EdX course digital artifact

1. The repurposing of private intent
data to improve road safety:
The case of intercity transit between
two neighboring large cities in Benin
(Cotonou and Abomey-Calavi)

2. Content
0 Summary
1. Features of inter-city transit between Cotonou and Abomey-Calavi
2. The «Tokpa-Tokpa» taxi minibuses, a key medium of intercity transit
3. Rationale for the proposal
4. Benin: basic mobile connectivity data
5. The national data system related to road safety
6. The relevant private intent data
7. The actors for the proposed model
8. The design and operationalization of the model
9. An integrated model for repurposing private intent data
10. Expected impact
11. Prerequisites
12. References

3. Summary
This digital artifact builds on the topic of the course related to “the
repurposing of private data to compensate for gaps in public intent data”,
to achieve greater development impact. The proposed document learns
from Kenya’s experience related to the use of private intent data and
mobile technology to improve road safety and exploits its overall idea. A
model is proposed to address the issue of safety on road which is essential
for intercity transit between two neighboring large cities of Benin, namely
Cotonou (the major political, commercial, and economic city) and
Abomey-Calavi, a major residential area, hosting the main university.

4. 1. Features of inter-city transit between Cotonou and Abomey
Calavi
• The two cities
• Cotonou: 780,000
• Abomey-Calavi: 385,000
• Distance: 25 km, through only one two-way road
• Abomey-Calavi is residence of many middle-class
and working class people who have to commute
every day (public and private sector; business and
market women going to the main market “Tokpa”
located in Cotonou

5. 2. The « Tokpa-Tokpa »taxi minibuses, a major element of
intercity transit
• Mini buses (15-20) seats (called “Tokpa-Tokpa») are
main transportation medium for working class people
and market women
• These Taxi minibuses which are essential for the transit
between the two cities, constitute a major impediment
to the smooth flow of traffic because of indiscipline:
stopping on the road to pick up or drop passengers,
unauthorized parking on the road due to engine failures
and breakdowns (these are used imported vehicles)
“Yet even a powerful four-wheel drive car won’t help if the poorly maintained and overloaded vehicle in front of you suddenly
breaks down and blocks the road – a common occurrence in Cotonou. When such a breakdown occurs the blockage can last all
day, since typically there are no cranes or tow-trucks to clear the road. Traffic in both directions is thus brought to a standstill.
Meanwhile, waves of old, often defective vehicles continue to arrive in Benin from overseas. The government has tried to ease
congestion by building new roads and widening existing ones, but the number of vehicles on the roads grows faster than the road
capacity expands. Police officers have proven unable to control the traffic mess”.
https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/road-rage-rise-cotonous-congested-streets

6. 3. Rationale for the proposal
• Benin road traffic accidents (death rate per 100.000, age standardized) is 36.8 which is in the « high »
category (rank 26 out of 183 countries)
• At peak hours (office hours), there is considerable traffic congestion on the road
• This congestion is partly due to the fact that most cars on the road are imported used cars which break
down, causing their parking on the road for indefinite duration as there are no dedicated parking spaces
• Among these vehicles are ”Tokpa-Tokpa” minibuses which are the main cheap transportation means for
ordinary class people (the majority of commuters) going for their activities in Cotonou
• The behaviour of these category of vehicles on the road exacerbates the traffic congestion causing road
safety issues as well as delays which interfere with essential work and business
• There is need to design a system permitting to address this issue “on a real time basis” in order to enhance
safety on this specific section of a key road which plays a major role in the development of not only the
southern part of the country but also connects to the neighboring countries through the northern borders
• The proposal aims to establish a collaborative digital platform to allow road safety agents to make “real
time interventions” to address cases of traffic congestion due to vehicle breakdowns and parking on this
road.
• This proposal uses some lessons learnt from the experience of Kenya “Making roads safer by
repurposing private traffic data“ presented in WDR2021.

7. 4. Benin: basic mobile connectivity data
• Population: 12,400,000
• Mobile connectivity index score: 39.1
• Infrastructure: 47.7
• Affordability: 33.6
• Consumer readiness: 43.8
• Content and services: 33.2
• 3G coverage (% of population): 89
• Mobile connections (% of penetration): 84
• Mobile broadband connections (% penetration): 31

8. 5. The national data system related to road safety
• Existence of Digital Code Act (2017) enhancing safeguards and enablers (WDR21 pinpointed
Benin’s as an exception with « data protection by design » in Digital Code Act
• The National Center for Road Safety (CNSR) in charge of road safety issues
Reports on traffic and car crashes by Police stations
• There are 3 major mobile phone companies (‘MTN’, ‘Moov Africa’ and SBIN) offering
comprehensive 4G platforms
• Data from insurance companies

9. 6. The relevant private intent data
• Call reports from the 2 mobile operators (MTN & Moov Afrca)
• WhatsApp or SMS traffic by participating vehicle owner

10. 7. The actors for the proposed model
• 1. a sample of the private car owners and taxis commuting between the two
cities (who will register in the platform)
• 2. The three major mobile phone operators (mentioned above)
• 3. The National Center for Road Safety (CNSR)
• 4. The Police stations in Cotonou and Abomey-Calavi
• 5. A startup (or association) to design and administer the data exchange the
platform
• 6. Companies with car towing capacity

11. 8. The design and operationalization of the model
• Stage 1: A motivated organization (preferably and NGO) initiates the project and
convenes the other actors to disscuss and agree on way forward
• Stage 2: The platform (TokpaTokpa-Alert) is designed in close collaboration with
the mobile phone operators
• Potential users (daily commuters on this road)
• Platform tested
• Platform made operational

12. 9. An integrated model for repurposing private intent data
1. Participant intercity commuter
Spots car parked (breakdown)
2. With mobile phone
Sends WhatSapp text or SMS
to TokpaTokpaAlert using
unique mobile toll free
number: (car type &
geolocalization specified)
3. TokpatokpaAlert
Transfers to closest
Police station with copy
4. Police Station
Sends information to
closest Company with
car towing cpacity
5. Company
arrives on spot and
tows vehicle
6. Car owner or insurance
Pays

13. 10. Expected impact
1. Increased road safety in the transit between the two major cities of the country
2. The information exchange will allow ’real time’ intervention of Police stations, CNSR and
the companies able to tow the vehicles
3. Mobile companies will make a good Corporate Social Responsibility action and also
collect user data
4. Police stations will be able to collect information on the frequency of such occurrences
5. CNSR will be able to collect data on the types and age of vehicles most frequently
involved in such situations and adjust licensing regulations
6. Social contract for the collection and use of data between relevant actors leading to
increased road safety contributing to national development.
7. This will contribute to the country’s achievement of SDGs on road safety (target 3.6 “halving the
number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes” & target 11.2 “improving road safety
in the provision of access to transport systems and expanding public transport”

14. 11. Prerequisites
• There is a need for safeguards for data protection so that involved actors do not
misuse the personal data collected
• Insurance companies should be willing to participate in the process
• Participants should be trained on the use of the platform
• There should be pilot phase to experiment the proposal
• Actors should be willing to regularly assess the model and make appropriate
adjustments
• Interoperability among the 3 mobile phone operators for a single toll free number
for transmission of alerts to TokpatokpaAlert

15. 12. References
• https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/road-traffic-accidents/by-
country/
• https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/road-rage-rise-cotonous-congested-streets
• Mobileconnectivityindex.com/#year=2019&zonecode=BEN&analysisView=BEN
• https://transports.bj/centre-national-de-securite-routiere/
• Making roads safer by repurposing private intent traffic data (Spotlight 4.2,
WDR2021, page 152-153