Current methods of transport planning focus on the functioning of transport systems, rather than on services received by the people using it. Hence, road congestion has been seen as the main transport problem, and investments to ease congestion as the proper solution. This approach has de facto fostered transport-related social exclusion, as it has ignored the mobility and accessibility difficulties experienced by different groups within a population. This exclusion is especially prevalent among many African countries which face high levels of spatial and social inequality.

This research proposal will adopt a novel approach to planning transport systems that is based on the concept of justice. This approach calls on transport professionals to no longer focus on the transport system, but instead systematically analyse the ease of movement and level of accessibility experienced by different population groups. The purpose of the project is to determine to what extent and how the approach and underlying analytical method can be applied in Sub-Saharan Africa. For this purpose, the potential for a justice approach to transport planning will be explored in Kigali, Rwanda and Blantyre, Malawi. The former city has a relatively well-structured and formalized transport planning process with good data sources, whereas the latter city represents a low-data environment, having only a few formalized transport planning structures in place. Engagement with stakeholders in these cities is expected to reveal their existing transport planning practices, which will then inform how the justice approach of transport planning can be applied in these contexts. The specific outputs and contributions of this research include an adaptation of the existing state-of-the-art transport planning based on principles of justice method to the African context, an open-source analytical toolbox for transport planning based on principles of justice, and an illustrated guidebook and a worked example for transport practitioners in Africa.