ABSTRACT
This chapter provides some ways for municipal authorities to identify and relieve transport difficulties, especially those facing low-income travellers. The urban poor frequently face very difficult problems of journeying between home and work, or school, or hospital visits. The urban poor tend to spend more of their time and money on travel than do the rich but, nevertheless, they achieve a lower level of mobility. It is generally believed that public transport can only be provided, at a financial loss, by public monopolies operating large fleets of large vehicles. The most famous of the "informal" public transport services are probably the "jeepneys" of Manila, but the dolmus of Istanbul, the minibuses of Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, the matatu of Nairobi, the becak of Indonesia, are known to all students of transport. In a route association each vehicle remains under the control of its owner, both for driving and maintenance and for the disposal of income earned.
