A framework for assessing the financial sustainability of minibus taxi route typologies by means of onboard trip data cluster analysis

Abstract

In the Global South, including many African countries, informal paratransit plays a critical part in the economies of cities, transporting a major proportion of the workforce each day while providing employment, directly and indirectly, to thousands. In South Africa, paratransit refers to minibus taxis which mainly operate with fifteen-seater minibuses. In Cape Town minibus taxis dominate the public transport sector, servicing around two-thirds of the daily public transport commuter demand. It has previously been identified that minibus taxis in Cape Town have organically arranged themselves into a range of service typologies and in many cases operate within de facto ‘hybrid’ public-para transit service networks. This study builds on prior route classification evidence and analyses a more recent minibus onboard survey dataset collected by the City of Cape Town as part of the ongoing Integrated Public Transport Network planning data collection project. The focus of this study is on providing a framework for the assessment of the financial sustainability of the respective route typologies, and how this information can be leveraged to encourage improved cooperation between the industry and government to implement effective hybrid network arrangements, and to support the policy formulation and legislative changes required for a sustainable transition.