Controlled Public Transport Fares in the Developing World: Help or Hindrance to the Urban Poor?

Institute of Transportation Engineers. ITE Journal, Jun 2005 by Thompson, John E, Nagayama, Katsuhide

THIS FEATURE DRAWS ON THE EXPERIENCES OF CAIRO, EGYPT, AND ARGUES THAT FROZEN PUBLIC TRANSPORT FARES HAVE HURT RATHER THAN BENEFITED CERTAIN SEGMENTS OF THE POOR AND CONTRIBUTED TO A GENERAL DETERIORATION OF PUBLIC BUS SERVICES.

INTRODUCTION

The Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Higher Committee for Greater Cairo Transport Planning conducted the Transportation Master Plan and Feasibility Study of Urban Transport Projects in Greater Cairo Region in the Arab Republic of Egypt (Cairo Regional Area Transportation Study [GREATS]). Pacific Consultants International, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, was the designated lead consultant for the study.

GREATS has at its core the formulation of a multimodal and integrated master plan that addresses the transport needs of greater Cairo, Egypt, both in the near term and over the next 20 years.1 GREATS is comprehensive in nature. Eleven transport surveys were undertaken, including a home interview survey administered to 57,000 households representing approximately 250,000 persons.

This feature draws upon these resources with a particular focus on the transport patterns of the urban poor. A background synopsis dealing with urban poverty and transport in the developing world is presented. Then, current public transport operations in Cairo are reviewed and specific details regarding travel patterns of the urban poor are documented. This leads to a discussion of main issues, the role of GREATS and the measures contained within the Cairo transport master plan that are seen as particularly relevant to the transport needs of the urban poor.

URBAN POVERTY AND TRANSPORT IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD

Poverty usually is thought of as a lack of income, but income poverty is only part of the picture. According to ElEhwany and El-Laithy: "Just as human development encompasses much broader aspects of life than mere income, so poverty should be seen as having many dimensions. Poverty cannot be objectively defined through the use of minimum level of income or consumption, but also involves people's access to income and resources, and self-perceptions of their economic situation and position in society."2

Current estimates of world poverty indicate that 1 billion people live on less than one Euro per day.3 Urbanization throughout the world has resulted in a continued concentration of the poor in urban settlements. In general, low-income inhabitants are restricted in locational choice and tend to cluster in socially deprived neighborhoods.

Recent experience indicates that there has been a shift toward international assistance projects for the developing world that are more directly focused on poverty alleviation. In past decades, projects had, for example, a strong emphasis on the provision of new infrastructure.

More recently, the center of attention at institutions such as the World Bank has changed to interventions in which the basic focus is on satisfying human needs as well as economic growth measures.4 International development increasingly addresses support for "... targets and policies which create sustainable livelihoods for poor people as well as promoting development at a general level."5

Transport is seen as an important element in combating urban poverty in the developing world. Transport projects and programs can contribute to reducing absolute poverty via both direct (improving basic access) and indirect (improving overall social mobility) impacts.6

CAIRO PUBLIC TRANSPORT PROFILE

The population within the Cairo metropolitan region (see Figure 1) in 2001 reached 14.4 million persons. Forecasts suggest a population of 20.7 million in 2022. Average 2001 household income stood at roughly 700 Egyptian Pounds (LE) per month, but almost two-thirds of households earned less than 500 LE per month. During 2001, $1 U.S. equalled 4.58 LE (1 LE= 100 Piasters).

Public transport services in Cairo consist of two generic groupings: formal services and informal services.

* Formal urban public transport services are provided by the government. Major elements include the Cairo Transport Authority (CTA), providing bus service throughout the region, and the Cairo Metro Organization, providing urban heavy rail service.

* The informal sector consists predominately of route-specific shared taxis, operated by the private sector using microbuses with typical capacities of 11 to 14 seats.

Public transport services carried a total of 12.436 million weekday trips, or 68 percent of all motorized trips generated within the metropolitan region in 2001. Shared taxis (microbuses) carried some 6.5 million daily passengers, or roughly one-half of daily motorized public transport trips. CTA buses accounted for a further 3.5 million daily trips, and Metro for slightly more than 2 million trips per day. The contribution of other modes aggregated to about 0.4 million trips per day (see Figure 2).

Formal bus services are politically constrained in the route structures they offer and the fares they may charge. Concurrently, the aging fleet (the average bus age is now in excess of 12 years) must serve an ever-expanding catchment. As a result, service frequencies are declining throughout the system. Although the network has increased from 6,100 to 10,100 kilometers over the past decade, fleet size has only increased from 3,700 to 4,400 buses (some three-fourths of which are considered operational). Crowding on buses has reached intolerable levels.