Sustainable Design of Urban mobility in Medium-Sized Metropolitan Regions (SMMR)

CONTEXT

50% of the 669 million ASEAN Member States citizens live in the region’s rapidly growing cities. As a result, urban mobility needs are growing, and traffic is increasing. This creates metropolitan regions that are characterised by numerous functional interactions and dependencies between core cities, adjacent settlements, and the wider surrounding area. The transport sector today is responsible for around a quarter of total energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in the ASEAN region.

At the ASEAN level, the importance of sustainable transport and of integrated planning has been recognised by the Kuala Lumpur Transport Strategic Plan 2016-2025 and the ASEAN Regional Strategy on Sustainable Land Transport. However, the challenges of metropolitan regions have not yet been explicitly addressed in existing strategies. Local decision-makers’ understanding of sustainable mobility approaches needs to be enhanced, and models for cooperation across boundaries and government agencies developed further.

The Sustainable Mobility in Metropolitan Regions (SMMR) project is being implemented by Gesellschaft für Agrarprojekte in Übersee (GFA Consulting Group GmbH) and consortium partners on behalf of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, with the first project phase (SMMR I) between 2019 and 2021 and its second phase (SMMR II) since November 2021.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the SMMR Project is to support local, national, and international transport policy makers, experts, operators, and stakeholders on 4 levels:

• ASEAN policy papers guiding the implementation of the Kuala Lumpur Transport Strategic Plan and Regional Strategy on Sustainable Land Transport in greater detail;
• Thematic networks and common projects among metropolitan regions in ASEAN Member States that translate these policies into action;
• Lighthouse projects in focus regions that provide good practice reference for innovative sustainable transport systems and new forms of cooperation among stakeholders;
• Capacity building in theory and practice.

APPROACHES

SMMR applies the Avoid-Shift-Improve (ASI) approach to sustainable urban mobility. On 11th November 2021, the 27th ASEAN Transport Ministers Meeting issued the Phnom Penh Declaration on Sustainable Urban Mobility supporting the implementation of the Avoid–Shift –Improve approach:

• Avoid – the need for transportation over long distances for everyday social, economic and recreational activities, through integrated land use and transport planning;
• Shift – mobility to the most efficient and sustainable transport modes depending on location and purpose, through regulations and incentives for the provision of convenient, good-quality, energy and emission efficient as well as environmentally friendly transport services;
• Improve – transport technologies, to make each transport mode and supporting ecosystem less harmful, more effective, efficient, and accessible.

RESULTS SO FAR

ASEAN Policy Papers – with the support of SMMR Phase I, ASEAN has issued two policy documents aimed at assisting national and local authorities in developing new forms of metropolitan-scale institutional cooperation and of participatory integrated planning. These documents are described below and are available for download in English, and in translations in Indonesian, Khmer, Lao, Thai and Vietnamese, from the ASEAN and the http://www.smmr.asia

Toolbox for the Establishment of Metropolitan Transport Executives (MTE) – MTE is a generic term to designate purpose-built agencies that have in common the task to effectively coordinate and execute on a tactical level the sustainable transport strategies decided and supported by all the responsible political authorities. The MTE Toolbox provides responsible authorities with tools to find their way out of the institutional labyrinth and finally enable them to design and implement adequate sustainable transport policies following ASI strategies. The ASEAN Transport Ministers encourage the development of MTE, including the participation of all stakeholders in the transport ecosystem.

Guidelines for the Development of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP) – SUMP introduce participatory and interdisciplinary methods into transport planning. The guidelines present the four phases of the SUMP process tailored to current planning practices and resources, as well as its main outputs. For each phase, the Guidelines provide common definitions, examples, lessons learnt, best practices and recommendations on different aspects of the planning process while considering different institutional, environmental, and social contexts and conditions. The ASEAN Transport Ministers encourage the development of SUMP at national, metropolitan and city levels. SMMR Phase II will support ASEAN in the development of two additional policy papers that address the challenges of two critical elements of urban transport policy to be developed and implemented by MTE, using SUMP processes:

Examples of Lighthouse Projects and work programmes in focus regions – with its partners in 3 Focus regions and other members of the SMMR Thematic networks and additional third-party support, SMMR strives to design, implement, evaluate, and further develop such innovative lighthouse projects that are also part of larger ASEAN plans and strategies on implementation of Avoid–Shift–Improve transport, ASEAN Connectivity, Digitalisation and Covid-19 recovery.

Cross-border cable car between Vientiane (Lao PDR) – Nong Khai (Thailand) – With support of SMMR I, local and national authorities have conducted a visioning process exploring the possibilities for improving cross-border mobility and elaborated the concept of complementing the existing Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge with a cross-border cable car for passenger transport that would achieve several strategic objectives:

• Quickly increase the border crossing capacity across the river Mekong capable of meeting the increased demand generated by the Vientiane – Kunming railway, while
• Improving the quality of service and maintaining a high modal share for public transport in cross-border travel, and
• Creating a significant landmark and tourist attraction that will boost local and international tourism.

In 2022, the Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) will conduct a project preparation study for the cross-border cable car. SMMR II will accompany the study and develop additional, complementary activities with the partners in the Focus region, such as establishing baseline studies of cross-border traffic following the re-opening of the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge and start of operations of the Kunming – Vientiane rail link for freight and passengers; the local, regional and long distance bus and coach services available for cross-border travel; developing a concept for the electrification and up-scaling of community transport in Nong Khai and Thanaleng and promoting active mobility along the Mekong River and adjacent districts.

Inter-provincial quality bus corridor between Can Tho City and neighbouring provinces in the Mekong Delta – With support of SMMR I, Can Tho City and neighbouring provinces have explored the possibilities for improving inter-provincial public transport. This led to the formulation of a concept of creating long distance bus corridors drawing on solutions proven in the context of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and public-private mutual commitments toward quality infrastructure and operations. These corridors would:

• Focus on vehicle improvements, tactical infrastructure interventions, and Intelligent Transport Systems solutions for improved service quality,
• Establish small, medium, and large intermodal interchange hubs to interconnect with rural and urban mobility services along the corridor,
• Coordinate with Land Use Planning departments to implement Transit Oriented Development to maintain decentralised settlement patterns.

In 2022, the Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) will conduct a project preparation study for the inter-provincial quality bus corridor. SMMR II will accompany the study and develop additional, complementary activities with the partners in the focus region, such as establishing baseline studies, analysing rural and urban community transport in the entire Mekong Delta region.

Implementing the Phnom Penh Declaration on Sustainable Urban Mobility in Cambodia – Cambodia is the host country of the SMMR Project and was country chair of the 27th ASEAN Transport Ministers meeting on 11th November 2021 that adopted the Phnom Penh Declaration on Sustainable Mobility. Based on pilot activities during SMMR I, SMMR II will support the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) and all stakeholders in measures and projects in the implementation of the Phnom Penh Declaration on Sustainable Urban Mobility recommendations and active participation in the ASEAN wide thematic networks and common projects.

In 2022 and following years, SMMR II will be instrumental in:

• Creating a legal framework for the implementation of the Phnom Penh Urban Transport Board in Phnom Penh and metropolitan transport executives (MTE) in other metropolitan cities;
• Elaborating a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) in the Phnom Penh district of Chbar Ampov (in coordination with the project Build4People, financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research);
• Promoting active mobility at all levels of infrastructure design, traffic safety and social support, through schools and civil society organisations in urban, sub-urban and rural settings;
• Supporting the MPWT Intelligent Transport Systems strategy, namely through the develoPPP project Improving Road Safety and Air Quality (IRSAQ) with Deutsche Kennzeichen Technik (DKT GmbH);
• Building the Cambodian platform for the promotion of electric vehicles and an action plan for the excellence of electric mobility.

FINANCED BY

German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

REGION

ASEAN, all member states, with focus on Cambodia (host country), Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam

PROJECT PARTNER

SMMR is an ASEAN – German Cooperation Project implemented by GFA Consulting Group and consortium partners Clean Air Asia, Rupprecht Consult, and the Wuppertal Institute on behalf of GIZ.

PROJECT DURATION

11/2021 – 10/2024

MORE INFORMATION

www.SMMR.asia