Strategy for Inland Waterway Transportation System

The preparation of a Masterplan for an Inland Waterway Transportation System should be considered a component of a broader strategy and policy for the transport sector of the region. Such a strategy would begin with a general transport strategy and policy (goals objectives, and guidelines addressing issues of infrastructure, safety, environment, management, and the institutional and legal framework) followed by the goals and objectives in road, railway inland waterway, and intermodal and combined traffic and transport. Short, medium, and long term planning should be undertaken which includes an assessment of the investment requirements of studies at various levels, particularly for IWT Sector in the region.

Zoran Radmilovic has outlined ten key areas to address in the development of a Master Plan and Feasibility, under the following categories (see below for specific details): 1. Inception Report 2. Traffic and Cargo 3. Inland waterway transport network 4. Port development 5. Legal and institutional framework for IWT 6. Environment 7. Radio and other communication systems 8. Economic and financial evaluation 9. Field survey report and inventory structures 10. Conclusion, education and training, recommendations, proposals, and guidelines

The planning of inland waterway transport is extremely complex, as it is one of the many facets of water resources and part of the overall industrial or commercial fabric. To be sustainable, inland waterway transport planning must also be considered as an integral part of water resource planning. An isolated approach would disregard the interdependence of waterway development projects, which touch upon everything from public water supply; flood control; agriculture & irrigation; power generation; fisheries to tourism development. Excellent results can be achieved at low cost for countries, by the simultaneous development of a river for all of these purposes (power, flood control, navigation, irrigation, industrial/urban uses, beautification and recreation).

River Classification System

The main aim of a system of classification should be to ensure the orderly and efficient control and maintenance of waterways. To begin, an inventory of existing infrastructure and transport must be prepared as the base of a sound classification system. This inventory should include numerous quantitative aspects (e.g. minimum depths, width, and vertical clearance of waterways, marking and minimum equipment with navigational aids, and number of vessels), as well as qualitative aspects (e.g. the state of infrastructure and the fleet, transport performance). Data difficulties can be often quite substantial. An adequate classification system could be based both on the characteristics of the waterway and according to the normal size of vessel or integrated barge tow ensuring permanent navigability. Each waterway class: I, II, has its standardized vessel (type, length, beam, draught and carrying capacities to loading draught and minimum height under bridges) or limited standardized integrated barge tow (formation and number of barges in tow, total length of barge tow plus pushboat, total beam of barge tow, draught of most loaded barge in tow and barge tow capacity in loaded state and minimum height under bridges) corresponding to the waterway conditions. The classification of European inland waterways provides an example of these principles.

Integrations with other modes of transportation

Due to the limited geographical reach of inland water transport systems and the dependence on an interface with other modes of transport, planning an integrated strategy is essential. Investing in improvements in inter-modal connections between cost-effective inland waterway transportation, faster railways, and more elastic road transportation will significantly improve the efficiency of IWT and the overall transport system. Treated in isolation, road infrastructure can often threaten the use of traditional waterways, such as when bridges are built without consideration for the height needed to accommodate waterway vessels.

The effective implementation of inland waterway transport in combined, intermodal and multimodal transport may first require efforts to increase the visibility of IWT with key decision makers and change perceptions of the sector. It also requires investment in infrastructure as well as overall structural changes ranging from new trade and transport practices to a revision and regional harmonization of different procedures, such as a navigation regime covering legal, technical, safety and market requirements concerning the river shipping, ports and waterways needed in rendering transportation services on the waterways.

The UN ESCAP Manual on Modernization of Inland Water Transport for Integration within a Multimodal Transport System (2004) discusses infrastructure planning for IWT for multimodal operations in detail (including, inter alia, waterway requirements and terminals; latest technology to connect IWT with other transport modes; integrating IWT in multimodal legal instruments and infrastructure planning and construction; setting up customs within inland ports; and incentives given on the legislative side).

Expanding Economic Usage of River Transport

The usage of the Sarawak IWT network for tourism on the water has the potential to generate considerable income for the local economies and additional income from tourist taxes for regional and federal governments. For example, in India's Southern State of Kerala, 2000 people are employed in houseboats and other motorboats that cruise the inland waterways filled with tourists. A study on the potential economic expansion of IWT around tourism could consider the existing situation of tourism in the region, particularly water tourism; a forecast of the tourism market in the region; a review of the tourist fleet including ferry ships, cruises, yachting, sport boats and nautical tourism services, fishing, etc; and a review of passenger ports and marina development. Expanding the usage of the IWT for tourism can be efficiently included as one objective of broader plans to improve waterways for economic development. For example, in the Philippines the "Nautical Highway System" was established to enhance investment opportunities for agro-industrial, commerce, trade and tourism, and also provide efficient and convenient travel movement of local and international tourists and investors through shorter travel time and cheaper transportation costs. The UN ESCAP 2005 Review provides experiences from a number of countries in this area. Developing river transport also provides an opportunity to ensure the economic benefits of increased national trade reach the regions inland. For example, China has witnessed a large increase in trade over the past two decades but the vast majority of this has been within coastal provinces. The Government of China has sought to reduce the disparity by improving the transport infrastructure of the connecting areas, developing intermodal links along selected corridors between gateway ports and inland destinations

Pro-poor considerations
The design and appraisal of rural transport should consider: Basic Access - As a necessary condition for the alleviation of poverty in rural areas, the availability

of all-weather access from villages to the main transport network and reliable access to basic social and economic services should be ensured. See the World Bank "Design and Appraisal of Rural Transport Infrastructure: Ensuring Basic Access for Rural Communities" (2001).

Least-Cost Design - To provide as many poor rural dwellers as possible with basic access and

considering low (motorized) traffic levels, it is necessary to apply "least-cost" design approaches (e.g. minimizing total life-cycle costs for investment and maintenance).

Participatory Selection Process - To create the local ownership necessary for sustainability, the

planning and appraisal process for rural transport infrastructure must be participative. Planning and appraisal tools must be designed and applied jointly with responsible local government planners and/or the local communities. One of the key tools for the participatory process is the preparation of a District/Local Government Transport Master Plan (see for example, Developing a Local Government Transport Masterplan: Case Study , J. Lebo, World Bank (1999).

Screening and Ranking Methods - Screening based on poverty criteria might be necessary to

single out poverty areas where access is particularly poor and incomes low. Ranking of possible alternatives is necessary in view of limited budgets.

Economic Appraisal Methodologies - For low volume routes, it is suggested that cost-effectiveness

criteria (in particular, total life-cycle cost of investment per populations served) should be used to rank investments in rural transport infrastructure when the main objective of the intervention is poverty alleviation. In case of economic investment objectives, cost-benefit approaches may be appropriate. It is suggested that the provision of basic access to communities with no or unreliable access should have priority over investments into upgrading of existing infrastructure to a higher standard.

Questions to consider (in adopting subsidies, pricing controls, licensing fees, infrastructure

building, service monitoring, etc.) include: Who are the poor customers?; How do they currently obtain/consume services?; What can they afford (rather than are willing) to pay?; How are poorer communities organized and what outlets exist for them to voice their interests?; What do they expect from the services?

Safety and environmental protection considerations

IWT planning should address: Fostering cooperation between national agencies responsible for water and transport and

navigation purposes to ensure integrative policy planning;

Developing & harmonizing quality & risk controls (i.e. River Information Systems), establishing

monitoring systems for water quality;

Integration of all waters (surface, groundwater, costal waters; catchments) into IWT planning; Monitoring transport and handling of dangerous cargo; control and emergency preparedness and

management plans for deliberate spills (oil; bilge water; organic substances);

Implementing ballast water control and management measures; Establishing waste and waste water reception facilities in ports;

Additional Suggestions

More comparative research on the social, economic, and environmental characteristics of different transport systems, is needed to generate information for policy-makers

Transport regulations need to be extended to cover waterways and vessels, to overcome the

perception of it being unsafe

When addressing Rural Water Transport, dependence on imported technologies should be

minimized, to ensure reliable operation, maintenance and repair within local communities

Consider examples of innovative good practice such as Vietnam's boat ambulances and floating

courts bringing legal services to remote communities of the Amazon

Country Examples

Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, IWT provides access to basic socio-economic needs and services for millions of people, as a cheaper and more accessible mode of transport. The importance of national transport has been reflected in the national budget, as it received the largest allocation of the annual development budget in 2000-2001 at 22%. Initiatives under the five-year plan of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) include increasing waterway depths through dredgers, channel widening, and major overhauls to work vessels; new waterways introduced around urban areas to improve and expand movement opportunities; and new infrastructure facilities that include additional passenger terminals. The major share of funds were allocated to annual dredging program. More details available through the UN ESCAP 2003 Review and the IFRTD Bangladesh case study on Rural Water Transport.

Indonesia
The Center for Transportation and Logistics Studies (PUSTRAL) Gadjah Mada University, a rural transport forum under the Indonesia Forum for Rural Transport and Development (IFGRTD) has conducted research on rural waterway in several locations in Indonesia with similar conditions to Malaysia. In 2003 - 2004, they developed a system called "Buy The Service" for rural waterways to be included in rural water transport master plan in Indonesia. The objective of this system is to achieve high quality service in remote areas with reasonable price (by encouraging competition among the operators). This is achieved by tendering a system of water transport based on quality service provided by operators to customers. The advantages of this system is: flexible tariff (based on the destination), integrated ticket (for tourist, visitors) and pre-paid system (off boat transaction to avoid leakage and mafia operation). See also the UN ESCAP 2003 Review for details of the sixth and seventh Five-Year Plans and the Indonesia case study on Rural Water Transport.

China
With an inland waterway system of more than 5600 navigable rivers and 2000 inland ports, China has the most developed ICT subsector in the region. IWT development thrust is being concentrated on 5 specific areas (Yangtze river, Pearl River, Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta). A $220 million project, with World Bank funding, aimed at bringing greater prosperity to a region where 6 million people live at subsistence level. The funds were directed at power generating dams, bypassing ship locking systems, and a deeper waterway throughout the system permitting large vessels to undertake trade. Other notable initiatives include the vast Three Gorges project, which will improve electric power and navigation safety and reduce transportation costs; and development along the Hang-Yong Canal, connecting a network of six rivers with the country's largest river. The emphasis in plans for the construction and development of the inland waterway network over the next decade is being placed on inland port development, and the construction of 20 inland river channels in major north-south and eastwest corridors and localize networks. See the UN ESCAP 2003 Review for more details.

The World Bank has been involved in various large scale inland waterway projects, involving financing and technical assistance. A US$ 100 million World Bank supported project was approved in October 2005

(Inland Waterways). The major objective of this project is to enhance the standard of living in the Han River region, by developing its potential water resources, which includes increasing the waterway transport capacity along the Han River, with a particular focus on cost-effectiveness and ensuring the availability of sustainable hydropower and water resources in the Xiangfan area, and Tangdong region. Project document Contact: Melissa Fossberg, mfossberg@worldbank.org . Overall, the Bank sees this an important area to alleviate poverty in poor provinces by sustaining non-farm jobs (carriage of coal, timber, construction materials and other quarried bulks), but the Chinese government has not sought extensive national-level policy dialogue.

India
The Government of India is committed to the development of IWT as a viable and energy efficiency mode of transport. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) was constituted in 1986 for development and regulation of inland waterways for shipping and navigation. The Authority primarily undertakes projects for development and maintenance of IWT infrastructure on national waterways through grant received from Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways. The Government has also formulated an IWT policy (see http://iwai.nic.in/iwtpolicy.htm) with a view to accelerate IWT development and encourage private sector participation in IWT sector. Further, the States were given liberal grant under centrally sponsored schemes for development of IWT mode. See also the UN ESCAP 2003 Review and the IFRTD India case study on Rural Water Transport.

Philippines
Foreign trade has increased rapidly within the Philippines as a result of globalization in the past two decades. However, these benefits were initially seen within coastal regions and particular islands rather than being broadly dispersed among geographic areas. The Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) for 2005-2010 was developed as an attempt to provide for the prioritization and development of Roll-on Roll-off (RO-RO) shipping through the establishment of the Nautical Highway System composed of the Western, Eastern and Central Nautical Highway System. The project aims to enhance investment opportunities for agro-industrial, commerce, trade and tourism, and also provide efficient and convenient travel movement of local and international tourists and investors through shorter travel time and cheaper transportation costs. In particular, the nautical highway aims to accelerate the development of the country's southern islands by opening an alternative and low-cost trade, travel, and tourism route in the country's looming western growth corridor by making Oriental Mindoro as its gateway. The nautical highway system, which was introduced in 2003 to maximize the use of the RORO system, has reduced travel time by 10 hours and reduced cost by 40 per cent for passengers and 30 per cent for cargo. See the UN ESCAP 2005 Review.

Further Resources/Links

Manual on Modernization of Inland Water Transport for Integration within a Multimodal

Transport System (2004) - UNESCAP[1]

Inland Water Transport, World Bank resources (IWT) [2] Some Proposals for Development of Inland Waterway Transportation System of Malaysia

(Sarawak), Prof. Zoran Radmilovi, University of Belgrade, [3]

Forgotten Waterways - time to recognise the potential of water transport - id21 urban

development, October 2005 [4].

Inland Navigation: Waterway links

Country examples

Review of Developments in Transport in the ESCAP Region, Asia and the Pacific, 2003 UNESCAP [5]. See Chapter 11: Inland Waterway Transport for an overview of the waterway system of the ESCAP region with emphasis on the vital role of its economic development. Details are provided on Bangladesh, China, [India, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Greater Mekong River system.

Review of Developments in Transport in Asia and the Pacific, 2005 - UNESCAP, [6]. Good Practices on Strategic Planning and Management of Water Resources in Asia and the

Pacific, December 2005, UNESCAP, http://www.unescap.org/publications/detail.asp?id=1129 . The publication aims at providing practical application of the strategic planning and management approaches to the preparation of integrated water resources management plans at various levels. The good practices include the case studies in China, Fiji, the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam. It also contains a special summary of experiences in the Pacific.

Rural Water Transport Case Studies - Ten case studies on Rural Water Transport as part of the

Waterways and Livelihoods Programme by the International Forum for Rural Transport and Development (IFRTD) research project. Countries include: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Cte dIvoire, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Nicaragua, Peru, Uganda, Vietnam. http://www.ruralwaterways.org/case/case.htm.

Sustainable Inland Waterway Transport and European Development Guidelines on

Danubean Navigable Network, http://www.cemt.org/online/Water05/Radmilovic.pdf

The Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP) Publications Database, World

Bank. The SSATP is a partnership of countries, regional economic communities, public and private African institutions and organizations, international organizations and development partners dedicated to the goal of ensuring that transport contributes to the achievement of the developmental objectives of Sub-Saharan Africa, poverty reduction, pro-poor growth, and regional integration. The database contains over 390 different resources, including papers, notes, conference/meeting materials, countryspecific documents, thematic documents, reports, and tools.

Rural Water Transport (RWT)

The Waterways and Livelihoods Programme - initiated in 2002 by an International Forum for

Rural Transport and Development (IFRTD) research project funded by DFID. The research project aimed to raise the profile of RWT in the transport sector and among development planners, increase its visibility as an issue, contribute to new knowledge about the impact of rural water transport upon poor peoples mobility and access needs, and highlight its potential benefits for the environment. The project initiated research for case studies in 10 countries across Latin America, Africa and Asia [7].

Rural Inland Water Transport: Rural Transport Infrastructure Research, Royal Government of

Cambodia/ ILO, Technical Assistance to the Labour-Based Rural Infrastructure Works Programme, January 2001[8].

Rural Water Transport, World Bank, [9] Developing Rural Transport Policies & Strategies,[10]. Prepared in the framework of the Rural

Travel and Transport Program (RTTP) of the Africa region (Richard Robinson and George Banjo).

Environmentally Sustainable IWT

Integrated Coastal Area and River basin Management: conceptual framework and planning guidelines, UN Environment Programme, Best Practices, Brazil, [11]

Global Ballast Water Management Programme (GloBallast) - GEF/UNDP/IMO, [12] Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting on Networking of Inland Water Transport and Dredging

Institutions, Bangkok, Thailand, July 2003 - UNESCAP, Meeting Report, , 2003 (Contact: Liyw.unescap@un.org)

Sustainable development of inland water transport in the Asian and Pacific region, policy

statement[13] - UNESCAP, 1999:

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Transport Division, Transport and

Infrastructure Development Section[14]

Pan-European Co-operation towards a Strong Inland Waterway Transport: On the Move -

ECMT-UNECE-Rhine and Danube River Commissions Workshop* , Paris, 22-23 September 2005 UNECE, http://www.cemt.org/online/Water05

Environmental Impact of Inland Shipping and Waterway Development, Draft Final

Report[15]. The European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) initiated this desk-study examining existing approaches towards and challenges for environmental protection in the development of inland waterway transport

European Union - Energy and Transport: Inland Waterway Transport website - Leaflet Inland waterway transport - a transport solution that works - Leaflet: River Information Services - Consultation: An Action programme for Inland Waterway Transport: The European Commission intends to present a Communication on the promotion of Inland Waterway Transport by the end of

2005. The Communication will set out an integrated action programme, focusing on concrete actions which are needed to fully exploit the market potential of inland navigation - Conference: Waterways of Tomorrow, 9 December 2003, Brussels European Commission, DG Environment: Sustainable development of waterways: EU legislation for protection

Third World Water Forum 2003:

- Third World Water Forum, 2003: Water and Transport website statements and presentations for download [16] - Japanese Section of International Navigation Association: Water Transport as Sustainable Traffic System and Its Efficiency Contact: Tadashi ASAI, asai-t86s3@mlit.go.jp [17] - Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management of the Netherlands & US Army Corps of Engineers: Waterways, Transport, and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) - Recommendations ; Contact: Dick de Bruin, Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, d.dbruin@hkw.rws.minvenw.nl [18] - Third World Water Forum, 2003: Inland Waterway Transport: An Option for Sustainable Future, A Supporting Note for The Water and Transport Theme - Third World Water Forum, 2003, Virtual Water Forum on Inland Waterway Transport, 23 October 2002, e-discussion summary [19]

Recommended Contacts

Dr John Holt, john@jaholt.freeserve.co.uk Dr. John McPherson- Canadian consulting firm called CPCS. Former team leader and economist for ADB's Inland Waterways study in India

Professor Peter Mackie- Institute for Transport

Studies, Leeds University, UK, p.j.mackie@its.leeds.ac.uk

Stephen Jones- Director of Economic Policy -

Oxford Policy Management Consultants. stephen.jones@opml.co.uk.

Tyrrell Duncan- ADB Task Manager for project

"Assessing the Impact of Transport and Energy Infrastructure on Poverty Reduction, tduncan@adb.org.

Colin Palmer- WB Water Transport Consultant

project Madagascar Water Transport Assessment Report,colinpalmer@blueyonder.co.uk

Arif Wismadi- International Forum for Rural

Transport and Development, pustralugm@indo.net.id

Zoran Radmilovi, Head of Division of Inland

Waterway Transport and Traffic; Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering, University of Belgrade, z.radmilovic@sf.bg.ac.yu

Hay & Company Consultants Inc.[20] provide

engineering design and analytical services for a wide variety of river engineering projects, including improvement of navigable waterways in coastal rivers [21]

Lieven Geerinck- Director of the Navigation

Programme at the Mekong River Commission, based in Lao PDR/Cambodia, geerinck@mrcmekong.org

Water Transport Team, UNESCAP [22]

Previous Consolidated Replies

Consolidated Reply: Congo/Linking transportation development and poverty reduction/Les liens entre le developpement des transports et la reduction de la pauvrete, 11-Feb-05

Consolidated Reply: Timor-Leste/Infrastructure

Economists, 15-Jan-03, This CR lists several infrastructure economists with short bios.

Source(s)
This article is based on the Consolidated Reply to the query (by UNDP Malaysia) on Inland Waterway Transportation Systems; referrals and comparitive experiences. 3 February 2006, prepared by Laurel Gascho, Henrike Peichert, and Sarah Renner.


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