instruments remain under
utilised, often because they are perceived as politically
inappropriate.
New challenges
As nations achieve improved road safety, casualties remain
high on low-volume and isolated roads. This has resulted
in redistribution of road upgrading and safety funding in
favour of secondary and rural roads in a number of OECD
countries. The risks associated with climate change, with
new temperature and rain patterns and extreme weather
events, also call for updated construction and maintenance
standards.
Rural roads are the wealth of nations, a tool for social
inclusion, economic development and environmental
sustainability. If rural access is an indicator of poverty,
then rural roads management may be a measure of
governance.
_____________________________
Narayan, D. & al, The voice of the Poor: can anyone hear us?. 1.
World Bank. 2000.
Paul Collier, The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are 2.
Failing and What Can be Done About It. 2007
Jalan J. and M. Ravaillon, Geographic Poverty traps? A Micro 3.
Model of Consumption Growth in Rural China. Journal of
Applied Econometric,. Vol 17 2007, pp329-246.
Mogues, T. Impact of Investment in Rural Roads in Africa: 4.
Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania. Transportation
Research Board, 2008
Leyvigne, J. Morrocco Rural Roads Impact Study. Unpublished 5.
Transport Research Board, The World Bank. 2007
Simatovic, M. I., M. Glave, and G. Pastor. Impact of Rural 6.
Roads Program on Democracy and Citizenship in Rural Areas of
Peru. The World Bank, 2008.
Fan, S. Why Rural Roads Are Important in Economic Growth and 7.
Poverty Reduction? Selected Evidence from Asia. International
Food Policy Institute, IFPRI, 2008
Dorosh, P., H. Gun Wang, and L. You, Crop Production and 8.
Road Connectivity in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Spatial Analysis.
The World Bank, 2008.
Mu, R. and Van de Wale, M. Rural Roads and Poor Development 9.
in Vietnam. The World Bank 2008,
Lebo J. and D. Schelling. Design and Appraisal of rural 10.
infrastructure : Ensuring Basic Access for Rural Communities.
World Bank, Technical Paper 496, 2001
South West China (Steve Harris, World Bank Collection)
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 |
| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-114
CONSTRUCTION
A Simple and Effective Characterisation Technique for Granular Materials in Rural Roads
Alemgena A. ArayaDelft University of Technology, Road and Railway Engineering Section
Most rural roads are unpaved, or paved with a thin, low-
cost asphalt surface. The base and sub-base layers are the
main load bearing structures. Those layers are mostly built
from locally-available natural or crushed stone aggregate
materials. These granular materials are often obtained
from nearby quarries along the road. Quarry sources on
geologically vulnerable slopes can trigger erosion, mass
wasting and sedimentation. This often leads to excessive
land degradation in adjacent areas. Such impacts have a
direct bearing on the livelihoods of people who depend on
subsistence agriculture farming in developing countries.
Historically, flexible pavement design practices have been
typically based on empirical procedures, such as the
California Bearing Ratio (CBR), which recommend certain
base, sub-base and surface layer types and thicknesses,
based on the strength of the sub-grade. Such designs tend
to result in conservatively large pavement layer thicknesses,
requiring far more quarry materials than might otherwise
be necessary. Another major drawback of empirically-based
design of pavements and characterisation of materials is
that the performance of the materials under different or
changing conditions (climate, increasing traffic loads, tyre
pressures, etc.) and applications (other types of pavement
structures) is uncertain.
A proper utilisation and characterisation of materials is,
therefore, essential for the development of truly sustainable
and cost-effective road pavements. This can be achieved
through characterisation of basic material properties, which
can be used in mechanistic analyses for predicting different
distresses such as rutting and roughness. Furthermore, the
advantage of using such mechanical properties of materials
is that it enables the introduction of alternative and/or
marginal, but possibly appropriate, materials. Moreover, it
enables such materials to be used to their fullest extent,
which in itself can play a significant role in optimising the
use and conservation of natural resources.
However, the method of characterising the mechanical
behaviour of unbound granular materials, such as the
resilient modulus, commonly entails using cyclic load triaxial
tests, which are considered to be too sophisticated and
costly to implement in routine road construction projects,
particularly in the context of low-volume rural roads.
Indeed, such tests are implemented mainly for research
purposes, and hardly ever used in day-to-day engineering
practice. This gap between research and industry-
based practice highlights the absence of appropriate
characterisation techniques. Characterisation techniques
developed for research purposes have economical and
practical limitations that prevent their widespread use.
Edward (2007) reports that these barriers include level
of complexity, availability and affordability, as well as the
prerequisite skills or training required for their use. On the
other hand, being too empirical, index testing procedures,
such as the CBR have inherent technical limitations with
respect to their use in mechanistic design methods.
By way of response, the repeated load CBR (RL-CBR) test
is proposed as a simpler and more practical method for
characterisation of unbound materials. The following
sections describe the principle behind the test and the
materials and methodologies used. The article goes on
to demonstrate how the test technique is effective in
determining the effects of moisture content, degree of
compaction and load level on the resilient and permanent
deformation characteristics of unbound granular
materials.
The repeated load CBR
The principle of the RL-CBR test is similar to that of the
standard CBR test, but repeated loads are applied. Upon
multiple repetitions of the same magnitude of loading,
granular materials reach a state in which almost all strain
under a load application is recoverable. The permanent
(plastic) strain ceases to exist or becomes negligible, and
the material behaves in a basically elastic manner, i.e. with
CONSTRUCTION
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 | 15
CONSTRUCTION
stable, recoverable deformation. From the applied stress and
the measured strain, an elastic modulus can be estimated.
By recording the load and displacement and plotting these
in x-y axes, as in Figure 1, the load levels and total resilient
(elastic) and permanent (plastic) deformations under the
penetration plunger used in the test can be determined.
The aim of the repeated load CBR test setup is to estimate
the resilient modulus from a standard CBR testing facility
by repeating the loading and unloading cycle. The tests in
the research featured in this article were performed using
a large mould, with a diameter of 250 mm and a height of
200 mm, to accommodate the full 0/45 mm gradation.
Proportionally, a larger penetration plunger, with a diameter
of 81.5 mm, was used instead of the standard CBR plunger,
which has a diameter of only 49.6 mm. The specimen is
first loaded at the rate of 1.27 mm/min to a predetermined
deformation (e.g. 2.54 mm) or a target load level. The load
is recorded and unloaded at the same rate (1.27 mm/min)
to a minimum contact load of 0.5 to 1 KN (0.1 to 0.2 MPa)
to keep the plunger in contact with the specimen. The
loading and unloading cycles are generally repeated for
about 50 – 100 load cycles, at which phase the permanent
deformation due to the last five loading cycles will be less
than 2% of the total permanent deformation up to that
point.
The materials used in the study ranged from a very good
quality Grade 1 (G1) crushed Hornfels rock base course
material from South Africa, to a recycled mix granulate from
the Netherlands. This article will, however, focus essentially
on three of the materials, namely crushed rock (G1) base
material from South Africa, weather basalt (WB) natural
gravel sub-base material from Ethiopia and ferricrete (FC)
natural gravel sub-base material from South Africa.
The equivalent modulus Eequ was computed from the
stabilised elastic deformation after 100 cycles. The term
equivalent modulus is used because it reflects the overall
stiffness of the sample as a bulk, rather than the resilient
modulus of the material. A Finite Element Analysis was
carried out on a model of the CBR mould using the
ABAQUS software and assuming linear elastic behaviour
of the granular material. A wide range of material stiffness
100 – 1000 MPa and Poisson’s ratio 0.15 - 0.45 was used
for the granular material with different deformation and
force levels. From these analyses, equation 1 has been
developed. This relates the elastic modulus of the material
tested (referred to as equivalent modulus of the whole
sample) to the load and elastic deformation that were
measured from the RL-CBR tests.
Where:
Eequ = Equivalent modulus [MPa]
n = Poisson’s ratio [-]
sp = Plunger average stress [MPa]
u = elastic deformation [mm]
R = radius of the load circle/the plunger = 40.75 [mm]
Results and discussion
Most of the RL-CBR specimens were tested first at a load level
(P) that resulted in a 2.54 mm (0.1 in) penetration from the
first loading cycle (similar to the standard CBR). The loading
cycles were then repeated with the same load. However,
as granular materials are known for their stress dependent
behaviour, the tests under various material conditions were
carried out with different load levels on a virgin specimen.
Thus, figure 2 shows the resilient deformation of six
Ethiopian weathered basalt (WB) specimens under varying
material conditions and tested at two load levels: 32 kN for
varying the degree of compaction (DOC), and 15 kN for
varying the moisture content (MC).
Deformation
Load
Standard CBR Repeated Load CBR
No. load
repetition
Def
orm
atio
n .
Cummulative permanent deformationResilient deformationPermanent deformation/cycle
Figure 1. Repeated load CBR test principle and load-deformation pattern
| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1
G1 - Moderate (4%) MC
100
1000
10000
00000100001Plunger stress (kPa)
E equ
(MPa
)
98%
100%
102%
G1 - 100% DOC
100
1000
10000
1000 10000 100000Plunger stress (kPa)
E equ
(MPa
)
Wet(6%)
Mod.(4%)
Dry(2%)
16
CONSTRUCTION
The resilient deformation decreases for the WB with
moderate MC and an increase in the DOC is observed at
the same load level, 32 kN. At 95% DOC, expressed in
maximum modified Proctor dry density (MPDD), and 15 kN
load, the resilient deformation increases with the increase
of MC.
To establish stress dependent behaviour from the RL-CBR,
a large number of tests were carried out at various plunger
load levels. The equivalent modulus was estimated using
equation 1, developed by the author from finite element
modelling of the RL-CBR. Figure 3 shows stress dependent
equivalent modulus of the G1 material for various DOC
and MC. It should be noted that the RL-CBR equivalent
modulus is stress dependent, and generally the stiffness
of the material increases with an increase in DOC and
decrease in MC. The equivalent modulus of the ferricrete
is relatively higher at moderate MC (rather than wet or
dry), and it shows better performance at 98% DOC than at
95% or 100%. With respect to compaction, 100% DOC of
the FC shows poor performance in the RL-CBR as a result
of crushing of aggregates during compaction and resultant
weakening of the material.
In the results presented here for each individual loading,
the value of the resilient strain and stress are the average of
the last ten load cycles. The values of resilient modulus (Mr)
are not generally very sensitive to MC and DOC (except for
the ferricrete, where they were sensitive to both). When
we compare the Mr values for each material, the range is
100 – 500 MPa for the WB and FC and 100 – 650 MPa for
the G1.
ConclusionsThe repeated load CBR test is relatively simple and •
affordable for pavements on rural roads in general,
and for developing countries in particular. It yields a
good estimate of the material stiffness
The repeated load CBR test is a useful method for •
evaluating the effects of moisture content, degree
of compaction, load level etc. on the stiffness and
resistance to rutting of granular materials
Provision of proper water drainage significantly •
improves the lifetime of rural roads with unbound
granular layers. If such pavements are likely to be
exposed to uncontrolled moisture during their lifetime,
their mechanical behaviour should be tested at the
worst possible in-situ moisture content.
0.20.30.40.50.60.70.80.91.0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120Number
of
Load
Repetitions
Resi
lient
Def
orm
atio
n (m
m)
95% 98% 100%
0.20.30.40.50.60.70.80.91.0
0 25 50 75 100 125 150Number
of
Load
Repetitions
Resi
lient
Def
orm
atio
n (m
m)
Dry(5%) Mod.(7%) Wet(9%)
Figure 2. Effect of DOC at moderate MC and effect of MC at 95% DOC for WB
Figure 3. Stress dependent equivalent modulus for G1 material
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 | 17
MANAGEMENT
Contracted Labour-Based Market Access Improvement in Zambia using a Management Agent
Adam AndreskiDirector, I.T. Transport, UK
A highly innovative programme for delivering improved
market access roads in Zambia was carried out between
2002 and 2007. The programme was called SHEMP
(Smallholder Enterprise Development and Marketing
Programme – access road component) and its key features
were:
Improved food security and reduced poverty, achieved •
through private sector means;
Farmers groups selected routes based on technical •
advice provided;
A novel management structure whereby a Managing •
Agent (a hybrid consultant/management contractor)
supervised and executed the work, with supervisory
assistance from District Councils;
47 labour-based contractors built 700km of gravel •
access roads very cheaply, for around $7,000/km.
The project was financed by the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) through the Ministry of
Agriculture & Cooperatives of the Government of Zambia
(GRZ). SHEMP covered 18 districts in four provinces as
shown in the map on page 19.
Programme Design
Selection of RoadsThe Programme’s immediate objectives were to improve
linkage to markets for smallholders’ products, as well as
input supplies and alleviate poverty. The selection of roads
took into account the following factors:
Preferences of focal area road user groups. This involved •
a consultative process with local farmers;
Vehicle (including non-motorised vehicles) operating •
cost savings. This took into account consumption of
spares, tyres and fuel;
User travel time savings;•
Producer surplus transport savings.•
Selection of ContractorsA press advertisement was placed in the Times of Zambia
during February 2003, requesting expressions of interest
from small-scale, labour-based contractors wishing to take
part in the road works. There was a tremendous response
from the small contractors, who underwent a preliminary
selection by reference to specific focal areas. The best
candidates were shortlisted according to the following
criteria:
Company Registration•
VAT Registration•
Ministry of Works & Supply registration•
Rural Transport Services training•
Firm’s experience in labour-based road works•
Ownership of equipment, or ability to hire•
Residence•
Shortlisted contractors were then invited to bid, and
evaluated on a financial basis.
ManagementActivities are undertaken by private teams acting in the
capacities of Project Coordination Office, Oversight Civil
Engineer and Implementing Engineering Firm (Managing
Agent), with contractors and local labour all engaged on
a contract basis. The Project Coordination Office (PCO)
was hired by MASDA, a management consultancy firm,
while the Ministry of Agriculture hired BICON Zambia as
Oversight Civil Engineer (OCE) and IT Transport/Zulu Burrow
Joint Venture as Implementing Engineering Firm (IEF). The
IEF contracted labour-based contractors who, in turn, hired
labour within the local communities. The District Works
Officer from the District Council supervised works weekly
and signed contractors’ certificates for works.
The innovation here was that the IEF was considered
the main contractor and won the contract on the basis
of carrying out both the works and supervision. The IEF
managed the procurement of small-scale local contractors
and signed the contracts. This enabled the Central Tender
Board to consider the IEF as one contractor managing a
series of subcontractors; and hence only one approval was
required rather than 47 separate ones.
However, the IEF was not strictly speaking a management
contractor since the PCO paid the small labour-based
MANAGEMENT
| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-118
MANAGEMENT
contractors directly, and the IEF was paid a fee for its
services. Thus, the IEF was, in effect, a hybrid consultant/
contractor. This arrangement is illustrated in the diagram
below.
Programme Results
Works & ContractingThe main result was 700km of gravel road built 4.5m wide
with various drainage structures at a cost of around $4.5m.
Out of 47 contracts, there were 6 terminations during the
5-year implementation period. This meant that the average
of $6,400/km for full road rehabilitation achieved by SHEMP
labour-based contracts compared favourably with the
approximately $15,000/km prevalent in many countries.
In terms of local business benefits, several contractors have
seen their capacity increased:
Marklev had contracts for ZMK 330m and ZMK 350m •
and have been able to purchase a compactor, water
bowser and tractor.
Continental Labour Based had contracts worth ZMK •
419m and ZMK 670m and have purchased 2 cars,
2 tractors, a generator, 3 water tanks and 2 water
pumps.
Plough Africa had contracts for ZMK 398m, ZMK 718m •
and ZMK 457m and have purchased 1 car, 2 trucks, a
roller, a water bowser and 2 pipe moulds.
Benefits
Road improvements have directly led to improved
accessibility, reduced transport costs and greater access to
social and economic services. The average first year rate of
return was estimated at 30%.
One vivid example of the kind of human benefits brought
about by the project is the bridge built, thanks to the
SHEMP programme, over a crossing at Kaweluwelu on the
Haanjalika road. Before the bridge was built, this crossing
was frequently impassable, preventing upwards of 100 out
of 530 pupils getting to school in Mweemba. According
to the school authorities, this problem has become a thing
of the past – at least, for the lucky pupils able to use the
bridge. Sadly, however, there remain two crossings without
proper bridges on the southern approaches to the school,
which continue to affect some 200 pupils each time there
are rains, resulting in the loss of up to three days of class
time on each occasion.
Community participation in the market access improvement
component of SHEMP has been a constant feature, both
in the planning process – through sub-FARGS (Focal Area
Smallholder Enterprise Development and Marketing Programme (SHEMP)
Programme Coordination Office (PCO)
Implementing Engineering firm
(IEF)ITT/Zulu Burrow Joint Venture
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
International Fund for Agricultural Development
Overseeing Engineer
Contractors
District Council
Supervise and Certify Works
Pay Contractors Direct
Contract & Supervise
Contractors
Due Diligence
Programme Organisation
Macha-Chongo Road before Macha-Chongo Road after
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 | 19
MANAGEMENT
Resource Groups) – and through the hire of local people
for the road works. These are the two areas clearly spelled
out in the project design where the benefits of community
participation have been most felt.
The members of the sub-FARGS representing the
smallholders are elected by the farmers’ associations in the
various zones of the district. These representatives receive
submissions from their associations regarding the priority
roads for rehabilitation. District officials have rated planning
under SHEMP as even more community driven than under
ZAMSIF (the Zambia Social Infrastructure Fund).
The programme has also generated significant employment.
In 2005, 296,381 worker days were provided – for which
25% of beneficiaries were female – and ZMK 1,058 billion
(US$320,000) was paid in wages.
On average, transporters experienced a 50% reduction
in replacements of spare parts across a range of vehicle
types and roads. The distance-related operating costs have
reduced by a factor ranging from 60%, for heavy vehicles
(2 and 3 axles), to 49% for cars and light goods vehicles
and 36% for four-wheel drive and related vehicles.
Meanwhile, the number of traders doubled, and the entry
of the Zambian Food Reserves Agency (FRA) has had a
significant impact. Indeed, the FRA has come to be the
major buyer of local maize and offers a premium price. The
resulting presence of the main players in this market has
pulled the average price of maize upwards from ZMK 20,000
to ZMK 30,000 per 50 kg bag. In parallel, the volumes of
maize purchased have also gone up considerably, as shown
in the table below.
Maize Purchases by Traders along Kasosolo Road (Chibombo District) for the Period 2002/2003 to 2007
Source: Field Survey, 2007
A 45-year old widow with 5 children (2
married and 3 at school), summarised the
experience as follows, “the company (the
labour contractor) came at a right time.
There wasn’t enough food last season
and the money assisted, especially for us
widows.”
)sgab gK 05( sesahcruP eziaM
2002/2003 2003/2004 2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007
Olympic Milling 3, 000 6,000 8,000 10,000 Lukanga Agric marketing Enterprise
600 600 650 650 680
Food Reserve Agency N/A N/A N/A 26,740 40,000
FVG Kabwe Milling N/A 6,000 10,000 17,000 20,000
Wirewell Simwinga N/A N/A N/A 100 200
Avon Agric Marketing Company N/A N/A N/A 10,000 5,200
080,67 094,26 056,6 006,9 006 latoT
| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-120
MANAGEMENT
Low-Volume Roads Engineering Best Practices: Application and Training
Gordon R. Keller, PE, GEGeotechnical Engineer, USA
Low-volume roads have long been known to contribute
to substantial erosion and sediment production, as well
as create other problems such as channel modifications or
slope instability. Sixty to seventy percent of the roads in
most countries are “rural” and often unsurfaced or with
only a gravel surfacing. Roads are a basic part of rural
infrastructure and needed for development and access to
critical areas such as schools and clinics, as well as movement
of goods and services, etc. Roads are also relatively
expensive. Thus, design and maintenance practices should
be used that help prolong the useful life of the road and
minimise problems. Roads Best Management Practices, or
BMPs, have been drawn up and are particularly useful for
developing long-term, cost-effective designs for roads –
designs that incorporate mitigation measures to minimise
adverse environmental impacts, protect water quality,
minimise the need for maintenance and make roads more
resistant to the impacts of storms.
Good “Road Engineering” today involves a blend of three
basic components:
Application of Basic Engineering and Design 1. Concepts: including good planning and location;
drainage analysis; good road surface drainage; proper
use and installation of culverts, fords and bridges;
building stable slopes and use of slope stabilisation
measures; proper use of roadway materials; and
appropriate road maintenance.
Environmental Awareness and Application of 2. Practical Environmental Mitigation Measures: such as erosion and sediment control; water quality
protection; fish passages and wildlife crossings; and
invasive species control.
Use of Appropriate, Innovative Technologies:3. to
facilitate work and make it more cost-effective, such
as GIS mapping; use of geosynthetics; trenchless
technology; mechanically stabilised earth structures;
biotechnical erosion control and slope stabilisation
measures; and simple in-situ site characterisation tools.
Many useful references exist today to help promote
and guide road work in an “environmentally friendly”
and technically sound manner.
The Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) has an extensive low-volume road system across
the United States, and operates in a very environmentally
conscious world. Thus, it has developed many useful
design techniques and mitigations, and has presented
Roads Engineering Best Practices training to numerous
agencies and groups worldwide – introducing the subjects
of “road engineering” and environmental protection with
a “holistic” perspective. Much of this information has been
summarised in a recent publication, Low-Volume Roads Engineering Best Management Practice Field Guide,
written by G. Keller and J. Sherar. The guide is currently
available in English, Spanish and Portuguese and this
technically based and environmentally conscious training
for low-volume roads is unique. Courses have typically
been from two to five days long, and ideally include time
in the field evaluating local roads.
Some of the key objectives of Roads BMPs are to:
Produce a safe, cost-effective, environmentally-friendly •
and practical road design that meets the needs of the
users;
Protect water quality and reduce sediment into water •
bodies;
Avoid land use conflicts;•
Protect sensitive areas and reduce ecosystem impacts;•
Maintain natural channels, flows and passage for •
aquatic organisms;
Minimise ground and drainage channel disturbance;•
Control road surface water and stabilise the roadbed •
driving surface (see lack of water control in Figure 1,
and measures to control and prevent the concentration
of water in Figure 2);
Control erosion and protect exposed soil areas;•
Implement slope stabilisation measures where •
needed;
Avoid problematic areas; and•
Stormproof and extend the useful life of the road. •
Millions of dollars are spent annually in the US and other
countries on storm damage repairs. Most of this work is
to repair existing roads and transportation facilities, many
of which are not well designed or maintained. Agencies
cannot afford to build roads to be 100 percent storm
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 | 21
MANAGEMENT
resistant, or “stormproof”. They can, however, make them
more storm resistant, and measures can be taken to reduce
the risk of storm damage from any given event, particularly
through the application of Roads Best Management
Practices.
Storm damage risk reduction measures include many
maintenance, drainage improvement and structural items.
Roadway surface drainage structures, such as ditches,
cross-drains and rolling dips need to be clean, properly
armoured and properly spaced to prevent concentration
of water. Drainage crossing structures, such as bridges,
fords and culverts, need to have adequate capacity; or at
least be clear of debris, well-armoured, scour resistant and
functioning properly. Trash racks can be added. Marginally
stable road cuts and fills can be stabilised with retaining
structures, drainage and modified slopes; and reinforced
with vegetation or soil bio-engineering treatments, etc.
(See Figure 3).
Since low-volume or rural roads are very much needed,
but expensive, it is important to build roads in a manner
that minimises their long-term cost and maximises their
usefulness, while limiting negative environmental impacts.
The application of BMPs helps to achieve these goals. The
Low-Volume Roads Engineering Best Management Practice
Field Guide is available at the following Forest Service
International Programs website:
http://www.fs.fed.us/global/topic/welcome.htm#8
(Look under ‘Sustainable Forestry Practices’ in the
Practitioner’s Toolbox. Simply scroll down to the bottom
of the box for the Spanish version. For more information,
contact Gordon Keller, Geotechnical Engineer, via E-mail at:
Figure 1: A poorly drained road that concentrates water, damages the road, and causes soil erosion and water quality degradation.
Figure 2 Measures used to drain a roadway surface, such as an inslope, outslope, or crown section, and use of a rolling grade to minimise water
concentration.
Figure 3 Slope stability problems and solutions using a variety of slope stabilisation measures including buttresses, flatter slopes, drainage, use
of vegetation, and fills compacted with layer placement.
| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-122
ROAD SAFETY
Road Safety Management Using Crash Prediction Models
Gianluca Dell’Acqua, Renato Lamberti & Francesca RussoDepartment of Transportation Engineering “Luigi Tocchetti”, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Many studies in scientific literature dealing with roadway
safety have evaluated how human, infrastructural and
environmental factors can influence an unexpected event.
Some researchers have shown how collisions tend to occur
disproportionately on certain roadway segments. This
implies that, in addition to driver error, road characteristics
play a major role in collision occurrence. Crashes have been
defined in the literature as the result of bad decisions made
by the driver in an environment created by the engineer.
International researchers1 have, thus, suggested a variety
of approaches for analysing road traffic safety levels, based
on a valuation of the correlation between crash rates and
the lack of roadway alignment consistency.
Since 2003, the Department of Transportation Engineering
at the University of Naples has been conducting a major
research programme based on speed and crash data
ROAD SAFETY
TTwwoo--LLaannee RRooaaddss Length
[Km]
ADT Average Daily Traffic in
vehicles/day
Roadway width [m]
Injurious events
per year per Km
Average 4.60 3,300.15 7.69 0.12
Standard error 0.18 148.11 0.07 0.01
Median 3.25 1,789.75 7.00 0.00
Mode / 1,174.00 7.00 0.00
Standard deviation 4.36 3,554.75 1.75 0.28
Sample variation 18.98 12,636,264.81 3.05 0.08
Kurtosis 22.19 3.10 2.62 15.20
Asymmetry 3.20 1.78 1.38 3.49
Interval 50.02 18,855.50 11.83 2.13
Minimum 0.08 201.50 4.50 0.00
Maximum 50.11 19,057.00 16.30 2.13
Sum 2,651.21 1,900,889.20 4,427.47 71.36
Total 576.0 576.00 576.00 576.00
MMuullttii--llaannee RRooaaddss Length
[Km]
ADT Average Daily Traffic in
vehicles/day
Roadway width [m]
Injurious events
per year per Km
Average 3.82 18,904.78 7.44 1.69
Standard error 0.42 1,957.54 0.38 0.36
Median 2.44 12,696.88 7.25 0.00
Mode / 41,675.00 11.25 0.00
Standard deviation 3.33 15,413.69 2.96 2.82
Sample variation 11.07 237,581,939.93 8.74 7.94
Kurtosis 1.82 -1.19 -0.72 12.20
Asymmetry 1.57 0.59 0.30 3.00
Interval 14.38 48,259.33 11.50 16.47
Minimum 0.52 1,247.67 3.50 0.00
Maximum 14.90 49,507.00 15.00 16.47
Sum 236.78 1,172,096.44 461.00 104.78
Total 62.00 62.00 62.00 62.00
TABLE 1 Descriptive Statistics
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 | 23
ROAD SAFETY
collection on two-lane rural roads2. The programme
analysed data collected with respect to crashes over a
period of three years, from 2003 to 2005. Table 1 refers
to descriptive statistics for geometric features and crashes
resulting in injury per year per kilometre used in this research-
study. Prior to performing the regression equations, 10% of
the total events were randomly extracted to subsequently
validate two crash prediction models.
Crash Prediction Models Calibration
The calibration procedure for injurious crash prediction
models was performed employing the Gauss-Newton
method, based on the Taylor series, to estimate the
coefficients of employed variables. All the parameters
included in each model are significant, with a 95%
confidence level.
The best specification of ordinary-least-square model (OLS)
for multi-lane roadways was developed using analysis of
223 kilometres of Italian roadways and 1,205 injurious
crashes. The equation-form is as follows:
where
y1 : number of injurious crashes per year per km
ADT : average daily traffic in vehicles per day observed over
three years
Lu : length of the analysed roadway segment in km
The adjusted coefficient of determination (ρ²) of the model
is equal to 67.3%. Observed residuals have a minimum
value of zero and a maximum value of 6.50; the average
value is 0.48, while the standard deviation is 1.66, in
injurious crashes per year per kilometre.
The best specification of OLS for two-lane roads was
developed using analysis of 2,651 kilometres of Italian
roadways and 1,131 injurious crashes. The equation-form
is as follows:
is as follows:
where:
V : mean speed in free flow conditions on a selected
roadway segment, in km/h
VGI : vertical grade indicator of a selected roadway
segment equal to 0.8 for low value of a mean
grade, 0.9 for high value of a mean grade and 1 for
very high value of a mean grade
CI : curvature indicator of a selected roadway segment
equal to 0.8 for a low value of mean curvature, 0.9
for high value of mean curvature and 1 for very
high value of mean curvature
La : roadway width in metres
The adjusted coefficient of determination (ρ²) of the model
is equal to 68%. Observed residuals have a minimum value
of zero and a maximum value of 1.89; the average value
is 0.03 while the standard deviation is equal to 0.26, in
injurious crashes per year per kilometre.
The effectiveness of the two prediction models was
estimated from the diagram of residuals, based on the
average daily traffic (ADT values) using Hauer’s procedure3
as illustrated in figure 1.
The left-hand column shows, by reference to multi-lane
roads, the quadratic residuals on the y-axis. The ADT/1,000
values on the x-axis correspond to the same roadway
Multi-lane Roads Diagram ADT-Cumulated squared residuals
020
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0 10 20 30 40 50
Squ
are
d I/
F c
rash
es p
er y
ear
ADT/1,000 [vehicles/day]
Two-Lane Roads CuRe diagram
-2,50
-2,00
-1,50
-1,00
-0,50
0,00
0,50
1,00
1,50
2,00
2,50
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
CuR
e
TGM
ADT
-
-
-
-
- 0
FIGURE 1 Diagram of residuals
| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-124
ROAD SAFETY
segments. For ADT ≤, 10,000 vehicles per day appears to
be an “outlier”, where the real crash rate is approximately
dissimilar to the predictive value, and more investigations
may be necessary to decide whether or not to use these
observations. The right-hand column shows, by reference
to rural roads, the Cumulative Residuals on the y-axis
and the ADT values corresponding to the same roadway
segments on the x-axis.
Crash Prediction Models ValidationThis section presents the validation procedure of crash
prediction models for multi-lane and two-lane rural roads.
The data used in this phase has not been included in
the calibration phase of some models. 10% of the total
observed crash data was initially extracted from the entire
database for subsequent use in the validation procedure
– respectively representing 60 multi-lane roads, covering
220 km and 58 injurious crashes from 2003 to 2005, and
7 two-lane roads covering 18 Km and 11 injurious crashes
over the same three years.
The descriptive statistics of the features used to validate the
two models for prediction of injurious crashes are shown
in Table 2.
The validation procedure estimates the following synthetic
statistical parameters:
Residual (Di) = value estimated from the difference •
between predicted fatal crash values Yi and the
observed fatal crash values Yi: Di=Yi-Yi.
MAD (Mean Absolute Deviation in injurious crashes •
per year per kilometre) = constant value equal to the
sum of the absolute values of Di divided by the total
number (n) of observations
MSE (Mean Squared Error in squared injurious crashes •
per year per kilometre) = constant value equal to the
sum of Di squared divided by n
I = constant value equal to the square root of MSE •
divided by the mean of the predictive injurious
crashes
The predictive crash model for multi-lane roads has a MAD
value of 3.55 and an MSE value of 17.93. For two-lane
roads, the model has a MAD value of 0.48 and an MSE
value of 0.72. Thus, it can be concluded that two crash
prediction models are statistically significant given that the
residual values are in a limited range around the mean, and
the MAD, MSE and I indicators have a low value.
Results and Conclusions
The proposed objective was to identify the relationship
between existing causality events related to the geometric
and functional characteristics of the examined network (in
the Province of Salerno, Italy) and the number of injurious
crashes recorded. Once the data was gathered, a database
was created in order to process it. The calibration procedure
covered 223 kilometres of multi-lane roads, where 1,205
injurious crashes occurred from 2003 to 2005, and 2,651
latoT xaM niM .dtS.veD naem elbairaV
MULTI-LANE ROADS
[vehicles/day] 10,156.10 7,965.12 161,300 23,499.50 71,092.67
Roadway Segment Length [Km] 2.64 2.55 0.53 7.99 18.49
Injurious crashes per year 0.52 1.39 0.00 3.67 3.67
TWO-LANE ROADS
ADT [vehicles/day] 3,038.11 3,120.35 230.25 14,972.00 194,439.15
Roadway Segment Length [Km] 3.54 3.23 0.12 16.79 226.56
Injurious crashes per year 0.30 0.82 0.00 5.00 19.33
V [Km/h] 59.09 9.39 30.00 74.30 -
Curvature Indicator [-] 0.86 0.07 0.80 1.00 -
Vertical Grade Indicator [-] 0.94 0.06 0.80 1.00 -
nDMADn
ii /
1==
nDMSEn
ii /
1
2
=
=
2( )
0 . 1
i i
i
Y YnI Y
n
=
TABLE 2 Descriptive Statistics
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 | 25
ROAD SAFETY
kilometres of two-lane roads, where 1,131 injurious crashes
took place over the same period.
The Gauss-Newton method, based on the ordinary-least-
square model (OLS), was developed to perform final
regression equations to predict the injurious crashes per
year per kilometre, with ρ² > 65%. All the parameters
included in the model are significant to a 95% level of
confidence.
Two crash prediction models were then validated, employing
a crash database that had not been used to calibrate the
prediction models. These two crash prediction models are
statistically significant because the residual values are in a
limited range around the mean.
The proposed models can be used for crash analysis on the
road network, and they can also usefully complement more
detailed models (e.g. crashes at intersections) also arrived
at through ad hoc investigations of specific sites.
The crash prediction models presented here could
significantly inform the planning phase of a given project
and help optimise design. This is especially relevant to the
evaluation and programming of road safety improvement
operations designed for provincial road networks. The
availability of the crash prediction models could notably
enable the administrative authorities to prioritise the
development of infrastructure and the allocation of public
funds towards those areas of the network that are deemed
“critical” from a safety point of view.
_____________________________
References
Mattar-Habib, C, A. Polus and H. Farah, “Further Evaluation of the 1.
Relationship between Enhanced Consistency Model and Crash-
Rates of Two-Lane Rural Roads in Israel and Germany”, European
Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research – EJTIR, Issue 8(4),
Dec. 2008, pp. 320-332.
Dell’Acqua, G. and F. Russo. Speed Factors on Low-Volume Roads 2.
for Horizontal Curves and Tangents. The Baltic Journal of Road and
Bridge Engineering, 2010, 5(2): 89–97. ISSN 1822-427X print, ISSN
1822-4288 on line.
Hauer, E.The Harm Done by Tests of Significance. 3. Accident analysis
and prevention - Elsevier, Vol. 36, 2004, pp. 495-500.
Acknowledgements
The research was conducted under the Italian National Research Project
“Driver speed behaviour evaluation using operating speed profile and
crash predicting models”. The authors wish to thank the Centre for Road
Safety of the Province of Salerno for its support in the research.
Sharing Rural Roads: Low Tech, High Impact Transport Solutions for Public Health
Gary J. ForsterHead of Programmes, Transaid, UK
This article reviews outcomes of a Transaid rural bicycle
ambulance project in Zambia, and similar initiatives in
Nigeria that employ intermediate modes of transport
(IMTs). It focuses particularly on the emergency and non-
emergency transfer of maternity cases.
Maternal mortality and transport
Work by Transaid to review health service transport capacity
in many African countries demonstrates that, as the impact
of transport on health is hard to distinguish from other
health system components, transport management is
ignored – at great cost.
Maternal mortality indicators are receiving much attention
as the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development
Goals grows near. Maternal mortality is a good indicator to
demonstrate the efficiency of an entire health system - the
availability of transport and medical supplies, the presence
of trained health staff, and so on.
Women in labour can spend several hours travelling on a
makeshift stretcher over difficult terrain, causing medical
complications for both mother and child. Even where a
road journey is possible for the patient, a delay of several
days often occurs while her family raises money to hire a
vehicle.
Emergency transport costs are an overwhelming burden
for families across Africa, even over short distances. And
delays in access to health services caused by these financial
difficulties are a key contributor to the prevalence of
obstetric fistula, and the increased vulnerability among
women to this condition.
Intermediate modes of transport for maternal health
The demand for IMT ambulances is significant among
maternity cases. A bicycle ambulance project in Uganda
found that one typical use was the transport of pregnant
women, which accounted for 52% of all medical indications
| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-126
ROAD SAFETY
for transport. A Malawi study pointed to significant benefits
of using motorcycle ambulances.
IMT ambulances also provide combined health services
transfer. For a bicycle ambulance project on the Zambia/
Malawi border, pregnancy-related cases accounted for
18.5% of use, while malaria cases were 30%. Another
such service, in Malawi, to improve emergency obstetric
care, was often used for injuries and other medical
emergencies.
Zambia bicycle ambulance project
In 2008, Transaid implemented a project in Zambia’s Eastern
Province to produce 40 bicycle ambulances in response to
the urgent need of rural communities to access health
facilities in Petauke, Chipata and Katete districts*.
The bicycle ambulances constructed during the Transaid
project were distributed to community-based home care
volunteers. World Bicycle Relief was working with the
volunteers to distribute 23,000 bicycles as part of the
RAPIDS project (Reaching HIV/AIDS Affected People with
Integrated Development and Support), a World Vision
International-led consortium. The purpose of the Transaid
project was to:
Improve access to healthcare for community inhabitants 1.
in Zambia’s Eastern Province;
Build capacity within the Province for the construction 2.
and maintenance of bicycle ambulances;
Report solutions to issues of rural access, highlight 3.
elements of best practice and provide recommendations
for endorsement by international organisations.
Against the first objective, the project has so far been
successful, with communities having access to a free
bicycle ambulance service. 96% of caregivers said that
the provision of a bicycle ambulance helped them do their
work in the community more effectively.
Over a four-month monitoring period, and by reference
to data from 17 logbooks, these ambulances were used
82 times by caregivers in the community to transport
clients needing healthcare: 28 (40%) calls were for clients
seeking anti-retroviral treatment. Malaria and pregnancy
accounted for 20% and 17% of journeys respectively.
Eighty-six per cent of the trips undertaken were lifesaving
according to the volunteers. This suggests, based on the
monitoring and evaluation data collected, that the project
has saved some 70 lives in six months.
Whereas, using an ox-cart, it used to require between two
to three hours to take a patient to a rural health centre
that was 2.5 kilometres away, clients now receive medical
attention within an average of 30 minutes per journey over
the same distance.
Patients used to sit on bicycles to travel to a rural health
centre. Now they lie flat on a bicycle ambulance, which
is much safer and more comfortable for them. The full
ambulance canopy provides privacy - especially important
for expectant mothers. It also offers shelter from sun and
rain.
The ambulance is readily available when needed, unlike
the cart whose oxen have to be fetched from fields that
are often far from the villages. The convenience of a
detachable stretcher has also made it much easier to cross
rivers, or to take routes on foot that an ox-cart could not
take.
The 40 bicycle ambulances have been used in challenging
road conditions, at night and in all weathers. By trialling
three different designs of bicycle ambulance, valuable
feedback has been obtained to help identify the most
appropriate design in future.
Of three different trial designs, one - the bicycle ambulance
with a full canopy and a non-flexible hitch - stands out as
* Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and implemented with Zambian and international partners, including World Bicycle Relief as lead, Disacare, Design for Development, Bicycle Empowerment Network, Namibia and the RAPIDS consortium partners
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 | 27
ROAD SAFETY
superior. Both riders and patients say they prefer it. Other
important comments on the design include:
A designated bicycle should be permanently attached •
to the ambulance. This would also prolong the life of
the threads used in the hitch.
Turning right was difficult when the metal hitch was •
attached to the rear wheel frame rather than the seat-
post.
Tools should be provided with the ambulance, including •
a pump, first-aid kit and bicycle spanners.
Lights should be provided for riding at night, when •
some emergency call-outs occur.
Bicycle weight should be reduced, or geared bicycles •
provided, to ease uphill journeys.
The Namibian design is wider than standard door •
frames - causing problems when moving patients.
The project has also seen capacity built within Zambia’s
Eastern Province for the construction and maintenance of
these bicycle ambulances. Ten field mechanics were trained
in the necessary skills and played a key role.
Total project cost was US$43,000 including production,
distribution and monitoring and evaluation – approximately
half the cost of one motorised 4x4 wheel ambulance.
Running costs are very low compared to motor transport.
The further development of this encouraging pilot is being
continually monitored. Most recent data, over 18 months
and awaiting further analysis, indicates 251 life-saving
journeys, and the longest of any journey was over 40
kilometres.
Transaid IMT health care projects in Nigeria
For PATHS (Partnership for Transforming Health Systems)
Nigeria, Transaid developed a prototype motorcycle trailer
ambulance to assist pregnant women and those with
obstetric complications to have access to safe delivery
and improved health care in general. Four ambulances
were manufactured locally, pre-tested and handed over to
the Ministry of Women for community use. The project
produced a lot of learning points and, for a period, made
a significant impact.
Unfortunately, a combination of budget and time constraints
prevented the implementation of a comprehensive
monitoring and evaluation system to quantify the full
benefits of this intervention.
One of the problems in this respect was a lack of sustainable
maintenance funds. This meant that no maintenance
training or community sensitisation could be undertaken.
Also, the ambulances were deployed in the most extremely
rugged terrain imaginable.
This highlights that the management and maintenance of
running costs for IMTs are critical factors. The establishment
of community-managed emergency loan funds (ELFs) can
reduce delays in obtaining funds in emergencies – be they
medical or transport maintenance related. For the PATHS
scheme, while communities were slow to grasp the ELF
concept, four out of 36 participating villages currently have
one in operation.
Conclusions
Transaid’s bicycle ambulance project in eastern Zambia
shows the efficacy of using bicycle ambulances to provide
access to health services. Our projects in Africa likewise
demonstrate possible IMT solutions that genuinely engage
communities in supporting such access and responding to
urgent infant and maternal health care needs.
Yet, there is only limited data in current literature covering
the impacts and operational aspects of IMT. This suggests
that both local knowledge and wider research on the
links between mobility, transport and health are lacking
in southern, low-income settings. No clear picture of the
overall cost effectiveness of improving transport for health
exists.
It is, thus, difficult to determine the sustainability of projects
such as those by Transaid reported here. The capital and
running costs of IMT projects must be assessed to justify
their appropriateness as long-term solutions to problems
| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-128
ROAD SAFETY
of rural health access. Otherwise, “adverse and often
tragic consequences” may well result for those needing
emergency care.
This data will not appear if IMT projects continue to be small
scale, with inadequate monitoring and evaluation funding.
This becomes a vicious circle. Insufficient monitoring and
evaluation means no significant impact data is available: so
donors are unwilling to fund IMT projects.
Apart from needing better quality and longer-term data,
development policy must change to acknowledge how
IMTs are already proving effective, as our experience
shows. It should recognise how they can form an integral
part of the transport response to medical emergencies,
significantly reducing risks of maternal, child and other
avoidable deaths, illness and injury.
About TransaidTransaid is a British international development charity that
seeks to reduce poverty and improve quality of life through
providing better access to basic services and economic
opportunities. For further details of the bicycle ambulance
designs, please contact [email protected].
Hanson, R., (2004), 1. Transport Management Systems for Improved
Access to Health – A Holistic Approach, Transaid Presentation, 8th
TransNet Event - Workshop on “Mobility & Health” (26.11.04)
Hamlin, C., (2004), 2. Preventing Fistula: Transport’s Role in
Empowering Communities for Health in Ethiopia, (August 30-
September 13, 2004) BACK TO OFFICE REPORT, Addis Ababa
Fistula Hospital
Heyen-Perschon, J., 3. Summary on the FABIO/BSPW - Bicycle
Ambulance Project (Uganda), ITDP Europe
Jan J. Hofman, Chris Dzimadzi, Kingsley Lungu, Esther Y. Ratsma, 4.
Julia Hussein, (2008), Motorcycle ambulances for referral of
obstetric emergencies in rural Malawi: Do they reduce delay and
what do they cost?, International Journal of Gynecology and
Obstetrics 102, 191–197
Balogun, I, A., (2008), 5. Draft Report of the Assessment of
Motorcycle Ambulance Trailers in Jigawa State, Transaid, July
2008
Balogun, I, A., (2008), 6. Draft Report of the Assessment of
Motorcycle Ambulance Trailers in Jigawa State, Transaid, July
2008
Victor Mengot, Sarah Amahson, Umar Farouk Wada, (2005), 7.
Feasibility Study into Options for Extending Emergency Transport
for Safe Motherhood in Jigawa, Nigeria Partnership for
Transforming Health Systems (PATHS)
Schmid, R., (2004), 8. Report of the workshop on “Mobility
& Health”, TransNet event, 26.11.04, Hotel “Bern”, Bern,
Switzerland
Babinard, J., (2006), 9. Transport for health in developing countries;
Overview of issues and measures to improve access – MDG4&5
context, presentation, January 30, 2006, Transport and Urban
Development (TUDTR), The World Bank
Macintyre, K., Hotchkiss, D, R., (1999), 10. Referral revisited:
Community Financing Schemes and Emergency Transport in
Rural Africa, Social Science & Medicine 49 (1999) 1473±1487
A Global Crisis
Rob McInerneyCEO, International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP)
Luke RogersSenior Engineer, iRAP Asia Pacific
The scale of the crisis is staggering and the death toll will
continue to rise unless action is taken. The World Health
Organization (WHO) estimates that nearly 1.3 million
people each year are killed in road crashes, a figure that is
likely to double by 2030 unless preventative measures are
put in place (WHO, 2009).
Road crashes impact every community and are the leading
cause of death for people aged between 5 and 29 years
(WHO, 2009). Road crashes are estimated to cost 1-3%
of Gross National Product around the world and research
indicates that, by 2020, developing countries will be
spending 25% of their annual health budgets on road
traffic casualties (Peden et al, 2004). Not only are these
figures shocking in terms of the scale of loss of life, but
these recurring annual losses also have a huge impact –
particularly on the social and economic development of
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 | 29
ROAD SAFETY
low and middle-income countries, where nine out of ten of
the world’s road deaths and injuries occur.
For example, during a recent iRAP assessment of national
highways in Bangladesh, road traffic injuries were shown
to be one of the major causes of mortality and disability in
the country, with almost one-fifth of injury related hospital
admissions due to road traffic crashes (Hoque et al, 2010).
There were at least 3,765 reported fatalities in Bangladesh
in 2008, although WHO estimates that the actual number
of fatalities could be 20,038 each year (WHO, 2009). 70%
of road deaths occurred on rural highways (Hoque et al,
2010).
In March 2010, the United Nations declared 2011-2020
to be the Decade of Action for Road Safety. The goal of
the initiative is to stabilise and then reduce the forecast
level of road traffic fatalities around the world by increasing
activities conducted at the national, regional and global
levels. Improving safety on rural roads, which present a
range of infrastructure design challenges around the world,
will be critical to the success of the Decade of Action.
Major reductions in deaths and serious injuries on rural roads are achievable
The targeted reductions for the Decade are ambitious
but achievable. There are already numerous examples of
substantial improvements in safety on rural roads. Take
Victoria, Australia, for example, where there has been a
marked reduction in fatal and serious injuries involving
collisions with fixed roadside objects on high-speed rural
roads. Figure 1 shows the improvement made since 2002,
prior to which there was an upward trend in the number
of deaths and serious traumas involving crashes into fixed
objects.
The improvements in Victoria correspond with a concerted
effort by the Government on a range of initiatives such as
speed and alcohol enforcement, education, safer vehicles
and, in particular, the Safer Road Infrastructure Program
(SRIP). A focus of the SRIP is on reducing run-off-road
crashes by installing roadside barriers, shoulder sealing
and rumble lines along road edges, and removing roadside
objects and hazards such as trees and poles (see Figure 2).
A preliminary evaluation of stage 1 of the programme found
it had reduced casualty crashes by almost 20%; and for
each Australian dollar invested, $2.3 were saved in terms
of crash costs avoided (Scully et al, 2008). Consequently,
the Government has now committed to an unprecedented
$650 million to expand the programme into the Decade of
Action for Road Safety (VicRoads, 2010).
Similar improvements are also being undertaken at high-
risk locations in Malaysia. Figure 3 shows a section of road
on the FT60 in Perak, where risk of run-off–road crashes has
been reduced by improving pavement condition, widening
shoulders and installing profiled road markings (vibraline).
Notably, iRAP Star Ratings have been used as an interim
performance measure for this location, as detailed before-
and-after crash data is not yet available. The iRAP analysis
showed that the Star Ratings improved from 2-stars to
3-stars for motorcyclists as a result of the improvements
at this site.
On State Highway 1 in New Zealand, the risk of death
and serious injury was dramatically reduced when the
Source: Analysis of VicRoads CrashStats data, 2010.Notes: ‘High speed’ roads have a speed limit of 90km/h+ and ‘rural’ roads are those outside
Melbourne.
Figure 2 - Simple, affordable improvements such as shoulder sealing, safety barriers, delineation and signs have helped reduce the risk of deaths and serious injuries on this rural
highway (Source: Holgate, 2008)
Figure 1: Deaths and serious injuries as a result of crashes into fixed objects on high-speed rural roads,
Victoria, Australia
| IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-130
ROAD SAFETY
Government installed a median barrier on a 3.4km length
of the Coast Road, north of Wellington (see Figure 4).
Over the five year period prior to the initial median barrier
installation (between 2000 and 2004) collision records
indicate that there were seven fatal crashes and three
serious injury crashes. In the following five year period
(from 2005 to 2009) there was just one serious injury crash
(Road Safety Toolkit, 2010).
Identifying High-risk Roads
As a not-for-profit organisation, iRAP is dedicated to
saving lives by helping countries identify and assess high-
risk roads and develop large-scale plans for affordable
countermeasures that can prevent thousands of deaths
and serious injuries. The programme is supported by the
FIA Foundation, the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility,
the Inter-American Development Bank and the Asian
Development Bank.
In regions where detailed crash data is available, Risk Maps
that represent the actual number of deaths and injuries
on a road network can be used. For example, the first
Risk Mapping of more than 2,000km of single carriageway
national roads for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
was published earlier this year. The Risk Mapping results
show that nearly 80% of the road network rated is of
an unacceptably high risk and just over half (1,056km) is
rated in the highest risk category. The results illustrate the
challenge in making roads safe. (Available at: http://irap.
org/media/30731/karta_na_engleskom_final.pdf)
Where reliable data is not available, Star Ratings are
produced, based on road inspection data to provide a
simple and objective measure of the level of safety provided
by a road’s design. The ratings are based on highway
features that have an impact on the likelihood of a crash
and its severity for the four main road user types: vehicle
occupants, motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians. Five-
star roads are the safest, while one-star roads are the least
safe.
Recent assessments have highlighted the fact that rural
roads in low and middle-income countries need to cater
not just for vehicle occupants, but also for vulnerable road
users, including pedestrians. This is particularly the case
on roads near the outskirts of towns, such as National
Highway 2 in Bangladesh, as shown in Figure 5. These
dual function roads experience the competing demands of
high speed through traffic and vulnerable local users such
as pedestrians and bicyclists. These circumstances often
present high levels of risk and increased numbers of deaths
and serious injuries.
Figure 4 - An example of the Coast Road median barrier (Photo courtesy of the New Zealand Transport Agency)
Figure 5 - Pedestrian Star Ratings for National Highway 2, Bangladesh (Source: iRAP, 2010.)
Figure 3 - By improving the pavement, widening shoulders and installing profiled road markings on this section of the FT60 in Malaysia, Star Ratings for motorcyclists improved
from 2-stars to 3-stars (Source: Rogers and Hashi, 2010).
IRF BULLETIN SPECIAL EDITION: RURAL TRANSPORT, VOLUME-1 | 31
ROAD SAFETY
Safer Roads Investment Plans
Crashes that kill on rural roads are well understood and
engineering solutions are well established and proven. Safe
speeds, footpaths and safe crossing points for pedestrians,
separation of high speed oncoming traffic with barriers,
the removal or protection of roadside hazards and the
management of speeds and conflict points at intersections
can all save lives.
By applying the knowledge gained through decades of
road infrastructure safety practice, it is possible to create
large-scale plans for improving high-risk road networks.
This approach was recently taken by the Government of
Vietnam, with support from the World Bank Global Road
Safety Facility and iRAP. After a detailed assessment of the
condition of a 3,500km network, a US$195 million plan
was developed. It was estimated that by applying proven
road safety countermeasures 78,000 deaths and serious
injuries could be prevented over a 20-year period (or 3,930
deaths and serious injuries annually). For each $1 invested
in the plan, $6 in crash costs would be saved.
The plan includes proposals for:
clearing roadside hazards;•
construction of motorcycle lanes (noting that up to •
90% of road users are motorcyclists);
horizontal realignment of dangerous curves;•
improved delineation;•
physical separation of opposing traffic flows •
(duplication) where head on risk is high.
With more than 30 people killed every day on Vietnamese
roads, and 6 out of 10 patients in the Viet Duc University
Hospital trauma centre being admitted with injuries
resulting from road crashes, a coordinated road safety
initiative could have a huge potential impact on the lives
of ordinary people and significantly reduce the number of
high-risk roads in the region. The results of the project
are now being incorporated into the national road safety
strategy and Development Bank road projects. The plan
has the potential to reduce road trauma by 24% on those
roads assessed.
A world free of high-risk roads
The Decade of Action for Road Safety will require a
concerted effort across all aspects of road safety: road
user behaviour; vehicle safety; speed management; and
infrastructure. To help provide a sense of the contribution
that infrastructure may make to the Decade, new estimates
argue that, globally, we can prevent more than 1.7 million
deaths and serious injuries per year from 2020 by targeting
high-risk roads with simple, affordable road improvements
(McInerney et al, 2010).
An estimated 1,735,000 deaths and serious injuries can
be avoided every year if economically viable engineering
improvements are applied to the worst 10% of roads in
each country. Within low-income countries, this will cost
on average only US$2,000 per KSI (killed or seriously injured
person) saved, and between $7,000 and $30,000 per KSI
saved in middle-income countries. Globally, this investment
would return $5 of benefits for every $1 invested in low
and middle income countries and $3 of benefits for every
$1 invested in high-income countries. The total economic
return on the investment would exceed $3,700 billion and
save over 3,000,000 lives and 30,000,000 serious injuries
over the 20-year life of the treatments.
References
Holgate, J., 2008. 1. Victoria’s Safer Road Infrastructure Program
(SRIP). VicRoads Presentation to Institute of Public Works
Engineering Australia.
Hoque, M.M., et al, 2010. 2. The Potential Applicability of iRAP
Star Ratings for Improving Highway Safety in Bangladesh. 24th
ARRB Conference.
iRAP, 2010.3. Bangladesh Pilot Project Technical Report.
iRAP, 2009. 4. Vietnam Technical Report.
McInerney, R., Turner, B. and Smith, G., 2010. 5. A world free of
high-risk roads. 24th ARRB Conference Proceedings.
Peden, M Scurfield, R Sleet, D Mohan, D Hyder, A Jarawan, E & 6.
Mathers, C 2004, World report on road traffic injury prevention,
World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Road Safety Toolkit, 20107. . The Coast Road Median Barrier. Case
study provided by the New Zealand Transport Agency. http://
toolkit.irap.org/default.asp?page=casestudy&id=1
Rogers and Hashim, 2010. 8. iRAP Review of Malaysia Works
Minister KPI 2009 Programme. (Publication pending).
VicRoads CrashStats, 2010. http://crashstat1.roads.vic.gov.au/9.
crashstats/crash.htm
VicRoads, 2010. http://www.arrivealive.vic.gov.au/first_action_10.
plan_2008_2010/safer_roads_and_roadsi/safer_roads_and_
roadsides.html
World Health Organization (2009), 11. Global Status Report on Road
Safety. Time for Action.
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SHARING THE ROAD
Worldwide Trends in Animal-Powered Transport
Paul StarkeyConsultant in Transport Services and Integrated Transport
Animal-powered transport has a long heritage and is
admired in traditional cultures around the globe. In
prestigious locations worldwide, tourists pay premium fares
for horse carriage transport. In Seychelles, tourist oxcarts
charge more than taxis. However, in many countries, animal
power is regarded as old fashioned and backward. Some
authorities, reportedly acting for modernisation, safety,
animal welfare, cleanliness or reduced congestion, have
banned transport animals. This article reviews the main
transport animals and world trends bringing out policy
implications to allow animal transport to share the road
with motor vehicles.
The main transport animals
For thousands of years, roads were primarily for animal-
drawn vehicles. Oxcarts were the main means of freight
transport. Long-distance oxcart transport has been
replaced by trucks but in Madagascar (300,000 oxcarts)
some traders still travel in caravans of ten, or more, carts.
Oxen (castrated bulls) are widely available. They are strong
and robust and feed themselves on grass and forage.
Oxen remain appropriate for smallholder farmers – aiding
sustainable, integrated agricultural production and access
to markets on rural roads.
Horses are faster than oxen and better suited for rapid
transport. They are adapted to temperate, semi-arid
and highland areas but are less robust, needing more
complicated feeding, management and harnesses.
Smallholder farmers use horses for on-farm and farm-to-
market transport in some countries including Chile, Eastern
Europe and Mexico. In many countries, entrepreneurs use
horses for trading, marketing and transport services in
urban and rural areas.
Donkeys are small, strong and robust. They thrive in semi-
arid areas and are excellent pack animals. They pull carts for
smallholder farmers and transport entrepreneurs. Donkeys
are relatively inexpensive to buy and easy to maintain,
making them accessible to disadvantaged people, including
women.
Mules (donkey/horse crosses) are relatively rare and
expensive. They are large, strong, robust, long-lived and
excellent for pulling wagons on roads and for packing and
riding in mountains. Their cost and behaviour means they
are mainly used by transport contractors and medium-
scale farmers.
Camels are fast and good for long-distance pack transport,
although caravans are now rare. Camel carts are mainly
used by transport contractors (e.g., in India and Pakistan).
Smallholder farmers in the Philippines use buffalo-
drawn sledges for rice transport. Some buffalo carts are
employed in South Asia but water buffaloes have poor
thermoregulation. Other transport animals, including
elephants, yaks, llamas, goats and dogs have more limited
ranges or transport applications.
Current trends
Animal transport has a long heritage, but is not history.
Tens of millions of work animals are employed today,
sharing the road in most countries in the world.
China has the largest number of transport animals (perhaps
70 million) but these are decreasing. On farms, smallholder
oxen and buffaloes are being replaced by power tillers and
tractors, which are increasingly used for farm-to-market
transport. Motorcycles, three-wheelers and pickups are
substituting for donkeys and horses, mainly in the more
developed areas. In remoter and hillier areas, animal-
powered transport remains important. Millions of animals
will be used for many years to come.
In India and South Asia, oxcarts remain important for
smallholder transport and rural and urban transport
entrepreneurs, with ten million oxcarts sharing Indian roads.
Numbers are slowly declining, as farmers move to tractors
and transport entrepreneurs adopt three-wheelers. Decline
is slowest in remote areas. Horse populations in South and
Southeast Asia and the Pacific are low, but ponies remain
important for pack transport in hills, and some pull tourist
SHARING THE ROAD
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SHARING THE ROAD
taxis and urban carts. The donkey population of Pakistan
and Afghanistan increased from 4.4 to 5.6 million in the
past decade. Some people have replaced donkeys with
motorcycles or three-wheelers, but many others lack
affordable access to motor transport and still benefit from
donkeys. In central and western Asia, transport oxen
are used in some remote areas, but the more important
employment of horses and donkeys for urban and rural
transport is relatively stable. Richer people in these countries
have adopted motorised transport, but large numbers of
others still benefit from transport animals.
In North Africa, horses and donkeys remain important for
urban and rural transport, notably in Egypt and Morocco.
In Ethiopia, agricultural oxen have few transport roles, but
five million donkeys are used for pack transport. Donkey
carts (recent innovations) are slowly increasing. Urban
horse taxis are declining rapidly due to motorised three
wheelers.
In West Africa, animal power is expanding. Donkeys are
increasing (4.5 to 6.3 million in the past decade) and
moving southward. More donkey carts are used in semi-
arid areas. Oxen are the main tillage animals (increasing six
fold in the past 50 years) and also pull carts, particularly in
southern areas where donkeys do not thrive. Conditions in
much of Central Africa are not conducive to work animals.
However, in Eastern and Southern Africa there is expansion
and diversification of animals for transport. In South Africa,
animal transport has a great heritage, but was discouraged
during Apartheid years. It remains important, although
some people think of it as backward.
In the Americas, large-scale farms use tractors but oxen
remain common in smallholder farming systems and
for rural transport in several countries, including Brazil,
Paraguay and Honduras. However, horses, mules and
donkeys are the main transport animals. Their numbers
are quite steady, including the large populations found in
Brazil and Mexico. Horses are used by significant numbers
of smallholder farmers in Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Horse
carts are used for urban transport in some towns in Brazil,
Colombia, Nicaragua and Cuba. Cuba has promoted animal
power in recent years (due to fuel shortages) and it has
increased successfully. Animal power has also expanded
on smallholder farms run by Amish families in the USA.
Despite recent growth in motorcycles, animal transport
remains important in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
In Western Europe, animal transport is limited to contexts
like tourism, forestry, parks and municipal operations
(where it increases). Europe once had millions of donkeys
for rural transport. The patterns of their decline in different
countries illustrate how rural people retain donkeys
until they can afford motor transport. Animal power for
agriculture and transport remains important in Eastern
Europe, but the patterns of replacement are following
those of Western Europe, influenced by the affordability
of motor power and the labour constraints associated with
maintaining transport animals.
Policy issues: reluctance to share the road
Animal-powered transport offers social and economic
benefits for farmers and transport entrepreneurs. Farmers
with animal transport have wider circles of contacts and
increased market access, production and profit. Animals
use renewable, local resources, providing sustainable
transport benefits and employment. They efficiently
complement human transport (small loads, short distances)
and motorised transport (larger loads, longer distances).
Figure 1 - Woman and donkey cart on a low-traffic-volume road in Burkina Faso
Figure 2. Oxcart on shoulder of major rural road in Brazil
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ROAD SAFETY
The poor, old-fashioned image of transport animals is
a major constraint affecting all stakeholders. It inhibits
national authorities and aid agencies from treating them
as serious modern options, complementary to vehicles.
Some politicians and development workers think poverty
reduction is replacing animals with motors, yet in most
societies the poorest people cannot even afford animals!
Animal power can be one way of reducing poverty.
More attention should be given to ways of helping poor
individuals and communities use transport animals to
improve their livelihoods.
Rural transport planners often ignore the special needs
of animal-powered transport. Without appropriate
crossings, it is difficult for laden carts to cross roads that
are constructed with steep shoulders or kerbs. Depending
on traffic volumes, special cart lanes or wide shoulders may
be justified.
Animal power has sometimes been banned as a matter
of prejudice, with no allowance for reasonable use in
circumstances where there are no safety, congestion or
welfare issues. In 1963, horse taxis were expelled from
Addis Ababa as Ethiopia portrayed a modern image to
African leaders. Animal transport was similarly banned from
modern Islamabad. In 2007, Romania banned horse carts
from all national roads for ‘modernisation’ and ‘safety’.
This made it illegal for some farmers to travel between
villages and to market. In 2010, Colombia decreed to
replace all urban horse transport with motorised vehicles
by 2012. In South Africa, a 2010 scheme to support rural
communities with animal carts was attacked as ‘insulting’
and ‘backward’.
National transport authority personnel often live in worlds
of modernity, motor vehicles and urban congestion. They
fail to see the value of transport animals in rural areas and
some urban contexts. They need suitable training so they
understand how animal transport can share the road in
appropriate situations.
There is need for sensitive regulation and enforcement.
In urban areas, average traffic speeds are not necessarily
a constraint to animal-drawn transport. Specific routes
can be designated for horse transport, with regulations
for animal welfare and veterinary certificates (as is the
case in Cuba, for instance). Horse operators can collect
their animals’ manure (as works well in Hydra, Greece).
Facilities for waiting animals can be provided at rural
centres (the example of Lesotho), with shade and water
where appropriate. Animal carriages can have standards
for lighting and reflectors (as in Amish areas of the USA).
ConclusionsTransport animals can be used in many modern situations.
In much of sub-Saharan Africa, people are replacing
human transport with animals, where they are available
and affordable. In many countries, some people are
able to replace human or animal power with vehicles.
But many people still cannot. Where there are no easier
alternatives available, people retain labour-saving animal
power, provided it is profitable and socially acceptable.
This explains the persistently high prevalence of transport
animals in much of the world, including the remoter areas
of rapidly industrialising countries like Brazil, China, India,
Indonesia, Mexico and Vietnam.
The old-fashioned image of animal power encourages
transport planners to ‘modernise’ by banning or
marginalising transport animals. Successful examples from
many countries, including the USA and Cuba, show that
animal transport can be appropriately regulated to share
the road, without comprising modernity, welfare, safety or
average traffic speeds. With sensitive planning, legislation
and enforcement, animal transport can contribute to rural
and urban transport, as well as related wealth creation and
environmental protection.
References
This paper draws upon research for a longer document developed
with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Word limits restrict
reference citations here but full references are available from the
author, who may be contacted at the following address: Oxgate, 64
Northcourt Avenue, Reading RG2 7HQ, UK.
Figure 3 - Horse cart and respectful truck drivers who allow it to share a peri-urban road in Cuba. On some routes there are protected lanes for carts and bicycles
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