Urban Transport in the OIC Megacities
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transfer directly. For port cities, improving port operations using port appointment systems, gate
pricing and voluntary emission reduction programs for oceans and vessels are sensible strategies
(Blanco, 2014).
Other policies are less effective due to the unique nature of the developing urban cities. For instance,
off hour deliveries require changes in operation hours for shippers, drivers and receivers. The large
number of small stores makes this very complex or with very limited impact as they have a single
owner that will very unlikely be willing to receive shipments at night, not to mention the risks in
moving freight in poor neighbourhoods. Road pricing is also difficult to implement. There is a lot of
informality in the transportation sector that makes these solutions much harder to deploy, and
politically even more challenging (Blanco, 2014).
There are also some good examples of innovative solutions that illustrate the potential of improving
freight in very complex urban environments. For example, the Mumbai Dabbawalasare a cooperative
of delivery of home prepared meals in India. They are well known in their field of logistics for
achieving high levels of accuracy in their deliveries despite working with low education workforce,
minimal management and no technology. From an urban freight perspective, their success is due to
leveraging the public infrastructure in Mumbai. Every morning, lunch boxes are collected by bicycle
and foot and transported, via multiple transfer points, using the public rail transport. The Dabbawalas’
logistics system involves 25 km of public transport and 10 km of footwork with multiple transfer
points. Since the majority of the journey involves public transport, the timing of the Dabbawalas is
dependent on Mumbai’s suburban rail network. The Dabbawalas use the rail network very effectively
by employing simple, straight routes, mostly north south, and limit sorting to a few central points
(Blanco, 2014).
3.6. Road Safety
3.6.1. Introduction
In 2010, road accidents were estimated to account for 1.3 million deaths per year, an increase of 46%
over the previous two decades, and a further 78.2 million non-fatal injuries requiring medical care. In
addition, global projections show an upward trend in total deaths and injuries, both predicted to
double by 2030. It is also estimated that almost 50% of fatal road accidents and 75% of those leading
to injuries take place in an urban environment. In high income countries, most of those killed in road
crashes are occupants of four wheeled motor vehicles; in low and middle income countries, most
fatalities are among pedestrians or cyclists (Rode et al, 2014).
Along with the human cost, the economic impact of traffic accidents involves the loss of human capital,
hospitalisation, and material costs is also very high. The total cost of traffic accidents for 2010 is
estimated at US$1,855 billion, or approximately 3% of the global GDP. Low and middle income
countries are experiencing even greater economic loss, approximately 5% of their GDP (Rode et al,
2014).
Describing global road death and injury as a "major public health problemwith a broad range of social
and economic consequences which, if unaddressed, may affect the sustainable development of
countries and hinder progress towards the Millennium Development Goals" the UN General Assembly
proclaimed the UNDecade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 in a landmark Resolution cosponsored
by 100 countries. Officially launched on 11 May 2011, the Decade of Action has the official goal of
stabilising and then reducing global road traffic fatalities by 2020. Among the countries that
participated in the agreement are many OIC members as well as Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Indonesia and Turkey where six out of the seven the megacities of this study belong. Senegal also
participated in the agreement.