Public Transportation In Developing Countries: A Comparative Study

The provision of public transportation services differs in both developed and developing countries. Public transportation in developed countries were initially characterised by private sector provision and later public sector monopolies. There has been a substantial swing back to private sector provision (Stanley, 2011). In developing countries, public transportation services were initially provided by governments (Finn, 2008; Finn & Mulley, 2011) and later by a number of individual private operators resulting in greater diversity in service provision. These operators heavily provide services on selected routes to maximise profits under stiff competition but poorly regulated terrain (MoT, 2014).
The governments of some of the developing countries still provide small percentages of the transport services, such as Metro Mass Transit Ltd. in Ghana and Federal Urban Mass Transit in Nigeria (which other states have adopted). Governments of Ghana and the Federal Republic of Nigeria (different state Governments) have been acquiring vehicles for the (quasi) public sector bus operators through loan facilities (Aderamo, 2010; MoT, 2014). These vehicles could be new or second hand buses that have limited benefits and many of these vehicles soon end up out of service (Finn, 2008; Finn & Mulley, 2011).
Majority of trips in African and Asian cities are served by public transport (Rahman & Nahrin, 2012). The provision and promotion of sustainable public transport by various governments