Using these principles, this policy paper hopes to reframe the policy debate on mobility and public transport in cities with paratransit. It contributes the concept of the Right to Adequate Mobility, in line with global development decisions such as the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations and the New Urban Agenda. To measure transport system adequacy, the paper develops specific indices within six parameters: availability, affordability, accessibility, acceptability, safety and sustainability designed to holistically look at transport services.

Improving accessibility should begin with mapping cities’ formal public transport and paratransit networks. This paper analyzes the existing experience of collecting spatial and temporal data on comprehensive urban mobility systems, discusses the possibility of collecting data on system adequacy and draws practical implications for transport policies in today’s developing cities. Two case studies from the United Kingdom and South Africa provide a vantage point to understand the present state of Cairo.

For Cairo, this paper describes the current urban mobility systems and develops a catalog of transport modes. It examines existing data to create the transport data availability matrix for the city, positing mapping as a near-term opportunity to achieve the Right to Adequate Mobility.