Post-Conference Workshop day: Thursday 13th May 2010

The development of public transportation in the Middle East is no guarantee that people will abandon their cars. Government policies and regulations play a central and necessary role in the modal shift challenge in the automobile-dominated cities. Yet, frequently, government actions are either insufficient or uncoordinated to achieve this model shift. This workshop is meant to generate a discussion and conclude with an integrated perspective around how this shift can be achieved in the Middle East’s major cities.
Specifically, this central issue will need to be approached by looking at the five fundamental questions as to how such a modal shift can be achieved over time across the Middle East:

• How public transportation can offer an attractive and convenient service to commuters? What are the right level and structures of fares and ticketing needed? What kind of segmentation should be pursued to attract the largest segments of potential users (daily commuters, students, etc.)?

• What plans to put in place to achieve intermodal integration among the different transport modes? What roles do stations, fares and ticketing systems play?

• How can the private sector’s capabilities be harnessed to achieve this customer-orientation in the most cost effective way possible in public transportation?

• What government policies and measures can be put in place to discourage the use of private cars and promote the usage of public transport modes?

• What is the right institutional set up and coordination mechanisms to achieve the needed level of policy coordination among the relevant government stakeholders?

The workshop will first provide an overview diagnosis of the current situation and challenges faced by policy makers in promoting such a modal shift in the Middle East, and will also show relevant case studies in modal shifts from other car-oriented countries. It will then stimulate a discussion leading up to a set of short and long-term recommendations.