Intermodal practices between land transport and the hub of Lomé airport in Togo

All air travellers in Togo pass through Gnassingbé Eyadéma International Airport (AIGE: Aéroport International Gnassingbé Eyadema) of Lomé. To get in or out of the airport, they must use other means of land transport as part of an intermodal approach. The urban transport system in Lomé is disjointed, with no interconnection between the land transport hubs and the airport hub, making it extremely difficult for users to get to and from AIGE. It is true that there is a public transport service called SOTRAL, but it does not serve the airport, while the use of artisanal transports to access the airport is prohibited or very restricted. The aim of this study is to analyse intermodal practices between land and air transport in Great Lomé District. The methodological approach used is based on surveys of passengers at bus stations and AIGE, interviews with transport stakeholders, counts of feeder and distribution modes, and observation of practices in the field. The study shows that in the absence of a specific transport service to serve the main multimodal hubs such as the airport, travelers are bound to use their own means of transport or hire very expensive artisanal transports or private vehicles to get to the airport. To leave the airport, travelers make more use of the airport's VIP private taxis (32%), which are very expensive on arrival. Those who do not want to hire the airport's expensive private taxis are forced to walk 300 m with their parcels to pick up a city taxi at the side of the road

Air transport · Business · International airport · Public transport · Taxis · Transport engineering · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · Engineering · French Urban and Social Studies · Political and Social Issues · Marketing