Citation

Barwell IJ, Howe JD. Transp. Res. Rec. 1979; 702: 22-30.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1979, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the provision of appropriate transport facilities in the rural areas of developing countries. It is argued that the technologies applied in the past have been inappropriate to, and ineffective in meeting the transport needs of their poorest people. Further, that there are alternative and more appropriate transport technologies which can better meet many of these needs. Past transport strategy has been dominated by an institutional preoccupation with the provision of roads suitable for conventional motor vehicles. The supply of those vehicles has been left largely to the private sector and their technological appropriateness unquestioned to the extent that the type of vehicle is not a variable in road design. The result has been high road construction costs, slow network development, and the neglect of the movement needs of small scale farmers and of traditional forms of transport. A range of basic vehicles is described whose technology is shown to be more appropriate to the needs of many rural developing communities. It is suggested that attention should be focussed on improving the technology of basic vehicles with a corresponding re-appraisal of track requirements. The application of a more appropriate technology requires that rural transport planning should explicitly include an appraisal of the small farmer's movement needs and the constraints within which these must be met.