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Owner-Drivers in the Tro-Tro Industry: A Look at Jitney Service Provision in Accra, GhanaThis study focuses on the motivations of owner-drivers who participate in the tro-tro industry. Using in-depth interviews, I analyze who drives and owns tro-tros in Accra, Ghana, and why. Owner-drivers were asked to discuss why they participate in the tro-tro industry by offering mass transport services, their attitudes about it, the competition from other transportation options, and why they chose to operate their business where they do. This research examines policy debates about local vehicle travel, privatized transit, informal transit, and informal employment. This study contributes to understanding about the diversity of owner-drivers and how this small, locally-controlled informal private mass transport service (tro-tro) industry is regulated by local and central government agencies in Accra. This research project clarifies the range of entrepreneurial involvement in the supply of tro-tros in Accra by focusing on routes, fares, and vehicle types. The goal of the project is to clarify who operates tro-tro businesses, and the barriers to entry that they face. The results inform policymakers and researchers about the reasons why this informal service industry continues to thrive in Accra, and highlights the conflicts between tro-tro civil society organizations and government agencies over the proposal to expand public sector rapid bus transit systems.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2000., Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-201)., This dissertation analyzes the slum redevelopment strategy introduced by the state government of Maharashtra (India) in its capital city, Mumbai (Bombay). The strategy involves demolishing the existing slums and building on the same sites at a higher density, new, medium rise apartment-blocks including entirely cross-subsidized housing for the original slum dwellers. Slum redevelopment is distinctly different from the two prevalent conventional strategies with respect to slums in developing countries - slum clearance and slum upgrading. Interestingly, the strategy appears to enjoy considerable support of slum dwellers, NGOs, private developers and politicians. The study focuses on a single slum redevelopment case - the Markandeya Cooperative Housing Society (MCHS) - to show how the state government amended the land development regulations to enhance the potential land values and allowed the slum dwellers to share in the high development values. This analysis of the role of the State in promoting a new housing strategy and providing crucial support in implementation contributes to our understanding of housing provision policy in three ways. First, it provides insights into slum redevelopment as an alternative housing strategy. It analyzes the problems faced and the solutions innovated in the implementation of this strategy. It argues that despite slum redevelopment's shortcomings, the strategy may be superior to other alternatives, especially if the State can provide implementation support. Second, it identifies nontraditional issues, often overlooked in housing improvement that may help make slum upgrading programs more successful. Contrary to the conventional focus only on private property rights, the dissertation argues for policy to be based on a differentiated view of property rights (including common property rights) that also considers the property values, the physical structure of the property-holdings and the interplay among these issues. Third, the study re, by Vinit Mukhija., Ph.D.