Assessment of a possible post-MDG urban transport indicator

Abstract

Evidence on Demand was requested to support DFID in work on what the post MDG framework might look like. This brief report was prepared to consider the data availability and measurability of indicators for a proposed target to halve the number of people without ready access to urban transport services, and the cost of achieving such a target. In the report the interaction between urban transport and urban poverty was highlighted to be multi-faceted, of which affordability is just one element. Actual cost information appears limited, however the report draws on research that argues for direct cash transfer to transport users rather than subsidies to operators as a way forward and an illustrative calculation is made for the scale of costs of such a measure