Barbara Gruehl Kipke

Bicycle Usage in Two Cities of Africa

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BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN AFRICA - Comparison of Traffic Situation in Cities Chosen

In general it can be said that comparisons are made difficult because the classifications used are different. For example bicycle ownership information cannot be compared because in one case individual ownership was asked and in the other household ownership. The same is true with regards to trip purposes(Fig. 12).

Figure 12
TRIP PURPOSE COMPARISON

Further classification seems necessary in the case of trip purposes in order to avoid the large "Other" category as well. These problems will be avoided in the present study.

A modal split comparison shows that in both cases walking is the major means ot locomotion in both cities (Fig. 13).

Figure 13
MODAL SPLIT COMPARISON

Bicycle usage is generally higher in Ouagadougou, but there are wards within Ouagadougou that are very similar to the situation in Tamale (compare with Table 3).

The most striking difference in bicycle usage between the two chosen cities, is that in Ouagadougou both men and women utilize the bicycle, whereas in Tamale only men make use of bicycles. Special attention will therefore be given to the different situation of women in the two cities.

Furthermore, in Ouagadougou one mainly finds Peugeot and Senisot bicycles, that are locally produced in Burkina Faso, whereas Raleigh, Phoenix and Hero bicycles predominate in Tamale, that come from England, Nigeria, China and India.

Income levels have an effect on bicycle ownership and thereby on bicycle usage. In Ouagadougou, it is mainly the lower income groups that have bicycles at their disposal, whereas in Tamale, it is the more well-to-do that use bicycles.

Bicycle rental is only possible in Ouagadougou at the New Market, that lies on the outskirts of the city, and is therefore hard to reach. Tamale has a decentralized bicycle rental network. Bicycle theft seems to be more of a problem in Ouagadougou. In Ouagadougou guarded bicycle parking facilities are common, whereas they are nonexistent in Tamale.

It is an aim of this study to determine the reasons for the different bicycle usage in the two cities.