How are informal transport networks formed? Bridging planning and political economy of labour

Abstract

This paper presents a model for understanding how private-sector transport operators make individual and collective decisions on the change and expansion of transport networks, based on a comparison of Lilongwe, Malawi; Kampala, Uganda; and Nairobi, Kenya. This network geography underpins accessibility, including the equity, affordability and usefulness of mass transportation services available to different people across the space of cities. Governance of informal transport remains disjointed, and planning processes within the sector itself are rarely engaged with. Neither top-down nor bottom-up, this study finds that different forms of internal organization, the role and power of workers, and the geographic scope and level of organization in the industry affect the planning practices of operators and the ways and locations to which they expand their services. Where there is little route-level organization, independent vehicles have difficulty creating services to new destinations. Where route-level organizations take the initiative and invest capital to start new services, whether vehicle owners or frontline workers such as drivers and conductors are more involved leads to different levels of dialogue with communities and different willingness to tolerate internal conflict, creating different types of transport networks and different mobility patterns.