Charles K. Kaira

Transportation Needs of the Rural Population in Developing Countries

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Respondent attitudes and knowledge about the available transport modes

Since successful adaptation of a transport mode by users depends, among other things, on their attitude and knowledge about it, this survey sought to gather information in this regard.

The results show that over 70 % of respondents in both villages can afford to pay bus and matatu fares. However, only about 50 % of heads of households can afford to hire a private motor-vehicle during emergency or for personal use. Notably, the ability to hire a private motor vehicle increases with the level of education attained by a respondent. The respondents in Village (A) are generally more informed about bus schedules and bus/matatu fares than those in Village (B). This is expected as Village (B) has more access to public transport than Village(B). Furthermore, fathers are more informed about public transport followed by mothers, sons and daughters in that order. This is not surprising since use of public transport by traveling household members shows the same pattern. Over 70 % of respondents in Village (A) can get transport on the intended day of travel compared to 40 % in Village (B).

Although walking is a must in rural areas, only about 10 and 30 % of adults and children respectively feel at home making a walking trip. Also, worthy of note is that while about 80 % of males feel at home travelling by lorry, only 40 % of females do. This might be due to the difficulty females experience getting onto the back a lorry.

It is interesting to observe that while 80 % of heads of households admit that a bicycle is within their financial means, only 35 % of households own a bicycle. There are quite a number of factors that limit bicycle ownership among households. Firstly, bicycle riding and consequently its use are limited to males. Even some males strongly feel that there are some functions at which a bicycle is considered an improper transport mode. Secondly, a bicycle is hardly used to transport farm products or water as the survey data has shown. Thirdly, the cost of a bicycle is comparable to that of an animal-cart and yet an Animal transports farm products and water in far greater quantities than a bicycle. Therefore, bicycle ownership is limited to those households that need it for personal transport purposes such as working, visiting, shopping and in a few cases transport milk for sale.