Resource information
A decline in organized public transport
systems has led to rapid growth in non-conventional means of
public transport, initially provided by minibuses and shared
taxi/vans, and more recently by commercial motorcycles.
Unlike cities in South and East Asia, ownership and use of
motorized two-wheelers as a personalized vehicle is very
small in sub-Saharan cities. However, over the past decade
there has been a significant growth in the use of
motorcycles as a commercial public transport mode. While
offering certain transport advantages in the form of easy
maneuverability, ability to travel on poor roads, and demand
responsiveness, commercial motorcycle service growth has
also led to an increase in road accidents, traffic
management problems, pervasive noise and increases in local
air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Government
efforts to regulate the market have had the contrary impact
of compounding the problem by distorting market structures.
The growth in the use of commercial motorcycles has also
dispelled one of the commonly held illusions: fare controls
in the public bus market are often justified to support
affordability for a vast majority of low income population;
however, commercial motorcycles are more expensive than the
lowest bus fares, but are increasingly being patronized by
the poor due to the inadequacy of bus services. This paper
attempts to evaluate the commercial motorcycle mode used in
the three cities of Douala, Lagos, and Kampala, based on
their political economy context in order to draw general
conclusions of value throughout Africa and the rest of the
developing world. The evaluation underscores the linkages
between governance failure and weak sector performance and
highlights the need to adapt policy instruments to local
political and economic context. Central to discussion is the
necessity to develop a participation framework driven by
open communications across a wide spectrum of stakeholders.
