IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v107y2018icp216-228.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cost-effectiveness of enforcing axle-load regulations: The Douala-N’Djamena corridor in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Torres Martínez, Antonio José
  • Oliete Josa, Sergio
  • Magrinyà, Francesc
  • Gauthier, Jean-Marc

Abstract

Road conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa are typically poor, and only a subset of the newly constructed or rehabilitated roads reach their design life. Truck overloading generally causes this rapid deterioration. In Africa, there are few success stories on the imposition of axle-load limits. This study examines the existing regulations on the Douala-N’Djamena international road, which is the main transport corridor in Central Africa and the backbone for internal transport in Cameroon. It benefits from the detailed existing weighing data recorded since 1998 in the corridor’s 10 weighing stations. This vast amount of traffic data, together with available information on road structure and deterioration over time, has been used to conduct an accurate calculation of load equivalency factors. The HDM 4 model has been applied to three scenarios between 2000 and 2015: (1) no axle-load control, (2) the real situation and (3) no overloading tolerance. Results show that axle-load regulations have been reasonably well applied in Cameroon and have contributed to maintaining the corridor in fair condition. In spite of the fact that significant traffic increases are presently counterbalancing the damage avoided by axle-load limits, benefits provided by axle-load control have been substantial: in the period of 2000–2015, every € invested or spent on axle-load control has generated more than €20 of savings in road user costs and in road maintenance and rehabilitation expenditure, which represents, in absolute terms, more than €500 million.

Suggested Citation

  • Torres Martínez, Antonio José & Oliete Josa, Sergio & Magrinyà, Francesc & Gauthier, Jean-Marc, 2018. "Cost-effectiveness of enforcing axle-load regulations: The Douala-N’Djamena corridor in Sub-Saharan Africa," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 216-228.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:107:y:2018:i:c:p:216-228
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2017.11.016
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856416311946
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2017.11.016?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Moreno-Quintero, Eric & Fowkes, Tony & Watling, David, 2013. "Modelling planner–carrier interactions in road freight transport: Optimisation of road maintenance costs via overloading control," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 68-83.
    2. Heggie, I.G., 1995. "Manangement and Financing of Roads. An Agenda for Reform," Papers 275, World Bank - Technical Papers.
    3. Jean-François Arvis & Robin Carruthers & Graham Smith & Christopher Willoughby, 2011. "Connecting Landlocked Developing Countries to Markets : Trade Corridors in the 21st Century," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2286, December.
    4. Supee Teravaninthorn & Gaël Raballand, 2009. "Transport Prices and Costs in Africa : A Review of the International Corridors," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6610, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jain, Manisha & Jehling, Mathias, 2020. "Analysing transport corridor policies: An integrative approach to spatial and social disparities in India," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Reeg, Caroline, 2017. "Spatial development initiatives – potentials, challenges and policy lessons: with a specific outlook for inclusive agrocorridors in Sub-Sahara Africa," IDOS Studies, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), volume 97, number 97, March.
    2. Athukorala, Prema-chandra & Narayanan, Suresh, 2018. "Economic corridors and regional development: The Malaysian experience," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 1-14.
    3. Donaldson, Dave & Atkin, David, 2015. "Who?s Getting Globalized? The Size and Implications of Intra-national Trade Costs," CEPR Discussion Papers 10759, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Charles Kunaka & Gaël Raballand & Mike Fitzmaurice, 2016. "How trucking services have improved and may contribute to economic development: The case of East Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-152, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Roffeis, Martin & Fitches, Elaine C. & Wakefield, Maureen E. & Almeida, Joana & Alves Valada, Tatiana R. & Devic, Emilie & Koné, N’Golopé & Kenis, Marc & Nacambo, Saidou & Koko, Gabriel K.D. & Mathijs, 2020. "Ex-ante life cycle impact assessment of insect based feed production in West Africa," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    6. Daniel Odongo Oronje & Charles M. Rambo & Paul A. Odundo, 2014. "Agency Level Management Of Roads Maintenance Levy Fund: Evidence From Kenya," Global Journal of Business Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 8(1), pages 73-85.
    7. Olivier Cadot & Ana Fernandes & Julien Gourdon & Aaditya Mattoo & Jaime Melo, 2014. "Evaluating Aid for Trade: A Survey of Recent Studies," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 516-529, April.
    8. Sothea Oum, 2013. "Comment on “Lao Economy: Capitalizing on Natural Resource Exports”," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 8(1), pages 92-93, June.
    9. Martin Roffeis & Joana Almeida & Maureen Elizabeth Wakefield & Tatiana Raquel Alves Valada & Emilie Devic & N’Golopé Koné & Marc Kenis & Saidou Nacambo & Elaine Charlotte Fitches & Gabriel K. D. Koko , 2017. "Life Cycle Inventory Analysis of Prospective Insect Based Feed Production in West Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-27, September.
    10. Bakar Normizan & Ishii Yasunori, 2014. "Export Competition between Landlocked and Coastal Countries: An Analysis of Strategic Export Policies," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 804-812, November.
    11. Adam, Christopher & Bevan, David & Gollin, Douglas, 2018. "Rural–Urban Linkages, Public Investment and Transport Costs: The Case of Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 497-510.
    12. Theresa Osborne & Maria Claudia Pachon & Gonzalo Enrique Araya, 2013. "What Drives the High Price of Road Freight Transport in Central America?," World Bank Publications - Reports 17845, The World Bank Group.
    13. Welsch, Manuel & Bazilian, Morgan & Howells, Mark & Divan, Deepak & Elzinga, David & Strbac, Goran & Jones, Lawrence & Keane, Andrew & Gielen, Dolf & Balijepalli, V.S.K. Murthy & Brew-Hammond, Abeeku , 2013. "Smart and Just Grids for sub-Saharan Africa: Exploring options," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 336-352.
    14. Ihle, Rico & von Cramon-Taubadel, Stephan & Zorya, Sergiy, 2010. "Country and border effects in the transmission of maize prices in Eastern Africa: evidence from a semi-parametric regression model," 2010 AAAE Third Conference/AEASA 48th Conference, September 19-23, 2010, Cape Town, South Africa 96184, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    15. Daniel Bromley & Jeremy Foltz, 2011. "Sustainability under siege: Transport costs and corruption on West Africa's trade corridors," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 35(1), pages 32-48, February.
    16. World Bank, 2012. "Agricultural Potential, Rural Roads, and Farm Competitiveness in South Sudan," World Bank Publications - Reports 11885, The World Bank Group.
    17. Bensassi, Sami & Jarreau, Joachim, 2019. "Price discrimination in bribe payments: Evidence from informal cross-border trade in West Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 462-480.
    18. Ranganathan, Rupa & Foster, Vivien, 2011. "ECOWAS's infrastructure : a regional perspective," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5899, The World Bank.
    19. John Pickles, 2012. "South African horticulture: opportunities and challenges for economic and social upgrading in value chains," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series ctg-2012-13, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    20. Sami Bensassi & Joachim Jarreau, 2019. "Price discrimination in bribe payments: Evidence from informal cross-border trade in West Africa," Post-Print hal-02390008, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:107:y:2018:i:c:p:216-228. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.