Rural accessibility planning in developing countries over the last few decades has
primarily focused on increasing rural communities access to rural roads. It has been
considered that road building improves access to health, education, markets and
employment opportunities, and hence promotes economic development. It is argued
in this thesis that accessibility, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, has not improved
to the desired extent because the problem of mobility, in terms of access to vehicle
services, has not been addressed. The provision of rural roads and transport services
have been taken as synonymous with each other, but in reality this has not proved to
be the case. This thesis attempts to redress that balance by seeking to change the
mindset of policy makers to think about mobility and increase the emphasis placed on
the promotion of transport services, both motorised and non-motorised.
The findings relate to surveys undertaken in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Zimbabwe
and Pakistan where data were collected on vehicle operating costs (VOC's) and
performance for a wide range of commonly used rural vehicles. These included
human porterage and non-motorised vehicles such as bicycles and animal transport,
as well as motorised vehicles such as conventional trucks and pickups, agricultural
tractors and simple engine-powered vehicles. Analysis of the data demonstrated
large differences in the VOC's and transport charges for rural transport services
between the generally efficient systems in the Asian countries and the inefficient ones
in the African countries studied.
These findings form the foundation for the development of the Rural Transport
Planner (RTP) and the framework which identifies the relationships between
transport charges, VOC's, and factors relating to the vehicles operating environment.
The RTP provides the first known attempt at producing a model for rural vehicle
selection and for recommending interventions to improve the operating environment
for rural transport services
Is data on this page outdated, violates copyrights or anything else? Report the problem now and we will take corresponding actions after reviewing your request.