Abstract
The book Transport and Mobility Futures in Urban Africa has been compiled and edited by Ransford A. Acheampong, Karen Lucas, Michael Poku-Boansi, and Chinebuli Uzondu. This book delves into the intricate dynamics of transportation and mobility in urban African settings, shedding light on the challenges, innovations, and prospects within this domain.
The book is a collection of 24 research papers that focus on various aspects such as accessibility, travel demand, equity, governance, ICT and so on. Research papers also highlight challenges and management in various parts of Africa. The editors have curated a collection of insightful essays and research studies that collectively paint a comprehensive picture of the current state and potential evolution of transport systems in urban Africa. The book explores a wide range of topics, including public transportation infrastructure, traffic management, sustainable mobility solutions and the socio-economic implications of transportation policies.
One of the key strengths of this book is its diverse perspectives, with contributions from various experts and scholars in the field of urban planning, transportation engineering and environmental sustainability. By incorporating this multi-disciplinary approach, the editors have been able to offer a holistic view of the complex issues facing urban mobility in Africa, presenting readers with a nuanced understanding of the subject matter. Furthermore, the book acknowledges the historical context of urban development in Africa, taking into account factors such as rapid urbanisation, resource constraints and the impact of colonial legacies on contemporary transport infrastructures.
Unit 1 discusses the prevailing challenges of mobility and accessibility in urban Africa that are fundamentally rooted in the unfolding, largely unplanned and informal structural transformations of the continent’s major towns and cities. Unit 2 of the book explores the highly prevalent issue of transport poverty, which is closely associated with the developed and developing spatial of African cities as they have been discussed in the previous section. Unit 3 reflects the growing incidence of urbanisation, increasing motorisation and the need for safe, reliable, inclusive and sustainable public transport systems which has received considerable attention from transport planners, policymakers and development partners. A section is dedicated to case examples of studies that provides a unique contribution to understanding and improvement of non-motorised transport (NMT) and traffic safety in Africa. It offers readers a critical look at some key emerging issues within and around NMT and traffic safety and how infrastructure and policy challenges associated with progress in these domains are managed. In this final Part of the book, we explore the emergence, diffusion and implications of technological innovation for transportation and mobility in urban Africa.
Chapter 2 highlights that daily mobility and access to opportunities are becoming increasingly difficult within the predominantly monocentric spatial structures that characterise Africa’s major towns and cities. This is especially true for most of the urban population that does not have access to private transportation and instead relies on walking or public transportation with limited service. In Chapter 3, it can be seen that to improve geographical coverage, policy responses both now and in the future should develop and implement a portfolio of actions to expand the supply of public transportation infrastructure. Chapter 4 evaluates that due to the low level of household wealth in Algiers, public transportation is still the preferred mode of transportation for passengers, in terms of the quality of the public transportation network. The reason for inability of public passenger transport by bus to meet the travel demand of Algiers’ inhabitants is an unbalanced spatial structure of bus transport network, and quantitative supply combined with a supply quality which is below standards. In Chapter 5, the fleet ownership of residential vehicles has been modelled using an approximated multinomial logit model. There were six options taken into consideration: (a) no vehicles, (b) only cars, (c) only motorcycles, (d) single bicycles, (e) numerous bicycles and (f) mixed fleets (vehicles, cars, motorcycles and other vehicles). The models presented in this paper showed strong differences in behaviours across the different parts of Ghana.
Chapter 6 highlights to effectively tackle transport poverty, it is imperative to reinterpret the definition of delivery success and move away from quantifying performance. A mobility future built on unrestricted car use and a customised transportation system completely ignores the question of who will be left out of this system of provision (most women, children, young people, older disabled people, low-income populations and urban peripheral households) and who will have access to it (the minority elite). Chapter 7 pinpoints that women in Accra encounter social and physical barriers when traveling and these disturbed mobilities are linked to discomforts and feelings of indignity for women. These experiences also intersect with women’s self-identification as hardworking change agents for their nation, exposing the male-centeredness of the transportation system. In Chapter 8, a pedestrian-friendly urban mobility pathway is made more difficult by the fact that community severance is still not a widely used concept in African urban transport planning. Pedestrian issues are typically presented as concerns related to road safety. To lower traffic collisions, segregating motorised and non-motorised road users has been a common option. Chapter 9 indicates that there is a significant and endogenous relationship between modal choices, distance travelled and poverty status. Chapter 10 explains how multi-modalism, putting the public interest first, and policy changes can be used to conceptualise a model for sustainable transport and mobility futures in African cities. In particular, the focus should be moved from the excessive dependence on automobile transportation to more ecologically friendly alternatives such as walking and cycling.
Chapter 11 exclaims that unfortunately, the current state of public transportation systems in the majority of African cities raises more questions than it does answers regarding their inclusivity, efficiency, safety and sustainability despite the documented and established cases of the importance of transportation to socio-economic development. Chapter 12 argues for a change from the quick fix Bogotá strategy, which has not had much success implementing BRT in African cities, to the more gradual approach based on the RPLC idea because of the advantages of mass transit services like BRT in African countries. These obstacles prevented Nigeria and Accra from implementing BRT in the same way as Bogotá. Using Kumasi as a case study, Chapter 13 examines the socio-political framework for managing and setting the cost of transportation services in Ghana. The findings demonstrated that Ghana’s public transportation networks are the product of intricate relationships between several governmental tiers, motivated by their agency, capacity to control transportation costs and comprehension of the respective contributions of place and link in the provision of public transportation. Chapter 14 suggests that to create clear mandates for the various institutions to collaborate towards the building of an inclusive and secure public transport system that can support the sustainable development of African cities, the public transport governance structure needs to be re-evaluated at the local level. This could be a major turning point for the fast-urbanising Sub-Saharan Africa .
Chapter 15 discusses a crucial component of successfully advancing inclusive, integrated, and sustainable urban transportation in Africa is the growth of NMT, which includes walking and cycling. The detrimental impacts of air pollution and accidents are not evenly distributed throughout society, especially among the lower socio-economic classes.
Chapter 16 argues that walkability, at least in Johannesburg, is a far more comprehensive synonym for accessibility, inclusivity, public space, economic and social development, and liveability—or, as one planner puts it, “all of those things that I would just consider to be good planning”—than a tool for planners to use in the construction of pleasant, connected and convenient pathways. Walkable neighbourhoods ought to be created in collaboration with the community, policies and existing infrastructure.
Chapter 17 is the study that took into account the psychosocial views that are prevalent nowadays as well as certain particular infrastructure issues that restrict bicycle use. According to the study, there are four main variables that contribute to the low bicycle ridership on the KNUST campus: hazardous riding circumstances, unidentified encouraging factors, environmental and health considerations, shared amenities, and peer pressure. Zambia’s comfortable tropical climate makes it possible to use NMT for most of the year. In Chapter 19, an overview of NMT’s significance and contribution to sustainable mobility is given. The study’s findings suggest that a well-thought-out NMT infrastructure integration and execution might provide a reliable and safe transportation system. In most developing nations today, NMT makes up a significant portion of travel, even though NMT infrastructures are almost non-existent there. Even though most African cities have seen some progress, more may be done to enhance the NMT facility installations in these communities.
Chapter 20 explains that with technological advances, there are both opportunities and challenges in meeting the daily mobility needs of Africa’s rising urban population and creating transportation systems that are sustainable in terms of both the environment and society. When taken as a whole, they offer insightful information about the potential benefits and drawbacks of new ICT-mediated mobility solutions, the ways in which digital and ICT technologies can enhance passenger security, and the opportunities, obstacles and paths towards decarbonising transportation in African cities. In Chapter 21, it is discussed that implementing such interventions can be challenging due to localised circumstances and transport operational structures, aside from technology limitations. Internet verification technologies that search for indicators that suggest authenticity might be used to confirm licenses via apps such as Himmat Plus, which verify drivers apart from the car. Furthermore, drivers’ hostility to tracking devices suggests that they may not like the accountability that comes with rating apps.
Chapter 22 states that conventional approaches can still be prioritised in policy and planning if there is no clear proof of how well ICTs reduce actual and perceived security risks. To assess the efficacy of various ICT strategies in a setting like South Africa, where institutional mistrust is high and there are many obstacles to technology use, such as mobile data access, more research is required. The data in this chapter has demonstrated that whereas app-based mobility services have a number of advantages, they also have broader, as yet unidentified socio-economic and environmental effects.
With their haphazard and unorganised paratransit networks and brittle electrical grids, developing nations in Sub-Saharan Africa will soon experience this revolution due to the availability of automobiles, market pressures and manufacturer policies from those nations. The features, opportunities and difficulties specific to paratransit will influence the ultimate uptake of electric minibus taxis. Most commuters in the Sub-Saharan region rely on paratransit for their transportation, which was the subject of discussion in Chapter 23.
Lastly the book concludes that understanding the scope of the transportation and mobility issues that African cities today face is essential to designing and implementing the portfolio of interventions required to build desirable futures. Urban areas across the continent are currently dealing with similar transportation and mobility challenges, but the fundamental causes differ and stem from the interplay of complex spatial, sociological, political and economic elements unique to each country and city. As a result, there is no one mobility and transport future or path leading to that future shared by African cities.
In terms of readability and accessibility, the editors have struck a good balance between academic rigor and engaging prose. The chapters are well-structured, with clear explanations and relevant case studies that help illustrate key concepts. This makes the book suitable for a wide audience, including scholars, policymakers, urban planners and anyone interested in the future of urban mobility.
Transport and Mobility Futures in Urban Africa is a valuable contribution to the ongoing discourse on transportation and urban development in Africa. It provides a comprehensive overview of the current trends and future trajectories of transport systems on the continent, offering valuable insights for researchers and practitioners alike. Whether you are a student looking to expand your knowledge on urban mobility or a professional working in the field, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of transportation and urbanisation in Africa.