Paratransit
Paratransit is a set of mobility services operated by a large number of small entrepreneurs and using a wide range of transport modes: buses, minibuses, taxis, private cars, three and two-wheelers, and boats. The paratransit sector thus brings together a range of transport services, more or less collective, offering particularly varied transport solutions, generally very flexible but sometimes also more conventional. The word “artisanal” is used in the French term because it refers to a sector characterised by individual entrepreneurship, most often by the absence of subsidies and public intervention, and by a commercial operation that is primarily profit-driven.
Guidelines and methodologies
From the onset of a paratransit reform process, mobility practitioners require a good understanding of the sector. This includes an accurate definition of these services and their overall characteristics, as well as a comprehensive assessment of the local situation. MobiliseYourCity provides methodological guidance on how to conduct a diagnosis of the paratransit sector, as well as guidance on the possible contractual arrangements available to public authorities to regulate and define their relationship vis-a-vis operators.
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Tool I | Understanding Paratransit - Global overview and local challenges
This publication was created for the new Toolkit version and it's available in French. Translations into English and Spanish are under development.
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Tool II | Understanding Paratransit - Defining and diagnosing Paratransit for sustainable mobility planning
The first mobility plans completed by MobiliseYourCity member cities in Africa demonstrate how relevant paratransit is to ensure a net-zero future in transport and a ...
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Tools to operationalise
A myriad of actions are available to decision-makers in their endeavours to improve paratransit and integrate it in the urban mobility ecosystem. To facilitate the identification of the right approach and the inclusion of these services in the sustainable urban mobility planning process, MobiliseYourCity provides a comprehensive catalogue of individual actions to prepare, support, and implement sectoral reforms.
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Toolkit III | Reforming Paratransit
The first mobility plans completed by MobiliseYourCity member cities in Africa demonstrate how relevant paratransit is to ensure a net-zero future in transport and a ...
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Training materials
This set of training materials intends to equip practitioners of sustainable urban mobility with the required content to replicate training sessions on topics relevant to integrating paratransit into sustainable urban mobility plans. The topics cover digital mapping and contracting options of paratransit services.
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Training Materials | Contracting options for paratransit reform
This training set focuses on introducing contracts between public authorities and paratransit operators to develop a robust and adequate regulatory framework to address significant challenges ...
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Training Materials | Mapping paratransit services
This training set focuses on digital mapping as a project and how it can be designed and planned. This would entail the most common challenges ...
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Case studies
The case studies on paratransit highlight the problems that have been encountered in the process of reforming small-scale transport around the world and the best practices for solving them.
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Tool IV | Examples of Paratransit reforms - Case studies
This publication was created for the new Toolkit version and it's available in French. Translations into English and Spanish are under development
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Studies of Informal Passenger Transport Reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa | Dakar
“The minibus renewal and professionalization process: a combined approach to modernize paratransit services in Dakar, Senegal,” is one of eight case…
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Studies of Informal Passenger Transport Reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa | Kigali
“The Regulation of buses and minibuses: private sector participation as catalysts to reform in Kigali, Rwanda,” is one of eight case studies part of…
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Studies of Informal Passenger Transport Reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa | Cape Town
“From complete formalization encompassing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) to the corporatization of informal Public Transport owner/operators: Cape Town,…
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