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Characterizing the movement patterns of minibus taxis in Kampala's paratransit system

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  • Ndibatya, Innocent
  • Booysen, M.J.

Abstract

Urban travelers in Africa depend on minibus taxis for their daily social and business commuting. This paratransit system is loosely regulated, self-organizing, and evolves organically in response to demand. Our study used floating car data to analyze and describe the movement characteristics of nine minibus taxis in Kampala, Uganda. We made three intriguing findings. Firstly, in searching for, picking up and transporting passengers, minibus taxi trajectories followed a heavy-tailed power-law distribution similar to a “Lévy walk”. Secondly, their routes' topology and shape gradually changed. Thirdly, the extraordinary winding (expressed in terms of tortuosity) of the paths suggested the extreme determination of the drivers' search for passengers. Our findings could help city planners to build on the self-organizing characteristics of the minibus taxi system, and improve the mobility of travelers, by optimizing routes and the distribution of public amenities.

Suggested Citation

  • Ndibatya, Innocent & Booysen, M.J., 2021. "Characterizing the movement patterns of minibus taxis in Kampala's paratransit system," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:92:y:2021:i:c:s0966692321000545
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2021.103001
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    Cited by:

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    2. Kush Mohan Mittal & Marc Timme & Malte Schröder, 2024. "Efficient self-organization of informal public transport networks," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
    3. Dumedah, Gift & Abass, Kabila & Gyasi, Razak M. & Forkuor, John Boulard & Novignon, Jacob, 2023. "Inefficient allocation of paratransit service terminals and routes in Ghana: The role of driver unions and paratransit operators," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).

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