Managing public transport in developing countries: Stakeholder perspectives in Dar es Salaam and Faisalabad

Most developing country governments face the dilemma of how to promote affordable public transport for the urban poor. In developing countries, the trend of turning to the private sector for the provision of public transport services has resulted in a large number of individual operators whose main aim is (not surprisingly) to maximise profits. The drive for profitability can be achieved by increasing efficiency and cutting bloated costs, but may also lead to unfavourable behaviour that can adversely affect passenger safety and comfort and could also damage the urban environment. The challenge is to find a way to regulate and control this multiplicity of small businesses in such a way as to retain the cost minimisation pressures of the profit-seeking private sector without sacrificing safety, health or quality of service.

This paper presents a comparison of stakeholder attitudes to the regulation and control public transport in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Faisalabad (Pakistan). The views of stakeholders were established as part of a wider DFID-sponsored study of ‘Partnerships to improve access and quality of urban public transport for the urban poor’ and were collected using content analysis, literature reviews, historical analysis, case studies, focus group discussions, forums and workshops. The stakeholders involved included users, particularly passengers from low-income households, providers and operators of services (drivers and conductors), and regulatory agencies. The example of the Faisalabad Urban Transport Society (FUTS), effectively a public–private partnership, is described to provide a useful model of regulation and control of private sector operators as well as for reconciling the interests of multiple stakeholders.