Guidelines for improving transport policy effectiveness in developing countries: a case study of Sri Lanka

Efficient and effective policies pertaining to transportation is an important prerequisite for satisfactory provision of mobility of people and goods; an essential attribute of an economy to ensure productivity, societal welfare and environmental sustainability. Explicit transport policies formulated in Sri Lanka for that purpose have been mainly ignored by the relevant authorities, even though approved by the government. Implicit policies represented by approvals for investments and recurrent expenditures have continued without critical analysis, in most cases becoming ineffective and obsolete. The blunting of these policy instruments has resulted in the transport sector operating for decades without an effective policy-based direction. The failure of the bureaucracy that is responsible for policy implementation has also been identified as a primary reason for this situation. This paper provides guidelines based on established global best practices in policy formulation, implementation, monitoring, and review to improve the content of a transport policy and its potential for application towards meeting the country's mobility needs, as opposed to continuing the status quo in transport supply. The paper also uses examples from the current practice of transport policy in Sri Lanka, typical of many developing countries, and identifying pre-requisites and laying down guidelines for efficient policy making as well as for improving processes and practices to be improved.