Covid-19 Impact on Shared Transport Services: Perspectives from Eight African Countries

The outbreak of Covid-19 is affecting Africa’s shared transport markets and travel behaviour but the dearth of commuter-based empirical research and country comparisons makes it difficult for effective planning. Therefore, this study determined the critical factors underpinning shared transport service delivery in Africa using 8560 online survey-based respondents from Angola (534), Botswana (602), Ghana (2690), Kenya (602), Liberia (771), Malawi (602), Nigeria (2193), and Senegal (568). Descriptive, factor analysis and nominal logistic regressions were employed. It is found that respondents’ age, car ownership, employment and education have a significant effect on shared mobility adoption during Covid-19. Further, travel experience, switching intentions, shared ridership and travel frequency have significant direct positive effects on shared mobility. Nonetheless, travel-oriented behaviour modification has a negative mediation effect on shared mobility. This study contributes a novel discussion of COVID-19 impact on shared mobility in Africa using country comparisons and provides policy lessons for transportation planners.