Abstract:
Public transport in most of the urban areas globally has been viewed as basically a mode
of transport aimed at facilitating movement from one area of the city to the other. Today
however, the sector has embraced quite a number of stakeholders whose intention has
been more than provision of transport in the city. Although many investors seem to be
guided by the desire to improve livelihoods in the sector, little information exists on the
actual direct contribution of the transport sector on the livelihood development of the
stakeholders in the urban areas. The study sought to examine the influence of Public
Transport on livelihood development with emphasis on Embassava Sacco in Nairobi
Kenya. The study objectives were to: establish the employment opportunities created by
public transport SACCOs to their members, assess public transport SACCOs influence on
the standards of living of their members, explore its influence on entrepreneurial spirit
among its members and evaluate influence of public transport on social welfare of its
members. The study adopted descriptive research design where the target population was
1269, random sampling technique was applied and Yamane formula used to compute for
the sample size which was 93. Data was coded and analyzed. Descriptive statistics was
used to analyze data which was presented in tables. The study found out that savings and
credit societies have created employment opportunities especially for mothers and youth
where 80% of respondents agreed with the statement, it was also found out that savings
and credit societies had a significant impact on improving living standards of members
where a computation of 3.7 was arrived at on the health and feeding pattern of members
indicating over 50% of respondents agreed; the entrepreneurial spirit among members
had been influenced by availability of financial resources, business incubation and
SACCOs education where a computation of 3.9 was arrived at indicating over 50% of
respondents agreed. The social welfare of members was influenced by the savings and
credit societies which had a significant effect on the livelihood where by people’s
associations and linkages improved this was proved by 60% of respondents who agreed
with the statement. The study concludes that savings and credit societies have created
jobs from managerial to casual positions, standards of living for members have improved
to more savings and high access to more finances, entrepreneurial spirit had been
enhanced as well as the social welfare .The study recommends that public transport
SACCOs be strengthened to help solve unemployment problems, finances to be increased
to members to support their livelihood, entrepreneurship be embraced through increased
education or business incubation. The welfare meetings be emphasized to identify
members’ issues like fear and social classification.