Mapping minibuses in Maputo and Nairobi: engaging paratransit in transportation planning in African cities

Abstract

Often called paratransit because of their flexible stops, schedules and routes, minibuses make up the bulk of public transport in African cities. Despite their ubiquity and importance, these systems are poorly understood by transportation planners who tend to focus on large-scale urban infrastructure projects such as highways, commuter rail or bus rapid transit systems. The assumption within much of this planning is that these minibus systems are barriers to change and will become at most secondary "feeder" buses within large-scale projects, but structured plans detailing this vision are lacking. This paper argues that frequent failure to collect data and value important paratransit systems as a critical part of transportation in their own right is deeply problematic from the point of view of equity, access and inclusive and effective planning. We ask whether the growing number of bottom up mapping projects of minibus systems can disrupt this status quo. By comparing two mapping projects, Digital Matatus in Nairobi and the Mapa Dos Chapas in Maputo, we find that inclusive, collaborative mapping can help render these minibuses more visible in planning and provoke more grounded and inclusive "planning conversations" on multimodal integration, passenger information and minibus upgrading, all key but relatively marginalised aspects of creating accessible, low emission, high quality and safe public transport in African cities.

Commuting Trips, Income and Gender in the Metropolitan Maputo, Mozambique

“…In Mozambique, few studies have focused on mobility. From those studies some focused on the drivers and safety (Couto et al, 2009;Couto & Lawoko, 2011); other studies have focused on the demand for bus services (Tembe et al, 2017); other studies have focused on mapping the rapid paratransit systems and their operations (Colaço & Serra, 1998;Leão, 2012;Klopp & Cavoli, 2019); and other studies have focused on urban transport policy choices and coordination between public and private entities (Araújo, 2014;Mendonça, 2014;Seco, Bastos-Silva, & Matos, 2017;Mabucanhane, 2018); other studies have focused on alternatives to mobility among commuters (Federhen, 2018) and some studies focused on the interplay between spatial planning and urban transportation (Jorge & Melo, 2014). However, while those studies have offered valuable insights into the dynamics of public transportation in Maputo, they don't address the interplay between mobility, gender and income, specifically in contexts like Maputo.…”

East Africa’s Policy and Stakeholder Integration of Informal Operators in Electric Mobility Transitions—Kigali, Nairobi, Kisumu and Dar es Salaam

“…There is a strong presence of informal transport operators mainly made up of mini-bus operators, moto-taxi and three-wheeler operators in all four cities. In all the cities except in Kigali, where non-licensed minibuses are being phased out [55], private minibus operators continue to provide the greater share of motorized public transport services as is the case in many African countries [56]. There is also growing modal shares of moto-taxi services which account for 12% in Kigali [46] and 13.5% in Kisumu [26].…”

Electric Mobility in East-Africa: How the Policy and Stakeholder Environment Tackles the Integration of Informal Transport Systems Into Low-Carbon Transition – Case Studies From Kigali, Kisumu, Nairobi and Dar es Salaam

“…There is a strong presence of informal transport operators mainly made up of mini-bus operators, moto-taxi and 3-wheeler operators in all four cities. In all the cities except in Kigali where non-licensed minibuses are being phased out 61 , private minibus operators continue to provide the greater share of motorised public transport services as is the case in many African countries 62 . There is also growing modal shares of moto-taxi services which account for 12% in Kigali 63 and 13.5% in Kisumu 64 .…”