From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda: Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community Holger Dalkmann June 2020 From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda i From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda: Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community This research was funded by UKAID through the UK Department for International Development under the High Volume Transport Applied Research Programme, managed by IMC Worldwide. The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the UK government's official policies. Reference No. HVT/029 Lead Organisation/ Consultant Holger Dalkmann Partner Organisation(s)/ Consultant(s) N/A Title From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda Type of document Concept Paper Theme Urban transport Sub-theme Author(s) Holger Dalkmann Lead contact N/A Geographical Location(s) Global Abstract This report addresses the new challenges faced by international transport stakeholders as they support countries emerging from lockdown. The report also sets out ways to align COVID-19 responses with the climate change and sustainable development agendas. Keywords Funding DFID/ UKAID Acknowledgements We are also grateful for the insightful comments and discussions offered by the reviewers: Fatima Arroyo (World Bank), Maruxa Cardama (SLOCAT), Louise Cathro (High Volume Transport Programme), Cornie Huizenga, Catarina Heeck (London School of Economics), Mark Howell (Loughborough University), Carly Koinange (UNEP), Jamie Leather (Asian Development Bank), Bruce Thompson (High Volume Transport Programme), Bernard Obika (High Volume Transport Programme), Ahmed Al Qabany (Islamic Development Bank) Armin Wagner (GIZ, TUMI) and Sheila Watson (FIA Foundation). ii From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda: Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community CONTENTS 1. Background 1 1.1 Transport emerging from lockdown 1 1.2 Transport policy responses to COVID-19 2 2. International transport stakeholders' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic 3 2.1 Collating and disseminating information, data, research and case studies 3 2.2 Publishing policy and technical guides 4 2.3 Financing COVID-19 dedicated transport activities 5 2.4 Collective Activities 6 3. From a call to action to an action agenda 7 3.1 A common platform for collecting and disseminating information and research findings 7 3.2 Mobilising finance for transport to respond to COVID-19 8 3.3 Establish a future education and capacity building agenda 9 4. Implementing the action agenda in LICs 10 iii From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda: Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYMS ADB Asian Development Bank AU African Union CP Climate Parliament DFID Department for International Development EU European Union GCF Green Climate Fund GHG Greenhouse Gas HVT High Volume Transport ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability IDFC International Development Finance Club IMC IMC Worldwide Ltd IMF International Monetary Fund IsDB Islamic Development Bank ITF International Transport Forum MDBs Multi-Lateral Development Banks NACTO National Association of City Transport Officials NDC National Determined Contribution NUMO New Urban Mobility Alliance RECAP Research for Community Access Partnership SDGs Sustainable Development Goals SLOCAT Partnership for Sustainable Low Carbon Transport SSATP African Transport Program SuM4All Sustainable Mobility for All TUMI Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative T-SUM Transition to Sustainable Urban Mobility in Sub-Saharan Africa UCL University College London iv From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda: Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community UCLG United Cities and Local Government UIC The World Railway Organisation UITP International Association for Public Transport UNCRD United National Centre for Regional Development UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa UNECE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund UN OCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs WCRTS World Conference on Transport Research Society WEF World Economic Forum WHO World Health Organisation 1 From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda: Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community 1. Background This report builds on "A call for action for international stakeholders to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic" published in April 2020 by the High-Volume Transport Programme (HVT) funded by the Department for International Development (DFID). The key findings of the April 2020 report showed: • There is an active international transport community in high-income countries (HICs) that is developing case studies and guidance related to public transport such as bus cleaning protocols and advice for coach and freight drivers. • There is limited information on specific challenges that affect low-income countries (LICs) more specifically, such as the informal transport sector or the impact of food security through restricting border controls. • Few countries had requested support from COVID-19 funds from multilateral development banks (MDBs). • No plans to boost transport programmes related to decarbonisation or the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This report addresses the new challenges faced by international transport stakeholders as they support countries emerging from lockdown. The report also sets out ways to align COVID-19 responses with the climate change and sustainable development agendas. This paper contains: • An update of the work of the international transport stakeholders; • Ways to meet the needs of local and national decision-makers; and • An Action Agenda for a more collaborative approach among international transport stakeholders. This report focuses on recent activities since the April 2020 publication. The report does not claim to be exhaustive nor to cover all relevant information. We welcome feedback on how the HVT Programme can track the transport sector international response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 1.1 Transport emerging from lockdown Governments are taking different approaches to easing lockdown restrictions. This has led to increased travel to work and for leisure activities as shown in various sources by the International Transport Forum (ITF). A recent publication by the Partnership for Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SLOCAT) analyses these changes in mobility, modal traffic flow, passenger travel, but data on freight traffic remains fragmented. In stark contrast with some places in Asia which are already experiencing post-COVID-19 ridership levels comparable to pre-COVID-19, most countries In Europe, Africa and the Americas are still in, or slowly coming out of lockdown. As such, new traffic patterns and environmental data are just emerging: • Mobility and traffic flows are lower resulting in less congestion in many cities; • The car is the dominant transport mode of choice in many countries in Europe and North America; • Public transport is struggling to restore full services due to physical distance requirements reducing carrying capacity, resulting in ridership being down by more than a half in many cities; • Cycling is increasing significantly, and bike sales are booming particularly in Europe. • The proportion of people walking is growing in many higher income countries. • A substantial reduction in air pollution in many areas (NOx, PM2.5), which is further evidence of the role of transport plays as a key source of air pollution. These trends are reasonably well documented in Europe and North America and parts of Asia, as analysis based on mobility data provided by Apple and Google. In contrast, data in LICs is scarce, in particular in SubSaharan Africa, with the exception of South Africa. This hinders the assessment of impacts such as air pollution and road safety of these changes in transport as countries emerge from lockdown. 2 From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda: Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community As this unique situation allows the creation of new knowledge on the impact of transport activities, it could provide an opportunity to strengthen the efforts to collect data and share them in a more collective accessible manner. 1.2 Transport policy responses to COVID-19 Many cities are increasing infrastructure capacity for cycling and walking as a response to reduced public transport services. Every day, news articles highlight an increase in 'pop-up' bike lanes and wider footpath around the world. London and Paris are closing entire areas to cars and increasing space for walking and cycling. Brussels has lowered speed limits and pedestrians have priority, increasing mobility while maintaining physical distancing. Though on a smaller scale, local initiatives to foster walking and cycling as a response to the pandemic are growing in LICs such as examples from Kampala, Kigali and several places in India show. Parking places are becoming outdoor spaces for neighbouring cafes and restaurants such as seen in Tel Aviv. Similar actions are also being taken in North and Latin America e.g. Bogota, New York, Lima etc. as collected on websites by the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI), SLOCAT and others. However, the wide range of already known challenges for LICs to create sustainable transport systems (e.g. lack of sufficient data, capacity gaps, institutional weakness, funding) continues to present obstacles to rapid transport policy response during COVID-19. Financing packages to revive public and private transport services are beginning to be seen, particularly in HICs. European governments such as Germany launched a €130 billion recovery package with substantial support for public transport, fleet modernisation for greener trucks and buses as well as electric vehicles including infrastructure and research. Small-scale financial support is available in Italy and France for cycle repair services and for purchasing cycles and e-bikes. While many activities are aligned with the sustainable mobility paradigm (Avoid-Shift-Improve (ASI) there are responses reported which favour car and motorcycle travel. For example, demand management activities, such as parking fees, are being suspended to support travel by car during this period of reduced public transport. The most challenging question from a sustainability perspective is how to recover and transform the public transport sector as a core supplier for transport services in many countries. For example, dense Asian cities can only function with mass transit with many cities having a public transport share over 70% of all journeys. In many European countries public transport is already defined as a public good and an increase in subsidies is a current response (e.g. Transport for London has received £1.6 billion from the local and national government so far). However, it seems that a wider discussion on the future of public transport is needed to enable a safe and reliable service. LICs have less opportunities to offer financial support. Yet they are trying to mitigate the impact of lower passenger income by reducing fuel prices, increasing current subsidies, or reducing the fuel tax paid on public transport vehicles. In particular, the informal services in the LICs, which many African cities rely on, are affected. Subsidies for public transport providers, private mini-bus and taxi companies are under discussion in South Africa which would mitigate income losses due to physical distancing regulations. While there is a very long list of articles, webinars and information on transport policy responses, there seems to be currently no organisation tracking local and national governmental reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic in a structured manner. Such monitoring could help to assess the governmental responses in terms of climate and SDG alignment as well as lay the foundation for future guidance and recommendations to governments. The current attempts by the European Union (EU) and ITF to collect national government policies could be a starting point. However, it is crucial to cover all modes (in the case of the EU there is no reference to walking and cycling) and to pay attention to all countries around the globe. 3 From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda: Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community 2. International transport stakeholders' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic This chapter summarises the actions transport stakeholders are taking in four areas to respond to COVID-19. The final section proposes an engagement and delivery mechanism. The information presented below is drawn from the April 2020 HVT publication and recent comprehensive documents from TUMI, FIA Foundation and the World Conference Transport Research Society (WCTRS) published in May 2020. 2.1 Collating and disseminating information, data, research and case studies There is a growing number of case studies and articles on country responses, particularly about city level responses. At the time of the last review in April 2020, transport related information about the pandemic was mostly shared by transport related initiatives and organisations. Now institutions with a wider topical remit such as city associations and international organisations like the Organisaton for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have created specific websites for the sharing of transport related information as part of a wider portfolio. For example, C40 has set-up a knowledge hub for cities which includes an index of journalism and a wide range of other resources. Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) is now sharing information on mobility on a dedicated website. This pays particular attention to urban freight, which has so far received much less attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. The city networks United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and Metropolis created their own website Cities for Global Health, which includes many case studies about mobility. It also offers live learning sessions. The Global Parliament of Mayors is sharing a wide range of tools, information and policy responses for decision-makers in cities, which include transport related information. And, POLIS, a network of European cities and regions, disseminates European case studies on innovative transport solutions. In addition to international stakeholders, several online journals and blogs are collecting COVID-19 related information on their websites (e.g. Intelligent Transport, CityLab). Apple and Google are allowing the download of selected mobility related data. Citymapper, an open data platform for planning and paying for public transport trips, provides useful data, such as a mobility index - a metric of transport movement. Several organisations are monitoring the impact of reduced traffic on air pollution concentrations, road safety and greenhouse gas emissions. However, the data are widespread and difficult to trace. Other databases provide overviews of COVID-19 related policy actions. For example, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) and the New Urban Mobility Initiative (NUMO) websites have set up google based excel sheets where users can add information on topics, such as pop-up bike lanes. Walks 21's website provides details of crowdsourcing initiatives on tactical urbanism actions, including pop-up bike lanes and extending of sidewalks. Dalberg provides weekly updates on government actions on COVID-19 in developing countries on the Humanitarian Data Exchange, a platform organised by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA). However, there is limited information on transport sector actions. The World Conference on Transport Research Society started to collect information on research on transport and COVID-19. Finally, as many events were moved online, a most up to date list on future events can be found on the SLOCAT website. While there is a growing amount of information available, there is still not much information available about LICs. Most of the case studies are based on higher profile examples from cities predominantly in Europe and the Americas. In addition, there is a wide range of information on the COVID-19 responses in China. A more pro-active approach is needed to collect information from second and third tier cities. 4 From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda: Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community 2.2 Publishing policy and technical guides Together with national governments and city administrations, international transport stakeholders are generating a multitude of policy and technical guidance as part of their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Several examples are discussed below and summarised in Table 1. The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently created key principles for urban mobility to suggest private and public responses to the pandemic crisis. The latest street design advice from NACTO, as part of their Transport Response Center activities, summarises current design principles to enhance sustainable mobility during COVID-19. It also includes elements like freight delivery as well as redesign options for food markets to ensure physical distancing. More technical advice is also now available to support public transport and railway operators to establish physical distancing and hygiene measures. The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) and the International Association for Railways (UIC) are sharing detailed guidance and knowledge for their members in different languages. New publications such as a White Paper on Public Transport for Australia targeted at national decision makers published by the consultancy WSP, demonstrate how to develop guidance targeted for a specific country rather than a generic global document. ITF published a wider set of Transport Briefs including aviation, shipping, electric mobility and micro-mobility describing the latest impact on the industry, the recent changes on transport activities and the local and national policy responses. A very brief note was created by the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to advise citizens on their mobility behaviour, which is available in several languages. Furthermore, there are a wide range of detailed technical guidance notes developed by cities. As an example of rapid responses from local government, Berlin has prepared detailed design guidance for pop up bike lanes. These and other similar resources can be found on databases such as the one from the New Urban Mobility Initiative (NUMO). For the UK, the Urban Design Group created a "how to guide" for walking and cycling including specific legislative references enabling cities to act. Beyond urban passenger transport, there are dedicated resources provided on more specific topics, e.g. the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) issued recommendations for the transport of dangerous goods to ensure their safe and efficient transport and facilitates an observatory on the status of border crossings due to COVID-19 which gathers all updated information regarding border crossing limitations worldwide. Beyond recommendations and guidance, there is growing information available on governmental responses. ITF as well as the European Union are collecting transport related policies on their dedicated websites for their member countries. Although, due to its mandate, then EU is only collecting and sharing air, rail and road policies. Details on walking, cycling or public transport are the responsibility of its members states. Information and guidance for national policy makers in the global south are still limited. The High Volume Transport Program and the Climate Parliament (CP) in collaboration with UITP and UNHABITAT developed a policy note for national decision-makers in Africa. A more detailed note was created by University College of London (UCL) as part of the Transitions to Sustainable Urban Mobility in Sub-Saharan Africa (T-SUM) project for Mozambique in Portuguese with a summary version in English. However, no other similar guidance for other African countries has been identified. Furthermore, the African Union (AU) created guidance to assist the transport sector with how to address COVID-19 during different outbreak phases focuses mostly on the public transport sector. As highlighted in the closing chapter, whilst there are a growing number of institutions calling for an alignment of future economic measures with the SDGs and climate agenda, there are few institutions going public with their advocacy. As already mentioned in the first report, UITP in partnership with POLIS and other organisations has continued its activities calling on the EU for support for public transport sector. 5 From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda: Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community There is currently no comprehensive database to track governmental policies nor share guidance focused on transport in one place. Table 1: Examples of Transport and COVID-19 guidance and policy notes by international stakeholders Organisation Title Geographic Focus Mode/Thematic Focus AU Guidance to assist transport Sector Africa Informal Transport, Public transport CP/HVT Policy Note for African decision-maker Africa Multi-modal, national government focus EU Coronavirus response Europe Road, Rail, Air, Waterborne ITF Transport Policy Responses OECD Multi-modal including freight, aviation NACTO Streets for Pandemic Response & Recovery North America Urban Mobility, design guidance NUMO Resources & Responses to COVID-19 North America Multi-modal UCL Policy Brief Mozambique Africa (National) Urban Mobility, national government focus UIC Guidance for railway stakeholders Global Railways (management, resilience, restore confidence) UITP Management of COVID-19 Global public transport, operators UNECE Transport of Dangerous Goods Global Freight WEF Key principles for urban mobility Global Shared Mobility WHO Moving around during COVID-19 outbreak Global Public Transport, transport users and operators 2.3 Financing COVID-19 dedicated transport activities Several MDBs have earmarked US$80 billion to support countries ameliorate the impact of COVID-19 (see overview by SuM4ALL). However, no specific funds are allocated to the transport sector. MDBs such as the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are now looking into how to effectively incorporate green and climate dimensions for the Restart Phase (focusing on recovery and large infrastructure projects including transport), in order to shift its financing towards more sustainable projects and operations including in the transport sector. Only a few foundations so far have been active in funding COVID-19 related transport activities. These are Bloomberg Philanthropies support for NACTO's Transport Response Center, the Mayoral Task Force by C40, and the FIA Foundation, which have provided a series of international solidarity grants to respond to COVID19 (e.g. funding of a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) project on a "last mile program" for providing health supplies in remote areas). DFID through its Research for Community Access Partnership (ReCAP) and HVT Programmes launched a Response & Recovery Research Fund seeking to support research that addresses COVID-19 and its effects and impacts on the transport sector in Low Income Countries. 6 From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda: Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community An example of support for mobility start-ups is the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, which is a body of the European Union which launched a financing round to apply for funding up to 100,000 EUR in return for equity. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has published an Investment Policy Monitor, which summarises investment policies related to COVID-19 around the world. Although not specific to transport, it is an interesting approach to collect and analyse economic policies. A similar resource is the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Policy Tracker, which summarises key economic responses governments are taking to limit the human and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 2.4 Collective Activities The initial report from HVT called for collective action from international transport stakeholders. As described above, a lot of additional activities have been undertaken, some of them with co-operation between several organisations. UNHABITAT, United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and WHO have responded to the call for collective action in the April 2020 report. These institutions together with ten more international organisations, including HVT, coordinated the first expert group meeting on urban mobility in the Global South. A subsequent online event attracted over 500 participants and is available on YouTube. Such events highlight the opportunity for further collaboration and common action by stakeholders, in particular in the Global South. Another full day online-event hosted by the TUMI in partnership with a large number of organisations focused on response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Global South. A multitude of webinars on COVID-19 and transport were hosted in partnership and are available on SLOCAT, PIARC, HVT, TUMI, International Road Federation, and International Road Union websites. The FIA Foundation facilitated more than 70 experts and representatives from international organisations to discuss common actions and created an open forum to better align future activities. A new way to deliver information to support countries and cities with their COVID response has been observed in the last four weeks: peer-to-peer learning. C40 launched an Economic Recovery Task Force of global mayors to share city experience among their peers. The Climate Parliament in partnership with UNHABITAT, UITP and the HVT program convened a meeting of African parliamentarians to discuss the transport responses in their countries. SuM4ALL hosted their bi-annual consortium meeting attended by over 130 people that shared plans from five working groups including specific ideas for COVID-19 responses and recommended to extend the Global Roadmap of Action (GRA) pilot study in South Africa with COVID-19 specific responses. In the middle of May, UNECE Member States joined forces to create a multi-stakeholder task force under the leadership of UNECE and WHO to develop a set of principles for green and healthy sustainable mobility aligning post-COVID-19 responses in transport. The principles will be proposed for endorsement by member States at the Fifth High-level Meeting on Transport, Health and Environment for their next conference in Vienna in 2021. Some other collaborative activities are currently in the pipeline, which will help to contribute to fill some of the identified action gaps here in the report. For example, UNEP's Share the Road Programme with some international partners is planning to create a network on sustainable mobility for Africa. This could help to accelerate action towards sustainable mobility infrastructure and creating better knowledge on the ground about the COVID-19 transport responses. After many organisations had acted at an early stage to share information and guidance on transport and COVID-19, recent months have seen more interest and willingness of international stakeholders to collaborate. However, it is crucial that after the initial phase of exchange and online meetings, specific dedicated actions need to soon follow such as those suggested by TUMI, FIA Foundation or here in this report. 7 From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda: Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community 3. From a call to action to an action agenda1 This updated research into activities surrounding transport in light of COVID-19 shows that there are a growing number of actors as well as an increasing number and wide variety of activities by international transport stakeholders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, the first investments in solutions on the ground as well as in research have been taken. Many cities and national governments are showing leadership by implementing bold actions and sustainable mobility solutions to accelerate their plans to transform their cities to make them more liveable. All international stakeholders seem to be aligned with the objective of making use of the current crisis to create more accessible, safer, greener and efficient – and therefore healthier – mobility. In other words, sustainable mobility for all. That said, there are key gaps to fill, particularly concerning the situation in the Lower Income Countries, to make the post-COVID "new normal" more sustainable and resilient. The initial report identified key gaps in the responses by international stakeholders and shared eight action areas. While progress had been made with more awareness and attention to Low Income Countries, a more common and coordinated action is suggested to accelerate the impact of the responses. To move forward, the following action areas are expanded in more depth with specific actions such as knowledge products, common campaigns and investments. This plan could be used by the international transport community to discuss and identify who will take leadership. 3.1 A common platform for collecting and disseminating information and research findings Information collection, sharing of case studies, and research is increasing rapidly worldwide, with more input from the Global South, in particular Asia. This knowledge is mainly based on data analysis from capital cities worldwide. A renewed focus on secondary and tertiary cities is necessary to support transport responses in LICs. The following activities are proposed: • Focus on collecting information and sharing case studies on secondary and tertiary cities; • Widen analysis of information gaps by collecting gender disaggregated impacts, data on logistics supporting food supply chains, in particular for the urban poor; • Disseminate case studies on a common website hosted by an international organisation with worldwide reach and/or more targeted websites covering dedicated topics or geographies. • Ensure documents are available in different languages. As there are now a wealth of events and webinars available online, it is becoming even more challenging to find relevant ones. A central website library or a YouTube specific search function could help navigate content. This would also allow identification of key gaps in terms of topics and regions. Coordinating the increasing volume of research worldwide would benefit both developed countries and LICs. This would facilitate access to the wide range of ongoing research activities and to eventual outcomes. The following activities are proposed: • Set up an opensource research database; • Analyse any research gaps to identify missing topics worthy of research; • Launch an open call for any additional research activities such as recent HVT innovation call (e.g. specific knowledge gaps on the links between health and transport). 1 This section of the report was pre-published as a contribution to the SuM4ALL consortium meeting on June 2nd and other ongoing meetings to strengthen international collaboration. It has since been revised based on ongoing discussions and feedback. 8 From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda: Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community Information on the different transport modes are fragmented and spread across many platforms, for example on walking, urban freight, paratransit and emissions. Consolidating all this material and ongoing research on a common platform would benefit all stakeholders worldwide. Therefore, the following activities are proposed: • Set up a common platform incorporating existing open data initiatives and data platforms, to create better datasets and information; • Develop an Action Plan to close the most crucial data gaps on transport related to COVID-19. • Publish policy and technical guides The number of guides on many topics are increasing rapidly, for example, on bike lanes, the use of public spaces or hygiene measures on public transport. However, many transport topics have yet to be addressed. For example, advances in teleworking and telemedicine could help transport responses and inform decision making. Publishing guides online would help more LIC end-users to access new policy solutions and technical design specifications. The following activities are proposed: • Development of a sourcebook or toolbox covering the full list of guides; • Setting up a peer review process to validate guides for endorsement by respected and recognised institutions. While there is more policy advocacy taking place, there are no specific tools for national action. For example, a tracking framework could help to create specific text elements for national legislation, which could be used by legislators tailored to their specific needs and circumstances. • A dedicated national or regional transport response initiative for low-income countries (one stop shop) LIC governments and cities would benefit from a dedicated collective guidance and targeted good practice similar to that of the US National Transport Response Center. Considering limited human and financial resources, a regional hub on transport and COVID-19 responses could be the first step. Many regional institutions such as UNESCAP, UNECA, AU or SSATP could be an alternative option. Then following activities are proposed: • Translate current material into national languages; • Set up and support regional Hubs in partnership with local organisations as "one stop shops" for transport and COVID-19 related information; • Incorporate technical-political briefs and sessions for decision-makers into the proceedings of the annual sustainable development fora organised by the UN regional economic commissions. 3.2 Mobilising finance for transport to respond to COVID-19 There are opinion pieces and blogs calling for the crisis to be used to leverage a more rapid and radical response on climate change and delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals agenda. However, there is a need for a collective effort to develop green stimulus packages to transform the future economy. Whilst multi-lateral development banks are setting-up initial response programs worth 80 billion $, there are no dedicated resources for transport. Then following activities are proposed: • Provide funds for studies to analyse experiences from past economic measures within the transport sector that analyse the impacts of stimulus/recovery packages; • Support national governments and international finance institutions to launch a campaign advocating green, inclusive stimulus packages; • Publish policy notes and/or checklists for green stimulus packages, targeted at specific industries; • Discuss within the MDB/IDFC community how to create a new commitment to sustainable transport based on the RIO+20 commitment; 9 From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda: Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community • Encourage alignment of current initiatives on National Climate Actions Plans (National Determined Contribution (NDC) with enhancements with COVID-19 activities; • Set up a voluntary reporting framework on Transport NDC enhancements collecting specific COVID-19 related economic recovery investments for presentation by the transport community at COP26 in 2021; • Discuss with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and other climate finance programs, how to accelerate the alignment of low carbon investments within COVID-19 economy recovery packages; • Building on the Investment Policy Monitor published by UNCTAD, a dedicated tracking of transport and COVID-19 related finance could increase the transparency of the current investments and could help to steer the future funding towards decarbonisation and SDG alignment; • There seem to be no specific transport related tools or checklists to guide national and international COVID-19 finance. Such a document could be built on current work by the World Bank, who created a sustainability checklist for policy-makers. • Enhancing the decarbonisation of transport in times of COVID-19 There is currently a lot of rhetoric around ensuring that current and Post COVID-19 actions will contribute to enhance climate action and be aligned with SDGs in the transport sector. However, there seem to be no initiatives and recommendations as to how to make the link to the international agreements. A transport focussed initiative, perhaps aligned with the current wider World Bank initiative on NDC and COVID-19 or the NDC Partnership Economic Advisory support program, could be created to fill the current gap. The following activities are proposed: • Track additional COVID-19 measures by governments as part of their climate action plan (National Determined Contribution (NDC), which are expected to be submitted to the United Nations (UNFCCC) this year. • The tracking could help to showcase, how COVID-19 investments can enhance the decarbonisation of transport. • Such a campaign could also allow the transport sector to collectively approach the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and others to provide additional resources. 3.3 Establish a future education and capacity building agenda Universities and other educational bodies have had limited involvement in research for this report. Therefore, it would benefit all stakeholders, universities and others are actively drawn into future research, in particular in LICs. Provisions should also be made to engage students and professionals with limited digital access gain access to current and future knowledge, so no one is left behind. Lots of new experiences, such as new ways to communicate, work together and even host virtual events, are taking place inside and outside of the transport sector. Collecting experiences and providing guidance on how to successfully host future activities and even rethink events is key for the sector to transform and showcase good practices in reducing travel as well as allowing more people to gain access to international meetings. The following activities are proposed: • Launch a campaign on Capacity Building For All; • Scale-up E-learning programmes and make them publicly available on open-source platforms; • Set up training programmes targeted to different stakeholders - public authorities, politicians, public transport operators, etc.; • Create a toolbox for online learning in partnership with a group of global South universities and technical centres. • Create a toolbox/good practice guidance for hosting events and workshops; • Develop training courses on how to create, manage and facilitate online workshops and events; 10 From A Call for Action to an Action Agenda: Response to COVID-19 by the International Transport Community • Create a central website library or a specific section under YouTube including some specific search functions could help to share the content. 4. Implementing the action agenda in LICs Governments and transport stakeholders need to look beyond the transport sector and engage more closely with business and civil society. Such a broad purview will ensure reliable energy supplies, create a better digital infrastructure and ensure access to food and health facilities – particularly in urban areas. Working together with LIC stakeholders the international transport community can enable LICs to build a sustainable future in a post-COVID-19 world. Low-income countries appear to be left behind by the international stakeholders in the rush to adapt transport to the new COVID-19 environment in the Global North. International stakeholders must engage with governments, partner organisations and businesses in LICs to share lessons learned to support these countries to adapt and implement new ways of managing their transport services during this global pandemic. This needs to be aligned with financing the local action on the ground and further strengthening the local institutions and capacity. The pandemic is global and cannot be overcome without a truly global action. While there had been progress in the collaboration and coordination efforts between international stakeholders, the current efforts have thus far fallen short on delivery of a common action agenda. Launching a coalition either within existing or a newly built alliance is urgently needed to reduce the cacophony of voices, to better support decision-makers on the ground to access the right knowledge and support by the international community. 2 High Volume Transport Applied Research Programme IMC Worldwide Ltd 64 -68 London Road South, Redhill RH1 1 LG Tel: +44 (0)1737 231400 Email: hvtinfo@imcworldwide.com Web: www.transport -links.com