Transportation plays a critical role in both economic and social development. Effective transport systems enable people to approach goods markets, travel for employment, access vital services and engage in social networks. Transport conditions affect the poor and their opportunities for life improvement in a host of direct and indirect ways. The indirect approach relies on broadly based economic growth resulting from improving accessibility and enhanced economic activities, while the direct approach affects people's income and welfare through the provision of job opportunities and increasing access to their specific basic needs.&nbsp;
The focus on maximizing transportation infrastructure&rsquo;s contribution to poverty reduction should be accompanied with greater understanding of the transmission mechanism through which the former affects the latter. Such knowledge is essential when designing, implementing and evaluating transportation projects that aim to reduce poverty. This commentary focuses on the direct impacts of transportation projects on poverty reduction by illustrating the transmission channels of the aforementioned relationship, defining the poverty dimensions and finally recommending policies that could enhance transportation projects&rsquo; contribution to poverty reduction in Egypt.
<h3>Income and non-income benefits of transportation&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</h3>
The extent to which transport infrastructure can directly contribute to poverty reduction depends on its impact on the income and non-income dimensions of poverty. Poverty entails both monetary and non-monetary aspects. The level of income poverty is determined by the measurement of the income necessary to meet basic needs, while non-income poverty is based on aggregating data on the prevalnce of deprivations in basic human capabilities, such as education, health insurance, electricity, water and energy (Wang et al., 2016).&nbsp;
In terms of income poverty, transport infrastructure opens up opportunities for the poor to raise productivity of their limited resources especially in the rural areas, where most of the poor reside and where agriculture remains the main source of income. Transport infrastructure lowering the costs of inputs and facilitating access to credit, extension services, and most importantly, output markets with better prices. It also facilitates the commercialization of farm and nonfarm activities and would lead to agricultural diversification from low-value food grains to high-value agricultural products (Setboonsamg, 2005).&nbsp;
In terms of non-income poverty, transport infrastructure can likewise generate direct impacts by lowering the cost of services needed by the poor and by improving access to health, education and other social services. Transport investments may also play an important role in mitigating risks faced by poor households. According to the World Development Report (2001), poor people are exposed to a wide range of risks. This includes illness, unemployment and labor market risks, crime and domestic violence and food price fluctuations. Increasing the accessibility through improved transportation would contain those kinds of risks and lower their negative impacts.&nbsp;
<h3>The transmission channels to poverty reduction</h3>
The poverty impact of transportation infrastructure can be discussed through two main channels, accessibility and labor activities. Improving accessibility can reduce poverty by increasing the opportunities that can be afforded by the poor. As people make trips to the workplace, to school and to the locations of social services, the decrease in the travel time and consequently transportation cost directly affects people's income, human capital and welfare. On the other hand, the construction and maintenance of transportation projects provide a wide range of job opportunities to the people living in proximity which affects their income in a direct way and contributes to poverty reduction.&nbsp;
<h3>Rural and urban transport</h3>
The impact of transport on poverty is somewhat different for rural and urban areas in terms of the micro-economic mechanisms (Gannon &amp; Zhi, 1997). In urban areas, social and economic interactions are much more spatially intensive than in rural areas. Housing, jobs and public facilities are located in proximity in order to take advantage of the economies of agglomeration. The scope for using direct transport interventions for poverty reduction is likely to be greatest in poor rural areas. In urban settings, where a highly heterogeneous population shares a wide range of public infrastructure, targeted assistance may be a more effective solution for low-income groups. In this case, subsidy is an important policy option for ensuring equitable transport access for poor and vulnerable groups (World Bank, 2006).
<h3>Poverty dimensions and transport</h3>
According to the World Bank (2001), strategies to reduce poverty should target three main dimensions: opportunity, security and empowerment. Opportunities people require include jobs, credit, roads and markets as well as electricity, water, sanitation, schools and health services that underpin the health and skills essential for work. On the other hand, security can be achieved by reducing vulnerabilities to economic shocks, natural disasters, ill health, disability and personal violence. The empowerment of the poor can be enhanced by their participation in the policy process. There is a broad consensus that the poor need to influence the policy process to ensure policy making responds to the actual needs of the poor, and transport planning is no exception (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2007; Booth et al., 2000).&nbsp;
<h3>Improving transportation&rsquo;s contribution to poverty reduction in Egypt</h3>
The growing population and dynamic economy in Egypt have resulted in a need for greater infrastructure development over recent years. The need to improve connectivity is acknowledged in the transport and infrastructure plans of Egypt&rsquo;s &ldquo;Vision 2030&rdquo; and has been translated in a major transportation project named the National Road Project. While extending transport infrastructure within the country will continue to be a priority, there is clearly a pressing need to make poverty reduction an integral part of the country's transport infrastructure policy, given about 30% of the population lives below the poverty line (Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics [CAPMAS], 2021), there is clearly a pressing need to make poverty reduction an integral part of the country's transport infrastructure policy. In Egypt, as in most developing countries, increasing accessibility is the main target of almost all transportation projects. However, including poverty reduction objectives within the country's transportation infrastructure plan framework would increase benefits to the poor and help to achieve inclusive growth.&nbsp;
The socioeconomic issues that arise in transport infrastructure projects indicate the need for guidance on designing and implementing transport projects to increase positive social outcomes and mitigate project risks. The following recommendations can enhance the transportation sector&rsquo;s contribution to poverty reduction.
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Social development goals, especially those related to poverty reduction, should be included in the country's transportation strategy.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">All development plans should incorporate poverty reduction targets in their frameworks and require a comprehensive assessment that identifies the full range of social impacts and their magnitude.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">When allocating new investments in transportation projects, policymakers must consider existing regional disparities in poverty rates, unemployment rates and access to basic needs in order to alleviate rather than exacerbate existing regional inequalities. The prioritization of transportation projects at both regional (i.e., governorate) and subregional (i.e., districts [marakez], cities and villages) levels should be guided by the relative impacts of accessibility and mobility challenges on poverty.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">The Poverty Map data provided by CAPMAS should be used as an overlay over the existing transport network to provide a prioritization and selection criteria for the new transportation projects.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Transport interventions in rural areas should focus on improving basic accessibility to local facilities and to the primary network through better roads that can facilitate the use of intermediate means of transport, i.e., devices and vehicles that occupy the middle ground in terms of technology, capacity and cost between walking and the modern four-wheeled motor vehicle (World Bank, 1996). These include bicycles with trailers, motorcycles, motorcycles with trailers, animal-powered vehicles, etc., which can increase transport capacity and eliminate the need to walk long distances without the high costs associated with large motor vehicles.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Intermediate means of transport should be complemented with good quality bus services, which should charge cheap fares to deliver people to points on secondary and primary roads leading to towns.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Transport subsidy for the poor should be considered to assist poor users who cannot afford low-cost services especially where upgrading transport services may increase tariff regimes, making the services even less affordable.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">A social analysis can help to determine the groups that need government assistance to afford the basic services, the level of subsidy required and the impacts of such policies on user groups and transport services.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Effective stakeholder identification and engagement &ndash; which could include local communities, politicians, government agencies, labor unions, academics etc. &ndash; and the understanding of their needs, perceptions and the project&rsquo;s effects thereon are crucial for identifying and quantifying impacts and benefits.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">The monitoring and evaluation of transportation projects should be conducted throughout the entire project life cycle to verify whether projects are successful in targeting the poor and increasing their income and welfare.</li>
</ul>
<hr>
References
<ul>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">Booth, D., Hanmer, L., &amp; Lovell, E. (2000). Poverty and transport. Overseas Development Institute. <a href="https://cutt.ly/BTPHxfs">https://cutt.ly/BTPHxfs</a></li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. (2021). Egypt in figures (income and expenditures). https://www.capmas.gov.eg/Pages/Publications.aspx?page_id=5104&amp;Year=23599</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">Gachassin, M., Najman, B., &amp; Raballand, G. (2010). The impact of roads on poverty reduction: A case study of Cameroon. The World Bank, Africa Region, Transport Unit.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">Gannon, C. A., &amp; Zhi, L. (1997). Poverty and transport (Discussion Paper No. 22568). World Bank, Transport Division.</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">Lynch, M., Cavill, S., &amp; Ryan-Collins, L. (2018). Maximising the social development outcomes of roads and transport projects: Guidance note for the chartered institution of highways and transportation. Engineers Against Poverty, The Chartered Institution of Highways &amp; Transportation.</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2007). Promoting pro-poor growth: Policy guidance for donors. <a href="https://cutt.ly/rTPHW28">https://cutt.ly/rTPHW28</a></li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">Setboonsamg, S. (2005). Transport infrastructure and poverty reduction (Policy Brief No. 21). ADB Research.</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">Starkey, P., &amp; Hine, J. (2014). Poverty and sustainable transport: How transport affects poor people with policy implications for poverty reduction: A literature review. UN-Habitat, the Overseas Development Institute &amp; Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport. <a href="https://cutt.ly/WToQcjv">https://cutt.ly/WToQcjv</a></li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">Wang, X., Feng, H., Xia, Q., &amp; Alkire, S. (2016). On the relationship between income poverty and multidimensional poverty in China (OPHI Working Paper 101). University of Oxford.</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">World Bank. (1996). Promoting intermediate means of transport. <a href="https://cutt.ly/vTKEDWs">https://cutt.ly/vTKEDWs&nbsp;</a></li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">World Bank. (2001). Attacking poverty (World Development Report No. 22684). <a href="https://cutt.ly/eTaWgP3">https://cutt.ly/eTaWgP3</a></li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;">World Bank. (2006). Social analysis in transport projects: Guidelines for incorporating social dimensions into bank-supported projects. Social Development Department, The World Bank. <a href="https://cutt.ly/YTaWj65">https://cutt.ly/YTaWj65</a></li>
</ul>

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