1. Presentation at the 38th SATC, Pretoria, South Africa,
CASHLESS FARE COLLECTION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN PARATRANSIT: A REVIEW OF EXPERIENCES
Presentation at the
38th SATC,
Pretoria, South Africa,
8th – 11th July 2019
Aruho A. Tinka
PhD Student - UCT
Shezi, 2016
03/08/2019

2. ‘Paratransit’ here refers to: public transport services
for-hire services
Main modes of paratransit public transport services in SSA (with the for-hire transport modes included – motorcycle and tricycle – for comparison purposes based on the owner-driver target system.
03/08/2019

3. One of the reform interventions in the paratransit sector????
Faircard in Gauteng
My1963, in Nairobi
SafeBoda in Kampala
Kajilwa, G., 2016;
Africa Business Insight, n.d;
TechJaja, 2017;
SafeBoda, 2019
Moore, N., 2016
03/08/2019

4. Problem framing – paratransit sector arrangement
In a multi-stakeholder paratransit environment, what’s the potential for CFC as a reform mechanism?
No formal labour engagement (‘casual labour’); high labour turn-over; limited operations information for planning; risk of robberies; driver stress & fatigue
Vehicle owner setting
cash returns
(daily/weekly)
Driver (&/or conductor)
operate ‘aggressively’ in the market to raise the ‘target’ and surplus as own pay-off
Industry imposed behaviour &
not paratransit driver intrinsic behaviour
Interests and needs of stakeholders?
Hunter, S., 2016; Laghate, G., 2019;
ANA, 2017; Nyondwa, A., 2017
03/08/2019

5. Paper review: experiences of cashless fare collection initiatives in Sub Saharan Africa
Key phenomenon:
Many of the CFC initiatives (particularly in minibus-taxis) have failed/ short lived
Hypothesis:
Many stakeholders with differing and conflicting interests and needs
Failure to satisfy these interests and needs leads to failure of the CFC initiative
Review objectives:
Identify the stakeholders in the identified initiatives
Establish the apparent reasons for failure of the initiatives
03/08/2019

6. CFC initiatives identified
Togo
1 initiative
in Lomé
South Africa
3 initiatives in
Gauteng, Cape Town &
Pietermaritzburg
Kenya
10 initiatives
9 in Nairobi
1 in Mombasa
Uganda
3 initiatives
All in Kampala
Tanzania
2 initiatives
All in Dar.
Rwanda
All in Kigali
Benin
in Contonou
Nigeria
in Lagos
Cameroon
in Yaoundé
24 initiatives identified in 9 countries
Map Source:
03/08/2019

7. 03/08/2019

8. Technology used in the initiatives
Country
CFC technology
Kenya
Card-based (NFC) and mobile phones
Mobile phone Application
South Africa
Card-based (EMV), QR codes
Uganda
Rwanda
Tanzania
Mobile phone and NFC sticker
Togo
Benin
Nigeria
Cameroon
03/08/2019

9. CFC analysis Review results
paratransit CFC initiatives: 11 (motorcycles); 8 (mini/midi-buses); 3 (buses); 2 (motor tricycles)
None of the mini/midi-bus initiatives are operational (at April 2019)
All the motorcycle initiatives are operational and none were abandoned
BUT why are motorcycle initiatives seemingly successful (span of 5 years), as opposed to minibuses?
03/08/2019

10. CFC analysis Status of initiative P-N P-A P-L-A P P-L-O
planned but never piloted
piloted and abandoned
piloted, launched and abandoned
pilot still underway
piloted, launched and still in operation
03/08/2019

11. CFC analysis Key feature:
Transfer of initiatives across boarders e.g. SafeBoda initiative (Kampala – Nairobi) and Tap&Go initiative (Kigali – Yaounde)
Stakeholders in the initiatives identified
Vehicle owners; drivers and conductors; passengers; associations (owners, drivers); government (policy makers, regulating agencies, enforcement agencies); technology companies (local and international), financial and insurance institutions; telecommunication companies; international development agency (JICA in Dar.)
Emerging reasons for failure:
Fear of loss of jobs (Gauteng and Pietermaritzburg)
Non coordination of actors
Intense competition
Lack of interoperability of the many initiatives on the same market (Nairobi)
Inadequate engagement of stakeholders
03/08/2019

12. Conclusion
Rapid diffusion (in the past 5 years) of cashless fare collection systems in paratransit service, but the success rate is very low, particularly in minibuses
There are many stakeholders
Increased use of mobile phone-based form of fare payment, mainly in motorcycles initiatives
03/08/2019

13. Going Forward As part of an on-going doctoral study,
Further understand the key stakeholders in a selection of case study initiatives
Understand the needs and interests of those stakeholders
Investigate why the the initiatives are failing in minibuses, and seemingly succeeding in motorcycles
Explore how CFC initiatives can be undertaken with higher chances of success in the minibus industry (through agent- based modelling of selected taxi associations in Cape Town)
03/08/2019

14. Thank you for listening Questions and discussion
03/08/2019

15. Sources of images and information
Shezi, L., No more cash in taxis: Gauteng launches first-in-SA payment system. Accessed on 23/10/2018 at: Moore, N., Taxi industry tries to usher in smart card system. Accessed on 23/10/2018 at: Kajilwa, G., Matatu owners gear up for cashless system, tell State to keep off. Standard Digital. Accessed on 14/06/2019 at: Africa Business Insight, n.d. Moving towards a cashless public transport system in Kenya. Accessed online on 14/06/2019 at Techjaja, SafeBoda App Is Finally Available For IPhone Users. Accessed online on 14/06/2019 at: SafeBoda, SafeBoda. Accessed online on 14/06/2019 at: Hunter, S., It’s Official – This SA City Has The Worst Taxi Drivers. Accessed online on 14/06/2019 at: Laghate, G., Rannvijay Singha’s Disrupt gets pre-Series A funding at $2.5 mn valuation. Accessed online on 14/06/2019 at: Africa News Agency (ANA), One dead, 13 injured in Mpumalanga minibus taxi, car crash. Accessed online on 14/06/2019 at:
03/08/2019