Modelling the impact of priority infrastructure on the performance of minibus-taxi services in southern africa

Abstract

Many governments in the global South are grappling with challenges of improving the quality of informal transport, and an inability to pay for service improvements. This paper asks the question whether efficiency benefits might be gained through strategic implementation of once-off infrastructure interventions providing priority to informal vehicles at intersections. We identify interventions that would formalise this behaviour: a single lane pre-signal strategy, queue-jumping lane, and dedicated public transport lane. The paper’s objective is to quantify the potential economic impacts of such treatments on minibus-taxi operators, passengers, and other road users. The findings indicate that substantial savings could be realised in terms of travel time, user cost, and operating cost to taxi passengers and drivers. The single lane pre-signal strategy and the queue-jumping lane saw a decrease in total hourly cost of 45% and 43% respectively, including construction cost, user cost, and agency cost, indicating a net social benefit. If part of these savings were passed on to passengers, priority infrastructure could serve as an implicit subsidy to public transport users.