General proceedings - Association mondiale de la Route

Session 11:
Cross cutting issues/ Good Governance
Title: Round Table Discussion on Governance in Road Transport,
Authors & Presenters: Charles Melhuish (pictured right) & Stephen Vincent
(pictured left) of Global Transport Knowledge Partnership (gTKP – UK)
The roundtable discussion on Governance in Road Transport was conducted for 2 hours.
Presentation
The Presenter dwelt on Strategic focus of gTKP that are
identify the best and most relevant transport
knowledge; increasing the practical application of good
practice; stimulating debate and discussion on priority
issues and approaches to tackling them; promoting
networking between transport practitioners and building
long-term partnerships. He further presented the gTKP
Organisation. He presented also the gTKP Activities
that include: Develop knowledge communities;
Seminars and workshops; Learning and education
material; Document case studies; Fill knowledge gaps
and Disseminate knowledge from existing research
programmes. The Presenter listed various Governance
roundtable discussions conducted worldwide. He
further presented the output from Manila roundtable
held from 07-08 March 2007 and that held at World
Bank, Washington, 30 th March 2007.
Output Issues from the Manila roundtable discussions included:
What are the main governance issues in the transport sector?
Weak planning process; Inappropriate political interference; Lack of long term view – (e.g.
12 months budget cycle); Flawed procurement processes; Corruption; Transparency – being
able to see what is really happening; Inadequate technical skills; Inadequate contract
supervision & poor quality control; and Weak enforcement of laws and regulations (e.g.
overloading).
What interventions were tried to improve governance in the transport sector, what
worked, and what did not work?
These include: Contracting out maintenance (worked – but maybe limit to 5 years);
Contracting out design and supervision (worked); Separate supervising consultant (worked);
Standard methodologies for project appraisal (worked); and Effective technical & financial
audits (worked); Decentralisation (mixed results – perceived good, practical problems); Road
fund initiatives (delayed implementation, political interference); Information made available
to stakeholders (positive effect); Multi-sectoral involvement (positive effect)
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