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ABSTRACT: Addis Ababa is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, yet is constrained by poor accessibility of city bus services. This paper examines the factors affecting the accessibility of Anbessa City bus service in Addis Ababa through an analysis of the stakeholders' opinions. An exploratory research approach was taken, using in-depth interviews with the city bus transport regulators and Anbessa city bus transport service enterprise. The study found that inadequate infrastructure, poor transport operation and ineffective performance of stakeholders have resulted in inaccessible service to the users. Addressing the expectations of users necessitates engagement of modern public transport operation; strengthening the regulatory mechanisms and (traffic) law enforcement system; acquisition of skilled human, technology and materials resources; and attraction of private operators through different incentive mechanisms.
KEYWORDS: Accessibility, Public Transport, City Bus, Addis Ababa
AKNOWLEDGMENTS: The research was supported by the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship grant and Central Queensland University.
1. INTRODUCTION
Road transport plays a vital role in underpinning the economic growth of developing countries. City transport services are particularly important in urban areas as key nodes of economic activity. In Ethiopia, the national capital is Addis Ababa City, which is responsible for 60 per cent of the country's industrial production and 50 per cent of its GDP (Wondifiraw et al., 2015; World Bank, 2015). The limited number of buses and taxis in Addis Ababa have resulted in low quality, safety and accessibility of the service delivery across the city (Berhan et al., 2013; Kumar and Barrett, 2008). Some studies have claimed that institutional weaknesses have resulted in inaccessibility and in turn, ineffective service provision of the city buses (Berhan et al., 2013; Kumar and Barrett, 2008). Users are hardly able to access public transport during peak hours or bad weather conditions (Fenta, 2014). Sometimes the commuters are required to pay an extra fare or forced to disembark when only mid-way through their route (Gebeyehu and Takano, 2007; Kumar and Barrett, 2008). Here, the service providers may be aware that commuters do not have other alternatives during these times, and thus press their advantage, pushing the consumer to pay above the limited fare in order to maximize their profit.
Variously, the (in)accessibility of the city buses in Addis Ababa...