The reconstruction of shared taxis as rural transport due to the competition of motor bike taxis in Togo secondary cities

Motorbike taxis have transformed the Togolese transport system over the past 20 years. In the capital, Lomé, and in all of the country's secondary towns, the advent of motorbike taxis heralded a real threat to the livelihood of shared taxi drivers. In this article we analyse the relationship between shared taxis and motorbike taxis within the urban and suburban areas of Togo using data from three secondary towns. We will show how drivers of shared taxis have been forced to offer bush taxi services - serving small towns and surrounding villages - due to the dominance of the motorbike taxi network in urban areas. After describing the urban areas, this analysis shows how motorbike taxis took over the available space as soon as they began appearing and have now become completely dominant in urban areas. We illustrate the organisation and functional logic of the bush taxi network and its importance in terms of urban-rural connections.