#39 Your shift is showing

Integration is the word

Hey friend,

Here’s your dose of Makeshift Mobility, your occasional newsletter on innovations in informal transportation.

I used to say this was “fortnightly,” but I’ve lost my consistency over the last few months. I think I’ve only managed to send you a letter once a month at best.

Let’s call it a minor slump. I’ll try to get back to my routine. I have moments of doubt that I can, but Vu reminds me that we’re still in an apocalypse. So, here’s grace to me and grace to you.

If you are getting this in your inbox for the first time, thanks for signing up. There were quite a few who joined with you after Substack featured Makeshift Mobility in What to Read On Substack."

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

On to the meat of this letter:

This month, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Arup Foresight released Reimagining the Future of Transport across Asia and the Pacific. The report is a product of a study partnership meant to “help countries apply futures thinking to envision what types of transportation systems, networks, and infrastructure would be needed to realize their preferred futures.”

The report “identifies trends, principles, and strategies for future transport in Asia and the Pacific with a view to 2030 and 2050.”

It comes in three parts (or flavors): the main report, a Playbook, and a deck featuring the “Ten Trends Shaping the Future of Transport.”

I participated in one of the workshops that Arup and ADB ran as part of the study. It was virtual—one of the first at the pandemic's start. April or May 2020, I think.

As with all global reports on transportation, I searched this one eagerly for how it framed informal transportation. The phrase “informal transport” appeared in only three pages in the main report, but it was in a prominent position.

It was Principle #1

“Integrate formal and informal transport networks.”

of Vision #2:

Inclusive and Accessible Spaces and Services

They set the Baseline Strategy for Principle #1 as:

IMPROVE PHYSICAL NETWORKS
Improve connections between formal and informal transport networks to enhance accessibility. Improve the quality of informal transport networks (i.e., upgrading the material used on paths, roads, and bikeways).

And the Transformative Strategy as:

FULLY INTEGRATED END-TO-END JOURNEYS
Deliver integrated planning that better connects formal and informal transport systems to deliver more inclusive and enhanced accessibility for all.

(You’ll have to read the report yourself to understand how they structured Vision, Principles, and Strategies.)

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I’m very encouraged that ADB uses the language of integration in informal transportation. Maybe it will help us get more serious about incorporating makeshift mobility into local and national transportation plans and visions.

It’s not the first time the word “integrate” has been used in thinking about Makeshift Mobility. Robert Cervero’s classic, on Informal Transport in the Developing World, mentions it right up front in section 1:

Transport decision−makers at all levels need strategies and approaches that will better rationalize, and when called for, coordinate and integrate informal transport services. An important challenge is to incorporate the informal sector into the mix of legitimate transport offerings so that it continues to provide much−needed and complementary services, but in ways that do not threaten public safety and welfare. It is vital that informal services be delivered, priced, and organized so as to complement and strengthen not only regional transport services but also regional economic and social development as a whole. [Emphasis mine.]

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It’s been more than 20-years since Cervero’s advice. Why do we keep failing at integrating informal transportation?

I would argue it’s because we don’t know enough about informal transportation. We haven’t studied it enough. The ADB report is a case in point. It’s very thin on information about informal transportation.

The three case studies they cite for the Vision 2 Principles and Strategies had nothing to do with informal transportation. (It was car-free zones in Viet Nam, BRT in Pakistan, and flat-rate (any distance) fares in NYC.)

They did list Digital Matatus as a case study but for Vision 6: “Robust Institutional, Financial, and Technical Capacity.”

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Sidenote to my friends in Arup.

I love Digital Matatus. I was part of that project. BUT there’s been a lot of developments since then. Oh, and the Open Transport Partnership went nowhere. You guys have some catching up to do. There’s DT4A and it’s LATAM counterpart, DATUM. There’s work of its partners like Trufi Association and Jungle Bus. There are private mobility data companies like GoAscendal and WhereIsMyTransport, and there are platform companies like SWVL.

Let’s talk. We can brief you on what’s current in the tech space of informal transportation.

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On an optimistic note, TransJakarta’s efforts show a lot of promise. (Warning: automatic pdf download.)

By creating a network that connects smaller vehicles, like local buses and paratransit operators, alongside BRT buses and their lanes, the system can serve a larger region and more residential areas that would otherwise not be accessible by the BRT bus. Transjakarta is now integrated with medium-sized bus operators and informal microbus operators. The next step is multimodal integration, with the LRT (light rail transit) and MRT, the new Metrorail in Jakarta, to enable many more people to cover more distance with fewer transfers.

And then there is the promise of using technology, and the perils, too. I believe technology will help, but I also think it’s not a panacea.

All for now. Next time, let’s talk about the myth of benevolent transportation AI.

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I’m Benjie de la Peña, and I’m the CEO of the Shared-Use Mobility Center. I co-founded Agile City Partners, and I am the Chair of the Global Partnership for Informal Transportation.