[sustran] Seeking inputs for Transport Sector Indicators Workshop

[Paul Barter]

Dear sustran-discuss friends

Later this week (Friday to Sunday) I will be attending a CONSULTATION
WORKSHOP ON TRANSPORT SECTOR PERFORMANCE INDICATORS in Sri Lanka. The
workshop is hosted by the Lanka Forum on Rural Transport Development in
collaboration with the Ministry of Transport Sri Lanka and the
International Forum for Rural Transport and Development (IFRTD) and is
sponsored by the World Bank. 

I am down as 'representing' this strange ethereal entity, the SUSTRAN
Network Asia-Pacific. Of course I will not presume to speak for you all,
and will make that clear (it is not that kind of organisation). 

But (belatedly) I thought that I should post a quick message here
seeking input from any of you with strong feelings or special insight on
this issue. I SUSPECT THAT SOME OF YOU HAVE STRONG VIEWS ON THIS. So
please do respond within the next few days and I will consider your
inputs as I finalise my preparations for the workshop. 

Beyond that, I am sure that the World Bank's Transport and Urban
Division (TUDTR) would welcome your further inputs on this. This in an
ongoing effort and they are seeking to raise awareness about it.

Below is some more information on the workshop and its background. See
also the link "Transport Results Measurement" from the World Bank
transport homepage (http://www.worldbank.org/transport/) for more
background. 

Paul

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CONSULTATION WORKSHOP ON TRANSPORT SECTOR PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
22-24th April 2005, Marawila, Sri Lanka

BACKGROUND NOTE TO WORKSHOP PROGRAMME.

1.0	Introduction

The Transport and Urban Division (TUDTR) of the World Bank's
Infrastructure Vice Presidency has started to develop a comprehensive
draft set of "transport performance and impact indicators".  The
indicators cover all the main transport sub-sectors, namely roads,
railways, air travel, waterways, ports as well as transport and trade.
The purpose of the Transport Sector Performance Indicators initiative
is:
*	Facilitate the management of various sub-sectors so that they
can effectively deliver transport services cost-effectively;
*	Help in the monitoring of  the sectors' performance in respect
of its contribution to the implementation of agreed national policies;
*	Provide better insights into regional and global perspectives of
transport activity and trends
 
This initiative is related to several World Bank activities including
the Infrastructure Action Plan which aims to strengthen the commitment
for collecting and maintaining accurate and timely transport sector data
at country and regional levels, in a way that strengthens evidence-based
analysis and decision making at different levels.


2.0	Asia Consultative Workshop

This workshop is part of ongoing consultations. It intends to broaden
awareness of the initiative among key stakeholders, and to invite
contributions on how the process could be strengthened in a way that
takes into account national priorities and long-term sustainability.

It is envisaged that this workshop will enable stakeholders drawn from a
variety of countries, institutions and transport disciplines to consult
on their main sources of transport sector data, and the capacities and
constraints that currently exist in collecting, analysing, storing and
using high quality data various transport sub-sectors.

2.1	Workshop Purpose

To promote awareness among primary and other key stakeholders on the
current Transport Indicators Initiatives, giving them the scope to
dialogue and give inputs to the draft indicators.

2.2	Objectives

a)	To identify critical aspects of need for reliable data in the
transport sector.
b)	To analyse the sector data presently available in relation to
national, regional and global priorities and identify shortfalls.
c)	Determine national and sub-national responsibilities and
capacity to update, analyse and report transport sector statistics in a
sustainable manner and the scope for strengthening capacity to improve
and sustain the publication of national sector data.

2.3	Outputs	
a)	Raise awareness of the current Transport Results Initiative
b)	Prepare a country responsive matrix for filling gaps for
transport sector data indicators
c)	Draw a country specific action plan for implementation of
comprehensive transport data collection.
d)	Feedback to strengthen the purpose, form and sustainability of
the initiative.

2.4	Draft Workshop programme

The workshop will consist of  about 20 participants (India, Nepal,
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia and Indonesia have been invited with
majority participants from Sri Lanka along with representatives from the
World Bank, Asian Development Bank etc)), meeting over  three days.

The programme will comprise four main Blocks (not necessarily of equal
duration), each consisting of short presentations, group discussions and
plenary sessions.    There will also be introductory and concluding
sessions.   Please note that what is here is a draft which will be
subject to further development and change.  

Block 1:  Analysis of the context of the initiative.  In this block,
participants will be encouraged to discuss the priorities for transport
planning in the different countries and institutions represented at the
meeting, the key indicators, diagnostic measures etc currently used.
Participants will evaluate the strengths and usefulness of existing
processes and identify the gaps i.e. where there is insufficient
knowledge/information to plan for policy priorities

Block 2: Discuss and agree key indicators (headline, diagnostic) that
would be useful for the countries (at both national and sub-national
levels) and for the financing institutions, including the World Bank.

Block 3:  Look at existing ways in which data is collected, stored,
shared and analysed.   Identify the typical chain of responsibility
between institutions in each sub-sector.   For each sub-sector, what is
the relationship with key cross-sectoral agencies such as the National
Statistics Office and the Ministry of Finance.   Discuss the strengths
in each country and identify the weaknesses. 

Block 4:  The way forward. Sketching out key country and regional
transport data gaps, and action plans for addressing the gaps.  

3.0 Participant contributions

The success of the workshop will depend on the active contributions of
all participants.  Given the constraints of the short lead time to the
workshop, participants have been selected on the basis of their
involvement in developing and using indicators for planning transport
sector policies and investments.  The methodology and design of the
workshop is designed to maximise discussion, debate, and building
synergies. 

There will be key country/institutional presentations to focus the
discussions.  The organisers will contact participants that are selected
to make these presentations, and provide them with guidelines for
structuring their input.  

All participants need to come prepared with:
-	a good understanding of the transport policy-making environment
in their countries
-	information about what indicators are needed for management and
decision making  in the transport sector in their countries
-	information on what data is currently available and/or being
collected and which institutions are responsible
-	information about what methodologies are used for data
collection
-	an assessment of what capacities are needed for quality level
collection, analysis, storage and use in planning, management, policy
and operations in the transport sector
-	an assessment of the gaps in capacity

All participants need to be prepared to present, as far as possible, a
multi-sectoral approach to the issues - so please take time to consult
with colleagues in the key transport sectors 
a)	Road networks and services.
b)	Rail transport.
c)	Air transport.
d)	Ports and waterways

Please also bring with you any background papers, power point
presentations, OHPs etc that you might think would be useful to the
discussions.  Obviously we cannot spend all of the three days listening
to presentations from participants so it is required to see that the
organisers receive electronic copies of full papers of all country
presentations by 15th April 2005. The participants will be called to
make presentations only on key points of their papers, but there maybe
times during discussions, or in the feedback sessions, that you will
want to illustrate your point with more details.  The full paper should
not exceed 10 A4 size pages and the fonts should be Arial 11 point.

4.0	The International Forum for Rural Transport and Development

The International Forum for Rural Transport and Development is a global
network of individuals and organisations working towards improved access
and mobility for poor people in developing countries.  It provides a
framework for collaboration, information sharing, debate and advocacy
that bridges traditional geographic, disciplinary and institutional
boundaries. 

Facilitating this dialogue enables us to provide the World Bank's TUDTR
with a 'reality check' and validate and strengthen the initiative by
bringing to the drawing board of the Transport Sector Performance
Indicators initiative perspectives from developing country transport
sector professionals.   We hope this will contribute to synergies
between expectations of countries and the Bank, and long-term,
sustainable partnerships.