POLICY NOTE SENSITIVITY OF VULNERABLE POPULATIONS TO CHANGES IN PUBLIC TRANSPORT FARES, DISAGGREGATED BY GENDER THE CASE OF BO G O TÁ Public transport is the basis of transport systems in dense urban centers, especially in cities that already have—or are developing—relatively advanced systems, namely those that operate high- capacity vehicles or use fixed routes and schedules.ª A challenge that governments of low- and middle-income countries frequently face in the design of their public transport systems is how to set fares that ensure their financial sustainability, while, at the same time, making them affordable for a high proportion of the population with low capacity to pay.ᵇ Against this background, one important question that needs to be addressed is: how sensitive is the demand for public transport to changes in fares, particularly for vulnerable groups? The answer to this question is critical for estimating public transport use, which has operational and financial implications, and is also important to achieve redistribution goals. This note is the second in a series that seeks to study the mobility patterns and constraints of vulnerable groups in Bogotá, the capital and largest urban center in Colombia, aiming at understanding how to enhance access to opportunities that will improve their well- being.¹ This second note analyzes how the demand of Bogotá’s Integrated Public Transport System (SITP) responds to changes in fares, for groups classified as A, B and C in the System for Identifying Potential Beneficiaries of Social Programs (Sisbén). These groups represent the population with ¹ The first note, “Mobility and Well-being of Vulnerable Populations in © Galo Naranjo/Flickr Bogotá: Gender Gaps in Urban Mobility” can be accessed at this link. 1 lower income-earning capacity and those who are at risk of falling into moderate or extreme poverty.² This analysis aims to contribute to the discussion on how to provide targeted support to vulnerable populations, without losing sight of the importance of improving the financial sustainability of public transport, both in Bogotá and in similar contexts.³ THE SITP AND THE SETTING OF FARES The SITP is the backbone of the public transport system in the city of Bogotá, and its urban coverage is extensive. It organizes and integrates the operations of the different modes of public transport (Trunk, Urban, Feeders, Complementary and special). 4, 5, c An important characteristic of the SITP is that it centralizes the collection of fares from all parts of the system, by implementing a single smart payment card called TuLlave (YourKey). By doing so, the SITP is able to reduce the cost of travel for © Felipe Restrepo Acosta/Wikimedia Commons users who need to make transfers between different transport services.⁶ several changes to the eligibility criteria This smart card system also facilitates for Sisben SITP Incentive and the size of the the implementation of differentiated fares for the discount has varied between 15 percent and 60 specific categories of users, such as people with percent of the total fare. In addition, users over 62 low income-earning capacity, identified as such years of age and persons with disabilities also under the Sisbén clasification. Such users can benefit from fare reductions. In general, all SITP access preferential fares that are discounted by a fares (with and without incentives) are updated specific percent compared to the full price fare every year in the month of January, to ensure the (Sisbén SITP Incentive) that has been in place financial sustainability of the system and maintain since 2014. Since its inception, there have been the quality of the service offered to users. A variety of factors, such as inflation, operating costs and fare studies are taken into consideration when ² Established in 1995, Sisbén is a system used in Colombia to classify the population by living conditions and income. It serves as a tool for the implementing these changes. implementation of targeted social programs at the national and regional levels. ³ The SITP has reported increasing operating financial deficits since 2012. See, e.g., Hidalgo, D. (December 20, 2022). Transmilenio a 3 mil ¿despropósito (Transmilenio at 3,000 pesos, an absurdity?). La Silla Vacía. Last accessed: February 13, 2024. ⁴ The SITP includes several components: Transmilenio or bus rapid transit (BRT) system, which consists of rapid transit buses that travel on dedicated roads; a CHANGES IN SITP FARES IN 2023 subsystem of zonal buses and feeders, which travel on the main roads of the city, connecting various locations of the established routes and different components of the system; and a cable car-like subsystem called Transmicable, which connects This note analyzes the modifications to the SITP fare various areas on the outskirts of the city with the other components. ⁵ System integration includes “the articulation, linkage and integrated operation of policy and the methodology to determine eligibility the different modes of public transport; Institutions or entities established for the for the Sisbén SITP Incentive that was outlined by planning, organization, and control of traffic, and public transportation; as well as for the infrastructure required for accessibility, circulation and collection, the government of Bogotá in January 2023. These information and monitoring and help service to users of the system” (Decree 309 changes resulted in significant increases in fares for of 2009 of the Office of the Mayor of Bogotá D.C.). ⁶ Reduced fares for transfers require users to have a personalized card (as opposed the poor and persons at risk of falling into poverty, to an anonymous card), with which they can make up to two reduced-fare presenting an opportunity to understand the extent transfers in a 110-minute time window. Reduced fares for transfers were between 0 and 8 percent of full fares in 2022. to which the demand for public transport among 2 these groups respond by adjustments in the fares the incentive because of its Sisbén III score (higher they pay. The two fare changes analyzed are than 30.56) was nevertheless deemed eligible by described below: virtue of being placed in group A or B of Sisbén IV. A fourth group includes persons not eligible for the 1. The Decree on the annual update of the SITP Sisbén Incentive, based on both the Sisbén III cut-off fare was issued on January 6, 2023. For users not score and the new Sisbén IV classification. These benefiting from the Sisbén SITP Incentive, the changes took effect on February 1, 2023.ᵉ increase amounted to 12 percent in nominal terms (-1 percent in real terms), or one point Table 1 shows the aggregate changes in fares in below the 13 percent year-on-year inflation for nominal and real terms for each group after these two Bogotá recorded in January 2023. For people changes took effect. As a reference, prior to the who benefited from the Sisbén SITP Incentive, changes, the full fare for the two main SITP the price had not increased since 2019 despite components was Col$ 2,650 (US$0.55) for buses on inflation, so the applied increase was much the Transmilenio trunk lines and Col$ 2,450 (US$0.51) greater: 38 percent in nominal terms, or 22 for the zonal bus subsystem in December 2022. percent in real terms over the previous year. This Table 1. Percentage changes in potential fares paid by SITP change became effective as of January 10, 2023.ᵈ users, based on their eligibility for the Sisbén Incentive (III and IV): February 2023 vs. December 2022. 2. A Decree outlining a transition in the eligibility criterion for receiving the Sisbén SITP Incentive GROUP NOMINAL REAL based on Sisbén IV was issued on January 27, 1. Lost eligibility 65% 47% 2023. When the incentive was created in 2014, (Sisbén III = <30.56 and Sisbén IV = C or D) the classification used to target social programs 2. Retained eligibility 38% 22% was Sisbén III. As of 2021, the government has (Sisbén III =<30.56 and Sisbén IV = A or B) implemented a new Sisbén classification (Sisbén 3. Acquired eligibility -7% -17% (Sisbén III >30.56 and Sisbén IV = A or B) IV), to improve targeting. Subsequently, national and regional social programs gradually 4. Was never eligible 12% -1% (Sisbén III >30.56 and Sisbén IV = C or D) transitioned to using this new classification to designate the beneficiary population. Before this Notes: The changes in fares are simple averages of the trunk and zonal change, persons with a Sisbén III score equal to components, which were similar. For example, persons who lost eligibility faced nominal changes of 63.9 percent in the trunk component fare and 66.7 or lower than 30.56 (out of 100) were eligible percent in the zonal component fare. The actual change in the fare discounts for the incentive; following the change in 2023, year-on-year inflation for Bogotá of 12.7 percent in January 2023, according to the Banco de la República de Colombia and the National Administrative persons in groups A and B of Sisbén IV (made up Department of Statistics (DANE). of groups A, B, C and D) became eligible.⁷ As a result of this change, corresponding adjustments Meanwhile, the preferential rate with the Sisbén were made to the fares of four groups of users, SITP Incentive was Col$ 1,800 (US$ 0.38) and Col$ depending on their previous and current 1,650 (US$ 0.34), which amounted to a discount of 8, f eligibility to receive the incentive. A first group, 32 percent and 33 percent, respectively. previously eligible under the Sisbén III classification (i.e., individuals with a score equal It is important to note that the incentive fares and to or lower than 30.56), lost eligibility when they their related changes apply only to SITP users who were classified under groups C or D of Sisbén are eligible to receive the incentive and have IV, which are not eligible to receive the registered in order to receive a subsidized TuLlave incentive. Persons in another group retained card. Prior to the 2023 changes, the Sisbén SITP eligibility, due to the fact that their Sisbén III Incentive registration rate was around 50 percent; in score was lower than or equal to 30.56 and they other words, half of the eligible population had not remained in groups A or B of Sisbén IV. A third registered to receive the incentive.ᵍ Eligible users group that would have been ineligible to receive who have not registered are subject to the same pricing and changes as users who are ineligible. ⁷ Groups A and B correspond to the population classified by Sisbén as living in extreme and moderate poverty; group C corresponds to the vulnerable population ⁸ Dollar values are calculated by taking the monthly average Representative or persons at risk of falling into poverty. Group D refers to the population that is Market Exchange Rate for December 2022 of Col$ 4,788 to one US dollar, as considered neither poor nor vulnerable. reported by the Banco de la República de Colombia. 3 Figure 1. Monthly SITP validations (trips) for people who had and subsequently lost the incentive, relative to people who were never eligible, before and after the fare changes in January 2023 (January 2022 – November 2023). 40 Lost eligibility and had the incentive 35 (Sisbén IV = C, Sisbén III ≤ 30,56) Monthly validations 30 25 20 Was never eligible and never had the incentive 15 (Sisbén IV = C, Sisbén III > 30,56) 10 5 0 4/22 7/22 10/22 1/23 4/23 7/23 10/23 Month/year 1/22 Notes: Author calculations using TuLlave data and the baseline survey for the study on mobility and the fare policy for Sisbén beneficiaries (Development Impact [DIME] department, 2022). There are 1,259 people in the two groups analyzed. See footnote 12 for more details. fare rate increase of 38 percent (22 percent in real terms). At the time of publication of this note, the © Leandro © Neumann Ciuffo/Wikimedia Leandro Neumann Commons Ciuffo/Wikimedia Commons registration rate for the third group, made up of persons who gained eligibility, was very low (15 METHODS USED IN THE ANALYSIS percent of persons eligible). As a result, no estimates have yet been made, due to potential problems of This analysis was carried out using data from the representativeness of the sample and the risk of TuLlave smart cards, based on a random sample of obtaining biased results.¹⁰ Estimates of the impact of about 3,000 users selected from groups A, B and C of the change in fares on trips taken using the SITP are the Sisbén IV census.⁹ In 2022, before the fare policy based on a difference-in-differences (DID) method, changes were introduced, a Baseline Survey was using as a comparison group persons who were never conducted among this group, to determine certain eligible (group 4 in table 1). This group faced a near- socioeconomic characteristics and mobility patterns. zero change in real terms. For those users participating in the survey who gave their consent to having their TuLlave card data To illustrate these comparisons, figure 1 shows the accessed, we linked the user survey data with the number of monthly validations for the group that related card validation data, which records every time had the incentive and subsequently lost eligibility, that people use public transportation. Monthly trips in before and after the change in fares—between the SITP are calculated as total validations per month, January 2022 and November 2023—compared to based on TuLlave card data. In total, we used 1.6 validations by the group that has never been eligible. million validations in the SITP system registered by Before the January 2023 changes, people who had the study sample group during the period under the incentive and lost eligibility traveled more by the consideration: between January 2022 and November the SITP than people who have never been eligible, 2023. but the differences between the two groups are stable over time, thus validating the use of the In conducting the analysis, we started by estimating chosen DID method. 11, 12 the impact of the fare change on SITP usage (number of trips) over the 10 months following the ¹⁰ Estimates for this group will be made once a higher registration rate is achieved. Various pilot studies that we conducted between May and July 2023 to analyze the changes in fares (between February and November barriers to registration in the Sisbén SITP Incentive program suggest that the main barriers to registering for the incentive are (i) a lack of information: most newly 2023) for the first two groups in table 1: (i) people eligible persons are not aware of the incentive; (ii) the lack of time; and (iii) problems who had access to the incentive but lost eligibility, at the time of registration, e.g. not having brought the physical card and/or not having canceled a personalized card prior to registration. who faced a nominal price increase of 65 percent ¹¹ The DID method estimates the impact as deviations from parallel trends in the outcome variables (trips) between the treatment and comparison groups after the (47 percent in real terms, discounting inflation); and change in policy. In relation to monthly trips using the TuLlave card, all treatment (ii) people who had access to the incentive and groups show parallel trends with the comparison group before the policy change. The results are robust to several estimation methods, including double differences retained their eligibility, who experienced a nominal with multiple control variables and a fixed-effect model. ¹² The analysis conducted includes validations for people who personalized their TuLlave card, gave consent to use their data, and used the SITP at some point between January 2022 and November 2023. If there were no validations by the user ⁹ The sample includes people between the ages of 18 and 62 years and was in a given month over the period, 0 validations were computed for the person in that randomly selected for the four groups in Table 1. month, if there had been validations in any previous month since March 2018. 4 Once the impact of the fare change on the number of Many of these differences in levels of frequency by validations was calculated, the price elasticities of gender are due to the fact that 42 percent of men demand were estimated by dividing the percentage state that they do not use the SITP for any of their change in the monthly number of SITP trips caused by weekly trips, opting instead for other means of the fare changes, by the percentage change in the real transportation, whereas only 19 percent of women price. This analysis was done for people who had dispense with the services of the SITP during the either lost or retained their eligibility and had week. Men and women who use the SITP on a weekly registered to receive the incentive before the January basis have more similarities in their mobility patterns: 2023 changes. The results for men and women are within this group, women use the SITP for 74 percent also presented separately.¹³ We focus on the price- of their trips and men for 69 percent.ʰ elasticity of demand, since this indicator allows us to compare the sensitivity to price changes in a Among users of the SITP with the personalized standardized unit, in other words, the change in TuLlave card who were included in the survey, demand in percentage units for each percentage unit women made an average of 24 monthly validations in of the change in price. Elasticity is an especially useful the SITP during 2022, before the fare changes, measure for comparing the responses of groups compared to 21 monthly validations for men. Within facing different fare changes; for example, it is used this group, persons who had registered to receive the for comparing the response in real terms of people Sisbén SITP Incentive used the system more who lost the incentive to those who retained it. frequently: women performed 30 monthly validations and men 26 validations in the same period. RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS Price elasticities of demand for the SITP for SITP usage and gender differences in Sisbén Sisbén groups A, B and C groups A, B and C prior to the fare changes Over the 10 months following the changes in the According to the baseline survey collected in 2022 for SITP fares (between February and November 2023), the study sample, Sisbén groups A, B and C make the poor and at risk of falling into moderate or frequent trips (73 percent travel 10 times a week or extreme poverty (Sisbén groups A, B and C) more).¹⁴ However, there are marked gender-related significantly adjusted their use of the SITP, with differences, especially with respect to the modes of marked differences over time and according to transportation used. Although men make 14 percent gender. Three main messages may be highlighted and more weekly trips by any mode of transportation are summarized in Table 2 and in Figures 2 and 3. compared to women (on average they make 16 trips, compared to 14 for women), women use the SITP Table 2. Price elasticities of demand for the SITP for people who lost or retained the SITP Incentive, during the 10 months more intensively (60 percent of women’s weekly following the fare changes in 2023. trips are by the SITP, compared to 40 percent of trips Sisbén groups A, B and C. made by men). For women in Sisbén groups A, B and C, income level does not significantly influence the LOST RETAINED frequency with which they use the SITP. However, ELIGIBILITY, HAD ELIGIBILITY, HAD THE INCENTIVE THE INCENTIVE this is not the case for men: men in the lower-income (SISBÉN C) (SISBÉN A AND B) group use the system more frequently (47 percent of weekly trips) than men in the higher-income group Real fare change 47% 22% (38 percent).¹⁵ Impact on validations* Monthly validations -4.74 -2.4 (Feb. – Nov. 2023) ¹³ Elasticities are estimated on the basis of real price changes, since changes in the Percentage (with respect fares are set at the beginning of the calendar year, when wages and other prices to validations in Feb. – -16% -9% are also adjusted in accordance with inflation rates of the preceding year. Nov. 2022) ¹⁴ These trips include journeys that have a departure point and a destination point, are made for a specific purpose, and last 10 minutes or more, or are trips of any Elasticity -0.34 -0.39 duration, for “work” or “study” purposes. This definition is consistent with the definition in the 2019 Mobility Survey, but excludes trips lasting between three and 10 minutes that are not for “work” or “study” purposes. Notes: *Impacts are statistically significant at 1 percent and 5 percent, ¹⁵ The surveyed households were divided into quintiles of per capita income: five groups divided by per capita income, from the lowest to the highest. The highest respectively. Author calculations using TuLlave data and the baseline survey income quintile is also vulnerable, as the study only includes the population in the for the study on mobility and the fare policy for Sisbén beneficiaries (DIME, lowest Sisbén groups (A, B and C). 2022). See the section on methods and footnote 12 for more details. 5 2. The impact of fare changes on SITP trips varies over time, suggesting that users need time to adjust their demand to price changes. As shown in figure 2, the price elasticity of demand was -0.26 in the first five months after the change (February to June 2023), compared to -0.48, almost twice as much, in months 6 to 10 after the change (July to November 2023). This implies that doubling the real incentive fare price leads to a shorter-term reduction of demand of 26 percent and a medium-term reduction in demand of 48 percent. It is therefore necessary to wait a while to gauge the long-term adjustment that these groups make to changes in SITP prices. © Claudio Olivares Medina/Flickr Figure 2. Price elasticity of SITP demand (2023), by time 1. Despite facing significantly different changes in elapsed after fare changes for groups A, B and C of Sisbén IV the real fares of the SITP (47 percent vs. 22 percent) Months 1-5 after the Months 6 to 10 after and being classified at different levels of economic change the change 0,00 vulnerability, the groups that either lost or retained –0,10 the incentive report a similar change in their SITP demand as a response to changes in the fares they –0,20 –0,26 pay (Table 2). People who lost access to the –0,30 incentive reported a price-elasticity of demand for –0,40 the SITP of -0.34, while those who retained the –0,48 incentive reported a price-elasticity of -0.39. These –0,50 values mean, for example, that doubling the real Notes: Author calculations using TuLlave data and the baseline survey for the study on mobility and the fare policy for Sisbén beneficiaries (DIME, 2022). price of the incentive fare (which is applied to a See the section on methods and footnote 12 for more details. maximum of 30 validations per month), would lead to a reduction in total validations (trips) in the Figure 3. Price elasticity of SITP demand (2023), by gender and following 10 months of: time elapsed after fare changes for population groups A, B and C of Sisbén IV 34 percent for users in Sisbén group C (those MEN WOMEN who lost the incentive and are classified by Months 1-5 Months 6-10 Months 1-5 Months 6-10 0,00 Sisbén as a population at risk of falling into poverty). –0,10 –0,17 –0,20 39 percent for users in Sisbén groups A and B –0,30 Months 1-10: -0.25 –0,32 (those who retained the incentive and are –0,40 –0,41 classified by Sisbén as the group living in –0,50 extreme to moderate poverty). –0,60 Months 1-10: -0.55 –0,70 –0,70 It should be noted that the group that retained the Notes: Author calculations using TuLlave data and the baseline survey for the incentive, classified as extremely or moderately poor study on mobility and the fare policy for Sisbén beneficiaries (DIME, 2022). (Sisbén groups A and B), has access to other See the section on methods and footnote 12 for more details. incentives and social programs of the government of Colombia or the government of Bogotá. These 3. Price sensitivity is higher for men than for women incentives and programs have been adjusted and (more than double, see Figure 3): taking into account consolidated in recent years. In this context, the the heterogeneity of user responses over time, results imply that, despite access to other social doubling the real price of the fare would lead to a programs and their recent adjustments, the level of reduction in the total number of ticket validations, to SITP demand by people classified as Sisbén A and B the tune of: continues to be sensitive to fare changes. 6 © Felipe Restrepo Acosta/Wikimedia Commons 70 percent for men in Sisbén groups A, B and C particular to decisions on how to set fares that balance in months 6 to 10 after the change (vs. 41 the financial sustainability of the system while, at the percent in the first five months). same time, allowing large vulnerable segments of the 32 percent for women in Sisbén groups A, B and population—the poor and those at risk of falling into in months 6 to 10 after the change (vs. 17 poverty but who stand to benefit significantly from percent in the first five months). public transport—to access public transport. Higher price sensitivity for men may likely be due to The findings recorded in this note shed light on the the fact that men use more modes of transportation fact that: than women (they have more alternatives),¹⁶ for There is considerable sensitivity in the use of example: public transport to changes in fares paid by users Women use the SITP for the majority of their in the three lowest socioeconomic groups in work trips (67 percent), followed by trips on foot Bogotá (Sisbén groups A, B and C). This can have (16 percent). Only 13 percent of work trips made major implications for access to better job by women involve a motorbike, private motor opportunities and to health, education and other vehicle or bicycle. essential services, given that low-income groups rely heavily on public transportation for their trips. By contrast, men use the SITP for only 35 percent of their work trips, opting instead to The impact of price changes on SITP usage takes travel by motorbike, private motor vehicle or time to materialize. This means that users require bicycle for 50 percent of such trips. Furthermore, time to adjust their level of demand for public 18 percent of men who reported “working” as transportation and other goods and services, their main occupation (versus 1 percent of which can in turn have an impact on multiple women) are drivers for Uber, a taxi service, or a indicators of well-being (e.g., choosing an transport or courier company. This may imply alternative means of transportation, changing that they have greater access to alternative household consumption, adjusting where they modes of transportation. work). It is necessary to wait a while before measuring the final impacts of these changes to PUBLIC POLICY IMPLICATIONS better understand how these groups will be impacted over the long term. In Bogotá and cities with similar conditions, governments face major policy challenges when There is significant heterogeneity by gender in designing their public transport systems. This relates in terms of the sensitivity of public transport use to fare changes: ¹⁶ Based on baseline data collected in 2022. 7 Men are much more sensitive to price changes. These results highlight the importance of One reason may be because they use more considering policies that will reduce socioeconomic modes of transportation than women, that is, and gender gaps in urban mobility patterns and they have more alternatives to get around, and mitigate some of the possible consequences that are therefore able to adjust their mobility may arise in terms of access to economic and social patterns more easily by switching between opportunities. In a future analysis, we will evaluate different modes of transportation. the impact of these fare changes on other well- being indicators not confined to public transport The difference between the price sensitivity of use. Such an analysis will help us better understand men and women does not mean that the impact the differences in SITP use between men and is minor for women. It may mean, for example, women, the factors that explain these differences, that the effect of the price change is reflected in and the policy options that can help improve the other indicators of well-being, such as a well-being of these users. reduction in disposable income when fares increase, since they have less flexibility to adjust their SITP usage and may end up expending a higher percentage of their income on transportation to make the same number of trips. TEAM AND FINANCING The research team comprises Guadalupe Bedoya, Sveta Milusheva, and Wendy Brau from the World Bank’s Development Impact (DIME) department. The extended team includes Leonardo Cañón Rubiano and Ellin Ivarsson of the World Bank’s Transport Global Practice. This work was carried out in close collaboration with the District Secretariat for Mobility of Bogotá, led by the Undersecretariat for Mobility Policy, and Transmilenio S.A., the manager of the SITP. Thomas Escande, David Quiroz Barrios, and Maria Camila Ayala supported the research. Soluciones Estratégicas en Información (SEI- consultants) collected baseline data in 2022. This project was made possible by UK Aid funding from the UK Government, through the i2i and ieConnect programs; the Research Support Budget (RSB) of the Development Economics Vice Presidency, and the World Bank’s Transport Global Practice. REFERENCES ª Hörcher, D., & Tirachini, A. (2021). “A review of public transport economics.” Economics of transportation, 25, 100196. ᵇ Guzman, L. A. and Oviedo, D. (2018). Accessibility, affordability and equity: Assessing ‘pro-poor’ public transport subsidies in Bogotá.” Transport Policy (Elsevier),68, 37-51. c Transmilenio S.A. 2023. The SITP – General Information. Last accessed: February 20, 2024 ᵈDecree 004 of 2023 of the Office of the Mayor of Bogotá, D.C.: https://www.alcaldiabogota.gov.co/sisjur/normas/Norma1.jsp?i=132579. ᵉ Resolution 81469 of 2023 of the District Secretariat of Mobility of Bogotá: https://www.alcaldiabogota.gov.co/sisjur/normas/Norma1.jsp?i=135058. f Banco de la República de Colombia: https://www.banrep.gov.co/es/estadisticas/trm. ᵍ Office of the Mayor of Bogotá, Mimeo, 2017. ʰ Bedoya Argüelles, Guadalupe; Brau, Wendy; Canon Rubiano, Leonardo; Ivarsson Molina, Linda Ellin Maria; Sveta Milusheva. Mobility and well-being of vulnerable population groups in Bogotá and gender gaps in urban mobility (Spanish). Washington, DC World Bank Group. The ieConnect for Impact program links project teams with researchers to develop rigorous and innovative impact evaluations that both substantially improve the evidence-base for policy making and induce global shifts in transport policy. The ieConnect program is a collaboration between the World Bank’s Development Impact Department (DIME) and the Transport Global Practice. This program is part of the Impact Evaluation to Development Impact (i2i) multi-donor trust fund and is supported by the UKAID’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the European Union (EU).