S. Blankhart

Transport for the Urban Poor in Lusaka

Homepage Manual Contents Navigation

PART TWO: TRAVEL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LOW-INCOME GROUPS - Expenditure on Transport

The amount of money spent per day on transport to work was asked and the number of days a person worked. The number of working days and the amount spent per day were multiplied giving the total cost per month spent on transport. The majority (90%) worked 20 - 24 days a month. If people used two modes of transport per day or month (4.9% of the total population) the cost per mode was calculated separately and later added together.

Expenditure on transport is determined by the mode of transport used. People travelling to work by bus spent K4.21 per month and those who travelled by minibus or taxi spent K9-41 per month. The small group of people (20.5%) travelling with a friend's or relative's car spend an average of K7.92 per month to share expenses. The respondents who used their own car to travel to work mentioned figures between K1.60 and K4.50 as the amount they spent per day on using this mode of transport. The mean expenditure calculated on basis of the figures is K55 per month for using a car. But this is conjectural as it is extremely difficult for any individual to calculate exactly the cost of driving a car.

Table 4: Expenditure on Transport to work

Table 4 gives the amount people spent on their transport to work. The majority does not spend money on their journey to work because they walk, cycle or make use of transport provided by their employer. People using a bicycle regards this mode as a free mode of transport incuring no costs, disregarding repairs and depreciation of the bicycle. When the amount of money they spent on transport to work was asked they answered that they did not spend anything. We estimate the cost of driving a bicycle at K3.60 per month (see Chapter II). When this amount is included, the figures of table 4 change: 58% of the people then have no travel cost and 15% of the people spend K4 - K6 per month.

The average amount spent on transport to work is K1.65 including people who do not spend anything on transport (70.9%). If these people are excluded the average amount spent on transport to work is K7.18 per month, It the cyclists are included, the latter figure is K6.24 per month. In the following analysis the expenditure of cyclists is put at nil, according to the answers of the cyclists themselves.

Percentage of income spent on transport to work

The working population spends 2,1% of their income on transport. If the people who do not spend anything on transport to work are excluded, the mean percentage of the income spent on transport to work is 9.2% which is a high percentage of an income which is anyhow very limited.

Table 5: Amount and percentage of income spent on transport to work

Table 5 shows the average amount spent on transport to work per month and the percentage of income spent on transport per income class. There is a positive correlation between the amount spent on transport to world and the income. The low amount spent by the people earning more than K350 per month might not be representative because only twelve people in the sample earned more than K350, of whom six walked to their work. There is no clear relation between the percentage of income spent on transport to work and the income.

Expenditure on transport per area

Table 6: Mean Expenditure on Transport, income and distances to work per area

Mean expenditure of transport differs considerably per area (see table 6). The areas are ranked according to the mean income earned in each area. The earlier established correlation between income and expenditure on transport can also be found here. The higher the mean income in an area the higher the average amount spent on transport, with the exception of Garden. This can be explained by the favourably central location of Garden, whereby many people including those with relatively higher incomes can walk to their nearby working place. There is no relation between the amount spent on transport per month and the mean distance to work.