Personalised information about public transport and an Uber alternative that treats its drivers well are useful ideas that you might expect to hail from cities in Europe or the US.
But GoMetro is an app from South Africa and Careem is an Uber-style firm working across the Middle East and north Africa. They are typical of some of the innovative partnerships in the global south producing ideas from which many western governments and companies could learn.
The GoMetro mobile app was developed by Justin Coetzee in 2011 after he was left standing on a Cape Town train platform, delayed again without explanation. This is not an uncommon problem in South Africa, where people using public transport spend on average two and a half times longer commuting than Europeans. It occurred to Coetzee that real-time updates on a mobile device would make a big difference. Working closely with the Public Rail Agency of South Africa, Coetzee and his team developed the app to provide updated information and announcements on public transport timetables. GoMetro provides this service to the agency free of charge; its income comes from advertising on the app.
While many European countries do have transport apps, Coetzee says patchy mobile connectivity is a barrier to this technology – something highlighted in a new report from the National Infrastructure Commission on how poor UK mobile connectivity is affecting the country’s businesses. The UK is 54th in the world for 4G coverage, lagging behind countries such as Romania, Albania, Panama and Peru. The average UK user is able to connect to the network a mere 53% of the time.
But being innovative isn’t just about technology. Another approach to transport has been pioneered by Careem, a ride-hailing service founded in Dubai by two consultants, Mudassir Sheikha and Magnus Olsson, who had travelled widely and realised the need for quick, reliable transport. So far, so Uber, you might say. But Careem prides itself on treating its fleet of more than 100,000 drivers, referred to as captains, fairly. Careem drivers are typically paid 30% more than comparable taxi drivers and the employees own around half the company, so they benefit when the company grows.
Sheikha says the company has been successful by understanding local problems, such as a service for women in countries like Saudi Arabia, where they are not permitted to drive.
Careem is now turning its attention to public transport. “Our region does not have an elaborate public transport infrastructure,” explains Sheikha. They are working on driverless “pods” that he says will enable the firm to build a highly efficient public transport infrastructure that leapfrogs the traditional way public transport has been built in the rest of the world.
Other public transport solutions can be found elsewhere. A 21-metre-long straddling bus was unveiled this year in China that runs along tracks two metres above the road, allowing cars to pass underneath, at speeds of up to 37mph. Each bus can transport 1,400 passengers at a time and several can be attached together. Those behind the project believe one straddling bus could replace 40 conventional buses.
Urban regeneration researcher Deborah Talbot says the rapidly growing hubs of the global south are “allowing for innovation in transportation with a wild imagination we don’t have in the UK”. Concepts like the microbus, for instance, could help solve the need for a more frequent, smaller capacity service in rural areas of the UK.
A team of students from Nairobi recently won the Hult prize for their Magic Bus ticketing company, an offline app for bus drivers in rural communities which offers precisely this type of service. Previously, many minibuses would not leave the depot until they were at capacity, which meant subsequently passing people on the roadside who could be there for hours. This app allows drivers to see those who have booked along the route, so they do not have to wait to leave until the bus is full. Passengers also get to track the vehicle along the journey, which helps to combat the risk of rural isolation.
Other developments in continental Africa include a new light rail system in Addis Ababa, the first fully electrified tram system in sub-Saharan Africa.
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