Informal Transport Research Articles

ANALYSIS OF THE SPATIAL-ECONOMIC AND SOCIO-PROFESSIONAL DYNAMICS OF TAXI-TRICYCLE DRIVERS IN LOME

African cities’ fast rate of population increase from 4 to 6% per year and the decline of organized public transport systems are the origin of the rapid development of non-conventional means of transport [2]. The city of Lomé, since its creation in 1897, has experienced growing demography and spatial extension apart from its socio-collective and mobility infrastructure [5]. Faced with the inability of public transport services to meet the demand, we are witnessing the emergence of informal transport solutions such as taxi-motorbikes and taxi-tricycles in response, not only to the demand but also to youth unemployment and the economic crisis. This article focuses on actors in the taxi-tricycle sector. It analyzes the spatial economic and socio-professional dynamics of taxi-tricycle drivers in Lomé. The scientific interest of this article is dual. Firstly, it makes it possible to map the spatial dynamics of taxi-tricycles in Lomé and, secondly, it identifies the problems related to the propagation of the phenomenon of urban taxi-tricycle transport which, until now, has not been apprehended by Togolese researchers. The methodology focuses on the analyses of data (primary and secondary) collected through a literature search, observations, and a survey. A sample of 47 individuals was selected, made up of 40 taxi-tricycle drivers and seven association leaders. The results show that the diffusion of taxi-tricycles is supported by the logic of marginality and informality. The sector contributes somewhat to solving the problems of mobility and unemployment as well as the increase in municipal revenues. Given the difficulties raised by this study, it is imperative that the sector be regulated by the State.

Efficient self-organization of informal public transport networks

The Global South, encompassing more than 80% of the world population, heavily relies on informal paratransit services with ad-hoc routes. Yet, it remains unclear how efficiently such informal public transport services organize and operate. Here, we analyze and compare the structural efficiency of more than 7000 formal and informal bus service routes in 36 cities across 22 countries globally. Intriguingly, informal transport self-organizes in ways at or above efficiency levels of centralized services. They exhibit fewer detours, more uniform paths, and comparable interconnectivities, all while remaining profitable without the major subsidies common in the Global North. These insights challenge the global perception of informal transport as an inferior alternative to centrally organized services. More generally, analyzing large-scale microscopic transport data and condensing them into informative macroscopic observables may qualitatively improve system understanding and reveal specific options to create more accessible, efficient, and sustainable public transport solutions.

Creating an Informal Transport Route

Problem, research strategy, and findings This study shares the results of a test I established of a new minibus route in Kampala with the Uganda Transport Operators Federation (UTOF). Informal transport provides the bulk of urban mobility in the Global South but may be limited in the connectivity and spatial coverage it is able to provide. I tested the effectiveness of market response by temporarily subsidizing operations in an unserved location and found that even a limited expansion of routing found passenger demand, showing a countercurrent of travel against the existing pattern of radial, central business district–to-suburb travel. Female street vendors were a particularly important previously unserved group of passengers. For operators, the study revealed that establishing new services can be difficult, requiring organizational capacity and substantial investment and risk in terms of time and money. In parallel, when such investments are made, other formal and informal actors, such as police, government bureaucracy, and competing operators, can act to extract the benefits, further slowing the change and growth of the transport network. Takeaway for practice I describe the implementation steps and lessons learned from a small-scale pilot project that could be scaled for use as a planning intervention as well as to assess the equity of market-driven public transport and identify mobility gaps. This study expands the body of evidence on the effectiveness of informal transport systems for diverse mobility needs and spatial coverage, providing unique data and a methodological approach to address latent and hidden mobility needs for urban residents. It develops a potential avenue of intervention for regulators and planning practitioners for a cheap, light-touch intervention that collaborates with informal transport workers to expand accessibility and equity for passengers.

Long-term service contracts for the mobilization of private financing for the reform of the informal public transport sector in the Philippines

Considered the most ambitious program in the Philippines, the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) requires transport cooperatives to replace their old jeepney with modern units. This however requires massive financing, and the government only provides very limited equity subsidies. This paper examines the impact of service contracts (SC) on the financial capacity of transport cooperatives to replace their fleet of old jeepney units. Using qualitative data drawn from interviews with 12 transport cooperatives, we investigate the effect of service contracting on the ability of transport cooperatives to access financing in terms of loans from banks. We find that long-term service contracts can enhance the level of confidence of transport cooperatives to service debt. Our work presents a novel mechanism to mobilize financing from private banks for the reform of the informal transport sector.

Predicting the effects of introducing an emergency transport system in low-income and middle-income countries: a spatial-epidemiological modelling study

IntroductionMany low-income and middle-income countries lack an organised emergency transportation system, leaving people to arrange informal transport to hospital in the case of a medical emergency. Estimating the effect of...

Urban form and daily mobility on the outskirts of Constantine (Algeria): Case of the new town of Ali Mendjeli

This article presents the results of research into the impact of urban form on mobility practices in the outskirts of Constantine, which has experienced spectacular urban growth in recent years. Like other Algerian cities, Ali Mendjeli is one of the most unusual urban forms to have arisen from the saturation of the mother city, and has undergone rapid urban expansion, marked by the concentration of major facilities and services. This has led to several urban dysfunctions, reflected in longer distances travelled, strong growth in the number of journeys and increased use of the car, resulting in saturation of the road network and the inefficiency of public transport, which can no longer cope with high demand, and the emergence of informal transport. In fact, the household travel survey carried out in 2020/2021 revealed that the distance between home and work increases with distance from the town center, with a correlation coefficient of R? = 0.78. In addition, the urban layout of Ali Mendjeli is difficult to navigate on foot, with the private car the most dominant modal share, and public transport is still in deficit due to the poor quality of its offer.

Modernising the ‘king of the road’: Pathways for just transitions for the Filipino jeepney

Transitioning to cleaner technologies and public transport service delivery are fundamental needs in addressing the climate crisis and realising mobility justice, especially in the Global South. But while low carbon transport is a vital element of meeting this demand, the transition process must be just and not disenfranchising to the thousands of informal transport workers who will be negatively affected by state transport modernisation programmes. This is why this research engages with the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) in the Philippines, which aims to replace the so-called ‘king of the road’ called jeepneys with modern vehicles. These public utility vehicles (PUVs) are a major cultural icon in Philippine streets that served the riding public since the aftermath of World War II. But without receiving any technological and business innovations, they have become major targets for government intervention that are largely unaffordable to low-income jeepney drivers and operators. Through my interviews with Philippine government transport agencies, private sector representatives, and civil society organisations alongside a review of media coverages and policy and academic discourses, and participant observation, I navigated around the issues surrounding the PUVMP. This programme is largely seen by jeepney organisations and critical civil society organisations as means to phase out this Filipino cultural icon, an anti-poor measure, and a means for the corporate capture of the public transport sector. With these issues, the quest for just transitions through anchoring the PUVMP to having incremental changes, inclusive dialogues, and industry support serve as important considerations to ensure the sustainability and inclusivity of this programme, especially in the post-Covid 19 pandemic era.

Care‐driven informality: The case of community transport

AbstractNation‐wide cuts to bus subsidies have led to reduced service in rural communities in the UK, leaving those who do not have access to a car – most of whom are older, have a disability, or have a low income – with few other options to meet their travel needs. This has resulted in greater demand on community transport, small‐scale, local, and community‐based transport schemes that are run by the not‐for‐profit sector and are primarily volunteer‐run. Drawing on 28 interviews conducted with volunteers and staff from community transport schemes across Oxfordshire, this paper describes the provision of community transport schemes at the intersection of informal transport and an ethics of care. This sector is posited as informal, however; unlike many informal transport schemes, community transport is non‐entrepreneurial. Instead, these schemes emerge from the community and are care‐driven. Volunteers who run these schemes all provide skilled labour that is a practice of caring about, caring for, or care giving. This framing highlights the undervaluing of community transport. Indeed, the labour and schemes are underfunded and lack recognition. This study therefore emphasises the socio‐political nature of community transport and shows the importance of supporting caring transport services. It concludes by discussing how this undervalued sector might be re‐valorised so that it can continue to support those with few other transport options.

What inhibits the progress of early-career women in Karachi? Studying the effects of socio-spatial mobility barriers on women's employment.

There is a widespread acceptance and shift towards sustainable, inclusive and smart mobility solutions around the world. However, in Karachi, poorly coordinated urban planning, lack of effective governance structure and investment in transport, has allowed the growth of an almost unregulated and ungovernable informal transport sector. Women are more severely affected by the poor service since men not only have more space allocated to them on public transport but also have the freedom to use alternative and cheaper private vehicles such as motorbikes and cycles. Poor representation of women in the transport sector further aggravates the situation. The paper aims to highlight the gender-disaggregated effects of poor transport design, provision and lack of personal agency on mobility, for emphasising the social and cultural attitudes faced by female employees. It argues that not integrating the gender-based disadvantages faced by women into planning, reinforces their disadvantaged position and force them to take complex trips. Scenario-based questions were designed for focus group discussion which covered not only the everyday mobility challenges but also their reactions to the potential solutions. For a gender-based comparative analysis, two separate focus group discussions were organised. Adopting a sector-based mapping approach of the issues discussed in the groups helped understand the complexity of female user experience at various levels, starting from planning or discussing the trips with families, to making modal choices. It also helped to tease out the impact of these issues on their employment opportunities as early-career women. The model proposed in this paper can help illustrate where changes can be made in the system considering the social aspects of transport.

On the ethics of researching informal urbanism

Forms of informal urbanism, ranging from informal settlement to street vending and informal transport, have become integral to how places work across different contexts and scales. In this article, we reflect on the ethics of researching forms of urban informality, with a focus on the capacities and challenges associated with exploring informal urbanism, particularly in the context of what is considered the global South. By drawing on our experiences of investigating various forms of informality in different contexts, this article engages with ethical considerations that arise when researching informal urbanism. We argue that designing, conducting and disseminating research on forms of urban informality can pose critical ethical questions for researchers who not only strive to bring about positive change but must also exercise caution to avoid causing more harm than good by exposing individuals at risk of exploitation, eviction or displacement. This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0 .

Crowdsourcing, digital co-production and collaborative governance for modernizing local public transport services: The exemplar of General Santos City, Philippines

Informal transport continues to play a significant role in the urban transport systems of developing countries. Modernizing informal transport requires a co-ordinated approach to ensure inclusive and sustainable transition. Massive reforms to the Philippines' public transport system were rolled out in 2017 through its Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) aimed at modernizing the country's jeepney industry. Consequently, there is a need to explore collaborative governance mechanisms to sustain the momentum of modernization reforms. A framework integrating crowdsourcing and digital co-production toward collaborative governance is explored through participatory action research based on the deployment of the SafeTravelPH public transport crowdsourcing platform in General Santos City, Philippines. The SafeTravelPH app was developed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform actively engages the government, transport industry providers, and passengers in sharing transformative information to improve public transport by collecting and analyzing real-time data on vehicle trajectory, boarding and alighting locations, occupancy and other public transport operational parameters. The study demonstrates the potential of digital technologies and collaborative governance approaches in modernizing local public transport services. The experiences of General Santos City can provide an exemplar for other cities in the Philippines and other developing countries.

Why the Car Is Not Always King in Global South Cities: Evidence From Ulaanbaatar

Access to a private car has established itself as a critical control on mobility and access to opportunities for residents living in a diverse range of settings, globally. Across cities of the Global South, the benefits of private car access are often intensified by the absence of viable alternative modes of travel. This article explores the influence of private car access and mobility in relation to residents living in “ger district” areas of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital city. These peri-urban areas are informally created when rural migrants set up home on the edge of the city, initially using mobile felt dwellings called “ger” that become augmented or replaced by permanent structures over time. An absence of forward planning as well as unmade roads and hilly topography mean that the ger districts are often poorly served by public transport, while the low density of the built environment also means that informal transport services can be limited in coverage and relatively expensive. This article utilises a database of household questionnaires collected in 2020 to compare mobility patterns and accessibility between car-owning and non-car-owning households in three case study ger districts, capturing seasonal differences between the extreme cold of the wintertime and warmer summer conditions. The findings not only reveal stark mobility and access differences in relation to car ownership but also discrepancies between car ownership and actual car use for important and routine journeys. This indicates that despite a lack of public transport available, many households opt to use what public transport they can. This pattern provides a potentially important basis for future policies that aim to limit car use in order to reduce traffic congestion and broaden access to the city for non-car-owning households by providing more accessible public transport.

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

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.

Urban Taxi Slogans: The People's Arts

Urban Taxi Slogans: The People's Arts

Oil price shock and informal workers in dual labor markets

AbstractThis paper examines the impact of a rise in oil prices on the wages of workers in the unorganized sector of a developing economy. The model economy is comprised of two non‐traded transport sectors, formal and informal, along with other sectors. The main results that we obtain are as follows. The informal transport sector contracts when fuel price rises and lowers the real income of the informal workers. The per‐unit return to land rises, and the factor readjustments even raise the output of other sectors in the economy. We also show why inclusion of non‐passenger transport services does not alter the main outcomes of the model.

EVALUATION OF FACTORS THAT ENCOURAGE PUBLIC TRANSIT USAGE: A CASE STUDY OF LAHORE

Mass Transit System is considered as one of the important parameter in reducingPublic Transport (PT) problem worldwide. Commonly used systems under the umbrella of MassTransit are Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) and Light Rail Transit System (LRTS). BRTS isconsidered better in urban transport planning because of its lesser construction cost and higheraccessibility over LRTS. PT in Lahore is inadequate as compared to actual travel demand. This study /project aims at estimating the choice of informal transport as well as own-vehicle (private vehicle)users and also to identify encouraging factors which facilitate them to shift to BRTS. A StatedPreference (SP) approach was used to collect data about travel time, cost, distance, mode choice alongwith some socio-economic attributes, such as gender, age and occupation. Binary logistic regressionwas performed for creation of regression models. It was found that BRTS has a potential to attractmotorcycle users. However, car users prefer their own vehicles. Modal shift of people was founddependent on travel time and trip cost.

Investigating informal transport travelers’ heterogeneity: A case study of Silor in Bangkok, Thailand

Investigating informal transport travelers’ heterogeneity: A case study of Silor in Bangkok, Thailand

Commuter's personal exposure to air pollutants after the implementation of a cable car for public transport: Results of the natural experiment TrUST

Commuters in urban settlements are frequently exposed to high concentrations of air pollutants due to their proximity to mobile sources, making exposure to traffic-related air pollutants an important public health issue. Recent trends in urban transport towards zero- and low-tailpipe emission alternatives will likely result in decreased exposure to air pollutants. The TrUST (Urban transformations and health) study offers a unique opportunity to understand the impacts of a new cable car (TransMiCable) in underserved communities within Bogotá, Colombia. The aims of this study are to assess the personal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), equivalent Black Carbon (eBC), and Carbon Monoxide (CO) in transport micro-environments and to estimate the inhaled dose per trip during mandatory multimodal trips before and after the implementation of the TransMiCable. We collected personal exposure data for Bus-Rapid-Transit (BRT) feeder buses, regular buses, informal transport, pedestrians, and TransMiCable. TransMiCable showed lower exposure concentration compared to BRT feeder and regular buses (PM2.5: 23.6 vs. 87.0 μg m−3 (P ≤ 0.001) and eBC: 5.2 vs. 28.2 μg m−3 (P ≤ 0.001), respectively). The mean concentration of PM2.5 and eBC inside the TransMiCable cabins were 62 % and 82 % lower than the mean concentrations in buses. Furthermore, using a Monte Carlo simulation model, we found that including the TransMiCable as a feeder is related to a 54.4 μg/trip reduction in PM2.5 inhaled dose and 35.8 μg/trip in eBC per trip. Those changes represent a 27 % and 34 % reduction in an inhaled dose per trip, respectively. Our results show that PM2.5, eBC, and CO inhaled dose for TransMiCable users is reduced due to lower exposure concentration inside its cabins and shorter travel time. The implementation of a cable car in Bogotá is likely to reduce air pollution exposure in transport micro-environments used by vulnerable populations living in semi-informal settlements.

Bringing Transport into Black Geographies: Policies, Protests, and Planning in Johannesburg

This article contributes to the burgeoning dialogue in Black geographies by adding a focus on transport. Because there is no singular, all-encompassing framework for Black geographies, this article draws on a long history of Blackness and Whiteness in the discipline of geography and beyond. It contextualizes the contemporary conversation within critical reflections from feminist, indigenous, and queer as well as decolonial and postcolonial studies. These wider considerations are especially important for geography, a discipline historically detached from efforts to deracialize the city. The article then refines its focus on Blackness and transport by reflecting on race and mobility in South African cities. The empirical focus for these deliberations is Johannesburg, where transport has historically been used as a tool for discrimination and control, and in the postapartheid context, transport provides unbridled opportunities for social and spatial integration. Three frameworks for exploring Black transport geographies are then introduced: the policies and laws that control movement, community action and protest against racist transport, and the emergence of informal transport systems. The aim of this article, however, is not to promote a particular approach for bringing transport into conversation with Black geographies, but rather to provide a rigorous reflection that is not only analytically productive but practically useful.

Is informal transport flexible?

Informal transport is often described as flexible, reactive, demand responsive, niche-filling, and in-tune with passenger needs. This paper proposes expanded definitions of flexibility in the operations of informal transport networks and presents a theoretical framing for understanding the growth and change in the locations of routes and terminals. Based on surveys and interviews of transport workers and regulators in four African cities, it argues that individually competing vehicles encounter coordination failures that limit their incentives for searching out niche services. Meanwhile, in cities with localized, route-based associations, organizations of multiple vehicles are able to take on the initiative and risk of developing new service locations and responding to passenger demand. This is done through a complex, gradual process that includes temporary subsidies to drivers and operators, testing and measuring potential demand, and advertising the new route. The key mechanism is in competition not between individual drivers, who manage internal competition carefully with a variety of mechanisms to distribute income opportunities fairly, but between firms and associations over territorial coverage. This not only opens potential for engaging transport associations in planning and policymaking, but also reveals limitations to the coverage and equity of access offered by existing networks and incentive structures.