Invitation to the Table: SUM4All at the International Transport Forum 2022
Sixty-three Transport Ministers from around the world and many international experts and stakeholders gathered at the International Transport Forum (ITF) Summit 2022 last week in Leipzig, Germany, to discuss the crisis in Ukraine and how better mobility solutions can bring divided societies together. Presided by Morocco, this edition of the three-day summit focused on the theme “Transport for Inclusive Societies.” While the agenda covered a broad range of issues, the discussions paid special attention to the role of transport policy in achieving accessibility for all—regardless of age, income, place, residence, and gender—in response to growing social concerns for a more equitable society.
Transport ministers from member countries, heads of delegations, international organization representatives, and industry professionals gathered at the International Transport Forum’s 2022 Summit.
“Transport is one of the most powerful forces that we possess to unify. A good transport system, like good education, is a great enabler of human opportunity and it should leave no one behind,” said Young Tae Kim, Secretary-General ITF during the Summit Press Conference.
Young Tae Kim (Secretary-General of the ITF) discusses transport for inclusive societies.
How to achieve inclusion and access for all, while continuing to make progress on safety, efficiency, and decarbonization of the transport sector has been at the core of the mission and work of the Sustainable Mobility for All (SuM4All) Partnership. For example, at the last COP in Glasgow, SuM4All put forward a position paper on how to reconcile the decarbonization of the transport sector through electric mobility and the aspiration for improved access in the Global South.
At the Transport Ministerial meeting on the first day of the Summit, a high-level speaker briefed participants on the SuM4All partnership and its contribution to the new thinking on data sharing. With the right policy framework in place, data from both public and private operators can generate powerful insights to correct policy bias that favors “efficiency” over “equity”.
Session "An invitation to the table: listening to all for better access for all"
On the second day, SuM4All accepted An invitation to the table: listening to all for better access for all. This session, moderated by Ali Hassan, former host of CBC Radio One's weekly program, brought together Jan Peter Balkenende (Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, and President of New Mobility Foundation International), George Ivanov (Head of International Policy and Government Affairs at Waymo), Seleta Reynolds (General Manager at Los Angeles Department of Transportation), and Nancy Vandycke (SuM4All's Program Manager) to discuss the obstacles that prevent an inclusive approach to public decision-making in transport.
Nancy Vandycke, Anouar Benazzous, Bronwen Thornton and Bernard Obika listen to speakers
Speakers agreed that under-representation of certain groups in the decision-making process often leads to biased or ineffective policies. Gender is a case in point. Specifically, ignoring the specific mobility needs of women poses a significant risk to economic growth and equity, by constraining women’s access to education, skills, health, markets, and jobs. There is an urgent need to revise the way public investment projects are selected. For long, transport projects were prioritized based on cost-efficiency considerations only. Recently, growing attention to climate change and safety has resulted in the introduction of new criteria—such as alignment with the Paris Climate Agreement, and the UN Decade of Action on Road Safety. Yet there is still a long way before equity and inclusivity can be fully integrated into the evaluation of transport projects.
Anouar Benazzouz delivering a speech during the Open Ministerial
On the last day, SuM4All co-organized with the International Road Federation (IRF) and the High Volume Transport Applied Research a session on resilient transport systems for more resilient and inclusive societies. After welcoming remarks from Anouar Benazzouz, the new President of the International Road Federation (IRF), SuM4All members addressed the audience with a keynote to frame the system-wide thinking in transport in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Climate Agreement, and increased uncertainties and risks in the broader socio-economic system. Subsequently, a panel discussion moderated by Susanna Zammataro (Director General at IRF) explored findings from recent research on disability, gender, and low-income neighborhoods in Indian cities work that can help frame what an inclusive transport system looks like. Bernard Obika (Team Leader of the HVT program) provided closing remarks.
Susanna Zammataro, moderates the official side event "Resilient transport for more resilient and inclusive societies"
“Good transport systems are built in consideration of those with unique needs and with their participation. Transport is not an end in itself; it serves our societies to be whole. The purpose of this Summit was to explore what we must do to ensure transport plays its part to build fair societies that leave no one behind” said Young Tae Kim, Secretary-General ITF during the Summit Press Conference.
Closing Remarks from Young Tae Kim
Photo credits: International Transport Forum 2022