Barbara Gruehl Kipke

Bicycle Usage in Two Cities of Africa

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INTRODUCTION - Hypotheses

In order to achieve a better understanding of bicycle usage, it has to be regarded in a conceptual framework. The entire travel behaviour pattern and program changes fundamentally when a new transport mode is at the disposal of the household. For this reason the decision-making process when purchasing an individual transport mode should be analysed further. Since decisions are also based on perceptions (5), perceptions need to be included in the analysis.

Of upmost importance in a decision-making situation is to consider the needs of the social decision-making unit, the "household" (Fig. 1). This is especially the case in developing countries, where the cohesion among household members and the division of labour takes place at the household level. The percentage of total expenditures spent on transportation is decided by the household.

Although investment decisions in vehicles are only occasionally made by households, they influence individual activities and the total mobility of the household over long periods of time. Coordination of transport mode usage of the individual household members is performed within the household and is often decided by the head of the household. The status within the household, that entails typical activities, regulates which transport modes are assigned to individual members of the household.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Transportation analysis should not reduce transportation needs to those of commuting traffic to and from work. All to often Monday-to-Friday traffic is the basis of further considerations. Albeit this commuter traffic is easy to analyse due to its regularity. Nevertheless a fundamental mistake is made when only part of the traffic volume is considered (Fig. 2). It is also the non-commuting traffic that causes the purchase and continuing use of transport modes. In the case of developing countries, an additional conceptional mistake is made in that the large portion of the unemployed population is thereby not included in analyses. The importance of non-commuting traffic became evident in Ouagadougou, for example, where the majority of bus rides belong to that category (10, p.15).

The following hypotheses were developed as an orientational guide, to be compared with the results of the survey:

• bicycle ownership is low among the poorer segments of the population and rises with their financial capabilities until a point where the purchase of another, more expensive transport mode is possible
• the decision to buy a bicycle, or in general any transport mode, is based on the needs of the household
• bicycles are also purchased for the express purpose of carrying loads
• travel behaviour is changed fundamentally when a new vehicle is purchased by the household
  • the spacial area of activities is enlarged
  • it is used far both short and long trips
  • nevertheless, the time budget for transport remains relatively constant
• the bicycle increases the moblilty of the user and thereby also increases the total mobility of the household (i.e. more trips/day)
  • bicycle usage within the household depends on the division of labour
  • seasonal variations in bicycle usage can be explained by the transportation needs of the household
  • people who walk lonq distances are not doing it for pleasure, but rather because they have no alternative. These people would consider a bicycle an improvement of their situation
  • on average people in developing countries walk longer distances than in industrialized countries. People who have bicycles use them for longer distances because they have no more suitable alternative
• important reasons for the non-usage of bicycles are:
  1. economic reasons
  2. bicycle procurement situation
  3. spare parts situation
  4. status within household
  5. safety aspects
  6. barriers in the infrastructure
  • not primarily the quality of the road, since bicycles are utilized even when road conditions are extremely bad
• the modal split for bicycles can be increased by eliminating the reasons for non-usage
• the bicycle, which is the least expensive personal vehicle in developing countries, represents an important alternative to walking
• the government can play an important role in promoting the bicycle as a means of transport