On-Demand Mobility Transitions in the Global South

While developed nations implement innovation policies to promote autonomous vehicles and supporting infrastructure, innovation in mobility in the Global South has evolved through predominantly market-driven mechanisms with minimal regulatory oversight. Global South contexts require specific approaches to understanding how sustainable mobility transitions unfold, as they often face infrastructure issues and lack the financial resources needed to implement typical centralized and technocratic solutions. Although practices characterized by informality may contribute to sustainable transitions in emerging countries, they systematically deviate from the transition logic of policies that would enable and perpetuate an appropriate infrastructure. In Brazil, for example, the trend of mobility utilization shifted when ride-hailing platforms began serving middle and upper-class consumers with cars before evolving to serve lower-income consumers via on-demand transportation services through motorcycles. Market-driven mobility solutions present a fundamental tension in such countries: while addressing immediate transportation needs, they may simultaneously undermine long-term sustainability objectives. The growth of individualized and low-capacity transportation modes hinders mass transit systems by reducing ridership and impacting their financial sustainability. The further accidents resulting from their operation are also a significant concern. The contrasting technological mobility approaches between the Global North and South demonstrate how deregulated innovation can produce contradictory outcomes when political and social factors are not adequately considered. While developed nations implement long-term policies targeting radical innovation to improve mobility systems, the deregulated environment in developing countries has resulted in short-term incremental solutions that may compromise future transport system development. Rather than importing institutional models from the Global North, effective policy solutions must be grounded in the local realities of the Global South to deliver sustainable outcomes. The emergence of motorcycle-based-ride-hailing service in Brazil is explored in this chapter to ilustrate some relevant and specific contextual factors that must be taken into consideration for this purpose in Global South countries.