This study proposes a new framework (the Apex Framework) for institutional coordination in planning for public transportation that is capable of addressing constraints to tackling problems of public transport in the cities of sub‐Saharan Africa. Public transport in major cities of sub‐Saharan Africa currently consists of e.g. public paratransit (minibuses), characterised by disregard for traffic rules, congestion, accidents, air pollution and abysmal quality of services. Provision of sustainable public transport is a formidable task for authorities in the cities of sub‐Saharan Africa, where success in transport and traffic planning in the post‐independence period has been negligible and where the urban population is growing faster than in any other continent. Without immediate strategic planning intervention, the deteriorating travel conditions will continue to undermine the urban environment in sub‐Saharan Africa.
The main contention in this study is that public transport problems in sub‐Saharan African countries could easily be tackled if institutional coordination were to be organised in such a way that all stakeholders in the public transport sector were involved effectively in the planning process. The barriers to institutional coordination in planning for public transportation are widespread and varied, and occur in different ways in developed and developing countries. In sub‐Saharan Africa, the existing literature on sustainable public transport fails to explain how such barriers arise and how the citizens concerned believe transport planning institutions could be improved.