CURRENT STATUS OF NATIONAL TRANSPORT POLICIES, SYSTEMS AND PROJECTS IN

Workshop on Sustainable and Inclusive Transport Policy/Systems 9-10th April, : Bhutan

Ministry of Information and Communications Royal Government of Bhutan

PRESENTATION OUTLINE  Country Background  Policy and Planning Context  National Transport System and Services  Transport demand status and trend  National transport policies National priorities and resources for development of transport sector Institutional and Coordination Arrangement for Transport System  Legal arrangements and coordination for transport systems and projects COUNTRY BACKGROUND

 Landlocked country - and China as immediate neighbours  Total area of land - 38,394 sq. km  Terrain - All most entirely mountainous  Forest cover - 70% approx.  Population - 687,520 (36.4% urban and 63.61% rural-2014 est. NSB)  Population Density - 19.4 per sq. km  Transformed from closed pastoral society to rapidly emerging economy  GDP at current price - Nu 104,378.5 m (2014)  GDP per capita - Nu.142,983.7 (2014)  Transport System - Land and Air Transport  Total Vehicle Number - 69,602 (Dec. 2014) POLICY AND PLANNING CONTEXT

Gross National Happiness

Sustainable and Equitable Preservation and Promotion Socio-Economic of Culture  Development 

Conservation & Sustainable Strengthening Good Utilization and Management Governance  of Environment  POLICY AND PLANNING CONTEXT (CONTD…)

Transport sector - identified as strategic thrust area in the 11 FYP

Focus - Increase access to safe, reliable, affordable, eco- friendly, convenient transport services, including surface, air, railway, ropeways and waterways. POLICY AND PLANNING CONTEXT (CONTD…) GNH Pillars Sector Key Result Area 1  /!*-"-! !"&!.! Sustainable and Equitable #!" !#!" Socio-Economic Development 2 ( " #!" !#)  !.#! &

3  #!&$ #    *# Preservation and Promotion of Culture $" !" !$+"# "(#" "  ! !# Conservation & Sustainable Utilization and Management &!.!#!" !#""  "$ !& of Environment

Strengthening Good $'""*'!*  Governance &"!' NATIONAL TRANSPORT SYSTEM AND SERVICES

Dominant mode of passenger and freight transport within Road the country and with the neighbouring India

Gaining popularity among the local ! population but tourists are still the major users Different modes of air services. of Transport in Walking Walking is still common Bhutan

Ponies Still used in rural areas not connected by motorable roads

Use of bicycles in urban centers is picking up but the Bicycles absence of dedicated cycling lanes and hilly road conditions make it difficult. National Transport System and Services (contd…) Air Transport- International Air services

• Only one international airport (Paro – 54 km away from capital city • Operation restricted to visual fight rules (VFR) – operation in morning Airport and early afternoons • Caters to an average of 450 passenger/day, 3800 scheduled flights annually (10 flights daily in and out of Paro

Air service • Drukair (1983), Aircraft fleet - 3 Airbus 319 and one ATR provider • Tashi Private Ltd.-Bhutan Airlines (2013) – Aircraft fleet – 2 Airbus 319

• ASA signed with 7 countries (India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Air Myanmar, the Maldives, and Singapore) services • Operates in 10 cities in 5 countries • Service to Yangoon, Myanmar suspended and Maldives yet to start National Transport System and Services (contd…) International Passenger flow

794444

6=:866 744444 Paro-Bangkok sector is the most popular sector for domestic as well as international passenger 694444 657==9 644444 5<586; 5::6:8 594444 576:59 55=549 55457; 565;55 55<4<8 ""!&! 544444 =65==

94444

4 6449 644: 644; 644< 644= 6454 6455 6456 6457 6458 !4227/4236 National Transport System and Services (contd…) Air Transport- Domestic air services

• 3 domestic airports (Bumthang, Yonphula and ) Airport • Gelephu & Yonphula domestic airport currently undertaking safety enhancement works

• Drukair (2011), currently services to Air service Bumthang only • Tashi Private Ltd.-Bhutan Airlines (2011) – provider Suspended its operation National Transport System and Services (contd…) Domestic air service Passenger flow National Transport System and Services (contd…) Air- freight

Priority given to passenger - Air-freight is transported on the flights on “space availability basis”- Capacity limited to about 2 tons/flight # !+$ #!

<4444National Transport System and Services (contd…)

:;.<68 :=.:46 ;4444Surface Transport :;88= Most of Bhutan’s personal and commercial transport is by road and the road has grown:6:=; :4444rapidly 98576 94444 89<5=

84444 79;47 84:9= 77685

&! " 74444 6==58 6:447 6:;84 68874 66948 64444 5=8:7

54444

134 of 58 6444 6445 6446 6447 6448 6449 644:4222/4236 644; 644< 644= 6454 6455 6456 6457 6458 National Transport System and Services (contd…) Surface Transport

 "#!&$  ' *  "!/4236 4054@ 90=4@ 80=4@

),

( 

% 7:064@ 960=4@ *!1*#

+

%#$

 "( ( %$!  "(  #("! # ! #

14 of 58 #!*% %+ ( # :444 National Transport System and Services (contd…) 7576 73:3 6978 9444 Public Transport Services

632: Inter-City passenger transport Urban Transport Taxi 8444 57:: • Bhutan experiencing rapid urbanization and • Except for Gasa Dzongkhag, all other • Taxi comprise of about 8% of the total vehicle in dzongkhags are connected with due to lack of reliable, adequate and 497: the country 7444passenger Transport efficient urban transport system has 4733 • Import part of public transport system catering • Except to Pema Gatshel and resulted in growth in use of personal car. 4439 to urban as well as inter-city travel need Samdrupjongkhar Dzongkhag • Bus services in Thimphu city is operated by 4272 4259 • It is estimated that taxis carries over 36,000 headquarters, there is direct passenger Bhutan Postal Corporation and two private 6444 passengers/day compared to city buses bus operators bus services from Thimphu to all other carrying 4,900 passengers (over 7 times higher) Dzongkhags. • 37 buses, nine routes- limited frequencies. in Thimphu. • 235 buses operated by 21 operators in • Except for rush hour (peak hour), ridership 5444 • Taxis cater to almost one-fourth of total travel more than 73 routes is very low during the day time. demand in the city especially in Thimphu and • Subsidy on non-profitable routes • Bhutan Post is the only operator providing Phuntsholing. • Bus services also operates from urban bus service in Phuentsholing with 2 • Nearly all taxis are driver owned and taxi fare is Phuentsholing4 to and Kolkata in buses 6449 644: 644; 644< 644= 6454 6455almost 15 6456times higher than 6457 buses. 6458 India • Other towns/cities do not have urban bus services as of now # 5:44 !#$" 5.87: 5.7;8 National5844 Transport System and Services5.794 (contd…) 5.6:4

Road5644 Safety

==9 5.467 5444 =84  Road safety scenario in Bhutan has improved considerably but it is relatively high compared !0! !%!# )#$$ to the size of the population. ;=6 ( # <44 The :=: road traffic fatalities, at about 17/10,000 vehicles in 2011 has seen a significant improvement at 11/10,000 vehicles in 2014.:55 :67 :55 :45 9;=  (# :44 967 Basic legal instruments are8<< already in place but drivers often take road safety lightly and 86: ignore roads7<= rules 844 779  Long-term, 68; multi-agency road safety action plan as part of the Global initiative under the% Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020)- Most plans have however, remain 644 =6 548 =: unimplemented;5 due to resource constraints;; ;= and coordination difficulties9= among;: various stakeholders.7= 84 4 Development 5 6 partners 7 could 8 play a 9 major role : in this ; initiative < to help = improve 54 the situation. #1*$#("644916458 National Transport System and Services (contd…) Rail Transport

 No Railway network in the country  Royal Government of Bhutan and Government of India signed a memorandum of Understanding for railway links to the five border towns in Bhutan from the nearest railheads in India  One of the links includes a 17.5km track to connect (in ) to Phuentsholing in Bhutan.  Survey of the five links was carried out in 2007/08 and the two Governments have been working to implement the project.  Feasibility study for the internal railway network is also being considered.

National Transport System and Services (contd…) #%# $"!#%

 There are currently around 9,000 trucks of varying size registered in Bhutan and most are two-axle licensed to carry up to 10 tonnes. Indian trucks- operate mostly in the border areas (multi axle -20 tonnes Containerization is still very limited in Bhutan. There is no national transport organization and no facility to allow shippers to arrange suitable transport to meet their transport needs. The clearing areas for goods are very small with no loading equipment. Overloading of trucks is common in the absence of regular enforcement and lack of weighing bridges. National Transport System and Services (contd…) Bilateral and Regional Trade and Connectivity

Transit traffic through India for access to the sea and third country markets- facilitated Border Crossing Points (BCPs). India has granted traffic rights to Bhutanese transporters for bilateral as well as transit traffic. Bangladesh does not grant traffic rights to Bhutanese trucks. Goods therefore have to be transshipped from Bhutan registered or Indian registered trucks to Bangladesh registered trucks at the border crossing. Bhutan is not a party to any of the international conventions dealing with transport, transit, trade and customs referred to under UNESCAP Resolution 48/11 on 23 April 1992. It is unclear whether gaining accession to any of these conventions would be useful for Bhutan.

National Transport System and Services (contd…) Eco-friendly and sustainable Transport Initiatives  Initiatives to promote electricity-based transport system are being considered  Sustainable Transport Goals adopted as part of Bangkok 2020 Declaration and Bali Declaration 2013 Emission standards are in place - emission test mandatory for all motor Vehicles Study to deploy intelligent transport system are on-going to address traffic congestion and reducing road crashes. Feasibility study for rail transport, light rail transit system for the capital city, cable car and ropeway is being considered Enhancing urban transport services is an on-going effort to address problem of congestion by reducing usage of personal cars. Transport Demand Status and Trend National Transport Policies

!%!# $%#   64441646; &!  # $"!#% ))&!  !,644: $%#   !" !# # ! ' # &#" # $"!#% &* (# 6484/ # $"!#%  %#% )!"  % %#%$!   644; National Transport Policy (Contd…)

The policy objective of Surface Transport is to provide the entire population with a safe, reliable, affordable, and sustainable transport system in support of strategies for socioeconomic development. National Transport Policy (Contd…)

The policy objective of air transport sector transport sector is to promote the development of safe and reliable air services for national and regional connectivity and balanced regional socio-economic development. National priority and resources for development of transport sector

• The government’s strategy for developing the overall transport sector is described in the Eleventh Five Year Plan (11th FYP)

• Government expenditures in the 11th FYP- Nu 213,291.50 m; Capital expenditures in the transport sector are estimated at Nu 18,253.9 (Which is about 19.8% of total government expenditure during fiver year plan.

Institutional and Coordination Arrangement for Transport System

2. MoHCA 1. MoWHS • Dzongkhags • Geogs • DoR 3. MoIC • DoES • Traffic Police • RSTA 4. MoAF • DoHS • Dept of Disaster Mngt. • DCA • DoA

14. MoE 5. MoF • DR&C 13. MOFA # $"!#% 6. MoLHR 12. Bhutan Post Driving schools

11. NEC 7. MoEA 8. MoH Department of 9. GNH 10. • Dept of Public Trade Commission Health/Hospitals Legal Instrument that Governs Transport Activities in the Country

1. Road Safety & Transport Act 1999 2. Civil Aviation Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan 2000 – Roads Act 2004 amended in 2013 3. Local Government Act

Except for the Roads Act that was amended in 2013, (1) and (2) are due for major revision.

Issues and Challenges faced by the Transport Sector

• Transport responsibilities are spread across many government agencies;

• Regulatory and infrastructure/ service provision functions are within the same department;

• Absence of an integrated transport policy

• Public transport services to remote places are inadequate and expensive;

• The growth of vehicles in the urban centers not matched proportionately to supply of road space, parking space or alternate transportation options;  Issues and Challenges faced by the Transport Sector

 • Transport industry is fragmented and dominated by owner operators. Transportation rates are high, almost three times higher than in India; low containerized traffic and the high incidence of overloading affects safety and damages roads.

• The existing border stations and their infrastructure, specifically in Phunetsholing, can barely cope with the current traffic volume. Dry port, warehousing and cold storage facilities are absent at the moment.

• Non-motorized transport in urban areas is very low and pedestrian footpaths are inadequate or often unsafe. Issues and Challenges faced by the Transport Sector

• The electric vehicle initiative has its share of challenges in building consumer confidence due to the technology being new, limitation on distance per charge, relatively huge upfront cost and challenges in finding a sustainable operation and maintenance model for quick charging stations due to small domestic market.

• The electric vehicle initiative has its share of challenges in building consumer confidence due to the technology being new, limitation on distance per charge, relatively huge upfront cost and challenges in finding a sustainable operation and maintenance model for quick charging stations due to small domestic market.

• Lack of expertise to undertake professional studies for rail-based transit system, ropeway/cable car and waterways, and consequently, lack of resources, for investment.

Issues and Challenges faced by the Transport Sector

• Inefficient roadworthiness or vehicle fitness testing regime in the absence of computerized or mechanized vehicle testing facility, adversely affecting road safety efforts.

• Lack of systematic crash reporting system and capacity for crash investigation make it difficult to implement correct and timely intervention. Absence of ITS and equipment/gadgets such as breathalysers, speed guns has also hindered enforcement of traffic rules.

• The aviation sector is struggling to train and retain technical staff to perform regulatory functions and ensure compliance to international standards set by ICAO. Inadequate funding makes it difficult to development high quality and safe airport infrastructure. Issues and Challenges faced by the Transport Sector

• The aviation sector is struggling to train and retain technical staff to perform regulatory functions and ensure compliance to international standards set by ICAO. Inadequate funding makes it difficult to development high quality and safe airport infrastructure.

• PPP is almost non-existent in the transport sector, perhaps due to small user base to justify the huge investment required for infrastructure development.

 Thank You