[sustran] Poverty alleviation, basic mobility & the informal sector

[Dharm Guruswamy]

On Tue, 20 May 1997, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy wrote:

> Of course the unions hate them because they are operated primarily by
> immigrants, many of them illegal immigrants, who are therefore willing to
> work for extremely low wages with no health care or pension benefits.  Many
> of the vehicles operate with out any sort of insurance, or vehicle safety
> inspection.  If these vehicles were forced to operate as legal small
> businesses, it is not clear whether they would continue to enjoy the same
> competitive advantages.  in other words, part of their competitive advantage
> is that they do not have to pay the costs of working in the formal sector. 

Walter,

     This is a good point.  Cervero in his most recent (?) book
_Paratransit in America: Redefining Mass Transportation (Praeger, 1997)_
discussed several examples including Houston.  In Houston after the
companies were in effect "legalized" but with conditions (e.g. no vehicle
over a certain age, insurance, drivers can only work X hours shifts etc..)
imposed NO firms entered the legal market.  Naturally it begs the question
as to if the requirements were too strict.

     Part of the problem is the low overall population density, low
gasoline prices, and free parking all add up to be a impediment to ANY
form of "collective" transport.  Within Houston's inner ring freeway is a
population density some 1/5th. of Paris's comparable area, for example. 
 
     The success of jitneys in developing countries is a function of the
low income levels and high population density.  But they too are
threatened (along with more formalized bus systems) by ever increasing
traffic congestion which decreases their efficiency and since most systems
are in private hands (in the developing world at least) ultimately
increases costs. 

The solution to this omnipresent problem (at least in rapidly urbanizing
developing countries) in my opinion is priority for collective transport.
How this is accomplished will vary from city to city, but can include
traffic light preemption, bus lanes (contra flow lanes are the easiest to
enforce but plagued by the highest accident rates) on both arterials and
freeways, and segregated roads for busses (busways).  Unfortunately, many
planners in developing countries CANNOT understand this point. Ultimately,
restraint of car traffic through road pricing (beginning with facility
pricing and extended to areawide pricing) will also be necessary as
extreme traffic congestion will tempt users to cheat onto exclusive bus
only facilities making their enforcement difficult and ultimately leading
to their demise as effective operating facilities. 


---
Dharm Guruswamy - 3rd year grad. student, City Planning & Civil
Engineering
snail mail: 960 Atlantic Drive NW, Atlanta, GA 30332
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