Scoping Study : Urban Mobility in Three Cities--Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, and Nairobi

Abstract

A comprehensive investigative study was implemented in 2002, on the status, and development of urban mobility in three Sub-Saharan African cities - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Nairobi, Kenya; and, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. Its purpose was to gather information in terms of size, regional spread, and availability data, that would allow identification of issues affecting urban mobility in the related cities, and prepare action plans, that would lead to policy reforms. This report focuses on the findings of such study, stipulating a keen awareness in each city, that many of the urban transport problems arise because of lack of leadership, and coordination, not just because of poor funding, which is of course a problem, and, further highlights the inability of organizational structures to respond in a coherent, and focused manner. The report concludes that the only way to derive significant improvements in the performance of the urban transport sector, is to reorganize the way in which urban transport is planned, and developed. Technical interventions should then have a greater chance of achieving a positive impact on the urban transport sector.