Maybe our friends from Pakistan can update us on this.... <a href="http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/14-urban-transport-policy-finalised-zj-05">http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/14-urban-transport-policy-finalised-zj-05</a> RAWALPINDI: The Punjab Planning and Development Department has finalised an urban transport policy, recommending that the government should evolve a mechanism to use road tax revenue for development of roads and related infrastructure. The ‘Urban Transport Policy Study’ for five cities of the Punjab further suggests creation of a dedicated traffic and transport fund wherein all collecting agencies transfer road related taxes to the fund. The cities are Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad and Multan. At present the income from the transport sector is being collected by several departments. Provincial government collects road taxes and then extends allocations to urban transport sector through several departments. City governments collect certain revenues and they become part of their overall budget. The study suggests future budgets for urban transport system should allocate special fund. As envisaged in the ‘Vision 2020,’ the Punjab government intends to develop urban areas into sustainable, livable and well-managed engines of economic growth. Urban development and its management are critically linked with sound, comprehensive and strategic metropolitan level of long term planning. There is a range of structural and institutional impediments to urban development and management in Punjab. The study suggests that new taxes should be considered to balance the road usage among various modes of transportation. Any new tax to be levied has to provide a corresponding benefit to the road users. The primary focus should be on generating funds from the system itself as proposed through the dedicated fund, which may be managed by the authority responsible for the urban transport sector. To control vehicle volume on the roads and encourage public to use alternative means of transportation like buses and mass transit, a one-time tax on vehicles at the time of their registration may be considered. However, the timing for implementation of such tax has to be co-related to the availability of decent alternative means of transportation. To support financing under public-private partnership, several endowment funds should be set up, each serving a specific purpose like investment on buses or rolling stock for mass transit system or parking plazas. The objective of such funds will be to support the private sector in financing the project at affordable cost. The study identified several problems in the way of preparing a sustainable urban transport development system. Major problems include high population growth rate and migration, high volumes of vehicles, haphazard planning and poor execution of projects, severe traffic congestion and gridlock and environmental degradation. Another major gap exists in mechanism of financing which is primarily dependent on public sector allocation. Under the illustration, provincial government grants a loan of Rs2 billion which is equally matched by a consortium of commercial banks to finance the leasing of buses by private sector. The benefits that may accrue from the Endowment Fund could be over 1,200 new buses on road in the first year, over 400 new buses every subsequent year and cost to government would be the interest free loan of Rs2 billion managed by banks. -- Sudhir Gota Transport Specialist CAI-Asia Center Unit 3510, 35th Floor, Robinsons-Equitable Tower, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City Metro Manila, Philippines 1605 Tel: +63-2-395-2843 Fax: +63-2-395-2846 <a href="http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia">http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia</a> Skype : sudhirgota