Travel Behaviour of Rural People in Developing Countries.

Abstract

Travel patterns in rural areas of developing countries are dominated by trips required to access basic needs and services. Studies revealed that the time spent on such travel is relatively constant throughout the year. Any community with less than 20,000 people is said to be rural, while settlement with population of over 20,000 people is regarded as an urban centre. In many developing countries, national transport policies do not address the travel needs of rural people. This is either due to lack of awareness or total ignorance of government. In some countries, after the construction of rural roads, travel behaviour of rural communities change in order to meet their day-to-day basic needs. The rural travel is usually done with goods. The perspective of rural transportation planning in developing countries has changed from a ‘road-and-car’ approach to a ‘needs-led’ approach. This paper examines the travel pattern of rural dwellers in developing countries through review of literature on the subject, in order to suggest measures to enhance the travel behaviour of the rural dwellers.

Keywords: Travel, trips, community, rural, behaviour, planning, population, developing