After years of destruction, intentional destruction, and lack of maintenance, the transport sector in Cambodia, which provides both the country's lifeline to the outside world and its crucial internal distribution system, fell into a serious state of disrepair. Despite lack of technical capability to restore it or to make needed improvements and shortage of funds, somewhat surprisingly, considerable progress has been made in the last few years in reviving the transport operations, using the minimal resources that could be obtained.
A sizable amount of donor funding has already been mobilized for transport infrastructure rehabilitation, and implementation of some projects was started in 1992-93. A great deal of repair and rehabilitative work undertaken directly or was financed by donors, including Australia, Japan, Sweden, Thailand, the United States, ILO, ODA, UNDP, and UNHCR. These efforts have generally been focused on the immediate necessity of returning the roads to a traversable condition and carrying out repairs to damaged or destroyed bridges. While much of the work performed was essentially of a temporary nature, the efforts in 1994 and beyond are directed to rehabilitation and improvement works of a more permanent nature, providing roads and pavements that can better withstand the effects of weather, flooding, and traffic and that require normal maintenance rather than frequent reconstruction.
By 1996, it is estimated that some 300 km of main roads will have been reconstructed while another 550 km will have been rehabilitated at least temporarily. In addition to the 7,300 kilometres of national and provincial roads in the latest official list, a road map from 1984 classifies another 4,500 km of roads and traffic able by vehicles. The remaining length of about 21,700 km, not classified as traffic able, is presumably tracks and local roads of different types.
ROADS, BRIDGES AND FERRIES
The road network consists of some 3,200 km of national roads, another 3,100 km of provincial roads and about 28,000 km of tertiary roads. The primary road network links Phnom Penh to provincial capitals and important centers of population and economic activity. Except for the Route 4 to Sihanoukville (ex-Kompong Som), which was built with US assistance three decades ago, most roads were constructed in the 1920s and 1930s to serve light vehicular traffic. Originally about 2,400 km of the national road network was paved with asphalt or bituminous material, but over the years, through neglect and the effects of flooding and traffic, much of this pavement has disappeared. Presently, about 600 km of paved road remain with the balance surfaced with gravel or laetrile. At least half of the primary roads are in need of repair or improvement. Steel and concrete bridges, most of which were destroyed during the war, have been replace by single-land wooden or Bailey bridges. Ferries operated by the MPWT provide river crossings at three locations where major national roads terminate, and three other smaller ferries provide crossings at other locations. Of the old ferries that stir operate on the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers, the one at Neak Luong, serving the main access road between Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, boasts the heaviest traffic (close to 2 million passengers and some 500,000 assorted vehicles per year.
Semi-autonomous units under MPWT operate ferries at Neak Luang (Road 1), Prek Kdam (Road 6A) and Kompong Cham (Road 7). A ferry along Road 7 in Stung Treng is operated by the province. DANIDA (Denmark), through the Mekong Committee, has agreed to finance a project to alleviate at least the most urgent needs. One new ferry is said to be under construction for delivery early in 1995, to be followed by a second in mid-1996 The rehabilitation of some of the existing ferries plus improvements to the landings and other shore facilities will be undertaken in parallel. It is expected that this project will result in sufficient capacity and adequate service at all sites until at least the year 2000.
The maximum GVW allowed on Cambodian roads at present is 20 tonnes. The most popular truck is the Kamaz 3-axle type, with a capacity of 10 tonnes and a GVW of about 16.5 tonnes if fully taken.
The inventory revealed the following maximum gross vehicle weights (GVW) allowable on each main road.
ROAD TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTS
PASSENGER TRANSPORT
Passenger transport suffers from a lack of adequate vehicles. Motor cycles with or without trailers carry significantly more passengers than private cars and pick- ups, although mainly for short distances. Most motor cycles are small, with cylinder volumes in the range 70-100 cc.
Shared taxi is the predominant mode for public transport, with some 50% of the total number of passengers -km on the primary roads. Older, medium size saloon cars are used for the purpose and carry an average of no less than seven passengers. Most of the remaining such traffic is carried by converted pick-ups, with an average seating capacity of 12 and an average occupancy of 11 passengers. Regular buses are very few even though there is an obvious market. The state Passenger Transport Company has a de facto monopoly and provides some services along Roads 1 a 7, using mainly Soviet PAZ buses with 23 seats. The average occupancy rate for these buses is about 60 % i e very much less than for the private taxis.
GOODS TRANSPORT
Most vehicles for goods transport as observed on the primary roads were imported during 1980-1991 under a favourable trade agreement with former Soviet Union. The main types are MAZ, with two axles and an eight tonne nominal load capacity and KAMAZ with three axles and a ten tonne load capacity. On average for the main road network two-axle trucks constitute about half of the fleet and carry about one third of the goods volume in tonne-km. On Road 4, in particular, many three-axle trucks also pull trailers for an additional ten tonne capacity. The maximum size of trucks is formally restricted by the general 20 tonne limit for the gross vehicle weight, and further by the load restrictions for individual bridges. Larger trucks, such as articulated vehicles, are very few. There is still no organized import of new trucks, as there is for light vehicles. The legislation relating to commercial transport services was liberalized in 1990. Operators have to be registered as businesses, for tax purposes, and need a license issued by the transport department of MPWT. According to MPWT such licenses are normally granted to all applicants on payment of a small fee.
TRAFFIC VOLUMES AND CHARACTERlSTICS-
There have been few systematic traffic studies in Cambodia since the 1960s. Traffic counts at some forty different sites, covering one day at each site, were conducted by MPWT in 1993.
Few road sections outside the main urban areas have traffic volumes exceeding 1,000 vehicles per day and none more than about 3,000 (excluding motor cycles). The average for all primary roads is some 500 vehicles with four or more wheels, plus 1,600 motor cycles per day (weighted average for Roads 1- 7). However, this average includes long sections of Roads 6 and 7 which can hardly be passed at all at present.
The composition of traffic is similar along most main roads, except where the road or bridge conditions limit the use of some vehicle types. The number of motor cycles with or without trailers is generally two to five times the number of vehicles with four or more wheels. Of the light vehicles, about half are shared taxis or public passenger vehicles. Heavy vehicles constitute 10-20, of the total traffic flow excluding motor cycles.
ORIGINS AND DESTINATIONS
About 80% of all long distance (inter- provincial) transport of both goods and passengers, observed in the origin- destination survey, was either to or from Phnom Penh. The aggregate figures for the whole country are likely to be somewhat lower, but the results clearly show Phnom Penh's dominating role in the economy. However, there are also substantial inter- provincial movements between the north- western provinces of Siem Reap, Banteay Meanchay and Battambang.
Many of these goods originate in Thailand. Most of the trade with Vietnam is either local or transshipped at the border, hence very little traffic to/from Vietnam was detected in the surveys. If traffic from Sihanoukville port is excluded, the volume of goods transported by road to Phnom Penh is the same order of magnitude as the volume from Phnom Penh. For most other provinces the volume of domestic exports is also the same order of magnitude as the domestic imports. The goods flows by road are thus quite well balanced, which helps explain the high load factors. There is almost no traffic al all through Phnom Penh, such as between Roads 4 and 5 or between Roads 1 and 5.
TRIP PURPOSES AND TYPES OF COMMODITIES
The main reason for passenger trips is "personal business", accounting for more than half of all replies. Only some 10% of all passenger trips are duty trips, i.e. undertaken during paid working time.