Transport Policy Planning and Management Training Course

Duration 10 days 18 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Transport Planner, Municipal Manager and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-PP-005

Before you join: Participants should have basic familiarity with public-sector planning, transport services, infrastructure projects or municipal administration.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Transport agencies, municipalities and infrastructure authorities must make difficult choices about limited road space, public transport investment, freight access, road safety and emissions. Poorly defined policies can produce congested corridors, underused services, inequitable access and projects that cannot justify their cost. Effective transport planning connects policy goals with evidence, demand forecasts, land-use decisions, service operations, capital programmes and measurable public outcomes.

This course develops the practical methods used to prepare, assess and manage transport policy and plans. Participants work through transport system diagnosis, stakeholder mapping, travel-demand analysis, network planning, public transport design, active travel, freight policy, road safety, environmental assessment, project appraisal, funding and performance management. They learn to select appropriate interventions, structure an evidence base, assess trade-offs and prepare implementation arrangements that decision-makers can use.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with public-sector cases, group analysis, policy design tasks, transport planning simulations and structured peer review. Participants progressively develop a transport policy and implementation package using templates introduced during the course. They leave with a reusable policy-planning toolkit and a completed capstone package containing a problem statement, objectives, option assessment, delivery plan, indicators and governance arrangements.

The course suits public officials, transport planners, municipal managers, infrastructure programme staff, consultants and development practitioners who contribute to transport decisions but need stronger planning and policy-management capability.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose transport problems using network, demand, accessibility and safety evidence
  • Prepare a transport policy problem statement, objectives and theory of change
  • Apply stakeholder mapping and public consultation methods to transport decisions
  • Develop multimodal transport strategies using the Avoid-Shift-Improve framework
  • Assess transport options using cost-benefit analysis, multicriteria analysis and risk registers
  • Design public transport, active travel, freight and road safety interventions
  • Build implementation plans with governance, funding, procurement and performance controls
  • Present a complete transport policy and delivery package for executive review

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Prepare defensible transport policy recommendations supported by evidence and appraisal
  • Discuss demand, accessibility and network trade-offs confidently with technical consultants
  • Translate political priorities into measurable mobility objectives and delivery actions
  • Use practical templates for investment screening, consultation and implementation planning
  • Present transport proposals clearly to senior officials, funders and community stakeholders

For your organisation

  • Better alignment between transport investment, land-use growth and public-service priorities
  • More transparent option selection for roads, transit, active travel and freight projects
  • Stronger business cases with documented assumptions, benefits, costs and delivery risks
  • Improved coordination among planning, finance, environment, safety and operations teams
  • Clearer performance reporting on accessibility, safety, service quality and emissions

Course modules

18 modules over 10 days

Participants can explain how transport policy, planning, operations and institutions shape mobility outcomes.

  • Transport system components: networks, services, users, operators and institutions
  • Policy hierarchy from national strategy to corridor and local plans
  • Public-value objectives: accessibility, safety, affordability, reliability and emissions
  • Institutional mandates for ministries, municipalities, regulators and operators
  • Distinguishing policy choices, planning decisions, projects and operational controls
  • Reading transport system maps, service diagrams and institutional arrangements

Participants can frame a transport problem and establish measurable policy objectives.

  • Problem-tree analysis linking causes, constraints, effects and affected groups
  • Baseline statements supported by demand, network, safety and service evidence
  • SMART objectives written for accessibility, safety, efficiency and environmental outcomes
  • Theory of change connecting interventions, outputs, outcomes and assumptions
  • Separating symptoms from root causes in congested urban corridors
  • Policy questions that guide evidence collection and option development

Participants can specify an evidence base for transport policy and planning decisions.

  • Data inventory covering traffic, passengers, crashes, freight and land use
  • Household travel surveys: trip purpose, mode, time and expenditure
  • Origin-destination surveys using roadside interviews, GPS traces and mobile data
  • Traffic counts classified by vehicle type, direction and peak period
  • Public transport boarding surveys, load profiles and passenger interviews
  • Data-quality checks for coverage, seasonality, sampling bias and missing values

Participants can interpret demand and accessibility evidence to identify priority populations and locations.

  • Four-Step Model: trip generation, distribution, mode choice and assignment
  • Generalised travel cost combining fares, time, transfers and walking
  • Accessibility indicators measuring opportunities reachable within defined travel times
  • Equity analysis by income, gender, age, disability and settlement location
  • Desire-line maps identifying major travel markets and unmet connections
  • Peak-period demand profiles distinguishing recurring congestion from occasional disruption

Participants can align transport proposals with land-use patterns and development plans.

  • Land-use transport interaction between density, mix, design and travel behaviour
  • Transit-oriented development principles for stations, corridors and surrounding districts
  • Scenario planning for population growth, employment change and urban expansion
  • Parking policy effects on car ownership, trip choice and street activity
  • Development control requirements for access, loading, parking and pedestrian connections
  • Corridor plans coordinating land use, utilities, public realm and transport

Participants can develop a connected multimodal network concept for a defined area.

  • Network hierarchy assigning movement and place functions to streets
  • Avoid-Shift-Improve framework for demand reduction, modal shift and cleaner vehicles
  • Interchange planning for transfers, wayfinding, waiting areas and universal access
  • Complete Streets principles balancing pedestrians, cyclists, transit, freight and vehicles
  • Network gaps identified through connectivity, coverage and directness measures
  • Route prioritisation using demand, social benefit, cost and deliverability criteria

Participants can specify service and network improvements for public transport systems.

  • Route structure choices: radial, grid, trunk-feeder and demand-responsive services
  • Service planning variables: frequency, span, headway, capacity and reliability
  • Transit network redesign based on passenger demand and transfer patterns
  • Bus priority measures: lanes, signal priority, queue jumps and stop spacing
  • Service contracts using gross-cost, net-cost and performance-based payment models
  • Key performance indicators for punctuality, occupancy, coverage and customer satisfaction

Participants can plan active travel measures that improve safety, access and inclusion.

  • Pedestrian level-of-service assessment for footways, crossings and waiting times
  • Cycle network planning using cohesion, directness, safety, comfort and attractiveness
  • Universal design requirements for kerbs, ramps, tactile paving and crossings
  • School travel plans addressing speed, crossings, drop-off and walking routes
  • First-and-last-mile improvements linking neighbourhoods with transit stops
  • Street audits documenting barriers for wheelchair users, older people and children

Participants can develop freight policy measures that protect access while reducing disruption.

  • Freight demand mapping for industrial zones, ports, markets and distribution centres
  • Urban logistics measures: delivery windows, loading bays and consolidation centres
  • Truck route designation balancing safety, road capacity, noise and neighbourhood impacts
  • Freight stakeholder analysis covering shippers, carriers, retailers and residents
  • Last-mile delivery policies for parcels, motorcycles, cargo cycles and lockers
  • Performance measures for travel time reliability, loading compliance and emissions

Participants can prepare road safety actions using Safe System principles and crash evidence.

  • Safe System principles addressing safe speeds, roads, vehicles and road users
  • Crash data analysis by severity, road user, location and contributing factor
  • Network screening identifies high-risk locations using crash rates and exposure
  • Road safety audits at planning, design, construction and operational stages
  • Speed management through limits, street design, enforcement and self-explaining roads
  • Vision Zero targets translated into actions, indicators and accountable agencies

Participants can assess environmental and climate implications of transport policy options.

  • Transport emissions inventory using vehicle activity, fuel use and emission factors
  • Environmental impact assessment screening for major transport infrastructure proposals
  • Climate risk screening for flooding, heat, storms and asset disruption
  • Mitigation measures covering mode shift, fleet efficiency and travel reduction
  • Air-quality exposure assessment near corridors, terminals, schools and homes
  • Environmental management plans assigning mitigation actions, owners and monitoring indicators

Participants can plan consultation and manage competing interests around transport proposals.

  • Stakeholder mapping using interest, influence, impact and engagement matrices
  • Consultation plans defining purpose, participants, methods, timing and feedback loops
  • Public meeting design for contested schemes, access restrictions and pricing proposals
  • Negotiation preparation identifies interests, concessions, red lines and alternatives
  • Communications messages explaining benefits, disruptions, costs and mitigation measures
  • Grievance mechanisms recording complaints, responses, escalation and closure dates

Participants can create, compare and shortlist transport policy options using explicit criteria.

  • Option generation combines infrastructure, service, regulatory, pricing and information measures
  • Do-minimum scenario establishes a credible comparator for proposed interventions
  • Long-list screening applies strategic fit, feasibility, affordability and acceptability
  • Multicriteria analysis weights economic, social, environmental and institutional criteria
  • Distributional impact assessment identifies winners, losers and mitigation requirements
  • Options matrices document assumptions, evidence gaps, dependencies and residual risks

Participants can prepare proportionate economic appraisal and rank transport investments.

  • Cost-benefit analysis identifies capital, operating, maintenance and user-cost changes
  • Economic benefits include travel-time savings, safety gains and vehicle operating savings
  • Discounting converts future costs and benefits into present values
  • Sensitivity analysis tests demand, cost, timing and benefit assumptions
  • Cost-effectiveness analysis compares interventions with common outcome measures
  • Investment pipelines rank projects by readiness, value, risk and strategic contribution

Participants can match transport interventions with viable funding, procurement and delivery arrangements.

  • Funding sources: budgets, fares, earmarked charges, grants and development finance
  • Capital and lifecycle costs distinguished within transport project financial models
  • Procurement strategy selects works, services, concessions and framework agreements
  • Public-private partnership screening considers risk allocation, revenues and affordability
  • Implementation schedules sequence approvals, design, procurement, construction and commissioning
  • Risk registers assign owners, controls, triggers and contingency actions

Participants can establish governance and management controls for a transport policy programme.

  • Governance structures define sponsor, steering committee, delivery team and decision rights
  • RACI matrices clarify responsibilities for approvals, delivery, consultation and reporting
  • Programme management offices coordinate schedules, budgets, dependencies and issue resolution
  • Change-control procedures assess scope, cost, schedule and benefit implications
  • Benefits-realisation plans link interventions with owners, milestones and outcome measures
  • Interagency agreements document data sharing, funding commitments and operational responsibilities

Participants can design a monitoring and evaluation framework for transport policy delivery.

  • Results frameworks connect inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and long-term impacts
  • Indicator definitions specify formula, source, frequency, owner and disaggregation
  • Before-and-after evaluation measures changes attributable to completed interventions
  • Dashboard design combines accessibility, safety, reliability, affordability and emissions indicators
  • Evaluation questions test relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability
  • Policy review cycles use performance evidence, stakeholder feedback and changed assumptions

Participants can build, review and present a complete transport policy and implementation package.

  • Problem statement synthesises evidence on demand, access, safety and service performance
  • Policy objectives and theory of change establish intended public outcomes
  • Multimodal option package combines network, service, regulatory and pricing measures
  • Appraisal summary compares costs, benefits, distributional effects and delivery risks
  • Implementation plan specifies governance, funding, milestones, procurement and indicators
  • Executive presentation defends recommendations against stakeholder and decision-maker questions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Transport policy problem-tree template
  2. Multimodal network assessment model
  3. Transport option appraisal matrix
  4. Stakeholder engagement and consultation plan
  5. Implementation governance and risk register
  6. Transport monitoring and evaluation framework

Who should attend

  • Transport Planner — needs structured methods for policy, network and project decisions
  • Municipal Manager — coordinates transport priorities with land use and public budgets
  • Transport Ministry Officer — prepares policies, programmes and cabinet submissions
  • Public Transport Manager — translates policy targets into service and network improvements
  • Infrastructure Programme Manager — appraises, sequences and monitors transport investments
  • Development Project Specialist — assesses mobility interventions and implementation risks

Skills and tools covered

Transport policy designTravel demand analysisMultimodal network planningProject option appraisalStakeholder consultationProgramme performance management

Tools and standards

Avoid-Shift-Improve framework, Four-Step Model, Safe System approach, Cost-benefit analysis

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short technical briefings followed by case work drawn from cities, regional corridors and public transport systems. Participants interpret maps, demand data, service information and appraisal evidence; compare policy options; and develop planning documents in small groups. Simulations cover stakeholder consultation, investment prioritisation and executive decision meetings. Instructor feedback and peer review are used throughout, allowing participants to refine their own transport policy package from initial diagnosis through implementation planning and final presentation.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic familiarity with public-sector planning, transport services, infrastructure projects or municipal administration. Experience reading reports, working with spreadsheets and contributing to meetings with technical specialists is useful. The course assumes that participants can interpret simple tables, maps and charts, but it does not require advanced mathematics, transport modelling software, engineering design skills or prior formal training in economics. Participants may come from policy, operations, planning, finance, environment, safety or community engagement roles.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand the basic responsibilities of a public agency, municipality, operator or infrastructure programme. You do not need transport engineering qualifications, advanced statistics or experience with specialist modelling software.

Bring a current transport challenge, policy proposal, corridor plan or service issue from your work if possible. A laptop is useful for working with templates, although course materials and case data are provided.

It is designed for practitioners who contribute to transport policy, planning, investment, operations or programme delivery. It is particularly relevant where several agencies must agree priorities and implement them together.

This course focuses on public policy, planning choices, appraisal, governance and delivery management. It uses demand and network evidence, but does not teach detailed geometric design, pavement engineering or software-specific model building.

Participants use reusable templates for problem definition, option screening, stakeholder engagement, implementation planning and performance monitoring. The capstone format can be adapted to an active policy, corridor, transit or road safety assignment.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Early modules establish diagnosis and planning methods; later modules address appraisal, funding, delivery, monitoring and the final policy package.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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