Paper short abstract:

This paper expands the conception of accessibility concept to embrace the barriers to accessibility for non-motorised modes. It develops a potential accessibility model to find the number of opportunities that can be reached given these barriers.

Paper long abstract:

Many sub-Saharan African cities have embarked on ambitious transport projects in the last 10 years to ease their access to destinations. These projects range from the expansion of road capacities to the prioritisation of higher capacity public transport vehicles. While these interventions have resulted in improved accessibility for motorised modes, similar benefits cannot be said to have accrued to users of non-motorised modes. The latter modes are typically used by the urban poor in this region. Inability of the current transport projects to address their accessibility concerns thus raises doubts about the adequacy of the current conception of accessibility concept to generate inclusive transport. This paper expands this conception of accessibility concept to embrace the barriers to accessibility for non-motorised modes. It specifically develops a potential accessibility model to find the number of opportunities that can be reached by different travel modes given the current transport conditions that generate these barriers. These conditions include narrow streets and dangerous intersections among others. The model is based on travel diary data obtained from 2,165 household members drawn from Kisumu, Kenya. Accessibility is modelled in terms of the time it takes to reach the destinations. Weights are assigned to the barriers to accessibility in accordance with the severity of these barriers as reported by the respondents. Results show that non-motorised modes are hindered the most by the current conditions of transport. The paper offers an objective basis for evaluating the ongoing transport projects for their inclusiveness of the non-motorised modes.