Planning of National Transport Infrastructure
In the Islamic Countries
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 Transport planning agencies must be multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral to apply a
holistic approach, to ensure integration between modes of transport and adequately
cover cross cutting issues.
 Transport planning agencies at the national level should be semi-autonomous
authorities.
3. Technical factors
 NTI plans should integrate land use planning and multi-modal transport planning.
Multimodal means not only road, rail, air, and water transport modes, but also non-
motorised transport (pedestrian and bicycling).
 NTI plans should be outcome not output based.
 Methods to prioritise project should be in place, such as socio-economic evaluation
and cost-benefit analysis.
 A national multi-modal transport model should be developed and be robust for
external effects and shocks (global market, competitive position) and systemic risks.
When required, expanding the set of scenario’s and parameters in the models might
be useful.
4. Procedural factors and financing
 Develop common guidelines for project appraisal and assessment for the OIC
members.
 Make NTI plans publicly available, communicate them, this will stimulate the economy.
 Strengthening of procedures regarding public consultation and stakeholder
participation.
 Improving the transparency of the public consultation process by providing more
information such as guidance, a clear timeline, and all draft regulations to the
stakeholders.
 Ensure that the planning horizon of NTI plans is 15 to 25 years, and that updates come
on time.
Recommended Planning Process
An ideal process of developing an NTI plan is shown i The diagram puts at the head
of the planning process a transport policy, which receives its intelligence from the development
vision of the nation, if it has one, and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that all nations have
signed up to. The heart of the national transport planning process is the National Transport
Master Plan that sets out the goals objectives and programming needed. The body of the plan is
the strategic implementation plan that sets out the how, when and where of for implementation
and the legs and feet of the planning processes, to complete the antotomic analogy, are the
strategic plans at sub-sector level. National spatial planning and the National Development
Planning feed the NTMP while Local and Urban Planning provide inputs at the subsectoral level.
Importantly, the entire process must be subject to proactive monitoring and evaluation for
which adequate institutional capacity is required.