Within the framework of developing an efficient South East Europe Transport Observatory (SEETO) Comprehensive Network and strengthening the underlying transport planning systems, a grant has been awarded by the Western Balkans Infrastructure Framework (WBIF) for the update of the Regional Balkans Infrastructure Study (REBIS), which is managed by the World Bank.
The main project objective is to develop a Priority Action Plan for enhancing the efficiency of the South East Europe Transport Observatory (SEETO) Comprehensive Network and identifying priority physical investments, as well as non-physical improvements including regulatory, institutional and managerial changes that would eliminate bottlenecks and barriers affecting the network’s performance. Based on the Action Plan, and beyond the scope of this study, feasibility studies will then be conducted for the identified interventions on the basis of which economically viable ones could be included in the SEETO Multi Annual Plan along with other eligible priority projects.Within the above framework, the general work plan for the project includes:
(i) The development of a transport demand model for the Western Balkans region, including all transport modes. The development of the model will rely on key variables such as trade flows, income and population and will provide robust estimates of traffic projections for a period of 20 years on the SEETO Comprehensive Network
(ii) The identification of the main corridors/routes on the SEETO Comprehensive Network based on the EU TEN-T criteria, which among others, promote the alleviation of bottlenecks and missing links on major routes, regional integration, mobility and sustainable development and meet the required social and economic criteria, and determine main regional transport links.
(iii) The analysis of the physical and non-physical barriers to the efficient operation of the SEETO Comprehensive Network and the identification of potential efficiency-enhancing investments and measures. The prioritization methodology for the proposed investments and measures will be based on a Multi-Criteria Analysis, while the weights on the criteria used will be defined in close collaboration with the World Bank, SEETO Secretariat, European Commission and the regional Participants. A preliminary-level economic analysis will also be carried out to assess the viability of the proposed investments and measures.
The development of a priority action plan for physical and non-physical improvements in the SEETO Comprehensive Network, identifying the time for their implementation, as well as the corresponding cost estimates for the proposed interventions.
