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Transferability of Best Practice in Transport Policy Delivery : Final Report
Switzerland; Zurich
Government structure
The Swiss government consists of three tiers: federal government, canton level government and municipal level of government
The federal government is made up of two houses; the Nationalrat, which is voted in by a system of proportional representation, and the Standerat, which is directly elected, with two seats from each canton.
There are 26 cantons in total, including 6 'half-cantons'. Each canton has a directly elected parliament and an executive.
The municipalities, or communes, have considerable autonomy, as specified by cantonal law, and are directly elected.
Direct democracy is strong in Switzerland; for example, the national transport plan was rejected through a referendum. In addition, citizens can start their own referendum.
Government responsibilities
Road and Rail Networks: The national government is primarily responsible for traffic management, and for the road and rail networks, though funding for the road network comes from both national and cantonal administrations.
Both canton and municipalities develop plans for urban development and traffic infrastructure. These include parking policies and traffic management.
Rail Services: The national railway operator is Sweizeriche Bundesbahn (SBB). Changes to the financing and structure of rail services were drawn up in the mid-nineties. This resulted in regional transport being regulated by the federal and cantonal governments, while the structure of services of the regional transport system is now the responsibility of the cantons, and the federal government has a coordinating role. These changes also specified that local transport is the joint responsibility of the communities and cantons. These changes also specified that all forms of public transport would get a subsidy of 66% of all uncovered costs from federal government, with the final 34% covered by the cantons, (though this has sometimes been problematic to implement, due to inter-cantonal disagreements). Furthermore, the level of these subsidies is agreed in advance by the federal and cantonal governments and the transport companies, and cannot be increased. Finally, these changes introduced competitive tending for new or replacement services.
Other Public Transport Services: In some regions, the cantonal government assists with the funding of urban public transport, as well as with the regional public transport network (eg. Bern). The funding of different modes is set out in legislation, with much of it coming from fuel tax. Financing of public and private transport is separate, with the emphasis on supporting public transport. Furthermore, a new tax on lorries indicates a move towards internalizing the external environmental costs. The municipalities also have considerable autonomy in developing and implementing their own transport policies.
Changes introduced in the mid-nineties introduced competition into the bus market, via competitive tending. This has led to more cost-effective bus services without loss of quality. However, where improvements have been made through capital investment in new rolling-stock, some social problems have become evident. There has also been a lack of implementation of competition in the urban public transport network.
The government has significant control over public transport, as the level of service is specified by a government controlled authority. For all operators except the national rail operator (SBB), entry to the public transport market is controlled by government authorities, which also determine the development of new services. This is achieved through the necessity for operators to be granted a concession to run a service. These concessions restrict all other operators from running services on the same route, and last for several years.
Financing of regional and urban public transport varies between cantons; the federal authorities determine cantonal contributions towards regional public transport (road and rail). The relative contributions from cantons and municipalities are determined on the bases of regional or local income tax. The municipal contribution is also determined by an index of service levels in each municipality. These contributions are taken from the property taxes of the municipalities and cantons.
Environmental Policy: Much of the environmental policies and laws are drawn up at national level, but are implemented at the cantonal level. The municipalities also have considerable autonomy in relation to environmental policy.
Land Use: The national government sets out the framework for the land use system, which is then taken on by the cantons. Cantonal legislation and policies regarding land use are coordinated by national government. The municipalities also have considerable autonomy in the implementation of land use policies, and as the decision-makers, are left to decide the best forms of land use for their area.
Sweden
Government structure
The Swedish government is based on three tiers: the central state, 23 counties, and 288 municipalities. While the central government has executive powers, its departments have supporting agencies, to administer national plans, guidelines, etc. Legally, the government departments are left with considerable responsibility, which is passed on to the cities and municipalities to set local standards within the legal framework.
At national level, the Department of Communications and Transport is supported by the agencies: The Road Directorate, the Regional Agencies under the Road Directorate the National Rail Agency, and the State Railways. The Department for International Affairs is supported by: The Agency for Localisation and Land Use Planning and The Regional Agencies in the Counties.
Each county has a regional agency which is responsible for ensuring that national aims and initiatives are put into place at the county level. Within each county there are also two political bodies; one is directly elected by the county, while the other is part of the Regional Agency (a national agency that supports the Department of Communications and Transport). This level of government is at present weak, though there are plans to increase its powers and importance.
City Councils constitute the municipal level of government, and have separate committees for its various functions.
Government responsibilities and transport authorities
While the national government has responsibility for establishing laws, the implementation of these laws is often split between the national and municipal authorities. For example, the Road Traffic Act is enforced by the police, though parking regulations are implemented by the municipalities.
The counties have responsibility for regional planning and public transport, though to implement these they work in co-operation with the cities and municipalities. Regional and local public transport may be provided by transport authorities in each county which are often owned by adjacent cities or municipalities, and which are responsible for ensuring there is adequate public transport provision, and for designing the network, time-tables, and fares. Each transport authority develops a transport provision plan, which specifies the range of passenger services to be provided. However, the public transport services are tendered out, and provided by private operators.
Each City Council has a committee for traffic and for town planning (including traffic planning), which sets traffic and parking standards and enforcement. This, and land use planning are a central part of the municipalities' role, though they do not have responsibility for public transport. Some municipalities have established companies to implement their parking standards. Municipalities are not allowed to impose parking restrictions solely to regulate modal shift. They are, however, allowed to introduce such measures if the money goes towards infrastructures which are already in place.
A law passed in 1996 that enabled municipalities to establish environmental zones in cities, with restricted access for heavy traffic (including buses). In 1998 municipal powers were furthered strengthened by a law that enables municipalities to reduce speed limits on roads administered by the municipality. Despite these recent changes, municipal governments in Sweden have relatively restricted powers, in comparison to other European local governments.
Municipalities are free to decide their own sustainable transport objectives, within the national framework, and many are preparing plans for environmental, sustainable transport-systems (known as MaTS). National government guidelines are often accepted by city municipalities, and are supported by research and funding for pilot schemes by central government.
Swedish cities and towns have a good reputation for coordinating land use and transport planning, both in relation to public and private transport, and this is particularly true where parking and traffic regulations have been used to reduce car traffic.
Public transport funding
Subsidies for public transport have been decreasing over the last decade, following the introduction of competitive tendering of services. Cost coverage from fares across all urban public transport has increased from 40% in 1986 to 54% in 1995, and the trend is continuing, with remaining costs covered by the city or municipal government income tax. (In Stockholm these figures are similar, though a bit lower: 36% in 1986, to 50% in 1998. Here the county government income tax covers the remainder of costs.) The change in cost coverages for urban bus services is even more marked, reducing by 20% between 1992 and 1995. The reason given for using taxes for financing public transport has been one of fairness, followed by the need to reduce road congestion and environmental damage.
Norway
Government structure
Norway's government structure has three tiers: the national government, 19 regional counties, and 435 self-governing councils.
The national government is divided into Ministries and supporting agencies for administration and implementation of laws, though national plans, regulations and guidelines for the lower levels of government. Land use and transport planning are administered though the department of Regional Planning, Land-use and Mapping, at the Ministry of the Environment. Other aspects of transport and traffic administration are carried out by the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
The counties have directly elected county councils, which are responsible for the county roads and transportation, hospital and health services, secondary education, and regional development.
The municipalities have directly elected local councils, and are not subordinate to the counties. Their responsibilities cover municipal roads, ports, land use zoning, and water and waste services.
Government responsibilities
In relation to transport, the Ministry for Transport and Communications, as part of the national government, is the highest administrative body. Their responsibilities are divided into different sections: The Public Roads Section administers the public roads network, including planning, financing (including toll roads), research, and international and environmental issues relating to roads. The Road and Sea Transport Section has responsibility for the legal basis of road and sea transport, and also the framework for transport at the regional level. It also has considerable responsibility for sea transportation and ferries, and for transport facilities for disabled people. The Road Traffic Safety Section covers all forms of road safety, including vehicle safety. The Environmental Issues Section coordinates all work done by the Ministry on environmental issues, including research and policy development. The Rail Transport Section is responsible for the monitoring and controlling the rail framework for the Norwegian Rail Administration. They are also involved with setting the framework for railway operations, and developing the long-term Railway Development Plan. Furthermore, they have control over concessionary fares and the tendering of passenger transport services. The national government has little control over local public transport
The county councils are responsible for county roads, for public transport delivery, and general regional development. They are also involved in coordinating with the Ministry of Transport and Communication and municipalities, regarding road and rail infrastructure, implementation of traffic regulations and taxes. They also work in co-operation with municipalities on the implementation of parking, cycling and walking policies.
The counties have the freedom to determine financial distribution between their competencies for transport, health and education. However, health care is due to be transferred to national government in 2002, and this may indirectly influence public transport.
The municipal level of government is responsible for the municipal roads network, for local traffic regulations, and for parking controls, for example, within cities. However, the National Transport Plan, approved by government in 2000, suggests that more responsibility for urban public transport could be transferred to the local municipalities.
Public transport provision
A transport law introduced in 1991 laid down the basis for competitive provision of public transport, such that the counties could provide authorization to operators to run services based on competitive tending. This has reduced the level of subsidy needed to support public transport services. With the introduction of this new form of contracting, counties have reorganised their administration systems, for example in Oppland, public transport and planning are performed by a separate planning department within the county administration, while in Vestland, public transport administration is undertaken by a company fully owned by the county council. Other forms of administration exist across Norway.
In Bergen, the county has established a public transport committee, which included representatives from Hordaland County, the public road administration, public transport, public transport companies, police and local municipalities. The aim of this committee included the integration of public transport measures across the region.
There is little information available regarding the performance of the Norwegian public transport system. However, the level of subsidies has significantly reduced. For example, within the seven largest cities the total subsidy fell by 42% between 1986 and 1999, while the cost coverage increased from 55% to 74%. However, fares increased by 23% (in real terms), supply increased in line with population increase, and patronage declined by 10% from 1986 to 1992, and then increased by 5%.
Barriers to integration
Five cities in Norway have been designated "environmental cities", through a special law, with the aim that they will provide models for sustainable development. The experiences of these five cities indicate that land use planning is fundamental to sustainability in various ways. It has also been found that the institutional structures in place for transport make strengthening public transport difficult, due to lack of competencies, resources and plans. This means that the powers that these cities have relating to land-use are not backed by improved public transport.
Future directions for Norway's local government
There is an ongoing debate in Norway regarding the degree of decentralization of county and municipal government. It has been found that the division of responsibilities between levels of government restricts the ability to implement aims and policies, particularly in relation to the integration of transport and land use planning. The aim of any changes to competencies are:
- Improved coordination between different levels of government
- Improved coordination of policies and projects between different sectors
- Improved integration of land use and transport planning.
The government may introduce new planning systems and processes, and new ways of directing local governments, in order to achieve these aims.
Finland
Government structure
There are three tiers of government in Finland: national, regional and municipal, with a fourth level provided by the provincial administrative institutions.
The national government is made up of 13 ministries, including the Ministry of Communication and Transport and the Ministry of the Environment, which are supported by administrative agencies. The national legislation sets the principles and responsibilities for local self-government, including taxes.
There are 12 provincial governments, which are not elected, but are headed by governors, appointed by the President. Their role is to supervise local administration, and their role is solely administrative.
The 19 regional councils are inter-municipal joint authorities. Their main responsibility is for regional development and environmental sustainability.
There are 455 self-governing municipalities, which are directly elected, and have significant financial and administrative independence.
Government responsibilities
The Ministry of Communication and Transport is responsible for all modes of transport, including road, rail and vehicle administration (including taxes and vehicle rules), transport infrastructure, public and goods transport services, and traffic safety. It also the capacity to grant licenses for service operation, and is responsible for the development of coordination of operations at local level. Private transport taxes have shifted from vehicle purchase price to taxation based on use.
The Ministry of the Environment is responsible for environmental and housing policy. At the regional level, the Ministry has regional environment centres which are responsible for rural and urban environmental protection, land use, and management of water resources.
The regional councils are guided by the legal framework set by the national government. They are responsible for directly long- and medium-term regional land use planning, though regional plans, which are then used by municipalities, as a framework for their area. The regional plans include plans for the roads network, as well as for water, waste, and energy infrastructure.
The municipalities have the main responsibility for land use. They are also responsible for the planning, construction and maintenance of the roads network, and for coordinating public transport in their area (often working with private companies to achieve this). In the larger urban areas and cities they have greater responsibility to cover the costs of their public transport than those in rural areas, where the costs of providing public transport are higher, while in Helsinki there is no national government involvement, either financial or otherwise.
The national organization of local authorities negotiates with the national government and the Ministries in the expansion of the major road and rail infrastructure, introduction of new road and vehicle rules, and the implementation of road taxes.
The municipalities are also required to comprehensively plan their environmental protection, to monitor the state of the environment, promote air and water pollution control, and to manage waste disposal.
Co-operation in public transport delivery
Close co-operation between different levels of government, between neighbouring municipalities, and with the private sector is considered central to the provision of Finland's urban public transport, and to sustainable development. This is linked to one of the new guidelines for sustainable urban development, which is the promotion of planning for urban regions. A good example of this can be seen in Helsinki, as described below. However, there can be problems where this co-operation does not work effectively. The division of responsibilities for transport in urban areas are not always clear, and this can lead to problems of planning and implementing changes. The divisions between urban areas and between different sectors of government are seen as problematic for urban strategic development, so there have been strong initiatives to improve co-operation, including the new guidelines for sustainable urban development.
Republic of Ireland; Dublin
Government structure
There are just two levels of government in the Republic of Ireland; national government and county and borough councils.
The Department of the Environment and Local Government has responsibility for local authorities, while the Department of Public Enterprise has responsibility for the partially public companies which operate transport services. Other significant partially public bodies include the Planning Board, the National Roads Authority, Dublin Transport Office and the CIE (which is the Holding company for the Railways and Buses).
The local level of government consists of the a combination of County Council and County Borough Corporations. There are 29 County Councils, five County Borough (City) Corporations (in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford), five Borough Corporations, 49 Urban District Councils and 26 Town Commissions. The County Councils and County Borough Corporations are the primary unit of local government, with the other authorities having minimal responsibilities.
There are also eight Regional Authorities, made up of representatives of the constituent local authorities. These promote the coordination of public services between the counties, and are also important for the acquisition, implementation and monitoring of EU funding.
Much of the legislation relating to local government is now outdates, and is in the process of being updated.
Government responsibilities
Road Networks and Regulations: National government, through its various departments, has responsibility for all the traffic and vehicle regulations. However, these are divided up between several different departments, including the Department of the Environment & Local Government (for vehicle licenses, taxes and fees), Department for Public Enterprise (for freight and public road passenger licenses), Department for Enterprise, Trade & Employment (for dangerous goods transportation and safety at work), the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform (for law enforcement), and the Department for Education and Science (for school transport).
The County Councils and the County Borough Councils have statutory powers regarding road transport and safety, traffic management, car parks, and car registration and tax collection. Recent changes mean that they can now alter the level of Motor Tax, and use a proportion of this revenue to spend on local schemes.
Public Road Transport: Central government has sole responsibility for all public transport operations, and any decisions regarding these operations are the responsibility of the CIE, or the private bus operators. CIE has two bus operating companies: Irish Bus (which provides services across Ireland, including express, rural, and provincial city services, as well as school services), and Dublin Bus (which provides bus services in the Dublin City area).
All private bus operators must apply for Road Transport Operators Licenses and Route Licenses from the Department of Public Enterprise. Route licenses are only issued where there are no other services in operation, and the majority (90%) are held by CIE.
Local authorities have no competencies for public road transport, other than for taxis, which obviously restricts their ability to improve public transport accessibility. There is therefore no incentive at present, for local authorities to assess the need for public transport in their area. The only scope available to local authorities is the introduction of public transport priority measures.
The national government, through the Dublin Transport Office (an agency of the Department of the Environment & Local Government), works in conjunction with local Authorities in the Dublin area to provide public transport priority measures, and this is part of the brief of Dublin's Director of Traffic.
Rail: The rail operations and maintenance are managed entirely by CIE, through its operating company, Irish Rail. At the national government level, the legislation and financial support is administered by the Department of Public Enterprise. This means that local authorities have to negotiate with the national government and the CIE on any rail related issues.
Alternative Modes: There is no special legislation relating to cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. It is therefore the implicit responsibility of the local authorities, under their competencies for road transport and safety.
The operation and siting of park and ride and cycle and ride facilities, and car sharing parking spaces are the responsibility of the local authorities. However, there are no obligations or regulations regarding company or local authority mobility plans, aimed at modal shift.
Land Use: Local governments are responsible for land use planning, through Development Plans drawn up every five years. Land use development is controlled by the Development Plan, and is decided by local political processes. There is no national integration of land uses and public transport.
Environment: National government sets a framework of regulations, which are then implemented by local government and national agencies. However, the implementation is very dependent on local and national political processes.
Barriers to integration
The centralised nature of Ireland's government, and the distribution of transport responsibilities (particularly the split between national public transport administration and local road administration and land use control) mean that local authorities are unable to introduce measures aimed at supporting modal shift, and there can be no integration of planning of the various modes in urban areas. To improve integration between transport modes can only be achieved if local authorities in the larger towns and cities have considerable control over the local public transport, particularly local buses, trams and trains.
Recent changes in public transport
There are various changes to the structure of public transport that have been proposed for Ireland, though these have not yet been fully implemented. The basis of these changes is to increase the level of competition in the bus industry, to separate Irish Rail into an operating company and an infrastructure company, and to establish various independent institutions, for example, for procuring infrastructure projects, for regulating public transport, and for regulating railway safety.
The reforms are detailed by the Department of Public Enterprise (2000) in their consultation paper, and specify the need for coordination of measures at local, regional and national level, in order to achieve integration. The stated objectives are to provide an integrated public transport system, to sustain economic growth, and to improve social cohesion. These proposed changes are far reaching in terms of the public transport industry, but have little impact on the competencies of local government. They therefore show little scope for increased integration between public and private transport measures, and increases in public transport will be determined by market demand rather than any assessment of need. At present this integration is entirely dependent on co-operation between different levels of government, and these reforms do not indicate that this will change.
Dublin
The City of Dublin has a population of 500,000, while the Dublin transport area has a population of 1.1 million. There are 90 million passenger trips made within the transport area of the City of Dublin, while there are 300 million made in the Dublin area per year. Peak hour mode share (motorised trips) in 1997 was 19% bus, 8% rail and 73% car. The respective figures in 1991 were 26%, 10% and 64%.
In 1997 the cost coverage from fares was 96.4%, with the remaining 3.6% coming from subsidies.
The Greater Dublin Area comprises the local authority areas of the Dublin Corporation and the counties of Fingal, South Dublin, and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown (the Dublin Region), and the counties of Kildare, Meath, and Wicklow (the Mid-East Region).
Public transport in Dublin is by rail (Irish Rail), and bus (over which Dublin Bus has an effective monopoly), and in 1998, 89% of public transport journeys were made by bus. Dublin has been expanding rapidly over the last decade, as Ireland's economy has been going through a boom period. This has been mirrored by an increase in passenger travel, particularly by car. Over the same time period the cost coverage of public transport has increased considerably, from 84% in 1988 to 96% in 1998. This low level of subsidy, combined with the limited amount of competition in the bus market means that bus services are relatively expensive, and of lower quality than elsewhere in Europe. Increases in subsidies have been identified by the Department of Public Enterprise as being necessary, to improve the quality of public transport in Dublin, along with the introduction of public service contracts.
The Dublin Transport Initiative (DTI) was first introduced in 1995 with the aim of coordinating transport measures in the Dublin region, though the DTI Strategy. This coincided with the introduction of the Dublin Transportation Office (DTO), which was set up to carry out the transport planning process.
In 2001 the DTO published their strategy for 2000-2016, which includes a summary of the achievements following the first DTI Strategy 5 years previously. This report specifies the challenges that were faced over the previous five years, and the main one relates to the exceptional economic and demographic growth of the Greater Dublin Area of this period (eg. the number of people in employment rose from 549,000 in 1995 to 681,000 in 1999, and over the same period car ownership rose from 292 per 1000 population to 342 per 1000). These figures were far greater than those forecast by the DTI, and have put the transport system in Dublin under considerable pressure.
Over the initial five year period there were also several major infrastructure projects established: the introduction of Quality Bus Corridors, the extension of DART/ Suburban rail services, increased park and ride facilities, considerable increases in cycleways, national road improvements, and the start of construction work on the Light Rail (LUAS). However, the 2001 DTO report acknowledges that many of these infrastructure projects have slipped behind schedule.
Part of the DTO report sets out proposals for new institutional arrangements for Land Use and Transport. The establishment of a Strategic Body for the Greater Dublin Area was at the consultation stage when the report was published. Once established, this body would long-term strategies for land use and planning, and would therefore take over from the DTO. It would also monitor and enforce these strategies, and would also act as the independent regulator for all Dublin public transport, setting detailed service standards. The planned Railway Procurement Agency will still be effective, but it will only undertake projects that are consistent with the Strategic Body's strategies. Similarly, the National Roads Authority will still be responsible for the national roads, but will only be able to implement projects that are in line with these strategies.
While these changes provide an interesting development in transport administration in Dublin, it is too early to see if this coordination of transport and land use planning (without the direct integration of road and rail authorities) will produce improved coordination on the ground, and whether the present trends towards car ownership and use can be reversed.
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