Connecting through public transport: accessibility to health and education in major African cities

Transport matters for health and education outcomes, by ensuring physical access to crucial facilities. Using spatial modelling techniques and routable public transport service data, this study assesses the effectiveness of mostly semi fixed-route public transport systems in connecting people to advanced healthcare and education facilities in African cities. Uncovering significant pockets of ‘accessibility poverty' – travel times above an acceptable level – it underscores the inequality in access within the cities, disproportionately affecting poor populations. Proximity of public transport to homes matters but has limited impact, due to how the routes, operated mainly by informal service providers, are allocated across the urban space and the low technical performance. The low ‘value added' of public transport compared to walking helps explain the prevalence of foot travel. Tailored policy interventions – improving the public transport systems and, equally importantly, ensuring more equitable spatial distribution of advanced healthcare facilities – emerge as crucial strategies for addressing accessibility poverty.