How to reform the paratransit sector: the Paratransit Toolkit 2.0 guides you through the process with 50 easy-to-use measures

Jun 08 2023

MobiliseYourCity just published its Paratransit Toolkit 2.0* to support practitioners and decision-makers in reforming this sector. Developed with our African Community of Practice and our partners, the toolkit includes four documents to guide you through the process. Download the Toolkit (FR)

But why paratransit?

A surprising gap

In many cities of the Global South, paratransit is an essential mode of transport and often the only existing public transport offer. Better integration of small-scale transport into urban mobility systems is a key issue for more sustainable and fairer urban mobility for all. However, until now informal transport has remained largely unexplored in the international climate and development arenas.

Growing demand

Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans completed by MobiliseYourCity in Africa and Asia have demonstrated how capital the integration of paratransit is for urban mobility transformation. From supporting mitigation efforts to improving the transport supply, it can have a strong impact on sustainability. To support the paratransit reform in the Global South, MobiliseYourCity published a toolkit to bolster an in-depth diagnosis of the sector and provide practical measures to help local government reform it. As more Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans were completed and more cities progressed in bold efforts to transform the sector MobiliseYourCity gathered more information on paratransit and update its Paratransit toolkit.

The Paratransit Toolkit 2.0 is composed of four documents, each examining in depth different phases of the reform process. Tool II and III are based on the previous version of the publication, but they include new insights by integrating knowledge gathered from the African and Asian contexts. Tool II provides practical guidance on conducting in-depth paratransit diagnosis and centres the process around six key questions. The measures catalogue for paratransit reform (Tool III) was updated to better include paratransit operators in the reform process. The actions suggested can be implemented in an agreement between the local authorities and paratransit operators.

Tool I and IV are new addition to the toolkit. Tool I aims to ease the comprehension of practitioners who would like to gain understanding about the paratransit at large and explains why its transformation is important. While Tool IV provides case studies from cities or agglomerations that already reformed or are reforming their paratransit offer. These cases highlight issues that could be met and best practices on how to address them.

To go further on this topic:

*The MobiliseYourCity Paratransit Toolkit V 2.0 is only available in French. Translations into English and Spanish are currently under development.