Shared mobility in South Africa : misalignments between research and practical realities

Abstract

Alongside a growing recognition of sharing as an approach to address the negative externalities of socio-economic systems, shared mobility has emerged as a hot topic in transport research. Scopus identifies 1,599 publications that use the term in the title, abstract, or keywords, all but eight of which were published within the last decade. However, several limitations misalign this scholarly conversation with the practical realities of many transport systems; a misalignment that is especially pronounced in transport systems across the Global South. The geographical focus is imbalanced: based on the affiliations of corresponding authors, 94% of publications originate from Europe, North America, or Asia, while less than 1% are authored by scholars in Africa. Most studies, moreover, adopt a technology-centred conceptualisation of shared mobility, focusing on modes like ride-hailing and app-based car sharing, while overlooking the long history of shared travel, as well as the significant roles of public transport and informal modes, such as paratransit and hitchhiking. Based on data from the 2020 South African Household Travel Survey, this paper highlights the effects of a technology-centred conceptualisation of shared mobility across three types of geographical areas in South Africa. It finds that such a perspective only captures 1.2% of current shared mobility trips in metropolitan areas, 0.04% in other urban areas, and 0.01% in rural areas. The paper ends with a brief discussion on the implications of the technology-centred conceptualisation for planning and visioning, as well as on the research needed to align the scholarly conversation with transport transition agendas in the Global South.