ABSTRACT
A significant part of the provision and regulation of transport services in urban areas in Africa is commonly referred to as ‘informal’ or ‘paratransit’. Informal transport operation in particular is commonly conceptualized as something that occurs without involvement of the state or government, both with respect to the market and the practices of operation and organization. This chapter raises the question whether this clear dichotomy that separates the ‘formal’ from the ‘informal’ is an appropriate guide to analyse and make sense of current practices in urban transport provision in African cities and explores alternative concepts such as institutional or urban bricolage. The chapter uses case study research to investigate how theory meets reality. It explores the public road passenger transport system in the city of Dar es Salaam that largely consists of bus services provided by private operators of minibuses (daladala), two- and three-wheeled motorcycle-taxis (locally known as bodaboda and bajaj) and, most recently, a bus rapid transit service. This analysis is to a large extent based on preliminary results of field research activities in Dar es Salaam, which include participant observation and conversations with stakeholders. A literature review and a document analysis of laws and regulations concerning public transport in Tanzania complement the investigation. The analysis shows that it is indeed virtually impossible to draw a clear distinction between formal and informal spheres. Instead, the study uncovers the provision and regulation of seemingly ‘informal’ transport services as ‘inextricably related practices’ of diverse governmental and non-governmental actors that are constantly renegotiated and governed by formal and informal institutions (i.e. rules). The chapter concludes that institutional or urban bricolage as a concept and ‘co-creation’ of rules and institutions as observable practice appear to offer a more realistic lens to understand what is usually termed ‘informality’.
