Towards a formalisation scale for urban bus transportation system: The case of Bukavu and its global implications

[en] The formalisation of public transport has been widely studied yet lacks a data-driven quantitative assessment. This study addresses this gap by applying a formalisation scale to various aspects of Bukavu’s bus transport system based on the Public Transport Formalisation Level (PTFL) model. Formalisation indicators are assessed using a point system inspired by a comprehensive methodology used in a previous study. This approach enabled the derivation of a composite index for Bukavu’s public transport system (BPTFL). The composite index indicates a moderate level of formalisation of Bukavu’s current public transport system, with a formalisation index of 43.37%. A more detailed analysis reveals slight variations among the formalisation levels of the Ibanda (46.31%), Kadutu (43.10%), and Bagira (46.38%) municipalities. This observation highlights that a city-wide transport formalisation index serves as an overall indicator, which does not necessarily reflect local disparities. Thus, this scale can be utilised in scientific literature to assess the level of formal or informal options in public transport systems.

Disciplines :

Arts & humanities: Multidisciplinary, general & others

Author, co-author :

Bwami Kahombera, Rupin ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Faculté des Sciences Appliquées > Doct. art. bât. urba. ; UEA - Université Evangélique en Afrique > Faculty of Economics and Management

Moeinaddini, Mehdi; Queen’s University Belfast > Centre for Public Health

Maheshwari, Richa ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Urban and Environmental Engineering

Saadi, Ismaïl; University of Cambridge > MRC Epidemiology Unit

Cools, Mario ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département ArGEnCo > Transports et mobilité

Language :

English

Title :

Towards a formalisation scale for urban bus transportation system: The case of Bukavu and its global implications

Alternative titles :

[fr] Vers une échelle de formalisation des systèmes de transport urbain par bus : le cas de Bukavu et ses implications globales

Original title :

[en] Towards a formalisation scale for urban bus transportation system: The case of Bukavu and its global implications

Publication date :

08 March 2026

Journal title :

Transportation Research Procedia

ISSN :

2352-1457

eISSN :

2352-1465

Publisher :

Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Special issue title :

Euro Working Group on Transportation Annual Meeting 2025

Volume :

Issue :

EWGT2025

Pages :

1024-1031

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S2352146526001912?httpAccept=text/xml

Available on ORBi :

since 27 March 2026

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