1. Working Plan of the TWG

　　The main topics of our work on transport and the environment since the beginning in 1998 , and the plans until end of 2001 are as follows:

　　1. Define the concept of Sustainable Transport, reach agreement within the group about basic aspects, draft working plan-finalized summer 1998 (report to the Cou ncil in Oct. 1998)

　　2. Study urban transport, organize workshop in Beijing, make study tour in Europe (Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Czech Republic), implement cooperation with cities and with national institutions, draft recommendations and communicate ab out these with cities- finalized summer 1999(report to the council in Oct. 1999) 

　　3. Study inter-urban transport with focus on highway transportation, disc uss str ategic instrument SEA additional to EIA to improve planning, organize workshop i n Chongqing, draft recommendations finalized autumn 2000(report to the Council i n Nov. 2000)

　　4. Study other transport modes (esp. rail, inland navigation, air traffic )and aspects of integrated transport planning, study cooperation between the var ious transport modes and intermodal transport chains, draw conclusions with respe ct to planning and institutional set-up, draft recommendations-to be final ized until the Council meeting end of 2001

　　Additional to this linear working plan, the work on urban transport and on inter -urban highway transport is to be continued in parallel;there are several follow -up activities concerning the implementation of our proposals. One example:Coope ration with pilot areas has begun and needs support. International members of th e group assist several cities in developing sustainable urban transport, definin g projects and implementing the respective recommendations. 

　　Before going deeper into some of the professional results of our efforts, the li n ks between the various Working Groups should be mentioned. From the beginning of our work on , TWG has established cooperation with the groups-especially with th e WG on Environmental Economics by having a joint member (Mr. Hansen), and with the WG on Energy by participating in their sessions and having Mr. Mao Yushi par ticipating in our WG. Contacts also have been established with the WG on Environm ent. 

　　There is a joint paper in preparation about use of economic instruments in trans port and energy, Prof, Mao Yushi and Mr. Hansen are the "bridges" to the Working Groups on Energy and on Environmental economics, respectively. Topics are a. o. pricing in urban road traffic, and cost-related tariffs in the rail sector. In a broader context, price of natural resources (especially transport fuels) and o f road use should be dealt with. We also would like to intensify discussions abo ut instruments to promote clean energy and cleaner vehicles in short-term and in long-term perspective. Concerning the demand increase especially in motorized r oad transport, the price of transport in general and the prices of using the var ious transport modes should reflect the true cost-including the cost of construc ting and operating the infrastructures, as well as the environmental cost. 

　　2. Work Results and Perspectives in Urban Transport

　　Urban transport was a major topic of our report to the council in 1999. The poli cy and planning recommendations had been drafted in close cooperation between in ternational and Chinese experts. After delivering the recommendations the Chines e institutions on national and municipality level, the cities of Dalian, Kunming , Qingdao and Shenzhen and were especially contacted to act as pilot cities and t hey agreed. The city governments intend to use the recommendations as guidance f or the implementation of improvements towards more sustainable urban (transport) structures. 

　　Some highlights of the group's findings were:

　　◆ Cooperation between the various municipality administrations-urban pla nning, p ublic transport (p. t), traffic management by the police and environmental planni ng-has to be improved, we proposed to establish joint planning groups; 

　　◆ Public transport. should have priority in planning and management, acc ess and parking of automobiles should carefully be regulated-the least efficient urban transport mode is the low-occupied passenger car;

　　◆ To support safe and reliable public transport but also for the sake of safety and c onvenience for the people, facilities for pedestrians have to be improved;

　　◆ The still high share of cycling in Chinese cities should be maintained -cycling is even more environmentally friendly than p. t. intermodality between cycling and p. t. for longer trips should be enhanced;

　　◆ Public awareness of the traffic participants but also of the members o f the responsible institutions should be raised. 

　　During the discussions between international and Chinese experts, different plan ning philosophies could be experienced. The Chinese side used to argue with stat istical data about road length and area, number of buses etc. while on the other side used to raise the issue of performance:How does the system function, and w here are functional deficiencies? While the Chinese side argued in favor of buil ding additional urban highways supported by data from transnational comparisons- where Chinese cities typically show less per-capita road space than countries wi th higher motorization rates- the other side insisted that analysis of functiona l deficiencies- Where are the congested spots and what are the reasons for road blocks?- Provide better guidance for a more efficient use of both financial and natural resources. 

　　Another example may illustrate this further: In public transportation, the Chine se statistics give figures on number of buses and passengers but often fail to i nclude performance indicators like modal share, average speed, trips lengths, se at occupancy rate, fuel consumption per vehicle-km and passenger-km, and economi c figures like cost coverage by fares. With respect to the latter aspect of the e conomic basis of public transport, short-term as well as long-term perspectives need to be developed, including clarifying the roles of private entrepreneurs an d of the public sector. 

　　While the general development of traffic demand, the organization of the sector, and support for more sustainable transport modes is a policy topic for a longer time period, reducing urban air pollution from motor vehicles should be a short -term priority for actions. The instruments to clean up urban air are well-known and should be applied:supply of high-quality gasoline and diesel fuels enforced by standards and control measures, inspection and maintenance programs with spe cial focus on high-use vehicle fleets (taxis, buses), identification of strategi es to upgrade environmental performance of high-use vehicles by retrofitting cat alysts. Again, market incentives for clean fuels and clean vehicles are necessar y to support these measures. -TWG is aware of a number of ongoing activities in C hina, and intends to support and to speed-up implementation. 

　　3. Some Remarks on Integrated Planning in Inter-Urban Transpor t and on Highway Development

　　The Transport Working Group has not yet reached those achieveme nts on the aspect of integrated planning in inter-urban transport has been expected one year ago. When work on that topic, we wanted to tackle both highway transportation in its elf and the integration of highway transport into the comprehensive transport se ctor. The idea was to show how co-operation between the various transport modes should already be looked at in the phase of infrastructure planning. The working group intended to analyze planning documents of road and rail projects with res pect to the question how the underlying assumptions about demand increase were, and what the role of the various transport modes were to meet the demand. The Ch inese partners provided some infrastructure construction project documents but t his analysis could not yet been made because just these topics were not covered i n the studies. These were strictly focusing on sub-sectoral issues and did not i nclude the broader perspective. 

　　But we reached in our discussion a consensus that it is necessary to evaluate ba sic aspects behind transport decisions, and in related policy areas. In the next phase of the work we will continue to evaluate the underlying planning philosop hy in transport and discuss the concept of integrated planning with the responsi ble institutions. As part of this, the links between the modes will be looked at , and the chances to minimize social cost by supporting intermodality, i. e. by using more than one transport mode in a transport chain. This concept would be s upported if the political responsibilities also would be integrated, i. e. if all modes would be under the responsibility of one transport ministry rather than u nder different responsibilities. We indent to dedicate part of our recommendatio ns in the final phase to these kind of institutional aspects. 

　　In a broader sense, integrated planning not only aims at integrating the various transport modes, but integrating all those aspects that are of importance for d evelopment of transport and the environment subject. These are a/ o. spatial pla nning, environment planning, fiscal regulations influencing the price of transp ort, excise duties, and others. The integration of environmental requirements an d of consequences of decisions and trends from other policy sectors into transpo rt policy making as well as planning-and vice versa, integration of transport as pects into other policy fields-is effective only if policy measures are combined in a consistent manner. A new instrument lately introduced in some countries; t he SEA (Strategic Environment Assessment) is suitable to organize the necessary information process for that task. 

　　SEA is different to the project-related Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) wh ich is done routinely for major transport infrastructure projects in China-altho ugh quality of the EIA studies needs enhancement. SEA has been developed b ecause EIA has severe limitations. EIA is linked to the last step of the decisi on making process-project authorization-at which point it is often to late to co nsider more strategic alternatives such as modal choices. The effect of EIA is t herefore limited to adding certain technical mitigation measures like noise barr iers or minor adjustments in alignment. It fails to account for cumulative effec ts of transport development both within a corridor, and for the total region.  

　　With respect to transport , SEA is particularly useful in assisting decisions on a multi-modal approach. It helps to structure and focus environmental analysis o n the key environmental benefits and costs of each transport mode, by comparing alternative planning and management options and providing decision-makers with r elevant information to make the most sustainable decisions. It is obvious that t his demands transparency about the real cost. 

　　During our discussions it became clear that Chinese transport policy is lacking that kind of integrated approach, and that China would benefit from SEA in trans port (and related spatial) decisions on national, regional and local level, ensu ring that environmental considerations are incorporated into policies, programs and plans (ppp) . Realization of this would demand that step by step current ppp are evaluated and, if necessary, revised. The group did not go further into deta il of the procedures to come but is fully aware of the fact that this could lead to significant changes of current priorities. 

　　In the discussions between Chinese and international experts on inter-urban high way transport, similar differences in planning philosophy and use of statistical data have been experienced as has been illustrated in the urban transport conte xt. While the Chinese experts argue with data from interregional and internation al comparisons about per-capita and per-square-kilometer highway lengths, the in ternational side raised the topic of functional differentiation and asked for pe rformance indicators:How are the demand prognoses, what kind of demand is behind the vehicle flows, what are the travel speeds, how are the links between the va rious modes, what are the cost of transport and do the tax and toll revenues cov er the real cost? An observation that some provinces have less road lengths per square kilometer than others does not already justify additional construction pr ojects; these should be based upon analysis of demand and functional deficiencie s. The group found it useful to focus investments on upgrading the secondary roa d network. This priority would lead to better socio-economic results that buildi ng freeways (super highways ) in areas with low population density and a backwar d economic status.