Slobodan Mitric

1
Slobodan Mitric

• Strategic Urban Transport Issues
• in Belgrade
• Presentation on July 21, 2003

2
Generic structure of an urban transport strategy

• What is to be done?
• Routine matters
• Policies (regulations)
• investments
• How will it be paid for? (funding)
• Who is going to do it? (institutions)

3
What is to be done? (1)

• Routine matters
• Road maintenance
• Traffic management
• Parking management
• Traffic law enforcement
• Public transport operations

4
What is to be done? (2)

• Public transport policies
• Network/service design
• Fare policy
• Operating arrangements (public, private)
• Regulatory instruments (contracts, concessions,
  ..)
• Road use policies
• Restraint, pricing
• Parking policies
• Supply policy
• Restraint, time control, pricing
• Operating arrangement

5
What is to be done (3)

• Investments (links, interchanges, bridges)
• Road investments
• Terminals and parking structures
• Public transport fleet equipment
• Public transport infrastructure

6
Financing

• User fees (transfers, locally-generated)
• Public budgets (transfers, locally-generated)
• Private investments
• Borrowing

7
Institutions

• Organizations (local, regional, national)
• Jurisdiction (systemic laws, regulations, local
  ordinances, )
• Staffing
• Funding
• Processes
• Instruments (budgets, studies, plans, ..)

8
Belgrade (1)

• 1.3m population, 1.8m region
• low natural growth, but in-migration due to wars,
  much illegal construction
• 225 people/ha density in central core, but
  socialist density pattern
• located on a t-intersection of two major rivers
  (dependence on bridges)

9
Belgrade (2)

• High unemployment
• Average monthly wage 175
• Poverty (Serbia) 11 under EU 2.4 expenditure
  per HH/day
• Another 22 close to the threshold
• Huge rise in inequality due to war, unruly
  transition

10
Belgrade ()

• Motorization rate 180 cars per 1,000 population
  in the region, 200-250 in the inner city
• Modal split
• 40 public transport
• 35 walk
• 19 cars

11
Belgrade (4)

• Road network
• low-capacity
• TM effort in disarray
• little parking control
• little law enforcement
• Parking
• little-off street capacity
• chaotic on-street, on-pavement parking

12
Belgrade (4)

• Public transport system
• Municipal Transport Company (1,100 street-based
  buses and trolley-buses, and trams on mainly
  protected track 870 in peak service)
• 350 buses privately owned and operated under
  contract to the City Govt (fixed fare, no
  subsidy)
• Beovoz low-frequency regional rail service on a
  100-km network, underground inside city

13
Belgrade diagnostic

• Fierce competition for scarce street space
• Routine institutions in disarray
• Presence of low-income and poor people constrains
  fare policy (30-35 cost recovery)
• Large size choice market calls for high-quality
  PT services
• Weakness of regional road network implies much
  through traffic, but collapse of road funding on
  national level, and transfer mechanisms, means
  little action

14
Belgrade strategic issues

• Management of street space not effective
• Municipal company an outdated organizational
  form
• Regulation of private operators incomplete
• Inadequate pricing policies
• Investment decisions weak processes, out-of-date
  instruments, absence of economic and financial
  criteria

15
Belgrade metro vs. light-rail controversy

• Long history of debate, interrupted by decade of
  wars
• Update of Urban General Plan leans towards
  light-rail in 2-3 major corridors
• SYSTRA Study leans towards near-classical metro
  in 3 corridors price tag EU2,800m (2003-2021)
  for a 42-km system, but ..

16
Belgrade metro vs. light rail

• but
• No recent demand surveys, models
• No thorough comparison of options SYSTRA used a
  multi-criteria approach to eliminate all but
  do-nothing and metro options
• Pressure to take a build decision without
  further planning studies

17
Belgrade paradox

• Bus and tram vehicles received as gifts from
  governments of Japan, Switzerland,..
• City Government is starting to lean towards
  starting the first metro line