Non-motorised transport (NMT) remains the least regarded mode of transport by planners and policy makers in Africa, but most used mode, especially by low income earners who cannot afford motorised transport. NMT includes any form of transportation that provides personal or goods mobility by methods other than the combustion motor, which include walking, cycling, human porters, handcarts and animal drawn carts among others. In most African cities, walking, cycling and handcarts are popular modes of transport, although in most urban centres, they are not integrated in urban planning through planning and infrastructure development. Consequently, those using these modes have to struggle for space with motorised modes of transport.
This project focuses on these challenges as they manifest in the city of Nairobi. It will investigate the limitations of existing NMT travel analysis practices, actual travel patterns and attitudes in the case cities, the characteristics of NMT users, and implications for policy and practice. At a more detailed level, it will analyse the manner in which pedestrians choose routes and cross roads, the factors that are taken into consideration in these decisions, and how these differ across user groups (age, gender and income). More broadly, the project will propose institutional planning and implementation frameworks through which NMT infrastructure improvement should be made, how NMT infrastructure and street design should be assessed and necessary improvements identified, and what NMT infrastructure and street design standards and construction technologies are appropriate to African contexts.
Project leader: A/Prof Winnie Mitullah
Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi
