Subverting sustainability? Infrastructural and cultural barriers to cycle use in Accra

This paper reports on in-depth qualitative interviews with bicycle owners and non-bicycle owners in Nima and Jamestown in Accra, Ghana. Observation indicated a difference in cycling level within the two communities. A total of 46 individuals were interviewed and these reported on the ownership/non-ownership experiences of 260 people. The paper also draws on two other surveys of the transport patterns and travel behaviour in Accra. The first is a survey of portering in Accra where 81 interviews with porters were conducted in respect of the gender divisions in access to wheeled technology, access to credit within the urban poor and the role of non-motorized modes within mixed traffic. The second survey conducted 275 interviews with female and male traders on their transport needs, the importance of their economic role within the household and the use of family, especially girl child, labour within their enterprises. This research was conducted as part of the research programme of the Overseas Centre of the Transport Research Laboratory on behalf of the Overseas Development Administration. The research was conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Ghana. (A)