The Economic Contributions of the Motorcycle Taxi (Boda boda) A Case Study of Chuka Town

The Economic Contributions of the Motorcycle Taxi (Boda boda): A Case Study of Chuka Town

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Abstract

This paper reports upon an investigation into the role played by Boda boda in urban transport systems in Chuka town. A Boda boda is motor cycle or a bicycle taxi which provides ‘for hire’ type transport services for passengers and goods. The research investigated the contributions of motorcycle revolution on the economic activities, and explored the measures that might be formulated by the concerned authorities to enhance these economical benefits. The study involved a (n=100) survey of motor cycle operators. That Boda boda serve an identifiable niche market, in the form of short service trips largely for the purposes of accessing the market, going to the work place and transportation of goods and parcels and even acting being used as ambulances. Their ability to pass slow-moving or stopped motor vehicles, enable them to operate efficiently and competitively in congested networks. It is argued that Boda boda taxis have a place in Kenyan urban transport systems, and their introduction have filled service gaps. It is argued that Boda boda operations should be facilitated and supported by the relevant public authorities. The paper concludes with recommendations on measures that authorities might adopt to streamline the Boda boda taxis.

Table of Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u CHAPTER 1 PAGEREF _Toc371542236 h 51.1 Background of the Study PAGEREF _Toc371542237 h 51.2 Statement of the Problem PAGEREF _Toc371542238 h 71.3 Research Objectives PAGEREF _Toc371542239 h 91.4 Research hypothesis PAGEREF _Toc371542240 h 91.5 Research questions PAGEREF _Toc371542241 h 91.6 Importance of the study PAGEREF _Toc371542242 h 91.7 Scope of the study PAGEREF _Toc371542243 h 10Chapter 2 PAGEREF _Toc371542244 h 11Literature review PAGEREF _Toc371542245 h 112.1 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc371542246 h 112.2 Origin and spread of motorbike taxis in Kenya PAGEREF _Toc371542247 h 112.3 Factors favoring the emergence of motorbike taxis in Kenya PAGEREF _Toc371542248 h 122.3.1 A response to transport shortages PAGEREF _Toc371542249 h 132.3.2 Lack of formal employment PAGEREF _Toc371542250 h 142.4 Motorcycles transportation PAGEREF _Toc371542251 h 152.5 Motorcycle and economic growth PAGEREF _Toc371542252 h 162.6 Economic Importance of Transportation PAGEREF _Toc371542253 h 172.7 Transportation and Economic Development PAGEREF _Toc371542254 h 19Chapter 3 PAGEREF _Toc371542255 h 223.0 Research Methodology PAGEREF _Toc371542256 h 223.1 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc371542257 h 223.2 Research Design PAGEREF _Toc371542258 h 233.3 Target population and Sampling strategy PAGEREF _Toc371542259 h 243.4 Research Instruments PAGEREF _Toc371542260 h 243.5 Viability and Reliability PAGEREF _Toc371542261 h 253.6 Data collection methods PAGEREF _Toc371542262 h 263.6.1 Secondary data method PAGEREF _Toc371542263 h 263.6.2 Primary data PAGEREF _Toc371542264 h 263.6.3 Questionnaire PAGEREF _Toc371542265 h 263.9 Data analysis PAGEREF _Toc371542266 h 273.10 Ethical considerations PAGEREF _Toc371542267 h 28References PAGEREF _Toc371542268 h 28

CHAPTER 1

1.1 Background of the StudyA Boda boda is a bicycle taxi or (in the recent past a motor cycle taxi) with a padded cushion fitted onto a reinforced rear seat, capable of transporting both passengers and goods. (Boda boda started their operations in Kenya in the 1960s in the town of Busia (located on the Ugandan border). From there they spread to other rural and urban areas in both countries, with a faster rate of diffusion occurring in Uganda. Initially they were used to smuggle goods across the Kenyan-Ugandan border (from whence the name, Boda boda, was derived), but in time they transformed into an informal ‘for hire’ type of transport service catering largely to passenger needs. Previous literature on Boda boda operations have centered mostly on Uganda (Olvera et al 2007; Howe & Maunder 2006). However, in Kenyan Boda boda operations have been the focus of a number of student dissertations between 1990 and 2001 (Olvera et al 2007).

Over the past two decades, motorcycle taxis have emerged in East Africa as a motorised variant, and at the expense, of bicycle Boda boda. As in the case of bicycle Boda boda innovation and diffusion, motorcycle Boda boda emerged earlier and spread faster in Uganda -following the deregulation of motorcycle imports in 1994 (Howe & Maunder 2006). Motorcycles taxis in West Africa emerged a decade earlier, in response to a poorly served passenger market and relatively unrestricted market entry, and have grown into a dominant travel mode- known locally as ganzemidjan in Benin, bendskin in Cameroon, kabu kabu in Niger, okada in Nigeria, and oleyia in Togo (Olvera, 2007). Many medium-sized Nigerian cities, for instance, rely solely on okada for intra-city transport services (Cervero, 2000).). In comparison, Kenyan motorcycle taxis have emerged very recently stimulated by the introduction of a zero-rated import duty on motorcycles below 250cc in the 2006 national budget – but, despite spreading fast, would appear from anecdotal reports to be less numerous than bicycle Boda boda at this point in time.

In East Africa, Kenya and Uganda developed the boda-boda in the 1960s. The boda-boda taxis are part of the African bicycle culture; they started in the 1960s and 1970s and are still spreading from their origin on the Kenyan – Ugandan border to other regions. The name originated from a need to transport people across the “no-man’s-land” between the border posts without the paperwork involved with using motor vehicles crossing the international border. This started in southern border crossing town of Busia (Uganda), where there is over two kilometres between the gates and quickly spread to the northern border town of Malaba (Kenya). The bicycle owners would shout out boda-boda (border-to-border) to potential customers. In Kenya and Uganda, the bicycles are more and more replaced by motorbikes. The motorbike taxis have taken the name boda-boda as well, though in much of Uganda, the Swahili term for motorbike, piki-piki, is used to describe motorbike boda-bodas. (Howe & Maunder 2006)

The motorcycle taxi sector in Kenya as a whole and certainly in Chuka is growing strongly. Nationally, the number of authorised motorcyle taxis increased by 350% between 2010 and 2012, while the number of vehicles used in public transport overall increased by 150% (Ministry of Transport 2013). This is in large measure an effect of a streamlined vehicle licensing policy, with more frequent examinations and, many respondents suggested, easier tests. It may also reflect income growth among ordinary Kenyans, which would be consistent with national success in poverty reduction. The growth of the sector means that, barring restrictive policies, it is set to become more significant as a source of employment in the future.

While matatus provide the backbone of Kenya’s public transport system, motorcycle taxis are extremely important. This is especially true for people who live away from major roads, in areas not served by buses. Motorcycles can negotiate even the extremely poor quality roads which serve many of Kenya’s peri-urban, rural and poorer urban neighborhoods. They are also important for people travelling after night, when bus services are limited or nonexistent, and at peak times when their ability to negotiate heavy traffic enables people to move around the city swiftly.

It is against this background that this research study sets upon to investigate the role played by motorcycle Boda boda in urban transport systems in Kenya focusing on Chuka. The research aimed, firstly, to understand the economic benefits brought by Boda boda services, and secondly, to explore the measures that might be formulated by the concerned authorities to manage and support them. With regard to the latter aim, given the growth in motorcycle taxis at the expense of bicycle taxis elsewhere in the region, the research sought to make a recommendation on whether authorities should embrace or resist this trend.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

This research proposal aims at analyzing the contributions of motor cycle taxis commonly known as “Boda boda” in Kenya’s rural towns based on a case study of Chuka town of Tharaka Nithi County, Chuka town is a big town in the county with approximately 100,000 residents who rely on these Boda boda to get food and other economic supplies from the neighbouring villages served by poor roads and hilly terrains that vehicles cannot access. In addition, these residents depend on the same Boda boda for transport whenever they travel to and from these inaccessible villages because of the poor road network.

It is this need that many male youth from and around Kenyan rural towns seized to start the Boda boda taxi transport businesses. Currently the town has approximately 400 Boda boda taxi operators. Their transport operations have booth backward and forward linkages with other sectors of Kenyan rural towns hence the need to analysis Boda boda taxi business owing to the scale of their activities in the transport industry of these towns.

These Boda boda taxis, which are usually motor cycles, trace their history in Eastern Uganda and Busia (a border town with Uganda to the west of Kenya). The term “Boda boda” is derived from the English word “border”. The taxis used to operate from “border to border” hence the current term “Boda boda” taxis. These Boda boda were used to smuggle goods across the two borders (Kenya-Uganda). The operators mostly youth quickly realized that the same Boda boda taxis could be used to carry goods from Kenya to Uganda, and also ferry people in the poor villages of western Kenya. The business spread to other rural towns in the region and the entire country. This was greatly encouraged because according to Kenya 2001 budget report on rural development, 90% of the country roads were not paved and many roads were impassable by vehicles. Accordingly, Boda boda becomes a versatile, quick and reliable form of transportation.

Boda boda taxi definitely creates employment opportunities to the unemployed Kenyans who according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics stood at 40 percent in 2011. This creates the need to analyze the contributions of Boda boda to Kenyan rural towns. Boda boda taxis also have contributed to the transport industry mostly ferrying people and goods from main roads to villages off the paved roads. There is also need to carryout out an analysis of Boda boda to understand how they impacted the traders of particularly of agricultural produce.

1.3 Research ObjectivesThe general objective of the analysis is to establish how Boda boda taxis have contributed to the economic activities in Kenya rural towns.

Specific Objectives:

1. To determine how the Boda boda taxis have created employment opportunities in Kenya rural towns.

2. To find out how Boda boda taxis have enhanced transportation in Kenyan rural towns.

3. To establish how Boda boda taxis have led to levels of doing business.

1.4 Research hypothesis

The primary hypothesis of this research is that:

Introduction of motorbike taxis has brought positive economic outcome for Chuka town

Secondary hypothesis

Boda boda taxis have improved the economic status of the riders.

Boda boda have enhanced transportation in Kenyan rural towns.

The activity of Boda boda have improve the levels of doing business in Chuka town

1.5 Research questionsWhat are the contributions of motorcycle taxi on economic growth of Chuka town

How has boda boda enhanced transportation in Kenyan rural towns?

How has boda boda affected the levels of doing business in Chuka town

1.6 Importance of the study

There is increasing realization of the significance of boda boda riders which has rekindled the interest in this research work on the economic contributions made by boda boda in Chuka town.

The researcher hopes that the outcome of the study will be of immense benefit as it will bring to focus the positive contribution of boda boda business and the informal sector in general to the economic development of Kenyan rural towns, specifically Chuka town. There has been growing concern in the reduction of poverty in the less developed counties by both country and national government; the study will bring to limelight the contribution of boda boda economic growth.

The study will be significant in unveiling the various characteristics of the informal sector economy and subsequently address the miss-feelings towards the sector. Furthermore, the results of the study could be of benefits to the Boda boda riders and the participants in that sector as appropriate recommendations would be made to improve their lots.

Finally, this could be used as spring board of ideas for mobilization of boda boda riders and the informal sector in general towards the main stream of economic development in Tharaka Nithi County.

1.7 Scope of the study

The study examined the effects of motorcycle revolution in Kenya with references to Chuka town; the target population had respondents who included Boda bodas in Chuka town. The study looked at The Economic Contributions of the Motorcycle Taxi (Boda boda) within Chuka town. In addition, the research also sought to know the effects of motorcycle taxi on health and safety and also on traffic rules. The effect of motorcycle transport on users other than the motorcycle taxi businessmen was not undertaken. This could have added more information and insight into the effects of the motorcycle transport revolution.

Chapter 2

Literature review2.1 IntroductionThis chapter gives a review of the main research in economic benefits of motorcycle taxis, defining the motorcycle transportation, reviewing on motorcycle and economic growth and transportation and economic development and then a summary of the literature review. This present study will use empirical literature review because there is lack of theoretical literature on this topic.

2.2 Origin and spread of motorbike taxis in KenyaIt all started at the border between Kenya and Uganda in the ’60 and ’70. Between the border posts of the two countries lies a piece of ‘no-man’s-land’ of about a kilometer (Njega and Maganya 1988). Crossing the border with a motorized vehicle required a lot of paperwork to be dealt with, which took a lot of time. Therefore, often public transport would halt at the one side and the passengers walked to the other side, where they continued their journey. Not everybody felt like walking and locals quickly exploited this by offering people rides on a bicycle (Njega and Maganya 1988). They would be waiting with their bicycle taxis on either side of the land strip. To attract the attention of potential customers, they would shout “Border-Border!”. In time, this degenerated to ‘bodaboda’, a word that is part and parcel of the local culture now, and often being called for in the streets of East-Africa.

From the border the concept quickly spread over a still extending region. Nowadays boda bodas are found in large parts of Kenya and Uganda, parts of Tanzania and even in Congo they have been spotted. In recent times, a motorized alternative is competing with the bicycles: the motor taxi that is called both bodaboda and pikipiki (Diaz, et al, 2010). In flat areas, the bicycle is still the most common though, The picture below show boda bodas at work.

Picture adapted by the researcher2.2 Factors favoring the emergence of motorbike taxis in Kenya

Other than a simple integration phenomenon, two factors have contributed to the emergence of motorbike taxis in Kenya. We can cite among others, a response to the prevailing transport deficit, lack of employment and the acquisition of several public liberties, problems of mobility encountered by city dwellers and inhabitants of the rural areas.

A response to transport shortagesIn Chuka just like all towns of Kenya and worst of all in peri-urban areas, the problem of mobility of persons, resulting from demographic growth is not always accompanied by the means to satisfy the surplus demand for public transport which is posed with acuity (Njega and Maganya 1988). The narrowness of the available roads gives rise to eternal traffic jams on certain road networks in cities. To move from one zone to another, the populations are sometimes obliged to forgo the regular taxi cars to hire the service of a motorbike taxi which has the possibility to slip between vehicles, baffling the elementary rules of the road code.

In the agricultural towns like Chuka, the populations witness great difficulties in their movements between March and June with exceptions of periods of long rains since many roads becomes impassable (Omondi, 2007) In fact, the existing transport services (buses, cars and taxis) are unable to access some areas. The problem of mobility emanates from the fact that because of the bad nature of the roads, the regular taxi cars (cabs) provide their services in the inner circles of the towns and most often only on tarred roads. In certain towns such as Chuka, the taxi cars are found but on the transport bus stations, in motor parks. This situation almost identical to all regions of Kenya where the implantation of motorbike taxis has led to the progressive drop in the use of regular taxi cars which are unable to compete notably as concerns costs and the personalisation of the services rendered. This has been observed in Chuka where by the taxi cars are declining in numbers as motorbike taxis increases.

In all regions of Kenya motorcycle taxis are an individual response to the conjunction of a triple shortage: Shortage of private vehicles, shortages of public transport services and finally of road infrastructure. The development of road infrastructure and basic services has not evolved according to the spatial increase in population whose demands for movement are on a steady increase. The lack of viable infrastructure and the inadequate maintenance of the existing ones are very problematic. In the rainy seasons, the situation is worsen as motorised access to certain zones in the tropical regions are blocked rendering them enclave. The available public transport vehicles avoid these zones causing halts in the movement of people from peripheries to the cities and vice versa. Motorcycles through their flexibility have come to provide a ready solution as they can find their way through the muddy and slippery road tracks.

2.3.2 Lack of formal employment

In Kenya the macro-economic situation characterized by slow economic growth has greatly limited the chances of access to employment and revenue in many families. Between 2007- and 2008, as a consequence of political crisis, the population of job seekers reached 47, 7% of Kenya’s total population (Kenya Bureau of Statistics, 2010).

Youths between the age ranges of 15-30 constitute around 57% of job seekers in the labour market. And this population is on a steady increase with the annual arrival into the labour market of over 5000 degree holders from higher institutions of learning and of the same number issued from secondary education generally with no professional qualification. Contrary to the past decades, the actual unemployment rate since the year 2000 affects more and more degree holders (Kenya Bureau of Statistics, 2010).

It’s thus to curb the situation of the formal labour market that the precarious population developed particular survival strategies in the direction of the informal sector. Transport by commercial motorbikes is one of the sectors which attracted many of the unemployed. The removal of importation tax on motorcycles undertaken by the ministry of finance in 2008 offered an increment to this activity. The activity rapidly developed to become a job opening for many job seekers. With the volume of revenue generated by this activity, able businessmen got interested into the activity and began acquiring tens and even hundreds of motorbikes, offering jobs to the needy.

2.4 Motorcycles transportation

Motorcycles pose interesting challenges in Developing countries that are not faced by the rest of world. Motorcycle comprise 95% of the nation’s private motor vehicle fleet in Vietnam, 84% in Asia, 76% in Cambodia, 28% in Italy and only 4% in the United States (World Bank, 2008). In the last fifteen years the numbers of motorcycles per capita in many Developing Asian nations has doubled (World Bank, 2006). The vehicles are attractive as incomes of families in the region rise, providing an affordable mobility option that is not otherwise available. They provide door-to-door mobility, unmatched navigability in congested road conditions, ease of parking, capacity for passengers and luggage at low cost. In mixed traffic with automobiles, each bike tends to use as much roadway capacity as an auto at congestion levels above Level of Service F. But when roads are most congested and traffic is slowed to crawl, motorcycle speeds and throughput are much higher than automobiles stuck in the same traffic. The proliferation of two- and three-wheeled motorcycles has raised problems with air quality and safety. Their two-cycle engines are inexpensive, easy to maintain, and make efficient use of fuel but are not clean burning (Heyen-Perschon, 2004). The crashworthiness and stability of the vehicles are an obvious concern that tends to dominate much of the urban transport literature concerning these vehicles. In developing countries, pedestrians and cyclists count for the majority of road accident deaths despite the fact that they contribute the least to them (Howe and Maunder 2004).

2.5 Motorcycle and economic growthNon-motorized transport (NMT) is central to the issue of sustainable transportation. Among the more arguably important aspects of NMT that are sometimes overlooked are bicycle transportation development and accompanying policy reform (Heyen-Perschon 2004). Given the fact that the majority of the world’s poor do not have access to motorized transport, it has been well noted that this should not be the only mode considered for development in Africa, the world’s poorest region (Howe and Maunder 2004; World Bank, 2002). Indeed, the last of ten major urban NMT strategy elements that the World Bank reviews in Cities on the Move provides some impetus for this study: “development of small-scale credit mechanisms for finance of bicycles in poor countries” (World Bank, 2002, 134).

The World Bank has made some studies regarding non-motorized transport in the urban periphery in Sub-Saharan Africa (Starkey et al, 2002). Yet scant academic research has focused on the intermediate technology of bicycles and bike trailers. World Bank researchers note that a wide variety of factors influence differences in rural transportation: “population density, culture, income, topography, climate, or crops and animals” (Starkey et al, 2002).

Some of these same factors, particularly demographics and income, influence choices in urban transport. Just as secondary African cities are often economically linked to primary cities, there is close interdependence with peripheral rural areas that supply agricultural goods, thereby ensuring regional food security. Combined with the general weakness of rural transportation systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, it would therefore seem essential to consider peri urban NMT when discussing urban transit. World Bank reports show a clear link between NMT and the reduction of poverty in both rural and urban settings (Starkey et al, 2002; World Bank 2002).

2.6 Economic Importance of TransportationLike many economic activities that are intensive in infrastructures, the transport sector is an important component of the economy impacting on development and the welfare of populations (Mozer, 2000). When transport systems are efficient, they provide economic and social opportunities and benefits that result in positive multipliers effects such as better accessibility to markets, employment and additional investments. When transport systems are deficient in terms of capacity or reliability, they can have an economic cost such as reduced or missed opportunities. Starkey et al, (2002); Mozer (2000) asserts that transport also carries an important social and environmental load, which cannot be neglected. Thus, from a general standpoint the economic impacts of transportation can be direct and indirect:

Direct impacts related to accessibility change where transport enables larger markets and enables to save time and costs. Indirect impacts related to the economic multiplier effects where the price of commodities, goods or services drop and/or their variety increases.

Reeder, et al, (1996) underline that, the impacts of transportation are not always intended, and can have unforeseen or unintended consequences such as congestion. Mobility is one of the most fundamental and important characteristics of economic activity as it satisfies the basic need of going from one location to the other, a need shared by passengers, freight and information. All economies and regions do not share the same level of mobility as most are in a different stage in their mobility transition (Reeder, et al, 1996). Economies that possess greater mobility are often those with better opportunities to develop than those suffering from scarce mobility. Reduced mobility impedes development while greater mobility is a catalyst for development. Mobility is thus a reliable indicator of development.

Providing this mobility is an industry that offers services to its customers, employs people and pays wages, invests capital and generates income (Cox, 2010). The economic importance of the transportation industry can thus be assessed from a macroeconomic and microeconomic perspective:

At the macroeconomic level (the importance of transportation for a whole economy), transportation and the mobility it confers are linked to a level of output, employment and income within a national economy. Cox (2010) estimates that in many developed countries, transportation accounts between 6% and 12% of the GDP.

At the microeconomic level (the importance of transportation for specific parts of the economy) transportation is linked to producer, consumer and production costs. The importance of specific transport activities and infrastructure can thus be assessed for each sector of the economy (Cox, 2010). Transportation accounts on average between 10% and 15% of Transportation links together the factors of production in a complex web of relationships between producers and consumers. The outcome is commonly a more efficient division household expenditure while it accounts around 4% of the costs of each unit of output in manufacturing, but this figure varies greatly according to sub sectors of production by exploitation of geographical comparative advantages, as well as the means to develop economies of scale and scope (Horswill and Helman, 2003). The productivity of space, capital and labor is thus enhanced with the efficiency of distribution and personal mobility. It is acknowledged that economic growth is increasingly linked with transport developments, namely infrastructures but also managerial expertise is crucial for logistics. The following impacts can be assessed:

Networks; setting of routes enabling new or existing interactions between economic entities.

Performance; improvements in cost and time attributes for existing passenger and freight movements.

Reliability; improvement in the time performance, notably in terms of punctuality, as well as reduced loss or damage.

Market size; access to a wider market base where economies of scale in production, distribution and consumption can be improved.

Productivity; increases in productivity from the access to a larger and more diverse base of inputs (raw materials, parts, energy or labor) and broader markets for diverse outputs (intermediate and finished goods).

2.7 Transportation and Economic DevelopmentTransportation developments that have taken place since the beginning of the industrial revolution have been linked to growing economic opportunities. At each stage of human societal development, a particular transport mode has been developed or adapted (Kisaalita and Sentogo-Kibalama, 2007). However, it has been observed that throughout history no single transport has been solely responsible for economic growth. Instead, modes have been linked with the function and the geography in which growth was taking place (Elliott et al., 2003). The first trade routes established a rudimentary system of distribution and transactions that would eventually be expanded by long distance maritime shipping networks and the setting of the first multinational corporations. As noted by Diaz et al (2010) major flows of international migration that occurred since the 18th century were linked with the expansion of international and continental transport systems that radically shaped emerging economies such as in North America and Australia. Transport has played a catalytic role in these migrations, transforming the economic and social geography of many nations. Kisaalita and Sentogo-Kibalama (2007) contributing to this subject underlines that concomitantly, transportation has been a tool of territorial control and exploitation, particularly during the colonial era where resource-based transport systems supported the extraction of commodities in the developing world and forwarded them to the industrializing nations of the time.

According to Diaz et al (2010) while some regions benefit from the development of transport systems, others are often marginalized by a set of conditions in which inadequate transportation play a role. Mozer (2000) notes that transport by itself is not a sufficient condition for development; however the lack of transport infrastructures can be seen as a constraining factor on development. In developing countries, the lack of transportation infrastructures and regulatory impediments are jointly impacting economic development by conferring higher transport costs, but also delays rendering supply chain management unreliable (Mozer, 2000; Diaz, et al 2010).

Investment in transport infrastructures is thus seen as a tool of regional development, particularly in developing countries and for the road sector. The standard assumption is that transportation investments tend to be more wealth producing as opposed to wealth consuming investments such as services. Still, several transportation investments can be wealth consuming if they merely provide convenience, such as parking and sidewalks, or service a market size well below any possible economic return, with for instance projects labeled “bridges to nowhere”(Diaz, et al 2010). In such a context, transport investment projects can be counterproductive by draining the resources of an economy instead of creating wealth and additional opportunities.

There is also a tendency for transport investments to have declining marginal returns (Heyen-Perschon, 2004). While initial infrastructure investments tend to have a high return since they provide an entirely new range of mobility options, the more the system is developed the more likely additional investment would result in lower returns. At some point, the marginal returns can be close to zero or even negative, implying a shift of transport investments from wealth producing to wealth consuming. A common fallacy is assuming that additional transport investments will have a similar multiplying effect than the initial investments had,