Potential role of urban public transport in assets and employment creation for the poor

Alleviation of poverty is the key objective of any international development policy. The strategy adopted by donors such as the Department for International Development (DFID), can be summarised as (DFID white paper on international devleopment): 􀂃 Policies and actions which promote sustainable livelihoods 􀂃 Better education, health and opportunities for poor people 􀂃 Protection and better management of the natural and physical environment To translate policies into actions on ground, understanding the ground realities, historical and socio-economic context is necessary. A holistic and integrated approach is proposed to be more beneficial as compared to the purely sectoral approach to identify the key policies and practices to improve the livelihoods of the poor. One such approach is sustainable livelihoods (SL). This study briefly reports on the findings of applications of such approach on the issue of urban public transport.