Myths and Realities of Informal Public Transport in Developing Countries : Approaches for Improving the Sector - Discussion Paper
It is often said that transport is the one economic sector that can degrade as incomes increase. The degradation is manifested in increasing congestion, pollution, accidents, and other traffic related maladies. One view is that the root of the prob...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Washington, DC: World Bank
2022
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099750301312234821/P1533110f417e20ab0a73a048a359f34aa3 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37083 |
| id |
okr-10986-37083 |
|---|---|
| recordtype |
oai_dc |
| spelling |
okr-10986-370832022-03-05T05:10:34Z Myths and Realities of Informal Public Transport in Developing Countries : Approaches for Improving the Sector - Discussion Paper Kumar, Ajay Zimmerman, Sam Arroyo Arroyo, Fatima SSATP PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM TAXI INFORMAL PUBLIC TRANSPORT It is often said that transport is the one economic sector that can degrade as incomes increase. The degradation is manifested in increasing congestion, pollution, accidents, and other traffic related maladies. One view is that the root of the problem lies in rising incomes that lead to even faster-rising motorization. Another assessment sees a motorization-induced decline of “formal” publictransport systems and the rise of “informal” services as key issues, but it is unclear whether the rise of the informal sector is the result of transport system degradation or the cause. Understanding the basic causes of the transport system’s decline and the dominance of informal public transport is essential before improvements can be identified. Because of its social, economic, and environmental importance, the paper’s main focus is on public transport in general, specifically its so-called “informal” aspects. The objectives of thepaper are to: a) examine the uniqueness of public transport systems in Sub-Saharan African cities in terms of their historical, institutional, spatial, social, environmental, economic, and political contexts; b) explore the causes of the decline of developing country transport systems in general and in public transport’s degradation in particular; c) discuss commonly-held misconceptions sothat policymakers at all levels of government can understand the issues that must be addressed if “informal” public transport is to be improved as part of an enhanced, customer-driven public transport system; and d) propose the outline of a roadmap for making improvements. Subsequent work will examine in more detail what an improved public transport system would look like and how it can be achieved. This paper also focuses on all aspects of so-called “minibus-taxis,” the oldest and most prevalent informal sector mode in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. This mode goes by different names in different places; however, the many causes of its rise and the impacts of the rise are common throughout the developing world. Relatively new informal public transport operations using three-wheeled shared ride vehicles (e.g., “Tempos” in India) and motorcycle taxis (e.g., “Xiom” in Vietnam) have arisen as minibus taxis with similar operating and business models. 2022-03-04T19:33:47Z 2022-03-04T19:33:47Z 2021-12-01 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099750301312234821/P1533110f417e20ab0a73a048a359f34aa3 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37083 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Report |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM TAXI INFORMAL PUBLIC TRANSPORT |
| spellingShingle |
PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM TAXI INFORMAL PUBLIC TRANSPORT Kumar, Ajay Zimmerman, Sam Arroyo Arroyo, Fatima SSATP Myths and Realities of Informal Public Transport in Developing Countries : Approaches for Improving the Sector - Discussion Paper |
| description |
It is often said that transport is
the one economic sector that can degrade as incomes
increase. The degradation is manifested in increasing
congestion, pollution, accidents, and other traffic related
maladies. One view is that the root of the problem lies in
rising incomes that lead to even faster-rising motorization.
Another assessment sees a motorization-induced decline of
“formal” publictransport systems and the rise of “informal”
services as key issues, but it is unclear whether the rise
of the informal sector is the result of transport system
degradation or the cause. Understanding the basic causes of
the transport system’s decline and the dominance of informal
public transport is essential before improvements can be
identified. Because of its social, economic, and
environmental importance, the paper’s main focus is on
public transport in general, specifically its so-called
“informal” aspects. The objectives of thepaper are to: a)
examine the uniqueness of public transport systems in
Sub-Saharan African cities in terms of their historical,
institutional, spatial, social, environmental, economic, and
political contexts; b) explore the causes of the decline of
developing country transport systems in general and in
public transport’s degradation in particular; c) discuss
commonly-held misconceptions sothat policymakers at all
levels of government can understand the issues that must be
addressed if “informal” public transport is to be improved
as part of an enhanced, customer-driven public transport
system; and d) propose the outline of a roadmap for making
improvements. Subsequent work will examine in more detail
what an improved public transport system would look like and
how it can be achieved. This paper also focuses on all
aspects of so-called “minibus-taxis,” the oldest and most
prevalent informal sector mode in Africa, Latin America, and
Asia. This mode goes by different names in different places;
however, the many causes of its rise and the impacts of the
rise are common throughout the developing world. Relatively
new informal public transport operations using three-wheeled
shared ride vehicles (e.g., “Tempos” in India) and
motorcycle taxis (e.g., “Xiom” in Vietnam) have arisen as
minibus taxis with similar operating and business models. |
| format |
Report |
| author |
Kumar, Ajay Zimmerman, Sam Arroyo Arroyo, Fatima SSATP |
| author_facet |
Kumar, Ajay Zimmerman, Sam Arroyo Arroyo, Fatima SSATP |
| author_sort |
Kumar, Ajay |
| title |
Myths and Realities of Informal Public Transport in Developing Countries : Approaches for Improving the Sector - Discussion Paper |
| title_short |
Myths and Realities of Informal Public Transport in Developing Countries : Approaches for Improving the Sector - Discussion Paper |
| title_full |
Myths and Realities of Informal Public Transport in Developing Countries : Approaches for Improving the Sector - Discussion Paper |
| title_fullStr |
Myths and Realities of Informal Public Transport in Developing Countries : Approaches for Improving the Sector - Discussion Paper |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Myths and Realities of Informal Public Transport in Developing Countries : Approaches for Improving the Sector - Discussion Paper |
| title_sort |
myths and realities of informal public transport in developing countries : approaches for improving the sector - discussion paper |
| publisher |
Washington, DC: World Bank |
| publishDate |
2022 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099750301312234821/P1533110f417e20ab0a73a048a359f34aa3 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37083 |
| _version_ |
1764486394833534976 |