"Current transport financing practices are unfit to meet 21st century needs," Michael Replogle, Global Policy Director and Founder of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).

"As much as $700 billion is spent annually subsidizing motor fuels, while hundreds of billions more in public and global aid funds subsidize the growing use of cars," he said. "This comes at the expense of investments in more pressing human needs for modern bus rapid transit, streets safe for walking and cycling, quality public space, as well as health, housing, and education," he said.

As documented in a report by the Transport Research Laboratory released by ITDP and the Partnership for Sustainable Low Carbon Transport, over $1.5 trillion is spent annually on transport globally, mostly in ways that exacerbate rather than solve the problems associated with traffic growth, including congestion, health-harming air pollution, accidents, energy insecurity, and climate change.

The report outlines financing changes that will enable developing nations to achieve more sustainable, affordable, and equitable approaches to transportation.

"These steps can help others avoid costly mistakes made by the world's most car-dependent cities, like Houston, which will face growing challenges in a carbon-constrained world," said Replogle. "Other cities, from Copenhagen, Madrid, and Berlin, to Singapore, Guangzhou, and Bogota are demonstrating more effective paths to transport system modernization."

"Incentives, financial support, and national support programs, as India's Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, can enable cities to address transport challenges and spur sustainable development. Such programs can help move towards more integrated transport policies and planning that is less biased in favor of motor vehicle travel," said James Leather of the Asian Development Bank.

"This report shows domestic public finance, official development assistance, and private investment flows now overwhelmingly favor rapid motorization. The modest growing resources contributed by global carbon finance programs must leverage shifts in these much larger transport financial flows if they are to be effective," said Manfred Breithaupt of German Technical Cooperation/GTZ.

"Improved access for the transport sector to climate finance under the Clean Development Mechanism, the Global Environment Facility or newly established funds like the Climate Investment Fund can help the transport sector accelerate the replication and scaling up of sustainable, low carbon policies, programs and projects as well as promote transfer of low carbon transport services and technology," said Heather Allen of the International Union of Public Transport Authorities (UITP).

"This makes it also important to ensure that transport is included in a new climate agreement to be reached in the UNFCCC conferences in Cancun 2010 or Johannesburg 2011, enabling international support to developing countries undertaking Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions," she said.

The report, A Paradigm Shift Towards Sustainable Low Carbon Transport: Financing the Vision ASAP, outlines key steps in financing reform: to Analyze impacts, Shift existing resources towards a sustainable direction, Add funding where resources are still lacking, and restructure pricing incentives so users Pay for the full costs of transport consumption, identifying measures to be taken by public, private, and international organizations. The report authors, Ko Sakamoto, Holger Dalkman, and Derek Palmer, of the Transport Research Laboratory, are noted global experts in transport and environmental policy.

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