Motorcycle taxi in addressing the rural transport conundrum

Abstract

Rural people need transport services to access basic services and livelihoods. This study analyses the extent to which the motorcycle taxi addresses rural transport problems. Such an analysis could inform the future of rural transport interventions. Rongo, a rural sub-county in Kenya, was chosen for the study. The analysis results using data from 289 household heads show that predominant activities in the study area transformed motorcycle taxi activities throughout the day. Motorcycle taxis offered useful rural transport services and complemented many public transport systems in facilitating access to places, markets, facilities, and activities. Respondents associated the physical characteristics of the motorcycle taxi with motivations for its use along with its actual use. Although most of the respondents expressed satisfaction with the motorcycle taxi sector, there was a clear difference between groups. Respondents' satisfaction with motorcycle taxi services was mainly due to the motorcycle taxi physical attributes. The respondents mainly related negative reasons to motorcycle taxi riders’ mannerism, unprofessional driving, and poor safety. This paper concludes that the motorcycle taxi facilitates the movement and operations in rural villages. Using motorcycle taxis have shown to have a close link to rural areas and rural life. This study calls on transport practitioners to rethink the concept and image of sustainable rural mobility and identify with rural informal motorcycle taxi transport as well. For equitable, accessible and sustainable rural transport, the transport practitioners need to empower and expand on existing realities in rural areas.