On The Move in Kabul City Region Transportation and mobility for effective city region functioning and prosperity This discussion paper explores urban mobility in Afghan city regions. The paper presents primary data from a traffic survey of the Kabul city region, showing the enormous daily and weekly volume of traffic in and out of Kabul city, especially to the Northern Provinces. Based on this data the paper provides recommendations to improve urban mobility in the coming decade as part of the Urban National Priority Programme (U-NPP).
Discussion Paper #6, Series Two, March 2016
City region mobility: more than inner-city roads But what is the nature and real volume of these exchanges? H.E. Preisdent Ghani and the National Unity Government (NUG) has Paper One in this series explained the logic and extent of Afghan a clear and laudable vision to ‘connect Kabul to the surrounding “city regions”, highlighting the enormous interlinkages of the Provinces’2 to stimulate economic development, however data major cities with their peri-urban areas.1 Perhaps the clearest upon how best to put this vision into reality is currently lacking. expression of the functional dynamics of Afghan city regions This paper aims to fill this gap. It is underpinned by the logic is their transportation and mobility: the daily, monthly and that the ultimate goal of urban transport is to enhance access yearly movement of people, goods, and products, which clearly to destinations, activities, goods and services, - at the Nahia, demonstrates the interlinkages of Afghan cities with their peri- citywide and city-region scales3. urban areas. Beyond the city No where is this more true than in the largest city region of Kabul. Anecdotal evidence suggests that people commute daily to the From 28 February to 5 March 2016 a week-long survey of central city from surrounding provinces. Agricultural products are traffic flows in the Kabul City Region (KCR) was undertaken.4 All packed into trucks and sent to the central wholesale market. Rural traffic was counted at 11 points in the KCR (see figure on page 3), dwellers come from peri-urban areas to the city to attend school between 06:00am and 07:00pm, by a team of over 80 surveyors. or university, or access better healthcare. Urban dwellers go for In addition, two points were included in Jalalabad, in an effort to picnics and recreation, visiting friends and family at weekends in ascertain movement between Kabul, Jalalabad and Torkham. The the tranquil surrounding provinces. resulting dataset is a reliable and the most up-to-date dataset of mobility in the region.5 This paper presents the seven key findings from the survey.
Finding 1: Mostly to/from the North on the road to Charikar Nearly half (47%) of traffic in and out of Kabul City was to/from the North. The South and East accounted for roughly one-quarter each (28% and 25% respectively). The road out of Kabul (A76) to 47% North 63% All Other Points 25% East 37% (Kabul to Charikar accounted for over one-third (37%) of all traffic in and 28% South Charikar) Point One out of Kabul city during this week. This suggests a dominant functional connection of Kabul to the northern provinces. Total share of traffic in and out of Kabul
Finding 2: Diverse modal split but private cars dominate 64% Private Cars 6% Motorbikes On average over two-thirds of vehicles were private cars (64%), followed by trucks (11%), and 6% each for taxi, minibus (e.g. 3% Zarang Toyota Hiace) and motorbike.6 6% Minibus As the map opposite shows, the modal spilt across the various 0.7% Miliebus points is quite diverse. For example 80% of vehicles were private 6% Taxi cars at Point 1, and only 46% at Point 4. Across all points, public transport with Milliebuses is currently of marginal importance. 11% Truck This quantifies the dominance of private cars as the primary 3% Public Utility daytime vehicle mode, whilst also showing some diversity of 0% Others modes across the 13 points, reflecting their context and function.
4 1GoIRA (2016) Breaking the Rural-Urban Divide. Discussion Paper #1, January 2016. GoIRA: As part of the Future of Afghan Cities Programme (FoAC), with lead technical assistance by UN-Habitat. 5 Kabul The main limitations of this study are acknowledged: a) it was undertaken in winter thus traffic volumes 2GoIRA (2015) Realizing Self-Reliance. GoIRA: Nov 2015. are likely lower than in summer; b) ending the survey at 07:00 pm each day (for security reasons) which 3 ! means not all traffic is counted so can be considered an under-representation of actual total traffic of the UN-Habitat (2013) Planning andC Designhahar forika Sustainabler ! UrbanM aMobility:hmud- eGlobal-Raq iReport on Human Settlements 2013 24 hour, 7 day period; c) ideally the traffic counting should be combined with an Origin-Destination- sur As part of the Future of Afghan Cities Programme (FoAC), with lead technical assistance by vey to understand where do people come from and go to, and why – to understand the mobility patterns ! and reasons in the metropolitan area. Bagram ! ! Z
Discussion Paper #6
r a w k i a r a N - h
e C - - - k
- a l r u 82,000a b Finding 3: Considerable number of people moving in the city region area a S K 19,000
Assuming an average of 3 people per car, 8 per minibus, and 20 per bus (Milliebus) 30,000
D18 e the numbers of people moving into and out of Kabul on a daily basis are significant. D19 17 D D11 D14 15 D Z Over 82,000 trips are made each day through Point 1, followed by almost 38,000 at D4 D10 D9 D5 Kabul D21 38,000 D2 ! D16 D12 D3 ! D1 Etefaq ! Point 10 in Sharak Etifaq and 30,000 at Point 3, Pul-i-Charki. D8 Bagrami town D13 D7 D6 D22 21,000
Overall, this confirms the significant daily commuting patterns into and out of Kabul Chahar Maydan ! ! Asyab Shahr city, especially along three main routes. D۲۰ ! 25,000
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Pul-e-Alam !
1,200 FindingLocation: Point 1, Shahrak Monshi4: GholamDaily commuting to/from peri-urban areas (Inbound) Location: Point1, Shahrak Monshi Gholam 1,000 As(outbound) expected, for key ‘long distance’ routes such as Kabul to Jalalabad traffic flows steadily drops off Location: Point 2, Dehsabz (outbound) 800 afterLocation: point 2, Dehsabz 10am. (Inbound) Similarly, for all routes, traffic drops off from 06:00pm, likely due to impending sunset and poorLocation: Point 3, Polcharkhisecurity (Outbound) conditions confirming anecdotal evidence that passengers and drivers want to reach the 600 destinationLocation: Point3, Polcharkhi (inbound) before darkness. Also of note is the “lunch break lul” on peri-urban commuting routes such Location: Point4, Karta Nowe-botkhaak (outbound) 400 asLocation: PointCharikar4, Karta Nowe-botkhaak (Point 1) and Maiden Shahr (point 10) with traffic volume lowering between 11:00am and (Inbound) 01:00pm).Location: Point 7, Chahar Aseyab 200 (Outbound) Location: Point 7, Chahar Aseyab (inbound)
ThisLocation: Point 10supports, Shahrake Etifaaq the finding regarding the daily peri-urban commuting on key routes north and south and (Outbound) thereforeLocation: Point 10, Shahrake Etifaaq the daily rush hour traffic in the morning and evening. (Inbound)
Finding 5: More complex patterns over the week
Weekly patterns for the 6 points into/out of Kabul show interesting findings. Saturday First, the Northern points have more traffic on Friday and Saturdays (20% more than weekday average), suggesting weekend ‘get-aways’. Conversely, to the Friday South, the weekdays are the busiest, especially on the South-West (Sharak Thursday Etifaq). To the East, the notable finding is that Sunday has noticably higher traffic Average for point Wednesday volume: 22% higher than the weekly daily average. Also interesting, Thursday 10 Shahrak Etifaq 7 Chahar Asiyab and Friday have higher than average volumes. This Sunday/Thursday/Friday Tuesday 1 Monshi Gholam seems to confirms anecdotal evidence about ‘weekly commuting’ between the Monday 2 Dehsabz JAL and KBL city regions. 3 Porchakhi Sunday The three zones of Kabul city reigon have different peak volumes over the week: 4 Botkhak more traffic in weekends for the north, more in the weekdays for the south, and 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 ‘weekly commuting’ for the east.
5,300 4,100 Finding 6: Commuting within city region, not through traffic. ! Chaharikar ! Mahmud-e-Raqi ! Bagram 4,000 ! ! Z The findings show the considerable volume of traffic that is added to traffic flowing into Kabul City within r
a w k i a +7,000 r a N - h e -500 C - - - k
- a l r u a b a S K the city region, as opposed to ‘through traffic’ travelling through the city region to other provinces. For
D18 e 17 D19 D D11 Surobi! D14 D15 example, on Charikar-Kabul road, an average of 5,300 vehicles oper day passed from Point 12, in Charikar in Z D4 D10 D9 D5 Kabul D21 2 ! D16 12 D3 D D ! D1 Kab +2,000 Etefaq ! D8 Bagrami town D13 D7 D22 3,400 D6 the direction of Kabul, but 12,300 passed through KBL point. This suggests that roughly 7,000 vehicles per day Chahar Maydan ! ! Asyab Shahr D20 were added from the intervening area. There are similar proportional increases for the South-West between -200 Maiden Shahar and Sharak Etifaq, but less so on other roads.
!
- Average Vehicles per day in each directionMahmud-e-Raqi ! Pul-e-Alam ! 4,200 Chaharikar ! This suggests the functional commuting within the city region to Kabul City, not high prevelence of ‘through Add vehicles between these !points and KBL City Bagram ! traffic’. ! Z
r a w k i a r a N - h
e C - - Finding 7: Traffic seems to have doubled since 2009 k -
- a l r u x2.5 x2.5a b From 5,700 a FromS 1,800 to 12,800 K to 3,500 x2.4 Compared with JICA Masterplan study from 2009, the volume of traffic appears to From 1,800 to 4,400 have doubled. On one location, Point 4, Karta Nowe-botkhaak, it has increased 20
D18 e D19 times, likely due to road improvement (A1) and fast urbanization of the area around D17 D11 D14 15 x20 D Z From 200 D4 D10 D9 to 4,100 this point. The modal split has also changed, with an incerase in private vehicles, from 5 D Kabul D21 2 ! D16 12 D3 D D ! D1 x2.7 Etefaq ! 48% in 2009 to 64% in 2016, and notable decreases in trucks (from 19.6% to 11%) and D8 Bagrami From 2,000 town D13 to 5,500 D7 taxis (from 13.9% to 6%). D6 D22 Chahar Maydan ! ! Asyab Shahr D۲۰ x1.5 This reafirms the need to take city region transport seriously. If volumes of motorized From 2,600 traffic again double in the next 7 years it will futher constrain effective urban mobility. to 4,000
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6Whilst noting that the figures for trucks is low given that a high number of trucks travel during the night between 8:00pm till 6:00am as Kabul traffic only allows transit and big trucks to enter and cross city during the night. 7This Tool can assist this task: UN-Habitat, ITDP and Clean Air Asia (2013) The Tool for the Rapid Assess- ment of Urban Mobility in Cities with Data Scarcity (TRAM) - l u b a On The Move in Kabul City RegionK !
Mapping movement in Kabul City Region -
Private Cars Motorbikes Zarang Minibus Milibus Taxi Truck Public Utility Others Pul-e-Alam !
13 Point 13 Kapisa Point 12 12 Charikar ! Chaharikar ! Mahmud-e-Raqi Average Vehicles Per day: 2,900 Average Vehicles Per day: Bagram 2,300 ! Z Point 11 Point 1 Bagram Shahrak Monshi Gholam
Average Vehicles Per day: Point 2 2,700 Average Vehicles Per day: Dehsabz 11,700
Average Vehicles Per day: Point 3 2,600 Polcharkhi
Average Vehicles Per day: Point 4 Point 10 2 4,300 Karta Nowe-botkhaak Shahrake Etifaaq 1
Average Vehicles Per day:
Average Vehicles Per day: 3,000 3 5,300 D18 e D19 D17 14 D11 Surobi! D 10 D15 Z 4 D4 D10 D9 D5 Kabul D21 2 ! D16 12 D3 D D ! D1 9 Etefaq ! 7 D8 Bagrami town D13 D7 D6 D22 Point 6 Airport Chahar MayMdahamnud-e-Raqi ! ! Chaharikar ! ! Asyab Shahr D۲۰ ! Average Vehicles Per day: Between Chaikal Bagram nd Charikar City ! Z Point 5 Average Vehicles Per day: Point 7 Daronta 6,100 People NSP ! Chahar Aseyab ٦ - Close to 2,000 ٦ - Maidan People NSP Average Vehicles Per day: Average Vehicles Per day: 6,700 r a w k 1,800 i a Point 9 r a N - Maidan Shahr h
e C - - - k - l a r u a b a S K
8 ! Shahrak Munshi ! Sarak naw Ghulam - 12 Dehsabz - [ people ClUIIP D18 people ?] 17 D19 D D11 Surobi! D15 Crossing Talashi Z ! to the east - 5 D4 D10 D9 ۱۰ People NSP Point 8 D5 Kabul D21 Pule Alam 2 ! D16 12 D3 D D D1 ! - ! [Name Kabul---Jalalabad D8 13 Bagrami ?] - 6 D7 People NSP 6 D6 D22 Average Vehicles Per day: ! Pul-e-Alam ! Chahar 3,500 ! Chahar Asyab Z Asyab - 6 People D۲۰ LIVE-UP
m Jalalabad la A - e - l On The Move in Kabul City Region
Beyond the boundary: Kabul City Region private motorized vehicles and improving the conditions for non-motorized and public transport. The findings reinforce the importance of the wider “Kabul City Region”, with enormous economic and social inter-linkages. This 2) Part of the strategy and plan should be targeted investment mirrors experience from other countries which shows how urban in public space improvements at key transit junctions. People mobility is a key underpinning of effective and prosperous urban are more likely to use shared transport if they can wait for it agglomerations.In particular, the findings show the considerable safely; out of the rain, dust and cold wind, and where shared linkages and exchange to the north of Kabul along the Kabul- transport vehicles regularly stop at well designed and managed Charikar road. This area can be considered the ‘outer suburbs’ terminals. Upgrading these junctions will also benefit private of Kabul city. It is likely to be under the greatest urbanisation sector transport operators with a legitimate and functional pressure, and will continue to be so in the coming decade, and area to conduct business. therefore is worthy of more detailed analysis, especially in terms 3) Address the security-related bottlenecks on urban mobility. of the Provincial and District Municipalities along this route Overall, improving metropolitan-scale security may allow (Charikar, Jebel Siraj, Shakadara and Qarabargh; see Paper #2). more flexible travel times, minimising the ‘rush’ to arrive at Mobility sensitive planning will be required to convert informal destinations before sunset which adds extra peak load. More and unplanned corridor and ribbon development into a string of importantly, the check posts add to congestion and require nodes with adequate public transport facilities. better planning and spatial arrangements. U-NPP 4) Improve urban mobility for women, girls, youth, disabled Moving forward, urban mobility should be explicitly included as people and the elderly. Around the world, public and shared a fundamental part of the Urban National Priority Programme transportation is a key element of economic and educational (U-NPP) under Pillar Three: The Urban Economy and Infrastructure. empowerment for women, girls and youth. Cities like Dubai, for example, have shown that there are ways to meet diverse Key areas for U-NPP intervention include: needs and expand urban access for all that are not an optional 1) Strengthen public and shared transport options, both within ‘add on’ to urban mobility planning and provision. cities as well as in the metropolitan areas. This does not require 5) Develop an urban goods transport policy to balance vast investments in complex public transport options. It does the need to ensuring efficiency of goods transport, whilst require that each city and metropolitan area has a transport and minimizing externalities such as congestion, the emission of mobility strategy and plan that goes beyond a plan of paving pollutants, noise and accidents. 7 roads. Priority should be given to mobility planning for more efficient accessibility of urban functions by reducing the need for
Ways forward
• Undertake planning with a focus on integrated land-use and transport planning in all city-regions and most urgently in the fast growing Kabul metropolis, including the proposed ring road ; • Considerable investments are still required in urban transportation infrastructure in KCR. Municipal and Provincial authorities should ensure that such investments are made where they are most needed and where they can stimulate better use of metropolitan land for economic development; • Strengthen the mandate of municipalities for traffic management and coordination with transport, security and traffic authorities for effective city management to reduce congestion; • Use this type of data for better traffic management. Kabul does not have a traffic problem, it is largely a traffic management problem. For example, deploy extra officers on Sundays on the KBL-JAL road as there are an additional 20% traffic on this day on this road; • Environment: urban transport is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and a cause of ill-health due to air and noise pollution. The traffic congestion created by unsustainable transportation systems is responsible for significant economic and
The Future of Afghan Cities (FoAC), is a government-led programme of MUDA, IDLG/GDMA, Kabul Municipality and ARAZI that focuses on the development of a Urban National Priority Programe (U-NPP) that will set Afghanistan’s urban priorities for the coming decade. To support this, FoAC will also undertake a detailed analysis of five city regions and at least 20 strategic district municipalities to provide key data and recommendations for policy and programme design.
© 2016. This publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted only for non-commercial purposes. The designations employed and the analysis, conclusions and recommendations of this Paper do not necessarily reflect the view of the United Nations, the Governing Council of UN-Habitat, its member states or the Governments of Afghanistan, Australia or the United Kingdom.