CASE STUDY #1

INFORMAL TAXIES IN GER AREAS

Informal taxies in ger areas

Batbayar Dorj

CHALLENGE 

Accessibility of public transportation by international standards is measured on one’s travels from home to the nearest public transportation within a 500-meter radius. UNAA Project’s preliminary research found that compared with apartment residents, ger area residents face many mobility related challenges in their daily lives. For example, only 18% of 156 people surveyed in Khoroo 31 of Songinokhairkhan District live within a 500-meter radius from the nearest bus station. While roads are being built and bus routes are being added slowly, improvements in public transportation in the ger areas require large investments and time. What is the interim solution while waiting for expensive and time-consuming changes? 

Like the rest of the city, everyone living in the ger areas has a need to commute from one point to another throughout the day. From going to work to dropping off and picking up their children from school and kindergarten, to grocery shopping, fetching water and buying fuel, the need for commute in fulfilling their basic needs is even higher for ger area residents However, in the absence of public transportation and poor road infrastructure, ger area residents travel through rugged terrain that is   slippery in the winter and muddy in the summer, through dark and winding streets that can lead to dead-ends. An encounter with stray dogs can be an issue too if you’re walking alone. Taking care of household chores in these circumstances can be overwhelming. 

From these circumstances, a solution has emerged to meet the needs of residents. They are widely known as “500 Tugrug” or “1,000 Tugrug ride” (named after the taxi fare). They are informal taxis in ger area communities that are providing essential services to the residents, and show promise to become a formalized service that is safe, dependable, and cost friendly.

transportation, due to its informal nature, there are issues with its service.  For instance, it is up to the drivers to run the service around their own schedules, so some can opt not to work if they consider themselves to have made enough income for the day, leaving the community members with no services. Additionally, there are challenges associated with ensuring road safety, customer service, and others. 

One of the first service providers in the 31st and 43rd khoroo community is Bayarbat Dorj. He observed these challenges of passengers and taxi drivers and saw the need to organize and formalize the service to some extent. Through discussions and consultations with other taxi drivers, he established a group of drivers and took some actions step by step such as registration, issuance of IDs, ensuring that drivers adhere to a set of rules, and setting up schedules. The khoroo administration’s support during initial phases were valuable, providing meeting space for the group members, allocating taxi stops on the khoroo territory, and installing traffic signs. He introduced the group to the traffic police in the neighborhood and as a result police know whom to contact when there is an issue. Passengers saw the advantages of the taxis that belong in the informal taxi group: they considered them more reliable and can even find their belongings if they left it in the taxi, which is a rare feat for the average passenger of an informal taxi.

Bayarbat established a savings group in November 2015 with a goal to generate sustained income and access to credits in times of need for the participating drivers. Around ten members contributed to the savings around 10,000-30,000 MNT per person every week and started their savings for a fixed term. The savings were used for car repairs or household loans with interest. At the end of the fixed term, the members received their contributed amounts and interest rates were divided among the members. It was considered quite successful and at the end of the first year, some members received 800,000-1 million MNT. 

In order to expand his efforts, he set up an NGO in 2020. As a registered entity, the informal taxi service and savings group will have more opportunities for support and collaboration with 3rd party stakeholders and can reach out to more community members. As of 2020, he managed to organize two shifts of 13 taxis, which continued effective till the Covid-19 lockdown in November. In collaboration with another group of youth, he delivered food and fuel packages to over 20 households to help them through the Covid-19 induced hardship. He wanted to assist his struggling community members, while promoting his taxi service as a new institution. 

Bayarbat has lived in the khoroo since 2003 and has gotten to know many in his community. Throughout these years, he saw some families’ livelihood improve, while some managing to meet ends and others lives deteriorated. He is determined to contribute and make a change as much as he could and is still trying his best to improve the taxi service. Thanks to his past experience working as a khoroo social worker, he has experience working with people, managing them, and has advantages of access to information and approaches. One of them is learning about the savings group initiatives run by the World Vision, an international donor organization operating in Mongolia

The biggest challenge ahead to further grow his initiative is institutionalizing his group. Bayarbat does this initiative outside his full-time job, which slows down institutional growth. Bayarbat says, keeping the savings group active and formalizing the taxi service needs dedicated help from either individuals and/or organizations, as well as more support and help from the community members.