From Motorcycle to Tricycle: Neoliberal Political Economy, Informal Transportation, and Urban/Peri-Urban Mobility in Nigerian Cities

Abstract

In most African states informal motorcycle transportation is a popular means of urban and semi-urban mobility. While studies have examined the transportation–economic development nexus, the political economy of the ban of motorcycles and shift from informal commercial motorcycle to tricycle operation for urban/peri-urban mobility in Nigeria has been grossly neglected in academic discourses. Using a qualitative approach and neoliberal political economy framework, this study investigates how the ban of commercial motorcycles and their replacement with commercial tricycles have impacted urban/peri-urban mobility in Nigerian cities. Contrary to the expectation that replacing motorcycles with tricycles would increase the vulnerability of the majority of informal transport operators and constrain transportation of urban/peri-urban poor without personal/private means of mobility, the replacement has facilitated the development of road infrastructure, reduced road crashes, minimized motorcycle induced crimes, and improved the income of informal transport operators in Nigerian cities. The study concludes that sustainable use of commercial tricycles for urban and peri-urban transportation is relevant for achieving organized and safe informal commercial transportation in Nigeria and other less-developed countries.

A Comparative Analysis of Factors Influencing the Sustainability of the Abia State Health Insurance Agency: Insights From Rural-Urban Abia State

“…Tricycles are a cost-effective and efficient mode of transportation in rural areas. 25 This is especially important in rural Abia, where many government workers rely on their salaries and a cheap means of transportation is a determining factor in their decision to renew their membership.…”

Policing the spread of COVID-19 and the struggle for sustainable livelihood among informal workers in Nigeria

“…Others have focused on the social, economic, and political repercussions of COVID-19, including how the dynamics of policing during the period resulted in human rights violations (Ezeibe et al, 2022; Obiakor, 2020; Onuh, 2021; Onyekwena and Ekeruche, 2020; Onyishi et al, 2020; Oruonye and Ahmed, 2020; Ossai, 2021). Although some attention has been given to the impact of COVID-19 on the informal economy (see Lenshie et al, 2020; Unni, 2020), the pandemic’s interaction with the struggle of informal workers for a living, which includes dread and starvation in Nigeria, has received marginal attention in existing literature. Thus, this study analyzes how the COVID-19 pandemic affected informal workers’ struggle for sustainable livelihoods in Nigeria by exploring the efficacy of interventions taken by the government to control the spread of the virus.…”