On-Demand Internet Based Business Model in Informal Public Transportation System in Developing Countries

In most developing countries, the transportation system is driven by the Informal transport sector or otherwise known as paratransit or Intermediate public transport. It is an indispensable part of the people in terms of mobility both in the cities and rural areas. While the informal transportation system carries majority of the people and is often more accessible, faster, ubiquitous, cheaper, and reliable; it has also in recent times become environmentally unclean, rickety, unsafe, unregulated, and oversupplied; hence a source of traffic congestion especially in the cities. Efforts at improving the operations of the informal public transport system have not been successful due to their unique informal nature and characteristics. Based on the entrenched operations of the paratransit in the city of Accra in Ghana as a case study, the paper examined and explored the possibility of introducing the on-demand Internet based business model to the informal public transportation space. The paper further identified the unique nature, characteristics, opportunities, and challenges inherent within the informal public transport eco-system and proposed activities that when undertaken will be responsive to the socio-economic and travel needs of all parties of the two-sided platform. Thus, the adaptation of the on-demand Internet based business model in the informal public transport sector will not only address the supply-demand mismatch of the paratransit service but also significantly help to reduce the traffic congestion and its allied problems in developing countries especially cities in sub-Saharan Africa and make them liveable and smart cities