Third World Mobility

Informal Public Transportation in the Developing World

Nov 25, 2008 Odilile Ayodele

Access to public transport in the developing world is tenuous. Enterprising individuals have come up with their own solutions to the problem.

Mobility in urban third world cities is marked by the stark unavailability of reliable public transport. Though informal public carriers are unregulated and as Robert Cervero, in his article in the 2001 spring edition of Access ‘informal transit: learning from the developing world’, has argued are dangerous and damaging to the environment. It cannot be ignored that these carriers provide an essential service to the growing urban populations.

Around the world, taxis, minibuses and motorcycles have replaced the horse and carriage as the main source of transportation for the urban residents. Unable to afford private cars but needing to travel relatively long distances many vehicles have been turned into informal public transportation: the most popular being the Minibus and the Motorcycle.

Minibus Taxis

In many third world countries the humble mini bus/van has been converted into a taxi service. In South Africa they are called the taxis, in Nigeria they are called danfos and in Kenya they are called Matatus. No matter what they are called, they a common feature all around the developing world- particularly in Africa. Cramming in a lot more than their capacity of 10-15 people, these mini-buses are a common sight on Africa’s streets.

In South Africa, a mini-bus strike can effectively cripple a city because of the large-scale commuter reliance on this form of transport. George Omondi of East African publication Business Daily Africa ( ‘Boda boda running matatus out of the city’, July 22 2008) reported that in Africa these minibus taxis “have elbowed out organized bus transport companies from lucrative routes and employed their strength in numbers to resist reforms meant to bring high capacity vehicles into the urban transport sector.” Omondi argues that the real test of the survival of the matatu is the Boda (motorcycles). The Kenyan government recently removed the value added tax (VAT) on motorcycles.

Motorcycles

The use of the motorcycle as a public carrier is mounting because of its speed and low fuel consumption. Boniface Mwangi of Business Daily Africa (‘Motorcycle taxis take off on tax cuts’, November 24 2008) notes that there has been serious growth in the use of motorcycles in Kenya as taxis since the tax cuts. Mwangi also noted that another factor assisting the growth in the use of motor bike taxis is the fact that the fuel levy was also simultaneously increased. Commuters now look to motorbikes as their fares are consequently cheaper. Also “motorcycles have spawned hundreds of jobs for youths who have graduated from operating boda bodas (bicycle taxis) to motorcycle taxis”

The Problem with Lack of Regulation

As convenient as the informal carriers may be the fact remains, as stated by Robert Cervero, these forms of transportation are dangerous. The lack of regulation means that vehicles that are not roadworthy are on the road. Moreover, unskilled and/or reckless drivers are transporting members of the public. Part of the responsibility of the state is to look after its citizens.

Many developing nations do not have the resources to provide public transport but, they should be able to regulate it.

The copyright of the article Third World Mobility in Poverty/World Development is owned by Odilile Ayodele. Permission to republish Third World Mobility in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Okadas in Eket, Nigeria

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Jun 19, 2009 3:47 AM

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Public transportation in the USA is not much better than in developing countries. True, the USA has air travel, but the way the airlines are run is outdated. Bus service is a hodgepodge of agencies with little or no coordination among them, and some areas are underserved. The biggest obstacle to effective mass transit is that the cities are planned to favor cars. When Ford introduced the Model T, people stopped using mass transit, and urban planning was no longer restricted to corridors necessitated by the streetcars then popular. The San Francisco Bay Area did not have bus service until the 1970's, when the oil crisis and ensuing rise in gas prices made people not want to drive. San Francisco itself had some type of mass transit as early as the 1870's until MUNI took over in 1910. CalTrain, doing business under various names and ownerships, has been in continuous operation since the 1860's. CalTrain is surviving only because it serves a major city (San Jose), an important seaport and cultural hub (San Francisco), near two major airports (SJC, shuttle from the Santa Clara station; SFO, shuttle from Millbrae station), a major university (Stanford, at the Palo Alto station), also has regional transfer points (San Jose Diridon, transfer to Altamont Commuter Express, Capitol Corridor, and Highway 17 Express; Millbrae, transfer to BART), and several shopping centers and downtown shopping districts.
Buses suffer an image problem, sometimes called "loser cruisers", due to the people associated with bus travel (low income, disabled, elderly). Bikes also have an image problem, this time associated with children (too young to drive). Also, because a bike is much less expensive than a car, rarely more than $1000, often less than $200, and occasionally less than $100, they are sometimes associated with poverty.

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