A joint initiative of Centre for Science and Environment, India and National Environment Management Authority, Kenya
Nairobi, August 24 – 25, 2016 (9.30 am – 5.00 pm)
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a New Delhi, India based public interest research and advocacy organisation organised a Regional Consultation on Air Quality, Clean Vehicles and Sustainable Mobility Roadmap in collaboration with the National Environment Management Authority, The Republic of Kenya on August 24 – 25, 2016 at Eastland Hotel, Nairobi. This workshop represents our initiative to promote good regulatory practices, facilitate exchange of ideas and strengthen capacity in the region to address the emerging challenge of air quality and mobility management. As our cities are confronting with problem of increasing motorisation, deteriorating air quality and traffic congestion, this workshop brought together officials from diverse regulatory agencies from the African region involved with policies and implementation related to air quality management, clean vehicle technology and fuel quality roadmap, vehicle import policy and sustainable mobility strategies and other concerned stakeholders from Nairobi/Kenya to share experiences, good regulatory practices and learn from each other. Air quality monitoring and management, leapfrogging to clean vehicle technology and fuels, framing and adopting policy to reduce import of second hand polluting vehicles and sustainable transportation strategies along with car restraint measures are some of the key strategies that the cities are addressing today.
Seventy participants representing various agencies actively participated in the workshop. The workshop had representation from regulatory bodies from various African countries including Senegal (Centre de Gestion de la Qualité de l'Air (CGQA), Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and Executive Council for Urban Transport in Dakar (CETUD), Ghana (Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Urban Roads, Ministry of Roads and Highways, PMB, Ministries), Uganda (National Road Safety Council and Transport Division, Ministry of Works and Transport), Mauritius (Department of Environment, Ministry of Environment, Sustainable Development, Disaster and Beach Management), Nigeria (Federal Ministry of Environment and Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority), Mozambique (National Agency for Environment Quality, Department of Environmental Management, Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development and National Directorate of Transport, Ministry of Transport and Communications), South Sudan (Ministry of Environment), Zimbabwe (Environmental Management Agency), Zambia (Zambia Environmental Management Authority), Cote d’Ivoire (Ministry of Environment and Antipollution Centre), Ethiopia (Ethiopian Petroleum Supply Enterprise and Urban and Rural Transport Service Support and Monitoring Directorate, Ethiopian Transport Authority) and Kenya.
From Nairobi, Kenya, the participants included NEMA officials (from Nairobi as well as county offices in Mombasa, Kisumu, Usain Gishu and Nakuru), The National Treasury, Nairobi City County, National Transport and Safely Authority (NTSA), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), UN-Habitat, Stockholm Environment Institute – Africa Centre, University of Nairobi, Sustainable Transport Africa, Pamoja Road Safety Initiative, Environment Compliance Institute, Centre for Environment Justice and Development, Matatu Owners Association, Matatu Welfare Association, researchers and media persons etc.
The speakers include Ayub Macharia, Director, NEMA; Sunita Narain, Director General, CSE; Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director, CSE; Jane Akumu, Programme Officer, UNEP; Peter O. Odhengo, Senior Policy Analyst, The National Treasury, Kenya; Ajayedutt A. Juggurnath, Environment Officer, Ministry of Environment, Sustainable Development, Disaster and Beach Management, Mauritius; Emmanuel K-E Appoh, Chief Programme Officer and Environmental Quality Scientist, Environmental Protection Agency, Ghana; Alpha Tarusenga Chikurira, Principal Environmental Quality Officer, Environmental Management Agency, Zimbabwe; Ronald Amanyire, Head, National Road Safety Council, Ministry of Works and Transport, Uganda; Abdou Diouf, Head Mobility Division, Executive Council for Urban Transport in Dakar (CETUD), Senegal; Omoniyi Idowu, Senior Specialist, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA); John Macharia Gichigi, Executive Officer, Matatu Owners Association, Nairobi; Emmanuel Olukunle Ojo, Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigeria; André Jacques Dioh, Incharge of Emission and Modelling, Centre de Gestion de la Qualité de l'Air (CGQA), Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Senegal; Mwai Muitungu, Principal Compliance Officer, NEMA; Victor Nthusi, Thematic Assessments Unit, Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA), UNEP; Baluku Enos, Transport Planner, Ministry of Works and Transport, Uganda; Moses Kuiyaki, Engineer, Nairobi City County; and Susan Wothaya, Share the Road Programme, UNEP.
The workshop began with a welcome address by Ayub Macharia, NEMA and presentation of key note address on behalf of the Director General, NEMA, Geoffrey Wahungu. Macharia talked about the NEMA’s work, air quality issue in Nairobi and Kenya and air quality regulations that NEMA has framed. CSE Director General Sunita Narain delivered the keynote address and talked about the importance of South-South dialogue on air quality and mobility management. She talked about the air quality challenges in India and the African region and how South-South collaboration can help in experience sharing and cross learning and take measures to combat our common concerns. Anumita Roychowdhury highlighted the common concerns in our respective regions and the developing world and the need for clean air action plans to meet clean air targets in our cities.
The three technical sessions on the first day discussed issues of clean vehicle technology and fuel quality addressing the special challenges of emissions from second hand vehicle imports, challenge of balancing informal and formal public transport and air quality management and innovative approaches in Africa
The session on vehicle import policies and measures taken to reduce importation of secondhand vehicles had presentation by best practice countries such as Kenya, Mauritius, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Uganda. CSE presented an overview on concerns and action on import of old vehicles and suggested way forward for importing and exporting countries. The importing countries need to use tax measures to make older vehicles more expensive and encourage new vehicles, limit age of imported vehicles, link emissions standard with fuel quality and imports, ban used vehicles imports on the basis of health and emissions grounds, inspection and maintenance is small part of solution and need regional platform for harmonised Africa-wide action. Exporting countries on the other hand need to identify global platform to influence export policies of the exporting countries to stop dumping. For example the WTP 29 needs global agreement. The exporting countries need circular policy to stop export of old vehicles. Europe and US have recycling of end of life policy but does not stop export of old vehicles. Japan increases taxes on older vehicles to speed up turnover. There is a limit to dumping so the number of imported used vehicles need to be reduced.
Akumu said 42 million vehicles are in use in Africa and used vehicle market has been estimated at about USD 60-70 billion in sales worldwide and bulk of vehicle imports in most countries are used cars. According to estimates, used cars account for 80 and 90 per cent of all vehicle sales in Kenya. In Nigeria, used vehicle imports account for 80 per cent of all vehicle sales. Under the Global Fuel Economy Initiative, baseline setting is done but there is little progress in fuel economy improvement in countries without policies. A variety of approaches should be adopted to reduce vehicle emission which include cleaner and low sulphur fuels, vehicle import restrictions, total ban on used vehicle imports, import age based restrictions, higher taxation regimes for older used vehicles, vehicle emission restrictions, mandatory Inspection and vehicle testing, cleaner public transport and cleaner vehicle technologies, electric motorcycles, hybrid etc.
Odhengo presented about the vehicle import policy in Kenya and the measures being taken to reduce importation of second hand vehicles. Vehicles of over 8 years old are not allowed into Kenya as per the KS 1515:2000 quality standard by the Kenya Bureau of Standards. Kenya customs enforces this requirement. The duty payable on the importation of a vehicle includes import duty which is 25 per cent of the cost insurance and freight (CIF) value of the vehicle, excise duty 20 per cent of the CIF value plus import duty, value added tax which is 16 per cent of the CIF value plus import duty and excise duty and IDF which is 2.25 per cent of the CIF value or KSh 5,000 whichever is higher. The CIF is the customs value of the vehicle that is the cost, insurance and freight paid for the vehicle and is also deduced from the current retail selling price of the vehicle. The new second hand car policy regime mandates that the difference between the year of manufacture and first registration should not exceed a year. The regulation now looks at all 2008 manufactured vehicles from Kenyan roads and market.
Juggurnath presented about the fiscal measures and taxation to control of vehicle imports in Mauritius. Vehicle taxes are of primarily 3 categories – tax on acquisition that is tax on purchase of a vehicle (excise duty, registration duty), tax on ownership that is tax in connection with possession or ownership of a vehicle (road vehicle licence) and tax on motoring that is tax related to the vehicle use (excise duty on mogas and gasoil, MID levy on mogas and gasoil). In case of tax on acquisition, excise duty on vehicles is imposed at the time of import and the rates vary depending on the type of the vehicle (cars, motorcycles, buses, goods vehicles); engine size, cylinder capacity (excise rates for cars of more than 2,000 cc is 100 per cent of the value of import compared to 50 per cent for those of less than 1,600 cc); use of vehicle (private cars compared to commercial vehicles); and ad valorem percentage and on the value of import (price of the car and the exchange rate). The tax on vehicle ownership is paid annually to the National Transport Authority based on the type of the vehicle, engine size, weight (for goods vehicle) and seating capacity (public vehicles). However, there is 50 per cent reduction for hybrid and electric vehicles and if the vehicles are used in Island of Rodrigues. The tax on motoring is basically the fuel tax and the excise duty on mogas is Rs 10.80 per litre and Rs. 3.30 per litre on gasoil. Nearly 50 per cent of vehicles registered annually in the country are new. Second hand vehicles import is governed by regulations laid by the Ministry of Commerce. Additionally, certifications are required from exporter countries.
Appoh presented about the vehicle importation policy and taxation system in Ghana. The regulation discourages importation of vehicles older than 10 years by imposing an overage penalty. Private cars have to pay import duty (5 per cent), VAT/NHIS (15 per cent) and over aged penalty on CIF (zero for cars less than 10 years, 5 per cent for cars exceeding 10 years but less than 12 years, 20 per cent for cars exceeding 12 years but less than 15 years and 50 per cent for cars more than 15 years and beyond. The import taxes for vehicles/trucks carrying 10 or more persons and more than 30 people vary according to the vehicle age. A 0.5 per cent ECOWAS levy is also charged. The tax regime in Ghana has helped to reduce importation of conventional vehicles. Cheaper and relatively newer vehicles are being imported as against those above 10 years. More vehicles less than 10 years are being imported by private sector. Vehicles with higher engine capacity more than 1.9 litres pay more taxes. ECOWAS levy of 0.5 per cent is also charged and ECOWAS communique is destined to bring the importation of vehicles of less than 8yrs. However there is no regulation on importation of used engines and other spare parts.
Chikurira shared about the measures to reduce used vehicle import in Zimbabwe. He informed that ban on aged vehicles was initially mooted in 2011 due to safety and environmental considerations and was to affect vehicles more than 5 years of age along with gradual phase out of left hand drive vehicles such as haulage trucks and crafted in the form of a Statutory Instrument. The ban was however cancelled bowing to public pressure. Although there is no single codified vehicle import policy, individual instruments address the importation of vehicles. Under the Customs and Excise Act the charges that are levied on vehicle imports are customs duty, surtax and VAT. Surtax is only charged on passenger vehicles that are more than five years old at the time of importation at a rate of 35 per cent. Vehicles with bigger engine capacities attract higher customs duty – 86 per cent for less than 1,500 cc and 96 per cent for more than 1,500 cc vehicles. Under the Income Tax Act, carbon tax is levied on per litre of fuel. A comprehensive vehicle import policy document spearheaded by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is being drafted.
Amanyire talked about the fiscal policies to reduce import of old vehicles in Uganda. About 95 per cent of vehicles imported are used vehicles from Japan and Europe. Vehicle population is still low which provides a good opportunity for interventions. There is no single new vehicle assembling plant in the country or region though small ones do exist. Uganda has no specific policy on importation of used vehicles. There are no age limits and no policy on disposal of old vehicles. There is though a fiscal policy in place but it’s more of a tax policy to increase revenue to finance government programmes. Since July 2015, used vehicles of between 5 and 10 years are required to pay 35 per cent of CIF value as environmental levy. Used Vehicles of above 10 years are required to pay 50 per cent of CIF value as environmental levy. It does not apply to goods vehicles (3.5 tonnes and above). No specific measure exists that encourage purchase of new vehicles in the form of reduction in taxes etc. Though there has been reduction in number of old vehicles imported and purchased by consumers, there has been no significant corresponding increase in purchased new vehicles. This might be due to non-existence of assembling plant that can supply new and safe vehicles at an affordable price. The financial comparison of an old car which is 11 years old to its counterpart which is 6 years and 2 years old clearly shows that the old car is the cheapest.
The session on challenge of balancing informal and formal public transport systems highlighted the challenges and initiatives taken by Senegal, Lagos and Nairobi.
Diouf shared about the Senegal’s informal public transport system. There is predominance of walking and increasing motorization in Dakar. Out of the total 7.2 million daily trips, 70 per cent are walking trips. Nearly 80 per cent of the motorized trips are by public transport. The informal transport sector is characterised by obsolescence of the fleet of minibuses (average age of 28 years), atomisation of operators of minibuses (more than 1294 operators for 2,558 vehicles), anarchic competition and a classic banking system not suited to fleet renewal needs. In the atomising market, there were 1,294 operators possessing 2,558 coaches collectively called ‘fast coaches’ and ‘ndiaga ndiaye’ and 95 per cent of the operators had 1 to 4 vehicles, the average age of which was 28 years with 25 to 48 seating capacity. The Economic Interest Grouping (EIG) have been formed and 945 operators are grouped together in 14 EIGs, which formed urban transport professionals funding Association (AFTU) and mutual savings and credit carriers (Mectrans). The pilot program was initiatied with International Development Association during 2005 to 2009 for 505 minibuses. The price of a minibus was USD 47,500 inclusive of all taxes. According to the state of the minibus brought to the breakage, the operator receives a scrappage premium going from USD 0 to 5000. The operator contributes USD 10,500 (if necessary loan mectrans) and 5-year loan benefits from a 6 months grace period. As of August 15, 2016, 1,607 minibuses with 40 to 60 seating capacity have been introduced. The achievements include a coverage rate of more than 99 per cent and a rate of fund mobilization of mutual pledge of 96 per cent, sustainability of the fund (collection) revolving, consolidation of MEC-TRANS of 1 600 members, creation of a mutual health insurance company bearing of the costs concerning the health of the staff, the operators and their family, creation of SENBUS industry and 53 per cent of fleet renewal with 35 per cent share of public transport trips.
Idowu shared about the BRT-Lite system and the Mile 12-Ikorodu BRT extension project in Lagos. The project commenced on March 17, 2008 with 196 high capacity buses (75 pax) and 150 regular buses operated from 6 am to 10 pm daily. The revenue earnings are Naira 6.75 million (USD 45,000) and Naira 2 billion (13.5 million USD) respectively. The benefits of the extension project are 66 per cent reduction in average public transport waiting time, 75 per cent journey time savings, 58 per cent reduction in road traffic journey time, reliability journey time and availability, comfortable, and safe, 50 per cent reduction in public transport related accidents and 16 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions.
Gichigi informed about the informal public transport system, the matatus in Nairobi. These informal modes are important and efficient but face challenges as well. Some of the challenges include corruption, very poor enforcement methods mostly with strings attached and with several enforcement agents competing for space, poor city planning leading to inadequate space for public transport service providers thus congesting the city, poor infrastructure, cartels who fight to control the industry, absentee ownership, poor collection of basic data by the operators, owners and or the regulating saccos often do not have sufficient information and a holistic understanding of their systems, a suffered reputation due to all manner of negative news and publicity, the concept of self regulation being interfered with by the regulators and often leads to duplication of saccos which results in cut throat competition and a breeding ground for cartels, over taxation as this is the only industry where taxes are paid in advance, internal wrangles in saccos and fight for leadership to control the millions involved, lack of professional and reliable management structures, lack of basic knowledge on laws regulating traffic, and environmental pollution, lack of employment for the youth leading to what we call Kamagira or squad drivers and conductors, poor legislation on training of drivers and conductors and licencing of the same. Of late due to poor policy formulation by the NTSA, there is an influx of non PSVs operating all over the country thus providing unfair competition and the most offending are the police crackdowns coupled by their worthwhile competitor in terms of enforcement, the NTSA management structures. Despite all these challenges, new initiatives are being taken to improve the industry which include formation of saccos and management companies, fleet management has also been introduced though to long distance operators but it is also being embraced by city operators, introduction of high capacity buses including bus rapid transit although the common operator is not privy to much information about the BRT and the light rail.
The fourth session highlighted about air quality management and innovative approaches in Africa. Best practices and initiatives from Senegal and Ghana were presented. Nigeria presented about the Clean Air Action work and Kenya talked about the air quality regulations and implementation and the next steps. UNEP also shared about potential of their low cost and alternative air quality monitoring initiative
Dioh presented about the real time air quality monitoring and public health information system in Senegal. Continuous air quality monitoring is being done at fixed monitoring stations with ambient air analyzers and mobile laboratory with analyzers which enable to measure in areas not covered by the fixed stations. The pollutants monitored are PM10, PM2.5, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and benzene, toluene and zylene. Based on the air quality data, air quality index is calculated for 5 criteria pollutants. The centre prepares monthly, quarterly and annual air quality reports and is available in public domain. An air pollution episode occurred during January 26 to 31, 2016 in Dakar in which the PM10 maximum values exceeded 700 microgrammes per cubic metre in most stations and resulted in red AQI meaning very unhealthy air quality. The condition was so bad that the entire city (and even the country) was covered by dust that caused visibility problems. Soon an alert message was sent to the press and hospitals (pneumology services) informing that the air quality was very unhealthy (red AQI), particulates concentration started increasing the day before and the situation could last for the next 72 hours. In addition, health warnings were issued from the Health Ministry as well as the doctors. It stated, ‘The exposure of population to these high PM10 concentration presents a real danger, especially for people suffering from asthma and respiratory allergies. Young children, sensitive people and elderly persons should avoid long exposure to ambient air, respect scrupulously any ongoing medical treatment - ask a doctor if any suspucious symptom appears (cough, difficulty on breathing, eye or throat irritation), avoid intensive physical activity or sport (especially competition) increasing volume of air inhaled and be careful not to aggravate the effect of this pollution with other respiratory tract irritating factors such as use of solvents, burning incense, and especially tobacco smoke.’In Senegal, Saharan dust is also correlated with high PM concentration episodes and traffic congestion during these episodes aggravates the problem. For better air quality and abatement strategies, standards must be set for all major pollutants coming from exhaust, assessment of emissions from motorised vehicles and industrial facilities should be undertaken and linkage between epidemiological data (rate of hospital admissions and mortality from air pollution) and air quality data should be seen.
Appoh presented the EPA Ghana’s experience in air quality monitoring and management. The agency calculates the AQI on PM, O3, CO, SO2, NO2. The 2013-14 AQI for roadside locations showed green 31 (9.17 per cent), yellow 116 (34.32 per cent), organge (unhealthy for sensitive groups 100 (29.59 per cent), red (unhealthy) 55 (16.27 per cent), purple (very unhealthy) 23 (6.8 per cent) and maroon (hazardous) 13 (3.85 per cent). The residential locations showed better off with green 10 (47.62 per cent), yellow 7 (42.86 per cent) and orange 2(9.52 per cent). The commercial locations had green 5 (18.52 per cent, yellow 15 (55.56 per cent), orange (UFSG) 6 (22.22 per cent) and maroon 1 (3.70 per cent). The industrial locations showed green 11(23.40 per cent), yellow 26 (55.32 per cent), orange 6 (12.76 per cent), red (unhealthy) 0 () per cent), purple (very unhealthy) 2 (4.36 per cent and maroon (hazardous) 2 (4.26 per cent). The AQM and pollution reduction challenges include lack of policy direction on continuous importation and use of old vehicles, poor maintenance of vehicles, siting of commercial and some residential facilities along major roads, gaps in data gathering due to frequent shortage of consumables and lack of availability of monitoring vehicles/drivers and limited manpower, theft of air quality monitoring equipment, frequent vehicular knockdown of air quality monitoring posts, lack of funds and logistics for AQM, public education and pollution related health studies and in ability to report AQM outcomes promptly to public. The way forward therefore is to establish continuous air quality monitoring stations in Accra and relating monitoring results with respiratory outcomes to aid in prompt reporting of air quality/health situations to public, speeding up the development of air quality/emission standards/regulations, reduction of sulphur levels in fuel to 50 ppm before 2020, implement fuel economy initiative, promoting use of non-burn techniques in management of health care waste/e-waste, institution of mass transport system in Ghana, government is taking a look again on the policy of importation of over-aged vehicles/scrap vehicle parts and engines and further research needed in areas of AQM, exposure and epidemiology studies.
Muithunga shared about the air quality regulations, implementation and the next steps. The NEMA is obliged to recommend the ambient air quality standards; occupational air quality standards; emission standards for various sources; criteria and guidelines for air pollution control for mobile and stationary sources; and any other air quality standards. A taskforce formulated the Air Regulations, 2014. For implementation of air quality regulation, establishment of Baseline Ambient Air Quality Levels is the most critical with 1 mobile air monitoring laboratory for monitoring ambient air quality levels. As far as the monitoring is concerned, there is no national monitoring program for ambient air quality levels. There is one monitoring station on top of Mount Kenya for measuring background CO2, O3, and MH4 for the Global Atmospheric Watch program. An Implementation Strategy and Implementation Plan have been developed which includes determination of baseline ambient air quality levels; establishment of a National Air Quality Monitoring Program; establishment of a National Emission Source Inventory; and strengthening the technical and analytical capacity of the key collaborating institutions on implementation. The way forward is to review KS 1515 to conform to Euro IV standards, review vehicular exhaust emission limits and noise limits to enhance environmental compliance, and develop ‘vehicle standards’ for Kenya.
Nthusi shared about their low cost air quality monitoring device. As air pollution data is sparse in most African cities UNEP has developed an affordable air quality monitoring unit based on electro-chemical sensors for gases and OPC for particulate matter. Blue prints will be made available publicly and this is being piloted in Kenya and deployed at 6 sites in Kenya in April 2016. The successful deployment has shown that low-cost monitoring units are able to retrieve data for processing, verification and visualization. Data collected is sufficiently accurate to determine the state of air quality, pollution hot spots and pollution sources. Maintaining reliability of the data and increasing accuracy would require access to calibration of the network alongside reference instrumentation at one location. The network can be implemented and maintained locally. The units are deployable in cities with limited infrastructure and difficult operating conditions
The second day of the workshop began with a session on walking and cycling and parking initiatives followed by breakout sessions.
Enos presented about the NMT policy of Uganda. The policy statements include that the government will require that appropriate ‘Universal Design’ principles will be used in transport infrastructure and Initiatives, to develop a Road Safety Policy and establish a National Road Safety Authority (NRSA); to address the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists in the planning, implementation, regulation and enforcement of National and DUCAR road infrastructure; to recognize the need to maintain footways and cycle ways on all roads; government considers that all road users in Uganda have equal rights to use the road, through education campaigns and sensitization, recognizes the importance of walking and bicycling as non-polluting, sustainable, healthy and environmentally friendly transport options and other important NMT facilities like boats on lakes and rivers, the country’s many lakes and rivers; to continuously review road standards and prepare relevant codes and manuals that encompass the infrastructure requirements of pedestrians and bicyclists, government to include NMT requirements on all urban road designs, bridges and related infrastructure. will provide safe, unobstructed footways in busy urban areas on which pedestrians have the right of way; recognizes that men and women have equal rights to own and use bicycles and that gender discrimination should be actively discouraged; to provide guidelines on the standards for pedestrian crossings to promote safe, durable and clear stripes with consistent signage and dedicated bicycle lanes on all new and upgraded urban and national roads, to promote provision of adequate facilities for the safe parking of bicycles at all significant public buildings, markets, transport terminals, sports grounds, and large business premises and the concept of road catchment areas, in which roads are seen to be part of the local transport infrastructure that also includes paths and trails. A number of interventions have been undertaken so far by the government. These include approval of the National Road Safety Policy emphasizing NMT promotion, organization of annual car free days aimed at popularizing NMT, inclusion of NMT activities in the budget. UN-Habitat and UNEP in collaboration with the Ministry have assessed the walking and cycling conditions and recommendations will be integrated into the planned Kampala BRT corridors designs, NMT workshops involving all key stakeholders are conducted to disseminate NMT policy, detailed designs for the planned BRT project for Kampala integrated NMT infrastructure have been done, detailed design for 3.5 km of the planned NMT pilot corridor in Kampala has been completed, the Transport and Road Safety Act and the Highway Code is being reviewed and will ensure that both adequately address the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists and undertaking education campaigns to all users especially in schools. The next steps include to formulate and develop an M& E framework for the NMT policy, finalize, disseminate and ensure usage of the design guidelines for NMT infrastructure, continued dissemination of the NMT Policy in all country regions and on all road classifications, continued coordination with all the sector agencies and local governments to ensure that NMT issues are well streamlined in their activities, road design guidelines for implementation of NMT policy and continued engagement with the development actors to ensure sustainable funding for promotion and development of NMT. The proposed areas of research will include study of the fiscal implications of bicycles and their economic and social benefits to Ugandans, study of the gender implications of bicycle ownership and use and study on the relative contribution of walking, carrying and bicycle use in rural marketing and trade.
Kuiyaki presented about the NMT policy and initiatives in Nairobi. The objectives of the policy are to increase mobility and accessibility; transport safety; improve amenities for NMT; increase recognition and image of and ensure that adequate funding/investment is set-aside for NMT infrastructure (20 per cent of RPWT budget). At present the transport system is basically road-based, and more oriented to private car use. The infrastructure required by the many NMT users is lacking, or in very poor state and incomplete when provided. The policy has mandated to develop a Nairobi Streets and Roads Design Manual (NSRDM) to guide planning, design and management of all transport facilities and amenities within the county, in line with the adapted “Complete Streets” principles; review existing by-laws to enhance safety of NMT users as they are “vulnerable users” so that they can be protected, ensure provision of NMT on the frontage of all commercial developments and propose enhanced penalties for violations involving NMT users etc; develop comprehensive data base for NMT users and facilities regular NMT surveys (behaviour, socio-economic status, gender, volumes, trip rates and purposes; develop and roll-out basic NMT education and awareness programmes for local neighbourhoods, schools etc and provide targeted educational and awareness opportunities; setting up of steering committee to oversee the implementation of the policy; integrating land use patterns with a description of public input used to develop implement the NMT Plan. estimated number of existing and future NMT commuters, existing and proposed NMT facilities and multi-modal connections and project descriptions and priority listings; develop guidelines for road side activities, during and after trenching on NMT wayleaves, NMT management during road construction and signage; put in place a funding structure for NMT facilities; develop incentives for organisations/business that encourage NMT usage; and develop a feedback and use evaluation mechanisms (monitoring and evaluation tools). The next steps are adoption of the policy by the CEC and Assembly, preparation of an implementation action plan, secure funding for NMT and policy implementation.
Wothaya shared the initiatives under the Share the Road Programme of the UNEP which works with governments in various African countries to promote NMT. These include NMT policy for Nairobi and NMT demonstration pilot project in Kenya; National policy for NMT and identification of the pilot project for NMT demonstration corridor in Uganda; NMT capacity building workshop in Rwanda; NMT capacity building workshop and feasibility study for proposed NMT pilot project in Burundi; capacity building on NMT and policy development and development of NMT policy for Lagos and amendment of the Federal Transport policy to include NMT and reaching out to Ghana and Ivory Coast. In case of Nairobi, the Nairobi City County government has committed to ensure that at least 20 per cent of NCCG’s existing and future transport budget is allocated to NMT and public transport infrastructure and services and to pass bylaws that require private developers of large commercial, industrial and residential estates to make appropriate provisions for NMT modes to connect to existing/planned networks. The lessons learnt are prior planning for funding is essential for successful policy formulation, dissemination and implementation, there is a increased ownership and sustainability of a project when budget is planned and provided by the government itself, genuine, robust and continued stakeholder engagement and consultation makes the process easier and most importantly ensures the views of the citizens are taken into account, dissemination of the policy should be a key component of the budget as it enhances awareness and citizens can follow up on the implementation of the policy, policy can only have an impact on the ground if a funding commitment is made, honoured and most importantly, sustained, passionate champions at the political level such as the governors, mayors etc are instrumental in ensuring not only success in policy development but also its implementation.
Kuiyaki also shared about the cashless priced parking in Nairobi. Under the current system the motorist creates an electronic wallet for the county from where county services can be paid. Money to transact can be loaded from other channels e.g. Visa Card, Master Card, Mpesa, available registered agents(this could be banks). Electronic payment steps include wallet creation, wallet top up and payment. Once payment is done, an enforcement application is used where the enforcement officer keys in the registration number of the vehicle and confirms if it has paid or not. If the motorist hasn’t paid, the registration number is escalated to the clamping team with the location for the vehicle to be clamped manually. The vehicle also is clamped on the system to ensure the penalty is charged to the customer. The benefits include time saving to customers as they do not need to look for the attendant to pay for parking, ease in transaction process. convenience as one can have the parking fee paid for remotely, security of the process as there is no cash handled in the payment process and the management also gets to know the collection in real-time. The future improvements required include introduction of time based parking, designate zones according to demand and price accordingly and establish parking location through a GPRS system.
The technical session was followed by the breakout session. The participants were divided into three groups which deliberated on the key thematic areas - Group 1 focused on the second hand vehicle import issue, Group 2 on public transport strategies and other measures to reduce personal car usage and Group 3 on clean air action plan implementation in cities.
The key questions for Group 1 were what are the barriers to designing effective solutions for second hand vehicle imports; assessment of the current regulatory and fiscal measures to control this problem – (like age cap, tax measures, bans, conditional vehicle inspection) - what is working and not working and how can harmonised policy be promoted in the region to enable effective action in all countries to control dumping of old vehicles and improve fuel quality and vehicle standards. Group 2 discussed about the strategies to integrate different types of public transport systems – formal and informal, how can cities implement non motorised transport policy to protect and scale up pedestrian traffic, cycling and public transport usage and how can cities design vehicle taxation policy, parking policy and road pricing etc to restrain personal vehicle usage and congestion. Group 3 was asked to discuss about the steps cities should take to meet WHO’s clean air standards by 2020 and reduce public health risk - how can cities implement time bound integrated action plan for all air pollution sources and monitor progress, to identify the institutional process and capacity building approaches to implement integrated clean air action plan and make it legally binding and how can cities expand air quality monitoring and generate health data to inform policy and people and use alternative methods like satellite imagery, low cost monitoring etc to generate baseline data.
Group 1 members highlighted that the barriers to designing effective solutions for second hand vehicle imports include customers want cheap vehicles; laws, regulations and standards corruption (tempering); taxation regimes are based on CIF value which affects new imports; revenue collection overriding other needs; weak enforcement mechanisms (customs officers at the official entry points/porous borders); lack of capacity for manufacturing/assembling new vehicles (man power and technology); cars assemble with country are more expensive that the imported new cars; and quality of Fuel for the newer used vehicles. On current regulatory and fiscal measures, the group presented about their experiences about age cap, tax measures and pre-import vehicle inspection. It was stated that it is difficult to tell that if age cap has worked because there was no measurement before or after introduction and on the other hand it has shielded countries from dumping. Tax measures work in the first few years to reduce number of used car imports but with time the consumers adapt and used car imports increase again. Pre-import vehicle inspections has generally worked in accordance with the standards provided for each country. On harmonisation of policies in the region, the group suggested that there should be political will within the sub-regions to clean up fuels and vehicles. Harmonisation can be achieved through the EAC, SADC and COMESA Tripartite on fuel quality, age limit, vehicle Standards and code of practice for inspection. Harmonisation will be promoted with evidence that a given age limit will have an impact. Challenges with respect to new vehicles were also presented by the group. These include locally assembled vehicles still use old technology, assembled vehicle in-country are still much more expensive than new vehicles, lack of support from government for the new vehicles (buying imported instead of supporting locally assembled), lack of research to develop our own technology for vehicles and some parts for assembling new vehicles are used as spare part for existing vehicles.
Group 2 members highlighted the importance of promoting NMT and informal and formal public transport systems. It was presented that the cities have to frame NMT policies with proper NMT infrastructure, design and implementation. As informal public transport modes are efficient and important in African cities, it is important to regulate and integrate them in the transportation system. Parking policy as a travel demand management measure are also needed in cities to restrain personal car usage and congestion.
Group 3 members presented that for cities to implement time bound integrated action plan for all air pollution sources and monitor progress, the three key things are situational analysis, funding before monitoring and monitoring and evaluation of action plan to track emission targets and objectives. Situational analysis would require to carry out baseline survey to determine current status on air quality, ensure pollution sources are identified, perhaps identify criteria pollutants, stakeholder analysis and involvement, capacity building in relevant institutions and training and to ensure relevant equipment and tools for measuring and monitoring air quality parameters are in place and sites are identified. For the institutional process and capacity building approaches to implement integrated clean air action plan and make it legally binding, the group suggested looking at the institutional framework, identify and engage stakeholders, assign a lead agency, formalize collaborative framework and make it legally binding via signing of MoU etc, review of legal framework, identify capacity gap, prioritize then build capacity, categorize – human capital and infrastructure and resource mobilization. In terms of how cities can expand air quality monitoring and generate health data to inform policy and people the group suggested investment in research and development, promote citizen science, data exchange and collaboration, data management – credible database, work collaboratively with ministry of health, devolve monitoring, standardize methodology, capacity building for monitoring, other legitimate mean of gathering data and encourage epidemiological studies.
After the presentations by three groups, the discussion was moderated by Sunita Narain. Narain summed up the highlights from all three groups. She pointed out that the second hand vehicle import issue discussed by Group 1 is a country specific issue and is also challenging. Ban is not such a simple idea. Countries needs standards for vehicles, fuels and controls on imports. On this she asked whether CSE should do a paper/factsheet on this issue and go to countries for harmonisation. In case of Group 2, the next steps are working with few countries and take the step forwards like NMT policy and take Senegal example and work across countries on informal public transport system. Group 3 has clearly a long agenda. Given the capacity again perhaps a guidance note on what can be done – source identification, action plan based on sources, monitoring system and this system should be tied to health. Low cost sensors are useful. Many private companies are selling sensors but this is not enough. Calibration is an issue. It is important that some ground level work with respect to methodology and calibration is done at one city and then scaled up.
It was agreed that the fuel standards are more or less harmonized and vehicle standards and age limit can be combined into one. CSE will do a paper on age and emission standards and the participating regulators from respective countries will take it forward. A small working group will be formed. Once the paper is ready, it will be circulated for comments. Another suggestion was creating a group on informal public transport system of Asia and Africa and their role in sustainable mobility.
For more information, please contact:
Priyanka Chandola
Deputy Programme Manager
Right To Clean Air Campaign
Centre for Science and Environment
41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area
New Delhi – 110062
India
Tel: +91 - 11 - 29955124
+91 - 9810414938 (Mobile)
Fax: +91 - 11 - 29955879
Email: priyanka@cseindia.org
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