Introducing On-Demand Internet Business Model in the Informal Public Transportation System in Developing Countries

Abstract

Paratransit transport drives the transport system in most emerging nations. It is essential to urban and rural movement. The informal transport system carries most people and is often more accessible, faster, ubiquitous, cheaper, and reliable, but it has also become environmentally unclean, rickety, unsafe, and oversupplied, causing traffic congestion, especially in cities. Due to their informal nature, informal public transport system improvements have failed. The research studied the possibility of bringing the on-demand internet business model to informal public transportation using Accra's paratransit as a case study. The report evaluated the unique nature, characteristics, potential and problems of the informal public transport eco-system and advocated activities that will meet the socio-economic and travel demands of all parties of the two-sided platform. Thus, adopting the on-demand internet business model in the informal public transport sector will not only address the paratransit service's supply-demand mismatch but also significantly reduce traffic congestion.