Are motorcycle taxis competing with collective public transport? Analyzing the role of boda-bodas in Kampala's urban mobility system

Abstract

Motorcycle taxis – known as “boda-bodas” in Eastern Africa – play an increasingly important.

role in the urban mobility systems of African cities. In Kampala, Uganda, this growth is rooted in pervasive congestion and a lack of efficient public transport services. Despite their importance, little is known about the role of boda-bodas and their links to other modes of transport. Existing literature on motorcycle-taxis overwhelmingly relies on self-reported data, which is often inaccurate when it comes to documenting operational characteristics.

This paper addresses this gap by analyzing close to a million trips taken in Kampala over a period of two weeks in 2020. Using anonymized data provided by the leading e-hailing platform for boda-bodas, it explores the distribution of rides by distance, duration, time of day, and local area. Trip information is combined with transport network and land-use data to perform spatial analyses. We find that boda-boda services are primarily used during the evening peak period, when congestion gives them a competitive advantage over other modes of transport despite their higher cost. The analysis also points to complementarity between boda-bodas and paratransit minibuses providing collective transport services.